Sports Car Roadside Assistance

If you own a sports car, whether it is a newer model or a vintage classic, you will find the benefit of roadside assistance as useful as any motorist. However, it is important that you look for specialised cover that applies to the type of vehicle that you drive.

It is generally true to say that most companies offering assistance or breakdown cover will accept a sports performance car when you take out that policy. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that their mechanics will have the specific knowledge or training to get you moving again if something goes wrong.

It would be unfair to say that none of the technicians will be able to help you but it simply isn`t worth taking the risk. Remember that it is unlikely that you will trust any repairs or servicing to any mechanic who hasn`t the specialised training that is required to work on your vehicle. The same principle therefore applies with roadside assistance so be sure to look for cover that specifically relates to the car that you own.

As you may already be aware, some policies are designed to cover any vehicle in your household and this is where it is vitally important to avoid a common mistake. When taking out the roadside assistance policy, it is common practise to declare the main car in the family at the very outset. Any additional vehicles can then be automatically added on but with performance, sports or classic cars, they may be specifically excluded and you could find yourself stranded by the roadside.

Once again, this comes down to a question of both expertise and costs. The company that covers general, everyday cars is unlikely to have the time to devote towards training its staff in dealing with this type of vehicle and they may not carry the tools, basic parts or materials needed to effect a fast and easy fix at the side of the road.

It is, however, easy to avoid this type of problem by finding a breakdown and assistance policy that is specifically designed for the sports vehicle driver. One of the suggested reasons why sports car owners look to avoid bespoke roadside assistance covers is one of cost. The general belief is that cover of this nature must surely be more expensive than insurance that looks after your everyday runabout. In the majority of cases, however, there is parity between the price of both types of cover and if the sports car assistance is more expensive, then the additional charges involved are in no way as high as you might think.

In contrast, if you look to purchase a standard assistance policy for your sports car then you may find that you are asked to pay a surcharge. This could be because of the vehicle`s age or simply because of the model but whatever the reason may be, the likelihood is that you will be paying far more than you would if you had managed to obtain bespoke sports car cover in the first place.

If you have a sports car of any age, you would look for tailor made car insurance so don`t be tempted to overlook the need for similar breakdown cover. In terms of cost and a more effective result when you need it most, there really is no other choice than roadsideassistance.co.uk.

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Pre-Purchase VIN Check – What It Is And Why You Need It

So you’re out looking for that special sports car. You’d love to buy new, but the budget doesn’t stretch that far. No problem, there are lots of used sports cars available.

You find The One. That special sports car you’ve been looking for. In great condition with low mileage, and drives like it’s new. And best of all, at a bargain price. In fact, you cannot believe that this guy is willing to part for her at that price, but he says that he really needs the money, so he’s dropped the price for a quick sale.

No problem, a quick trip to the bank and you’re back to swap a pile of your hard earned cash for the keys. You shake, and drive away happy.

Until you get to the DMV to transfer the registration.

That’s when you get the bad news. That special little sports car you just picked up at a bargain price is so hot you can fry an egg on it. No problem, you tell the police your story, and they go after the guy you bought it from. Except that he cannot be found….

And they still relieve you of the keys to your new baby to return her to her rightful owner. “Dont’ worry, I’m sure that you’ll get your money back when we catch the guy.” they say….

Sucks, huh?

OK, this example may be a lttle far fetched, but similar situatons are occuring all over the country as you read this. Maybe not always a stolen car, but cars with money owning, rebirthed cars that have previously been written off, cars that have suffered flood or major accident damage, etc are being sold by unscrupulous scammers to unsuspecting buyers every day. While not all of these situations will result in you losing all of your purchase price, it certainly pays to know. The more information you have about your prospective purchase, the better placed you are to know what it is really worth. Or even if you are better off walking away from the deal altogether.

But it’s a situation that can be easily avoided.

That’s where the VIN check comes in. The VIN, or vehicle identification number, is a 17 character number that identifes all vehicles uniquely. It is usually found on a plate inside the engine bay. By using this number to run a search on the appropriate database, you can get a pretty complete picture of the history of the vehicle, especially major stuff like is there any money owing on it, has it been written off or suffered major damage, or many other critical events.

Great. How do I perform a VIN check?

The easiest way is to use a website that provides this service. You simply enter the VIN into a form and pay the small fee, usually only about $10-20. A small price to pay for the piece of mind of knowing that there is nothing nasty lurking in the history of the sports car you are thinking of buying. These sites will then search the appropriate databases, and give you a report on the status of the vehicle. The better ones will even give a description of the vehicle, so that you can be sure that the VIN on the car is really it’s original VIN.

To make things easy for you, I’ve compiled a list of webstes that offer this service in many countries.

Click on the flag for your country below to go to a list of web sites that you can use to obtain information about any sports car (or any other road vehicle) you may be thinking of purchasing:

Link to VIN check providers in Australia Link to VIN check providers in Canada Link to VIN check providers in the USA

Australia

Car Facts

Canada

Car Proof

USA

Vin Alert

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Spray Paint Secrets review – can you repair your sports car using Spray Paint Secrets?

A while ago, my partner was returning to her car after a day at work, and discovered a nice little present left for her: someone who obviously should not have a license, had left a 3 by 4 inch white scuff mark on the bumper of her 27 day old Lancer VRX. And of course, without leaving their details or offering to pay for the repair. In the staff car park of all places. The staff car park! These people are her colleagues and they still couldn’t be bothered to own up to their own folly.

Sorry about the rant, but this kind of thing really gets up my nose. Apart from the thoughtless clods who no longer take responsibility for their own actions, these days even the smallest scratch or dent can cost a fortune to have repaired professionally. I know: even though most of the white polished off, there was still a couple of small scratches, and it cost $1500 to repair, due to the flash metallic paint she ordered. And there wasn’t even any panel damage!

Spray paintingFortunately, I’ve since discovered that it is possible to repair this kind of damage yourself, at a quality level comparable to or even better than the professionals! All you need are the skills and the right tools.

But where do you get them? Well, the tools are pretty easy, once you know what you need, any good hardware or automotive store should be able to fix you up.

The skills are harder, however. I used to believe that the only way to get the kind of skills needed to do a bang up professional looking paint job was to attend a trade course in panel beating and spray painting. That is, until I discovered Spray Paint Secrets.

Spray Paint Secrets is a 2 DVD set that is a comprehensive, step-by-step course that leads you by the hand and reveals all the secrets of professional quality spray painting and bodywork, in under 2 hours.

Spray Paint Secrets packageMario Goldstein, the guy who put the course together, used to be an auto mechanic before he ‘followed the money’ and became a spray painter. Now, he owns his own paint shop and is regarded in the industry as “The Auto Artist”. He’s been a spray painter for years, so he really knows his stuff.

These informative and educational DVDs guide you through everything you need to know to perform a professional quality start to finish paint job on your own car. So they’re great whether you need to repair a simple scratch, or want to perform a complete restoration.

We are an affiliate of Spray Paint Secrets, so if you buy from this link, we get paid a commission. They are selling on PayDotCom, so you know that your satisfaction is guaranteed, and they offer a complete 100% refund if you are not completely satisfied with the course. You have nothing to lose, and can gain skills that could save you $$ the next time someone bangs you with a shopping trolley, or that you could even use to launch a new career.

So check them out, and if you find them useful, post a comment to let me know.

PS. I sure wish that I’d known about this before we paid to get the Lancer fixed. I’ll definitely be getting a copy for the next scratch ( touch wood, that wont be for quite a while yet… )

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