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Re: CB driving trip [anthonyp]

by jlbl on Mon Oct 06 12:38:56 PDT 2008

Hi Tony, Hi All, Problems are everywhere these days. Over here unemployment is rising high because of the building crisis; stock market assets are falling down to hell you know why. Yet Banks are still solid due to rigorous regulation made by the Spanish Central Bank in past recent years. As a consequence, Banco de Santander, Banco Bilbao-Vizcaya and the rest mostly have their business in everyday banking but not in risky investments, or so appears. By now people are still able to repay their hypos or debts. But if the crisis proceeds further enough, who knows what will occur. My wife and I, both, we are MDs and full Professors with tenure at a Medical School. Thus, we are escaping from the crisis relatively well to date. Problems might start at our retirement time, as our assets to complement the retirement have dropped by 30% this year. Retirement is 5 to 10 years from now, so I am still confident the crisis may resolve before it. Meanwhile, we control our family spending more rigidly but even so we enjoy life as much as possible. The way I see it is not to be lavish but at the same time try to get the money going around to avoid crisis growing even deeper. Seriously, I believe this behavior is better for all of us than putting all the money we could either in the socket or in dangerous business. Regards, Jose

Oh cool! Gas around the world!

by trispec on Mon May 26 17:29:32 PDT 2008

Country/Territory ↓ US$/gal ↓ US$/L ↓ Local units ↓ As of ↓ Sources ↓ Australia $5.60 $1.48 A$1.54/L 2008-05-27 2008-05-27 [1]/XE.com Bahrain (Manama) $1.02 $0.27 BHD 0.100/L (95 Octane) BHD 0.080/L (90 Octane) 2008-04-29 2008-04-29 [2] Belgium (Brussels) $8.44 $2.23 €1.45/L[3] 2008-05-12 2008-05-12 [4][5][6] Brazil (São Paulo) $6.01 $1.56 R$2,59/L 2008-04-29 2008-04-29 [citation needed] Country/Territory ↓ US$/gal ↓ US$/L ↓ Local units ↓ As of ↓ Sources ↓ Canada $5.18 $1.37 C$1.35/L 2008-05-05 2008-05-24 GasBuddy/XE.com China $2.80 $0.74 2008-05-27 2008-05-27 CNN Money/[3] Croatia $7.38 $1.95 HRK 8.99/L 2008-05-23 2008-05-23 INA Unleaded 95 [4] Cyprus $6.18 $1.63 €1.04/L 2008-03-20 2008-04-22 for Unleaded 95[[5] Country/Territory ↓ US$/gal ↓ US$/L ↓ Local units ↓ As of ↓ Sources ↓ Denmark (Copenhagen) $8.14 $2.15[5] DKK10.76/L[6] 2008-04-21 2008-04-21 Egypt (Cairo) $1.23 $0.32[7][5] 2008-05-05 2008-05-05 [8] Eritrea $9.58[9] 2008-05-06 2008-05-06 Finland $8.91 $2.36 €1.50/L 2008-05-22 2008-05-22 [6] France $8.07[9] 2008-05-06 2008-05-06 Germany $8.91 $2.36 €1.50/L 2008-05-22 2008-05-22 [7] Country/Territory ↓ US$/gal ↓ US$/L ↓ Local units ↓ As of ↓ Sources ↓ Greece $4.93 $1.30 €1.24/L 2008-05-12 2008-05-12 Honduras $4.26 $1.07 Lps. 81.00/G 2008-05-26 2008-05-26 Hong Kong $7.56 $1.997 HK$15.54/L 2008-03-05 2008-04-12 Shell Hong Kong/[8] Hungary $7.51 $1.985 HUF 315/L 2008-05-15 2008-05-15 Iceland $8.06 $2.13 ISK 159.20/L 2008-05-27 2008-05-27 Olís/[9] India (Bangalore) $4.61 $1.22 INR 55.15/L 2006-10-13 2006-10-13 Indonesia $2.46 $0.65 IDR 6,000/L 2008-05-24 2008-05-24 Pertamina/[10] Country/Territory ↓ US$/gal ↓ US$/L ↓ Local units ↓ As of ↓ Sources ↓ Iran $0.41 $0.11 2007-06-01 2007-05-05 CNN Money/[11] Israel $7.20 $1.91 NIS 6.58/L 2008-05-01 2008-05-01 Israel Min. of National Infrastructures (Hebrew)[12] Italy $8.79 $2.32[5] €1.49/L[6] 2007-11-08 2008-05-18 Japan $5.83 $1.54 ¥160.1/L 2008-05-12 2008-05-12 The Oil Information Center Japan[13] Kuwait (Kuwait City) $0.78 $0.21 KWD 0.060/L (91 Octane) 0.065/L (95 Octane) 2006-04-13 2006-04-13 [14]/Kuwait Oil Company Country/Territory ↓ US$/gal ↓ US$/L ↓ Local units ↓ As of ↓ Sources ↓ Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) $2.01 $0.53 RM1.92/L 2006-02-13 2006-02-13 [15]/Google exchange calculator on 15 May 2006 Mexico (Mexico City) $2.36 $0.62 MX$6.80/L 2007-05-05 2007-05-05 Banco de Información Económica/[16] Monaco $8.31[9] 2008-05-06 2008-05-06 Netherlands $8.95 $2.36 €1.52/L 2008-04-28 2008-04-28 Shell/[17] New Zealand $7.79 $1.62 NZ$2.059/L 2008-05-27 2008-05-27 Pricewatch/fx.com on 2006-09-29 Country/Territory ↓ US$/gal ↓ US$/L ↓ Local units ↓ As of ↓ Sources ↓ Nigeria (Lagos) $0.38 $0.10 2005-03-13 2005-03-13 CNN Money/[18] North Korea $2.69 $0.71 101.139 KPW/L 2006-11 2006-11 2007 GTZ[19] Norway (Oslo) $9.71 $2.56 NOK 12.99/L 2008-04-14 2008-04-14 Shell/[20] Pakistan $4.01 $1.06 Rs 68.81/L 2008-05-04 2008-05-04 PSO/[21] Philippines (Manila) $3.54 $0.94 P 40.57/L 2007-09-17 2007-09-17 Shell Philippines/[22] Country/Territory ↓ US$/gal ↓ US$/L ↓ Local units ↓ As of ↓ Sources ↓ Portugal $8.90 [9] $2.35 €1.494/L (95 Octane) €1.634/L (98 Octane) 2008-05-26 2008-05-26 Mais Gasolina/[23] Qatar (Doha) $0.83 $0.22 QAR 0.75/L (97 Octane) QAR 0.67/L (90 Octane) 2007-09-17 2007-09-17 [24] / The General Secretariat for Development Planning - State of Qatar Romania (Bucharest) $6.46 $1.71 RON 3.8/L 2008-05-17 2008-04-15 [25] Russia (Moscow) $3.79 $1.00 RUR 23.82/L 2008-05-07 2008-05-07 [10] Country/Territory ↓ US$/gal ↓ US$/L ↓ Local units ↓ As of ↓ Sources ↓ Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) $0.45[8] $0.12 SAR 0.82/L (91 Octane) and SAR 1.02/L (95 Octane) 2007-05-16 2007-05-16 [11] Sierra Leone $18.42 $4.87 14400 Leones/L 2008-05-01 2008-05-01 [26] Singapore $5.19 $1.37 S$1.97/L 2008-01-02 2008-01-02 PetrolWatch/XE.com South Korea $6.25 $1.65 1,723.89 KRW/L 2006-11 2006-11 2007 GTZ[27] Sweden $8.72 $2.30 SEK 13.64/L 2008-05-22 2008-05-22 JET/ Country/Territory ↓ US$/gal ↓ US$/L ↓ Local units ↓ As of ↓ Sources ↓ Switzerland (Zurich) $6.24 $1.65 CHF 1.79/L 2007-12-19 2007-12-19 Thailand $4.47 $1.18 38.39 Baht/L 2008-05-15 2008-05-15 Ministry of Energy, Thailand/[28] Trinidad and Tobago $0.48 $3TTD/L 2008-05-26 2008-05-26 Turkey $10.13 $2.68 YTL 3.44/L 2008-04-22 2008-04-22 NTV/[29] Turkmenistan $0.29 $0.08 TMM 400/L 2006-11-25 2006-11-25 Turkmenistan.ru/[30] Country/Territory ↓ US$/gal ↓ US$/L ↓ Local units ↓ As of ↓ Sources ↓ UAE $1.70 $0.45 AED 6.25/gal (95 Octane) AED 6.75/gal (98 Octane) 2008-05-04 2008-05-04 [31]/Bahrain Tribune Ukraine $4.43 $1.17 UAH 5.9/L 2008-04-18 2008-04-18 United Kingdom $8.53 $2.26 £1.14/L 2008-05-22 2008-05-22 petrolprices.com/XE.comUnleaded price graph United States $3.93 $1.04 $3.93/gal 2008-05-18 2008-05-25 [12] Uruguay (Montevideo) $6 $1.6 U$ 32/L 2008-01-12 2008-01-12 Venezuela (Caracas) $0.17[8] $0.05 Bs. 97; BsF. 0.097 2008-01-12 2008-01-12

Re: PR car excise tax didn't bite me after all [joel0622]

by tonyv1 on Tue Sep 18 19:24:23 PDT 2007

Technically, I did buy two cars, a 2006 new? Kia Sedona LX for $24K on a car loan and a 2007 definitely new Caravan SXT for $20K cash. But I cancelled the Kia Sedona by falsely telling the Kia dealer my bank loan fell through. I had yet to take actual delivery of the Sedona although a mechanic did check it out for me at the dealership. So we had a verbal contract pending receipt of the loan paperwork, which I secretly cancelled with the bank when I saw the opportunity to get the Caravan online for $4K less. I jumped on it and held it with a credit card deposit. It wasn't ethical. The Kia dealer cursed me out, but I didn't feel bad because he had previously pulled a switch on me. He told me he would sell me a 2007 new Kia Sedona LX at $24K, and when I agreed, he "corrected" himself to say he only had a new 2006 Sedona LX. So you live by the lie, you die by the lie. I still don't understand why the Caravan dealer didn't charge the $6,200 excise tax on the new car, but that's the dealer's problem, not mine. It definitely came with the lifetime powertrain warranty in writing on the bill of sale. For an extra $300, the Caravan dealer even drove the new car, with new plates and registration in my name, over 100 miles from Bayamon to Ponce to have my mechanic check it out because it seemed too good a deal to be true. But it was. The odometer read 108 miles, so it is a new car and got a nice break in drive. My relative took the dealer to the local Banco Popular where I had wired enough funds for a cash deal. The Caravan is now in my new Puerto Rican home garage until I arrive next week. I also arranged online for full insurance coverage at a quarterly premium of $250 through Geico PR in case my new car gets stolen or damaged before I get down there. I have test driven the 2007 Caravans and TCs in NYC, so I know what I bought. If I do want to add adjustable pedals or other minor options, the Ponce Dodge dealer told me I could do it anytime and he had no qualms about honoring my warranty even though I bought from another dealer because I did give him the chance to match the $20K price and he simply could not. He actually told me I would be a fool to pass it up, but to make sure it wasn't a problem car, which my mechanic did certify to me in writing via email. As I wrote in my original post, I had wanted to wait for the 2008 TC LX or GC SXT, but the PR dealers were telling me the price was definitely going to be over $30K with the excise tax and they wouldn't even get inventory until next month, October, which in Puerto Rican time means "whenever." The classified ads there show dozens of 2006 models still being sold as new, so don't hold your breath waiting for 2008 models. I do prefer the squared front styling of the 2008 models than the 2007 egg-shape. I also gave up Stow N Go, but the Caravan SXT seats do pull out completely when I really need all that cargo space on rare occassion. So I decided to save over $10K and have a new car awaitng me while there was still 2007 new inventory on sale in the colors I wanted. End of story. :)

Re: Price of X3 [msaa]

by talyvan on Tue Apr 11 07:27:30 PDT 2006

If you're financing, yes that's a bit high, with your credit score, you should be shooting about 6%. Now, since the dealerships won't give you the APR you're looking for.. then shop around and get pre-approved. I've heard many good stories about Chase, Costco, Banco Popular, E-Loan, etc. The good thing about getting pre-approved is that they'll basically hand you a blank check that you can write up to the ammount you need. If you have a trade, you can still negotiate the trade side directly on the dealership (remember that the trade should be handled as a totally separate business) or just go to Carmax (if you have one available) and have your car appraised, don't sell the car on the spot, go with the appraisal back to the dealership and try to get at least a match of Carmax price, it'll be just another card under your sleeve to play. As far as hidden tricks, etc.. :) , there is none (as far as I know), everything is here, in Edmunds, Cars.com, Forums, etc.. I just compile information, have a clear understanding of what to expect and the difference I think, is that I'm not afraid or shy to ask what I want. You should have the control of the transaction, not the dealership, treat is as a game, demand your terms and in the worst case, nothing will happen (as long you don't sign anything). The best deal is not the least amount of money (that helps though), is just the comfort zone you feel, for the product and deal you get.