It?s week 7 of the Redskins Rides segment presented by the Washington Redskins along with Easterns Automotive Group (Eastern Motors). For this segment, Easterns recruited Dustin Hopkins who is a placebacker for the Redskins. Hopkins? drive both on and off the field made him a perfect fit for the role. The special candidate for this edition of Redskins Rides is Dr. Hardnett, the owner of Effective Integrative Healthcare in Maryland. Hopkins met up with Dr. Hardnett at Redskins Park in Ashburn, Virginia. Dr. Hardnett is the proud owner of a white 2013 Ferrari 458 Spider with bronze colored wheels and a beautiful burgundy interior is identical to the Redskins color. He traded in his Bentley Continental GT Coupe that was formerly owned by the late, great Sean Taylor. Dr. Hardnett also got rid of his original dream car which is the Nissan GTR in order to get the amazing Ferrari 458 that he owns today. This is truly a Redskins Ride because the color of the interior is identical to the color of the Redskins jerseys. Dr. Hardnett has clearly been a Redskins fan for years and it?s quite evident by not only his knowledge of cars but his attire while he?s on the field with Hopkins. You will definitely double take when you see this quick Ferrari speeding by. We would like to thank Dr. Hardnett for not only his time but for showing off and sharing his amazing vehicle with us. It?s amazing to meet our supports and give them an opportunity as well as a platform to showcase their amazing vehicles. Stay tuned for more Redskins Rides!
Monthly Archives: September 2017
Bill and Debbie show off their 1920?s Ford Model T Speedster to Chris Thompson of the Washington Football Team
We?re back again for week 6 of the Redskins Rides segment presented by Easterns Automotive Group along with the Washington Redskins. This week?s segment was conducted by Chris Thompson who a running back for the Redskins. He had the pleasure of speaking with Bill and Debbie who own a 1923 Ford Model T Speedster. Anyone that knows anything about cars knows how special and significant that the Model T is to the automotive world. The Ford Model T was named the most influential car of the 29th century in the 1999 Car of the Century competition. Bill and Debbie have a cream colored Model T that is in immaculate condition. The car only has three pedals for going forward, reverse, and breaking. It is gravity fed meaning that pressure riser only has to be used going up a hill. The pressure riser is what forces the fuel to the carburetor. These two have such a unique vehicle because it definitely is something that you don?t see on the road every day. It fits the definition of an antique car perfectly and will definitely make you turn your head when you see it. We would like to thank both Bill and Debbie for sharing their special ride with us. Please stay tuned for more Redskins Rides!
Buying New vs Used Car | Buy New or Used Vehicle
Compare Buying New Car and Buying Used Car
People from all across the world share the same struggle when it comes to deciding to buy a new or used car. Everyone has their own reason and opinion as to which option is better for their situation. While both options have pros and cons, the choice itself is really subjective. It really depends on that particular person?s finances and what exactly they are looking to get out of a vehicle. The best choices are made when you weigh out the pros and cans to see which option will accommodate your lifestyle.
Purchasing a used car is clearly the cheaper option but there are also advantages to buying used. When you purchase a used car, your insurance rate is going to be cheaper. According to Nerd Wallet, this is because a vehicle costs less to insure when it is worth less. The prices of used cars are tremendously lower than buying new due to depreciation. For example, you may be able to buy a used Mercedes-Benz for the price of a brand new Chrysler. It really depends on what you want as a customer. Many times people say that used cars aren?t reliable that is the furthest thing from the truth. Reliability of a used car truly depends on the mileage and how well the last owner took care of the vehicle. Cars these days typically reach over 100,000 miles before needing major repairs. The major factor is the basic maintenance such as oil changes, brakes, and tire rotation. These visits are good because mechanics can also check for other issues and to see if anything strikes them as alarming. Think of an oil change as a check-up at the doctor. It?s needed to make sure everything is running smoothly. A major disadvantage to buying used is that there is usually no warranty due to the factory warranty running out. This means that any and all repairs are on you as a customer. It is recommended to get any used car checked out by a mechanic before purchasing. Mechanics will check overall vehicle condition and look for potential problems that could cost you in the long run.
In the perfect world, everyone wants to purchase a brand new car. There are several advantages to buying new such as the latest technology and safety features. Technology is changing so fast that a car even 1 or 2 years old won?t have the same features as a brand new car. Car manufactures also constantly try to improve the fuel efficiency in their vehicles. The same vehicle may now have 10 more miles per gallon than it did in the previous years. Fuel efficiency is important because customers want to save money at the pump. There is a peace of mind that customers have knowing that their new vehicle doesn?t have any wear and tear or prior unresolved issues. New vehicles come standard with a factory warranty which covers at least the first three years or 36,000 miles. U.S. News made a great point in that buying a new car is easier than buying used. This is very true because any dealership is bound to have an entire inventory of new cars with different models and colors for all different price ranges. People love having the most options possible. Car manufactures are quite aware of this and always advertise finance and lease deals and incentives new vehicles. These are deals that won?t be found on a used vehicle.
Many customers decision to purchase new or used falls somewhere in between the two. At Easterns Automotive Group, we understand the needs of our customers. Easterns has 5 locations and has served the Maryland, DC, and Virginia communities for over 30 years and has sold over 100,000 certified used vehicles. These cars are relatively new cars with low mileage that have been handpicked by professionals. Every Easterns vehicle has passed a rigorous multi-point certification check so you can buy with confidence. Our vast inventory includes over 1000 cars with clean CarFax reports and one owner vehicles. Customers can experience the feel of a newer car without exactly paying the price of a brand new car. We have a friendly customer care staff that handles any pre or post sales questions that you may have, and that is why Easterns has over a 97% approval rating. You can get pre approved for finance right from your own home. We invite you to come into an Easterns store, call, or chat online today and experience firsthand what we mean by the Easterns difference!
Lease or Buy a Car | Leasing VS Buying
Lease or Buy a Car | Leasing VS Buying
When purchasing a used car, a customer is given two options in terms of financing the vehicle. Car dealers give people the option to either lease or buy the vehicle. The outcome for both is the same in the sense that the customer will still get to drive a brand new car. However, buying and leasing in itself are the total opposite of each other. Most people have their own personal reasons as to why they choose to buy or lease.
When you lease a vehicle, you only end up paying a portion of the vehicle?s total cost. That ?portion? is the difference between the selling price of the vehicle and the residual value of the car. The residual value is the estimated value of vehicle at the end of term of the lease and is set by the lender. It?s very similar to renting a car but instead you can select a lease term that works for you. The lease term is the number of months that the car will be driven. Lease terms start at 24 months and can go all the way up to 84 months. According to Consumer Reports, there are a variety of up-front costs associated with leasing a vehicle including various fees, security deposit, and a down payment. Most people that choose to lease do it because there is typically a lower monthly payment than buying a vehicle. The longer terms come with a higher interest rate but the money is stretched out over a longer period of time which makes the payments cheaper. A newly leased vehicle typically comes with a full warranty as well as free maintenance during the term. A huge factor when considering leasing is how much driving you are doing. Leasing is definitely not for the person that drives long distances each and every day. This is because there are mileage limits when in a lease. Car dealers give people a limit between 10,000-15,000 miles to drive per year. There are fees associated when going over the mileage limit. Car dealers give customers a chance to finance the balance of the current vehicle, pay for it cash, or lease/buy something new. Leased cars are most always in stable condition because customers are aware that they will be responsible for any excessive wear and tear on the vehicle.
There are definitely more factors to think about when it comes to buying a vehicle. When you buy a vehicle, it is yours as long as you make the monthly payments. People love the freedom of buying because not only do you own the vehicle for life but you can sell or trade in at any given time with out fees. However, a car?s value depreciates at a different rate than the total amout of the loan paid off, this what the car business refers to as an Equity position. A buyer can be in a positive equity position, meaning the amount the vehicle is worth is greater than the amount owed on the loan of a vehicle, or a negative equity position, meaning the amount owed on the vehicle is greater than the vehicle is worth. The best way to get out of negative equiy position is to continue making payments on the loan. It?s important to keep your vehicle in the best possible condition to maximize the selling price. Unlike a lease, there are no rules and regulations when it comes to vehicle mileage. A vehicle with higher mileage has a lower resale price so you may want to think twice about those long distance rides. A new car typically has a factory warranty for the first few years. Once it expires, the owner of the vehicle is responsible for all repair costs.
It really comes down to a person?s financial situation and how much they can and are willing to spend. When you lease, you are always going to have a monthly payment on a car that you don?t even own. The plus side is that you will always be in a new vehicle and won?t have to worry about the costs of maintenance and repairs. When you buy, your monthly payments will be higher but the car will be yours if you plan to pay it off. Most people enjoy having the freedom of owning a vehicle and being able to do what they want with it after it is paid off. Ultimately, it depends on someone?s priorities and their goals financially.
Easterns offers both purchasing and leasing and you can buy or lease with confidence. Easterns Automotive Group has served the Maryland, DC, and Virginia communities for over 30 years and has sold over 100,000 certified used vehicles. Easterns has 5 convenient locations around the DMV area, and every Easterns vehicle has passed a rigorous multi-point certification check so you can buy with confidence. Search our vast inventory of over 1000 cars filled with clean CarFax reports and one owner vehicles. Our friendly customer care staff handles any pre or post sale questions you may have, and that is why Easterns has over a 97% customer approval rating. We invite you to come into an Easterns store, call, or chat online today and experience firsthand what we mean by the Easterns difference! Check out our inventory, see our locations and submit a finance application from home that only takes a few minutes!
Andrew, Mary, and Kris off their Batman-themed Chevy Camero and Harley-Davidson Sportster to Ryan Kerrigan of the Washington Football Team
Hello, beautiful people! We?ve come to deliver a brand new Redskins Rides segment presented by Easterns Automotive Group along with the Washington Redskins. This week?s segment is different than the others in that we have not just one ride but two. Ryan Kerrigan of the Washington Redskins met up with Andrew and his Bat Ladies (Mary & Kris) at Redskins Park to discuss his custom Batman-themed rides. Andrew has loved Batman since him and his wife got married over 40 years ago and he carried her around the house in a Batman costume. His love for Batman led to him and his sons opening a business called Batman Handyman Service in Loudoun County, Virginia. The women with Andrew in the video are his secretaries, Mary and Kris. These two are known as the Bat Ladies whenever they accompany Andrew. The Chevy Camaro ZL1 is complete with a 6.2L V8 engine and 650 horsepower. This ride is murdered out with a custom black paint job with burgundy accents, black wheels, and super dark tint. If there is any car that resembles the Batmobile, this is the one. The small details are what really make this car special such as the Batman art work, Batman logo headrest, and the memorabilia. Andrew also owns a custom Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle that he calls his ?Batbike?. It is all black just like the Camaro with a splash of burgundy trim. Andrew even has a Batman helmet. It doesn?t get any more awesome than that! We would like to thank Andrew for sharing not only his two Redskins Rides with us but also his love for Batman. Stay tuned for more Redskins Rides!
Dodge Charger, F-250 Popular With Car Thieves
The most theft-prone vehicle in America might be the Dodge Charger. Or it might be the Ford F-250 pickup truck.
Those are the contradictory conclusions of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the insurance industry-funded Highway Loss Data Institute.
Still, the government agency and private group agree that the theft of late-model vehicles is on a rapid decline in the United States. One reason: automakers’ increasing use of ignition immobilizers, which stop thieves from hot-wiring cars. Nearly 90 percent of 2012 models are equipped with them.
In a report released on Monday, NHTSA said the car stolen most often during the 2011 calendar year was the Charger, with 4.8 thefts for every 1,000 cars produced in 2011. It was followed by the Mitsubishi Galant, Hyundai Accent, Chevrolet Impala and Chevrolet HHR among vehicles with more than 5,000 units produced that year.
Pickup trucks took the top five places in dueling rankings released today by HLDI, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In first place was the Ford F-250 crew-cab with four-wheel drive, followed by the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Chevrolet Avalanche 1500, GMC Sierra 1500 crew, and Ford F-350 crew with four-wheel drive. The rankings cover model years 2010 to 2012.
The Cadillac Escalade, long the most theft-prone vehicle according to HLDI, dropped to sixth place after GM reworked the SUV to thwart thieves.
“General Motors has put a lot of effort into new antitheft technology, so that may help explain the decline,” Matt Moore, vice president of the group, said in a statement.
Different methodology
The two reports produced separate results because of differences in methodology, Moore said during an interview. His group bases its rankings on a database of insurance claims, while NHTSA counts thefts reported to police.
Moore said large pickup trucks are also particularly prone to theft claims because owners can recoup the cost of equipment stolen from the flatbed.
Still, the two groups can agree on some of their findings — including that the Charger is stolen more frequently than most vehicles. While the muscle car did not make the top 10 most stolen models according to HLDI, the group found that it had 3.5 theft claims per 1,000 years of insurance coverage, or triple the average model.
Experts are not exactly sure what makes the Charger so popular with thieves, although the car’s ample horsepower might be part of the equation.
“If I were a thief I might be able to answer that better,” Moore said during a phone interview. “They’re powerful vehicles,” he added.
NHTSA says its preliminary data show that model-year 2011 vehicles were stolen that calendar year at rates 91 percent lower than the year before.
Steep decline?
In 2011, there were only 0.1 thefts for every thousand vehicles produced, down from 1.17 thefts per thousand cars in 2010. To compile the report, which contains statistics from 226 vehicle lines, NHTSA compared vehicle theft data from the FBI’s National Crime Information Center with production data reported to the EPA.
NHTSA says its latest findings mark a record decline in the theft rate. NHTSA data show that the nation’s vehicle theft rate has declined by an average of 13 percent each year since 2006, which was the last time the rate increased.
Terri Miller, executive director of Help Eliminate Auto Thefts, or H.E.A.T., a public-private partnership dedicated to the prevention of vehicle theft, was skeptical of NHTSA’s conclusion.
She said auto theft is dropping, but she would be surprised if it is happening as quickly as the report indicates.
“It seems like a very dramatic decrease,” Miller said.
BMW extends global sales lead over Audi, Mercedes in June
Global sales of BMW Group’s core brand rose faster in June than at Audi and Mercedes-Benz as demand from China and the United States helped the premium carmaker to extend a lead over the two rivals in the first six months of the year.
Sales at the brand were up 9 percent last month to 153,075, the group said today, compared with growth of 5 percent to 140,300 and 8 percent to 131,609 at Audi and Mercedes respectively.
Six-month sales at BMW brand rose 8 percent to 804,000 cars, expanding the lead over runner-up Audi to 24,000 from 11,000 after five months. Half-year sales at Audi and Mercedes rose 6 percent each to 780,500 and 694,000 respectively.
“BMW has stronger momentum than Audi and Mercedes, that won’t change in the second half,” said Hanover-based NordLB analyst Frank Schwope. “Design of their cars has improved and they’re ahead on fuel-saving technologies.”
Tesla to join Nasdaq 100 as Oracle defects to NYSE
Tesla Motors Inc., the world’s best-performing automotive stock this year, will join the Nasdaq-100 Index next week, filling the spot vacated by Oracle Corp., which is moving to the New York Stock Exchange.
The electric-car maker will be added to the gauge, which tracks the biggest companies on the Nasdaq, before the start of trading on July 15, Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. said in a statement Monday. Oracle, which last month said it will join the NYSE, is the biggest company to jump between the competing exchanges.
Shares of Tesla, the carmaker headed by billionaire Elon Musk, have more than tripled this year as the popularity of its new Model S sedan helped the company turn its first quarterly profit. Gaining entry to benchmarks tracked by investors is attractive to public companies because it provides a guaranteed shareholder base.
“It’s a coming of age, recognition that a company has market
Toyota Camry, Honda Civic inventories rise, report says
The Toyota Camry and the Honda Civic, the top-selling mid-size and compact cars in the U.S., face risks of reduced production as inventories of the models rise, an RBC Capital Markets report said.
Toyota’s Camry exceeded its seasonal historical average inventory by more than 15 days supply in June and Honda carried about 25 days more Civics than usual, Joseph Spak, a New York-based analyst for RBC, said in today’s report. Camry and Civic were the only models identified as at risk for reduced output among 16 of the top-selling vehicles in the U.S. market. General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC all added U.S. market share in the first six months of 2013, the first time that all three gained first-half share in 20 years. Models such as GM’s Chevrolet Cruze compact and Ford’s Fusion mid-size sedan, leading Detroit’s most competitive set of passenger cars in
Fiat exercises option to buy additional 3.3% of Chrysler shares
Fiat today exercised an option to raise its stake in Chrysler by 3.3 percent.
The move is part of CEO Sergio Marchionne’s step-by-step purchases intended to lead to full control of Chrysler and the creation of a merged company that would be able to compete better with industry leaders Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen.
Fiat has been exercising options since mid-2012 to buy holdings of about 3.3 percent from the VEBA, a medical-benefits trust for the U.S. carmaker’s retirees.
Including today’s purchase, Fiat has exercised three of its six-monthly options, increasing its stake to 68.49 percent.
Fiat has said it wants full control of Chrysler, which would give it access to some of Chrysler’s cash flow for investments in new models.
Chrysler has become Fiat’s most reliable profit generator as the Italian company struggles to end losses in Europe that totaled 704 million euros ($903 million) in 2012 amid a