Peruzzi Toyota Product Blog

How many times have you come out of the grocery store or shopping mall and felt lost because you couldn’t find your certified used car in the sea of vehicles? I’ll admit it. This has happened to me many times. There is even a Seinfeld episode in which the gang spends the better part of a few hours trolling the parking garage in search of their vehicle. There are, however, some things you can do to prevent this from happening with your certified used cars in the future.

1. Look for recognizable structures or landmarks. One thing I do to keep track of my car in a busy parking lot is to look for something that sticks out. Parking next to the cart corral is one way to pick out your car. If you park along one of the edges of the lot, it’s easier to remember then, too.

2. Put a flag on the top of your antenna to spot it from afar. Also, add bumper stickers or decals so you can tell which one is your car since so may of them look alike these days.
3. Push your panic button. Most keyless remotes have a panic button that you can push to make your car’s horn start honking. If you listen closely, you can find your car quicker.

It would be a sad thing to lose your Toyota certified vehicle. Follow these tips and you will almost always know where it is at.

Peruzzi Toyota in participating in the Toyota Tundra Food Drive again this year. In a effort to help those less fortunate this holiday season, we will be collecting donations of canned, non-perishable food items through December 15th.  We invite anyone who would like to donate to stop by our showroom to drop off your canned goods.  Together We Can Make a Difference.

On Wednesday, we told you some tips on how to get the most money when selling your old car to put towards new pre-certified cars. Today, we have some more of those tips. Selling your old car isn’t always easy, but there are some things you can do to get top dollar which you can then put towards the pre-certified cars you have been looking at. Follow today’s and Wednesday’s tips and you should be just fine.

Sell the car yourself. Many people will hand over their car to a dealer and just take whatever money the dealer gets for it. However, you will certainly get more money through selling your car yourself in a private-party transaction. Dealers will take a percentage for their trouble, but selling it yourself gives you more control over the transaction and the actual negotiations.

Clean it. Taking a few minutes to wash the inside and outside of your vehicle will make it look more appealing to potential buyers. You can even spend a few bucks to have it professionally detailed and make it look even better. By doing this, you can jack up the price a few hundred bucks and probably get it!

Know the absolute lowest price. Never make the selling price the lowest price you’ll take. Leave some room for negotiations so the buyer can “talk you down” and you’ll still make a good profit. Know the least amount you’ll take and stick to it.

Once you’ve sold your car by following these tips, you can make your way to your local Toyota certified dealer and search the inventory of pre-certified cars!

Have you been wanting to sell your car so you can start looking for the certified pre-owned cars of your dreams? If so, selling your car can be a tricky process. You want to make sure you get as much money for it as you can but you also want to be sure you’re not charging too much for it so that nobody wants to buy it. Here are a few tips to remember when selling your car so you can start shopping through certified pre-owned cars now.

Know the value of your car. Realistically evaluate your car’s value with Kelley Blue Book or other resources. Make the sale price of your used car at or near the recommended resale value so you have some room to negotiate with potential buyers.

Sell it instead of trading it in. You can get more for your car to put towards the certified pre-owned cars that you are considering by doing a private sale. You will usually get less money for it if you trade it in.

Have the required paperwork. You’ll be able to get more money for your car if you have any repair records, registration documents and other important paperwork ready for potential buyers to look at. This way, they know the sale is legitimate.

Once you get your car sold, visit your local Toyota certified dealer and see the certified pre-owned cars they have available.

Peruzzi Toyota has just launched womensautoworld.com.  A female friendly site dedicated to our female customers.  WAW.com is going to be an ever expanding site to help serve our female customers better and to highlight events and activities in our community.  We have also joined Carsdiva.com and you can follow us on Twitter as well.  We would love to hear feedback or comments on WAW.com so make sure to let us know!! 

You can visit here, womensautoworld.com.

Financially speaking, times are tough. There’s no getting around that. That’s why you have to take special care of your certified used vehicle so it will last through these tough times and even longer. But what you don’t want to do is spend precious money on unnecessary repairs. Unfortunately, some mechanics will try to talk you into things you don’t need for your certified used car.

Consumer Reports recently did an investigation into several repair shops. What they found wasn’t pretty.

One repair shop technician tried to tell one investigator that his car needed hundreds of dollars of unnecessary repairs. The investigator knew he didn’t need those repairs. When he brought it to the service manager’s attention, the service manager told him he would not have authorized those repairs and they would not have been done. I’m not going to say he was a liar, but his pants were probably about to catch on fire.

Stories like this abound even for certified used vehicles. That’s why many car owners are so hesitant about going to mechanics. The best thing to do is to ask a friend or family member that knows something about cars before you agree to any repairs. In addition, get a second opinion and do some things yourself. You don’t need to pay a high-priced mechanic to replace a brake light for you since it’s so easy to do yourself. Also, you can visit your Toyota certified dealer for trustworthy and honest mechanics. Either way, be sure you take care of your certified used vehicle and you will enjoy it for many years to come.

As promised on Wednesday, we are going to give you some more tips on how to spot a lemon before you spend your hard-earned money on a car. But like we also said on Wednesday, investing in new or pre-certified cars is the ideal way to avoid getting a lemon. Just keep that in mind as you read these tips.

4. Get inside the vehicle. The wear and tear on the inside should give you an indication about how well the car was taken care of before it hit the used car dealer’s lot. Worn pedals, cigarette burns in the seat and a sagging headliner are all clues that the previous owner didn’t really care for the car.

5. Look under the hood. If you’re like me, you have no idea what to look for when you’re looking under the hood. But I’ve learned. Look for rust, corrosion and other signs of a car that has seen better days. Also, check the oil, coolant and transmission fluid to see if it looks healthy while you’re at it.

6. Check the steering. With the engine on, turn the steering wheel to see if it is tight. If there is too much slack or “play” when turning the wheel, the steering system could be worn or on the verge of needing repairs. When driving straight, the car should not veer either way, too.

7. Notice the smoke from the tailpipe. After the car has warmed up, make sure there is no discolored smoke coming out of the tailpipe. Black smoke usually means something minor like a dirty air filter or oxygen sensor. Blue smoke means the car is burning oil, which could cost hundreds or thousands of dollars to fix. White smoke also means engine problems that should deter you from buying the car.

You can forget about checking all of this when you invest in a car at your local Toyota certified dealer. Their pre-certified cars are ready to go without any problems…and they come with a warranty that will fix almost anything that goes wrong.

Buying certified pre-owned cars is an ideal way to avoid getting stuck with a lemon. Few things are as frustrating as investing your money in a used car and having the same problem with it over and over again. But with certified pre-owned cars, you don’t have to worry about that happening. Unfortunately, some people still buy used cars and suffer from choosing a lemon. Here are some ways to spot a lemon so you can still get a good used car without all the problems.
1. Research the various types of cars you are interested in first. With some homework, you can find out if certain models have had problems with some things or if the manufacturer has issued recalls for some models. You can read reviews online to get an idea of potential problems with a given vehicle. This will give you a good idea if a car is going to be a lemon or not.

2. See the sticker before you peel it off. Every used car for sale at a dealer has to have a sticker in the window that shows if it has a warranty or if it is being sold “as is.” The latter tends to have more problems with less protection for the buyer so heed the adage – “buyer beware.”

3. Take a gander at the exterior. The outside of a vehicle can be a good hint if it was in any accidents or collisions. Look for rust spots or areas where the paint is discolored. Vehicles that were fixed up after an accident tend to have more problems than cars that were never in a collision.

We’ll have more tips for you on Friday. Until then, forget about the worry of getting a lemon and invest in a Toyota certified near Newton Square. You’ll sleep better at night knowing you can drive your certified pre-owned car worry-free.

Keeping your certified used cars in good condition is ideal if you want them to last for many years. But did you know maintaining your certified used cars is also beneficial for the environment? It’s true. Following are some of the maintenance procedures you can do to make sure your certified used cars are running smoothly and as efficiently as possible.

Change the air filter. The air filter on your certified used cars is an important part. It might not seem like it when you see it, but it can affect your gas mileage by up to 10 percent. If you do a lot of stop-and-go driving, your air filter clogs faster and should be changed more often. Otherwise, check your car’s owner’s manual for recommended intervals.

Keep the cooling system cool. You can do this by doing a “flush and fill” according to manufacturer specifications. This is usually an inexpensive procedure that can keep your car running cool and efficiently. The hotter the engine gets, the harder it has to work, making it less efficient with fuel. Also, make sure there is always an ample amount of coolant in the reservoir so your engine doesn’t overheat.

Change your spark plugs. Bad spark plugs can make your certified used cars misfire and use more fuel. In fact, misfiring spark plugs can negatively affect your fuel economy by about 30 percent. Follow the guidelines in your owner’s manual for recommended intervals to change spark plugs.

Follow these simple guidelines for your Toyota certified vehicles and you’ll get years of enjoyment out of it!

Pre-certified cars need just as much attention and care as any other car. But with today’s economy and high gas prices (although they are starting to decline), many owners of pre-certified cars are putting off regular maintenance procedures to save money. Unfortunately, this can cause problems that will cost more in the long run.

This article is about that very thing. Donna Wright, a car owner in Hinckley, New York, is one of those people that is putting off regularly scheduled maintenance. She said she has had to wait on an oil change and a tire rotation so she can afford to pay her heating bill and her medicine for the month.

One car analyst said that most people just look at their car as a means of getting from one place to another. As a result, they generally don’t look at the cost of maintaining used, new or even pre-certified cars until they actually break down. “Sometimes, it’s not what happens now, but it’s what happens in the very near future, and a lot of times people don’t look at what can happen without the routine maintenance,” he explained.

If you own a Toyota certified vehicle, be sure to get the regular maintenance done when it is recommended. That’s the best way to keep your car in tip-top shape for many years to come.