Tomorrow the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) will be unveiling its new system which will allow consumers to get information on the history of a used car.

The system, called the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System (NVTIS) will be accessible to the public tomorrow and will allow prospective used car buyers to access the history of a car including its odometer data and title record if available.

Currently 27 states participate in the program with another 10 working towards participation according to the DoJ.

The NVTIS says there are about 300 million vehicle identification numbers in the system with 27 states currently participating in the program with another 10 working towards participation. About 75 percent of all vehicles in the country are accounted for.

The states that are not releasing data to the system have cited privacy laws for their lack of participation.

Rosemary Shahan, president of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) said the NVTIS system is a first step.

“We’re not at the end of the road,” she told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “But we have gotten over some huge roadblocks.”

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A struggling economy is having many local communities come up with creative ways to increase their budgets, and for many that means having police issue more traffic tickets.

According to Car and Driver magazine, 11 municipalities in the Detroit area have seen the number of tickets issued increase by 90 percent or more since 2002.

While most law enforcement would say that the issuing of tickets is not a way to make money for a community, James Tignanelli, president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan says that’s just not that case.

“A lot of police chiefs will tell you the goal is to have nobody speeding through their community, but heaven forbid if it should actually happen – they’d be out of money,” Tignanelli told the magazine.

But the increase in police issuing moving violations is not limited to Michigan.

Even in the tiny state of Connecticut, police issued 10,500 more tickets in 2008 than the previous year – meaning $327,000 more for the state, according to the Republican American.

But unlike Tignanelli, Connecticut says there is no connection between the state of the economy and the increase in tickets.

“There is no relation at all,” state police spokesperson Lieutenant J. Paul Vance told the newspaper.

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In an effort to ease some budget problems in the state, New Mexico is planning to target people who attempt to avoid paying taxes on the sale of their used car.

New Mexico imposes a 3 percent tax on the sale of used cars, but to avoid that cost, some buyers writer a lower purchaser price on the car’s title when they take it to the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) for registration.

To fight this, New Mexico authorities will compare the purchase price with the vehicle with the “average trade-in” value set by the National Automotive Dealers Association, according to the Associated Press.

“This is a way to make sure everybody is paying their fair share,” Taxation and Revenue Secretary Rick Homans told the news provider.

The MVD expects to take in $6 million this year and another $12 million next year by verifying the prices.

In a similar effort, the IRS over the last few years has stiffened laws to make sure donated vehicles are actually worth the amount claimed in tax forms.

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Having a tricked-out car with 20 inch rims and expensive audio equipment attracts attention, but according to many insurance companies it’s the wrong kind of attention, making it less likely to get coverage.

According to Insure.com, because the equipment in many of these used cars is worth more than the purchase price of the vehicle and because owners of these cars are often thought to drive recklessly, even if they can get insurance it’s going to cost quite a bit of money.

As an example, the company uses a 1993 Toyota Supra, which was purchased for $7,000. After adding a 600 horsepower engine, custom paint job, $30,000 in stereo components and other various modifications it’s likely the total price can be somewhere near $130,000.

“Your estimated annual premium would be $2,000 to $2,500,” says the company. “and that’s assuming you have a clean driving record.”

That’s also assuming you can get coverage at all. Jim Kreisman, owner of Insurance Agency Inc., says he’s probably not going to insure a car like that.

“We’ll insure Ferraris and Bentleys, but souped-up cars? We won’t [insure] them. They are too high risk,” he says.

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Although many people say 2009 is a good time to buy a used car especially in the down economy, looking for a used car can be slightly more difficult as prices and conditions can range. But U.S. News and World Report have listed some tips that every used car buyer should know.

One of the things the magazine wants people to know is that there are deals to be had on used cars, they’re just not as publicized as new car deals. This can make the already less expensive purchase even cheaper.

It’s also sometimes possible to get a used car with some of the original warranty still intact.

“A risk you take when buying a used car is that someone else has owned the car, and you don’t know how they cared for it,” says the magazine. “Look at a used car’s warranty as closely as you look at the car itself. Know how many miles or years are left on it, and see if any aftermarket modifications the previous owner made could have voided the warranty.”

Another good idea for used car shoppers is to do some research on the internet before deciding on a purchase. A recent survey from Carfax found that 75 percent of buyers were influenced by the company’s vehicle history report.

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While news on the economic situation continues to be bleak, new figures show that people in the market for a used car will get a lot more for their money.

According to the National Automotive Dealers Association (NADA), prices on used cars fell in every market during 2008, and prices this year are likely to follow economic circumstances said Terrence W. Wynne, director of editorial services for NADA Used Car Guide

“The past year was characterized by extreme volatility in used-vehicle prices and economic uncertainty,” Wynne said. “The degree and direction of price movements will be influenced by how the economy and this industry perform.”

It is also expected that gas prices will heavily influence the prices of used vehicles, especially truck and SUVs.

It appears that while cars have seen their prices drop significantly in the past few months, larger vehicles have actually increased in price.

In an example of the fluctuation, Automotive News says a 2007 Toyota Corolla LE which was selling for $12,700 in October is now going for $10,000 while a 2007 Chevy Suburban LS that was $21,725 three months ago is now slightly higher at $22,200.

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Last week it was announced that a Massachusetts company would be bringing a flying car to market in 2010, but a German man who drove his car into a church roof obviously couldn’t wait that long.

At about 11pm, the 23-year-old driver in eastern Germany, about 2 hours south of Berlin, missed a turn while driving his Skoda Octavia and hit an embankment, sending the car 115 feet in the air and landing on the Lutheran church’s roof about 23 feet in the air.

Police said the embankment acted as a ski jump, sending the driver flying almost 40 yards through the air.

“We’ve never ever had a case of a car landing in a church before,” said Frank Fischer, a spokesman for Chemnitz police in the state of Saxony.

Police estimated the damage to the car totaled about 10,000 euros ($13,000) but an estimate for the damage to the church had yet to be determined.

A crane needed to be brought in to remove both the car and the driver from the roof. The driver was taken to the hospital for injuries which police said were not life threatening.

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In what should be good news to most drivers in areas where speed cameras exist, an Arizona county has decided to stop using the devices saying they “failed miserably.”

Saying the fines issued using the cameras only resulted in a “paltry” profit and citing a 16 percent increase in accidents during the use of the cameras, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said the county was shelving the program even before the contract is up next month.

“I’m against photo speed enforcement completely,” Babeu told Pinal County supervisors this week according to the Arizona Republic.

The paper says that the county’s contract with the company that operates the cameras does not expire until February 20th, but the vans that hold the cameras have not been used since Babeu took office on January 1st.

But for Arizona drivers who hate seeing cameras on the road, the joy in the speed cameras’ failure might be short lived. The Arizona Republic says the sheriff is looking into the possibility of installing red-light cameras in the county.

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It seems that used car buyers are more internet savvy than ever with a reported 75 percent of website walk-in shoppers saying a Carfax report influenced their purchase.

Cars.com and Carfax renewed their partnership earlier this week which will allow users to view Carfax reports directly from the Cars.com website.

Carfax communications director Larry Gamache says the relationship is beneficial as more and more people go to the web as their first place to research a car purchase.

“More used car shoppers than ever start their search on the Internet,” said Gamache. “Online shoppers can evaluate hundreds of cars at multiple dealer locations. Continuing our partnership with Cars.com ensures that our dealer customers have the necessary resources to turn more online shoppers into in-store buyers.”

By typing in the vehicle identification number of a car a driver is thinking of purchasing, a user can get a full history of the car in question which can help them determine if the car is a good purchase or not.

Cars.com says it has been offering the Carfax report free of change since 2005.

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There are a number of reasons to consider buying a used car instead of a new one, with the primary reason for most people being price. But if one of your major motivations is the environment, then a used car could be more environmentally friendly.

Even when taking fuel efficiency into account, it is probably better for the environment for someone to buy used.

According to the Hartford Courant, from a “green” perspective, it’s better to drive an older, well-maintained car that gets 25 miles per gallon than to buy a new car that gets 35 miles per gallon.

“And don’t forget that the new hybrids – despite lower emissions and better gas mileage – actually have a much larger environmental impact in their manufacture, compared with non-hybrids,” says the paper.

The paper says that while it may seem better for the environment to buy a new hybrid, the batteries used to store energy are not environmentally friendly, and the manufacturing emissions to create the car are higher.

If it is absolutely necessary to get rid of a car because of its lack of fuel efficiency, the paper suggests turning a gas-guzzler in for a used car with better gas mileage.

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