Car buyers can be extended too far in many cities

A new study shows that the average household in 24 of the 25 largest cities in America cannot afford to pay for the average price of a new car or truck.

"Just because you don't manage the monthly payment means that you have a drive with $30,000 or consume such a huge percentage of your salary, $40,000 should be", said Mike Sante, editor-in-Chief of Interest.com. "Many people give money for a car payment that could save her."

For the second year in a row, Interest.com calculates how much the average household in America's largest metro areas could issue monthly car payments and afford car insurance.

Once again leader: in Washington, D.C. with the median budget will bring a maximum monthly payment of $641.

The study showed that Tampa and Miami are the only two cities where car affordability decreased in the past year.

The biggest jump has been in San Antonio, where affordability by 7 per cent to the previous year compared.

Interest.com makes 20 percent down assuming their calculations of the buyer and take a 48-month car loan.

Top 5 metro areas for car affordability

1 Washington, D.C.

($32.531 affordable purchase price / $641 maximum monthly payment)

(2) San Francisco

($28.009 affordable purchase price / $563 maximum monthly payment)

3. Boston

($26.669 affordable purchase price / $520 maximum monthly payment)

4. Minneapolis

($24.846 affordable purchase price / $494 maximum monthly payment)

(5) Baltimore

($24.591 affordable purchase price / $479 maximum monthly payment)

Buyers overwhelmed

With the average price at the dealers for a new car now topping $32,000 paid says Interest.com, that many households in America cannot afford major metropolitan areas, to as much as they spend on new cars and trucks.

"I'm worried that the average purchase price is so much higher than the average income of the families," said Sante. "Clearly, not many people have a plan for how much they can spend and can afford."

The truth is only a few car buyers, the 20 percent down when they buy a new vehicle, and according to Experian Automotive only 4.7 percent of all new cars car were loans in the fourth quarter of last year, 37-48 months. A record 20.1 percent of car loans could be compared between six and seven years according to Experian.

The rising popularity of longer car loans is due to new car buyers who are looking to keep their monthly payments as low as possible.

"You should borrow no more than 48 months or you end up going to pay for a new car for ever," said Sante.

Cities with the lowest affordability

21 Phoenix

($18.199 affordable purchase price / $364 maximum monthly payment)

22 Pittsburgh

($17.965 affordable purchase price / $354 maximum monthly payment)

23 Detroit

($17.352 affordable purchase price / $338 maximum monthly payment)

24 Miami

($15.174 affordable purchase price / $299 maximum monthly payment)

25 Tampa

($14.209 affordable purchase price / $280 maximum monthly payment)

20.04.10 rule

Sante believes more American households would need to save more money or something else to spend, if they the "20.04.10 rule" followed

20 percent down.

Take a car loan no longer than 4 years.

Make sure that you spend no more than 10 percent your monthly gross salary for a car payment and auto insurance.

"She really a battle plan should, when starting a new car or truck, to buy" Sante said. "If you could you not spending more than you can afford really can be found."

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The most traffic-jammed cities in America

The good news for commuters is that traffic congestion in the U.S. decreased by an average of 30 percent last year, according to the annual National Traffic Scorecard conducted by traffic and navigation service provider INRIX in Kirkland, Wash. The bad news is that motorists in some of America’s largest cities wasted nearly 60 hours of their lives during 2011 sitting in rush-hour jams, versus driving at times when the roads were clear.

This represents the biggest drop in road congestion since 2008 when gridlock dipped by 34 percent, due largely to the nation’s precipitous financial free-fall. Over 1,400 miles of America’s major corridors suffered congestion last year, which is down from 2,300 miles in 2010. INRIX likewise attributes last year’s easing traffic conditions to the still-sputtering economy.

“The recovery on Wall Street has not yet arrived on Main Street, which means Americans are driving less and spending less,” says Jim Bak, co-author of the National Traffic Scorecard. “What these results suggest is a ‘stop n’ go economy’ where a lack of employment combined with high fuel prices is keeping Americans off the roads.”

While it ranks as the 53rd most populous city in the U.S., Honolulu tops the INRIX rankings as having the nation’s most congested traffic corridors. The study estimates that commuters in Hawaii’s largest city waste an average of 58 hours a year during peak travel times, versus the time that would have been spent on the road had there been no congestion. That’s the equivalent of burning more than seven vacation days annually while sitting behind the wheel.

The associated slide show lists the 10 cities in America having the worst traffic jams and details the average amount of time lost forever while stuck in traffic (compared to driving when cars are at their normal pace). Surprisingly, New York City was ranked “only” fourth in the survey, with Los Angeles, San Francisco and Bridgeport, Conn. rounding up the top five cities for traffic congestion.

Nationwide, the INRIX study found that commuters on the road during peak driving times in the 100 largest cities took seven percent longer to reach their destinations than if traffic was moving freely. That figure was pegged at 9.7 percent in 2010 and is 50 percent less than the all-time-high of a 13.3-minute delay measured back in 2007, when the economy was riding high and gas prices averaged $2.80 a gallon. Cities with higher-than-average job growth like Miami, Tampa, Houston and Atlanta experienced some of the biggest increases in traffic jams, while areas that experienced the largest relative drops in congestion were subjected to the highest average gasoline prices (at their April 2011 peak) including Los Angeles ($4.25), Seattle ($4.03), San Francisco ($4.25) and Honolulu ($4.48).

For those keeping score, and/or noting when to take public transportation instead, the most gridlocked morning commute hour was determined to occur on Tuesdays at 8:00 am, with Friday at 5:30 PM being the worst evening hour for commuters. Overall, national congestion peaks each weekday morning between 7:45 and 8:00 am, with average evening congestion reaching its most-maddening point between 5:30 and 5:45 pm.

The INRIX National Traffic Scorecard was based on an analysis of 200,000 road segments totaling more than 300,000 miles of major highways, arterials and city streets nationwide, with an emphasis on the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.

© 2012 Forbes.com

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The worst cities in America for car theft

For its sunny charm, a hard place to live can California.

According to the national crime his average 187 crimes per square mile are far above the national median 49,6, and his property crime almost 36 crimes per every 1,000 people sound the 34 Californians beats the odds have a 1 in 178-chance a victim of a violent crime.

Driver results not much better. The rate is the national average of vehicle theft in California almost twice, according to Lage Inc., a Massachusetts-based company, displacement offers software and real estate investment advice. And according to a new report from the national insurance Crime Bureau, it is getting worse.

Eight of the top 10 cities for auto theft nationwide are in the Golden State, up to six cities in the past year. Sacramento, Stockton and Bakersfield among the worst.

This list of worst cities for auto theft have we compiled data for 2010 by NICB, a des Plaines, Illinois-based non-profit organization dedicated to vehicle theft and insurance to prevent fraud. The NICB used U.S. Census Bureau population estimates, and postal code with theft records for metropolitan statistical areas harmonisation. The result is calculated on a scale of robberies per 100,000 people.

All of the cities on our list of Fresno (No. 1 with a theft of 812.40 per 100,000), Yakima (No. 10 with a theft of 520.49), had much more frequent instances of theft than cities at the bottom. Elmira, New York, n.y., for example, has a car-theft rate of only 37.15 per 100,000 - which translated it in only 33 cars stolen last year. For the second year in a row, the auto theft in the nation, with only 29.87 thefts per 100,000 people was State College, PA, the lowest rate.

An interesting note: the year's list have no cities East of the Rocky Mountains. Laredo, Texas, which surpassed, it last year ranks No. 11; Albuquerque, nm, and also from 2010 to 2011 in Las Vegas. Washington State saw shifts as well as: Spokane moved 14 spots in no. 4 this year during the southern city of Yakima back 4 spots to no. 10 deleted.

Why the big culprit is? There is no one reason, says Frank Scafidi, a spokesman for the NICB, but a large population with a high rate of car ownership is a contributing factor.

Centrally located cities such as Stockton, California, are its border nodes for traffickers moving drugs, money and weapons. The 2010 FBI crime reportedly had some of the highest rates of Stockton, Sacramento, and Oakland violent crime in the country last year. (Act of violence does not include car theft.) Vegas and Stockton have been identified by the Ministry of Justice as transit points for Mexican drug cartels.

Population density is another important factor theft rates, says Scafidi. It is for obvious reasons - the poet population, the lower rate.

"What they lose in Fresno and Modesto, which they lose the Lakers game at half-time at one," says Scafidi. "But never L.A. makes the top 10, because it 18 million people down there."

Terri Miller, Director of the programme says Michigan-based help to eliminate auto theft California's warm weather attracts people and convertible tops too careless to leave below Windows to open, to be rolled - both present tempting invitations for opportunistic thieves.

While it is often assumed that crime is increasing as the economy worsens, which not necessarily the case with car theft to.

"Loss of employment not I believe most people turn in on night criminals," says Scafidi. "Can we show that this is a your own financial situation has a bearing on some crime?" Absolute. "But a sweeping statement like that is not supported by the evidence."

All in all 71 percent reported that the 366 MSAs measured (and six on our list) less car theft in 2010 than in the year 2009. Improved law enforcement practices and stricter legislation have a lot to do. But the cars themselves are another important reason for the decline.

"Cars only harder get to steal," says Miller. This is chip car key with immobilizer, systems and technologies, including Ford Sync and GM OnStar service positioning - they work advanced theft deterrent to track well and stolen vehicles quickly restore.

But the other side of this improvement is an increased rate of a pettier crime: "We see increase in theft of components," says Miller.

Car tires and rims have strong resale values on the black market and catalysts are hot items by high prices for precious metals, which they contain. Airbags can $200 on the black market, according to the insurance information Institute fetch operation; Airbag theft costs more than $50 million per year for first and vehicle owners.

All in all auto theft costs consumers and insurance companies over $8 billion annually, according to FBI statistics. And the vehicles stolen each year more than 1 million less than 60 percent are recovered from them.

It is enough to carefully consider, purchase, that new drive.

© 2011 Forbes.com

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