The car – handy hints to save money | TF1 | Le Droit de savoir

Traffic jams, parking, maintenance and insurance; the costs quickly add up. In France, the average car owner can expect to spend the equivalent of almost $6,000 a year on his car. The cost has doubled in twenty years. In terms of household spending, the budget for the car is in second place, behind real estate, and ahead of food, clothes, holidays or hobbies. Why are cars so expensive? What are the pitfalls to avoid, and can you really trust the professionals in the car business?Our film will show how some garages charge more depending on the look of the customer.Also tow-trucks, and how police HQ in Paris provides incentives to companies that tow vehicles to car pounds.One expense no driver can avoid; insurance. Dozens of companies offer the best rates and the best service. How do you successfully negotiate your way through the insurance jungle?But there’s even worse…some real swindles. Businesses have flourished on the Internet promising cheaper cars because they have been purchased abroad. Middlemen take your money, and on several occasions have been known to disappear without ever delivering the car.Finally, there’s petrol, or gas, of course. To save money, some have concocted their own fuel, including cooking oil! Strictly illegal!