Tips and Advice
Even Hybrids Get a Lot Less Fuel-Efficient at Highway Speeds
Posted: Sep. 14, 2009 10:09:01 a.m.
To reduce your carbon footprint, start with your right foot. Ease up on it a bit.
Consumer Reports recently tested exactly how fuel-efficient some of America's highest-mpg cars are when drivers push them up to what, in most places, qualifies as normal highway speed.
CR explains, "The results show the faster you drive, the more fuel you burn-no surprise there. But the most significant change in fuel economy comes from the most fuel-efficient vehicles we tested." The magazine put ...
GM's 60-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Posted: Sep. 11, 2009 07:09:16 a.m.
General Motors wants your trust back. Battered by its foray into bankruptcy, the company knows the car buying public isn't completely confident in GM today. So the automaker is offering a new reassurance to car shoppers: the auto industry's first-ever 60-day money-back guarantee.
The New York Times reports, "In an all-out effort to restore confidence in its products, General Motors will offer a 60-day, money-back guarantee on all its vehicles."
The Times is not strictly correct when it ...
Car Dealerships Have Lowest Inventory Levels In 30 Years
Posted: Sep. 11, 2009 07:09:18 a.m.
Car dealers haven't had this few cars to sell since 1975.
The Detroit Free Press reports, "After struggling with historically low auto sales for much of the past year, automakers are confronting a more-welcome problem: some of the lowest inventory levels in about three decades."
Ward's Auto reports that August "ended with 1,406,717 light vehicles in stock, the lowest volume for any month since at least January 1975."
The news is great for the auto industry ...
Dealers Reportedly "Price Gouging" on 2010 Toyota Prius
Posted: Aug. 27, 2009 12:08:19 p.m.
The month-long car buying binge triggered by the federal Cash for Clunkers trade-in program has led to a shortage of some fuel-efficient cars. Now, the shortage is having an ugly consequence.
Daily Tech reports, "Rogue Toyota dealers" have begun "price gouging on [the] scarce 2010 Toyota Prius." Daily Tech reports, "With the typical sticker price of the Prius coming it at around $26,000, many dealers across the country have been charging $3,000 to $10,000 markups, more than ...
Car Shoppers Find Poor Selection at Many Dealerships
Posted: Aug. 26, 2009 10:08:01 a.m.
Cash for Clunkers is over, but high demand for the program has left many car lots emptier than usual.
The Los Angeles Times reports, "Car buyers who go shopping over the next several weeks may find the selection a bit thin." Rich Smith, Chief Financial Officer of a group of California Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealerships, told the Times "You're not going to be able to find the car you want in September." Glendale Dodge, one of Smith's ...
Cash For Clunkers Filing Deadline Extended
Posted: Aug. 25, 2009 11:08:44 a.m.
Cash for Clunkers is over, but if you squeaked in under the deadline with a late-Monday deal, you can relax about the paperwork. The government has extended the deadline for dealers to submit applications for vouchers.
The Los Angeles Times reports, "The $3-billion "cash for clunkers" program limped to a close for consumers Monday evening after packing an economic punch for the nation -- and a nightmare of red tape and computer glitches for dealerships that are owed millions of dollars ...
The Ten Most Stolen Cars
Posted: Aug. 25, 2009 11:08:52 a.m.
It may look old enough to qualify for a Cash for Clunkers deal, but you still need to lock the Grand Caravan. Thieves are after those things.
MSNBC reports, "A car is stolen every 26 seconds in the United States, costing the American public nearly $7.6 billion each year. And if the National Insurance Crime Bureau's list of the most frequently stolen cars of 2008 is any indication, auto theft can happen to anyone." After all, "the most ...
You Can Still Get Cash For That Clunker
Posted: Aug. 21, 2009 10:08:21 a.m.
The end of the government's Cash for Clunkers trade-in program, set for Monday night, is dominating the day's news, but despite media reports, it is still possible to complete a Cash for Clunkers-driven deal this weekend.
Not all dealerships will be participating -- many have pulled out of the program. The New York Times notes, "The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which represents dealerships in the New York metro area, said that about half its 425 members had ...
Survey: Detroit Making A Comeback In Customer Satisfaction
Posted: Aug. 19, 2009 10:08:56 a.m.
Detroit is building decent cars again. In fact, American brands claimed three of the top five spots in a major survey of customer satisfaction among new car buyers.
The New York Times reports, “The scores for all three Detroit companies rose in the 2009 American Customer Satisfaction Index, which is being released on Tuesday.” GM’s luxury division, Cadillac, tied Lexus for first place in the survey, “while Buick and Lincoln-Mercury placed third and fourth.” The survey, conducted annually by ...
Gov't Adding Staff To Speed Up Cash For Clunkers Program
Posted: Aug. 19, 2009 10:08:48 a.m.
By most measures, the Cash for Clunkers trade-in program has been a success. So many Americans took advantage of the opportunity to trade in an aging vehicle for up to $4,500 toward a more fuel-efficient car that the program nearly ran out of funding in its first week – pulling hundreds of thousands of gas guzzlers off the road and pouring a shot of adrenaline into the economy. The program hasn’t been without snags, however. Many dealers, in fact ...
