A new car, truck, SUV or van may be in your future. Besides reviewing cars on a regular basis — typically one or two new models week after week — I regularly dispense advice to friends who are shopping for a new or late model used car. Certainly, timing is … Read more
Getting out of a lease early the no-cost way. The call came out of the blue: “Mr. Keegan, this is “John” from XYZ car dealer. We were wondering if you are interested in getting out of your current lease in exchange for moving on to a new vehicle now?” That … Read more
New car loan terms are longer than ever before. Earlier this month, Experian Automotive announced that the average length of both used and new car loans had increased by one month to 62 and 67 months, respectively. These loan term averages are at record levels, but consumers are eagerly embracing … Read more
The Consumer Reports 2014 Annual Reliability Survey is out, what paints a highly critical and negative picture of in-car technologies, particularly infotainment systems. Such systems typically provide audio, information and navigation access, but often do not deliver as promised. Instead, users may find these systems confusing, unreliable or simply unworkable, … Read more
IHS Automotive issues latest snapshot of vehicles in operation. That aged clunker you are driving might be in good company after all. On Monday, IHS Automotive released its latest analysis of the 252 million passenger vehicles registered in the United States and found that the average age for this “fleet” … Read more
Im an auto guy. Yep, that is the truth. Except if you inspected my hands you’d see that they’re on the softer side — heck, some women spend more time working on cars than I do. Time and Talent It isn’t that I don’t like tinkering with cars. I do. … Read more
The most popular new car color is white according to PPG Industries. PPG is a leading coatings and speciality products company for the auto industry, releasing its latest annual automotive color trend data on Thurs. Top Global Finishes That data took a global approach to tracking car finish choices. Globally, white leads … Read more
So, you think that heading to the showroom on any given day will produce the intended result, namely the best deal possible on a new car? Well, think again. There are times of the day, weather conditions and dates on the calendar that may yield the best savings for car … Read more
If you are planning to hit the stores the day after Thanksgiving, you may find that one type of retailer has some uncommonly good deals for your consideration. And that would be your new car dealer, an often overlooked retailer for shoppers looking for Black Friday deals at the mall. … Read more
You can save money on a new car. The calendar year is officially drawing to a close and that means one thing: year end car deals can be had. Why such an emphasis on pushing more metal out of dealer showrooms at this time of the year? Bragging rights, mostly. … Read more
Based on an article from the July 26th edition of Automotive News, it seems that start-up automaker Tesla plans is to sell cars the same way that Apple sells iPods. Tesla won’t have dealer showrooms – they’ll have manufacturer-owned “galleries.” Tesla won’t have service departments – they have field technicians called … Read more
I am not one for seeing the federal government create endless taxpayer assistance programs, believing that the consumer is the best party to determine what he or she should buy. However, I’ve resigned myself to seeing Congress and the Obama administration spend money like no administration before it, supposedly in … Read more