the Active Body Control hydropneumatic suspension which can be a few thousand dollars to replace and calibrate by a dealer, and the engine’s two ignition coil packs, which are $1500 apiece. Both issues, if assessed and ruled out beforehand, aren’t deal breakers and easily taken care of with good maintenance and a…

Wagon please?

I just bought a 2002 Ford Focus for $400. It is a manual trans and is in pretty good shape. It does need a head gasket, but that’s no biggie. I might use it as a winter beater this coming winter or sell it for short money once the gasket is sorted out. Those cars are fairly decent and have virtually no resale value,…

The saddest laugh I had for years.

Autoweek Combustion Chamber?

Better idea:

You certainly make it sound like anyone who shops at CarMax is getting duped. I bought my car there specifically so I wouldn’t have to deal with slimy used car dealers, knowing full well they are not the cheapest. People want to tell me that I could have gotten a better deal but NOT IF I CAN’T LAND THAT DEAL! I’m not…

Fact: Buying a car at CarMax is a much better experience than buying from a dealer. CarMax’s success lies in identifying the market value of that premium. And honestly, 12% (or $2,500 in this case) might just be worth it.

Test drives. From my perspective, that’s ALL the value that a dealership brings to the table, and it's worth $50-100 to me. Other than that, the only differentiator among dealerships is price. So, if I test drive vehicle X, and decide to buy vehicle X, the dealership where I test drove it gets an extra $100 in credit…

Everybody all together now: This is why the dealership model is terrible.

Buy a reliable used car from an individual; anything over $2000 is vanity. Buy something reliable and easy to maintain, and do your own maintenance - and wherever possible, before things break, not after. It’ll take more of your time, but far, far less of your money, and there’s a pretty good chance it’ll actually end…

The obvious, if unsatisfying answer is the Toyota Yaris. Bulletproof reliability, great gas mileage. Low cost of ownership, but also low customer satisfaction according to Consumer Reports. Competitors have either much worse reliability(Ford Fiesta), or unproven reliability(new Fit, Scion models.) They do recommend…

Ugh, dammit. Say it with me now.

The concept is transparency, and working closely with the internet sales people at a dealer group, I can tell you that in this market, at least in the area we are in, being the transparent dealer actually put you at a disadvantage, to the point that we’re actually getting away from providing hard numbers in e-mails…

From my limited experience as a car salesman there are a couple issues going on and why these dealerships still operate their Internet Depts this way. Primarily, its not an Internet Dept. It is a lead generation device. In order for an Internet Dept to function correctly it needs to be run similar to the old Fleet…

I’m the internet sales manager for a dealership that is part of a large, local dealership network. When I receive a lead from a customer requesting more information from a large source of websites, I send them the exact price before taxes, tag, doc fee, etcetera. My managers seem completely okay with wanting to spew…

Next time you go to the dealership (gasp, screw those guys!) ask them if they purchased or leased their personal car... I bet more than half lease them if they aren't given a demo. If you really want the truth, ask the Business Managers.... they should know best, right?

I like how the anti-lease article made the point that you don't own the car. News flash, if you have a loan, you don't own the car. The bank does. Unless you have the title in your hand with your name on it, it's not your car.

Keep a car for 15 years? I can also save money by also eating only bread and water for dinner but I'm not going to do that either.

Well Suze Orman disagrees with you, she says you should never lease a car. In my opinion she delivers a lot of common sense advice. So here's why you shouldn't lease according to Ms Orman on video and text.