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How To Buy A New Car : The Unrepentant Tightwad Edition
There is an ugly reality when it comes to buying any new car. Those tiny little loopholes that are today’s generous rebates and incentives aren’t designed for the average Jack, Jim, or Jane. Heck, even a career car guy like me who has liquidated over 10,000 vehicles a year for an auto finance company knows… Read This Article
How Trust Influences The Cars We Buy
Trust is critical to everything you buy; from a dollar can of Coke to a $68,000 Tesla. In the used car market though, that trust can make you completely blind to a long list of vehicles that are unpopular, but reliable. Let me give you two examples of how trust can either lead to your… Read This Article
Toyota Quality : Then And Now
A third of a century ago, give or take a year, my brother Paul became the first in the family to drive a Toyota. A 1984 Toyota Celica-Supra. It was a true shifting of gears for the Lang Gang. Everyone up to that time had bought a GM. Mom and Dad drove Cadillacs (only one… Read This Article
The Car Owned By Cats: Sandra’s Steenkin’ Lincoln
You know a car is in trouble when it’s owned by cats. This once proud luxury car had fallen into a rancid feline funk. Cats sunbathing on the roof. Scratch marks on the outside vinyl that had gone from small rivlets to rippling rapids. Even a few dozen tears in the seats from my girlfriends… Read This Article
The Deeper Dive: Is Uber The New McJob?
Sherryl battled nose cancer for several years. She now wears a prosthesis and, partially due to her health issues, her job prospects have never solidified into a permanent position that would give stability to her husband and two kids. “ Sherryl ended up doing what a lot of people who find themselves on the outer… Read This Article
Hammer Time: Happy Birthday Cheapskate!
I wanted to wake up at noon. But I’ll be damned if two young teenagers didn’t have other plans for me on my birthday. “Dad, I want to get a monthly pass for a gym!” My son Darren, who is now almost 14 and growing like bamboo in year four, had already violated my tomb… Read This Article
Auction Day: Freeze Your Vital Organs Off Edition
A half-inch of snow and Tecumseh Sherman have only one thing in common. They can completely destroy the South without any resistance. Georgia simply doesn’t have any plows. You want to get from Point A to Point B when it snows here? You better have a toboggan or an incredibly high tolerance for idiots who… Read This Article
How To Buy A Great Used Car: The Inspection
There are pros and cons to buying used cars (and bloggers like Bench Rest Gallery have written about buying new vs. used when it comes to cars). And used definitely doesn’t mean anything horrifically bad – a reputable dealer won’t want to sell you a faulty car to the point where you can’t use it…. Read This Article
The Test Drive
Some guides offer 72 things you absolutely should do to a car before buying it. The problem is many folks can’t even remember three. Lists are complicated. Human beings are slightly harder to grasp, and figuring out the condition of a used car is a lot like trying to cup a drink of water with… Read This Article