The folks at Bankrate and Yahoo! Finance have put together a guide that translates the silly things that are often said in car commercials.

For example:

We’ll give you $4,000 for your trade no matter what the condition: This ad is infamously known as the “push-pull-or-tow-it-in” concept, which dates back to the 1950s. If you believe this ad, you have to believe the dealer is so stupid and so eager to sell cars that he is going to pay you far more than that old clunker is worth. Don’t believe it. If he’s paying you too much for your trade-in, he’s adding that and more to the price of the new car and taking away your negotiating power at the same time. The best defense to this ploy is to become aware of the value of your car through such Web sites as Kelley Blue Book and Edmunds.

All of this is interesting but we still prefer to “shop like a millionaire,” and avoid car dealers.

Beware Bogus Advertising Slogans [Yahoo!]
(Photo:frankieleon)

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