Earlier this summer, we wrote about how Paul was being gouged by Advantage Rent-A-Car on repairs that had to be made after his rental was damaged in a hit and run. Paul was willing to pay the repairs on the vehicle, but Advantage wanted almost double the amount. After we posted his story, Paul was able to get in touch with a higher-up at Advantage who passed him along directly to the Chairman. Here’s what happened.
cars
Washington Considering $25 Billion Loan Handout For U.S. Auto Makers
By 9.9.08
What do you do when your industry starts to go belly up and you can’t make enough revenue to stay afloat? If you’re a short-sighted U.S. auto maker, you beg the government for $25-50 billion in immediate, low-interest loans in order to retool your plants, so you can start producing the hybrid cars you should have been planning years ago.
"King Of Cars" Closes Hummer Dealership, Will Start Selling Smart Cars
By 9.8.08
The Wall Street Journal’s “Deal Journal” blog says that the owner of the car dealership that serves as the backdrop to A&E’s “King of Cars” will close his Hummer dealership and begin selling “Smart Cars.”
Personal Finance Roundup
By 9.4.08
Four Ways to Improve Your Resume [Yahoo Hotjobs] “Here are four tips on how you can power up your resume for today’s more competitive job search arena.”
You’re dead: Where’s your 401(k)? [MSN Money] “If you should die before spending all your hard-earned retirement savings, any number of things could happen to the remaining money. Don’t let it fall into the wrong pockets.”
7 Secrets to Picking Great Funds [Kiplinger] “These methods will help you choose wisely and give your portfolio a boost. Some may surprise you.”
When Should You Downgrade Your Car Insurance? [The Simple Dollar] “How do you know when the time is right to downgrade your car insurance?”
4 Ways to Reduce a Gadget’s Power Drain [Smart Money] “Here are four ways to cut your gadgets’ energy consumption.”
— FREE MONEY FINANCE (Photo: PaulBarwick)
GM Extends Employee Pricing Through September
By 9.3.08
GM has extended its employee-discount-pricing plan to the end of September on all 2008 and some 2009 models. Please buy our cars. Someone. Please. [GM Employee Discount Site via Kicking Tires]
Expensive Cars Are Cheap Right Now
By 8.28.08
Consumer Reports analyzed late-summer car deals and the results are none too surprising. The biggest incentives are on gas-gourgers and big vehicles, the cars no one wants right now.
American Driving Declines By Steepest Amount In 100 Years
By 8.28.08
From November to June, American driving dropped by 53.2 billion miles, according to the Department of Transportation. Billion. 53.2 billion fewer miles. That’s insane, and kind of beautiful. [NYT]
Contact Enterprise CEO Andy Taylor
By 8.26.08
I’ve always found Enterprise to have stellar service, but if for some reason you should have an issue not resolvable at the branch or through regular customer service, here’s the contact info for their CEO Andy Taylor.
10 Cheapest Cars To Drive
By 8.26.08
Hybrids are all the rage right now but fuel costs aren’t the only thing you should be thinking about. After taking into account repairs, maintenance, and financing, these 10 cars offer great deals.
Find Out What People Paid For Their Cars
By 8.25.08
OpenCarPrice.com is a site dedicated to bringing you previously secret information, the actual price people are paying for their cars. Just select the make and model and the site spits out the info. The database gets filled by reader-submitted reports. There’s no guarantee that everything is 100% accurate, but it can at least give you a better picture of what you you can reasonably expect to pay…and negotiate for. Another site that does this RealCarTips.
Enterprise Tells Post-Op Patient To Drive 400 Miles On A Faulty Tire
By 8.23.08
Enterprise wouldn’t replace Melissa’s rental car even after a mechanic declared the tire on her current car “unrepairable,” and warned that it would be unsafe to drive 400+ miles back to New York from Rochester on a donut spare. Enterprise told Melissa to spend the day repairing the car at a garage at her own expense. Melissa, who was recovering from surgery, asked to swap her broken car for one that worked, a request Enterprise repeatedly denied.
Maybe GM Can't Sell Cars Because Its Dealerships Won't Sell Them
By 8.21.08
Consumerist reader Chris decided to take advantage of GM’s please-buy-a-car Employee Discount sale that we wrote about yesterday, so he headed off to two different dealerships in the NY/NJ area. What he found were deserted showrooms with salesmen who ignored him or argued with him over the existence of specific models he’d looked at online. He adds, “tonight I’m off to Toyota for some hard numbers on a Corolla and Camry.”
GM's 'Employee Pricing' Sales Mean Big Discounts On Cars Right Now
By 8.20.08
GM is desperate to boost its sales this month, so the company is offering some steep discounts under its “Employee Pricing” sale. The car blog KickingTires is covering the discounts and points out that “almost all of the prices are around 10% off, which is big in terms of car sales.” For example, you can save $9,000 on a Hummer H3. Of course, you’ll spend that much on gas for it in the first week, but there are other options as well, like Saturns, Chevys, and even the 2008 Corvette Z06 (which we mention separately because KickingTires says powerful sports cars are usually exempt from this sort of sale, but not this time).
The Results Are In: American Cars Come With Crappy Customer Satisfaction
By 8.19.08
The American Consumer Satisfaction Index released it’s Q2 results today and the news isn’t good for domestic car manufacturers. The folks at the ASCI say that customer satisfaction for the entire industry is at an all time high — but no American car companies are represented in the top four — and the bottom three in the industry are all American brands.
The 11 Least Fuel Efficient Hybrids
By 8.18.08
A hybrid vehicle might be more fuel efficient than the non-hybrid version of the same car, but some hybrid vehicles can get as few as 19mpg. Check out this list of the least fuel efficient hybrid vehicles before you head out to the dealership.
Pump Gas In The Morning To Save Money? Nah.
By 8.12.08
Consumer Reports wants you to know that it’s OK to sleep in, because you’re not going to save money by pumping gas in the early morning. Why not?
Malicious Oil Change? Jiffy Lube Ruined My Oil Plug "On Purpose"
By 8.12.08
Reader Andrew says he’s certain that Jiffy Lube purposefully filed down his oil plug so that he couldn’t change his oil himself. Conspiracy? Or incompetance? You decide.
