ForbesAutos released its list of the top 10 most fuel-efficient luxury cars.
cars
Auto Loan Crash? Lots Are Overflowing With Repossessions
By 2.14.08
So many vehicles are being snatched from owners who stop making payments that some repo operators and auto auctioneers say lots are overflowing.
DeLorme's Awesome Customer Service Vastly Improves Road Trip
By 2.14.08
Brendan writes:
My wife and I had a trip planned to drive south from Illinois to Louisiana. The trip included a number of side-journeys, so I decided to upgrade my GPS from an older laptop-tied unit to a hand-held. After looking at various devices on the market, I decided on the DeLorme PN-20 GPS; it had similar features to most of the Garmin GPSMap units, but included full navigation and topographic maps of the United States.
By 2.12.08
../../../..//2008/02/12/kiplinger-says-that-its-a/
Kiplinger says that it’s a “buyer’s market” for automobiles, and invites you to check out their 2008 buyer’s guide.
Dealership Tells Customer Abitration Is Awesome For Corporations
By 2.12.08
Sean writes: “The wife and I were purchasing a car this weekend. After the typical pulling of teeth to get a price quote over email, we headed into the dealership on Saturday to finalize the deal. We were finally ushered into the finance guy’s office, pitched the warranty, gap insurance, etc., and got to the contract itself. I looked over the agreement and saw the ‘binding arbitration’ clause. Knowing it wasn’t a battle I could win, nor an issue I could avoid by shopping elsewhere, I let it go with a simple, “I don’t like the binding arbitration clause.” To my surprise, he responded, “Arbitration is the best thing invented for corporations!” [More]
GM Has Record $38.7 Billion Loss For 2007
By 2.12.08
During a conference call with analysts and media, Chief Financial Officer Fritz Henderson said 2008 will be difficult, but the company sees the potential for significant earnings increases by 2010 or 2011 once it reduces its work force and labor costs and transfers its retiree health-care costs to a new UAW-run trust.
By 2.11.08
../../../..//2008/02/11/a-new-california-state-campaign/
A new California state campaign says that If you drive a new car, you can change your oil less frequently than every 3,000 miles, despite what it says on the plastic sticker in the upper corner of your windshield. [SFGate]
Dinged For Enterprise Car Rental Dent
By 2.8.08
Shawn writes:
About 3 weeks ago I had a job interview in California- I currently live in Philadelphia. The employer reserved a rental car for me with enterprise so I could get around town, with his credit card. I had a long flight with a lay over, and didn’t arrive at Enterprise until about 2 o clock Philadelphia time. There was a long line, and after about a half hour I was taken back and shown a Chevy Aveo. She handed me papers to sign saying there was no damage to the car, and that I would pay an additional 10$ a day for being 23 years old. I walked around the car, and didn’t see anything. I was eager to get to my hotel and go to bed, so I signed the papers and left.
Mother's Blog Spawns Investigation Into Unsafe Car Seats
By 2.8.08
When mother Debbie rented a car from Advantage Rent-A-Car she was surprised to have to paw through rows of shoddy, dirty, car seats, some missing parts, to find one that worked. When she complained to the manager, he insisted that the car seats were thoroughly cleaned and inspected after each use. Her blog post about the issue caught the eye of the local news station, who did an investigative report on the matter. Following the report, Advantage-Rent-A-Car conducted a company-wide inspection and cleanout of its seats, and instituted new policies to make sure they rent only clean and safe car seats. ” This was a huge change for the company and a fantastic and very satisfying result from my perspective,” writes Debbie. Inside, her 10 tips for working with a local news team to resolve your consumer complaint.
16 Years After The Law Was Passed, The National Auto Database Still Doesn't Exist
By 2.7.08
The Consumer Law & Policy blog says that three consumer advocacy groups, Public Citizen, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) and Consumer Action, have filed a lawsuit in order to force the Department of Justice to enforce a law passed in 1992 that requires a national database of auto information gathered from insurance companies. The database would allow consumers to “instantly check the validity of the car’s title and odometer reading and learn whether it had been stolen or severely damaged in the past.”
BMW Catches Fire, Everyone Tries Not To Pay For It
By 2.6.08
Poor guy. Buys a 2000 540 Bimmer and while he’s driving home, it catches on fire. Some sort of thermostat failure. At first, he was screwed. Commerce, his insurance company, wouldn’t pay for it because they say they don’t cover mechanical failure, and there was no flame. “No flame, no claim,” was their clever explanation. BMW said there were no recalls or faulty parts for that model and so they weren’t going to do anything either. Then the BMW owner posted his complaints on an online message board, got a lawyer, and filed a complaint with the State Insurance Commission. All of a sudden, magically BMW now sends out an engineer to the guy’s house and found that yes, the car had failed. BMW offered him enough of a settlement that he no longer feels queasy about buying BMMs in the future. Ah, the power of putting your dukes up.
5 Car Lease Myths
By 2.4.08
Mark Solheim over on Kiplinger thinks leasing cars has a bad rap, and that more people should be doing it. “If you know what you’re looking for and negotiate smart—and get over the five myths below—leasing can be a good deal.”
Towns Charge Non-Locals Fees For Getting In Crashes
By 1.29.08
Some small towns, pissed at having to use town resources on accidents mainly caused by out-of-towners, are now fining non-locals if they get in a smashup. Erlanger, Kentucky is one such town. Four major highways intersect there. They charge drivers $14 for the first 30 minutes a cop is there and $7 for every 15 minutes after that. Insurance companies aren’t always covering the cost of the fee, and so the bills get sent to the drivers. This could lead to a perverse situation where locals try to cause accidents in order to raise money for the town coffers.
Dealer Sells Car Touting Safety Features It Doesn't Actually Have
By 1.29.08
Ben writes:
A friend of mine bought a 2005 Toyota 4 Runner for about $25000. When he went to the dealer, he told them that safety was a big concern as he has small children, and he wanted to get as many safety features as he could on the vehicle he was going to buy. The saleswoman showed him the 4 Runner he ended up buying and pointed out that it had side and curtain airbags, which were listed on the sticker. He bought it, and a week later he took it to get inspected. It turns out that it does not have the side and curtain airbags that are listed on the sticker. He went back to the dealership and spoke to the manager who offered him a few free oil changes, and tried to tell him that that year didn’t even come with those airbags so what was he complaining about. What should he do? They already got rid of the truck he traded in, and is thinking that the dealer owes him some cash back on the deal.
Classic bait and switch. If your friend wants to take the guy to the mat, he could try to ask for a rebate for what he feels the cash value of those safety features are. I recommend the tactics described in the post, “How To Kick A Scammy Car Dealer In The Nuts.”
Smart Glass Of Denver Uses Sneaky Post-It Advertising
By 1.25.08
When Kristi went to her car the other day, she saw this mysterious note stuck to her mirror. “PLEASE CALL ME ABOUT YOUR CAR!” Immediately, she thought someone had run into her car—she walked all around it looking for damage, but couldn’t find anything.
Sears Automotive Tries To Charge You For Work They Didn't Do
By 1.22.08
I’ve been an avid reader of Consumerist for quite some time. Reading the good/bad experiences other readers had and the shortcomings of some companies is an eye opener. Unfortunately, my recent experience at a nearby Sears Automotive Department is worth mentioning. I’ve noticed my car would pull to the left while driving on a straight road. My initial thought was to get the wheels aligned. I decided to have it done at Sears.
By 1.21.08
../../../..//2008/01/21/the-average-age-of-new/
The average age of new car buyers in January 2007 was 43. In January 2008, it was 48. This suggests that as the economy tightens, younger car buyers are staying out of the new car market. [Kicking Tires]
By 1.18.08
../../../..//2008/01/18/if-you-live-in-texas/
If you live in Texas, have a car that’s over 10 years old or has failed an emissions test, and you don’t make much money, you could qualify for a $3,500 voucher to be used towards the purchase of a new car. [TCEQ]
