Browsing Metafilter, we found this excellent post detailing the smart way to make a purchase from those plaid-skinned abominations who lurk in the primal shadows of every consumerist’s nightmares, grinning their straight razor smiles and beckoning us to sign contracts in bilesome blood: the car salesman.
cars
Gas Companies Profit During Consumer Plight
By 4.28.06
As quarterly earnings rolled in yesterday, Exxon announced it earned $8 billion in profits. The oil company earned 9.5 cents per dollar of gas, “cashing in on skyrocketing prices at every stage of the process,” reports MSNBC.
Gas by Dash Snow
By 4.28.06
Your pain at the pump is palatable, but what ring of the underworld inferno should we consider this?
Avis Has Compact Tact Available But Not Car…
By 4.25.06 — Updated: 9.8.16
A complaint and a tip, all in one email, what a happy day, albeit not one for Avis car rental.
Save Gas and Drive Time With the Power of Numbers
By 4.25.06
By collecting data for over a year and analyzing the results, Brandon Hansen was able to reduce his drive time by 30 hours a year.
Consumer-Made Ad Mocks Chevy
By 3.31.06
With all the bloat and spasmodic jibbering about consumer-generated ads, it’s nice to see one backfire. Chevy teamed up with The Apprentice to hold an online contest where you remix video and sound clips to make your own Chevy Tahoe ad. Winners receive their choice various expense paid trips.
Mechanics’ Hubris in Humble, Texas
By 3.28.06
Margaret L. writes in an all too typical complaint of car mechanics taking the elderly for a ride.
Geico is a Snob?
By 3.22.06
GEICO was accused Monday of tying education and occupation to auto insurance rates, a policy that may discriminate against minorities and lower-income workers.
Red-i-Lube is ‘The Smoking Engine’
By 3.14.06
Melissa writes in a a comedy of car errors, a spiral of compounding auto troubles and escalating costs. A simple oil change ends up as an engine getting replaced and several hundred dollars. Now she wants to know if she should take Red-i-Lube to small claims court. You be the judge, after the jump.
Hybrid Cars = Bad Investments
By 3.7.06
Consumer Affairs has a summary up on Consumer Reports’ latest article examining the cost benefits of hybrid electricity/gasoline cars.
Woman Fakes Death to Avoid Paying Traffic Tickets
By 3.1.06
To get out of paying traffic tickets, Kimberly Du of Iowa forged a letter from her mother and mocked up an obituary. She sent both to the county courthouse.
New VW Ads in Da Haus
By 2.24.06
Volkswagon wants to ‘un-pimp’ your ride in a new campaign celebrating its German engineering heritage.
Consumers Speak: Volkswagen’s Not-So-Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles
By 2.10.06
Here’s a depressing story from Melanie O. It seems that Volkswagen’s ‘Certified Pre-Owned’ program can mean, well, whatever a dealership wants it to mean. That’s a shame, too, because we just so happen to be fans of the company’s product.
Ripped-off Ford Customer Torches Dealership, Kills Self
By 2.9.06
t screw your customers over: they may blow you up.
