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Posted
Sep 24 2009, 10:15 AM
by
Des Toups
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Now that the government has finished writing the Cash for Clunkers checks, it’s released a final breakdown of the models sent to the crusher.
Among the 700,000 or so vehicles removed from the roads were 39 cars barely a year old – six Dodge Avengers alone and 10 Mercury Grand Marquises alone. Lest you believe gas-sucking domestics were the only victims, 3,595 BMWs, 2,532 Lexuses and 5,342 Mercedes met their makers as well. But not a single Hummer was ditched.
Among the more exotic machinery cast off in return for a voucher worth up to $4,500
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Posted
Aug 25 2009, 11:51 AM
by
Des Toups
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The founder of Papa John’s Pizza really missed his Camaro. Not only is he paying $250,000 to buy it back, he’s giving away pizza Wednesday to fellow Camaro owners to celebrate.
"Papa" John Schnatter sold his 1971 Z28 Camaro more than 25 years ago to help his father’s tavern stay afloat and ultimately launch Papa John's, today the world’s third-largest pizza company. Schnatter earlier this year decided to reward himself by finding the car he gave up, offering first a $25,000 "finder's fee" to the person who could produce the title to his long-lost Camaro, and later $250,000 to whomever could produce the title and transfer the car
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Posted
Aug 24 2009, 01:49 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from James Limbach at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
A coalition of consumer groups has called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to ensure -- as the agency winds down the "cash for clunkers" program -- that dealers are not double dipping and getting paid twice -- once by their customers and again by the government.
During the past several weeks, the rejection rate for cash for clunkers transactions has hovered around 80%. Many dealers jumped the gun and entered into a high volume of contracts in July, before the rules governing the program were issued and before any deals were approved. Since then, the program has been overwhelmed, causing delays in the payment of $3,500 or $4,500 per clunker to dealers.
As a result, many dealers are on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars or more. Experiencing cash-flow problems and under pressure from lenders, some dealers have resorted to pressuring their customers to make up the difference. Cash for clunkers sales end today, Aug. 24, at 8 p.m. ET. Dealers have until Tuesday, Aug. 25, at noon to file the required paperwork with the government.
Some dealer associations even provide standardized "contingency agreements" for their dealer members that shift all the risks for rejected deals from the dealers to car buyers. Whether they signed the agreements or not, car buyers across the country have complained of being pressured to give the dealers $3,500 or $4,500 extra in cash or sign a new contract agreeing to pay more, typically under threat of losing their new car or having the dealer report it stolen.
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Posted
Aug 18 2009, 03:55 PM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
I'm giving away my car at the end of August and making a conscious decision not to replace it. For now, anyway.
The decision isn't inspired by frugality or carbon-footprint concern so much as sheer curiosity: What would life without a car be like?
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Posted
Aug 17 2009, 12:46 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Do you ever wonder if your auto mechanic is charging too much?
You can get a second opinion for free. RepairPal provides free price quotes on repairs to most cars, customized by ZIP code. The quotes are created using a complex database that draws from a number of sources, including expert mechanics hired by RepairPal to analyze the data. You can access RepairPal on your computer or get the freeiPhone app.
Even if you're lucky enough to find a neighborhood mechanic you trust, it never hurts to double-check the price quote. And, if you want to work non-urgent repairs into your budget, you can research the cost ahead of time. For example, the new timing belt I'm going to need soon for my 1999 Honda CR-V should cost $285 to $368 in my area, according to RepairPal.
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Posted
Aug 10 2009, 03:06 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Truman Lewis at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
Many consumers say they don't like to haggle with car salesmen, but 225 General Motors dealers in California are betting they won't mind haggling online -- specifically at eBay.
The car dealers and eBay announced that new Buicks, Chevrolets, GMC trucks and Pontiac cars will be for sale on "co-branded" eBay sites, beginning Aug. 11 and lasting for at least three weeks. Besides appearing on the co-branded sites with names like gm.ebay.com, the cars will be displayed through eBay Motors, where tens of thousands of used cars change hands each year.
"With 12 million individual car shoppers visiting our site every month, eBay Motors has unique insight into how people prefer to buy their cars," said Rob Chesney, vice president of eBay Motors.
"Together with eBay Motors, GM and our dealers are reinventing the car-buying experience for our California customers," said Mark LaNeve, GM vice president of U.S. sales. "As the dealer showroom expands from the parking lot to the laptop, this makes it easier for a customer to browse available new car inventory, make an offer, buy it now, or send a message asking for more information from a dealer -- all at the customer's convenience."
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Posted
Aug 07 2009, 03:49 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from James Limbach at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
The nation's auto dealers are seeing cars fly off the lot thanks to the government's "cash for clunkers" program, which is getting an infusion of $2 billion, compliments of you, the taxpayer.
Figures released by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration show there have been 245,384 dealer transactions as of Aug. 7, for a total of $1.03 billion in rebates.
NHTSA figures from Aug. 5 showed Michigan leading all states in requested voucher dollar amounts with $44.4 million, followed by California at $39.9 million. Bringing up the rear was Wyoming with just $533,000.
The government says cars purchased under the program are, on average, 21% above the average fuel economy of all new cars currently available, and 63% above the average fuel economy of cars that were traded in. This, officials maintain, means the program is raising the average fuel economy of the fleet, while getting the dirtiest and most polluting vehicles off the road.
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Posted
Jul 31 2009, 03:16 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The "cash for clunkers" program -- the hugely popular people's bailout that nearly ran out of money after less than a week -- will continue at least through the weekend -- and perhaps beyond that. We'll see.
The U.S. House has approved $2 billion more for the program, and the U.S. Senate will vote on the extra money next week. It's hard to imagine that senators will say no to a popular program that -- compared with what's been pumped into banks, AIG, automakers, etc. -- seems downright cheap.
David Thomas said at Kicking Tires, "With this bill's passing and the White House's assurances on Cash for Clunkers, it's likely safe to say you can go out this weekend and buy a new car through the program."
Those in the market for a new car will be happy that news of its demise was premature. But how did this near shutdown of cash for clunkers happen?
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Posted
Jul 30 2009, 01:06 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
More than 19,000 gas-guzzlers have been traded in -- and an equal number of new cars with better gas mileage purchased -- under the federal "cash for clunkers" program in its first week. To track daily how fast the $1 billion in the cash-for-clunkers fund is being spent, you can find a gauge here. (Wait a few seconds and it will appear.)
"It's definitely great for people who're getting $4,500 for a car that's maybe worth only $400 or $500, and it's good for us because we're getting a lot of traffic," George Gambino, general sales manager for Bay Ridge Honda, told the New York Daily News.
Also, USA Today reports that most people are using the program to buy new vehicles with respectable gas mileage. Very few are buying full-size pickups and vans.
This all sounds great, both for cash-strapped consumers and the nearly comatose auto industry. (Ford told The Detroit News that sales are up sharply.) So how do you go about trading in your hunk of rust for a new vehicle under this plan?
It can be complicated -- for instance, the eligibility of 164 cars changed at the last minute -- but nothing you can't handle.
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Posted
Jul 29 2009, 06:45 PM
by
Teresa Mears
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
People who want to downsize and cut expenses often want to cut their car payments. That can be difficult if you are locked into a lease. LeaseTrader.com, a Miami company that acts as a matchmaker between people who want to get out of their car leases and people who want to take over leases, expects business to be up about 30% this year as people seek ways to save money.
Last year, people wanted to get out of their leases so they could pay expensive mortgages, John Sternal, the company's vice president of marketing and communications, told Niala Boodhoo of The Miami Herald. This year, he said, people are trying to cut their living costs.
The Herald tells the story of Parkland, Fla., resident Robert Deck, a business owner who decided that his family no longer needed the expense of a second car. He used LeaseTrader.com to get someone to take over the least on his BMW535, saving $815 a month.
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