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Posted
Feb 17 2009, 06:35 PM
by
Des Toups
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Say goodbye to Saturn. And Saab and Hummer, for that matter. Pontiac, too, for all intents and purposes.
Unless buyers (a few million of us -- or maybe just a couple of really adventurous billionaires) step forward, three of General Motors’ eight brands are now destined to join Oldsmobile in the history books. A fourth will be relegated to “niche” status, says GM. The company, until last year the world’s largest automaker, announced plans Tuesday that would drastically scale back its operations in order to stay alive
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Posted
Sep 03 2008, 02:12 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Better gas mileage can be had from what used to be standard in cars -- the manual transmission, or stick shift. But how many drivers know how to use one these days?
It's a lost art, but a very efficient one. For its October issue, Consumer Reports bought two versions of seven different cars -- ranging from a $15,800 Scion to a $24,000 Mini Cooper -- and found a gain of 2 to 5 mpg with a standard versus automatic transmission in the same model.
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Posted
Dec 24 2007, 04:57 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We can hear the gears grinding in the minds of personal-finance bloggers everywhere as they process the following information: Paul Brant, 70, of Frankfort, Ind., used about $25,000 in spare quarters and dollar coins he had accumulated over 13 years to help pay for a $26,670 2008 Dodge Ram half-ton pickup last week. Sheriff's deputies provided security as Brant drove the rolls of coins to the dealership. Brant, who works for Chrysler, decided to give his collection of spare pennies, nickels and dimes to his wife, Judy.
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Posted
Oct 13 2008, 08:23 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you want to buy a General Motors vehicle with GMAC financing, you'd better have your financial ducks in a row. GMAC Financial Services announced today that it's temporarily limiting contracts to people with at least a 700 credit score.
"The credit markets are tightening up everywhere and this is just a reflection of that,'' GM spokesman John McDonald told Bloomberg.com. "Dealers have a number of options for customers, including GMAC and non-captive financing, to be able to finance vehicles.''
Whether this will have a widespread impact on GM car sales is debatable. It appears that when the economy is unpredictable, smart people aren't looking for new debt.
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Posted
Jul 06 2009, 05:43 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
When I bought my used Mini Cooper in April, things didn't go exactly as I'd planned. Part of this was because I hadn't done enough research. But a lot of it was because the dealership had some tricks up its sleeve and I did not.
At Car and Driver, Jared Gall has compiled a list of car dealer tricks to watch for when buying a vehicle. He says the following are common practices:
- Juggling the foursquare. The "foursquare" is the worksheet on which the salesperson jots down the terms of the deal. It's an easy way for her to manipulate one factor (purchase price, down payment, monthly payments, trade-in value) or another.
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Posted
Jan 02 2008, 04:49 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Frankly, auto maintenance has always scared me. All I've ever "fixed" are wiper blades, headlights and taillights. The extent of my under-the-hood knowledge is how to check and top off oil, antifreeze and windshield washer fluid. I've never changed my own oil because I didn't want to deal with the waste material.
That's why I recently found myself using an Entertainment Book coupon to get a lube, oil and filter service for $15.88. When I paid, the counter guy said my battery was on its way out. A replacement would retail for about $119.99, but he could get me one for $89.99.
I know less about cars than about doing my own taxes. Still, that seemed a little high. Maybe I could do better on my own -- but that would mean installing it myself.
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Posted
Sep 25 2008, 12:56 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Truman Lewis at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com. The credit crisis and record high gas prices have teamed up to drive the world's largest Chevrolet dealer out of business. Bill Heard Enterprises is closing all 13 of its stores today, the company told its local managers on Wednesday. Insiders said the company notified the stores' general managers of the closing at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Automotive News reported. It closed a store in Arizona earlier this month.
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Posted
May 20 2009, 02:59 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Get a Chrysler at half price? That unheard-of deal is being considered by a Chicagoland dealership, Automotive News reports. It's one of nearly 800 showrooms desperate to move inventory before Chrysler shuts them down next month.
That may be an extreme, but dealers are reportedly accepting deals at well below cost. As Windber, Pa., Dodge dealer Keith Hollern told The Associated Press, "Want to buy one? We're having a fire sale." Come on down.
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Posted
Jan 05 2009, 08:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Are you confident that the ailing economy will rebound quickly? Apparently Hyundai is betting that you aren't. Under the new Hyundai Assurance plan, if you buy or lease a new Hyundai and lose your job within a year, you can take the car back without credit hassles.
Depending on what the car is worth at the time, you may not even owe another dime.
This may be what it takes to get nervous buyers into showrooms. Of course, there are a few little hitches in this unusual marketing approach. Among them:
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Posted
May 23 2008, 08:42 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Recently I used a coupon to get a $17.95 oil change and tire rotation at a local auto-repair chain. Along with the bill came -- surprise! -- a warning that more work was needed. They suggested a tune-up plus a flush of both the coolant and brake fluids because the former was "dirty" and the latter was "dark and dirty." Horrors.
This may have sounded like a scam -- come in for cheap work, pay for additional work -- but I believed them. It's been a long time since those chores were done. I'm not sure how long. According to an MSN Money article, I should have been keeping a service log instead of (usually) tossing receipts into a folder. Oops.
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