Jalopnik: Car Buying

BREAKING: Ford beats GM in March sales

Chris Shunk — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:56:00 EDT

BREAKING: Ford beats GM in March sales" alt="Click here to read BREAKING: Ford beats GM in March sales" src="http://cache.jalopnik.com/assets/images/12/2011/04/small_ford_fiesta.jpg"/>

General Motors posted its seventh consecutive sales gain for the month of March, with 206,621 total sales. A good month, no doubt, but Ford had a better month for just the second time since 1998. Ford last bested GM in February, 2010. The Blue Oval posted sales of 212,295, thanks in part to a 21 percent jump in truck sales. [Autoblog] More »

Check Vehicle Accident Reports From Your Phone

Matt Hardigree — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:00:00 EDT

InstaVin, a new text-message-based accident-history report search system, launched last week. It offers quick information for prospective buyers at a lower cost than CarFax or other competitors. The system is temporarily free, and Jalopnik tried it out. More »

NY Times Reveals Congressmen Have Bad Taste In Cars, No Eye For A Deal

Wes Siler — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:20:00 EDT

Representative Michael R. McNulty pays $816 for a 2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, which he chose for its utility. Representative Redolphus Towns pays $715 a month for his Lincoln MKX, he bought it to save money on fuel. Representative Louise M. Slaughter needed a car that handled safely in the snow, so she picked a Buick Lucerne, for which the US Taxpayer pays $808 a month. All have chosen to take advantage of the benefit on offer to any member of the US House of Representatives: any car of their choice leased for them with no price limit and all expenses, including gas, paid for. More »

Do Not Pay, Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200

Travis Hudson — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:30:00 EDT

USA Today, America's most colorful newspaper, is running a story about devices that are being used to ensure car payments are made on time or it will kill the car. It's not the most high tech device in the world, but I'm sure it works and gets the job done. A box installed in vehicles purchased with subprime loans will flash and beeps when a car payment is due. When you make a car payment you will be provided with a four digit code to be entered in the box. If a code isn't entered the vehicle won't start. It's as simple as that. More »

You Don't Need It: MSN Money on Unnecessary Car Features

Mike Spinelli — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:20:44 EDT

Most informed car buyers know, working the options sheet as if it were Vegas's Carnival World Buffet is the road to flash poverty. But check off those boxes judiciously and you'll save thousands and still get a car that won't leave you feeling like Cookie Jarvis at diabetes camp. But do you have to be an options teetotaler to achieve satisfaction. Check out MSN Money's list of eight options to avoid, and our take on each one after the jump. – Mike Spinelli More »

Wanted: A Pontiac Aztec, Top Dollar Paid

Mike Spinelli — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 08:03:20 EDT

The great orator Elbert Green Hubbard once said, "Never explain. Your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway." And that's probably the best advice anyone could give this dollar-sign-happy seeker of the ugliest car ever built. It just goes to show, as Hubbard also said, "Life is just one damned thing after another." [Thanks to joemamma for the tip.] – Mike Spinelli More »

How Not to Buy a Car, by Tom Megalis

Mike Spinelli — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 12:00:00 EST

Car-buying rule number whatever: If you haven't been rogered by a car salesman sometime in your life, wait five minutes. Just listen to Tom Megalis, an artist, animator, voice-over guy, ad creative director and stand-up comic from Ohio, as he articulates the car-buying experience. And by "articulates" we really mean disarticulates with maximum vigor. – Mike Spinelli More »