Resaerch Car Dealers in your area

The most important thing when buying a new car is to do your research. Click the following link to find reviews on the local car dealers in your area.

Fuel Saving Tips

From Cars.com
Revive the Classics
The biggest fuel savings comes not from hybrid technology but from the old standards: car pooling and public transportation. If you and just one friend or neighbor trade off commuting to and from work, you cut your fuel usage by about 50 percent. No other step will save you as much money. Also, if you have two vehicles in the family motor pool, leave the thirstier one in the garage as often as possible.

Public transportation saves fuel, and possibly money. It also decreases congestion, which saves everyone fuel. Help yourself and everyone else; be part of the solution.

Get the Lead Out
Weight is fuel economy's natural enemy, so removing unnecessary items — or people — from your car can translate to real fuel savings.

Get the Leadfoot Out
You can save fuel immediately in whatever you drive by going easy on the accelerator. Jack rabbit starts and full-throttle acceleration boost fuel consumption dramatically. It's all a matter of degree: Light acceleration saves more than moderate acceleration.

Top speed also plays a part. Most vehicles are most efficient when cruising in their top gear at a relatively low speed. For example, a car with a five-speed transmission would be most efficient in 5th gear at 40 to 55 mph. Wind resistance increases exponentially with speed, so as your pace increases from this point, fuel economy drops dramatically. Onboard trip computers that show instantaneous and average fuel economy are remarkably accurate. Keep an eye on this and you'll learn how to drive in a miserly fashion.

An Ounce of Prevention
Keeping your tires inflated properly and your engine running right is critical to efficient motoring. Underinflated tires can lower your fuel economy by full miles per gallon. (Get the proper inflation pressure from the sticker on your car's doorjamb or the owner's manual, and not the tire's sidewall.) Even if your car seems to be running well, that perplexing Check Engine light could represent a dead oxygen sensor or some other emissions control problem that causes the vehicle to waste several miles per gallon.

Open Windows or Air Conditioning?
This is an age-old conundrum. (Unlike a car's heater, which uses free engine heat to warm the cabin, the air conditioner robs engine power and lowers fuel economy.) So which approach is better? Sorry, but it's not as simple as one or the other.

If your car has been sitting in the sun and is hotter than the outside air, drive for a few minutes with the windows open to cool it off. Then, if you're hitting the highway, close 'em up and turn on the A/C. Aerodynamics are more important at high speeds, so if you're not exceeding 35 or 40 mph, open windows won't make as much difference. It also depends on the vehicle. The detriment from driving with the windows down is greater, say, in a Chevy Corvette, which has excellent aerodynamics, than in a Hummer, which has ... none. The same applies to convertibles; you'll burn less fuel with the top up.

Keep It Sleek
Speaking of aerodynamics, roof-top carriers and bike and ski racks don't do you any favors — even when they're empty. If you keep all your cargo inside the car, you'll slip through the wind better. Also, strip off any aftermarket add-ons such as bug deflectors and window and sunroof wind deflectors. By design, these items work by wrecking your aerodynamics. Sure, bug entrails on your windshield are gross, but they aren't known to cost you any fuel.

Premium or Regular?
Lower octane costs less, but should you use it? Most modern cars that call for premium fuel can run on regular gasoline without knocking or any long-term penalty. Technically, this makes the car less efficient, but not to a degree that negates the cost savings from the cheaper fuel grade. NOTE: This is true of cars for which premium is recommended, not required. If in doubt, look for terms such as "for best performance" and "recommended" as opposed to "only" or "required." If your car has a turbocharger or supercharger, you probably should stick with premium fuel. Of course, if your car calls for regular gasoline, there's no reason to run it on anything higher in octane.

Funny Superbowl Commercial

What does that mean?

Invoice Price
This is the manufacturer’s initial charge to the dealer. This usually is higher than the dealer’s final cost because dealers receive rebates, allowances, discounts, and incentive awards. Generally, the invoice price should include freight (also known as destination and delivery). If you’re buying a car based on the invoice price (for example, "at invoice," "$100 below invoice," "two percent above invoice"), and if freight is already included, make sure freight isn’t added again to the sales contract.

Base Price
This is the cost of the car without options, but includes standard equipment and factory warranty. This price is printed on the Monroney sticker.

MSRP (Monroney Sticker Price)
This shows the base price, the manufacturer’s installed options with the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, the manufacturer’s transportation charge, and the fuel economy (mileage). Affixed to the car window, this label is required by federal law, and may be removed only by the purchaser.

Dealer Sticker Price
This is usually on a supplemental sticker, is the Monroney sticker price plus the suggested retail price of dealer-installed options, such as additional dealer markup (ADM) or additional dealer profit (ADP), dealer preparation, and undercoating.

Tips from Mrs. Cheese

Mrs. Cheese is a very shrewd negotiator, a bunch of years ago when she decided to buy a new car, a Volkswagen Jetta she had a great plan of attack. She refuses to pay anything more than $1,000 over MSRP. So how does she do this. She played all of the Volkswagen dealers against each other. She had a starting point where she got one dealer to agree on a price then she would call another dealer and say I got this quote on a specific car, can you do better. She would continue to do this until she got the price she wanted. Who says women can't buy cars? Not me!

Sales people and their one liners

Old and tired one liners sales people like to use on you. It's funny do they all take the same class?

"You're stealing food from my baby's mouth" He/she probably has no children at all.
"Everybody pays this fee" No they don't people who are shrewd and do their homework often pay much less.
"We're losing our shirt on this deal" No they're not if they were they wouldn't do the deal.
"The web sites you got the prices from are wrong." No they're not, if they don't want to do that deal I'm sure you can find someone who will.
"This car won't be here tomorrow" How in the hell would they know that? Are they a fortune teller?
"The bank requires you to buy the extended warranty to get loan approval" That's just pure crap.
"Do you want the car? What will it take to make you sign today?" For you to agree to my price!

New Car Buying Tips 101

DO NOT let Dealer "A" locate your new car from Dealer "B"... Don't do it!
This is where most complaints are made. It is strongly discouraged for car buyers from letting Dealer A get your new car from Dealer B. Sometimes due to geography and lack of dealer coverage while buying a car, you may have no choice. Some dealers routinely locate new cars for car buyers and make them quite happy. But most of the time complaints are made, it is from buyers about this. The complaint ratio is so high that is wise for you to avoid this situation. It's a crap shoot and the house always wins. The suggestion is to find out who Dealer B is and go buy a car from them directly. One dealer's advice is if Dealer A offers to locate a new car from Dealer B, don't sign anything until you've seen the car, or sign a letter of intent that the contract is not binding until you have seen the car and given your ok. I hear a ton of games and scams when dealer A has the car shipped from dealer B, because of towing costs, and dealer A loses the holdback to the original Dealer B. All sorts of fees show up. Even worse, the wrong car shows up and you are stuck buying car you don't want because you put down a deposit! I also get lots of complaints about missing MSRP stickers, which is a felony. You'll eliminate these issues if you buy a car from the dealer who has the car. Search all the dealer web sites for their inventory. Before you give ANY money, be sure you have a written buyer's order from them clearly stating what new car you are buying, the VIN#, the color, and all the options, so there is no doubt what you are paying for. If they give you bogus lip service about "not knowing the VIN# yet", they are lying.

A great resource to compare cars.

I found this great site that helps you compare different types of cars, from top to bottom.

Cars.com