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QOTD: The Economics Of Ownership
$150 a week. For some folks, this is a mere pittance. A lunch for four at a fancy restaurant that can be easily charged off to Uncle Sam and his seventeen trillion dollar debit card. For others, it’s...
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New Or Used? : The Most Reliable Car In The USA Is A ….
Hi Steve, What would be the most reliable car I can purchase for about $7000-8000? And what would be the upper limit on mileage that I would even consider? Steve writes: I grew up in the food import...
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Hammer Time: Trading Cards, Tradin’ Cars
Rookies. All-stars. Hall of Famers. Those were the only three types of baseball cards that I thought were worth the trade when I was a kid. I was eight years old, but that didn’t stop me from becoming...
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Hammer Time : Pick Your Stick!
5 cars – 5 sticks = 0 Customer Demand I hate looking at that equation. But these days, it’s about as true for the car business as Georgia is hot. An older stickshift vehicle that isn’t an all out...
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New or Used : Buy Retail? Sell Wholesale?
Steven Love your articles on TTAC. Especially those on auctions, your dealership, and used cars. I was wondering, do you provide services to buyers looking to buy a specific car? The prices in ATL are...
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Question Of The Day : What If You Could Resurrect A Dying Or Dead Brand?
I made my first small fortune in this business selling old Volvos. I started way back in the mid-2000‘s when I got downright militant about outbidding anyone on an older rear-wheel drive Volvo. In one...
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Question Of The Day : How Much Would You Charge To Teach The Basics?
I grew up not knowing the difference between a V6 and a V8. Cars were a mystery to me. Motor oil could have been the same thing as cooking oil right up until my 16th birthday. Then I caught the bug....
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Question Of The Day: Did You Ever Get Screwed On A Rebate?
2007 was a nutty time for my car business when it came to buying parts and supplies. All the auto parts stores around my dealership were busy blowing their financial brains out in the pursuit of...
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Question Of The Day: Would It Be Better To Test Drive A New Car… Without The...
Imagine over 500 cars at your disposal, and you pick the exact ones you want to test on the open road. There are no mind games. No bait and switch tactics. Nothing but you going to a computer,...
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Hammer Time : Saving An Old Cougar From Extinction
An unsellable car comes in many forms. The three-door minivan. The stickshift attached to a non-sporty wagon. The Daewoo. The conversion van with design graphics rooted in sexual fantasy. Then there...
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Hammer Time: Batter Up!
The bases are loaded and the score is tied. Two outs in the bottom of ninth. 3 balls. 1 strike. You know this pitcher better than you know your brother. The last pitch had almost cleared the left...
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Hammer Time: PT Cruiser?
$11,800. That was the asking price for a 2008 Chrysler PT Cruiser down at my local Chrysler dealer back in June 2008. Throw in a $1500 rebate or the “Refuel America” $2.99 per gallon guarantee into...
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Hammer Time: Not All Cheap Cars Are Beaters
One dollar of depreciation in four years. Fifty-five miles per gallon. Forty-eight thousand miles. I may have very well owned the cheapest car in America a few years ago. Back in 2009, I bought a 2001...
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Hammer Time: Are Shareholders Worth It?
Capitalism has no loyalties. Everybody is replaceable. Products. Employees. Employers. Services. Alliances. Joint Ventures. Financiers. Even the executives of multinational firms along with their...
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Hammer Time: Memories of Metros
There it stood, right next to the Michael Jordan Wheaties display. A brand-new 1992 yellow Geo Metro convertible. Price Chopper, a local New York supermarket chain (think Pathmark or Albertson’s on...
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How I Royally Screwed Up My Life And Bought…
A 33 foot stretch limo that was formerly owned by a famous run down strip club in Miami. Two small TV’s that dated back to the beginning of the Clinton era. Cheap burgundy upholstery that I probably...
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New Or Used? : A Mitzvah For The Mazda
I have a 10 year old Mazda Protege which I have loved ever since new. There is just one small problem. Rust. This car rusts like Dolly Parton sings. There is rust on the frame. Rust on the rear wheel...
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New or Used? : Vroom! Crunch! Cha-Ching!
Source: Gallagher.com Troyochatter submits this request for your perusal. Hey there, I have a dilemma that you might be able to help with. Got a sec? My brother had a motorcycle accident. All is well,...
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NASCAR For The Novice (The Prequel)
Click here to view the embedded video. I am pacing back and forth in a 200 square foot wooden building that I had exchanged for a 1996 Volvo 850 sedan back in 2008. “What the hell am I going to write...
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Question Of The Day: What Is The Most Common Vehicle You Have Seen…
…on the side of the road? Way back in the day, I used to work as an auctioneer at Logandale Auto Auction. I used to call it, “the red light district” because every vehicle there sold under the red...
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