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The Best Cars for Your Money

What's the better buy: Charger or Camry?

If car buying was strictly a numbers game, deciding which car to buy would be much easier. Factors like purchase price, maintenance costs, resale value, performance numbers, and fuel economy would determine our car choices.

Most of us have a little thing called emotion fueling our car purchases, though, and the smartest choice might be eclipsed by our obsession with a certain model’s curvy exterior.

For those looking for the smartest car buys financially, the good folks at U.S. News and World Report Automotive have assembled a list of cars that are best buys over the long haul. The full list, along with their methodology, is here (Toyota/Lexus dominate, with eight of the 14 winners).

The best buys aren’t always best sellers or popular, though, so I’m comparing some of U.S. News’ choices with the Owner Favorites in the same categories on CarGurus.com and with the overall best sellers in each category.

Midsize sedan

Crossover

Hatchback/subcompact

Convertible/sports car

U.S. News & World Report Best Buy: Mazda Miata
CarGurus.com Owner Favorite: Ford Mustang
Best seller: Pontiac G6 (I didn’t believe it either, but you can double-check yourself here.)

Minivan

Full-size pickup

This is proof that sometimes the best buy is just plain boring. Putting the tag of “best buy” on a car is a pretty objective thing, because the guy looking for performance and fun is going to think a Dodge Charger is a heck of a better buy than a Toyota Camry!

What cars do you think were left off the “best buys” list?

-tgriffith

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Best Buy Could Sell Electric Cars

What!?! GM to Save 1,200 Jobs?

If GM can deliver the Chevy Cruze, it might have a chance

I can’t remember the last time there was news about General Motors saving jobs and injecting life into a sleepy Michigan township.

We’re all used to stories of GM plants being shuttered and workers fretting about unemployment. Heck, one of GM’s plants is being overtaken by an upstart American car company!

According to The Detroit News, General Motors will invest $800 billion to convert its Orion Township Plant, which currently produces the Pontiac G6 and Chevy Malibu, to produce cars more on the scale of the Chevy Aveo and Chevy Cruze.

<br/>A worker in the Orion Township Plant<br />(photo from The Detroit News)” width=”290″ height=”193″ /><p class=

A worker in the Orion Township Plant
(photo from The Detroit News)

For the time being, that’s great news. Of course, people will have to actually buy those cars in order for the plant to stay in operation. The odds of an American-built small car succeeding are pretty good, though, assuming the quality, reliability, fuel efficiency, style, and price all work together to bring customers into dealerships.

Let’s hope they do, because there’s already some stiff competition in the small-car market from the perennial import players Honda and Toyota, and then there’s Hyundai and Kia going after value-conscious shoppers. Not to mention Ford’s famous Fiesta and the crowd-pleasing Fiat 500, which will arrive at Chrysler dealerships in 2011, the same year GM hopes to begin production in the retooled Orion plant.

For now, though, let’s let the people of Orion Township celebrate this victory and hope GM can pull a rabbit out of its hat and make this work in the long term.

Do you think GM can produce small cars that will compete against strong-selling cars that are already available?

-tgriffith

Two Shifty-Eyed Guys We Now Have to Believe In

Us Automakers Obama Analysis Look, no matter what your politics, you know that GM’s bankruptcy had to happen, and today happened to be the day. At his late-morning press conference (video below), President Obama stressed the positive, naturally: Government will get out quickly, warranties will be safe, today’s sacrifices will produce an America that “makes things” again.

It was a good statement of the facts, such as they are. Here is some of what he didn’t (and couldn’t) say to the nation. (Apologies to the parties depicted in the photo at right; it was too good to pass up.)

The old GM will take at least a year, probably more, to accomplish its makeover to GM.2—which is predicated on the economy cooperating. But if the new company can’t pass the stress test of operating successfully in a 9-million-cars-a-year sales environment, what happens then? To be fair, no one can answer that.
All the stakeholders (bondholders, UAW-CAW, the Treasury) want out ASAP, but transformation of the GM product line will take at least a year. Yet GM is in a better position than Chrysler, which has awful cars and will have to wait on Fiat to fill its pipeline. Ford may be the big gainer here.
20,000 people will be on the street, 12 plants (at least) will close, dealerships and some suppliers will go bye-bye, creating an enormous cascade of pain and economic cost.
As Fritz Henderson acknowledged in his subsequent press conference, GM was carrying simply unsustainable debt and had no way out. You have to look at this as, he said, a “remarkable opportunity to address” balance sheet and product issues.

Embedded video from CNN Video

I then watched Jared Bernstein on Andrea Mitchell’s show (msnbc.com, not posted yet). He’s an economist and member of the auto task force, who was asked the big political question: “How would the government handle it if the company decided to keep promoting the sale of big gas-hogging trucks?”

His response: The government as shareholder has as its major concern the profitable running of the company. If it came to that, the government would want GM to sell trucks if it was the right management decision. The government’s environmental goals should be dealt with outside the boardroom.

That’s the first statement I’ve heard on what could be a very dicey issue. You’ve got to have hope.

Will the government be able to keep its political and social goals out of the boardroom?

—jgoods

Costco Auto Buying Program: Scam or Good Deal?

costcoauto

I’m paranoid about getting scammed.

It’s almost to the point where I don’t even want to answer the phone out of fear I’ll accidentally blurt out my social security number to someone claiming to work at my bank.

When it comes to car buying, my guard goes up like I’m a schizophrenic at a CIA interrogation.

That’s why I was intrigued when I discovered an auto buying program at Costco. The company’s website claims Costco saves members a lot of hassle and an average of $1,000 off a typical transaction price. It works like this:

Members choose the make and model they’re interested in, then Costco refers them to a local dealer who shows the customer the vehicle’s invoice price, the MSRP, and the Costco no-haggle price.

A no-haggle price with built-in savings sounds pretty good on the surface, but still my paranoia wasn’t eased by browsing Costco’s website. Digging a little deeper online, I found a lawsuit filed in January by a New Jersey woman who says the program is deceptive.

Her main accusation, according the paperwork, is:

The Costco auto program is misleading and deceptive because its “members only” price is exclusively defined in reference to the “invoice price” of authorized dealers. The Costco auto program does not control the underlying invoice price, and its participating dealers can and do manipulate that price in any number of ways.

A-ha! I knew there had to be something. Everyone knows dealers try to squeeze every ounce of cash they can out of people, so if there’s a price they’ll immediately accept, they must have a good amount of profit built in. Still, I trust Costco….

So I decided to put its auto buying program to the test.

While I was shopping to replace my wife’s car a few weeks back, we looked at getting a 2009 Honda CR-V EX AWD. It was black with a window sticker price of $25,635. We got pretty far into the negotiations before they broke down over the value of our trade-in. The purchase price we arrived at: $23,600.

With this in mind, I contacted the Costco Auto Program with no intent of buying, but to research this story. I wanted to see how close their offer was to the price I negotiated myself. I filled out the online form and waited 24 hours. They never called. So I called the “specially trained” Costco-approved salesman I was referred to and asked what my price would be.

He asked me to come in and see the car. I told him I’d seen it already and just wanted to know the Costco price. I eventually convinced him I wouldn’t come in unless I knew the price was acceptable.

Then he told me: $23,900.

I admit, I was impressed. I came to the conclusion that programs like Costco’s just might be worth it if you’re the kind of person who cowers at confrontation and despises negotiation. The deal, at least in this case, wasn’t too bad!

If you’re a negotiation pit bull, though, go after ‘em, and take every hundred you can get!

Would you consider, or have you used, something like Costco’s auto buying program?

-tgriffith

Extended Warranties for Your Car: Worth Buying?

auto_warranty_385x261 Your phone rings. You answer only to hear a computerized robot voice telling you that your auto warranty is about to expire and you need to extend your coverage.

I think it’s safe to say that anytime a computer calls, the offer can be written off as a scam. Still, there are people who fall for it.

Good thing U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., was smart enough to know it was a scam when he got the call. Now, he’s calling for a federal investigation into what he calls “robo-dialer harassment.”

I hope the feds can help put an end to the extended-warranty scam calls, because I believe they’re giving a bad rep to honest offers that car buyers might encounter at dealerships. Yes, you read that right, I used the words “honest” and “dealerships” in the same sentence, something I haven’t been known to do much.

The truth is, extended warranties have their place in the automotive world, whether you’re buying new or used. When buying a car from a dealer, the extended warranty is one of those often-dismissed items that the financial manager presents at the time of document signing. Granted, they can be expensive, but so can unexpected repair bills.

Believe it or not, I have advice on this whole topic:

If someone (or something) calls you offering an extended warranty, hang up.
If you buy a new car, there’s usually no need to buy the extended warranty. Unless you buy a Land Rover.
If you buy a used car, I highly recommend dishing out the dough for the extended warranty; just make sure you know exactly what you’re getting, and ask about deductibles and pro-rated coverage.
Before you buy a warranty from the dealership, check with your credit union. I recently saved $1,000 and got better coverage through mine than I would have gotten at the dealer.

In the end, extended warranties are as much about peace of mind as they are about potentially saving you money.

Just don’t ever buy from a robot.

What do you think about extended car warranties: Are they scams or necessities?

-tgriffith

Ford Outsells Toyota; Chrysler Deserves Its Bankruptcy

Ford shows its Red, White, and Blue

I wonder how long we’re going to keep calling them “the Big Three.”

One is in bankruptcy, and another is desperately trying to avoid it. The third is taking advantage and actually making up some ground.

Ford is poised to become “the Big One.”

Ford, which still hasn’t requested or taken any government funds, is watching its Detroit rivals slowly tread water. And as GM and Chrysler sink deeper, Ford chips away at their market share with a mix of luck and strategic foresight that included:

luring CEO Alan Mulally away from Boeing
Mulally’s ambitious steps to mortgage just about every asset Ford owns and create billions of dollars to fund their rebuilding
having the right product mix when gas prices rose and the economy sank

While Ford’s April sales were still down 32 percent from a year ago, those numbers were good enough to overtake Toyota as the nation’s number 2 car company with a 16 percent share of the market. GM is at 21 percent and falling.

I can sit here and spew numbers all day, but numbers aren’t fun. The bottom line is this: Car companies succeed when they have great cars. Strike that - when they have great cars that people want.

When the economy tanked, Chrysler’s “small” car offerings were the Avenger and the Sebring. Chrysler was just introducing the new Dodge Ram, too, which is a great truck, but no one wanted trucks, not even great ones.

GM was hawking the Chevy Aveo and Pontiac G5. Then Ford came to the plate and offered up the Fusion and Focus, which the public adored.

Looking at it like this, it’s no surprise that Ford is swimming laps around its drowning rivals. Ford somehow managed to see the future’s giant fist coming, while GM and Chrysler were looking the other way and got smacked in the face by it.

What do you think are some of the biggest screwups the Big Three have made?

-tgriffith

The Problem with Dealerships

Out to get you?

Why don’t dealers want to sell cars?

You’d think, considering the news about struggling dealers and automakers, that sales managers at dealerships would be itching to make the best deals they can.

Instead, they’re tending to hoard their inventory, only willing to let cars go for top dollar. Maybe their strategy is to sell fewer cars, but at a higher profit. Or maybe they’re just too dang arrogant to admit they need to make the best deal possible.

I posted over the weekend about my experience shopping for a replacement car for my wife. Then a CarGurus blog reader sent us an e-mail expressing his frustrations with dealerships, which confirmed to me that my experience probably isn’t unique.

From what I’m seeing so far, dealers are playing serious hardball. Here’s one example from this weekend:

I found a car I was interested in and began negotiations. My first step was to negotiate the price of my trade-in, for which they offered me $6,500. My research showed a trade-in value of about $9,000. Also, and here’s the kicker, the dealer had my exact car on their lot for $15,999.

So I knew they’d price my car similarly, and I asked for $10K on my trade-in. I told my salesman I’d then negotiate a fair price on their car. I essentially got laughed at as I was walking out their door. They let me go when I was willing to make a deal and pay more than I probably should have for their car.

So now I’m changing strategies and doing what I should’ve done in the first place. I sold my car privately for $11,000, I’ve secured financing through my credit union, and now I’ll shop with cash in hand and work the best deal I can.

That’s my advice to the guy who emailed us and to anyone else car shopping right now. Dealers are hurting, but they’re still looking to take advantage of buyers in any way they can. Go with cash and make your best offer… if they still turn you down, well, maybe they’ll be one of the thousands more dealers to fail in the coming years.

Would any dealers care to put in their two cents here? Have any other car shoppers had experiences like this?

-tgriffith

The best new cars for around $15,000 are…

I think everyone should consider looking at cars in the sub-$15K category, even if they can afford considerably more. For their value, fuel efficiency, and fun factor, these are my picks for the best new cars you can get for about $15,000.

mazda3

The car is low maintenance, fun to drive, extremely comfortable, and safe. It’s roomy enough for five and gets a whopping 32 mpg.

2010-kia-soul

Certainly aimed at the younger crowd, the Soul is a crowd pleaser even before it hits showrooms this Spring. Our friends at carsforgirls.com called it an “urban chic compact crossover-SUV.” Yep, sounds about right!

2009-fit

If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you might remember the tent that looks ordinary from the outside, but inside it’s actually more of a mansion. That’s how the Fit is. Somehow, once you’re inside it’s more like you’re in an SUV than a 35-mpg compact.

2009-sx4

The only car under $15K that comes with all-wheel drive standard also has a peppy 143-hp engine and standard navigation. The one drawback is a hit on fuel economy when compared to these other cars, but sometimes the security of AWD is worth it.

2009-civic

You get front-seat side airbags, full-length side curtain airbags, active front head restraints… plus the legendary Honda reliability. The Civic, even in base dress, just doesn’t have a drawback.

If you had a $15K budget, would you rather buy a new car from this list, or a used car for the same price?

-tgriffith

Tall trucks, a short bridge, and a video camera…

With all the serious news stories and debates about what should happen to the auto industry, sometimes it’s fun to just stop for a few minutes and watch people break things.

I suppose you can look at this video three different ways:

1. Drivers don’t pay attention to the height of their vehicles.

2. Does a lack of signage fail to let drivers know of an upcoming height restriction?

3. That bridge can take a serious beating.

I’ve seen scrape marks on the bottom of overpasses, I’ve run a rental car into a pole, and my sister-in-law even found a tuna sandwich under the seat of a rental, but I’ve never done damage to a vehicle like this!

Have you ever wrecked a rental car or truck? And please feel free to make your own rental insurance or instant convertible jokes!

-tgriffith

Car Buyer’s Remorse

It’s happened to all of us.

There are also some pretty pathetic car stories on the Web. In December we asked about the worst car you ever owned. Last summer nextautos wanted to know which car purchase you most regretted. Answers came thick and fast, including: 1980 Pontiac 6000 STE, 1995 Dodge Neon Sports, 1968 Corvette, 2004 Jetta, Oldsmobile Achieva, 2002 Dodge Neon, Toyota Corona, 1997 Ford Contour V8 GL. I didn’t count, but it looks like GM cars predominate, though there’s lots of competition.

Other kinds of regret emerged in a Wall Street Journal story—such things as a driver complaining that her new Chevrolet Aveo didn’t have electric windows or the comfort of her former Buick. One guy traded a Suburban for a Chrysler Pacifica and liked the better mileage, but not the smaller interior space. These people are not smart car buyers—and probably not smart people, either.

A new survey by CarMax validates that statement. The top complaint, “paid too much for a new car that depreciated,” was made by 26% of respondents. Then:

Didn’t do the research 22%

Bought the wrong car 16%

Bought from an untrustworthy source 16%

Didn’t get the extended service plan 11%

Didn’t review paperwork before signing 8%.

The conclusion is inescapable, isn’t it? Buyer’s don’t do their homework.

Why don’t they? There are lots of good Web resources available, including the best one of all—CarGurus.com—right here! We offer new car specs, reviews and prices, a used car lot, information on financing options, dealers, repair shops, service plans, car forums, a great blog and more.

There’s just no excuse to be uninformed when going into a major purchase like buying a car. Many, however, still treat it as an impulse buy and tend to jump in without thinking. If you do, you may have a lot to regret.

Where and how did you research your last car buy?

—jgoods

Burning 11,000 gallons of fuel in a Prius could get Pitt all the way to ...

George Clooney and his Tango

Few things in life delight me as much as irony.

And when the topic turns to celebrities and their cars, the fodder is nearly unending.

Especially when the talk is about celebrities who ‘go green.’

It’s hard to count the number of celebs who have been seen tooling around tinsel town in a Prius. A few of them are: Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Billy Joel and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Going a step further, George Clooney owns two electric vehicles; a Tango and a Tesla.

Alanis Morisette teamed up with Mercedes and was hooked up with an E320 BlueTec.

While I admire the image these people are trying to convey, I can see through the smoke screen and take a look at the real environmental impact they are making.

While a trip to the grocery store in a Prius might make a great tabloid cover shot, the trip to Namibia in a private jet is kept a bit quieter.

Yet when Brad Pitt jets off to Africa, he flies in a private jet and burns 11,000 gallons of jet fuel to travel about 9,000 miles. Let’s see… what is that… 0.8 miles per gallon? Way to save the Earth, Brad!

Burning 11,000 gallons of fuel in a Prius could get Pitt all the way to the MOON.

And most of the way back.

It’s the same story with other celebs, though props go to Leo DiCaprio for flying commercial airlines whenever possible.

Aside from the private jets, the cars many of these people owned before making the switch to hybrid means they have a lot of ground to make up before their carbon footprint evens out.

For example, Cameron Diaz had a Porsche 911 Carrera and a Mercedes SL. Brad Pitt has been seen in an Audi Q7 and a Nissan Quest (yup, a minivan for Mr. Cool).

And now anti-establishment rocker Alanis Morisette drives an eco-friendly diesel? As her song goes, isn’t it ironic!

So what do you think: Are celebs in eco-friendly cars driving them for the Earth or treating them as fashion accessories?

-tgriffith

Calling all owners of Mercedes-Benz AMG models.

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