Question: Dear Michael, I am a middle aged divorcee women with no mechanical skills whatsoever. I normally purchase new cars when one is needed. I purchased a new car in 1990 and kept it for over 17 years. I purchased a 2008 and currently still owe it with 315,000 miles. Most people suggest buying used … Read more
Experian Automotive announced that the average amount financed and the average monthly payment for a new vehicle continued to climb, breaking the previous records on file. According to its latest State of the Automotive Finance Market report, the average amount financed for a new vehicle in Q4 2015 was $29,551, up $1,170 from Q4 last … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I need two new cars(used cars) but I don’t know if I should fix these old cars or trade them in and buy 2 used ones. My 2007 Kia Optima has 165K miles on it and wont pass inspection-needs catalytic converter and new tires (maybe $1500?). My ex-wife has Kia Sedona with … Read more
“Dear Steve, I purchased a $16,000 car in 2007. I put $6,000 cash down, less than 60 days after I signed the contract the car starts swaying really bad due to worn out bushings in the suspension. I contacted the dealership, got an estimate for the necessary repairs($1,800). The dealership refused to even cover a … Read more
“Dear Steve, I’m 22 , I made a bad decision to buy a car that was nice at first but not very accommodating. How can i get rid of my financed vehicle? I understand i may end up upside down on my loan but what happens after? how will this negatively (if so) affect my … Read more
Dear Dollar Stretcher, I’d like to get a good used car without going in the poor house! We have 3 school-aged children. Our old Ford pickup doesn’t have room for them. I wanted to spend $5,000 or less and don’t want car payments. Do you have any ides where to look besides the newspaper? Kevin … Read more
I’ve never really thought or paid much mind to where a criminal would buy a car. Have you? I mean, think about it, you’d figure if someone was hiding from the police or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that they’d probably buy a car in cash and pay off a dealer to keep it off … Read more
I owe $19,000 on my car but according to KBB its only worth $12,000 on the low end for a trade in. The car has about 120K miles on it and im worried it might break down and cost a lot to fix. I’d like to downgrade to a Honda that costs about $20K and … Read more
Theresa “Dear Steve, I Bought a car last year a 2005 kia Sportatge for originally I think it was 11 thousand but the car dealership I bought it from was a ford company and they really socked it to me my payments are 211 every 2 weeks for 72 months which made it sound manageable … Read more