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'Car Book' Offers Advice On Saving Your Life, Money When Buying A New Car
The Advocate
By Herb Denenberg, The Bulletin
The American classic, The Car Book, is out in its 29th edition, loaded with valuable information on how to buy a car: What cars are best bets, the safest, have the lowest maintenance and repair costs, have the best warranties, have the fewest complaints, what tire are best, and even a chapter on how to protect yourself in the showroom when buying a car.
This book is the product of Jack Gillis, the author, in cooperation with America’s premier safety organization, The Center for Auto Safety, headed by Clarence Ditlow. The two are among the foremost auto safety consumer advocates and car safety experts. Their expertise is reflected in this important book.
Just to give you an idea of the kind of valuable information this book delivers, consider its section on auto maintenance costs. This is a cost factor you might neglect, but should be taken into account in figuring the overall cost of a car you’re buying. The book computes the cost of buying the preventive maintenance recommended by the manufacturer. That figure is $120 for all BMW models. It is $1,260 for a Susuki Grand Vitara. The lowest cost preventive maintenance lineup, from lowest on up, include all models of BMW, Saab 9-3 and Toyota’s Yaris, RAV4 and Camry.
Then there is the cost of repairs. To measure that, the book priced nine items likely to be replaced during the first 100,000 miles. The lowest cost of repairs for any car is the Jeep Wrangler, at $1,778. The highest cost is the BMW X5 at $5,047. So you may save on BMW’s preventive maintenance, but you’ll have to give it back when you need repairs. The numbers in this category are merely an index and what any individual owner will pay for repairs is unpredictable. In some future edition of the book, Mr. Gillis ought to have a cost figure for each car, factoring in not only purchase price, but also other factors such as preventive maintenance, repair costs, resale value and other cost factors. That would further enhance the value of the book, which is noted for making the seemingly incomparable comparable by condensing them into an index number.
Another cost factor involves resale value. According to the book, the best resale value goes to the Toyota Prius, which retained 93 percent of its value going from 2008 to 2005. The others with the best resale value are the Mazda 3, in second place, and on down, the Honda Civic, Scion xB, Toyota RAV4, the Toyota Corolla and Toyota Matrix. This, of course, becomes a more important consideration when you keep a car only a few years. If you’re like me, and keep them 10 to 15 years, the resale value is almost immaterial.
One of the most important contributions of the book is safety information. The U.S. government tests and rates cars for performance in crashes. But they have undergone grade inflation, with almost all cars getting high marks. In the magic of government land, every car seems to be above average. The book makes fine distinctions. Consequently, two cars, which may seem to be the same according to the U.S. government, may in fact be among the safest and least safe of cars, as far as crash ratings goes. The book provides more discriminating judgments on crash worthiness than the government.
The four intermediate size cars with the best performance in crash tests are the Acura TSX, the Chevrolet Impala, the Nissan Maxima and the Toyota Avalon. The three intermediate size cars with the worst rating are the Lexus IS, the Saab 9-3, and the Volkswagen Passat. I was surprised at the number of luxury cars in this category such as the Lexus, already noted, the Infinity EX, the Lincoln MKX, and the Cadillac STS. Of course, there are many luxury cars among the safest from the point of view of crash ratings. Space doesn’t permit ratings on all cars, so those given are to give you an idea of the kind of information available in the book.
Another category involves warranties. The book has an index that combines the basic warranty, the power train warranty, the corrosion warranty, and the roadside assistance provision. It’s hard to compare those four variables just by looking at them. This makes it easier to compare warranties by aggregating the four variables into a single rating. The five best from the very best on down are the Hyundai, BMW, Mitsubishi, Volvo and Mini.
One of the most important categories is the complaint index, which enables you to compare complaint frequency from one car to another. The five with the fewest complaints from the best on down are the Infiniti EX, Porsche Cayenne, Lincoln MKZ, Lexus LX and Scion xD.
If you want all these variables put together, it is in The Car Book’s “Best Bets for 2009,” the cars, SUVs and pickups recommended. The recommended intermediate size cars are the Audi A4, Honda Civic, Honda Civic Coupe, Kia Spectra, Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Matrix, Volvo S40, Kia Optima, Lincoln MKZ, Mercury Milan, Mitsubishi Galant Nissan Altima and Nissan Maxima.
If you want to buy American, the Big Three are represented in every category except subcompact. In compact, there is the Pontiac Vibe. In intermediate there is the Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and Mercury Milan. In large, there is the Mercury Grand Marquis. In the minivan category there are the Chrysler Town and Country, and the Dodge Grand Caravan. In the small SUV category there are the Jeep Liberty and the Jeep Patriot. In the mid-size SUV, there are the Dodge Journey, Dodge Nitro, and Volvo XC90 (Volvo is still owned by Ford); in the large SUV category there are the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Yukon XL, and Jeep Grand Cherokee. In the compact pickup category there is the Dodge Dakota. In the standard pickup category there is the Cadillac Escalade EXT.
Messrs. Ditlow and Gillis offer a lot of good buying advice, especially some tailored to the extraordinary car buying times we’re in. Mr. Ditlow suggests you may want to try to go for a make that will still be around in 2015. He says the only GM makes that are sure bets are Chevrolet and Cadillac. He thinks Ford and Lincoln will survive, but not Mercury. And he wonders whether Chrysler will make it at all.
Because of the possibility of a manufacturer going under, he says you might bargain with a dealer to pickup the warranty if the manufacturer can’t honor it. When Daewoo, the Vietnamese car company, went bankrupt, many owners were left without the manufacturer’s warranty. He says The Car Book can help you get the car you want at the best price. He highly recommends making safety a top priority. In that connection, he notes that there are two important safety features not required by the government — side curtain air bags and electronic stability control. He recommends both. The book tells you whether each vehicle has such safety features, as well as many other important features.
Mr. Gillis writes the book not only helps consumers find the right vehicle but also has pressured the government into requiring safety features that have saved lives. He says cars have greatly improved over the years, but there are still large differences between the best and the worst cars.
The Car Book has a strong chapter on showroom strategies. It starts with the five basic steps to car buying:
1. Start by narrowing your choice down to a particular class of cars, i.e., station wagons, minivans, sedans, etc.
2. Determine the features that are important to you. The book stresses safety features, but there are all kinds of other features you may be interested in such as economy, resale value, etc.
3. Narrow yourself down to three or four cars. You want more than one option so you don’t psychologically limit yourself in bargaining. So if you are thinking of the Toyota Camry, you ought to consider the Honda Accord and Ford Fusion as well.
4. Take a long test drive in many varied situations — highway traffic, city traffic, parking, etc. The book recommends going without the sales person. I recommend trying to rent the car for a few days, so you can get a real test, i.e., daytime driving, nighttime driving, perhaps driving in the rain, etc. The book recommends avoiding talk of price and deals until you’re ready to buy.
5. Next comes the dreaded haggling and bargaining. Some dealers offer no-haggle pricing, but they are in the minority. The book recommends its CarBargains pricing service. Consumer Reports also offers a car pricing service as does the consumer publication, Check Book. And there is an immense amount of information available on the Internet. One key recommendation is to be ready to make the 180-degree turn — just walk out even if offered the “best deal possible” by some salesman. Don’t be pressured into a fast decision on a car. Fast decisions are frequently bad decisions. And those who pressure for a fast decision are often con men.
Here are some of the showroom strategies offered by The Car Book:
• Beware of silence. When there are long periods when the salesman is talking to the manager, remember that is sometimes a tactic to intimidate and pressure you toward getting the deal done. Let the salesman know you’ve got other options, other manufacturers, other dealers, etc. You may even want to bring material along that shows you’ve done your homework and you’re able to play the field. By showing you have other options, you increase your bargaining power and speed up the process.
• Don’t fall in love with a car. There are many excellent cars on the market and many matches for almost any one car. So don’t let a love affair with a car carry you away to a bad deal. You may even want to bring a friend along to say things like “too much compared to the other deal” — the old good cop, bad cop routine.
• Keep your wallet in your pocket. Don’t leave a deposit even if refundable. Finish your shopping first, so you’re under no time or other pressures to finish your shopping.
• Buy last year’s model. In many cases, cars are pretty much the same from one model year to another. So you can often get the best deal on the older model in the fall, as dealers are pushing them out to get ready for the new models
• Buy from stock. You can often get the best deal on a car that the dealer has in stock right on his lot. But don’t go for one if it means you’ll have to take some expensive options you don’t want. You can ask the dealer to remove the option or sell the car without charging you for it.
• Order the car. Many manufacturers will let you order the car to your exact specifications. That often presents a good buying strategy, as the dealer has no investment in the car and simply has to order it. I’ve purchased two Fords that way, with an agreement to pay a couple of hundred dollars over invoice, after all rebates are also subtracted. You can get advice on how much to pay from some of the pricing services or your own research.
• The book recommends against buying from a dealer who has a mandatory arbitration agreement. Ask to have the agreement deleted, or go elsewhere. That forces you to arbitrate any disputes and takes away your right to litigate. The book says many dealers do not require mandatory arbitration agreements.
The Car Book also offers advice on getting the best price:
• Shop away from home. Don’t just shop in a small area around your home. If you get a good deal away from your home radius, run it by a dealer close to home. If he can’t match it, it may pay to buy elsewhere. You can still get service at any dealer of that nameplate.
• Beware of false advertising. Many car ads are designed to get you into the showroom, and use misleading tactics to do so. I remember once interviewing a car dealer who denounced such misleading ads, but I soon found he was running them, too. Apparently he decided he had to run fraudulent ads to stay competitive.
• Don’t talk price until you’re ready to buy. On the first trip to the showroom decide on your options and do the test drive.
• Shop the corporate twins. There are about 37 corporate twins. The Chevrolet Trail Blazer, GMC Envoy and Saab 9-7x are corporate twins; usually there are only two. The twins share the same mechanics, drivetrain and chassis. The vehicles are almost identical with some variations in options, price and body style. So if you’re interested in a vehicle with a twin, it pays to shop the twin, too.
• Watch out for dealer preparation overcharges. Don’t pay for such overcharges if the price sticker states: “Manufacturer’s suggested retail price of this model includes dealer preparation.”
• Negotiate if you must. The book recommends negotiating up from invoice price rather than down from sticker price. If your offer is too low, ask to see the invoice. The invoice may not reflect rebates and other special considerations that should be taken into account in making the deal.
• Consider selling your old car yourself. That often will be better than a trade-in. You can check values of old cars in the NADA Official Used Car Guide. You can check invoice prices on the Kelly Blue Book Web site at kbb.com
• If you trade, negotiate your buying price and your trade-in value separately. The book says this simplifies the transaction and makes it clear what you’re actually paying for the new car.
• Don’t hesitate to question anything the dealer puts in writing. The book says work on the assumption that anything is negotiable and don’t hesitate to question any provision that is in a sales contract.
There are some important measures for avoiding lemons:
• Avoid new models. Don’t buy until the manufacturer has eliminated any of the defects of a new model. The book says if they are not worked out by the third model year, chances are the car will be a lemon forever.
• Avoid first cars off the line. These cars are more likely to have defects. The date of manufacture of the car is on a metal tag found on the inside of the driver-side door frame.
• Avoid delicate options. Power seats, power windows, power antennas and special roofs are nice conveniences until they break. Then they are among the most expensive to repair.
• Inspect the dealer’s checklist. This document, also called the “make-ready list,” if requested at time of delivery will communicate to the dealer that you know the dealer has the responsibility to check the new vehicle for defects.
• Examine the car on delivery before making the final payment. Before taking delivery make sure the car is free of defects. That can save you time, money and misery later. Make sure all equipment is there. Make sure all electrical equipment works. Be sure the owner’s manual, warranty forms and all the legal documents are in the glove compartment.
The Car Book also has information on financing, leasing versus buying, insurance, using the Internet and almost everything else you need to know. The book’s 272 pages will save you money and their safety features may save your life.
Herb Denenberg is a former Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner, Public Utility Commissioner and professor. He is a longtime Philadelphia journalist and consumer advocate. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of the Sciences. You can reach him at advocate@thebulletin.us.
This book is the product of Jack Gillis, the author, in cooperation with America’s premier safety organization, The Center for Auto Safety, headed by Clarence Ditlow. The two are among the foremost auto safety consumer advocates and car safety experts. Their expertise is reflected in this important book.
Just to give you an idea of the kind of valuable information this book delivers, consider its section on auto maintenance costs. This is a cost factor you might neglect, but should be taken into account in figuring the overall cost of a car you’re buying. The book computes the cost of buying the preventive maintenance recommended by the manufacturer. That figure is $120 for all BMW models. It is $1,260 for a Susuki Grand Vitara. The lowest cost preventive maintenance lineup, from lowest on up, include all models of BMW, Saab 9-3 and Toyota’s Yaris, RAV4 and Camry.
Then there is the cost of repairs. To measure that, the book priced nine items likely to be replaced during the first 100,000 miles. The lowest cost of repairs for any car is the Jeep Wrangler, at $1,778. The highest cost is the BMW X5 at $5,047. So you may save on BMW’s preventive maintenance, but you’ll have to give it back when you need repairs. The numbers in this category are merely an index and what any individual owner will pay for repairs is unpredictable. In some future edition of the book, Mr. Gillis ought to have a cost figure for each car, factoring in not only purchase price, but also other factors such as preventive maintenance, repair costs, resale value and other cost factors. That would further enhance the value of the book, which is noted for making the seemingly incomparable comparable by condensing them into an index number.
Another cost factor involves resale value. According to the book, the best resale value goes to the Toyota Prius, which retained 93 percent of its value going from 2008 to 2005. The others with the best resale value are the Mazda 3, in second place, and on down, the Honda Civic, Scion xB, Toyota RAV4, the Toyota Corolla and Toyota Matrix. This, of course, becomes a more important consideration when you keep a car only a few years. If you’re like me, and keep them 10 to 15 years, the resale value is almost immaterial.
One of the most important contributions of the book is safety information. The U.S. government tests and rates cars for performance in crashes. But they have undergone grade inflation, with almost all cars getting high marks. In the magic of government land, every car seems to be above average. The book makes fine distinctions. Consequently, two cars, which may seem to be the same according to the U.S. government, may in fact be among the safest and least safe of cars, as far as crash ratings goes. The book provides more discriminating judgments on crash worthiness than the government.
The four intermediate size cars with the best performance in crash tests are the Acura TSX, the Chevrolet Impala, the Nissan Maxima and the Toyota Avalon. The three intermediate size cars with the worst rating are the Lexus IS, the Saab 9-3, and the Volkswagen Passat. I was surprised at the number of luxury cars in this category such as the Lexus, already noted, the Infinity EX, the Lincoln MKX, and the Cadillac STS. Of course, there are many luxury cars among the safest from the point of view of crash ratings. Space doesn’t permit ratings on all cars, so those given are to give you an idea of the kind of information available in the book.
Another category involves warranties. The book has an index that combines the basic warranty, the power train warranty, the corrosion warranty, and the roadside assistance provision. It’s hard to compare those four variables just by looking at them. This makes it easier to compare warranties by aggregating the four variables into a single rating. The five best from the very best on down are the Hyundai, BMW, Mitsubishi, Volvo and Mini.
One of the most important categories is the complaint index, which enables you to compare complaint frequency from one car to another. The five with the fewest complaints from the best on down are the Infiniti EX, Porsche Cayenne, Lincoln MKZ, Lexus LX and Scion xD.
If you want all these variables put together, it is in The Car Book’s “Best Bets for 2009,” the cars, SUVs and pickups recommended. The recommended intermediate size cars are the Audi A4, Honda Civic, Honda Civic Coupe, Kia Spectra, Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Matrix, Volvo S40, Kia Optima, Lincoln MKZ, Mercury Milan, Mitsubishi Galant Nissan Altima and Nissan Maxima.
If you want to buy American, the Big Three are represented in every category except subcompact. In compact, there is the Pontiac Vibe. In intermediate there is the Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and Mercury Milan. In large, there is the Mercury Grand Marquis. In the minivan category there are the Chrysler Town and Country, and the Dodge Grand Caravan. In the small SUV category there are the Jeep Liberty and the Jeep Patriot. In the mid-size SUV, there are the Dodge Journey, Dodge Nitro, and Volvo XC90 (Volvo is still owned by Ford); in the large SUV category there are the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Yukon XL, and Jeep Grand Cherokee. In the compact pickup category there is the Dodge Dakota. In the standard pickup category there is the Cadillac Escalade EXT.
Messrs. Ditlow and Gillis offer a lot of good buying advice, especially some tailored to the extraordinary car buying times we’re in. Mr. Ditlow suggests you may want to try to go for a make that will still be around in 2015. He says the only GM makes that are sure bets are Chevrolet and Cadillac. He thinks Ford and Lincoln will survive, but not Mercury. And he wonders whether Chrysler will make it at all.
Because of the possibility of a manufacturer going under, he says you might bargain with a dealer to pickup the warranty if the manufacturer can’t honor it. When Daewoo, the Vietnamese car company, went bankrupt, many owners were left without the manufacturer’s warranty. He says The Car Book can help you get the car you want at the best price. He highly recommends making safety a top priority. In that connection, he notes that there are two important safety features not required by the government — side curtain air bags and electronic stability control. He recommends both. The book tells you whether each vehicle has such safety features, as well as many other important features.
Mr. Gillis writes the book not only helps consumers find the right vehicle but also has pressured the government into requiring safety features that have saved lives. He says cars have greatly improved over the years, but there are still large differences between the best and the worst cars.
The Car Book has a strong chapter on showroom strategies. It starts with the five basic steps to car buying:
1. Start by narrowing your choice down to a particular class of cars, i.e., station wagons, minivans, sedans, etc.
2. Determine the features that are important to you. The book stresses safety features, but there are all kinds of other features you may be interested in such as economy, resale value, etc.
3. Narrow yourself down to three or four cars. You want more than one option so you don’t psychologically limit yourself in bargaining. So if you are thinking of the Toyota Camry, you ought to consider the Honda Accord and Ford Fusion as well.
4. Take a long test drive in many varied situations — highway traffic, city traffic, parking, etc. The book recommends going without the sales person. I recommend trying to rent the car for a few days, so you can get a real test, i.e., daytime driving, nighttime driving, perhaps driving in the rain, etc. The book recommends avoiding talk of price and deals until you’re ready to buy.
5. Next comes the dreaded haggling and bargaining. Some dealers offer no-haggle pricing, but they are in the minority. The book recommends its CarBargains pricing service. Consumer Reports also offers a car pricing service as does the consumer publication, Check Book. And there is an immense amount of information available on the Internet. One key recommendation is to be ready to make the 180-degree turn — just walk out even if offered the “best deal possible” by some salesman. Don’t be pressured into a fast decision on a car. Fast decisions are frequently bad decisions. And those who pressure for a fast decision are often con men.
Here are some of the showroom strategies offered by The Car Book:
• Beware of silence. When there are long periods when the salesman is talking to the manager, remember that is sometimes a tactic to intimidate and pressure you toward getting the deal done. Let the salesman know you’ve got other options, other manufacturers, other dealers, etc. You may even want to bring material along that shows you’ve done your homework and you’re able to play the field. By showing you have other options, you increase your bargaining power and speed up the process.
• Don’t fall in love with a car. There are many excellent cars on the market and many matches for almost any one car. So don’t let a love affair with a car carry you away to a bad deal. You may even want to bring a friend along to say things like “too much compared to the other deal” — the old good cop, bad cop routine.
• Keep your wallet in your pocket. Don’t leave a deposit even if refundable. Finish your shopping first, so you’re under no time or other pressures to finish your shopping.
• Buy last year’s model. In many cases, cars are pretty much the same from one model year to another. So you can often get the best deal on the older model in the fall, as dealers are pushing them out to get ready for the new models
• Buy from stock. You can often get the best deal on a car that the dealer has in stock right on his lot. But don’t go for one if it means you’ll have to take some expensive options you don’t want. You can ask the dealer to remove the option or sell the car without charging you for it.
• Order the car. Many manufacturers will let you order the car to your exact specifications. That often presents a good buying strategy, as the dealer has no investment in the car and simply has to order it. I’ve purchased two Fords that way, with an agreement to pay a couple of hundred dollars over invoice, after all rebates are also subtracted. You can get advice on how much to pay from some of the pricing services or your own research.
• The book recommends against buying from a dealer who has a mandatory arbitration agreement. Ask to have the agreement deleted, or go elsewhere. That forces you to arbitrate any disputes and takes away your right to litigate. The book says many dealers do not require mandatory arbitration agreements.
The Car Book also offers advice on getting the best price:
• Shop away from home. Don’t just shop in a small area around your home. If you get a good deal away from your home radius, run it by a dealer close to home. If he can’t match it, it may pay to buy elsewhere. You can still get service at any dealer of that nameplate.
• Beware of false advertising. Many car ads are designed to get you into the showroom, and use misleading tactics to do so. I remember once interviewing a car dealer who denounced such misleading ads, but I soon found he was running them, too. Apparently he decided he had to run fraudulent ads to stay competitive.
• Don’t talk price until you’re ready to buy. On the first trip to the showroom decide on your options and do the test drive.
• Shop the corporate twins. There are about 37 corporate twins. The Chevrolet Trail Blazer, GMC Envoy and Saab 9-7x are corporate twins; usually there are only two. The twins share the same mechanics, drivetrain and chassis. The vehicles are almost identical with some variations in options, price and body style. So if you’re interested in a vehicle with a twin, it pays to shop the twin, too.
• Watch out for dealer preparation overcharges. Don’t pay for such overcharges if the price sticker states: “Manufacturer’s suggested retail price of this model includes dealer preparation.”
• Negotiate if you must. The book recommends negotiating up from invoice price rather than down from sticker price. If your offer is too low, ask to see the invoice. The invoice may not reflect rebates and other special considerations that should be taken into account in making the deal.
• Consider selling your old car yourself. That often will be better than a trade-in. You can check values of old cars in the NADA Official Used Car Guide. You can check invoice prices on the Kelly Blue Book Web site at kbb.com
• If you trade, negotiate your buying price and your trade-in value separately. The book says this simplifies the transaction and makes it clear what you’re actually paying for the new car.
• Don’t hesitate to question anything the dealer puts in writing. The book says work on the assumption that anything is negotiable and don’t hesitate to question any provision that is in a sales contract.
There are some important measures for avoiding lemons:
• Avoid new models. Don’t buy until the manufacturer has eliminated any of the defects of a new model. The book says if they are not worked out by the third model year, chances are the car will be a lemon forever.
• Avoid first cars off the line. These cars are more likely to have defects. The date of manufacture of the car is on a metal tag found on the inside of the driver-side door frame.
• Avoid delicate options. Power seats, power windows, power antennas and special roofs are nice conveniences until they break. Then they are among the most expensive to repair.
• Inspect the dealer’s checklist. This document, also called the “make-ready list,” if requested at time of delivery will communicate to the dealer that you know the dealer has the responsibility to check the new vehicle for defects.
• Examine the car on delivery before making the final payment. Before taking delivery make sure the car is free of defects. That can save you time, money and misery later. Make sure all equipment is there. Make sure all electrical equipment works. Be sure the owner’s manual, warranty forms and all the legal documents are in the glove compartment.
The Car Book also has information on financing, leasing versus buying, insurance, using the Internet and almost everything else you need to know. The book’s 272 pages will save you money and their safety features may save your life.
Herb Denenberg is a former Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner, Public Utility Commissioner and professor. He is a longtime Philadelphia journalist and consumer advocate. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of the Sciences. You can reach him at advocate@thebulletin.us.
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