Every year in the late summer or early fall car manufacturers start rolling out their new models. This generally translates into some sort of ‘clearance’ event at dealerships as they try to sell off their old stock. But does it pay to buy last year’s car? According to a recent article on CNN/Money, the answer depends on what type of owner you are and which car you’re buying. [more]

Consumer Reports just published a series of articles on EPA mileage estimates and how they compare to real-world results. As it turns out, 90% of all vehicles surveyed got worse than expected mileage, with the biggest discrepancies (up to 50% below EPA estimates) occurring in city driving. Even those thrifty hybrids are getting in on the action, with city mileage falling up to 19 MPG short of the EPA estimates. Most troubling of all is that the gulf between the EPA values and real-world results appears to have been growing over time. In short, while the EPA estimates allow you to make comparions amongst makes/models, they’re not very good indicators of actual mileage. Until the system is overhauled, CR suggests that you discount the EPA estimates for city travel by the following amounts: conventional cars and trucks, 30 percent; larger hybrids, 35 percent; diesels, 36 percent; smaller hybrids, 42 percent.

Are you thinking about relocating? If so, then you’re probably interested in knowing how the cost-of-living compares between your current location and your destination. Below I’ve listed a collection of online cost-of-living calculators for making just this sort of comparison between various U.S. locales. [more]

Have you ever found yourself in a bookstore or record shop wishing that you could check how much a certain item costs at Amazon before deciding whether or not to buy it? If so, then I’ve got the perfect solution for you. Just grab your cellphone and call Amabuddy.com. So what the heck is Amabuddy? It’s a free online service that allows you to call in and enter an ISBN number to get Amazon’s current price on any book or CD. The best part is that they bookmark items that you’ve queried such that you can pull up a list from their site (using your phone number) when you get back home — they make a commission if you click through and buy from their site. Their toll free number is currently down, but pretty much every cell phone now offers free long distance, so this shouldn’t present any problems. If you want to try it out, give them a call at (617) 712-3574.

Well, everything went exactly as expected when we went to pick up our car, and we’re now the proud new owners of a 2005 Honda CR-V LX. Once again, our new car buying strategy worked out exceptionally well, and the actual transaction was totally painless. After a final test drive and top-to-bottom inspection, we shuffled a few papers and then wrote the check. They didn’t even offer to sell us an extended warranty. The whole process took just over an hour, and only about a third of that involved actual interaction with the salesman. Next up… Accessories. There are a few things on our wish list, including all-season floor mats and a cover for the cargo area. The main problem here is that OEM accessories come complete with a tremendous markup when purchased from the dealership. Yes, we could have included these items in our negotiations. This, however, complicates the negotiating process, and I’d much prefer to keep the main transaction as simple as possible. Fortunately, there’s an easy solution. [more]

I just got an e-mail from the Honda dealer that we’ve decided to buy from. Our Honda CR-V LX 2WD arrived this morning, and is being put through the dealer inspection as we speak. It’ll be detailed and ready for pick up this weekend. So, assuming that it passes our inspection and final test drive, we should have a new car around lunch time tomorrow. Very exciting!

Read Part I of “Buying a New Car”
Read Part II of “Buying a New Car”
You’re reading Part III of “Buying a New Car”
Read Part IV of “Buying a New Car”

Our Citi Driver’s Edge credit card statement just posted, and I’m pleased to report that the problems with our reward calculations have been fixed. Needless to say, I’m thrilled that this all got straightened out with a single phone call. After the adjustment, our reward balance now stands at just over $814. This’ll definitely come in handy when we finally buy our new car. But… Now I need to find a new reward card, as we’re getting very close to $1,000 reward limit on this card, and our other reward cards are tapped out.

And you thought gas prices were bad after Katrina… Depending on where Rita goes ashore, CNN is predicting that gas prices could go as high as $5/gallon next week, making you long for the good old days (two weeks ago) when gas was going for just $3/gallon. Why so much trouble? When Katrina hit, we lost a combined refining capacity of about 3.3 million barrels a day, which represents almost 20 percent of U.S. refining capacity. While much of the damage has been repaired, four of the fifteen affected refineries are still more or less out of commission. Thus, we’re still short about 900,000 barrels per day. And if Rita barrels (no pun intended) into the Houston-Galveston area and/or the Port Arthur-Beaumont region near the Texas-Louisiana border, we could be looking at an additional 3 million barrel per day shortfall. Check out the following map if you’d like a better idea of exactly what’s in store. [more]

Happiness is having a video-capable cellphone in your pocket when your three and five year old sons discover a rack of auto-inflating Whoopie Cushions in the toy aisle at Walgreens. The beauty of these ‘next-generation’ Whoopie Cushions is that, as their name suggests, there’s no need to reinflate them between uses — just get up and they’re ready to go again almost immediately. Anyway, since I had a video phone in my pocket, I was able to capture the madness, complete with my boys bouncing up and down with their butts on the Whoopie Cushions in the middle of the aisle… All the while they were bragging about who was the loudest and giggling about how the ‘fart monster’ was coming to get them. Oh, to be young again.

Given our recent car buying exploits, I thought I’d point out an article outlining common car buying mistakes that I just ran across over on ConsumerReports.org. This information is abstracted from their new book, Smart Buyer’s Guide to Buying or Leasing a Car… [more]