Smart Buying Essentials
These IntelliChoice articles serve as a car-buying primer, empowering you to make a smart purchase decision by understanding the evaluation, negotiation, and finance process.
Evaluation
What is a Crossover Vehicle?
The automotive industry is not shy about using acronyms to describe its products: SUV, MPV, APV, SUT, XUV, SAV-just to name a few.
Can new Full-Size SUVs help ease the pain at the pump?
Anybody that has ever tried to squeeze a stroller and groceries into the...
The Hype Over Hybrids
Being all the rage nowadays, it's no surprise that consumers who are interested in hybrid vehicles are also keenly interested in their ownership costs...
Protect Yourself From Flood Damaged Cars
The numbers for Hurricane Katrina are expected to skyrocket above half-a-million and safety experts warn that many of these flood damaged vehicles also will be dried out and offered for sale
Turning Over a New Green Leaf
Car companies today not only can build cleaner-breathing cars than the government mandates, they do build them.
Behind the Scenes - How does a dealership work?
Car Buying 102
Many people equate the new-car buying process with the misery that often accompanies a trip to the dentist...
IntelliChoice Value Rating
What is the IntelliChoice Value Rating?
Sell Your Car - to The Highest Bidder!
Moving pre-owned vehicles on eBay Motors
ShowRoom Strategies
In visiting numerous dealerships seeking candid advice on how buyers can best prepare themselves for the showroom experience, we encountered several salespeople who were reluctant to speak to us, apparently fearing they would be caught in underhanded activities.
Telematics - What is that?
Today's cars can perform a lot more functions than just getting you from one place to another. Through telematics, or the marriage of computers and telecommunications systems, manufacturers are offering a variety of vehicle features providing greater safety and security, hands-free communications and wireless access to a wide range of information and entertainment.
Alternative Fuel and Hybrid Vehicle Guide
Within the next decade or two, there's a good chance you'll be driving a vehicle powered by an advanced power plant that's far removed from the familiar internal combustion engine now residing beneath your hood...
Test Drive Like a Pro
Regardless of how you locate it, sooner or later you'll come face to face with your potential new ride. If you're not used to driving with a critical eye, ear, and backside...
Negotiation/Finance
What Price Should You Pay?
Wouldn't it be a relief if new-car prices were no more negotiable than a can of tuna at the supermarket? Unfortunately, that's not the nature of the game.
Leasing Glossary
Unfortunately, the details of leasing make new-vehicle shopping all the more complex. And the savvy lessee must learn a new vocabulary.
Ways To Buy
There are few things better than getting a new car and, for many folks, few things worse than shopping for one. Car dealers in general don¡¯t have the best reputation, and with good reason.
Closing the Deal
Congratulations! You and the dealer salesperson have finally come to terms on a fair price for your spanking-new dream car.
Buying vs. Leasing
When faced with ever-increasing prices that seem to have skyrocketed since your last new vehicle purchase, it is hard to abstract what your monthly budget will permit...
Seven Steps to a Good Deal
Haggling, horse-trading, bartering. Call it what you will. Though some buyers may consider it great sport to beat the last penny of profit out of an auto dealer, most consumers...
Finance Costs
It is now time for a very brief accounting lesson. When we talk about finance costs, it is important to distinguish between what is actually a cost and what is not.
The Golden Rule
There is one golden rule when it comes to negotiating for a new car...
Unloading Your Old Car
So you've considered all the advantages and disadvantages of keeping your old car, and you've decided to go for it...
Ownership
What is a BOVY?
Selected from over 1,700 2006 model-year domestic and import vehicles, the IntelliChoice BOVYs recognize those models that are the best value in their class.
Cost of Ownership
Look beyond sticker price to find the best values
Car Insurance
Ugh - Car Insurance! The only thing worse than paying for it is not having it when you need it.
Keeping Your Old Car
OK, you've done your homework. You've studied the charts in this book, compared your choices, and now you are ready to buy a new car.
Trucks Vs. Fuel Economy
Pickups, SUVs, and vans are gaining ground in the battle for improved efficiency
Auctioning on EBAY Motors
How to Sell your pre-owned vehicle on the 21st-century digital car lot
Auto Recalls and Service Bulletins - What You Need To Know
Despite extensive pre-production testing and dramatically improved quality of new cars and trucks these days, recalls are still very much a fact of life for motorists.
