Here's Exactly How Far You Can Drive With Your Gas Light On

It’s springtime! Time to start working on your project car, learn a new wrenching skill, discover what everything is under the hood (and how it works), or just spruce up your daily driver. All month, we’ll be looking back at our best informative, maintenance and DIY articles from Jalopnik’s...

Dec 22, 2024

Salespeople Aren't the Problem, It's Management

Many of us are trained to think of car salespeople as no better than pond-scum. The truth is most car salespeople are just regular folks who are trying to pay the bills, sure there are still some relics out there but times are changing. Some of them are honest. Some...

Dec 22, 2024

If You Choose to Lease, Don't Get Fleeced

This time I am going to discuss an often neglected and somewhat confusing topic...leasing. I know, I know…. leasing is for suckers: you get whacked with mileage overages, you never own the car, you get stuck into a perpetual trap of car-payments...But as a consultant I try my best to...

Dec 22, 2024

Buying New is for Suckers

Gearheads sometimes catch a lot of heat for not buying new cars. Hey, it's not our fault we are savvy shoppers…. (or broke). The reality is we know that buying used is just a much better value. For example, once I convinced a client to get a CPO C-class for...

Dec 22, 2024

When Buying New is Smarter Than Buying Used

Last week I made the assertion that of course I was only half-serious about that title. Most of you agreed, and reiterated that you can get more car for your money if you are willing to roll the dice. However, some of you rightly pointed out that buying a new...

Dec 22, 2024

Back Room Deals: Extended Warranties, Service Plans, and Other Extras

Most car buyers focus all of their defensive negotiating strategies with the salesperson. Once a price has been decided on they think, “Whew, the hard part is over, now I just have to sign the papers.” If a buyer lets their guard down at this point, they can really get...

Dec 22, 2024

How To Spot a Good Salesperson

As an automotive buyer's consultant I have dealt with a lot of salespeople. Most of them are good, some of them not so good. One of the best salesmen I ever met didn't sell cars; he sold knock-off purses and wallets at a bazaar in Kusadasi, Turkey. We stopped in...

Dec 22, 2024

The 180 MPH Cheaper Sleeper: The story of my Mercedes S600 V12 TT

There are many ways to convey luxury in an automotive context, but the ones who have re-written the rulebook are the crafty and understated engineers at Mercedes-Benz. They believe that luxuries are an expression of the ridiculous amount of features your car possesses. And the S600 is the embodiment of...

Dec 22, 2024

How More = Less. The Story Of My 2002 Cadillac Seville STS

In my life, I've learned that it pays to be cautious. This is the reason I don't have any unwanted kids, I've never broken a bone, and don't have any credit card debt. However, when it comes to cars, I tend to put caution in its cushioned container, throw it...

Dec 22, 2024

When Life Gives You a Lemon: The story of my 99 Ford Taurus Wagon

There are cars that inspire excitement and promote a sense of status and luxury, and then there are cars that force us to challenge our preconceived notions of what qualities a car should have, and gives us something completely new - for better or worse. Ladies and gentlemen, this is...

Dec 22, 2024

Here's How I Bought And Sold A Mazda RX-7 That Sat In A Yard For A Decade

If you asked the Jay Lenos or Wayne Carinis of the world about barn finds, they’d likely say the era when you could find a relatively unmolested gem in someone’s garage is long gone. While that may be true for a ‘30s era Duesenberg J, the time to find modern...

Dec 22, 2024

The Rusty Bavarian: The Story of my BMW E36 M3

When assessing the practicality of a project, it's important to know the point in which you throw in the towel and admit defeat. I'm a bit of an oddity in this regard, as I was born without the part of my brain that makes sound automotive decisions. This is exactly...

Dec 22, 2024

If You Want "Affordable Performance," Sometimes it Pays to Wait

Since most of us don't have the cash for a 911 Turbo or a Jag F-type, we are big fans of hot-hatches and sport-compacts that fit within our modest budget. However, when these pocket-rockets first hit the market, often the law of supply and demand is not in our favor....

Dec 22, 2024

How much Porsche does $800 buy? - The story of my Porsche 944 S

There are 3 things you must be when buying and selling cars for a profit: , , and above all, . It's not enough to know where to look and how to get a good deal on some hot metal, you have to be able to stroll into an auction...

Dec 22, 2024

Reviving Honda's "other" Coupe - The Story of my Honda Prelude Si

One thing Honda has mastered without a shadow of a doubt is reliability. It's no small feat that out of the tens of millions of VTEC systems they've installed in their cars, not one has ever failed. This translates into a plethora of 20 year old Hondas on the market....

Dec 22, 2024