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Showing posts from September, 2016

How to Buy a Really, Really Cheap Car

Everybody knows that  millennials aren’t getting driver’s licenses ; what’s lesser known is that they’re clueless about entry-level cars. It’s possible to buy a running car for very little money—I know, because I was the proud owner of a series of $50 cars when I was 16 and 17. I can still remember them all: a Nova with four flat tires and badly oxidized paint; a Dodge Dart with trunkloads of hay and a broken rear window; a Volvo with rust in the rear quarters. None was a beauty, but they all ran reliably and served their purpose. Thanks to inflation, it probably isn’t possible to buy a good $50 car now, but for, let’s say, $1,000 you should be able to get a safe and reliable ride. Here are a few thoughts from a lifetime of buying used cars. Shop the Ads.  Not that there’s anything wrong with used car lots, but you'll have to look carefully to find one that deals in what used to be thought of as the affordable “back row” cars. Not everybody does, but I actually like dealing wi

The Truth About Car Payments

I’ll always have a car payment. You’ve probably heard that comment before, right? You might have even said it yourself—with a defeated, woe-is-me tone of voice. So what’s the deal?  Are car payments really just a way of life? Well, that’s the normal way of thinking. But, as Dave always says: When it comes to money, normal is broke. You want to be weird, and weird people don’t have car payments. So how, exactly, do you live without a car payment? Here’s the deal. Recent statistics show that one-third of car buyers sign up for a six-year loan at an average interest rate of 9.6%. Among these buyers, the average price of the car is just over $26,000. This means that one-third of the cars you see on the road are dragging a $475 payment behind them. The car dealer won’t tell you that  your awesome new car loses about 25% of its value the instant you drive it off the lot . After four years, your car has lost about 70% of its value! What does that mean? After six years, you’ve p

Legendary Jaguar Which Won Le Mans Could Sell For Record £20m

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The legendary Jaguar D-Type is expected to sell to a wealthy car collector for a startling £20 million this Friday. In 1955, the supercar took the chequered flag in the gruelling 24 hour race to win the Le Mans title.  With British racing drivers Ninian Sanderson and Ron Flockhart at the wheel, the stunningly proportioned Jag completed 300 laps at an average speed of 104mph.  Now this beast is set to enter the record books again by selling for twice as much as the previous most expensive British car ever sold at auction.  Feast your eyes on this… Le Mans-winner A wealthy car collector is expected to pay a record-breaking £20 million for the Le Mans-winning Jaguar. £20 million estimate It has been given an estimate of £20 million, smashing the current auction record for a British car, set at £9.5 million by an Aston Martin last year. Ecurie Ecosse race team The D-Type was driven by Ninian Sanderson and Ron Flockhart, who were members of the Edinburgh-based Ecurie