Vehicles

Why I Put a New Engine in My Old Cadillac

My post “My car needs a new engine.  Should I sell it, fix it, or junk it?” from October, 2010 received quite a few comments, with many recommendations to sell it, quite a few to fix it, but only a couple who thought I should replace the engine.  Since that time, I have continued to [...]

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Three Ways to Minimize Your Vehicle Depreciation Expenses

If you are going to own a vehicle, you will pay for depreciation.  It is one of those unavoidable expenses which, like termites, will quietly and secretly gnaw away at your financial foundation.  Depreciation expenses are especially sinister because they remain in the background (who actually writes “vehicle depreciation” into his budget?) and are therefore [...]

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Joe on TV: Driving Your Car 200,000 Miles

As a semi-regular guest on our local TV station’s “$mart Money” show, I discussed driving your car 200,000 miles in this segment.  Give it a watch and let me know what you think.  Really. Even more importantly, answer this question: “How many miles do you normally try to drive your vehicles?”

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How to Help Your Child Purchase That First Car

We have done a few things right and several things wrong in helping our four children get that first car. Hopefully, you can repeat our “rights” and avoid our “wrongs” as we explore the issue of helping your teen with his/her first car purchase.  These tips should help:

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My Car Needs an Engine. Should I Sell it, Fix it or Junk it?

In my Change Your Mindset and Save a Fortune: 200,000 Miles is the New 100,000 Miles post, I bragged about my plans to save fortune by driving  my sweet 1999 Cadillac DeVille at least 200,000 miles. Well, we have trouble in paradise: my Caddy has an engine flaw…a head gasket leak that cannot be repaired; [...]

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Three New Car Purchases to Steer Away From

Nothing like a new car. Right? After all…it is – new! It drives like new, it has the new car smell and you are the very original owner. But there are times when a new car is exactly what you don’t need. Here are three:

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This Family Paid Cash For Their Car; You Can Too!

My friends John and Lisa recently shared some exciting news with me: for the very first time in their lives they paid cash for a car – a sweet 2 year old Toyota Prius with only 29,000 miles on it. They saved up the $17,000 purchase price (new price was $31,000), did some shopping and [...]

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Undoing That Car Purchase You Shouldn’t Have Made

“Geraldine”, a sassy lady portrayed by the late Flip Wilson, answered her husband thusly when he demanded an explanation for yet another new dress: “The Devil made me do it! I was walking down the street minding my own business when he snuck up behind me and pushed me into that dress store. He MADE [...]

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Change Your Mindset and Save a Fortune: 200,000 Miles is the New 100,000 Miles

photo credit: gwdexter I grew up in an era when a car was considered junk if it ever made it to 100,000 miles. Even the manufacturers weren’t optimistic about their cars achieving the 100,000 mile plateau – the odometers maxed out at 99,999.

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