Used Cars
-
It happens every time. Gas prices go up sharply, and new car buyers suddenly decide that gas mileage is important--and shop accordingly. With gas around $4 a gallon in many parts of the country, what would you trade for higher miles per gallon? Would you pay more? Would you buy a smaller car than your current one? How about giving up features you'd hoped to have? And what about safety? Everyone wants more mileage Six weeks ago, Consumer Reports surveyed 1,750 car owners. Although their cars were now eight years old on average, less than one-fifth of them planned to buy a car in the next year...
-
Advice: Better Gas Mileage, Used Small, All-Wheel-Drive SUV--UPDATEUPDATE: Well, we got a note from Denise: I bought a car today. It's a certified pre-owned 2005 Toyota RAV4, single owner, 41K miles. The only thing I need for it is an iPod adapter! It's really nice, fabulous condition, and I did fairly well on both the price and trade-in. What do you think of her...
John Voelcker -
Selling A Used Car? Put A Gas-Mileage Sticker In The Window!
For every new vehicle that gets sold in the United States, four used cars change hands. Those new cars have nice, big window stickers showing their EPA-rated gas mileage figures. Used cars? All you get is the seller mumbling something like, "Oh, yeah, it always gets, ummmmm, at least 25 miles a...
John Voelcker -
Should Nissan Offer Warranty Options For The 2011 Leaf?
What is an acceptable warranty for an electric car? Three years? Four years? Ten Years? And should customers be able to choose what that warranty level is? That is the question Nissan was asking last week when it sent out a questionnaire to the 16,100 people who have paid out $99 to reserve a...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Should Toyota Prius Owners Buy a Spare Used Battery Pack?
We often get asked whether it will be necessary to replace the high-voltage battery pack in a Toyota Prius after it's five or ten years old. The answer is, almost certainly not. Toyota is required to warranty the pack for either 8 years / 100,000 miles or 10 years / 150,000 miles, depending on...
John Voelcker
