buying a car

  • The Best Time To Buy A Car Probably Isn't When You Think

    Summer holiday weekends offer great deals, but not the best ones of the year.

  • 4 best cars under $16,000

    Affordable cars under $16k.

  • 5 hidden costs of owning a car

    Cars aren’t cheap, and worst of all, buying one is not a one-and-done kind of transaction. There are plenty of costs that go beyond the sticker price that can change the true cost of buying a car, like maintenance, gas and insurance.

  • Buying a Car? Now You Know

    Farnoosh Torabi lays out some helpful tips to keep in mind while buying a new car.

  • The 10 Best Family Cars for 2017

    Summer is getting closer, which means Americans are buckling up. According to AAA, 80% of people plan to take a road trip this summer, which could mean it’s time to upgrade your wheels. Parents Magazine and Edmunds released their annual list of 10 Best Family Cars for 2017, just in time to hit the road.

  • Millennials are ambitious when it comes to financial freedom

    When is the right time to become financially independent? Many millennials are – perhaps surprisingly – more eager to pay their own way at younger ages than when baby boomers think they should. In a new survey by Bankrate, millennials and baby boomers were asked what ages were most appropriate to begin paying for housing, buying a car, and paying their cellphone bill.

  • This Retail Giant Could Save You Big Money on Your Next Car

    Karen Bleier, AFP/Getty Images Almost nobody likes contending with the hassle and stress of buying a car from a traditional dealership. Unfortunately, given the many legal restrictions on auto sales, there's often little alternative for a

  • Should You Take a Super-Long-Term Car Loan?

    Hasan Sarbakhshian/Bloomberg via Getty Images Credit bureau Experian issued a surprising report Monday, saying that the average terms for auto loans in the U.S. have reached all-time highs. In the first quarter of 2015, the average term for a

  • More Electric Cars Are Coming, but Will You Want to Buy One?

    Paul Sancya/APThe Chevrolet Bolt is just one of several new electric cars expected to come to market in the next couple of years. But electrics are still a hard sell with most consumers. "Electric cars are the future," investors have

  • How General Motors Is Raising the Bar in Family Sedans

    Bebeto Matthews/APGM unveiled the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Malibu earlier this month. It goes on sale this fall. For years, many Americans in search of a reliable family sedan felt no need to look further than the Toyota Camry or Honda Accord. The

  • When Comparison Shopping Is Worth It -- and When It's Not

    jupiterimages Consumers are advised to comparison-shop for everything, but a new survey reveals that not all time spent bargain hunting is time well spent. Insurance.com surveyed 2,000 men and women about their comparison-shopping habits, asking

  • Money Minute: Investors Eye World Events for Next Move

    Will geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East be what triggers a correction or will investors shrug it off in a few days? Financial markets were hit by a double whammy of troubling developments on Thursday: Malaysian Airlines'

  • Even Non-'Driverless' Cars Will Soon Take More Control

    Eric Risberg/AP "Do you have anything in a stick shift? I hate automatic transmissions -- I like to drive the car, not have the car drive me." -- Overheard at a used car dealer Whether you sympathize with that sentiment or think the

  • Good Debt, Bad Debt, and a Faster Way to Pay Off a Mortgage

    Karen Roach/Shutterstock There is a big misconception in the financial world and among consumers today that all interest is the same: that, for example, a 6 percent mortgage is the same as a 6 percent line of credit. That's not true, because

  • 4 Key Trends in Used Cars Learned From CarMax

    M. Spencer Green/AP CarMax (KMX) reported quarterly results last week. The market didn't like it. Shares of the leading used-car dealer fell by 4 percent on Friday, carrying over into another 4 percent loss on Monday. It wasn't a bad

  • 2 Simple, Powerful Ways to Pay Less for Your Next Car

    Alamy A new car is one of the biggest wealth drains for you and your family. Use these two simple yet powerful tips to take control of this expensive item. Think in the Long Term (for Models) Buy the car you want -- but only after it's at

  • The $1,000 Challenge, Part 3: Shrinking Your Car-Related Costs

    Alamy We focused on easy savings categories for the first two installments of "The $1,000 Challenge" (based on my book of the same name): utility bills, and those forms of miscellaneous spending that are automatically charged each month

  • Flipping Classic Cars: What You Need to Know Before You Invest

    Alamy Is investing in the classic car market the next big thing? If so, is it right for you? With TV shows about finding, fixing and flipping classic vehicles all the rage right now, it's no surprise that investors burned by the real estate

  • Your Credit Score: After College, It's the One Grade That Matters Most

    After the last exams are completed and final papers are handed in, college seniors breathe a sigh of relief, thinking their futures will no longer be dictated by grades and numbers. But they're wrong. Walking the stage at graduation and

  • Weekend Car Shopper: Cars for Greens and Teens

    Toyota As car buyers go into the summer months pondering a new set of wheels, AOL Autos does the research on where to find the best July and August closeout deals and has the latest news on which brands offer the best quality. Just in time for the

  • Pump vs. Plug: Do You Really Save Money Driving an Electric Car?

    Justin Sullivan, Getty Images Let's face it: Whether we drive gas guzzlers or compacts, Americans hate the prices we're paying at the pump. And while we might schlep halfway across town to cut a couple of cents off our per-gallon costs,

  • AOL Readers' Secret for Buying Electric Cars

    Rick Diamond/Getty Images for NPG A little while back, I asked DailyFinance's readers for their stories about buying vs. leasing cars. While many of their responses focused on fairly common concerns -- financing, mileage, long-term value, and

  • Should You Buy Your Car or Lease It? Readers Weigh In

    Ross D. Franklin, AP The debate over whether it's better to buy or lease a car is nothing new: Salesmen and experts, consumer advocates and finance writers have argued over the merits of leasing for decades. But between the still-shaky job

  • The Weather Makes Us Buy Things We Shouldn't Buy

    Abnormal weather makes shoppers more irrational, according to a new study by researchers Meghan Busse of Northwestern University, Devin Pope of the University of Chicago, Jaren Pope of Brigham Young University and Jorge Silva-Risso of the University of California at Riverside. The study found that consumers are more likely to buy homes with swimming pools or central air conditioning when it's hot. Consumers often regret these spending decisions: Shoppers are more likely to try to return a car quickly if they bought it on a day with abnormal weather, the study found.

  • Yo-Yo Financing: Don't Fall for This Car-Buying Speed Trap

    Have you ever jumped the gun at a stoplight -- rolling into the intersection before the red light turns green? You might get away with it. Then again, you also risk getting a ticket. Something similar can happen to car shoppers, too. Only the risk

  • Want a Better Used Car? Shop like a Woman

    Are women actually better at buying used cars than men? A company called LeaseTrader, which runs a used-car marketplace for people who want to get in or out of a lease rather than buy, crunched some data and came to just that conclusion.