Owning a Car for Dummies

Honda Fit

Next to a house, a car (or some other vehicle) is typically the most expensive item anyone will ever buy. That's very likely the reason why there is so much bullshit written about automotive problems by freelancers. About half of what's been posted to content farms (or half of what isn't merely spun content) is utter bullshit. A lot of the rest is rubbish like the list that WritEdge.com's Sharon (Sharon Katzman) called "8 Ways to Save Money on your Vehicle."¹ We'll admit that some of them might save you a bit of cash, but we were pretty unimpressed by others. 

We weren't particularly impressed by her "stock" suggestions featuring advice like "use public transit," carpool, take a bike, walk, and, best of all, buy a fuel-efficient car. The first aren't really "saving money on your vehicle"; they're straight out of the "reduce your carbon footprint" and "live a healthier lifestyle" playbooks (not that there's anything wrong with either one).

We did find it interesting that Sharon mentions fuel efficiency a lot (oddly, she wrote this when gasoline prices had already plunged – probably just reposted it from Helium.com, if truth be told). She mentions preventive maintenance and suggests buying parts at the "junkyard"; which probably chapped the collective hiney of auto parts salvage yard owners everywhere... That might have been reasonably good advice if you owned a 1973 Impala, but it's darned near impossible for ordinary humans to do "shadetree mechanic"-style work on cars any more. Sharon probably didn't know that, though.

No, the times Sharon left readers in the lurch are multiple, but here are some suggestions that might have helped -- suggestions she missed entirely:

Research the total cost of ownership when choosing a car: don't just look at fuel economy, also consider insurance costs, service costs (servicing a BMW costs far more than servicing a Ford) and reliability.  When you perform that routine maintenance (which, FWIW, entails more than changing the oil filter and keeping the tires properly inflated – she repeats that "tip" twice!), look for "deals" through websites selling local (or national) discounts like Groupon.  Think about the resale value of your car: keep it reasonably clean, don't smoke in it, and keep a log of maintenance and repairs. When you're ready to buy a new one; sell the old one yourself, if at all possible, instead of trading it in on your next vehicle. When financing a vehicle, shop for the lowest rates with the fewest gimmicks. You are often better off coming to a dealer with financing already in hand from a credit union or your regular bank than depending on the dealer for financing. Cash sales are often the best option. Insurance is a cost that borders on "hidden," since most people pay it yearly or semi-annually. Comparison shop for insurance regularly, and make certain to get any discounts for which you qualify – safe driver, good student, bundled with other insurance, etc.

There are lots of ways to save beyond Sharon's stock list, a list that might have come from the pages of "Popular Mechanics" in about 1963. Sharon, however, didn't bother to look before she rattled off an incomplete and somewhat repetitive list. We think that's plenty of reason to make her our Dumbass of the Day.

¹ This website is now defunct, but you can see the post using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   http://writedge.com/8-ways-save-money-vehicle/

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DD - AUTOMOTIVE