Letters to the Editors
Send a letter to the editors

Subject: "A Cheapskate's Top 10 Money-Saving Ideas for Car Owners"
From: Joan
Mac Demere's article titled A Cheapskate's Top 10 Money-Saving Ideas for Car Owners was especially informative, as I had never heard about the benefits of renting a car versus driving one's own car.

We're glad you liked it, Joan. Sounds like the article has piqued your interest regarding car rental. Be sure to read these other articles on the topic:

Top 10 Car Rental Tips
Tips for Hassle-Free Car Rental
Rent To Know: Using Car Rentals To Compare Cars

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. — Ed.

Subject: Thanks!
From: Jim
Just writing to tell you thanks for helping with my recent purchase. I got three quotes via the Internet, and I believe I got a good deal. I read numerous articles on your Web site prior to my showroom visit and believed I was prepared. Still, I found myself almost taking some of the advice given to me at the dealership, thinking they wouldn't lie to me — they did. Somewhere in your advice, it noted don't trust them on any dollar figures; keep things to the total price, not monthly terms or estimates, then check the actual contract price.

We settled on a firm "out the door" price prior to the visit. When I showed up, they tried several smoke-and-mirror tricks. I simply took everything back to the committed total price of the car, out the door. More than twice, they tried to get me to agree to monthly terms that were extremely high. I caught them both times — only because I used the Edmunds calculator and brought a hard copy with me. They wanted to see it; they apologized. They stated they must have entered the numbers incorrectly. Yeah, right.

The price that we'd agreed on beforehand was $20,985 out the door, the equivalent of $376 per month including 2.9 percent financing and fees. They brought back a contract that listed $409 per month over a 60-month period. I showed them the calculator with the $376 figure. They apologized.

Then in F&I they tried again, promoting a contract showing monthly payments of $460 to include extended warranty. They tried numerous times to change the numbers. I take this as out-and-out lying.

What an ordeal. Everything is phony. And the dealerships have brought this on themselves. I want them to make money as I get a good deal. The problem is, I don't believe anything they say now, so it makes it more difficult to figure out what comprises a good deal.

Thanks again, Edmunds.

Thanks for sharing your story, Jim. Our mission here at Edmunds is to empower car buyers, and stories like yours tell us that we're succeeding. — Ed.

Subject: "E85 vs. Gasoline Comparison Test"
From: Richard
I read with interest your E85 vs. gasoline comparison in Southern California, with the Chevy Tahoe.

All I can say is that your suppliers of E85 are ripping off customers, if the E85 price difference is only 10.7 percent lower than regular gas ($3.09 compared with $3.42 per gallon). E85 retailers must adjust their prices to account for the "hit" to mileage that comes from burning ethanol, which has only 66 percent of the energy value per gallon of petroleum-based gasoline.

I live in Longview, Washington, and a recently opened pump sells E85 for $2.40 per gallon compared to $3.16 per gallon for regular grade gasoline (lowest gas price at this station). This amounts to almost a 32 percent price difference, which is more in line with the actual mileage reduction that will happen burning E85 (25 percent to 33 percent typical mileage reduction). Mileage has gone down 30.8 percent in my 2002 Chrysler Town and Country minivan. My last calculation indicated I was paying about 0.8 cent per mile more to use E85. This price difference makes it very comparable to gasoline and well worth the effort and minor cost to use E85.

My opinion is that I also disagree with your statement that "even the most patriotic consumers" will shun E85. Patriotism has nothing to do with the necessity of burning more carbon-neutral fuel. It is simply a reality that we will all face. The easy way to make the transition is to switch to E85 and similar renewable fuels. The alternative is to endure radically altered lifestyles at some point in the near future, dictated by the environmental consequences of gluttonous energy use. (I am one of the energy glutton generation, but I have changed my stripes on this issue, faced with the overwhelming evidence that energy consumption must be altered and renewables must play a major role in this issue.)

You are correct in stating that E85 is "not a silver bullet" in solving the energy situation. At a recent conference on biofuels in Portland, one speaker described the solution to the energy crisis "not as a silver bullet, but a silver shotgun, with each pellet a piece of the overall solution."

It is also my opinion that corn-based ethanol production is only a transition to more stable and less conflicted sources (read that as "fuel versus food") such as cellulosic ethanol or syngas production. These technologies are on the horizon and will be a reality within a couple of years.

Thanks for the very interesting article.

Subject: Success Story
From: Tim
I just traded my 2002 Pontiac Montana for a 2007 Mercury Montego Premier. Following your advice, we took the day off. We got there well rested, and started dealing at 3 p.m. after a second test-drive. I used sources that showed the highest value for my van and sources that showed the lowest value for their car. I gave them a low final offer that they could not accept. I say OK, we are going to dinner and they should reconsider; I told them that when we got back in a half-hour, I wanted to hear a better price. I mentioned that the Web showed four other identical cars within 50 miles.

My wife and I agreed before going in that I would do all the talking, and that if we did not get our price, we would walk, no matter what.

We took one and a half hours for dinner, and when we got back, the salesman was outside waiting for us! He kept telling me that I'd won. But the price had not gone down at all. We pitched back and forth. I told him we had the title to the van and that we were pre-approved for a loan, so we could do this trade now with minimal work. But he would not come down, saying he could not. I said we would continue to look and got up to leave. As I left his office, he lowered the price another $500 (this brought it down to the maximum I was willing to pay, but he didn't know this). I came back in and said, "OK, write it up." He did, but added a $99 processing fee. I told him I would not pay the fee — I was buying the car, not the paperwork! He said they always added the fee; I said I never paid a fee! After a few seconds of silence a loud voice down the hall said "Sell him the car, I'll eat the fee!" A half-hour later we did all the paperwork and were out of there with our new "used" car.

I actually enjoyed the process. Thanks to your site, I knew I was in control, and I had fun!

What helped:

• We took a half-day off work and made plans with our kids to get their own supper. We said we would not be home until late that night.



• We were rested.



• We researched prices and set a maximum target price and stuck to it.



• We took a break in the middle of the negotiations. Dinner was a good excuse. I believe taking a break was an important tactic. We took longer than we said we would, to make the salesman worried. (I'd advise taking your own vehicle. The salesman wanted us to take the new car, to ensure that we'd come back.)



• Walk away from the deal if you don't get your price. We made it to the hallway before he lowered the price he'd said he could not possibly lower! Make sure the salesman gets your name and phone number first, so if you do actually leave he can call you. This happened on a deal I did a few years ago.