CrossCheck Blog

Buying a new car is the second most expensive purchase for the 62 percent of Americans who own their own home. For everyone else, it is the most expensive purchase they will ever make and determining the best time to buy a car is always a difficult decision. As careful as they might be, there are some facts of life that everyone needs to know before signing on the dotted line.

Did you know that the average car on the road today in the U.S. is 11 years old? … an amazing revelation that may impact the cost of used cars this year. I’m a “car guy.” My first car was a 1961 Buick bubbletop coupe, which I got in 1968, my senior year in college. It was considered an “old car” even then, probably just a few years away from being scrapped. I paid $400 for it. Back then, you had to replace your tires every 10,000 miles and you would replace your entire exhaust system every few years, due to the combination of leaded fuel and salt on the roads back east.

When you go shopping for a new car, you probably have a checklist of what you are looking for. The checklist might include some of the following things: Finances – what you can afford and likely be approved for by the bank The driving experience you get at the dealership when you take a test drive Styling preferences and brand image (e.g. luxury, near luxury, economy, etc.) Perceived quality and reliability reputation Your previous experience with the brand and the dealer Maintenance plans and other options But none of these things apply to car collectors who are looking for a specific year, make and model of a vehicle that was made 20 or 30 years ago. Actually, since the average car on the road today is 11 years old, 20 years old doesn’t seem so old anymore, does it? There are probably as many reasons why people collect and restore old cars as there are people doing it. Nostalgia

Car safety technology has come a long way since Saab introduced the first standard seatbelt in 1958. Since then, many lives have been saved with the addition of safety features including anti-lock brakes, automatic fuel cutoff switches, side impact protection, front and side airbags, and child passenger restraint systems. Here are some examples of safety features found on new cars today.

Americans are addicted to their smartphones. Just look around when you go down the street. Almost everyone is looking at their device as they are walking. Nobody is paying attention to the sidewalk, cross streets or what is going on around them. Data from Apple shows that the average user pulls out their phone 80 times a day! The characteristics of the device — portability, always on, responsiveness, unlimited access to information and a multitude of apps — make it a compelling and trusted partner. The smartphone has profoundly impacted our societal habits in just a few years, and it will not reverse itself. A psychology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, Tim Bono, has conducted an experiment for the last few years: see if you can sit quietly for six minutes with no phone, television or radio, occupying yourself only with the thoughts in your head. The results: only 67 percent of the surveyed group was able to remain seated and stay awake for six minutes. More than 30 percent of the group had to check their phones at least once. The conclusion was that humans are “wired for distraction” and find it too difficult to just sit and think.

Did you know that financial wellness — i.e. money — is the top cause of stress in the United States, and also the leading cause of stress in the workplace? Numerous studies from sources such as the American Psychological Association and the National Business Group on Health among others, show that many Americans feel that they are just one financial shock away from disaster. Does this include you? A recent Pew survey found that about 66 percent of all American households will experience a financial shock next year. It could be the loss of a job, a cut in pay or working hours, a health crisis, a car breakdown, a plumbing emergency, or some other event that seems to come out of nowhere. Thinking about this can keep you up at night.

Recently I spent some time with my old auto mechanic, Paul. By that, I don’t mean he is an old man (he just turned 50, which as we all know, is the new 30). I mean that for about 10 years, I brought my cars to him for maintenance and restoration. He had a day job at a car dealer, so he worked on my cars on the weekends.

Many American families have two or even three cars, and most people like to drive one they are proud of and admire. But if you are doing a lot of commuting in heavy traffic, you will probably want what people call a “daily driver,” something that can take parking-lot dings and occasional bumps and scrapes that will not worry you very much. You will also want to find a reliable auto repair shop in case things go wrong.

In 2017, about a third of all new vehicle transactions will be completed with a lease, making it a very important part of the dealer business model as well as the consumer experience. In this short article, we want to explore two questions: “How does the consumer determine whether to lease or buy?” … and “How do auto dealers make money on leasing?” To get straight to the point, there is no absolute rule because each consumer has different needs — some financial and some emotional. Let’s compare what goes into the process.

There is an old saying, sometimes attributed to Sochiro Honda, that “Racing improves the breed.” It goes hand in hand with an old NASCAR saying, “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday.” Both sayings capture the excitement of automobile racing, which started way back in June, 1895, when a Panhard won the Paris-Bordeaux race, covering 732 miles in 49 hours, an average of 15 m.p.h. Five months later, the first American auto race took place between Chicago and Evanston, Illinois. The winner, a Duryea, took seven hours to cover 54 miles, averaging 7 m.p.h. That set the stage for over a century of competition on the track and in rallies on public roads as well as off-road racing and drag racing. Today, racing is more of a commercial business than a sport, but it wasn’t always the case.