#car-negotiation

#car-negotiation

Oscar's car loan at 27% interest means he pays thousands in interest before the principal reduces significantly. Each month the loan remains unpaid, the interest compounds, worsening his financial situation.

On average, fuel prices are up almost a dollar per gallon, or 25 percent, according to AAA. For a nation as addicted to the automotive as we are, that's bad news. Except, of course, for electric vehicles.

Honda has slashed the price of the 2026 Prologue by $7,500 across the board, essentially replacing the lost tax incentive and making the crossover a much better deal among its peers.

Beginning on June 22, 2026, we will discontinue the use of Nielsen's Designated Market Area (DMA) for automotive model ads. Comscore Markets, which we introduced in August 2025, will serve as the replacement solution. After this date, campaigns still using Nielsen's DMA for automotive model ads targeting will be paused and require an update to Comscore Markets to resume delivery.

For $1,000, Tomi Mikula will do something most people dread: negotiate with a car dealer. The 33-year-old spent more than a decade selling cars and auto financing at dealerships before starting his own business doing the opposite. Now he uses dealer speak and an encyclopedic knowledge of inventory to talk down sticker prices for buyers.

A counteroffer is the seller's response to your original offer, proposing different terms instead of accepting it outright. This might include a higher purchase price, a different closing date, shorter contingency timelines, or changes to repair requests and credits. Once a counteroffer is presented, your original offer is no longer active.

When you work in the operating world, you are in the weeds of your business. For example, at SoFi I knew all the nuances of different types of student loan forbearance programs and at Brex I knew the minutiae of the Mastercard transaction chargeback rules. This contrasts with my experience as a private equity investor where I look at purchasing a business ranging from a chain of laundromats to Ancestry.com within the same month.

If you've been dreaming of adding a mid-sized SUV to your cart alongside a bulk pack of granola bars and a new air fryer-well, we're not quite there yet. But that day is getting closer: Amazon has officially rolled out its car-buying program. But before you prepare your driveway to make room for a two-ton Prime delivery, you should know that buying a car on Amazon isn't exactly like buying a Kindle.

Google seems to be testing showing call assets on Vehicle Ads within Google Search. So on the Vehicle Ads there is a way to call the dealer or seller, like you see on some other ads. I scoured the web looking to see if this is new and I couldn't find any mention of this before, nor any screenshots of this.

Markup is how much you add to your cost to get your selling price. If something costs $10 and you sell it for $15 , you added $5. That's a 50 percent markup on your cost. Where people get confused is that markup isn't the same as margin, even though the terms get used interchangeably all the time. Margin measures profit as a percentage of the selling price, and markup measures it based on your costs. Same dollar, different percentages.

2025-model used cars sold in the fourth quarter of last year went for $6,370 less than their average new car transaction price. That's already substantial savings, but the numbers are even better for EV and PHEV shoppers. Models like the Dodge Charger Daytona and Jeep Wrangler 4XE have truly staggering discounts after less than a year on the road.

Physical palladium ETFs occupy an unusual corner of the commodity market. Unlike gold or silver, palladium serves primarily industrial purposes, with roughly 80% of demand coming from automotive catalytic converters. abrdn Palladium ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:PALL) offers direct exposure to this metal through physical holdings, and after surging 92% over the past year to around $168, investors face a critical question: can this rally continue?

It has never been more expensive to buy a new car. The average transaction price last month for buyers in the United States was $48,576, up nearly a third from 2019, according to Edmunds. The "affordable" car-$20,000 or less- is dead. The high prices have been pinned on plenty of economic dynamics: lingering pandemic-era supply chain issues, the introduction of expensive technology into everyday cars, higher labor and raw materials costs, and new tariffs by the Trump administration affecting imported steel, aluminum, and cars themselves.

For years, car dealerships had a terrible reputation. Pushy sales tactics, confusing pricing, and long hours spent negotiating made the entire experience feel more like a battle than a purchase. Like many buyers, I assumed that avoiding dealerships altogether was the smartest way to buy a car, especially as online platforms and direct-to-consumer models gained popularity. Over time, however, my perspective began to shift.

It was not exactly mourned by the types of auto hobbyists who read car magazines: If you'd ever driven a Versa rental car, you'd probably understand. It was a tiny thing even by subcompact standards, and not rich in features, style or horsepower. But what it was, was a relatively cheap and affordable new sedan you could purchase in the United States.

When shopping for a vehicle, most buyers are looking for more than just a good deal. A vehicle purchase isn't worth it to them without peace of mind. While style, technology, and performance all play a role, affordability and reliability consistently rise to the top of the priority list. A car that's reasonably priced but frequently in the shop quickly becomes an expensive headache. Drivers know that long-term dependability is just as important as the sticker price.

Mark Stephen McCollum is a respected name in the automotive world, with over 35 years of hands-on experience. Born and raised in Conroe, Texas, he grew up in a close family and learned early the value of hard work. He studied business finance at Lon Morris College and Texas A&M University, building a foundation that would carry him through a long and successful career.

During the automaker's Tuesday earnings call, CEO Mary Barra highlighted the rapid growth of GM's in-vehicle software and subscription business. In the past nine months, GM's software generated $2 billion, and customers have already signed up for about $5 billion in future subscriptions. The company said it now has 11 million subscribers for its OnStar safety system, up 34% from a year earlier. Another half a million customers are also paying for Super Cruise, its hands-free driver-assistance system.