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Buying, leasing, maintaining, and fueling a car, plus EVs, rideshare, transit, and bikes. Get where you’re going for less.
Before your lease ends, compare the buyout price in your contract against what the car sells for today. If the car is worth more, keeping it beats handing it back and the gap is yours. If it is worth less, return it and walk away.
If your lease is ending and the car is worth more than the payoff, get a Lease End quote before you set foot in the dealership. The service costs you nothing, and its average buyout rates undercut typical used car loan rates at every comparable tier. Compare it against your own credit union.
New cars lose 15-25% of their value in the first year and up to 50% by year four. A two or three-year-old certified pre-owned vehicle gives you most of the useful life at a significantly lower price. Someone else absorbed the depreciation hit, so let them.
When buying a car, factor in insurance, fuel, maintenance, registration, and depreciation, not just the purchase price. A $30,000 car can cost $10,000 or more per year in total ownership costs. Compare vehicles on what you’ll spend over five years of ownership, because the monthly payment is the least useful number.
Before buying or keeping a second car, add up what it actually costs you each month: payment, insurance, gas, maintenance, parking, and registration. For many families where one driver only needs wheels occasionally and rideshare is reliable, it can cover the same trips for significantly less. Run the numbers. The second car may not be earning its spot.
Driving for a ridesharing app is a reliable side hustle. Thousands of Americans earn extra income driving for Uber, Lyft, and smaller ridesharing apps. Many users assume that their app’s rideshare insurance policy protects them from the moment they log…
In the housing industry, it’s called “negative equity.” In the automotive industry it’s called being “upside down.” In both cases, it means the same thing: You owe more money on an asset than the asset itself is worth. When you’re…
According to the card buried deep in my wallet, I’ve been a “loyal member” of the American Automobile Association (better known as AAA) since 2005. My AAA membership is one of the longest relationships of my life, even exceeding the…
If you’ve ever been stuck in a traffic jam, sitting motionless behind a diesel-belching truck as cyclists glide past happily in the bike lane, it may have crossed your mind that you’d be happier living without a car. But chances…
Most Americans own at least one vehicle, or live in a household where someone does. So buying a car is a reality you’ll probably have to face sooner or later — even if you can put it off for a…
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