Used Cars for Sale Information & Tips

Hybrid. Efficiency. Not exactly the words you want to be thinking about when you look to purchase a new car and rightfully so. Since we were teenagers, the automobile has meant excitement, speed, adventure and all that America stands for: freedom (or as Cadillac puts it: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit). Some of us take it a step further and spend our weekends at the local race track reaching speeds most people only dream about. So, when we sit in our econo-boxes outside the local Shell station pumping regular gasoline @ $4.03 per gallon, buying something that will put a lot of wind in your hair and a huge smile on your face is the farthest thing from your mind. I’m here to tell you that your next car may not only be significantly more efficient than your current car, but it might might be pretty quick too!

Let’s start this discussion out with an American icon, the Chevrolet Corvette. Since 1953, the Corvette has won the hearts and minds of America with it’s sporty and muscular styling, extreme performance and bulletproof reliability. It’s a super car that you can use every day, and hundreds of thousands Americans do. So, how can I contort the Corvette into wearing a “green” badge on it’s sleeve? Let’s say you pop down to your local dealership and pickup a standard Corvette coupe or convertible, you’re looking at a 6.2L V8 engine. Assuming you want a little more gusto under the hood, a 7.0L Z06 with 500 stampeding horsepower is available as well. Looking at equivalently performing Ferrari’s or Lamborghini’s, you’d expect highway mileage to top out at 18 MPG and city driving would sink into the single digits. The standard Corvette hits around 18 MPG in the city and real-world mileage of around 30 MPG on the highway. Even with the Z06 you’re looking at around 16 and 26 in city and highway, respectively. Mind you, the Z06 does top out at over 200 MPH. Not to mention, the Chevy LS based engines are some of the most reliable on the planet. You could trot down to your local dealer today knowing that you’d be one of the fastest on your block, yet still keeping the environment and your pocketbook in mind.  Do a car search by mileage here.

Next on our list is a small company based out of Hethel, Norfolk, England by the name of Lotus. Since the early 60s, Lotus has been creating cars with the mantra, “less is more”. From the very first Lotus Mk1s and the famous Lotus Elan (weighing in at a spritely 1600lbs) to the most modern Lotus Elise (tipping the scales at approximately 2100lbs), Lotus knows the #1 way to make cars perform both efficiently and quickly is to remove all the extra weight you can. Now mind you, this doesn’t mean you remove the safety as well. With a solid aluminum monocoque (a chassis type used in most racecars), the Elises can take a jolt as well as most cars on the road, but with the performance an Elise gives you, it’s party trick is it’s amazing avoidance ability. With roughly 1/2 the weight of most cars on the road today, the Elise is a modern marvel in lightweight engineering. By the way, did i mention that you’d be driving a car that does around 30MPG and does 0-60 in well under 5.0 seconds?

The next car is a particularly popular modern “vintage”: The Mini Cooper. Whether you buy a brand new Mini, a new Mini Cooper S or an old Austin Mini, you are bound to max our both your miles per gallon and smiles per gallon. These amazingly fun and fast microcars are large enough to fit you and a loved one, packed for a long weekend and able to get your there in judicious style (with the basic Mini Cooper getting close to 40MPG and the S getting in the low 30s). They have passed safety ratings consistently with the highest ratings, but more to the point, the Mini urges you to go Motoring and take the long way home (the really long way). The Mini’s legendary road holding ability lets you hit a full .9 lateral Gs if properly setup. A stock 2008 Corvette hits .93 lateral Gs. How’s that for a giant killer? There are millions of Mini owners, new and old, and I can bet you that you’ll never come across one that regretted their purchase.

The final car on my list is an oldie but a goodie. It’s a car that’s no longer made, but even legends fade into the past from time to time. The final car on my short list for fun and economical cars is the Honda CRX. It’s another car that goes by the Lotus mantra and espouses this by a curb weight of between 1700 and 1900 lbs. (depending upon the year and spec). The 1984-87 ‘HF’ spec. car hit a whopping 49 and 54 MPG cycles for city and highway driving, respectively. Even the “performance” Si version and tuner versions are seeing well over 34 MPG combined cycle. The CRX is a very popular car for club racing and weekend drivers schools, which lend themselves some street-cred as exhilarating drives.

As the fuel prices continue to rise, I’ll be adding to this article more cars, both new and old for all budgets. So, please stop back again and we’ll try to have more cars for you to read about. Thanks for stopping by!

Whether you have the newest hybrid car on the market or an old used pickup truck, everyone can feel the extra cost filling up our car at the fuel pumps. Whereas there are many possible solutions that could solve the solution more long term, the average driver can do numerous things today, helping save money in the mean time. In case you would rather save money upfront, here is a list of the 8 best used cars under 10K that are fuel efficient. And without further ado, your 15 techniques on saving gas with your car:

15. Buy gas early in the morning or late at night. Gasoline, like most liquids gets denser as it gets colder. A few degrees temperature can have an appreciable difference in your total cost of gas over a few months or years. (There are currently regulations being put into place to counter this loophole, but it’s going to take a while to implement a fix.) Take advantage of it while you can!

14. Drive Slower. I know this one is sacrilege, however, it works. When you’re on the high way driving 75 vs. 65, the force against your car has increased by 33%. By driving a little slower, your car’s engine will need to do less work to keep your car moving and you’ll be saving money.

13. Brake Less. By keeping your eyes looking ahead, you’ll be able to gauge whether you can coast or brake. Why accelerate up to a stoplight and waste gas and brake pads. If you see a red light ahead, begin to coast until you see the indicator turn green again.

12. Empty out your car. Carrying around extra weight will kill you gas mileage. Of course you need your spare tire and a small repair kit, but getting rid of extra new or used car parts, old tools you’re not using or other spare gadgets in your car. Next time you replace your tires, you might want to consider run-flats. Though they are normally heavier than standard tires, removing the spare in your trunk will give you the advantage of weight savings.

11. Shift Earlier. If you’ve got a manual transmission, get to your top gear as quickly as possible. You don’t have to go through every gear. This is part of #2, but even passing on the highway doesn’t mean you need to drop to 3rd gear from 4th or 5th.

10. Carpool! Even if it’s one day a week and you drive 20 miles to and from work, this would save you $6.00-8.00 per week. Carpool two to three times a week and you might save almost $20.00 a week. This, of course , depends upon where your roommate/spouse/co-workers live, but sharing the load even one day week will save gas and reduce the wear and tear on all cars involved in the carpool.

9. Use your cruise control and stay in your own lane. Studies in the past have shown that following basic traffic laws and constantly changing lanes and speed don’t reduce travel time. Unless you’re passing, stay any lane but the far left and cruise along with the flow of traffic.

8. Don’t drive. Try to time your visits to the grocery store and shopping mall for the same day so you don’t have to make two trips. As if you can work from home one day a week or increase work to four 10 hour days and have an extra day for the weekend. Many larger businesses are doing this, so be sure and ask around your office.

7. Tighten your gas cap. Sounds simple, but missing or loose gas caps can allow gasoline vapors to escape at an alarming rate (gas is very volatile). Whereas a gallon of water may take a whole day to evaporate in hot weather, it can take as little as a hour depending upon the temperature and pressure.

6. Inflate your tires. Low or flat tires will cause increased drag on your car. Always make sure the pressures are at optimal levels or even a little above.

5. Replace your air filters. This will allow the proper amount of air into your engine and maximize the power created during combustion. High performance after market filters allow more air into your engine (thus increasing efficiency) and are reusable (cleanable) to save money.

4. Keep your car in proper tune. A rough running car with broken sensors or parts will cause you to waste gas. If you have a check engine light on, be sure to take your car to a reputable mechanic. Many shops will check the error light codes for free.

3. Keep your windows closed. This will reduce the drag on your car.

2. Turn off the air conditioning. This isn’t an option for some people, especially those of us in the South. However, the compressor being engaged will cause parasitic drag on the engine and cause a loss of power and efficiency.

1. Replace your car! Replacing your large truck or old v8 sedan and replacing it with even a 10 year old sub-compact could save you anywhere between 30 and 75 percent in fuel costs (depending how drastic you want to get). You could buy a brand new hybrid, but you could also buy a late 90s hatchback for a quarter the cost and get the same or better mileage!

My last post was about basic “paper work” associated with the car. Every car has a VIN number. It’s like an auto-social security number. However, something every car does not have is a great service history and a great previous owner. With that said, the rest of the posts about buying a used car will be about the intangibles of a used car purchase. This week, we’ll be talking about the test drive.

The first thing is that when testing a used car, be sure the previous owner gives the car at least a half day to cool down before you come for a test drive. If the car has trouble starting cold, an owner may warm the car up for you before you get there to subvert the problem for a potential buyer. In the same respect, be sure to shut the car off after your test drive an try to start it warm.

Next we’ll discuss the engine itself. Pop the hood while it’s running and look at the engine. If it’s rattling back and forth you could have problems with engine bushings or an actual engine problem that could require costly engine replacements. After checking the engine idle, be sure while on the test drive you accelerate the car throughout the rev range. A slight power loss could indicate there are problems with anything from throttle position sensors ($$) to ECU problems ($$$) or full on engine problems ($$$$$). Listen to the sound of the engine at all these speeds. It’s good to make sure the radio in a potential car works, but don’t let yourself play songs the whole time. Listen to the engine and, for that matter, the transmission. If you hear heavy thuds when shifting, you could be in store for a transmission that has never had it’s fluid changed. This can be a $2000-3000 job. With a manual transmission, make sure you’re shifts are tight and slip into the gate solidly. If not, you could have bushings that need to be replaced, or worse, broken transmission internals. With automatic or manual (standard) gearboxes, put the car into every gear! Don’t assume if one or two work they all will (more so with automatics). Manual transmissions should have relatively quick engagement of the clutch, or you could be spending a few hundred dollars replacing your clutch.

To ensure the car’s steering is in tip top shape, be sure to find an empty road or parking lot and turn the wheel from one side to the other at full lock. This will not only test your steering response (and ensure you might not have power steering problems), loading the left and right suspension will yield a slight grinding noise if one of the wheels bearings needs to be replaced. Likely, you’ll only hear it from one site. This is not a hugely expensive job, but you can expect to pay $200-300 depending up the shop. Any other sever squeeks or shimmies when the suspension is loaded can indicate other suspension problems like bushings, worn shocks or springs and loose components. Be safe, but give drive and accelerate such that you can get a feel for all the corners of the car. This is a hard skill to master and know what you’re looking for and it will often behoove you to take a friend who does know this, or go on a test drive with a mechanic as part of a pre-purchase inspection.

When test driving a used car, be sure to check things like cruise control too. This is another thing often overlooked by most people on a test drive.

The last, and perhaps most important thing to check are the quality of the brakes. Talk to the current owner and ask if you can check the ABS by panic stopping in a parking lot from 25-30 MPH. Most times you’ll see an ABS light if there is a problem and most problems concern ABS sensors which are pretty cheap to replace. However, if you do have a ABS pump problem, you can expect a few hundred dollars for repair.

With any of the above options, remember, if you do have concerns, you can either have the previous owner fix the problem as part of the cost of the used car, or expect to see discounts and you can repair them yourself or have a mechanic fix the problem. That way, you’ll have someone you trust to the repairs as well as saving some money on the car of your dreams.

When we go out looking for a new or used car, the word “tire kicker” often evokes a negative stigma. However, it represents what everyone looking for a new or used car should be doing: an inspection. Once you’ve come up with your initial criteria for a replacement of addition to your current stable of cars, you’ll often want to research the possible choises you have for a variety of things like reliability, economy, usability and other real world metrics. All of the above a very personal things that each person weighs in a way only they can. However, when you actually go to check out the car itself, it’s easier to have a guide that you can run through in a mechanical fashion to make sure the car of your dreams won’t become the car of your nightmares.

This post is the first in a series of posts where I’ll present a new set of criteria as part of an inspection. At the conclusion, I’ll post a complete PDF checklist that every owner should use to see if the car you have your heart set on is, in fact, meat to be. So, onto part 1 of the list: VIN Inspection

1. VIN matches other VIN’s on vehicle and paperwork/Proper attachment (original/no alterations)
2. Vehicle has California emission sticker (California only)
3. Service bulletins and recall updates performed on vehicle
4. Check vehicle for trouble codes
5. Oil Change/Scheduled Maintenance Performed

eBay is infamous for people posting pictures of a valid VIN on a car that looks exactly like the one they are selling, when in fact they have a title that gives a completely different VIN. That clean VIN will show a car with an excellent history and the same features as the car being sold. The sellers count on a lazy user who won’t compare the VIN on the car when they see it in person to the VIN they were given to do a CarFax check with. It’s pretty strait forward, but people can be lazy and not check these things when the high of seeing a new car takes over. Once this is verified, you’ll often be able to check for service recalls. Taking the car to a local mechanic that specializes in the model you’re interested in is another great way to make sure the seller is honest and you’re getting what you’re told you are. Most mechanics will check car error codes for free, for example, and those who do charge will probably do it for less than $50. Should the car you are looking at have a check engine light (CEL), taking it to a mechanic to validate the reason is a MUST. From personal experiance, it’s very easy to buy a running car with “just a CEL on” and end up with a car that has a cracked engine block or head. If you’re lucky enough to find a car that has a complete history of records, check the average mileage between oil changes. Simply changing the oil and filter every 3000-5000 miles will help ensure your car will last years to come without serious internal engine problems.

I hope you enjoyed this small post and hope you’ll come back to learn more about our next inspection step…

The Road Test!

Keeping your car in top running condition is very important. The importance of car maintenance and oil changes is simple. Your car will not be safe or even run if you do not keep up with the maintenance. Oil changes are needed every three thousand miles to keep the engine in top running condition. If you do not change your oil when needed, eventually the oil breaks down from the heat and does not have any benefit. The engine needs to have clean oil to function properly. The oil change takes a matter of ten to fifteen minutes and does not cost that much to do.

When you have the oil changed by a professional garage, they will more than likely check all fluid levels, tie rods, springs, exhaust and tires. In a garage, they put the car on a car lift, which allows the mechanic to see the entire underside of the car. If a mechanic sees any wear on any parts, they will inform you before something more serious happens. You should have your belts checked every six months to make sure they are not frayed or loose. The fuel filter will need changing every year or two because they do become dirty and can clog up when the car is running, cutting off gas to the engine.

You never want to be stranded anywhere because your car broke down because of poor maintenance. Tie rods do get old and can break at the most inappropriate time. Once this happens, you will have no control over the steering of your car. Tires that have bald spots can cause a blowout on a highway, which can create a potentially dangerous situation. Battery cables can corrode, water pumps can show signs of leaking or brakes can start rubbing and grinding. You need to use good judgment when you own a car.

Making sure your car is in top running condition is all a part of owning a car. Check the oil every other week or so to make sure the oil level is not low. If you run the engine out of oil, you are going to have a car body with no working engine. You might have to add a little oil from time to time between oil changes. If you see oil spots where you park, it is time to have the engine checked right away to find out why. Keep up the maintenance on you car and it should last for years.

I saw this Toyota listing earlier today and I just thought I’d help them out by spotlighting them from the other million listings on the website.

The Toyota Tercel is like the lil’ engine that could - just like this listing. With over 30 images and an accompanying video, the dealer is trying pretty hard to get this one off the lot. It has pretty low miles and it’s worth checking it out! =)

The Shelby Series 1 used to be one of my favorite cars - of course, I was also a teenager back then. Even though I couldn’t afford it, I waited years and years for these to come out until I eventually lost interest in the whole project due to delays.

With years of production troubles, I seriously thought these cars were never actually produced. However, to my surprise, we have one in the system! It’s been years since I’ve read any news about it but if you’re looking for something unique, this is one of those rare finds.

Living in Atlanta and other large cities can cause a lot of frustration on those days when traffic is particularly slow for whatever reason. Last year, for example, Atlanta (home of EasyAutoSales.com) was rated the sixth worst city in the US for traffic by Forbes Magazine. I, personally, have lived in both Chicago and Washington D.C. (two very traffic heavy cities) and have traveled most of the East coast. In my experience, Atlanta traffic is worse than any city I’ve been to. To combat these traffic issues, many cities like New York City, New York and London, England have or plan to institute congestion charges and hope to alleviate some of the traffic woes by a combination of fewer cars coming into the city and congestion charge money to improve road infrastructure. However, sometimes traffic volume isn’t the problem. Often times rain brings out poor driving. Other times, automobile accidents or road construction that lead to traffic issues. However, despite the fact that many cite the roads and road conditions as major parts in determining the speed of traffic, we often overlook the human element.I recently came across a video that displays the results of human drivers who were asked to drive ~30 KPH on a closed loop with 21 other drivers. A time lapsed version of the video shows that without any provocation, the distances  drivers keep from the cars around them tend to fluctuate to such a great degree that eventually a “rubber neck” effect occurs that seems to propagate as a wave throughout the closed loop. The video can be seen below:

Most of the time I, as well as many others, attribute traffic jams to accidents, police cars and other active situations that occur on the road and disturb the physical flow of traffic (eg. blocked lanes). Other times we see traffic lights that prevent enough cars from passing through an intersection and a slow buildup that leads to even slower traffic. The above video proves that there is a strong psychological component to traffic jams that is beyond the laws and rules of the road.

When buying used cars there are some important things to look for before making the final decision. The first thing to check is the engine. You need to look at the overall condition of the engine. Is there oil all over? Does there look like the belts are worn? If you see anything that does not look right, you should inquire as to why. You can have your own mechanic check to see if there are any potential problem with the engine of the used car. Check out these 8 best used cars under 10k that are fuel efficient.

The body is another thing to look at. Just because you do not see any rust or holes, does not mean the underside does not have rust or holes. Check the wheel wells and the trunk for holes or rust. Take a close look at the bumpers. Make sure there is no rust by the connections. Make sure the bumper is secure.

Check the odometer. The mileage on a car is important. Compare the mileage to the mileage listed on the title. It is possible to turn back the odometer. An inconsistency with the odometer reading may be that a different engine was installed. Remember to check all the gauges after you start the car. This includes the gas gauge, oil pressure gauge and the temperature gauge. A faulty gauge can cause confusion for the driver.

The last thing to look at is the condition of the frame. Examine the car from a straight on view from the front and back. Make sure the frame is straight. Cars that were in an accident and repaired may shows signs of frame damage that could not be repaired correctly. Ask the person questions about the car. Make sure you know everything about the car.

You can check with some of the car websites to see the history of the car. This helps you find out a little more information about the car that may not be known by the person selling it or the person may not want to disclose the information. All you need is the VIN number, which is located in the window on the left side of the car.

Next, take the car for a test drive. Make sure to take it on the highway to see how the front end handles. A shaky front end may be a sign of an unaligned front end. See how the vehicle handles turning, stopping and accelerating. If the car passes all of your tests and examination, you are probably getting a good car that will last for a while.