{"id":44287,"date":"2025-06-02T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=44287"},"modified":"2025-05-30T09:28:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T16:28:02","slug":"buying-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/buying-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"Buying Cars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Warranted fixed-price used cars<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

CarMax<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CarMax is a great source for when you are in the market for a certified, warranted, used vehicle. I don\u2019t know of any other dealership where you can test drive a used car, in excellent condition, and not have to go through a hard sell sales pitch, or a torturous bargaining phase when you decide to purchase it. The no-bargain price is right on the vehicles, and is often quite a bargain (with notable exceptions, so you have to do your independent price-point research ahead of time). The salespeople have no incentive to make a hard sell because of the way their commissions are set, and the fixed prices (so don\u2019t bother bargaining). Additionally, if you decide within five days of your purchase that it was not the right car for you, you can return it for a full refund, regardless of how much you drove it (and yes, I have actually tested this out) with no reason needed beyond simply that you didn\u2019t like the car. They also make a similar no-bargaining, no-low-balling offer for your trade-in, and let you know with 30-45 minutes exactly what they are willing to pay you for your car. And, as it should be, the two transactions don\u2019t have to be tied to each other. They also have a decent website that lets you find the car you want nearby, or sign up to be notified via e-mail if a car matching your criteria shows up in their lots. Their Service Centers also seem to be squeaky clean and very impressive. They seem to be the elusive Car Dealership with a Conscience. My advice to anyone looking to buy or sell a used car, it behooves you to at least see what CarMax has to offer before making your final decision. \u2014 Surkhab Niazi<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Convenient Car Buying Service<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Autoline<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To find the best deal when buying a new car I use The Autoline. I can\u2019t recommend them highly enough. For a modest fee they will find the car you want (or recommend the car you should buy based on your budget and requirements) and call you back with the best no-haggle price they can find. (They also do leases.) I\u2019ve used them four times now and am very happy with the results. Each time they\u2019ve arranged for dealer to deliver the car to my house, so I never have to set foot in the dealership or hassle with the guy who pressures you to buy useless \u201cclear coat\u201d and other pure profit add-ons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be put off by their 1993-style website \u2014 all business is conducted by phone and email. \u2014 Mark Frauenfelder<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Better car part network<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Car-Part.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting quotes from Get Used Parts is nice and all but for the more hands-on \u201cjust give me the info\u201d approach, Car-Part.com is a better fit. It actually gives you a list of all the places that have your part, their prices, condition etc with contact information for the seller and you can filter the results by area or state. A lot of parts are too big\/heavy to ship or cost prohibitive so it helps to find nearby sellers. They even have a handy tool to help you figure out what a part is called if you don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prices quoted online have been accurate and the parts are almost always available when you contact the seller. Most places have 800 numbers so its no big deal to call a few if need be or to find the best shipping prices. My dad has found several items to repair our family\u2019s cars and has been happy with them. Of course the shipping costs, accuracy of item descriptions, etc will vary depending on the seller, but we haven\u2019t had any issues to date. \u2014 Isaac Good<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Used auto parts online network<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Get Used Parts<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After recently being involved in a minor fender-bender that resulted in a cracked tail light on my Subaru, I found that replacement parts would cost about $300 brand-new. A thorough web search confirmed that no lower prices could be found for new parts. Then I thought of trying to find the parts from a junkyard, but soon realized that would involve calling all of the junkyards in my area and then traveling to get the part, if one could be found. So I did what any person would do in this day and age and searched Google for used or salvaged auto parts and found this website. Once I entered in the year, make, model of my car and the exact part I needed, I received a phone call a half our later from a junkyard in Alabama that had exactly what I needed. They sent me the part for $95, including shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several other sites that do essentially the same thing, i.e. use a standardized format to send a parts request to multiple junkyards and salvage lots around the country. I use this one because it has the nicest interface and I received the best and fastest quote on the parts I needed. One thing I noticed in using these sites is that they all used the same software for selecting the year, make, model of the car and parts needed. Some entrepreneurial software company must have identified this niche and they now monopolize the market for this specialized type of software. \u2014 Jason Spitzer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The ultimate dry<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Absorber<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the last five years I\u2019ve used a synthetic chamois called The Absorber to dry my boat and cars. It is so good I can\u2019t bear to use anything else. It holds more water and absorbs faster than towels or real chamois. The chamois I used years ago had to be thoroughly dried out after use or it would rot, and when dry, was hard to store. Then you had to get it wet before use and wring it out frequently since it didn\u2019t hold much water. A towel, once wet, doesn\u2019t leave a dry surface (all those spots). The Absorber when moderately wet leaves your surface utterly dry. It\u2019s kind of amazing, really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After you\u2019re done using it, just fold it in half, roll it up wet and tuck it in its hard plastic storage tube. It says you can machine wash it but I haven\u2019t tried that myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the company website, you can read details on its PVA open-cell material. The company claims that the product is \u201cthe best drying tool you\u2019ll ever discover\u201d and I have to agree it is \u2014 it is superior drying technology. I now own four of them in different colors. The site says you can use it to dry pets but I have never tried it on my dog (she\u2019s a short hair model and doesn\u2019t really need it), but I will try it on myself. \u2014Steve Leveen<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Free car buff magazine<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Winding Road<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winding Road is a free digital car magazine that arrives once per month \u2014 you can either view it online in flash or download it in PDF. Apparently the magazine hired away some of the good writers from the other well-known car magazines. They are doing a pretty decent job. The magazine has cool videos and audio interviews throughout, and the photos are very good. They also have a daily news site. With Winding Road I can get all the car magazine stuff I need, without having to pay, and they never asked me for a credit card number or any of that. I\u2019ve cancelled my Car and Driver subscription because I don\u2019t need it anymore. \u2014 Roy Nesseth<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had the Smart EV for several parade loops around Brooklyn and Manhattan, and certainly the cars were 100 percent in their element here. We do completely adore the in-cabin sitting-at-the-wheel relationship; it\u2019s still near perfect and tremendously comfortable. The spatial attitude of the driver and our view out of the car are both near perfect in urban situations as well.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Acceleration to 37 miles per hour is quoted at 6.5 seconds, and top speed is capped at just 62 mph. That speed cap will keep drivers from routinely sucking the 16.5-Kwh, Tesla-Daimler lithium-ion battery pack dry, and thus falling way short of the quoted 82-mile range. The transmission is just an on\/off switch really, with a single-speed system overseeing things. This automatically makes the ForTwo ED better than the gas-powered sibling, as the five-speed simplistic SofTouch automatic is, frankly, quite an awful experience.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another mixed message: until the 2013 model year, these initial Smart ForTwo ED cars are available only on exorbitant 48-month leases at $599 per month. That\u2019s $28,752 total, but the federal income tax credit is bound to be for the full $7500 possible,thus bringing the take down to $21,252 or, in the end, about $4,000 less than the base Nissan Leaf.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Evo has gotten an early drive of the BMW i8 prototype in northern Sweden.When driving, there is a whine from the three-cylinder motor, but it isn\u2019t what one would consider bad. They describe it as sounding a bit like an early Porsche 911.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Volvo has introduced a new engine family called Drive-E with two offerings, one of which is both turbocharged andsupercharged.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Once a week we\u2019ll send out a page from Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities. The tools might be outdated or obsolete, and the links to them may or may not work. We present these vintage recommendations as is because\u00a0the possibilities they inspire are new.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>\u00a0to get Tools for Possibilities a week early in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tools for Possibilities: issue no. 140<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2387],"tags":[2388],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44287"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44297,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44287\/revisions\/44297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}