Finding the right AWD vehicle...Here at All Wheel Drive Report, I focus exclusively on cars and crossovers with all wheel drive options, leaving the full sized body-on-frame SUV's and trucks for others. If you're in the market for a new all wheel drive vehicle, I can help you sort out your options.All the prices I show on this site are for vehicles equipped with AWD. Where AWD is optional, I simply selected that option and no others. This means that you can be sure that when you are comparing prices, you aren't looking at a low ball, 2 wheel drive baseline vehicle MSRP and comparing it to say a Subaru, who only offers AWD. |
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Introduction: AWD Report is set up for the consumer who is unsure about his next vehicle purchase, outside of the fact that it should be equipped with All Wheel Drive. For that reason, I have overlapped the price point categories, so that vehicles at the extreme range of 1 category may be compared with vehicles in the next higher or lower price range as well. This will give you a truer representation of each vehicle's competition, and provide the widest range of possibilities. Maybe you thought only a crossover was available, but the price range pages may show you a sharp station wagon that would be just the ticket. UPDATE: Cash for Clunkers... GOES BYE BYE! The government, after proclaiming The Cash for Clunkers program a resounding success, and throwing a couple billion dollars MORE at the program, has decided, well, maybe it isn't working out exactly as they planned... So they pulled the plug. August 24 is the last day. What you may not be aware of is why they pulled the plug. It seems that the smartest people in the world; all those government Czars and brainiac academics can't manage their way out of a paper bag. The paperwork the feds required of the dealers was so intensive and tedious that one organization had to hire 3 full time staffers just to do the government mandated paperwork for reimbursement. That's bad enough. But the checks were promised to have been deivered in 10 days to the already cash starved automobile dealers; most of whom are small business owners. Guess what? No checks yet. Ok, some checks are done. But there are lots of dealers who have yet to recieve their checks. Some are still waiting for their FIRST! If a multi-line dealership sold 400 qualifying vehicles in the past 3 weeks, they are out around ONE MILLION, SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. So what was happening was that dealerships were starting to write contracts that said if the government failed to pay, the new owner was liable. Obama didn't like that. So dealers began dropping out of the program. Not ones and two... by the HUNDREDS. This was going to be a PR disaster if quick action wasn't taken. THAT'S why they pulled the plug. There was someone at a recent town hall meeting who summed it up best. If the government can't even manage a cash for clunkers program, how are they going to run nationalized health care? |
General Automotive Business News |
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Stimulating Driving... Ok, we got us a whopper of an economic stimulus. Ready to buy yourself that brand new All Wheel Drive car or crossover now? Well, this is a terrific time see just how good a negotiator you really are. Looks like you're about to benefit from the "perfect economic storm" and score big time! So go through the site carefully, and know which vehicles you are interested in. FOCUS! Research what tax breaks are now available under the economic stimulus bill. You MAY be able to deduct the interest on your car loan from your taxes. You'll probably also get a $400 check this summer from the treasury department. Use it towards your down payment. Because a good credit rating, with a good down payment or trade-in will net you a car loan at the lowest interest rates in decades. Try the links on my site and see what they offer. |
Coming around... It is late summer, 2009. Most of the "crisis " talk has fallen silent. But we are still in something like the economic version of the doldrums. The stock market has rebounded significantly, though most accounts are still off 20 percent or more from their pre-crash highs. Ford seems to have made it through the worst of it. Chrysler is now an Italian company. General Motors is .... well I'm not quite sure what GM is... Obama Motors? GM is a curious symbiosis of governmental leadership, private planning, union operations and small business sales. Whatever it is, I don't like it. If GM was too big to fail, then it's also too big to succeed, and needs to be broken up. But that would bring international competition into play, with global economies of scale, and pretty much kill off the spinoffs. So what's left? Well, that brings us to where we are; massive government intervention. The cure could be worse than the disease. Had GM been allowed to die a peaceful death, there would certainly have been buyers looking to scoop up bargains. Yes, it's predatory. Such is the nature of capitalism. But, like the fabled Phoenix, the new GM might have been an awesome resurrection. We'll never know, for we have traded a shot at rebirth for staying on life support. By the way,if I had the money, I'd buy a Hummer now while I could. I think they will be the collectible of the next generation... |
