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Since a great number of people are fleeing from the sinking SUV market like rats from a sinking ship, it seems like a great time to put together a list of the top used SUV bargains. Luckily, Popular Mechanics has put together just such a list. After all, some people out there actually need a purposeful wagon to take them off-road or help them haul a trailer and family. As such, there isn't a single crossover on the list, but you can be assured that these rugged trucks will get the job done without forcing you to work a second job. We've even found an example of each for sale on Ebay, to give you an idea of what's really on the market. Oh, and we've also included one very Jalopnik -approved used SUV that may or may not be a bargain. Check out the list below. Land Rover Discovery No arguing that the Land Rover Discovery is about as timeless as a modern SUV can get, but since most people are born with a natural instinct to avoid buying used British vehicles, prices for a decent...
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With today's four-bucks-and-higher gas prices, a used car can make a lot of sense over buying a new overweight monster from the new car lot. However, unless you're buying certified pre-owned, most used car purchases aren't covered by stringent consumer protection laws and don't carry the guarantee of the manufacturer, meaning it's a decision made without a safety net. As a used car buyer you should always be careful — no matter how you're buying the car . To help, we've prepared the following seven point checklist to help you on your way. 1. Decide What You Need In A Car You may want a Ferrari Enzo , but if a large part of your day-to-day driving experience involves towing a boat it may not be the best choice. Choosing the car you want is a visceral decision that relies mostly on emotions, but picking the car you need is a logical decision that relies on thoughtful analysis. Make a list of the typical driving tasks this car will need to undertake (this...
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Car And Driver realizes that while hybrids and alternative fuels may get all the hype, the solution for many people on fuel economy is still the simple old econo-bucket beater. However, they've come up with five reasons why buying something like a cheap old Geo Metro isn't a good idea. Car And Driver makes some valid points, but we're thinking we'd still rather have a old beater. Although our five reasons below the jump won't apply to most consumers — we think maybe consumers should just become more like us. Reliability: Sure, an old Geo may not be as reliable as a brand new Toyota, Chevy or Ford, but it's still more reliable than say, an old MG. Besides, "poor reliability" is just another way of saying "lots of character," and who doesn't want to have a car with a personality? Safety: Yes, a rusty Metro make a Brilliance look like a tank, but who's to say you can't install a roll cage and wear a fire-proof suit and a helmet...
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The Porsche-branded kitchen earlier this week reminded us that automotive marketing gurus like to use their considerable name equity to brand products having nothing to do with cars. While sometimes this can help increase brand identity with the masses, here's our list of the ten auto-branded products which decrease brand equity and dilute brand stature. 10. Jeep Stroller Though parents haven't been buying Chrysler vehicles as quickly as the company may like, they love those Jeep-branded strollers. With a reputation for toughness, the baby-moving business isn't a huge stretch for the brand. If they could get as many families into Jeep Commanders as they could into Jeep Commander Strollers the company might be in better shape. [ JeepWorld ] 9. Renault F1 Backgammon Set In addition to branding special-edition cars, like the Renaultsport 197 Clio , the Renault F1 team has spread into the fast-paced world of table gaming. Made of real Formula One materials like carbon fiber, sterling...
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For prospective consumers looking to purchase a car as more than mere transportation, we decided it was time for the ten most beautiful cars in the world currently for sale. We've done the ugliest cars at home and abroad , now it's time to soothe your eyes with images of cars that'll evoke the dragon in you. To be considered truly beautiful, we decided a vehicle must transcend gimmicks and needless ornamentation to achieve an economy of design, eschewing the aggressiveness of most modern sports cars. Instead, these cars capture the classic feminine qualities that have encouraged owners to refer to their cars as "she." Given this standard, we think the ten below are almost indisputably the most beautiful — thought that certainly won't stop you all for adding your own two cents in the comments below. 10. Audi R8 galleryPost('tennattR8', 3, ''); Years of female empowerment public service announcements and deodorant ads have convinced us it's...
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After investing time and money into developing a new vehicle to meet consumer's needs you'd think that coming up with a name would be the easy part. Whether because of mistranslation, cultural misunderstandings or just plain mistakes, these names prove it's not as easy as you'd think. Culled from our automotive knowledge and commenter suggestions these are the worst of the worst. And like great Olympic gymnasts, many of these cars are Asian and less than 16 years old. If you think you can do worse, drop a suggestion in the comments below, and of course, don't forget to vote for what you think is the least appealing. 10.) Toyota Estima Lucida G Luxury Joyful Canopy Known in the US market as the Toyota Previa and in Japan as the Toyota Estima, SOS10 brought to our attention the Lucida G Luxury Joyful Canopy edition of this futuristic van. Any of these modifiers by themselves aren't necessarily ridiculous, but when combined you're reminded of the awesome exuberance...
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var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/odd_stuff/The_10_Ugliest_Cars_Sold_Outside_The_United_States'; We've already shown you our list of the ten ugliest cars currently sold in the United States . Although epic, it meant exclusion of some fantastically ugly cars sold only on the international marketplace. Until now. After scouring the globe from Australia to Russia, these are the ten top cars that make us want to run from the computer and hurl ourselves out the nearest open window. Vote for your favorite foreign fugly-mobile in the poll at the bottom or chime in via the comments if you think we've missed one. 10. Reva Electric Car (India) galleryPost('forfugREVA', 3, ''); Though we're supportive of the electric car idea, especially in India, it's hard to get excited about the Indian-built Reva Electric CitiCar from an aesthetic angle. The car voted "Worst Car Of The Year" by Top Gear is, also, one of the least appealing vehicles out on the road...
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var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/The_Ten_Ugliest_Cars_Currently_Sold_In_The_United_States_2'; Automakers spend lots of time and money designing, redesigning and test marketing their new vehicles to make certain they'll capture a potential buyer's imagination. It doesn't always work. We asked you just days ago if new cars were getting uglier and there was no real consensus, but one look at this list of the top ten ugliest new cars sold in the United States may tip the scales in favor of uglier. Hit the jump to see them all and make sure to vote in the poll so we can determine which one's truly ugliest. Don't see an un deserving car? Add it to the list. 10. 2009 Honda Pilot We like the 2009 Honda Pilot , we really do. If seven-passenger SUVs were our thing, the Pilot would be at the top of our list. The only thing holding us back would the be styling, which manages to be both boring and ugly at the same time, making it ugling... or borgly. Depending on the...
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We can understand the need to cut corners to save a dime, but automakers have a nasty habit of making their vehicles seem even cheaper than they really are. We've put together our list below of the ten worst things automakers do to cheapen their cars. Learn them now, bean counters, before your kids start ducking in the back seat when they see people they know. Vote on the worst and feel free to amend with your own pet peeves in the comments below. 10. Off-Color Body Cladding While there's nothing wrong with dark or color-keyed exterior cladding on rugged trucks or delivery vehicles, applying it to most cars is just wrong. Take the Subaru Baja, for example. The caminoized Subaru wagon already had a few strikes against it in the design apartment, and the gray plastic cladding beneath brightly colored body panels made it seem more like a Fisher-Price toy car than an expensive truck alternative. 9. No Mats On The Floor It's no secret that dealers often make extra dough by charging...
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Last week we asked you to imagine the worst car color combination . You came up with so many amazing responses of production cars with catastrophic color choices, we've used them to compile a top ten list of the best of the worst. Hit the jump to for the ten worst production car color combinations and see how far we've come since Henry Ford famously told customers they could have the Model A in any color so long as it was black. Also vote for your worst choice in the poll at the end. 10. Mark 3 VW Golf Harlequin Colors: Blue, Red, Yellow And Green Our Take: While we love the Harlequin VW Golf , we don't blame Logruszed for nominating it as an awful color combination. Both awesome and awful, they're not a mix of colors you particularly want to see on a car (red, green and yellow do not mix). On the cute Golf, it almost works... almost. [Photo: Wiki] 9. 1992 Dodge Viper Colors: Mustard And Ketchup Our Take: The color most associated with the original run of the Dodge Viper...
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var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/5_Reasons_Why_High_Gas_Prices_are_Good_for_Real_Drivers'; While people who drive out of necessity are understandably upset about high gas prices , the real enthusiast driver recognizes the positives. Artificially low fuel prices have subsidized an American automotive lifestyle out-of-sync with the needs and desires of serious drivers. And although we're not happy to be forking over the dimes for premium fuel, we've got five reasons the enthusiast is happy the era of cheap gas is over. 5. Less Congestion Higher gas prices mean fewer people driving and more people taking public transit or telecommuting. The most obvious benefit for the real driver is that it opens up the road to those who travel for fun by removing those who merely commute out of necessity. This results in less traffic and, not surprisingly, fewer traffic fatalities , thanks in part to people keeping their Suburbans in the garage. Safer, emptier roads are something all...
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Unless you're an accountant or a salesman, you may not have noticed the IRS just upped the mileage deduction rate for privately owned vehicles to 58.5 cents per mile. Sounds like the perfect time to find out how far we could turn our daily driver into a government tax rebate on wheels. We've decided to use my daily driver as an example to see if we could, hypothetically of course, deduct as much as we're actually spending to drive it. Without further ado, here's our quick guide to deducting the cost of your car. First of all, the IRS lets you determine the amount of your deductible car expense using one of two methods: the standard mileage rate method or the actual expense method. To use the standard mileage rate there's a variety of tests you need to meet, but they're all pretty straightforward — you must own or lease the car; the car must not be used for hire, for example as a taxi; you must not operate five or more cars at the same time, as in a fleet operation;...
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With gas prices continuing their climb, owners are fearfully turning to alternative uses for their devalued SUVs. Whether you have a Suburban , an Excursion or a Sequoia , alternative uses from that sport utility vehicle now that you can't afford to actually drive it are sounding pretty good right now. Here's ten alternative uses for your gas guzzler that won't require you to fill it up first. 10. Public Art Now that Democrats have taken over Congress and Jesse Helms is dead, nothing stands in the way of getting some sweet, sweet National Endowment of the Arts grant money. When putting together your application, make sure to mention how you'll be involving the desecration of some sort of religious artifact or symbol; the grant people at the NEA love that. 9. Holder Of Contraband Doesn't it suck when the ATF, DEA or other governmental agency impinges on your right to stock ammo in preparation for the imminent Canadian invasion? It's not safe to keep automatic weapons...
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As we predicted, the voting in last week's Top Ten Best Car Ads Of The 1980s poll was a bit more competitive than that in the Ricardo Montalban-dominated Top Ten Best Car Ads Of The 1970s. The Black Gold 280ZX made a strong showing, but the Cocaine Factory Duster takes the prize, with 32% of the votes. Now we're moving into the decade of Operation Desert Storm, grunge, and Pets.com, which brings up the question: is it possible to feel truly nostalgic about the decade right before the current one? Make the jump, cast your vote! 10: 1991 Ford Escort GT Have you got a hunger for power? The front-wheel-drive power to go with an incredibly plasticky grille? If so, the '91 Escort GT, with its 127-horse Mazda engine, was the car to drive as you watched gas prices soar during the turmoil of Gulf War I. 9: 1992 Toyota Starlet Apparently all the weirdness that the relentlessly conservative suits at Toyota expunged from their vehicles got forced into their home-market ads, judging by this...
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var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/autos/5_Reasons_Why_We_re_Not_Proud_To_Buy_American_Cars'; We just read Car & Driver's recent salute to five vehicles demonstrating all that's right and good with American car companies. Although they're right to be pointing out five great products, the Amerigasmic rah-rah fest left a bad taste in our mouths. Not because it's slightly sycophantic, but merely because it's too easy a list to create. There's just far too few American vehicles that show off the good, and so many that show off the bad. Frankly, we could do a list of the five cars that make us not want to buy American, but we're much more interested in helping our automakers help themselves by pointing out what's ailing them. Without further ado, here's our continuation of this weeks Jalopnik Automotive Amerigasm with the five reasons why we're not proud to buy American cars. 5. Poor Product Planning Think of a 2009 or 2010 model that you're...
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