Buying a Car for Dummies [Paperback]

Deanna Sclar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764550918 | ISBN-13: 978-0764550911 | Publication Date: August 21, 1998 | Edition: 1

Buying a car is never easy. Besides spending a sizeable amount of money on this investment, your liveliness probably relies on this vehicle. You need to know that your car will get you from point A to point B in a timely and safe manner—so buying a lemon is not something you can afford to do.

Buying A Car For Dummies is for you if you need to find out how to buy, sell, insure, drive, protect, or rent a vehicle. It doesn’t matter how old you are (as long as you can legally drive and have a license), this book can make your experience with cars a smooth ride.

Buying A Car For Dummies can help you save a truckload of money over the life of your vehicle as you find out all you need to know about new and used car ownership in this entertaining and informative reference guide. This dependable book covers all avenues of buying and owning a car, from negotiating a fair price to finding reliable insurance to saving money on routine servicing. You’ll stay in the driver& #8217;s seat as you discover how to:

• Calculate how much you current car really costs you
• Weigh the pros and cons of buying new or used
• Get the best trade-in, resale, or donation value for your vehicle
• Pick out a cherry and avoid lemons—expert advice for buying a reliable used car
• Determine what features and options you really need in a new car
• Get the straight scoop on financing or leasing your car
• Find an insurance policy and company you can trust
• Protect your automotive assets—from steering wheel locks to full-blown security systems

With Buying A Car For Dummies as your guide, you can park you fears, frustrations, and anxieties as you discover how to decide between buying or leasing new wheels, how to negotiate with car dealers, how to foil car thieves and carjackers, how to protect yourself in a breakdown or accident, and how to protect your automotive assets with insurance, warranties, and service contracts. Plus, the book features a list of ten great automotive Web sites for pricing information, ratings, industry news, diagnostic troubleshooting, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

For many, the experience of buying a car is as unpleasant as a root canal, and author Sclar (Auto Repair for Dummies) provides just the right medication. A well-known consumer advocate and expert repair consultant, she presents numerous tips on first deciding whether to buy a new or used car and, the best part, the truth about auto financing. With this handy and briskly narrated advice, listeners can now feel more confident as they steer their way through negotiating a fair price, getting insurance, establishing an affordable maintenance plan, picking cherries and avoiding lemons, determining what options are really needed, and calculating how much a car actually costs. Highly informative, this guide is recommended for all public libraries.ADale Farris, Groves, TX
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

About Deanna Sclar Deanna Sclar, a leading auto repair expert and consumer spokesperson, has appeared on more than 700 radio and TV programs including Good Morning America, Today, and A.M. Los Angeles. She has contributed to such magazines as Family Circle, New Woman, and Redbook and is the author of the perennial bestseller Auto Repair For Dummies??.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (August 21, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764550918
• ISBN-13: 978-0764550911
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #291,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #29 in Books > Professional & Technical > Automotive > Buyers' Guides

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This text offers excellent information, September 5, 2004

By 

M. C. Yu "mechyuda" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Buying a Car for Dummies (Paperback)

This text offers information about buying a car from start to finish, from thinking about what you want, to insurance, to checking your car, to financing, to negotiating with dealers, and refers you to other great online and text sources for more information.

Excellent and well worth it, even for the most knowledgeable car buyers. Everyone will learn at least ten great things from this book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a good refernce book for making a car purchase decision, July 28, 2002

By 

William D. Tompkins (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Buying a Car for Dummies (Paperback)

a good reference book for making a car purchase decision. we utilized a non-profit organization listed in this book to guide us through a safe car purchase

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for buying a new car, May 6, 2007

By 

David A. Hurry "Book enthusiast" (kapolei, hi United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Buying a Car for Dummies (Paperback)

This is an excellent book to read prior to buying a car. This book helped me to research the car I wanted to buy before going to the dealership by giving me helpful internet sites to find the invoice price on my car and other facts. It also instructed me on negotiating strategies to use when I sat down with the car salesman. True to the books description the salesman used the same tricks the book predicted he would. Highballing the initial price, stalling, stating he was going to lose money on the sale, bringing his boss in, etc. Reading this book allowed me not to be to eager and to be willing to leave if the salesman being cooperative on the price. This resulted in my purchasing a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid for $11 over the invoice price. I also bought my car insurance using one of the websites suggested by the book.