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About Earl Stewart
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Blog postDear Governor DeSantis,
You probably don’t know me, but I’m a native Floridian, born in Ft. Lauderdale in 1940. I’ve owned and operated Earl Stewart Toyota in North Palm Beach since 1975, after beginning in the car business as a Pontiac dealer in 1968. For about the last 20 years I’ve evolved into a consumer advocate for car-buyers, advising them how to buy a car in Florida without getting ripped off.
I became a consumer advocate for car-buyers because I came to realize -
Blog postFewer than 1 out of 5 vehicles involved in crashes are repaired at a dealership certified by the manufacturer of that vehicle. Most insurance owned body shops and independently owned body shops will use the cheapest fenders, bumpers, roof and door panels and other crash parts to repair your car. These parts aren’t made by the manufacturer of your car and are often Imported from other countries. No other countries have as strict and safe requirements regarding the manufacturing of auto parts than
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Blog postParticipate in a Class Action Lawsuit to Repay You
Almost one-third of all vehicles on the road are leased. All lease contracts include an option to purchase the vehicle at a price predetermined by the leasing company.
Many lessees don’t know about their option to purchase at a specific price. Those who do know are usually unaware that the dealer and leasing company cannot increase the purchase option price included in the lease contract. In fact, this is common practice -
Blog postHave you ever wondered why 95% of all drivers routinely exceed the speed limit? Not only do most drivers wantonly exceed most speed limits, but it’s also often dangerous if you don’t speed when everyone else is. According to Bankrate.com, the average speeding fine in most states is only $150. This cost is relatively low to the average car owner, and a driver’s odds of being the one pulled over by the police are miniscule. The result of these low, “slap-on-the-wrist” traffic fines that are rarely
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Blog postRecently, a woman and a mother called into my weekly radio talk-show, "Earl on Cars”, and told us of a bad experience her young son had in purchasing a new car. He purchased a new Kia and brought it home for his mother to see. She asked him how much he’d paid for the Kia, but he was “kind of vague” about the numbers. She asked him to show her the “paperwork” from the purchase, vehicle buyer’s order and instalment sales contract. He reached into his pocket and handed her a “thumb drive”. In
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Blog postIn 2009 my wife, Nancy, and I were fortunate enough to have lunch at the Capital Grill in Washington D.C. with the famous journalist, Bob Woodward, of “Watergate” fame. We and nine other dealers were invited by Toyota as a way thanking us for our performance in sales and customer satisfaction. Bob Woodward said something at lunch that I’ve never forgotten…He told us his greatest fear affecting the USA and the world was that the media is failing to fulfill its vital role to report all the news fe
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Blog postLeasing has become more and more popular, and today about a third of the cars on the road are leased. If you leased your car two or more years ago, the leasing company didn’t know what was going to happen to the price of new and used cars as the result of the COVID pandemic.
The main variable that determines the size of your monthly lease payment is the depreciation of the vehicle you’re leasing. The total depreciation is calculated by subtracting the estimated value of the leased c -
Blog posthttps://JoinYAA.com
Helping You Buy a Car Without Being Ripped Off
I’ve been writing this column and doing a weekly radio show for about 20 years. I often wonder why more people and groups don’t join in to help car buyers buy, lease, and maintain their cars without being taken advantage of. Whenever someone new comes along, I welcome them with open arms, and I congratulate Ray and Zack Shefska for co-founding this group in 2019. Their timing couldn’t have been be -
Blog postI Feel Your Pain
I’m sure you read the April 11 Op-Ed in our auto industry trade journal, Automotive News. You were probably as shocked as I, when you read it. However, you were shocked by the fact that the Automotive News dared to reveal our industry’s dirty little secret in writing, not about the facts of the article, entitled No room for predatory fees, racism in retail, but about the fact that our trade journal dared speak the truth. In the highly unlikely event that you didn’t read th -
Blog post“VENDITOR CAVE!” (Seller Beware)
Dear Car Dealer:
We’ve all heard the popular legal expression “Buyer Beware” or “Caveat Emptor” in Latin. In the 21st century we’re seeing a renaissance of educated consumers, regulators, legislators, and media. Most of you know me, and most of you don’t like me. You’ve probably read articles about me in your weekly trade journal, Automotive News. One of my favorite articles was entitled, “Do-Gooder or Pariah” way back in October of 200 -
Blog postDear Madam Attorney, General:
I write this open letter to you to call your attention to the recent actions by the Federal Trade Commission against the eight Napleton dealerships in FLORIDA, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Missouri. The FTC accused the Napleton auto dealerships of taking $70 million in illegal fees from customers. The FTC in cooperation with state attorney generals, charged Napleton with sneaking illegal junk fees for unwanted “add-ons” onto customers’ bills and for disc -
Blog postWe’re into our third year of one of the most significant changes in human society, caused by the worldwide covid pandemic. The auto manufacturing and retailing businesses are just two entities that have been greatly impacted. New vehicles are in a shorter supply than ever before. Auto demand and prices are at historic highs, and dealers have virtually no vehicles in their inventories. If you can wait to buy a car, you should wait until prices come down. If you must buy a new car today, you’ll pr
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Blog post“I’m Mad as Hell and Not Going to Take it Anymore!”
I think you’ll agree with me when I say that bad things mostly happen when the perpetrators don’t think others will find out about it. We’re lucky we live in a country which makes a “thing” out of freedom of speech. Our media is free to say whatever they like and so are we. Some think we err on the side of too much freedom of speech and too much media. Even though I might agree, I’d rather have too much than too little.
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Blog postThey’re Middlemen that Broker Finance Contracts to Banks
Some readers of my column may already know this, but it’s surprising to me that many don’t: Car dealers lead their buyers to believe that they’re financing your purchase. After you buy your car, you’re led to the finance office. The inside vernacular term for the finance office amongst dealers is “THE BOX” (my illustration above is from the classic film “Cool Hand Luke” as Paul Newman is led into "The Box"). Th -
Blog postI wrote a column on May 24, 2008, entitled “Stop Complaining about Gas Prices”. As you know, here we go again…soaring gas prices but for some different reasons. The good news is all vehicles’ gas mileage has improved considerably in the last 14 years, and we have a lot more hybrid vehicles, and even a few all-electric. I’ve made a few changes and updated my first column, but it’s still essentially the same advice. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot cha
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Blog post“You must understand the past; no empire lasts forever”
- Ray Dalio
This is a recent quote from an article in the Wall Street Journal, The New Sticker Shock. “Some auto makers, such as Honda and Toyota are pulling individual dealers aside to talk about their charging above MSRP. Jack Hollis, Toyota Motor of North America senior VP of auto operations, said the company has encouraged dealers to look at the bigger picture instead of trying to capitalize on the current mark -
Blog postSave Thousands When You Relace it
I’m dedicating this column to Nancy Stewart, my wife and co-host of our radio show, Earl on Cars. On Monday mornings when I write this column, I often have “writer’s block”. I did this morning, and Nancy came up with this great suggestion. For those of you who know her from our radio show, you’ll know how “into” maintaining and taking care of her car she is.
Regular readers of this column know that I’ve been advising you for over a yea -
Blog postWhat Action Should You Take with the Dealer or Manufacturer?
Most manufacturers give you a 3-year 36,000 mile “bumper to bumper” warranty on your new car. A few makes like Hyundai and Kia have a 5-year or 60,000 miles. There are more new car warranties for longer times on certain components of the vehicle like the powertrains and emission related devices.
Most people think that “bumper to bumper” means the warranty includes EVERYTHING. This isn’t true. For example, your tires a -
Blog postThe Covid pandemic is a watershed moment in human history. Counterintuitively, many good things will come from this terrible time. Online buying has given you, the consumer, more options than ever before to shop for the lowest price. The convenience of not having to drive to the store and have almost everything you buy delivered to your home is a huge time and cost saver.
Before Covid, almost all new cars were bought from dealers’ inventories. There are many reasons for this and mos -
Blog postIs a Valuable Hedge when Buying or Leasing Another
You probably know that new and used car prices are at historic highs. In previous columns I’ve recommended that you don’t buy a new or used vehicle today, because waiting until the microchip shortage abates and supplies of vehicles rise will see prices drop by thousands of dollars. This advice is particularly aimed at those who don’t have another car to trade in. This is because the car you trade in is worth about as much m -
Blog postMost of the “skullduggery” Florida car dealers use to trick you into overpaying for the vehicles they sell are illegal. Florida Statute Title XXXIII, REGULATION OF TRADE, COMMERCE, INVESTMENTS, AND SOLICITATIONS, 501.976 regulates "actionable, unfair, or deceptive acts or practices" in trade and commerce.If you want to read the whole text, just visit www.FloridaLawProtectingCarBuyers.com.
When you click on this link, you’ll have too much information and legal gobbledygook. -
Blog postCurrent Advice on Buying, Leasing, & Servicing Your Car
Many readers of my weekly articles appearing on my blog (www.EarlOnCars.com), Florida Weekly, and Hometown News may not know about my weekly radio show which has been on the air for nearly 20 years.
Earl on Cars airs every Saturday morning from 8-10 EST. You can access this show in South Florida at True Oldies Radio, 95.9 and 105.9 FM (WIRK-HD3). You can stream it directly at www.StreamE -
Blog postBuying, Leasing, and Repairing Cars in 2022
When immersed in a watershed moment of history, those living it often don’t appreciate the magnitude of change on the World. WWI, the Great Depression, and WWII were watershed moments. My father, Earl Stewart Sr., was born in 1892 and was a young man during all three of those watershed moments in history. I don’t think he ever fully appreciated how much the world changed from those 3 events.
We’ve been experiencing the COVID-1 -
Blog postJust When We Thought It Was Safe To Go Back in the Water
You’ve already read or heard this all over the news media. Omicron, the latest mutation of the COVID virus, appears to be setting the world back from an optimistic recovery from Covid to the worst surge ever. Only time will tell, all too soon, just how bad this will be.
My job as a consumer advocate for auto buyers is to make it “safer” for you to buy your next new or used cars. My regular readers know that I been doing w -
Blog postThere’s an old saying about the stock market…” You can never buy at the bottom or sell at the top.” This is because nobody, not even the experts, can predict the absolute tops and bottoms of markets But, if you’re careful, you can predict the best “approximate” time to buy or sell. This same truism holds for buying a car in a seller’s market, where demand exceeds supply.
I’m somewhat of an expert on the auto market because I’ve been a car dealer for more than a half a century, since 1968.
Titles By Earl Stewart
Confessions of a Recovering Car Dealer
Aug 14, 2012
by
Earl Stewart
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