Archive for the ‘affordability’ Category

Although cars remain at near record levels of affordability, new-car buyers turned to more expensive vehicles this past quarter.

That's according to Comerica Bank's latest Auto Affordability Index, which looks at the number of weeks of family income needed to buy a new car. Overall in the second quarter of 2009, the average-priced new car took 22.1 weeks of median family income—versus 21.8 weeks in the first quarter—largely because the bank's tally of the average new light-vehicle price rose to $26,300, up from $26,000.

That might be taken as a sign of recovery, but it's most likely the result of more easily available financing, relative to...

If you live in a crowded urban environment, you understand the value of minicars. No, they can't haul sheetrock, and trips to the grocery store become more like social calls, but where parking and (occasionally) fuel economy are concerned, they can be a condo-dweller's dream.

Until, of course, they get in a fender-bender.

To demonstrate, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently put seven mini- and micro cars through a series of low-speed crash tests. The results were pretty appalling.

At speeds ranging from 3 mph to 6 mph, none of the seven received a ranking of "good", and only one--the Smart fortwo--rated an "acceptable". One...

Every now and then, one of our posts sparks a nice online discussion. Typical topics: the fate of General Motors after the government bailout, whether hybrid cars are for conscientious citizens or effete wimps ... and, of course, taxes.

Yesterday, we asked GreenCarReports.com readers to weigh in on a challenge facing the funders of highway and bridge repair all across the country. The problem is that as average gas mileage rises, less gasoline will be bought, so gas tax revenue will fall.

That means less money to keep our roads, bridges, and highways in good repair. And as you may have noticed, some of them aren't in great shape to start...