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| A Day in the Life of Killer Monsoon | |
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| What's Happening to the Automobile Business? | |
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| The Bad News | |
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| The Grim Reality No Buying Service Wants You to Know | |
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| Is There Any Good News Out There? | |
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| Want to Stop Other Sites from Tracking You While You Explore the Brave New Automotive World (or Anything else) Online? | |
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| Forearming: So You're Determined to Skip the Dealership Entirely and Buy or Lease on the Web? | |
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| Inside the Dealership Family | |
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| Killer and His Family | |
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| Who's Who Inside the Dealerships | |
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| Who are the People Behind Those Web Pages and Online Services? | |
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| Dealer-Controlled Sites and Buying Services | |
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| "Independent" Internet Buying Services | |
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| "Prospect Aggregators" | |
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| Manufacturer-Related Sites | |
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| Sites That Deal Exclusively in Used Vehicles | |
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| Sites That Offer Only Financing or Loans | |
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| Information-Driven Rather Than Product-Driven Sites | |
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| Where's the Money? Understanding Automotive Sales Tactics and Realities | |
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| Well, Just How Honest are Car People? | |
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| The Salesperson's Greatest Talent | |
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| The Salesperson's Favorite Targets | |
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| Profits, Not Profit | |
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| Supply and Demand | |
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| Killer Monsoon's Favorite Selling Techniques | |
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| "Will You Buy a Car Today at Some Price?" | |
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| "If I Can,... Will You?" | |
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| The Sincere Salesman-in-a-Contest Ploy | |
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| The "I'm Salesman of the Month" Routine | |
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| The "I'm a Trustworthy Salesman" Ploy | |
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| "Setting You" on a Car: The Demo Ride | |
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| The Old Confuse-Them-and-Control-the-Sale Ploy | |
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| Justifying the Sale | |
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| The Ploy of Bringing You to Their Reality | |
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| The "Other Customer" Ploy | |
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| The Old "Lease 'Em a Car Instead" Ploy | |
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| The Return of Balloon Payments | |
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| Dealerships' Favorite Selling Systems on the Showroom Floor and on the Web | |
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| The "T.O." System | |
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| The Four-Square System | |
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| The Note System | |
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| The Tower System | |
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| One Price, No Hassle Systems | |
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| "YoYo" Selling or "Spot" Delivery | |
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| "Credit Doctor" Scams | |
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| The Advent of Major Dealerships Designed Solely for Subprime Borrowers | |
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| Welcome Centers | |
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| Getting a Deposit | |
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| "What 'Unauthorized' Credit Report?" | |
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| The Raise | |
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| Lowballing | |
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| A Look in the Mirror: Know Yourself | |
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| "In the Bucket" and "Dipping": The Problem with the Chases | |
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| Singing the Blues: The Trouble with the Allgoods | |
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| The Newest Toy: The Problem with the Estrums | |
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| Facing our Foibles: The Problem with All Car Buyers | |
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| How Naive Are You Really? | |
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| Are You an Impulse Buyer? Impulse Buyers Are Favorite Targets | |
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| What Should You Buy? | |
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| Need Versus Want | |
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| What Can You Really Afford to Pay Per Month? | |
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| New Versus Used: What's Better for You? | |
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| American Versus Foreign: Is There a Meaningful Difference? | |
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| Will You Be "Trading Down"? | |
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| Things that Impress and Terrify Salesmen: Traits You Can Cultivate | |
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| Taking Control and Staying in Charge | |
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| Wariness on the Web | |
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| Indecision | |
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| Lack of Enthusiasm | |
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| Non-Romantic Attitudes | |
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| Patience | |
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| Impatience | |
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| Steel Boots Prevent Shot Feet | |
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| Know Your Present Car | |
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| Do Three Wrights Make a Wrong? | |
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| The Previous Sections of This Book Haven't Exactly Added to the Romance and Mystique of Auto Transaction | |
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| The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same | |
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| Doing It Right in the Brave New Automotive World | |
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| Making Your Current Car Worth More | |
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| Is Your Old Vehicle a Popular Vehicle? | |
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| What's Your Car's Mileage? | |
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| Computing Your Old Car's Wholesale Value | |
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| How to Determine the Wholesale Value of Your Car | |
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| Shopping for Wholesale Value the Wright Way | |
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| Become a Road Hog for a Day | |
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| Options for Shopping Wholesale Value on the Web | |
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| Individual Dealer Web Sites | |
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| Established Used-Vehicle Market Guides Online | |
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| Other Automotive Sites That Will "Appraise" Your Vehicle | |
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| Car Depreciation Calculators | |
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| Calculate Your Equity in Your Car's Wholesale Value | |
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| Why Fool with Your Old Car? Give It Away as a Tax Deduction! | |
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| Should You Retail Your Car Yourself? | |
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| How to Retail a Vehicle | |
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| Your Hour on the Stage | |
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| Dollars and Non-Sense: Or, What You'd Better Know About Financing, Even If You Pay Cash | |
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| Could This Really Happen to You? | |
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| Is The Car Business Really This Relentless in Ripping Every Penny From Even the Poorest Customer? | |
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| Won't Financing on the Web Save Me from This? | |
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| Some Other Creepy Realities You Need to Think About | |
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| Your Credit History Isn't What You Think It Is | |
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| What Are Your Financing Sources? | |
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| Uncle Festus or Aunt Bea | |
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| Cash Value in Your Life Insurance | |
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| A Home Equity Line of Credit | |
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| Credit Unions | |
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| Brand Name Prime Banks | |
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| Online Loan Companies and Services | |
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| The "Captive" Sources | |
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| New Dealerships Discover Buy Here-Pay Here | |
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| Stand Alone Buy Here-Pay Here Used Car Operations | |
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| Title Loan Operations | |
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| I've Decided to Pay Cash and I'm Using a Web Service | |
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| Should You Buy Credit Life or Disability Insurance? | |
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| Okay, Let's Find the Cheapest and Best Loan | |
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| And a Poke in the Eye, Too | |
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| How Much Car Can You Afford? | |
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| The Concept of "Available Cash" | |
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| Test Time! | |
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| Auto Sellers Want You to Look at the Money Differently | |
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| Developing Your Available Cash Figure Based on Your Own Budget and Assets | |
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| How Much Money Should You Finance on a Particular Car? What Down Payment Is Best? | |
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| How Much Down Payment Is Enough? | |
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| What Is the Minimum Down Payment Possible on a New Vehicle? | |
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| What Is the Minimum Down Payment Possible on a Used Vehicle? | |
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| Determining Available Cash for Different Buying Situations | |
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| If You Plan to Buy a New or Used Vehicle and Have No Trade | |
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| If You Plan to Buy a New or Used Vehicle and Have a Debt-Free Trade | |
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| If You Plan to Buy a New or Used Vehicle and Owe Money on Your Trade | |
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| Next Steps | |
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| The Big Fantasy: Automobile Advertising and Sales Events | |
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| The Many Moods of Advertising: What's Your Fantasy? | |
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| Did You Hear the Funny One About Truth in Automobile Advertising? | |
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| The Special Millenium Edition Auto Advertising Parlor Game | |
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| Now to the Parlor Game | |
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| Do Car People Ever, Ever Have Real Sales? | |
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| Is There an Easier Time to Buy? | |
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| So Are There Any "Best Times" to Buy a Car? | |
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| Battle Time | |
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| Battle Time or Dueling with Killer, a Moral Tale, Sort Of | |
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| Shopping for a New Car the Right Way Whether You Plan to Buy at a Dealership or Online | |
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| What Do Vehicles Really Cost? | |
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| Dealer Invoice | |
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| Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) | |
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| Dealer's Sticker | |
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| Choosing Dealerships for Shopping, Buying, and Service | |
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| Tips for Choosing a Dealership | |
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| Why Can't I Skip Dealerships and the Web Entirely? | |
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| Does It Make Sense to Order a Car Rather Than Buy From Stock? | |
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| Ordering at a Dealership | |
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| Ordering a Vehicle Online | |
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| What About Buying "Demos," "Demonstrators," "Executive," or "Program" Cars? | |
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| Thinking About a Truck or Full-Size Van? | |
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| Researching Vehicles That Fit Your Budget | |
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| Are You Planning to Buy on the Web? | |
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| Dealership Shopping If You Plan to Buy a New Vehicle | |
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| What Do Those Pretty Rides Cost the Dealer? | |
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| What the Dealership Actually Paid | |
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| Shopping If You Plan to Buy a Used Car or Used Truck at the Dealership or Online | |
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| Preparing to Shop | |
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| Money! Why All This Work Is Worth It | |
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| Why Buying Used Is Harder | |
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| Five Discomfiting Variables | |
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| The Importance of "Loan Value" | |
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| Used-Vehicle Sources: From the Internet to Aunt Wilma and Her Neighbor | |
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| Used Vehicle Sources on the Web | |
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| Other Offline Sources | |
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| Using a Telephone "Service" to Locate Your Car | |
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| Checking Out a Used Vehicle | |
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| Researching Specific Used Vehicles That Fit Your Budget and Needs | |
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| Negotiating for a New Vehicle at the Dealership | |
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| "Just What Is a Fair Deal? How Do I Know When to Say Yes?" | |
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| Handling High-Pressure Techniques | |
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| Your Hour Upon the Stage: The Importance of Play-Acting | |
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| Doing It by the Numbers If You're Buying New | |
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| Here's the Scenario | |
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| Dealing with the Store | |
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| Negotiating for a Used Vehicle at the Dealership | |
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| "Just What Is a Fair Deal? How Do I Know When to Say Yes?" | |
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| Handling High-Pressure Techniques | |
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| Your Hour Upon the Stage: The Importance of Play-Acting | |
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| Doing It by the Numbers If You're Buying Used | |
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| Here's the Scenario | |
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| Dealing with the Store | |
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| Negotiating Online for a New or Used Vehicle | |
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| A Tangled Web | |
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| How to Buy a New Car, Click by Click, on the Web | |
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| Negotiating for a Used Vehicle, Step-by-Step, on the Web | |
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| Leasing a Vehicle | |
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| The Good and, oh, So Bad of Leasing | |
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| Just What Is a Lease? | |
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| What Happens When You Buy? | |
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| Leasing the Same Car | |
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| Enter the Real World | |
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| Who's Making the Big Profits Here? The Leasing Companies or the Dealerships? | |
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| Lease Terminology Adds to the Budget Carnage | |
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| The Deliberate Lack of Understandable "Back End Clauses" Compounds the Carnage | |
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| Then There's "Flipping" | |
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| "Assuming Leasing Can Still Be a Good Deal at Times, How Do I Know If It's Made for Me?" | |
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| Are There Tax Advantages to Leasing? | |
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| Are There Many Leasing Companies out There? | |
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| Are There Different Types of Leases out There? | |
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| Leasing Terminology | |
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| Leasing the Right Way | |
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| What About Leasing Used Cars? | |
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| If Your Present Car Is a Lease Vehicle | |
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| Lomax | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| Appendix | |
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| How to Figure Loan Cash From a Payment | |
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| Using the Chart to Determine Payments | |
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| Automotive Manufacturers Web Site Addresses | |
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| Web Site Addresses for Captive Financing Companies | |
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| Warranties, New and Used | |
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| What About New-Car Service Contracts | |
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| Used Car Warranties from Best to Worst | |
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| A Note on Deposits | |
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| Used-Car Service Agreements | |
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| Negotiating for Vehicles in Other Buying Scenarios | |
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| Cars Rented by Major Rental Companies | |
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| Glossary | |
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| Checking Out a Used Car or Used Truck | |
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| Personal Used Car Checklist | |
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| Index | |