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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 | |