Oh, how fast this has changed in a mere few months! Granted, I think this was coming for a while but the onset of reality- traditional financing and planning has organically shifted to be a whole new beast which we must all learn- is truly making me think of cars and houses in an entirely new way.

It may have been a Porsche dealer tapdancing the concept of “Buy a house, lease your car” a couple of weeks back to me (as a writer, not a buyer) over a beautiful Boxster leasing for $329 a month in a deserted, sparkling new showroom that made me start thinking about this old cliche. It probably didn’t help matters when several friends decided to put their homes on the market almost on an emergency schedule a few days later so they could sell and rent something before they ended upside down in their equity. (Same friends would never lease and drive cars that are paid for, by the way.)

Then I re-read an article in GQ magazine called “The American Dream, No Money Down” (Don’t ask why I have GQ in my house! That is not polite!) by Joel Lovell from February 2008 and I have to say that while this article raised my killer-mommy-nesting-hackles a year ago, I get what he was not only saying but predicting.

Is this problem really just geographic, as in those on the coasts are the only ones who really need to be concerned about falling housing values? How about stagnating housing prices combined with finance companies completely dropping financing or reducing potential customers to only “A” level credit (scores of 700 and above) only for cars? Or mortgage companies completely stopping all stated income which is refusing home finance to people who want to put 50% down on their homes, but because employers are increasingly turning employees into consultants, are unable to show 2 years of 1099 tax returns?

A lot of people are in a pickle or nearing the looming pickle of having to make these decisions.

Own, rent, house, car, bag it all and try corporate housing a la Grapes of Wrath with a dash of public transportation? Let me know what you think.

Point is that she is-a-changing. Die hard Republican actually thinking of voting for the other side would have been enough shock to last me a life time. But a Mercedes driving person of that ilk who is married to perhaps the most conservative guy I know who drives a Porsche Cayman and they HUH? Want to buy a HYBRID? They want me to help them? They don’t even read the interwebs. At all. Evar. 79% of all hybrid owners fit a very particular type of creative personality currently and neither of this couple fit that profile so that must be a changing percentage.

I was so excited to delve into this. New territory for me- lease, buy, hybrid and no idea what is available? Bring it!

First I went to Twitter and asked @ageekgal who runs WildTexas.com for advice. She is great for info about hybrids as she owns the Ford Escape Hybrid, is an enthusiast, and is active on GreenHybrid.com. She said that she has very few hybrids in her great state and even said that it is difficult to find them there so she wasn’t aware of how much they cost used. We did establish through our Twitters that in California the state law require 150K mile warranties because the batteries can fail and if they do, are quite expensive. Great incentive for buyers to feel protected!

Then I called a dealer I know who had 5 Prius on his lot. When I told him the plight of my friend he did say that going from the Cayman to a hybrid Toyota is like going from a Porsche to a golf cart. (Sure, I thought but the Porsche isn’t green! Well, they haven’t delivered one yet but will.)

Apparently, as the dealer continued to tell me, the new Prius is about $26K for the base model currently and the used ones? Still are going for about $24K. Wait. What? The average depreciation on a new car in the first year alone is about 35%. The second year it is at about 45% of the original cost and from there depreciation does slow down but hybrids actually almost maintain their value!

So, for all of the naysayers that claim that the MPG saved does not outweigh the initial cost, I would argue that is actually not the case because they maintain their value so well that they act more as a financial investment than a rapidly depreciating piece of equipment. Okay- granted they will never gain in value unless the fuel situation gets even worse (which is possible). But then there is the extra bonus of offsetting carbon footprints.

All very interesting! Back to my friend though: her husband didn’t like the Prius but did decide that he likes the Ford Escape or the Mercury Mariner hybrids. My friend seems fine with that because she will get to drive the Cayman. It does suit her better. But then, so would a Tesla.

More hybrid resources: CleanMPG.com and HybridCars.com

Originally published here

While part of that drop could be the pre-shocks of the REAL ID Act of 2005 sending tremors through the undocumented or illegal population, the rest can be attributed to the slumping housing market and the aftershocks among the legal skilled labor and construction workers.

Initially started as an effort to curb illegal immigration within the parameters of a larger national security act the REAL ID Act enforces that driver’s licenses be issued by Federal standards that would require a Social Security number in order to be issued a license. Several states have already adopted the policy and car dealers in those states have seen a very noticeable drop in sales to Hispanics.

From Used Car News:

Prior to 2007, North Carolina allowed residents with Mexican driver’s licenses to obtain state driver’s licenses. Now the state enforces a rule requiring a valid Social Security number for obtaining a driver’s license.

Jody Midgette, owner of Midgette Auto Sales in Harbinger, N.C., saw a huge effect on the dealership’s sales to Hispanics.

“Prior to the change, we used to do 15 percent to 20 percent of our business with Hispanics,” he said. “In 2007, we did less than 5 percent.”

Additionally, states that were having a burst in new home and commercial construction such as Arizona are beginning to feel the effects of the construction slump that has been long coming but fast-fueled by the sub-prime mortgage fiasco.

Again, from Used Car News:

Many Hispanic immigrants – both legal and illegal – work in the construction industry, he [Mauricio Espinosa, president and CEO of automotive consultancy G20 Inc.] said.

The downturn in homebuilding means less work, which limits vehicle purchases, especially pick-up trucks.

Mike Cunningham, owner of Payless Cars & Trucks in Tucson, Ariz., said a downturn in construction has chipped away at those values.

“Prices on truck merchandise are not what they were a year ago,” he said.

Cunningham said news in Arizona has centered on the drop in construction, which provided a lot of growth in the state in recent years.

All of this is a microcosm reflection of what is hitting the rest of the economy. In this case the car market is being affected greatly which in turn will affect other areas of the economy and vice versa.

Originally posted here

One of the biggest features is also a limitation; it works in regions defined by borders and borders can be false and extremely limiting. In my area I am only a few miles from the Orange County border so the perfect thing I am looking for may be hidden under the Los Angeles listings so all of my searches are doubled.

Enter a new multi-city search for finding things on Craigslist! A new site sans vowels, crgslst.com has launched and it works pretty well so far. I can see so many uses for this- especially if you are looking for a rare or collectible car online.

The Flash based navigation is pretty nifty and intuitive for setting up multiple regions where you would like to search although when testing it I did find all of the results not necessarily relevant because I searched “Z3 Coupe” and got every Z3 in the regions I selected including the convertibles. (Miss Mota Mouth does like her coupes!)

Give it a whirl and hopefully it will manage to last. Other similar sites have not lasted in the past because they violated Craigslist terms (of which I am a fairly big fan). I just hope that Craig will begin to allow a little leniency with the creative souls out there who are avid users of his site and want to create new paths of user experience.

XOO,M

PS: As I wrote this a friend turned me onto crazedlist.org Something else new to play with!

Originally posted here