
With auto repair chains ever expanding and dealership service becoming more consistent and predictable, you might think that repair costs are becoming much more standardized than they used to be for car repairs done at independent shops, with very little variation, once you average a few shops...Read More»

Although this summer's Cash for Clunkers (CARS) program provided the right kind of push for some owners to replace their guzzling jalopies with new cars, it's probably not so surprising that new-vehicle buyers plan to hold on to their vehicles longer than ever before. So-called "rapid replacers"...Read More»

TCC's Frugal Shopper ALERT: If you drive a small, aging econocar—or even a mid-size sedan—and have been thinking about new tires, get them now, because several weeks from now you might be paying $20 or $30 more for a set. -- Last month the federal government imposed a controversial new...Read More»

The anti-car movement insists that automobiles have made us fat and lazy -- and there's some truth to that. However, a new study in the Journal of Urban Health shows that being carless doesn't always mean being healthier. Of the 2,156 individuals studied, car owners weighed about 8.5 pounds more...Read More»

If you’re the type of buyer who, upon taking delivery of a new car, reads the owner’s manual from cover to cover, you might be a little disappointed to find that these tomes are missing from new 2010 Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep products. Beginning with the 2010 model year, Chrysler will be the...Read More»

Do you have an old tin of car wax, or a bottle of car-wash concentrate that’s more than a few years old? Don’t use it; they likely contain so-called volatile organic compounds (VOC), which are dangerous for health and the environment. They've been tightly regulated by California and have been...Read More»

You’ve probably already heard about how the U.S. will impose a controversial new 35-percent tariff on car and light-truck tires imported from China. Before they changed the topic to more important topics—like Kanye West—the talking heads on cable news sparred over whether the move will be...Read More»

Wildfires have become a seasonal fact of life in parts of California, and throughout the Western U.S. in the dry season. But given the widespread fires affecting Southern California over the past several days, it’s likely that many more people will be affected by the fires in ways they didn’t...Read More»

Despite the Cash-for-Clunkers frenzy, overall new-vehicle sales remain way down versus two or three years ago. So it wouldn't be at all a stretch to say that more people today are holding on to their cars longer than they'd intended to. If the term 'late model' no longer applies to your car and...Read More»