DON'T ENTER A CAR LOT WITHOUT IT!
A Review of Popular Mechanics Car Guide
by Ron Enderland
If you're lucky, you have a next door neighbor like Wilson on television's
Home
Improvement. You know the type, perhaps a little eccentric, occasionally gets
numbers a
little mixed up, but overall a fountain of wisdom that provides priceless
advice.
If you're not so lucky, and if you're in the market for a car, take heart. Popular Mechanics Car Guide on CD ROM will substitute nicely.
Popular Mechanics is the much loved magazine that's been around since Noah,
dispensing
technical information, home projects, and fatherly advice. This CD has the
same friendly
air about it.
It is a database of over 7,500 new and used vehicles, including cars, trucks, sports utility vehicles, and vans.
The database is searchable by over 50 features. These include the standard ones such as price, body style, and miles per gallon. You may also throw in offbeat requirements, like ground clearance or minimum headroom.
In addition, you are provided with dealer invoice prices on new cars. Knowing
what the
car cost the dealer is a very valuable piece of information. Armed with this,
as well as
dealer costs on options (also included), you are a formidable bargainer
indeed.
If you're just no good at bargaining, no problem! Wilson, er... Car Guide will educate you on the finer points of haggling.
For example: "Dealers have a price that they must get for each car. The minimum profit a dealer must make is $300-500 per car. Salespeople earn a percentage of that profit. When you bargain with them, you're actually reducing their commission. But, they'd rather earn a small commission than none at all, so your job is to find that point."
In addition, you are warned to avoid a few negative situations, like bringing your children, dealing with salesmen who make you uneasy, and shopping at certain bad times of the year.
"But I'm looking for a used car" you might say. Well, as the salesman puts
it, you've come
to the right place. Cars dating back to 1985 are featured, along with their
current trade in
and retail values. The values, admittedly, have a very limited lifespan.
They're current
now, they won't be in three months. But, even then, they will give you a
rough benchmark
on which to base your negotiations.
Advice for selling used cars is featured, including such tried and true dealer tricks as prestarting the car before the looker shows up, so that the engine starts right up smoke free for him.
Car Guide also provides you with loan information, photos and movies of many models, advice on decoding contracts, and ability to view your favorite autos in different colors.
"Okay, if this is such a great program, why not five stars?" you might ask.
Well, like our eccentric neighbor, it has a few glitches.
For instance: the 1990 Ford Escort LX 4 dr. wagon shows an added value of $1,200 for having 35,000 miles on it. Change that figure to 40,000, and the price suddenly zooms to an additional $9,500! Does this mean all I've got to do is drive to Canada and back, and I'm $8,300 richer?
I noticed another whacked out price on the new Toyota Camry. Four wheel antilock brakes cost around $130,000 extra. A trifle steep, perhaps? A cold reboot of my machine fixed that one, bringing the price down to a more manageable $950. The Escort still had screwy mileage premiums, though.
An automated update procedure failed to work, too. With this, you are supposed to receive updated info on 1996 models through a modem link. Unfortunately, all I got (despite a successful connection) was an error message.
Despite these flaws, this is a great, perhaps even essential program. If you're looking to buy a car soon, invest thirty bucks here first.
Multimedia Cafe Scorecard
| Product: |
Popular Mechanics Car Guide |
| Company: |
Books That Work
2300 Geng Road
Building 3, Suite 100
Palo Alto, CA 94303
Phone 415-326-4280
Web site http://www.btw.com
Web: http://www.btw.com
|
| Cost: |
$29.95 |
System Requirements:
386 or higher IBM PC or compatible
Windows 3.1 or Windows 95
4 MB RAM
6 MB free hard disk space
VGA graphics (256 colors or higher)
CD-ROM drive (double speed)
Sound card recommended
Breakdown:
Entertainment Value 4
Educational Value 4
Concept 5
Depth 5
Interface 4
Overall Score:
Copyright © 1997 InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.