Michael Finney's Consumer Blog

Should you finance your car at the dealership?

Should you finance your car at the dealership? Every consumer advocate seems to have an opinion on this... unfortunately it is often an uninformed opinion. 

You will hear advocates and others say never finance through the dealership. Follow that advice and you could overpay by thousands of dollars. Dealerships often have the very best interest rates.

Dealerships 'buy' loans in bulk and just like any wholesaler gets a discount. That savings can be passed along to the customer if the dealership wants to sell that car bad enough, if you negotiate hard enough, if you just know how to shop and compare.

You get the best deal when you go to your bank or credit union and ask for a quote for a loan in the amount of the car you want to buy. Don't be vague. Exact cost of the car/license/registration and how much you are going to put down.

Now when shopping give the dealership a chance to beat your prearranged interest rate. Sometimes they can, sometimes they can't, but you will know you got the very best deal.

Free inflight Internet service

Inflight Internet service works really well. On a recent flight I paid $15 bucks and tested it out. Now you can try it for free:

First Timers Try Wi-Fi For Free

3 million Toyota cars recalled

Unsecured Toyota floor mats could get you killed!

More than three million Toyotas are being recalled. Owners of other cars told to double check their car's floor mats.

Here's the info from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Sneaky credit card fees

Credit card companies are finding new ways to make money and Consumer Action is keeping track. Card companies are hitting cardholders with minimum cash advance fees as high as $15. So when getting cash in advance don’t assume it is just a 3% charge, the fees could go much higher.

Balance transfer fees which used to be free or hover in the 35 range are skyrocketing. Some banks are charging as much as 5%. So when you see a great deal on balance transfer “interest rates,” be sure to check on balance transfer “fees.” High fees can undo the low interest rates.

Consumer Action: Fees go up, up, up – and some have no limits

Credit cards that charge less than 5% interest

Every year, Consumer Action, an advocacy group, does a survey of credit cards and reports back with both the good and bad news. This year Consumer Action found a credit card that is charging less than 5% interest. 

If you are carrying a balance, check this out.

Want to save gas? Set your cruise control

This works not because cruise control is so efficient, but because we drivers are so inefficient.

It all comes down to our competitive nature. Americans want to win every race, even when we are not actually racing.

So when we’re driving and a car passes us, we speed up. We may slow down again, but for a while we speed up. We do it over and over again in a series of tiny grudge matches that cost us plenty in gas as we power up then power back down.

Set your cruise control and the race never begins.

Airlines add surcharge for holiday travel

The Associated Press is reporting that American and United Airlines are adding a $10 surcharge for most of their tickets on busy travel days surrounding Thanksgiving and New Year's Day.

A FareCompare spokesperson is quoted as saying both carriers added the charge -- technically a fuel surcharge -- for most of their fares for travel on Nov. 29, the Sunday after Thanksgiving, as well as Jan. 2 and 3. To save money, avoid those travel dates.

Finney’s ‘keep-your-kids-busy’ Free Stuff

A free 3-D postcard that you make yourself. This is way cool for your kids and it’s got a big movie tie-in!

>> Click here for your free 3-D postcard

This giveaway is not conducted by 7 On Your Side. If there are technical problems or issues with the product, concerns should be directed to the offering supplier.

NOTE: More freebies to come! Watch ABC7 News at 5PM for Finney's Friday Free Stuff and check the blog again at 5:30PM!

Free chicken entree from Panda Express

Finney’s Friday Free Stuff has your dinner covered tonight. There’s no reason to cook, or even pay for going out. 

SweetFire Friday: Get a single entree serving of SweetFire Chicken Breast from Panda Express

This giveaway is not conducted by 7 On Your Side. If there are technical problems or issues with the product, concerns should be directed to the offering supplier.

NOTE: More freebies to come! Check the blog again at 3PM!

This little card could save you untold grief

In disasters, many victims are left with no contact information. They either had to get out of their homes fast or were away from home when the disaster hit. They are left without their emergency phone numbers, financial contacts and insurance policy information.
 
So completing this form allows you to print out a wallet-sized card similar to an auto insurance card, but it has all your emergency/insurance contact info.
 
The Insurance Institute created this card after Katrina so if something were to happen to the consumer’s home they would still have contact information in their possession.
www.insurance-411.org