Used-car dealer at new site

Drive Away Preowned has parked in a new location.

The used-car business will mark the completion of its new $1.2 million facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5 p.m. today.

The new location at 1257 Manheim Pike opened April 1. The company's other, smaller location at 2212 Marietta Ave. soon will be consolidated there.

On Manheim Pike, the firm can display 75 cars, compared to 30 on Marietta Avenue, said president Brian Brightbill.

The Manheim Pike property had been home to a towing service and tire store over the years.
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Driving a fuel-efficient car isn't the only way to save

With the price of oil and gasoline hitting record highs, it's time to wake up and face the crude truth on how you can save money on energy costs.

As commodity traders push oil prices ever higher as the dollar recedes, there's little, if any, relief in sight at the fuel pump or from soaring utility bills.

Yet the deer-in-the-headlights attitude that most investors, vehicle owners and homeowners adopt is misguided. There are quite a few actions you can take to beat the escalating cost of energy.

The most common response to high gas prices is to buy a high-mileage vehicle.

If you have a long commute or simply drive a lot, you'll immediately see the savings. There will be longer times between fill-ups. It may not make sense to pay a premium for these cars, though.


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Diesel car sales plunge as price of gas hits home

Soaring diesel prices means sales of diesel-fueled recreational vehicles are sinking while sales of compact sedans are surging.The average retail price of diesel reached 1,624 won ($1.62) per liter last week, equal to 95 percent of the gasoline price at 1,705 won.With diesel prices almost catching up with gasoline prices, sales of domestic RVs, most of which are equipped with diesel engines, declined 7 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to a year earlier, while sales of domestic sedans increased 7 percent, according to Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association data.The sales of major RV models plunged year on year in the January-March period. Kia Motors�� Sorento declined 36 percent, Ssangyong Motor��s Rexton, 25 percent, Hyundai Motor��s Tucson, 13 percent and GM Daewoo��s Winstorm, 26 percent.Ssangyong Motor, which depends heavily on sport-utility vehicles, was hit especially hard.


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Sheriff: Car cameras aid crime fight

Some patrol cars for the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office are now equipped with video cameras and recording devices thanks to a $72,000 grant from the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.

Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said the devices, in use in numerous departments throughout the nation, are an important crime fighting tool.

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Home-equity credit line one way to finance car

Q. I need to buy a new car and was wondering what would be more beneficial: Getting a home-equity loan or home-equity line of credit for approximately $25,000 at the average going rate, use the money to buy a car and deduct the interest from taxes, or pay cash for the car. I do not have a mortgage on my house, so obtaining home equity should not be a problem.

-- Looking for tax breaks

A. Cash is often a better bet than borrowing money on which you'll pay interest.

But the best choice for you really depends on three factors, says certified financial planner Reed Fraasa of Highland Financial in Riverdale, N.J.: first, what you think the cost of borrowing will be over the next three years; second, what your tax bracket is; and third, what you can earn on a fixed-rate investment over the next three years.


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Demand revs higher in Franklin County for hybrid vehicles

With gas prices climbing, new car buyers aren't turning their backs on trucks and sport utility vehicles, sales managers at area dealerships say. But many consumers, especially younger ones, are contributing to increased sales of hybrids and cars boasting fuel economy.

"It's pretty well a mixed bag," Jennings Chevrolet general sales manager Bruce Cameron said this week.

He said many buyers going into the Chambersburg dealership's showrooms are looking for vehicles that get the best gas mileage. The trend toward smaller, more economical cars is not as great as expected.

"We are seeing a trend to smaller cars, but not as much as we had expected," he said.

Cameron and sales managers from other area dealerships said consumers that still want a utility vehicle or a pickup truck may now pay less for those vehicles, simply because they aren't in as high a demand as they once were.


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GM posts big loss as U.S. sales hurt

General Motors Corp. reported a large first-quarter loss Wednesday, due in large part to struggles at its former finance wing GMAC, a strike at American Axle and slumping U.S. car sales.

But the loss was narrower than expected and sales topped forecasts, helping to lift shares of GM (GM, Fortune 500) 9% to $23.15.

GM, the nation's largest automaker, posted a net loss of $3.3 billion, or $5.74 per share. That was much wider than the $42 million, or 7 cents a share, loss from continuing operations it reported in the same period last year.

Excluding one-time losses from GMAC and $731 million in bankruptcy support for auto parts manufacturer Delphi, GM lost $350 million, or 62 cents per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, who generally exclude one-time events from their forecasts, were looking for a deeper loss of $1.60 per share.


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