Automobile Retailers

It seems that college graduates who buy certain automobiles are getting a break from the stress and hassle of the school experience and the fiscal crunch of student loans. That break is coming from one of the unlikeliest places possible: car companies.

Many automakers are offering student drivers (recent college grads) a special rebate over and above the best price for a new car. So students are able to snag some cash back in return even after negotiating and bartering for a sweet deal on a new ride. In many cases, the manufacturer’s rebate isn’t even waived and students can come away with lots of cash back after making a car purchase.

Hyundai, for instance, is offering the 2008 HMFC College Graduate Program which gives students $400 in rebates as long as graduation took place in the last 24 months. The rebate program is also open to students who will receive their graduation certificate in the next six months. Who says education doesn’t pay?

Ford has the College Student Purchase Program. This offers rebates of around $500 on Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury vehicles. Ford’s program is open to current students as well as to graduates of trade schools.

GM has an aggressive campaign in trying to lure recent grads. A special website has been launched to help students make decisions about buying a new car. Instead of offering a rebate, GM sells cars to qualified drivers at the supplier rate, which is generally significantly below the sticker price.

Toyota offers recent grads a $500 rebate on a new Corolla or Matrix. $400 rebates are available for any other car the automaker provides under Toyota’s Recent College Graduate program. It makes sense that Toyota’s youth-oriented Scion has a similar promotion, with the Scion College Graduate Program which delivers $400 cash back on the purchase of a new Scion.

In an effort to offset the amount of money they’re spending on fuel, more Americans are doing car repairs themselves instead of paying mechanics to do it.

A study by of more than 5,000 by 3M revealed this trend. The study found that more than 30 percent of today’s car owners are washing and detailing their car at home rather than taking it somewhere to have it done. In addition to that, nearly 70 percent of female baby boomers are also more likely to do this job at home to save money for their household.

But these aren’t just the lower-income households that are taking these measures. In fact, the families who reported incomes between $50,000 and $75,000 were the most prominent group that admitted to washing and repairing their cars at home to save money. Families making less than $35,000 were the ones putting their major focus on reducing fuel costs. More than 75 percent of those families are driving less while about 56 percent of them are keeping their cars in “tip top shape” to get the optimum gas mileage.

Here are some other interesting facts that the study revealed:

• 68 percent of all drivers in the United States are cutting back on driving as a direct result of soaring fuel costs.
• Women are leading the way in saving gas with 71 percent of them cutting back on driving. Only 65 percent of men admitted to altering their driving habits to save on fuel costs.

If you visit your local Pontiac dealer, you can get a great deal on one of the new fuel-efficient vehicles on the market today. You might still want to change your driving habits to save on fuel, but you won’t need to change them too much.