If the salesman you are buying a car from has a comb-over and is twisting his pinky ring, why in the world are you buying a car from him? In today's technologically advanced world of instant information, broadband disclosure, and an eternity of options, is it not time that we as the consumers look in the rear-view mirror when the 2004 Eddie Bauer Explorer we just bought begins emitting a thick black smoke through the vents?

Surely there are the Joey O'Brien's of the world pacing the blacktop of used car dealerships. Human beings hell bent on doing anything necessary, ethically or otherwise, in order to make some money are most positively patrolling the streets for potential "victims". Our initial reaction to used car salesman, like politicians and lawyers, is one of distrust. Certainly this stereotype is earned because a large group or a very recognizable group of individuals fits into a category. On more than one occasion these seedy individuals have duped customers into buying a car that is less than advertised. But when do we begin to take responsibility for an impulse buy or a purchase using none of the informational tools at our disposal?

We want to divert attention to the fact that we, as consumers, sometimes make questionable, if not bewildering, purchases. The reason we are so hostile when our 1992 Acura Integra with 175,000 miles on it leaves us sitting on the interstate is because it is our car. It is how we get to work everyday or to school or to the kid's soccer game. It is a life sustaining instrument in most everyone's daily endeavors. Couple that with the expense of which these instruments cost. It is a major purchase. Next to a house and possibly your children's collegiate education, our cars make major dents in our checking accounts, usually over a 4 or 5 year period at about twelve percent too. When the head gasket blows sky high off of that Integra roughly 16 hours after driving it off the dealership's lot, someone must be to blame. We are most definitely not going to share it either.

There are roughly 10,000 moving parts in a car. From the radio knobs to the timing belt, lots of stuff, many of us wouldn't know how to fix, is moving while the vehicle is. Most car dealers have a fairly comprehensive check they perform on their cars before they ever sit, waiting for you to snatch them up, in the row. There is only so much that can be done however. Sometimes that water pump is going to leave a puddle under your car

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