Earl Stewart

of 2 Auto sales commissions: The root of all evil With average commission on car today at $1,250, salesperson can earn $12,500/month

Most manufacturers give you a 3-year, 36,000-mile “bumper-to-bumper” warranty on your new car. A few makes, like Hyundai and Kia, have a 5-year or 60,000 miles. There are more new car warranties for specific vehicle components, like powertrains and emission-related devices, that last longer.

Of course, the actual quote from the Bible, Timothy 6:10, is, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” If you don’t already know this, almost all car salespeople are compensated, almost totally, by a percentage of how much profit they make when they sell you a car. The average commission is about 25%. Virtually all car dealers […]

Note: Hello readers, here’s a throwback column from 2103. I think I did a pretty good job describing the tough situations many seniors find themselves in. There was a news story about a 94-year-old man who hit a woman riding a bicycle. It wasn’t the man’s fault; the woman, in her 50s, ran a stop sign. They put the old […]

This article first appeared in Florida Weekly on July 14, 2022. The last time you paid your bill for your car’s maintenance or repair, there was an extra, probably unnoticed charge at the bottom of the service invoice. This extra charge was not for the parts or labor performed on your car. If you noticed it at all, it was […]

Last Friday, Ted Smith and I had a heated phone conversation about a previous column I’d written in which I blamed Ted and the Florida Automobile Dealers Association (FADA) for the fact that Ashley Moody, Florida’s Attorney General had not enforced Florida laws, on the books for over 20 years regulating car dealers. I learned from my conversation that I […]

Many readers of this column won’t remember Harry Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, but those of you who do will remember the sign he had on his desk in the Oval Office: “The Buck Stops Here.” The sign means that he accepted the responsibility for all acts, policies, and decisions under his command. To be realistic, we […]

This article first appeared in Florida Weekly on January 12, 2023. The modern, high-tech remote keys for our vehicles are amazing. Not only can they start your car, but they also can lock and unlock the doors, open the trunk and help you find your car at the mall by flashing lights or blowing the horn. Some of us didn’t […]

This article first appeared in Florida Weekly on October 13, 2022. As I write this column, the terrible toll of human injuries, lives lost and homes and vehicles damaged and destroyed by Hurricane Ian still was being tabulated. It’s clear that Ian will go down in history as the costliest hurricane in Florida’s history . We think of hurricanes’ danger […]

This article first appeared in Florida Weekly on January 20, 2022. Most of the “skullduggery” Florida car dealers use to trick you into overpaying for the vehicles they sell is illegal. Florida Statute Title XXXIII, REGULATION OF TRADE, COMMERCE, INVESTMENTS, AND SOLICITATIONS, 501.976 regulates “actionable, unfair, or deceptive acts or practices” in trade and commerce. If you want to read […]