Friday, December 20, 1996
What Car Would a Fool drive?
by [email protected]

I was musing (amusing?) about how much you can tell about an individual by what/how they write. (Plus I wanted to write some Fribbles so perhaps some day I can put MF in front of my name.) Take MF Cormend, for example. I have always enjoyed and been educated by his Fribbles. Look at his "handle": Cormend. Cor is Latin for heart, giving us such common expressions as cor pulmonale, cor triatriatum, etc.

Anyway, the guy's a cardiologist in Baltimore, so just from his name we can surmise he's intellectual, witty, and amusing. So what kind of car do you think a Fool like MF Cormend would drive? Naw, don't everybody raise your hand! I'm not talking about the car you have to drive in your 30's to haul the drill team with muddy shoes. Not the "it smells like dirty sweat socks 'cause none of the football players took a shower" car. Nope. I'm talkin' about the car you drive after you're in your 40's and car pools are no longer a consideration.

I drive a 1996 Nissan Pathfinder and just like me, it is hard-working, practical, and rugged. (OK, maybe rugged is a bit much!) What kind of car do you think a witty, intellectual guy like MF Cormend drives? Mercedes? He is a cardiologist, after all, can probably buy whatever car he likes. Naw, a Mercedes might not be Foolish enough. I've decided that Mercedes may be Wise cars. Need to keep up appearances you know.

Anyway, I used to hate buying cars. Dealing with salespersons, sales managers, wasted time, etc. The whole process is promulgated by the Wise. Then I discovered a Foolish way to buy a new car. A web site called "Edmund's Automobile Buyer's Guides" (www.edmund.com) and Auto-by-tel which is contained there-in. Edmund's contains invoice prices for every new car sold in America along with option invoice prices, hold-backs, and rebates. (Maybe he drives a Miata?? Naw, foolish enough, but not Foolish enough for Baltimore).

They also have "blue book" prices for every used car for the past 15 years along with safety ratings and recalls. Once you decide on the new car you want, you e-mail the info to Auto-by-tel. That's it!!! Auto-by-tel sends the information to a "subscribing" dealer in your area and the salesman calls you, and offers the car to you at invoice, or $500 over invoice, etc. No hassles, no wasted time. And the Edmund's site adheres to basic Motley Fool premises: education, self-empowerment, and making your own informed decisions.

I purchased both of my 1996 cars with this system and would recommend it to anyone in the market for a new car. But that's one Fool's opinion, and maybe you like wasting time? (Maybe he drives a Volvo. Could be, practical, yet flashy. Wait, we don't even know if he's 40 yet? I bet he's close!! And can you guess Tom's and David's cars? I know they're not 40 yet, so all bets are off. They still might be driving "car-pool" cars!). Fool on (over 40).