Buying a car is a scary proposition for most of us. There’s a ton of money on the line, and it’s us vs “them”. You know, “them” – professional salespeople. They do this all day every day, and they’re very good at it – most of us buy a car every few years.

It’s time to level the playing field.

I’ve created a very easy to use spreadsheet that will put the power back in your hands. The salesmen, sales manager, or F&I manager won’t be able to “hide” profits any longer. You’ll know exactly what costs are involved in the sale. Exactly what your payments should be. Your total interest. There’s even a section to calculate how much gas you’ll save (or how much more gas you’ll use).

This spreadsheet is absolutely free. It costs nothing, and it could save you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.  To get it instantly, simply enter your email address in the box below:

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Free How to Buy a Car Spreadsheet is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.

Yesterday afternoon, I launched a brand new look for Houston Cars – version 4.0. No small changes this time around, I went for a complete overhaul from the ground up. As the astute web developers out there probably already know, this version is based on the Thesis WordPress framework. Why Thesis? A ton of reasons, but I’m not going to sell you on it. If you’re interested in finding out, follow that link.

So, Thesis is the foundation, and I think I made the right choice. The custom Thesis design was created by GL3 Media. As far as I can tell, the site is working and looking great in every modern browser. However:

If you see something on the site that doesn’t look quite right, please contact me so I can get it fixed.

Please include your operating system, browser, browser version, and the issue that you’re having. Design can be tricky, especially a full-fledged redesign. So it’s possible there are errors lurking that haven’t surfaced yet.

That said, I would love some feedback from my readers. Do you like the new look? Hate it? Meh? Leave your comments below.

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Houston Cars version 4.0 is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.

That’s right, Houston Cars is just 3 posts away from the magical 1,000th post.  I’ve heard that when a car blog hits that number, amazing things happen.  Free cars for all, turbochargers falling from the sky, that sort of thing.

OK, maybe none of that is true.  But I’m working on a great post for number 1,000.  Well I’m working on ideas in any case.  If you have a great idea, leave me a comment below.  Thanks for putting up with me for so long.

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Houston Cars post #997 is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.

I’m running an advertising sale here at Houston Cars this month.  If you’re interested in a 125×125 banner ( displayed prominently on my sidebar ), you can purchase one for half the regular price.  Until all four slots are sold, or the month ends, you can purchase a 125×125 banner ad for just $20.  That will give you a full 30 days of advertising on Houston Cars.  For those who are interested, simply click here, and you can choose your image and link.  Consider this a chance to test out the site at a huge discount.  If you are happy with the results, stick around and continue to run your ad here.

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Advertising Sale at Houston Cars is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.

Did you know that Houston Cars has an RSS Feed?  Simply subscribe to the Houston Cars RSS feed, and you never have to worry about missing our latest post.  Whether you use Bloglines, Google Reader, or any other RSS reader, you can get updates from Houston Cars.

What if you don’t use RSS?

No worries!  Houston cars offers email updates just for you.  Simply enter your email in the box below, and press Subscribe:

It’s as simple as that.  You will receive an email every day that Houston Cars has a new post.  No new content, no email!  But you won’t have to worry about missing anything new.  Oh, and don’t worry – we won’t sell, rent out, trade, give away, or otherwise do anything wrong with your email.  If we do that, no one would ever trust us again – so you have nothing to worry about.  Your email is safe with us – we’re spam free!

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Subscribe to Houston Cars is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.

Once again, Houston Cars has undergone a design change.  This one isn’t radical, extreme, or offensive.  It’s pretty much designed to clean things up, and make everything a bit easier on the eyes.  I think it turned out pretty well – any thoughts?

I’ve tested the design in IE7 and Firefox, with no problems that I’ve found.  If you’re using a weird browser and something doesn’t look right, drop me a comment to let me know.

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Design Update is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.

Just a small update today here at Houston Cars.  I moved back to full posts on the main page – so no more having to click through every time you actually want to read anything.  That also translates into a Full RSS Feed – so all you subscribers will be happy. 

Also top top it all off, I removed one ad block on the main page, so loading times and looks should be improved a bit.  A little early spring cleaning can go a long way.  Whole site redesigns are time consuming, expensive, and end up breaking things more often than not.  I’ll hold off on doing one of those for awhile.

So feedback time – do you prefer the full posts on the main page?  Or does the small excerpts work better for you?   Drop me a note in the comments with your thoughts.

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Small Site Maintenance is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.

Houston Cars has been a raving success since I launched it.  However, there is too much going on the automotive world for me to cover by myself, so I’m calling out to you for help.  I want Houston Cars to grow and become bigger and better than ever.  If you love cars, and would love to write about them, then this is your chance.  Drop me a note in the comments and I’ll contact you.  If everything looks good, you can start blogging on an established blog, get a name for yourself, and have a blast in the process.

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Car Bloggers Wanted is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.

Whew, I just finished adding and updating all of the Houston Toyota Dealers pages.  If you’re in the market for a Toyota in Houston, check out the page.  There’s some great info about each dealer, so you can pick which one is the best fit for you.

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Houston Toyota Dealers Updated is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.

Way down in the footer of Houston Cars, there’s a section called Dealer pages.  Today I finally dusted them off and spruced them up a bit – and I think you’ll like the changes.  Currently there are pages for Nissan, Honda, and Toyota.  Over the next few months I’ll be expanding this section to include Ford and Chevy at the least, and going from there.  Stay tuned for more updates, and check out the new look for now.

Hi there – could you help spread the word about Houston Cars? I could really use your help in getting my work out to new readers. If you would send someone a link, email, or even mention it to your friends, I would appreciate it. Dealer Pages Spruced up is a post from: Houston Cars, home of the best darn car reviews around.