THE OBBBA CREATED A NEW tax deduction for “qualified passenger vehicle loan interest” effective 2025 through 2028. 
It comes with a lot of rules and nuances, so I wanted to cover this topic a bit more in depth in case you are planning to acquire a vehicle soon.
So, what is “qualified passenger vehicle loan interest”?
It means any interest that was paid during the taxable year (e.g 2025) on a loan started after Dec.

LAST YEAR, I fouled up my Pennsylvania EZ Pass account. I bought a used car in Maine and forgot to add it to my EZ Pass account. Much later, when I got back up to Maine this Memorial Day, my post office box was bulging with dunning notices from Pennsylvania, New York, Maine and Delaware.
For most of a year, I had driven from Washington D.C. to Maine blissfully unaware that my EZ Pass transponder wasn’t paying a cent.

Here’s another car-themed Forum post. Last June I wrote a Humble Dollar article about vehicle ownership and longevity. I ended that article with a description of the most recent major repair required for my 2011 Subaru Forester when the clutch assembly failed and required replacement. Those of you wishing to revisit that article can view it here.
I mentioned at the end of that article it might be time to search for another Subaru. At the end of 2024 I read about the introduction of a Subaru Forester option in the new model year –

My 2014 Honda Accord recently hit 99,000 miles. It’s nothing fancy to look at, but it drives well. Recently I’ve been having an issue with the starter. The push start works intermittently. Sometimes it starts on the first push, sometimes it takes multiple tries. I think the most it has taken is 6 tries.  I’ve kept up with the maintenance, but I drive it infrequently, so the time between service has spread out. It was due for an oil change,

What do you look for when buying a car? Quality, reliability, safety features, good mileage? Yup all that plus I like technology and friendliness.
My new car has more cameras than Kodak. When I use the navigation it shows a live image of the turn so it’s hard to miss. It uses the cameras to find a space and park itself. If I get lost I just say, “Take me home.”
When I start the car it says,

My ten year old car needs $8,000 in repairs. It’s worth about $5,500. I’m thinking not worth more investment.
So, do I pay cash, loan or lease?
Take a deal on a loaner with 6,100 miles or go for something new?
Have to decide in four days. HELP😩

AUTO INSURANCE HAS been getting more and more expensive in recent years. There are many reasons: New cars cost more, extreme weather, folks seem to be suing more often, and so on.
Our daughter Brenda called me, asking if I could look over her auto policy to see if there was a way to lower her premiums. We have our car insurance with the same company. On the company’s website, I came across something called “Safe Pilot.” Many insurers have similar programs.

Although I feel I have at least an average level of intelligence, I truly cannot understand many financial issues, that I read and hear, from everyday people, politicians and more.
For example, gasoline prices seem to be a favorite topic, and I wonder why consumers are so concerned as they rise, while the prices of the vehicles have risen so much and why many those same people keep leasing and buying very expensive SUVs, Huge pick up trucks ,etc.

While driving on the highway recently I noticed the vehicle in front of us was a Bentley – an SUV no less. My immediate thought was that this SUV would never be part of an off road adventure – neither are most SUVs for that matter.
I had another thought too. Why would you spend that kind of money on a depreciating asset that costs a fortune to maintain? The price tag is about $279,000. That’s a lot of cash to get from A to B even in comfort.

WHEN MY SON STARTED graduate school seven years ago, we enticed him to save money by living at home. The catch: He’d need a set of wheels. Lori and I offered to help, provided he was open to a used vehicle. He agreed, and off we went to the nearest Honda dealership.
We were greeted in the parking lot by an enthusiastic salesperson. He invited us inside to chat, and promptly asked us what monthly car payment we were seeking.

My 2014 Honda Accord hit 10 years recently. It has 97,000 miles. It still runs well; cosmetically it is average.  I use it as a 2nd car. We use my wife’s 2022 Honda Pilot for the majority of our driving. It’s a fine car, but not exciting.
I bought this Accord when I was driving from Valley Forge, PA to northern VA frequently. But that stopped after a few years when my company role changed. I probably put on half the mileage in the first two years.

AS AN ENGINEER and a believer in keeping things running, I haven’t owned many automobiles during my lifetime. Instead, my focus has been on extending each one’s longevity.
Among the maintenance and repairs I’ve undertaken: oil changes, spark plug and wire replacements, carburetor cleaning and adjustment, belt and hose replacements, distributor and timing settings, brake replacements (disk and drum), master and slave brake cylinder repairs, clutch adjustment, alternator repair, radiator repair, heater core repair,

WE BOUGHT A SAILBOAT and trailer in 2008 for our son for his 15th birthday. At the time, he was too young to own a boat, so I registered it in my name.
Fast forward 15 years, and we finally got around to transferring the title to our son. Transferring the boat was quick and easy. Transferring the trailer was not.
Cars, trucks, boats and trailers all have unique vehicle identification numbers, or VINs.

WE FLEW BACK TO the U.S. last week from Madrid, and were reunited with our car of 12 years. After selling our house in late 2022 and going nomadic, we had headed to Europe six months ago, opting to have our 2008 Lexus SUV professionally stored.
In an earlier article, I recounted the thought process behind this decision. Suffice it to say, we chose this option largely because we had no firm plans for when we’d need our car again,

MY WIFE AND I BOUGHT a used hybrid Toyota RAV4 recently. We saw it at a dealership and bought it that day.
This wasn’t an impulse purchase. We knew it was time to replace my 10-year-old Subaru Forester, and we’d done research on hybrids and electric vehicles. Because the new car would be our distance traveling vehicle, and my occasional work transportation, we wanted the flexibility of a hybrid. In time, we’ll replace our second car with an electric vehicle for local driving.