It’s been written and said so often, it’s reached a point of nausea.
We’ve even done it with our reliable used-car sales overview.
Reliability is a huge factor in the mind of any potential car buyer. It’s that peace-of-mind on Highway 395 through Bishop. Or for that matter, while rolling through Bakersfield, Baldwin Park, Brea or Barstow in California’s summer heat.
The D Word
The ability of a car to always start, and run, where and when needed.
Many don’t care what a vehicle looks like, or how it feels inside. The No. 1 question: will it start, and get me where I need to go?
Gas companies and refineries understand this well, and have even tied the value of their product into their marketing campaigns.
For example, in family-heavy east Ventura County, the minivans heyday through the 1990s crowded roads with them in Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and Moorpark.
“I’ve learned one thing: It may be time to change my service plan”, the same columnist wrote. “I’m making 90 percent fewer phone calls. I am, however, texting like a high school girl.”
Image from 
Autodata Corp., which monitors and reports on vehicle sales, noted that the month was one of the worst car-selling months in many years, with sales dropping 18.3% compared with the same month a year earlier.
By the 2007 model year, only two compact minivans remained on the American market, the Mazda5 and the Kia Rondo, and in the years before that pickings were slim.
Chrysler announced in late June 2008 that it was teaming with eBay to list Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge certified pre-owned cars on the new eBay Motors’ Certified Pre-Owned Showroom.
Insure.com surveyed insurance rates from four of the nation’s biggest car insurers, in multiple ZIP codes across America, for a variety of vehicles.
It’s hard to increase sales when the target market doesn’t include men from the ages of 16-35.