Ready for a new car, but can’t decide whether to buy or lease? Ally Financial, one of the foremost credit grantors, has a possible solution to that dilemma. As reported by Christina Haberstroh at AutoFinanceNews.net, Ally is ready to help shoppers who just can’t make up their minds one way or the other about financing or leasing.

The Buyer’s Choice program is being offered in certain states initially, and will apply only to new 2011 and 2012 vehicles from General Motors and Chrysler. Buyer’s Choice lets the customer own the vehicle with a fixed finance rate and monthly payment. That’s the loan portion of the deal.

In addition, the buyer has the option to sell the car to Ally at a predetermined price, when the 48th month of the contract arrives. That’s the leasing element. Overall contract terms can extend for as long as 84 months, for those who choose to keep the vehicle after four years. More...

Are you looking to lease a 2011 vehicle? If so, there are some great deals that will last throughout June and the rest of summer. Despite the struggles of overcoming the earthquake and tsunami of earlier this year, Japanese car companies are offering some of the best lease deals to start off the summer.

Toyota (as well as Honda and other Japanese brands) struggled with supply shortages following the quake, is offering a $0 down/$0 first month’s payment/$0 security deposit deal on 2011 Toyota Camry LE models. To add to their great lease deals, they’ve also added a College Graduate rebate of $1,000 dollars on newly leased vehicles, which is intended for all graduates from the past two years. Car sales struggled in May, and it looks like Toyota is trying to make up for some of those losses with great deals for the summer.

Here is a rundown of some of the lease deals Toyota is offering for July 2011. (Check your region for exact pricing.) More...

Nothing lasts forever. Yet, in the automobile business, several makes have been around for a century or more. A handful of car models, too—Chevrolet Impala, Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Corvette, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic—have lasted four or five decades, or longer, going through a succession of generations but maintaining a tie to the company’s heritage.

Over the past year or so, several makes that seemed destined to last virtually forever instead bit the dust. Pontiac is the most notable example, with a history dating back to 1926. Like Saturn, another member of the GM family that was axed in the recent downsizing, Pontiac disappeared after the 2010 model year, following substantial shrinkage for 2009. So did Hummer, whose heritage began with the military version that served during the Gulf War of the 1990s.

Saab seemed destined for the scrap heap when several buyers failed to take it over after the separation from GM. Even now, the future of that Swedish nameplate remains uncertain.

Car models don’t generally last as long, and tend to fade away without fanfare. Buick, for instance, will soon drop its Lucerne sedan. Cadillac has abandoned its big DTS sedan, which was a descendant of the long-lived DeVille. Honda’s boxy compact Element crossover is gone. Mercury soon will delete the Mariner compact crossover SUV from its lineup. Volvo dropped its V70 station wagon, but retains the more SUV-like XC70. More...

You’ve had your eye on that new car for months, and now, finally, the stars are aligned and the deal is a go. First, though, you have to sell your old car, and get as much for it as you can. Here are some ways to get top dollar on a used car.

Start by giving your car curb appeal. Wash and wax it, clean the windows inside and out, and treat all the exterior rubber with protectant. Buff out any scratches or rough spots in the paint, and shine up the chrome with a chrome cleaner. Clean the brake dust off the wheels. Replace cracked lenses and burned-out bulbs. Spray WD-40 or silicone lube on the door, trunk, and hood hinges, and put a thin layer of grease on the latches so they work smoothly and quietly.

Now clean the interior. Vacuum the carpets and the headliner, and make sure to get under the seats––you might be surprised to see what you’ve left under there. Take all your junk out of the glove box and the door pockets. Clean the dashboard, the seats, and especially the steering wheel––sticky fingers don’t leave a good impression. More...

When gasoline prices remain high, sales of small cars typically grow. Prices tend to shoot upward, too. Introducing a webinar presentation hosted by the Pre-Owned Automobile Dealers Alliance, managing director Bill Zadeits called attention to a recent news story in Auto Remarketing magazine. Jonathan Banks, executive automotive analyst for the NADA Used Car Guide, had said small car trade-in values were likely to skyrocket in the coming month. Banks projected that those prices would average 18 percent higher in June than they’d been at the start of 2011.

Since February, there’s “been an unbelievable climb in prices,” said Ricky Beggs, vice-president and managing editor of the Black Book–a prominent used-car valuation guide published for dealers. Factors affecting high prices include low supply levels, struggling consumer confidence, gas prices, and anticipated shortages.

Supply is limited by sagging new-vehicle sales in 2009 and 2010, Beggs explained, bottoming out in 2009 at 10.3 million. When few cars are sold in a given year, that translates to fewer late-model used cars a couple of years later.

Reduced supply and rising demand inevitably translate to escalating prices. On the demand side, Beggs referred to three natural disasters that are impacting the business, at least in the short-term:

• The earthquake in Japan.
• Flooding in Mississippi River areas.
• Tornadoes in the southeast.

Supplies of new Toyota, Honda, and Nissan models won’t “bottom out” until July-August, Beggs said. Although the earthquake may not affect used-car sales directly, a shortage of new vehicles means more shoppers may be swinging over to the used-car side, adding to overall demand. Tornadoes and flooding, meanwhile, increase the need for vehicles to replace those that were damaged during the devastation. More...

Most folks shopping for a car in early 2011 had a bit easier time obtaining financing than they would have a year earlier, according to the latest data from Experian Automotive. Outlining the state of the automotive finance market for the first quarter of 2011, Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive credit for Experian, noted that “credit continues to loosen on originations” of loans.

Average credit scores continue to decrease, which means a person who couldn’t quite get financed a year earlier probably could do so during this past quarter. Average rates have been decreasing for both new and used vehicles, and lenders have seen strong improvement in the number of delinquent debtors.

Experian divides the financing population into five risk tiers, ranked by credit scores: Super Prime (the most creditworthy), Prime, Nonprime, Subprime, and Deep Subprime (the most credit-challenged). Risk distribution of open loans “is very stable,” Zabritski said. Super Prime shoppers accounted for 39.1 percent of auto loans (a 3-percent increase over the first quarter of 2010). Prime customers held 25 percent of loans; Deep Subprime folks, 11.8 percent.

Super Prime and Prime buyers accounted for 58.1 percent of financing (down from 59.3). More than 37.5 percent of financing was for new vehicles. More...