Flipboard 2025 Car Tips

You park legally on a public street, come back later, and there it is again. Another note under the wiper from the neighbor across the curb who acts like the asphalt in front of his house came with the deed. It is a common neighborhood fight, but the law usually starts from a simple point: the curb on a public street is generally not private property.

It sounds like a scam the first time you hear it. Your tires may still have deep tread, yet a mechanic says they are too old to trust. In many cases, that warning is legitimate because tires can deteriorate with time even when the tread looks fine.

A retired police car can look like the ultimate loophole in the used market. You get big power, heavy duty hardware, and a price that often undercuts civilian versions of the same sedan or SUV. That combination is exactly why so many parents end up asking the same question your family is asking now.

Many newer cars can record video while parked, and that feature can feel like a smart layer of protection against theft, vandalism, and hit and runs. It can also raise an uncomfortable question the first time you realize your cameras may have captured a neighbor walking a dog, unloading groceries, or chatting on the sidewalk. The short answer is that yes, you could run into legal trouble in some situations, but it usually depends on what was recorded, where the car was parked, and what state law applies.

You walk into a dealership ready to pay cash, thinking you are about to skip the finance office drama. Then someone asks for your Social Security number or says they need to run your credit. That is the moment many buyers wonder whether something shady is going on.

The car gets used once a week, starts when it’s supposed to, and seems perfectly happy in the driveway. Then comes the warning: Drive it every day or you’ll ruin it. Nobody wants an expensive repair bill. But is taking that advice actually helping?

A water leak damaged your car's electronics, but the dealer refuses warranty coverage. Learn your rights, what to check, and how to fight back.

You finally picked up your car after an accident repair. You expected to feel relieved but instead, you notice the paint doesn’t quite match in certain light, and one of the body panels doesn’t sit flush like it used to. So, what are your rights here? Can you actually demand that the body shop redo the work, or are you stuck with a repair that looks almost right but not quite?

The price was settled. The money was sitting in the bank. All that remained was handing over a check and driving home. Instead, the dealer rejected the payment and started pushing a loan nobody had asked for. That may be perfectly normal—or the moment this deal stopped smelling right.

You didn’t ask for the tint separately. It came with the car as part of a required appearance package. But if it doesn’t meet local law, figuring out who should pay to fix it gets complicated fast.

The service adviser says your hybrid needs special coolant, but you don’t remember hearing about it when you bought the car. Is this normal maintenance, or just another expensive dealership add-on?

One reason people buy EVs is the promise of spending less on energy. Then they pull into a public fast charger, add enough electricity for the next leg of a road trip, and discover the session cost more than filling a comparable gasoline car would have. So, are the claims about EV savings wrong?