101 Most Useful Sites
Automotive

Get New-Car Prices: Edmund's
Unless you're buying a pay-one-price Saturn, it helps to know the true dealer cost of your potential new wheels. Get accurate pricing from Edmund's by specifying the exact make, model, and features you want-before you start negotiating with the man in the polyester suit.

Research Old-Car Prices: Kelley Blue Book
Your precious jalopy might be worth more (or less) than you expect. But don't just accept the dealer's figure at trade-in time; get the skinny at the Kelley Blue Book site first. Or, if you're in the market for a used car, find out here how much you should pay, and let someone else take the depreciation hit.

Find Auto Defects: Recall Database
To quote Ralph Nader, your car can be "unsafe at any speed" if there are manufacturing defects. If you drive a new, popular car, you might hear about equipment recalls on the evening news, but if you bought your car used, or if it's just an obscure model, then search at the Recall Database at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Enter make, model, and year, and you'll get a description of any equipment recalls for that model as well as instructions on how to get replacements or remedies for defects. The listings go back to 1949, so unless you're driving a Model T, you'll find your car here.

Roll Out Some New Wheels: The Wheel Rack
Bored with your car? Sometimes a new set of wheels is all you need to cure your ennui. Using The Wheel Rack, you don't have to imagine what those shiny mags will look like, either: Its interactive wheel-picker lets you view renderings of several custom wheel styles on your make and model (and even color) of car. Go crazy with it, but don't put those fancy Porsche wheels on your Aerostar, OK?

Hit the Road: Road Trip USA
What good is a convertible if you use it only to drive across town? If you've got the urge for a good old-fashioned road trip, you'll find one near you at Road Trip USA. Click on the map to get an itinerary and a listing of highlights along the way on trips such as "Route 66: The Mother Road" and "The Appalachian Trail." Zoom in to get more details on sights, eats, and lodging along the way. Make sure you check your oil and your tires before you get behind the wheel.

Avoid Speed Traps: WWW Speedtrap Registry
Tend to put the pedal to the metal? The WWW Speedtrap Registry, a database of information contributed by users nationwide, points you to the hot spots where highway patrol lurk with their radar guns, so you can slow down and become a law-abiding citizen, of course.