A little financial help --- if you can afford it

By: Alabama's 13 Staff | Alabama's13.com
Published: March 04, 2009

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Today I did another important, but still depressing, story about how automakers are having their worst sales month in almost thirty years.

The good news is, incentives are about the only way auto dealers have of boosting sales themselves, aside from advertising.

So get ready to bargain shop, if you can afford a new or new-to-you vehicle.

According to the Associated Press, industrywide, the average incentive per vehicle last month rose 8 percent from January to $2,914 per vehicle sold. Incentives climbed to an average of 20 percent of the sticker price of a new car, and they topped more than $10,000 on some vehicles.

So if you happen to be in a financial position for another vehicle, you may do pretty well, especially if autodealers have another month that's pretty bad.