Popular Science Monthly 



515 



opinion on it. Names in starting systems 



mean nothing. Some of the great electric 



.shops unhappily put their august names to 



starting systems as shoddy and unreliable 



as their higher priced ones are good and 



desirable. The Alcove 



may mean a fine start- -^. -^^ "^ 



ing system fit for the £- ^ j , 



Fondulac Eight, or " 



may mean a junky 



thing designed for 



the famous $695 



Tincar. 



There is of 

 course a legiti- 

 mate field for 

 the sale of 

 second- hand 

 motorcars, and 

 there are many 

 responsible 

 business men 

 engaged in sell- 

 ing them. The 

 buyers who 

 suffer in second- 

 hand car deals 

 are the ones 

 who are on the hunt for unfortunates from 

 whom hard luck has pried loose a car — and 

 who bite on decoy advertisements, or those 

 who go straying along the curb markets or 

 the corner open air emporiums with full 



How Could Any One Pass This Gem By ? 



Horse trading is childishly simple compared with the second-hand auto- 

 mobile trade. There can be but a certain number of things wrong with 

 a horse. But the motor-car may have more vices than a herd of horses 



To the Junk-Pile at Last 

 You can junk the old car for $100 if you can't do anything else with it. 

 This is what happens to many second-hand "bargains." A prominent 

 dealer in second-hand cars remarked recently: "There may be exceptions 

 here and there, but no car made prior to 1913 is worth more than $100" 



confidence in their own smartness. Smart- 

 ness avails one nothing in the second-hand 

 game- — the other chap is always still 

 smarter; else he couldn't make his salt. 



Always Consult the Agency 



As a matter of choice the 

 £ t c ker after the second- 

 ed car ought to 

 consult the agency 

 of that car, be- 

 cause the agent 

 is reliable, 

 knows the car, 

 and does not 

 care to have it 

 go out and earn 

 either him or 

 his firm a bad 

 name. On the 

 other hand, the 

 buyer is likely 

 to pay a bit 

 more, because 

 just as the 

 agent for that 

 make dees not 

 want to see his 

 cars drop too fast in value because of the 

 lapse of a year or two, the agent of some 

 other make always smiles when he can put 

 over the sale of the opposition second-hand 

 car at a low price, and still make some 

 money at it. He does 

 not forget to adver- 

 tise the sale to his 

 potential customers as 

 showing the quick fall- 

 off irt* value of the 

 Hinkydink car. Also, 

 as he's not crying his 

 eyes out if the said 

 Hinkydink car does 

 not turn out well, 

 he'll live up to his 

 guarantee merely to 

 the bare letter. 



In spite of the re- 

 liability of the respon- 

 sible firms that sell 

 second-hand cars as 

 part of their business, 

 the person not at all 

 versed in the motor 

 car game would do 

 well to get a new car, 

 even though it fall 

 many grades below 

 the second-hand car. 



