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Marketplace Host Kai Ryssdal on cars: "Wow, this makes me a little sad. Then - 1971 Oldsmobile convertible (in photo), red/white top, went about a million miles an hour. Now - Honda minivan with 150-thousand miles on it." Kai Ryssdal/Marketplace
Money on the Road

You are what you drive: A photo essay

Tess Vigeland Apr 15, 2011
Marketplace Host Kai Ryssdal on cars: "Wow, this makes me a little sad. Then - 1971 Oldsmobile convertible (in photo), red/white top, went about a million miles an hour. Now - Honda minivan with 150-thousand miles on it." Kai Ryssdal/Marketplace

Aside from owning a home, chances are your second biggest financial blackhole is your car.

So on April 29 Marketplace Money is going on the road – for the full hour program – to explore all the ways we dump money into car ownership: Buying them, fixing them, and for some folks, drooling all over them.

All week leading up to the show we’re publishing money-saving car tips in the Makin’ Money blog.

First up, discover sure-fire ways to save money on your car insurance from Amy Danise, tbe Sr. Managing Editor at Insure.com. Also, are you ready to move from the SUV to the HOV? Micheline Maynard, senior editor of Changing Gears, explains how to buy your first hybrid.

Later this week: Buying vs. leasing a car; “Dummies” guide to buying a used car, and smartphone apps to improve your driving experience.

You are what you drive

Before then, we’re on the hunt for photos and feedback from listeners about your connections to the cars you drive.

“Cars are not an appliance. They’re an extension of yourself and your personality, and what you stand for. It could be a sports car because you like speed. It could be a hybrid because you want to be green. It could be an SUV because it says ‘look at me, I’m a big outdoorsy person.’

“This country is all about cars for better of for worse.”

That comment from Mike Quincy, Automotive Specialist with Consumer Reports, sums it up pretty well. And it got us thinking about what motivates people to drive the car they do.

Here’s where you come in. Send us a photo of your most memorable car along with a short summary about how it represents you. We’ll add your photo to our slideshow alongside submissions from the Marketplace staff (including Marketplace Host Kai Ryssdal, pictured above in his 1971 Oldsmobile convertible).

To submit your contribution, attach your write up and your photo to our submission form.

SEND US YOUR SUBMISSION

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