Some might read the headline above as being either patriotic or protectionist. It seems as if I’m telling you to buy a used car made by an American company. I’m not. I’m advocating you buy a used car made in America.

It’s not the contradiction you think it is. Cars.Com has just published its 2009 American-Made Index and the top model is (imagine a collective gasp) the Toyota Camry, followed by the F-150, the Chevy Malibu, Honda Odyssey and Chevrolet Silverado 1500. You can also look at the 2008 American-Made Index and the 2007 American-Made Index.

By the way, the Cars.Com article has an excellent point about buying a car built by a domestic company vs. an foreign manufacturer:

“What about profit flow? For a given car you might purchase, hundreds or thousands of dollars in profit could potentially go to Detroit — or Japan, or Germany. This isn't to be discounted. But any American consumer can also invest in those profits: Toyota and Honda, for example, are both on the New York Stock Exchange. And import automakers contend that their manufacturing efforts produce plenty of cars — and with them, jobs — stateside, to the tune of billions of dollars of investment.”

Happy 4th of July to everybody. I’ve always loved this holiday and everything it stands for.

Images © Toyota and Getty Images

Illustration © Keith Griffin/About.Com

A lot of mail comes over the electronic transom, some of it interesting, some of it not. Well, it must have been the potential for watching used car video that even made me check out this used car related website. WheelsTVNetwork.com dropped me a note earlier this week promoting its new Previously Owned Vehicle video. The basic thought is the company wants to sell the video to dealerships to post on their websites.

I have to commend the site for its fairly thorough overview of the used cars. It’s not afraid to point out some potential problems, which might make it less appealing to some dealers, but it would be refreshingly honest for some dealers to post these video reviews.

What’s particularly good about the website is it covers the entire generation of the used car. For example, it reviews the 2005-2008 Audi A4 and gives you info on various model years and any attendant problems unique to a specific year.

The site only covers 15 models right now, but I hope it grows. It’s a fun resource.

There is an old joke that states as part of its punch line (and no, I won't repeat the rest of the punch line):"We're from the government and we're here to help." Well, that's no longer a joke if you own a used car that might be part of the Cash for Clunkers program now being set up by the federal government.

Its website, www.cars.gov, is fairly clear and concise. It has lots of useful information about the new law, including an eight-page summary of the law, which allows you to turn in a gas guzzler for a more fuel efficient car and a credit of at least $3500.

Of course, you can always just consult my article on cash for clunkers if you're in a hurry, but I do want to commend the federal government for doing a great job on the website.

Will a satellite radio subscription make you buy a used Volkswagen? The company and its dealers sure hope so. VW and Sirius have teamed up to offer a three-month subscription to purchasers of certified pre-owned Volkswagens.

Sounds great on the surface (especially if you’re a fan of satellite like I am). But, before you rush out and spend the extra money on a certified Jetta, keep this in mind: this freebie has a $40 value. Don’t plunk down an extra $1000 for Howard Stern.

By the way, in case you’re curious, Volkswagen has exclusively offered Sirius beginning with its 2007 model year vehicles. Sirius is currently standard on the GTI, GLI, Eos, New Beetle, New Beetle convertible, Passat, Passat wagon and Touareg. SIRIUS is also standard on select Tiguan, Jetta and Rabbit packages. No information available yet at VW's certified pre-owned website.

Photo © Getty Images