You don't have to look very far to find instances of blatantly misleading but still legal advertising in the automotive industry. Even though most dealers clearly disclose how the deal works, the result is that car ads are obfuscatory and require very careful reading.

My favorite (or least favorite) example of deliberately confusing car advertising is the ol' "price reflects down payment and/or trade-in."

Here's an example of how this works in action. Sutherlin Nissan of Fort Myers advertises a 2003 Corvette priced at $24,988, with the caveat (in much smaller print) that "all prices are after your $2000 down payment."

Think about that. This dealer (and many, many other dealers that use the same tactics) are telling you that the car costs $24,988, not including another $2,000. Wouldn't it be more forthright to just say that the car costs $26,988? To my knowledge, the car industry is the only business that uses this tactic. Can you imagine if the flyer for the grocery store advertised "99 CENT VITAMIN WATER!" with an asterisk indicating that "price advertised does not include the other 50 cents that you have to pay for the drink"?

I know that these companies aren't doing anything illegal in their advertising. But to me, it's misleading enough that I wouldn't even consider buying from that dealer.

If soaring gas prices are hitting your wallet, the most obvious way to cut back on the expense is to reduce the amount of driving you do and the size of the car that you drive.

But one overlooked technique is to slow down. According to CNNMoney, "In a typical family sedan, every 10 miles per hour you drive over 60 is like the price of gasoline going up about 54 cents a gallon. That figure will be even higher for less fuel-efficient vehicles that go fewer miles on a gallon to start with."

If you care about the physics of this, read the article. This seems like a pretty good win-win: drive safer and save money. In addition, keeping your speed down will reduce your chances of getting traffic violations which drive up car insurance premiums.

In other driving news, if you're looking to slow down your speed demon teenage son (or daughter, but most likely son...), you might want to look into the Drivecam. A recent Wall Street Journal piece spotlighted how this device can monitor your teen's driving, sending you a weekly report of how safe junior is.

If you're paying for his gas, which I hope you aren't, tell him to slow down and stop wasting your money.

Check out the video below for the results of a Dateline investigation into one car dealer's slimy sales practices. Here are 2 tips for how to avoid getting taken at the car lot based on the clip:

Don't negotiate based on payments: When you're buying a car, keep your eye on the total amount that you're paying, not the monthly payment. If you can't get super low-interest financing, consider paying for a car in cash. If you can't afford to pay cash for a car, you have to wonder whether you're buying more car than you can afford. The young lady in the video thought she was getting a good deal when she negotiated a lower payment but the dealer extended the terms of the loan by 12 months, meaning she was paying thousands more for the car when she thought she had been a shrewd negotiator.

Don't lie on your loan application: This one seems obvious but it's pretty common. First, lying on a loan application is a felony in some cases. Second, exaggerating your income to qualify for a bigger loan is a great way to get yourself in over your head. So don't lie. Watch the video for a good cautionary tale.

I've recently become a huge fan of financial guru Dave Ramsey. On his radio show and in his books, he distills personal finance into a set of pretty simple principles, and he cuts through a lot of the garbage. Here's a gem from his chapter on myths about debt from his amazing book The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness:

Myth: You can get a good deal on a new car at 0 percent interest.

Truth: A new car loses 60 percent of its value in the first four years; that isn't 0%.

I don't think anyone has ever explained the problem with buying a new car so well. Here's what you need to remember when you're shopping for a car: Buying a new car is pretty much always a bad idea. No matter how good a deal you get, you're buying a depreciating asset at the moment before it heads into its most rapid depreciation.

Plus, you're buying it before it's been out for a few years -- You know nothing about the model year's reliability or any other issues that tend to crop up after the car's been on the road for a few years.

So when is it OK to buy a new car? When you have so much money that it doesn't matter at all. Until then, stick with used cars that you can afford to buy with cash.