It's interesting how products that do well in the mortgage industry eventually make their way over to used car financing. Case in point would be balloon loans.

Basically, a borrower hedges his or her payments based on the assumption of more income when the loan comes due. It allows folks to pay for more car (and house) then they can afford. The last payment, the so-called balloon payment, is huge.

The problem is folks have trouble making that balloon payment because of poor fiscal habits (such as buying more car than is affordable).

Consumers need to be aware of balloon payments for used car financing. It's a potential fiscal disaster for those without discipline (present company included!).

In my other life, I write about new cars for various newspapers, including the Boston Globe, which means a new car in the driveway weekly. As such, I had a lot of experience with car seats and LATCH systems because I was forever swapping my girls' seats in and out of various cars.

That's why I was glad to see the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety validate my feelings on some cars: they have almost inoperable LATCH systems. (LATCH is the means by how car seats are installed in passenger vehicles.)

That prompted me to write an article listing the best and worst LATCH system used cars based on that IIHS report. It's interesting and potentially life-saving reading for anybody with young children.

After all, if it's difficult to install a car seat properly, most parents won't be able to do it correctly.

For an entirely selfish reason, I'm not sad to see the demise of the Scion xB and the Scion tC. My reason? That whole lowercase/uppercase thing with the names. As bad comedians from the '80s would say, "What's up with that?"

(Editor's note: I have erred. The models should have been the xB and xD. However, Kia's top marketing official in the U.S. told me he knows of no plans in the next 18 months to discontinue either brand. Time will tell to see if that is true. My apologies for the error.)

Used car buyers, on the other hand, should be able to take advantage of Scion discontinuing the two: the xB a subcompact wagon and the tC a subcompact coupe. Scion claims the two were discontinued because it was always its intent not to keep models alive beyond one generation (even though both were on their second generations).

So, take a garner at my advice on buying a used Scion. Both are good models that should serve you well with just a little due diligence prior to purchase.

The decision making time for used car sales has dropped since last year, which should help improve overall sales figures. It's also bound to help used car sellers.

My take on the change in time is people are able to get financing faster for used cars, especially as the sub-prime lending market loosens up, and folks are now buying used cars because they want to and not because they have to.

When it's the latter, I feel, it's a situation where the owners know their cars are coming to the effective end of their lives but they are not in a position to buy just any used car. They have strict budgets and need to invest more time finding just the right car before completing the transaction.

As I have said before, this site, though, is not just for buyers. It's also for sellers. That's why I have prepared some advice on selling a used car faster now that used car buyers are taking less time to decide on what is right for them.