Credit crunches and the 20 percent solution...we're lost in the 50's again.

I was a little kid in the 1950s. Hula hoops, Davy Crockett hats and tail fins were cool. Polio scares, Jim Crow laws and duck-and-cover drills weren't.

So, how are we going to like it if or when another 1950's icon, the 20 percent down payment comes back? Beats me, but it would be a big change for many home and car buyers.

What's good is that it is hard to mess up funding something in which the borrower has a 20 percent stake. But coming up with that 20 percent would be tough for many of us, at least until we wrapped our minds around it.

Twenty percent down payments and comparatively rigid loan terms - 30 years for homes and three to four years for autos - were pretty much what you paid to buy those things before the 70's. Ironically, historians say that our parents and grandparents paid those terms because their parents and grandparents went through something like what we are doing now.

Now forecasters see signs that we're headed back to a long patch of conservative lending. Repos and busted loans rattle lenders too. Not everyone is cheering. Canada, which already tried going there to head off a U.S.-scale melt down, found that more than a fourth of its citizens abhor the thought.

U.S. News & World Report contributor Rick Newman predicts the best deals for car buyers may come before the new reality sets in. Maybe so, but save as much as possible and as close to 20 percent as you can. It could cover your credit history's rusty spots as good as new.

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It seems goofy, but if you are in the market for a new vehicle anytime soon, think about buying before the government's promised economic stimulus packages kick in.

Car dealers are offering some astonishing deals right now. You can get nearly $8,000 below sticker price and $8,000 back on an Escalade right now if you are shopping upmarket or $3,700 below sticker and $3,700 back on a Saturn Vue, if that's more in line with your budget.
Not being fussy about fuel economy will get you the best deal, but thriftier selections are out there too.

Up to now many of us have been thinking that when the automakers claim that this once in a lifetime deal ends, it just means another better one may be coming up. That might be ending, writes Hannah Elliot at Forbes.com. GM and Chrysler in particular will feel less pressure to cut prices when their federal bailout money arrives.

Waiting for our own household stimulus money arrives seems like a non-starter too. We don't yet know when it's coming or even how, but the $1,000 maximum being talked about isn't nearly as good as what Detroit is offering now.

But check out all the costs of a potential new car before you buy. After you pencil in financing costs, potentially higher licensing costs, higher property taxes you pay and your auto insurance, hanging on to your current car a little while longer may be more attractive

New-car-scent air fresheners run about $2.50 each at AutoZone.