Looking at new cars *Found One*

Topic: Looking at new cars *Found One* (Read 7127 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #15 – April 17, 2005, 07:00:20 PM

Quote from: Thunder Chicken

Crystal, I know you blowed up the 85 TC, but what happened to the Sport?

Oh if I put a battery in it it'd start up and go, but it kinda looks like this at the moment but without the drivers side fender

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #16 – April 17, 2005, 07:59:55 PM

get a s-10 they suit many needs you can haul things better than a focus

they are gooooooood on gas and their customizable

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #17 – April 17, 2005, 10:33:38 PM

Quote from: crystal

Oh if I put a battery in it it'd start up and go, but it kinda looks like this at the moment but without the drivers side fender

Oh yeah, I know where you're coming from. My old '87 Sport during a fender transplant:

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #18 – April 17, 2005, 10:36:49 PM

You should look at the Big 3 and what they have to offer in certified used. When I was looking I saw MANY 2003-2004 Taurus, Impala, Camry & Altimas starting for 10 to 13 grand. I just happened to buy a new 2005 Bonneville, but in looking, I looked at Crown Vic, 500, Grand Marq, Montego, LeSabre, 300, Accord, Maxima, Avalon & the big Hyundai. I got the best price overall on the Bonneville (because of it's last year) and I had $2K in GM Card earnings over & above the rebates. I almost went to Ford with the Crown Vic LX, however the 2 Ford dealers I visited were jerks and they BOTH lowballed my trade. Ford & L/M wouldn't deal much off list on the 500 & Montego, same story with Chrysler & the 300. The imports wouldn't deal much off list either. I drove a 300C, FAAST car, very solid and well built, surprisingly! As far as the foreign dealers, after visiting 2 Toyota, 1 Honda, 1 Nissan & 1 Hyundai store...you can have them with all their fancy talk, fancy buildings and fancy people, they also don't deal for . I do see why Toyota & Honda sell so many units, their arrogant pitches about their "perfect product" (preceived quality) is really convincing to the uninformed. For the money and cheap insurance go with a certified used Taurus or Impala, not much on looks, but they are cheap to insure, great on gas and comfy!

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #19 – April 18, 2005, 01:34:31 AM

Well, I doubt this is going to be very coherent, but i'd like to blurt out a few ideas that might help (in no particular order):

- I'd agree with Paul on this one. Definitely aim towards the lower end of your range, cause being stuck with a monthly payment that ends up being more than you can afford would really suck. Definitely keep a "comfort cushion."

- Definitely make sure you get a no questions, no hassles warranty whether it's a new car or certified used. Maybe do a little research and talk to people who've had to have major work done under warranty to see which dealerships will honor their word so your life is less hassled.

- Look at the Mazda 3!! No one's mentioned it, but that car is solid. And it's part Ford too

- When I bought my Acura new, I ended up paying 14,000 even after all was said and done. For me, that worked out to about 260/mo. over 5 years at 6.99% APR. Insurance was about 200 every 6 months. At the time I was earning about 800/mo., and I gotta say it was pretty tight. Even though on paper I should have been in good condition, somehow my money always got away from me.

- What about a small pickup? You could lug stuff around too. I think those 4 cyl. Rangers get some insanely good gas mileage, and you could bring back oversized goodies for the T-birds. Besides, you could get a killer deal on one seeing as how they're just wasting away on dealer lots (same goes for those 1.8 Jettas from last year's model run).

- If you end up splurging for a car, I'd get the bigger model instead of the more accessorized one. My parents got their Accord LX new for just over 19k, which is almost what those high trim Civics are running. It gets a little bit less gas mileage (29/34 is still good though), but the safety and depreciation advantages seem worth it.

Anyways, I agree with you on the new(er) car thing. If it came down to just keeping one car, it would be my RSX no questions asked. It really makes life alot easier when you have a car that you can drive without a second thought. Stressing out about every noise and non-working options such as heat/AC/power windows can really make life suck sometimes. It especially sucks when those unexpected repairs pop up. At least this way you'll always know how much you'll be spending.

Well! That was quite a spiel. Good luck and let us know what happens.

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #20 – April 18, 2005, 12:10:15 PM

Once i get another job im looking into some focus's because with these gas prices my cats gonna bleed me dry on gas alone, and i love the focus,my dad has an 05 and for the few times he has let me drive it its great on gas.

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #21 – April 19, 2005, 12:39:43 AM

Well, so far I've test driven a Nissan Sentra 1.8S and I really didn't like it too much. With an auto it seemed gutless, and it was a bit too small insdie. Today I took a Hyundai Elantra GT(second smallest model, yay!). It's a bit more roomy, 5-speed, leather, CD, pretty much loaded except for a sunroof. With current rebates and $1k down I'd be paying between $260 and $280 a month, which isn't too bad. Took the car for a drive and I loved it. On wednesday I'm going to go look at Neon's and see what they're like, but I dunno. Of all the stuff I've looked at so far, I really like the Elantra. I came in expecting to be able to afford just a Accent, but the guy showed me the Elantra and I liked it a ton better. Plus, as a couple others stated, you can't beat Hyundai's warranty. 10/100 on the powertrain. My search continues though. I'll probably be waiting a month or two to take any real action because I have a credit card bill to pay off and I need to save up money for a down payment (my income tax refund will help with this).

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #22 – April 19, 2005, 12:33:40 PM

It sounds like you really need to think small and save money. I'd buy a 1-3 year old car, depreciation is a good thing ya know. Avoid VWs, parts are pricey and they aren't that reliable. Not a great car for someone on a budget.

A 2-3 year old Taurus with the duratec would be fun and practical, if you put SHO swaybars and stuff like that. If you really wanna save money, get a used Tiburon with that great warranty. They are nice cars too. I'd also recommend a 2002 Cougar, they are real fun, have real nice plastics inside and look pretty conservative these days.

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #23 – April 19, 2005, 02:42:12 PM

I was just gonna mention neons. I just seen an 05 neon today at work, black with the chrome I think 17" wheels and it looked great. doesnt look so much like a girls car and the things are twice the size the first neons. But im tellin ya you can get a 2000-02 used car financed just as easy as any new car and be much more affordable, especially insurance wise...

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #24 – April 19, 2005, 10:14:36 PM

Don't get me wrong here but if you want a really trustworthy car, go new. I'm not saying that every new car is perfect because I know some that have been in and out of the dealer for stupid problems. However, you never know what you'll be getting into with a used car. It doesn't matter if it is 2 years old or 10 years old. My dad bought a 2001 Ram with 40,000 miles at our local friendly Dodge dealer. The motor blew up and the dealer wouldn't do anything for him because he went beyond their 3 month used car warrenty. We also had a 93 t-bird that was bought used at a ford dealer. It was said to have never been wrecked and after we had it for about a year, it washiznit by a deer and the body shop recognized signs that the car was wrecked before and on further investigation, we found that it was. Beware with used car dealerships. Those at a normal ford, dodge dealer etc with a body shop, can get damaged cars and fix them. Because the dealer thats selling it fixed it, it may not show up on the vehicle history report. Definately stay away from some of those privately owned used car dealers. They could do a shoddy job to fix a car to just make money on it without putting money into it. You will not know the history of the used car you are buying unless you personally know the seller and there is no point in buying someone elses problems. Just because I went with a Hyundai or other people suggest it, doesn't mean you have to go that direction. I'm extremely satisfied with my purchase and I will be the first to admit that the Tiburon is not a performer. It's slower than my mom's 99 Malibu with the 4 cylinder. But it IS very dependable transportation and the design of it is very nice. My dealer was very nice to work with and worked hard to get the best deal possible as far as financing etc. I knew what I wanted when I went in so no other car was an option. My sister has a 2002 Neon and loves it to death. So far it has 60,000 miles with no problems. The truth is that I wanted a Grand Prix in the worst way. I found a 2002 with 30,000 miles on it in February at a used car lot fully loaded and It was just a hair less than what I payed for my Hyundai. But after listening to lectures from my mom on our past experiences with used cars and so on, I'm glad I made the decision I made. I'm not saying that every used car is bad, but I just have the mind set that you really can't go wrong with new. Sorry for the rant. Good Luck.

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #25 – April 19, 2005, 11:57:37 PM

I dunno... that Elantra is still on my mind. I just really like the thought of a NEW car. I dunno. I guess I'll have time to think about it.

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #26 – April 20, 2005, 08:13:26 AM

Quote from: Ifixyawata

I dunno... that Elantra is still on my mind. I just really like the thought of a NEW car. I dunno. I guess I'll have time to think about it.

2005 Hyundai Tiburon SE with a roof.

I sell these. Call me on how to get a steal.

Send email to Cougars_2_go@yahoo.com

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #27 – April 20, 2005, 08:19:25 AM

Quote

It sounds like you really need to think small

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #28 – April 20, 2005, 10:26:56 AM

I'm with the used car people. My brother just bought an '04 Stratus coupe for his wife. It's got only 13,000 miles, the remainder of the factory warranty, and they got it for $13,000. A new one costs $21,000. So in only one year and 13,000 miles it has depreciated 1/3rd of its value. But it has a 2.4V6, decent power, and gets 34mpg on the highway.

Re: Looking at new cars

Reply #29 – April 20, 2005, 03:21:13 PM

Hmmm, you Non-New people don't give up. Ok, then, fine, I'll look at used cars. I guess at least this way I can get a car that I wouldn't be able to afford new. I just don't know about financing.. I'm hoping I don't end up paying out the arse, that's all. I guess I'll shift focus over to used cars now. The Taurus does sound good to me... I have to get a car that I won't be tempted to mod heavily (a V8 SHO did creep into my mind, but after thier cam sprocket fiasco, I'm not willing to chanece it).