New Car Advice

[lynchjm24]

Anyway, I'm buying a new car. I'd like to stay in the 15-20k range, maybe a touch more.

I am partial to Japanese vehicles, and I would consider an SUV.

Anyone have any advice, or know of any good financing deals?

[Professor58]

From Consumer Reports:

Ford Focus
Mazda 3
Corolla
Civic

All base less than 20k

[lynchjm24]

From Consumer Reports:

Ford Focus
Mazda 3
Corolla
Civic

All base less than 20k


My rental car is a Ford Focus. I think I'm going to steer clear of those.

Any one have a Rav4? They seem to do well in all the legitimate ratings.

[ice4277]

A friend of mine just got one of those boxy Scions. I took a look at it about an hour ago, its not bad but definitely not a traditional vehicle. I've heard good things about the current Mazda line, you might want to take a closer look at the 3. I purchased a new car a few months ago, and one of the cars I test drove was the Cobalt. You may want to give that a chance, and even though I didn't purchase it (ultimately went with a Saab 9-3), I thought it seemed pretty a pretty good deal for the money.

[Swaggs]

I would look at a Honda Accord LX. You should be able to get one for between $20K-$21K.

[lynchjm24]

I would look at a Honda Accord LX. You should be able to get one for between $20K-$21K.


I have a quote on the EX-3 automatic w/leather and XM for $22,900. Looking around that looks like a pretty decent deal. I might pursue that.

[WSUCougar]

Nissan Altima?

[cmgdodgers]

Working in the rental car industry I get to not only try a lot of new cars, but get feedback as well. I really recommend the Mazda 3, they look nice, get good gas mileage, and are kind of fun to drive.

[lynchjm24]

Nissan Altima?

Ah yes, the car that has me in this bind.

The timing chain snapped on my 2000 Altima this morning, bending the valves and forcing me in the car market. :)

It had 120k miles, the guy at the garage claims he's never seen that problem before 180k.

[lynchjm24]

Working in the rental car industry I get to not only try a lot of new cars, but get feedback as well. I really recommend the Mazda 3, they look nice, get good gas mileage, and are kind of fun to drive.

My first car was a 92 Mazda 323, I beat the bejeezus out of that car. How about the 6?

[Swaggs]

Working in the rental car industry I get to not only try a lot of new cars, but get feedback as well. I really recommend the Mazda 3, they look nice, get good gas mileage, and are kind of fun to drive.

Speaking of, another good thing about the Honda Accord is that Honda doesn't sell a ton of their cars to rental companies (like Toyotas and Nissans), so they have a little better retail.

Although it sounds like you drive the hell out of your cars, so resale probably isn't the most important thing to you. :)

[Greyroofoo]

My coworker got a boxy Scion and I make sure I make a joke about how it looks everyday

[lynchjm24]

Speaking of, another good thing about the Honda Accord is that Honda doesn't sell a ton of their cars to rental companies (like Toyotas and Nissans), so they have a little better retail.

Although it sounds like you drive the hell out of your cars, so resale probably isn't the most important thing to you. :)

Actually not as bad as I used to due to a change of careers 3 years ago. A lot of that 120k was put on early in 2000 and 2001.

If it's less then a few thousand to fix the Altima, this will probably go by the board, but I'm guessing it won't be.

[cmgdodgers]

My first car was a 92 Mazda 323, I beat the bejeezus out of that car. How about the 6?


Actually the Mazda 6 is very nice as well, but the 3 really zips around. Really depends on your needs. I do like it better than the Corolla though, unless it's the Corolla S, then it gets to be a pretty close call.

[Ksyrup]

I'm trying to unload my 1999 Mazda 626 right now, and not having much luck. And the damn thing is in very good condition - the interior is spotless and I've basically done the maintenance for the next year or so (new tires and brakes). Plus, it's only got 70K miles! Still, the best I'm going to get for it, if I'm lucky, is about what I got for my wife's 5 year old Saturn SL2 when we sold it 3 years ago - about $4700-5000. A comparable 1999 Accord (the one I would have gotten) retails for about $8K right now.

I'd go with the Honda over anything else (and wish I had 6 years ago), but then again, I'm partial to Honda - I've had 2 Civic Hatchbacks (one used we bought at 90K miles and sold at 130K), and my wife has an Odyssey and I just bought an Acura. Never a major problem - and we've ridden the Odyssey hard in 3 years (60K+ miles already). Although, as much fun as the Acura is to drive, I have a feeling that's about to change...

[Ajaxab]

After our '94 Accord recently died after 241k, we are eagerly awaiting our Corolla S we ordered at the beginning of May. Neither my wife or I were interested in the blandness of the regular Corollas, but the S models are really nice. We were choosing between a Civic and the S and went with the S because it looks better (from our point of view) and is also slightly cheaper given that the two cars are comparable on a lot of other levels. Toyota also offers a bit more options a la carte whereas Honda essentially forces you to buy a package if you want to upgrade certain features. My parents have been really happy with the Toyotas (a Tercel and a Corolla) they purchased in the late 90s.

[Craptacular]

My first car was a 92 Mazda 323, I beat the bejeezus out of that car. How about the 6?
We got a 2004 6 Wagon last November. So far, we've only put less than 5K miles on it, and a good 700 or 800 of that was Memorial Day weekend. It's our third car until my wife's Prism dies. No problems to report yet, and it's fun to drive. The Wagon only comes with the V6 (at least the 2004s did, I guess I'm not sure about the 05s), and it's got plenty of pop. I think the 6 looks good in any form (sedan, hatchback, or wagon). I've only been able to take it out for somewhat of a joyride once or twice (usually we have our dogs in it), but I loved the handling ... it definitely does not feel like a wagon.

[Craptacular]

By the way, our other car is an '03 Hyundai Elantra. I just crossed 30K, and it's been fantastic so far. I've still got plenty of time left on the 5-yr 60K basic warranty and the 10-yr 100K powertrain warranty. It's not a sports car by any means, but it had better horsepower and torque than a Corolla, Civic, or Protege, and the GT form (which I have) has a stiffer suspension, which is nice on curves (but hasn't seemed too rough on the bumps). I've probably averaged around 31 mpg (Civic and Corolla do better) in a mix of city and highway driving.

Hyundai has come a long way in a short time. I'd recommend at least checking out the Elantra, Sonata, Tucson, and Santa Fe.

[lynchjm24]

I think I've pretty much put together a deal to buy an Accord EX-L with the leather interior/XM radio. I'm at 21,900 right now, which they claim is below invoice.

They are balking at Capitol One doing the financing though so it may still fall through.

[Ksyrup]

which they claim is below invoice.
If you don't know what invoice is, research it on edmunds.com. Also, their town hall forums are EXCELLENT for getting an idea of what people in your area, or comparable areas, are paying. Very helpful when I bought my car a couple of weeks ago to realize how muchbetter a deal I could get by traveling to Jacksonville. I knocked about $1,800 off the price.

Also, factor in their holdback when looking at the invoice, although depending on where you are and what kind of competition they have, that might not matter much.

[Swaggs]

I think I've pretty much put together a deal to buy an Accord EX-L with the leather interior/XM radio. I'm at 21,900 right now, which they claim is below invoice.

They are balking at Capitol One doing the financing though so it may still fall through.

That sounds like a great deal. That isn't too far off of what we paid for our 2002 LX, but that was, of course, right before rates got super low and sales took off.

You should probably just use their financing at the initial purchase and then switch over to Capital One afterwards (assuming you found your own loan w/ Capital One).

They are probably doing it because they can make backend money (.25% or .50% of the value of the loan) through the financing company, but once the car is yours, you can pay it off.

[Ksyrup]

They are balking at Capitol One doing the financing though so it may still fall through.I missed this part of your post. Fuck that and screw them. Seriously.

Show up with check in hand from Cap One (I assume that's the former People First online auto loan division). I used People First twice, but only financed with them once. Both times, I showed up with check in hand, but with my wife's Odyssey, they beat the financing when we got to the finance office, so I just shredded the Cap One check. The other time, I used their check with no problem.

The reason they are balking is because they are trying to tie the price for your car to the financing deal you get, meaning they want to charge you more for the car if you don't finance through them. Again, I say - Fuck That! They are two totally separate negotiations, and you can find a dealer that will cut you a good deal on the car and not worry about the financing. If you can't find as good a deal, then that means they artificially lowered the price of the car to get you take a lesser financing deal.

Even if it turns out to be a wash, I still find that to be a very old-school, under-handed way of dealing with a customer. Negotiate the price of the car, lock it in, then deal with the financing, or tell them up-front you have your own financing and don't need theirs unless they can beat it. Same thing with a trade-in, if that's a part of the deal - don't let them tie the trade-in value to the price of the car. Make them give you a firm offer for the trade-in, then move to the price for the new car, then the financing. All 3 should be separate. And don't let the monthly payment set the agenda for any of the negotiations. Know what you're willing to pay for the car before you go to the dealership, what the financing is likely to be, and what those monthly payments will be, so you know your limits. Don't let them determine the price of the car and the financing deal by telling you they can get you to X dollars a month - that's a sure screw job.

[Buzzbee]

I missed this part of your post. Fuck that and screw them. Seriously.

Show up with check in hand from Cap One (I assume that's the former People First online auto loan division). I used People First twice, but only financed with them once. Both times, I showed up with check in hand, but with my wife's Odyssey, they beat the financing when we got to the finance office, so I just shredded the Cap One check. The other time, I used their check with no problem.

The reason they are balking is because they are trying to tie the price for your car to the financing deal you get, meaning they want to change you more for the car if you don't finance through them. Again, I say - Fuck That! They are two totally separate negotiations, and you can find a dealer that will cut you a good deal on the car and not worry about the financing. If you can't find as good a deal, then that means they artificially lowered the price of the car to get you take a lesser financing deal.

Even if it turns out to be a wash, I still find that to be a very old-school, under-handed way of dealing with a customer. Negotiate the price of the car, lock it in, then deal with the financing, or tell them up-front you have your own financing and don't need theirs unless they can beat it. Same thing with a trade-in, if that's a part of the deal - don't let them tie the trade-in value to the price of the car. Make them give you a firm offer for the trade-in, then move to the price for the new car, then the financing. All 3 should be separate. And don't let the monthly payment set the agenda for any of the negotiations. Know what you're willing to pay for the car before you go to the dealership, what the financing is likely to be, and what those monthly payments will be, so you know your limits. Don't letthem determine the price of the car and the financing deal by telling you they can get you to X dollars a month - that's a sure screw job.
What he said. It is very good advice.