OT: New Car Purchase Question
 

My wife recently got offered a new job. With this job, she will be required to drive to various parts of the state. It has something to do with real estate and meeting with groups of people.

Before you laugh at the fact that I don't know what she is doing at her current job, much less a new job, realize that I record albums for a living and am stupid to the ways of her business world. Sad but true.

Anyway, with her new job, she was offered an allowance for a new car purchase. This works well with us because we were actually going to get a new car in a few months. Our 99 Oldsmobile Intrigue has served us well but isn't the greatest in the city or with gas.

She needs to put miles on, which has nixed our thought of leasing an automobile. Our car payment for the Olds was around $350.00 per month. That might be a little high, but is was over 4 years.

The allowance she is getting is around $400 per month. Pretty nice deal. With the car rates as low as they are now, our options have greatly increased. Any money that we don't spend MAY go into her pocket but I am not sure.

So, I am putting up a poll to see what everybody here suggests. I haven't really explored new car buying before, and I don't intend on looking that hard.

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Consumer Reports says the '89 Volvo. Don't get talked into a LeBaron.

Time to take those 8 foot stacks of magazines out of your living room. Do you save tv dinner aluminum in your pantry too?

:D

I especially treasure my collection of TV Guide Fall Preview editions.

Yeah, Falcon Crest had some good cover shots back in the day.

Well, maybe if Jon Lieber :) had owned it I'd have to think about it.

Dola..

In all seriousness, get a used (pref - certified) car. I don't think I'll ever buy new again.

Get a one or two year old car with lots of warranty left. Let someone else eat that horrible first year's depreciation.

That's what we did with the Intrigue.

If the company is paying for it, buy new. Less hassle and more power at negotiation since you know (or can know) what they paid for it and you can compare apples to apples. We all know used cars offer a far better value but a new one has full warranty (on all parts) and if the company is paying for it, let them pay for a nice one.

Wasn't that Jon Voigt?

Actually it was John Voight the dentist.

Everyone's talking at me
I can't hear a word they're sayin
Driving around in Jon Voight's car

Yeah, I knew that. It was a joke gone bad.

GEORGE (to Kramer): Hey. I got Jon Voight's LeBaron.

KRAMER (impressed): Boss!

I would normally buy a car that was maybe a year old, but you pay so little for cars in the US I would advise you to pick up a new one.

I'm not sure how much you pay for cars over there compared to total yearly income, so I can't comment on that. But I still firmly believe that you should get a "better brand" instead of a "lesser brand - brand new"

IE. You can get a new Dodge Stratus for probably 16-17k

You can get a 2002 or so Honda Accord (same class of car , better brand) that has <20,000 miles on it for the same price. To me, I'd rather get a Honda with 20k on it than a brand new Dodge Status.

In all seriousness, I have leased cars. Under no circumstances should you buy a car out of a lease program. I can't get into specifics, you'll just have to trust me why.

Can I safely assume that you missed a few Oil Changes on the way? I'm not saying that you should get into that - I'm suggesting that you get a year or two year old car (not old enough to be off lease - most likely the owner just can't afford it or whatever).

They weren't all highway miles?

Hehe, no. And I beat the hell out of it. But, if you want to drive a car that has had two oil changes in 36,000 miles, a USED (and that's what pre-owned means) car is for you.

Some folks might be dropping by later and informing you that you should go with either a Speeder or an Easy Slider. I'm here to tell you that you can't go wrong with an Anti-Slider. It's got great traction around turns and it has a Five-Star safety rating from me. You can't go wrong with an Anti-Slider!

Shakes head. Don't dealerships do some kind of through inspections of the car when you turn it back in? It really doesn't make sense to me that they'd let you turn in a beat car.

If all else fails, find yourself a good , independent mechanic. Have him run all the tests he can find on it.

EDIT: That and I assume that most people don't treat their cars like that - leased or not leased.

You are putting far too much trust into these dealerships and fellow drivers.

90% of the used cars you look at were previously owned by little old ladys that just went slow on the driveway.

Buy a used Mercedes-Benz.

Haha, I don't expect that. To be honest, in my senario (car with <20,000). I really don't care if you only changed the oil 2-3 times. Its not long enough to do any major damage. That and along with my personal mechanic inspection, I feel good about saving 3-4k vs. the price of a new car.

Funny you should say that. For the last 3 months we have been talking about how expensive our car payment is. We were being bombarded with lease commericials letting us know that we could lease a Jaguar for about as much as we were paying for our Olds.




That's certainly in my head, and is what is keeping me away from going used. I would be tempted to drive a leased car in low 1 down the interstate...just to see why my dad always told me never to drive in low 1 down a highway.

Same thing with cars that are being sold through credit unions. I worked with a guy that was getting his truck repo'ed. We spent a day in a mud pit with it.

Why, so you can see the RPM gage go through the roof?

I guess the reality of the situation dictates that people abusing their cars could happen in some circumstances. You just hope that people have enough respect for things that they don't do that.

So driving with the emergency brake on just because you like the smell is probably wrong...

My friend actually drove 60 miles one time with it on by accident. That thing was smoking!

Inspecting the car turned in with 36,000 miles on it will in no way indicate how many times the oil has been chaged. They do not take the heads off and inspect how worn the cylinders and pistons are, which is where you would see any damage. Basically, getting the car detailed will have you pass any inspection that dealer goes through (assuming the car has not been in an accident you are trying to hide).

As for you assuming that most people who have a lease not abusing the vehicle, you are far too trusting. I think most people would not treat the car as well as if they owned it, and would therefore be reaping the benefits of regular maintainance.

How much would it cost to have a Mechanic take the heads off and look at the cylinders and pistons? Can't be more than a couple hundred could it?

Actually, I think it would cost a ton. Its about the most labor intensive thing to do on a car (from what I understand).

The problem is that any results of poor maintainance will not be felt for a few years. As long as the suspension is not damaged (which would turn up in an inspection) you would never be able to tell while driving a used car with 36,000 miles how well it has been maintained. They would almost certainly not be felt until well after 50,000 miles. Which is why it would not make sense for a dealership to worry about it.

I thought most lease agreements required you to bring the car back to the dealership on a regular basis for scheduled maintenance?

Whatever you do, go to hxxp://www.edmunds.com. Best car buying resource I've seen. Using it to get my current car (not to mention research different cars to figure out what to get), I got a great deal on a 2003 Civic in October with about 7 miles on it. It was way below everyone else's prices for a 2003 (they were trying to dump it for the 2004 cars?) Just a little while ago, I checked out Blue Book price of the car with 8k miles on it and it was valued at $800 more than I paid for it.

Everyone done at the dealership I use to work at required it.

Blah! Blast your reasonable thinking!

Well, in theory, buying a used car makes sense. But because of a few assholes out there, it makes it tough.

It's impossible to tell when you'll need a new johnson rod.

You do agree to have the maintainance performed, its just a unenforceable. They cannot legally tell you where to have it done (that would violate antitrust laws). If they required everyone to turn in documentation on leased cars, they would quickly lose all lease business.

That's the problem. Even if the reasonable/not ratio is closer to your estimate, you have to take the chance that the one car you are buying was not abused. It is just too risky for me.

Good point.

Get a nearly new BMW. The most powerful engine you can afford. And go for manual gears.

You never know when some crazy guy starts throwing JFK's golf clubs at your car.

"He's bringing out the woods!!!"

No, because it's a father/son right of passage.


In this day and age, since all cars aren't v-6s, a couple hundred would probably cover the cost of plugging in the computer to make sure that the thing is put back together properly. Not to mention checking lifters and cylinders wouldn't tell a person why the transmission slips on a year old car that a punk teenage owned.

Test drive a new Camry. You'll thank me.

OK, here's an update.

We decided to go with a Mazda 6 5-door, new. We went with leather, moonroof and bose audio package...security package...in 'lapis blue'.

I hated most of the experience of dealing with the numbers part of it. In the end, we were battling for the best interest rate. We wanted to lease, but my wife is going to be driving more than a normal lease would allow for.

We actually only test drove 2 different makes: Mazda 6 and Nissan Altima. The Altima didn't have the cargo room I was looking for. Thought about a VW but read some things about how the cars can be 'hit and miss' when it comes to reliability. We went to try the Accord sedan but I couldn't fit into the drivers seat. Being 6'5", my right foot couldn't switch over to the brack comfortably. The 6 had more room for me.

It's a very nice car. I have yet to drive it, but we are going back to Wisconsin this weekend (10 year high school reunion). I am sure the ride will be better in a new car. I was bummed to realize that right when we pulled out of the dealer lot, the car was worth less and it will never look as good...hehe.

Thanks to everybody for helping out.

Rock on

I bought a new Mazda 6 coupe a few months ago and it was a great buy. It's a v6 with all the bells and whistles. Took it from Florida to DC and back with no complaints. Good choice.