Buying A New Car...

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by wade moore

Just my $.02.

I find the idea of eliminating a car because the dealer didn't give you their "best price" from the get-go to be very weird.

I do that myself - its a 'moral' thing for me, I don't like being arsed around and if I accept it from dealers then they'll do it to others .... if enough people take the same stance then fewer dealerships will dick people around.

(its also partially a safeguard against them being idiots later on - for instance if a dealership is willing to lie through their teeth initially how much do you trust them not to try and get out of something if push comes to shove with the warranty etc. .... but mainly I just dislike being treated like an idiot*/lied to by people)

I realise that sometimes it might cost me a few dollars, but generally theres a very similar deal to be had elsewhere and its worth it imho to remind places to play fair and not act like prats.

*I may well be an idiot, but please don't remind me

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

No. That was just the sales guy not being clued in by his boss as to the already-negotiated final price.

Ah - just re-read, I misread it the first time.

[Mustang]

Bought a new car myself this weekend. Ended up going with the Mazda 3 i Grand Touring. Nice car. (40 MPG highway does hurt either)

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Bought a new car myself this weekend. Ended up going with the Mazda 3 i Grand Touring. Nice car. (40 MPG highway does hurt either)

Sweet car. Congrats.

[Barkeep49]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Bought a new car myself this weekend. Ended up going with the Mazda 3 i Grand Touring. Nice car. (40 MPG highway does hurt either)

I really like my Mazda. I visited the dealer nearly as an after though after not being happy with any of the other cars I'd test driven and a few hours later I'd signed to buy the car. And, pertinent to this thread, they gave me a fabulous price right off the bat. Couple thousand dollars better than any other dealer's initial offer.

[Barkeep49]

My brother stands a good chance of being offered a sales position at a Lexus dealership? Anything he should make sure to do before accepting?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

My brother stands a good chance of being offered a sales position at a Lexus dealership? Anything he should make sure to do before accepting?

Be ready to starve for the first few months. I can't really say that for sure with a high-end dealership like that, though. Most likely, they probably pay better than most other dealers. The difference with them will be a higher expectation of closing, and closing with good profit margins.

[Raiders Army]

When we bought our Lexus, it was a great experience and the best experience after buying the seven vehicles we've had in 16 years.

That being said, I will buy a 2012 Toyota Tundra this week with the SR5 package, Texas Edition, etc. It'll be a huge upgrade from our 2002 Pontiac Montana Minivan. We haven't had a car payment for the past two years, but with my son not getting a 3.0 last semester in college, we're done paying for college.

[Sweed]

In the market now myself. Looking hard at the Ford Fusion. Had a good test drive already as the rental car we drove from Vegas to LA was a Fusion with just 68 miles on it when we picked it up.

Preapproved at the bank but will take advantage of any dealer offers if they end up being better. My biggest problem is I live in the sticks with closest volume dealers being ~3 hour drive so hopefully can do a lot online. My son does live by Des Moines though, so if I get a deal started there it won't be too bad.

So, over the week I'll be looking online at other models and getting some quotes in case I can't get a deal I like on the Fusion. Corrola, Camry, and even Focus will get a look. I wouldn't mind looking at Kia or Hyundai but there are no dealers remotely close to where I live. I do have a Honda only 67 miles away. Have read they are good cars, anyone have a recommendation?

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Ragone

Everytime a thread like this pops up i'm obligated to remind everyone i work for ford and can get you friends and family discount on a new vehicle if you choose to get Something from the ford family..

The 2012 escapes are getting huge incentives/rebates to clear out the lot for the redesigned 2013's coming soon.. you get both the rebates and incentives plus my discount..

Is this offer still good? Since I'm leaning heavily towards a 2012 Fusion I'd sure be interested in this discount. Every little bit helps.

[Ragone]

sure can sweed.. i'll need some generic info from you.. and if you are nervous about it, just ask grantdawg for a reference.. will get info from you in pm

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by Sweed

So, over the week I'll be looking online at other models and getting some quotes in case I can't get a deal I like on the Fusion. Corrola, Camry, and even Focus will get a look. I wouldn't mind looking at Kia or Hyundai but there are no dealers remotely close to where I live. I do have a Honda only 67 miles away. Have read they are good cars, anyone have a recommendation?

Just looked and drove the same cars you mentioned - Fusion, Camry, Focus, Honda Accord, Kia Optima, Hyundai Elantra. They're all good cars. It's just a matter of what you like/need and deciding between the small differences between the models. For example, the Fusion back seat is a bit smaller and if you have a family, that's a consideration. If you don't, then the sporty drive and handling may make that the best choice for you. Or if you really don't need much of a back seat, the Focus has some amazing styling and really looks awesome from the driver's cockpit area.

I think you just need to decide between sizes first - Camry/Corrola and Focus/Fusion. If you want the bigger cars, then I'd normally say that it would be worth checking out the Accord. But since you're that far away, I wouldn't buy one unless none of the others click with you.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ragone

sure can sweed.. i'll need some generic info from you.. and if you are nervous about it, just ask grantdawg for a reference.. will get info from you in pm

I'll vouch for Ragone, and the Fusion highly. I truly love my car, and the X-plan pin is great. If you don't mind waiting for the dealer to get it, you can pretty much get the exact car your want brought to your closest dealer through a dealer-trade. It will have a few miles (they will drive it there), but it will get you the exact or close to exact color/trim/options you want. Because of the X-plan, you have the set price and limits on paperwork costs, etc. Makes it a great deal.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Ragone

sure can sweed.. i'll need some generic info from you.. and if you are nervous about it, just ask grantdawg for a reference.. will get info from you in pm

Thanks a lot, this is awesome. You have my info in a PM.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Just looked and drove the same cars you mentioned - Fusion, Camry, Focus, Honda Accord, Kia Optima, Hyundai Elantra. They're all good cars. It's just a matter of what you like/need and deciding between the small differences between the models. For example, the Fusion back seat is a bit smaller and if you have a family, that's a consideration. If you don't, then the sporty drive and handling may make that the best choice for you. Or if you really don't need much of a back seat, the Focus has some amazing styling and really looks awesome from the driver's cockpit area.

I think you just need to decide between sizes first - Camry/Corrola and Focus/Fusion. If you want the bigger cars, then I'd normally say that it would be worth checking out the Accord. But since you're that far away, I wouldn't buy one unless none of the others click with you.

Thanks for the input. I think now with Ragone getting me the F&F discount a Ford is almost assured. I've only seen pictures of the new designed Focus interior, and yeah looks pretty cool. My son's first new car purchase after college was a Focus. It was a good car for him that he traded this year for a new Escape. We took it to Chicago a couple of times(4 hour drive each way from his place). Good ride and nice car which surprised me at the time being a smaller car. While strongly leaning to Fusion I'll still take a look at the Focus.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I'll vouch for Ragone, and the Fusion highly. I truly love my car, and the X-plan pin is great. If you don't mind waiting for the dealer to get it, you can pretty much get the exact car your want brought to your closest dealer through a dealer-trade. It will have a few miles (they will drive it there), but it will get you the exact or close to exact color/trim/options you want. Because of the X-plan, you have the set price and limits on paperwork costs, etc. Makes it a great deal.

Thanks, I figured this was going to be good

I asked Ragone in my PM to him but I'll also ask you here. Do you negotiate a price first and then let the dealer know you had a X-plan PIN giving you an additional discount? Do you let the dealer know upfront? Or from your post "you have the set price" mean there is no negotiation on price other than you as the buyer still being able to take advantage of dealer rebates or special financing?

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Sweed

Thanks, I figured this was going to be good

I asked Ragone in my PM to him but I'll also ask you here. Do you negotiate a price first and then let the dealer know you had a X-plan PIN giving you an additional discount? Do you let the dealer know upfront? Or from your post "you have the set price" mean there is no negotiation on price other than you as the buyer still being able to take advantage of dealer rebates or special financing?

No negotiation. They will show the x-plan price right on the invoice. You need to let them know straight out that it is an x-plan buy, and make sure you ask them to run the "vincent" on the car you want. You will get every incentive (including hidden dealer incentives) on the car.

[GrantDawg]

Plus, doc fees are capped at $100. Don't trust them when they say "we can beat the x-plan price." That means they are going to make more off of you somewhere. Ford pays them $400-$500 bucks on the deal. So, to forgoe that means they are making it off you.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

No negotiation. They will show the x-plan price right on the invoice. You need to let them know straight out that it is an x-plan buy, and make sure you ask them to run the "vincent" on the car you want. You will get every incentive (including hidden dealer incentives) on the car.

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Plus, doc fees are capped at $100. Don't trust them when they say "we can beat the x-plan price." That means they are going to make more off of you somewhere. Ford pays them $400-$500 bucks on the deal. So, to forgoe that means they are making it off you.

Thanks. While I have mostly enjoyed the haggling when buying a car (mostly due to going in with I don't have to buy anything and watch them go nuts when I walk away over $200) this whole thing is making me smile.

Couple more things, did you trade a vehicle in or go straight out?

When you say every incentive does that mean you also get the low interest rate? Does that sound greedy? Either way is fine as financing isn't a problem, just curious.

[Sweed]

Got my PIN # so one more big public THANK YOU to Ragone. Simply awesome.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Sweed

Thanks. While I have mostly enjoyed the haggling when buying a car (mostly due to going in with I don't have to buy anything and watch them go nuts when I walk away over $200) this whole thing is making me smile.

Couple more things, did you trade a vehicle in or go straight out?

When you say every incentive does that mean you also get the low interest rate? Does that sound greedy? Either way is fine as financing isn't a problem, just curious.

Ford was/is offering a 0% interest if you qualify, and an extra $1000 if you take it. I did (how could you possibly beat that?) . Incentives like that vary, and depends on if you qualify. But you can (and boy, the dealer doesn't want you to know this) take the $1000 rebate from Ford credit and refinance the car later.

Anyway, yes you can get the financing incentive as long as you qualify on top of the X-plan deal.

No, I did not trade. The trade negotiation is totally up to you. Get the appraisal off the Ford site before you go in to know what you should get. I hate trading-in cars, because the best you'll get is 40-60% of the car's value. It just saves you the headache of selling yourself. Another thing you can do (if there is a carmax near you) is take it to Carmax to sell or get a price from them. Their values are good from them for 30 days (at least used to be). So, you can sell straight to them, or take the valuation and try to give the dealer a chance to beat it.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Ford was/is offering a 0% interest if you qualify, and an extra $1000 if you take it. I did (how could you possibly beat that?) . Incentives like that vary, and depends on if you qualify. But you can (and boy, the dealer doesn't want you to know this) take the $1000 rebate from Ford credit and refinance the car later.

Anyway, yes you can get the financing incentive as long as you qualify on top of the X-plan deal.

No, I did not trade. The trade negotiation is totally up to you. Get the appraisal off the Ford site before you go in to know what you should get. I hate trading-in cars, because the best you'll get is 40-60% of the car's value. It just saves you the headache of selling yourself. Another thing you can do (if there is a carmax near you) is take it to Carmax to sell or get a price from them. Their values are good from them for 30 days (at least used to be). So, you can sell straight to them, or take the valuation and try to give the dealer a chance to beat it.

Yeah, already have an appraisal on the trade. Didn't know about carmax. If I go to Des Moines I'll check to see if they have carmax. Bought our van new in 03 that I'm trading and it's something I'd rather not spend a lot of time on. Thanks again

[sooner333]

I'm now in the new car market. After shelling out about $3k in repairs over the last four months on my '03 BMW 325i, I've decided I'm in the market for a new car.

Test drove the Hyundai Genesis Coupe and high-end Sonata as well as the Nissan Altima and Maxima. I'm going to to take my time to really see what I'll like the best though.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Ford was/is offering a 0% interest if you qualify, and an extra $1000 if you take it. I did (how could you possibly beat that?) . Incentives like that vary, and depends on if you qualify. But you can (and boy, the dealer doesn't want you to know this) take the $1000 rebate from Ford credit and refinance the car later.

Anyway, yes you can get the financing incentive as long as you qualify on top of the X-plan deal.

No, I did not trade. The trade negotiation is totally up to you. Get the appraisal off the Ford site before you go in to know what you should get. I hate trading-in cars, because the best you'll get is 40-60% of the car's value. It just saves you the headache of selling yourself. Another thing you can do (if there is a carmax near you) is take it to Carmax to sell or get a price from them. Their values are good from them for 30 days (at least used to be). So, you can sell straight to them, or take the valuation and try to give the dealer a chance to beat it.

It's good for 7 days on Carmax now. But it was the easiest car transaction I've ever had, so if they offer a good deal, my advice is to take it and get the used car negotiation out of the purchase of the new car.

[Ragone]

And as i also told you in pm sneed, and all who may want a pin in the future.. Get the trade in value stated first before busting out the x-plan pin.. they will try to get their profits back from you on the trade in.. the car max idea is a solid one..

[Vegas Vic]

Originally Posted by Ragone

X-plan is a helluva deal, Fully Loaded fusions are really really nice.. i'm honestly thinking about getting a fusion hybrid myself...

I bought a 2012 Fusion Hybrid last month, and I'm very pleased with the performance so far. It's a fun car to drive, and the only way I can tell I'm driving a hybrid is how quiet it is.

I got almost 700 miles on my first tank of gas, and so far I'm getting 40.2 MPG combined even though I've been running the AC almost all of the time. The MPG should improve in the fall and winter here without the AC.

The car will accelerate quickly if needed, as the gas and electric motors combine for 191 HP. It makes a quiet, almost seamless transition from electric to gas. Unlike the Prius and some other hybrids, this car looks like a normal sedan, except for the small hybrid badges on the rear and side.

[Crapshoot]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Bought a new car myself this weekend. Ended up going with the Mazda 3 i Grand Touring. Nice car. (40 MPG highway does hurt either)

I have the ISport, and really love it - 2007 model, still fun to drive. Good call.

[MacroGuru]

Alright,

Girlfriend is in the market for a new car...she likes the Nissan Rogue...she has done well with her Nissan and isn't to interested in straying....I am trying to get her to look at the Fords....any advice on the Nissan's?

[finketr]

I have a 2008 Nissan Rogue with 52000 miles on it. I cannot complain about it really. I just put new tires on about 4k miles ago and it runs great. So glad I have it since my wife and I had our first child a little less than a year ago. Roomy enough to put Matthew in the middle of the back seat and have two passengers in it, in addition to being able to put the stroller and some suitcases in the trunk/deck area.


--t

[MacroGuru]

Well, test drove a bunch of cars with the gf today. She is going with the Ford Edge..sent Ragone a PM, hoping to get xplan pricing.

[Edward64]

I'm going to get a new car soon.

Applied for pre-approval for $x from Capital One who did my current auto loan. They denied my request by sending a letter saying no because of insufficient salary. I am surprised that Capital One didn't say you weren't approved for $x but you can get $y. I was disappointed and drove to my current bank Wells Fargo branch.

At Wells Fargo, they said they needed to know the VIN# of the car I wanted to buy ... meaning no preapproval. I told them I don't understand how you get any auto loan business this way and walked out.

Ended up going to BofA online and getting my $x preapproved within a couple minutes of submission.

So to Capital One, f**k you, I'm insulted as I know I've got great credit and sufficient income. To Wells Fargo, you guys need to grow up and stop deluding yourself you can be competitive in the auto loan business with your current policy. To BofA, thank you.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

Alright,

Girlfriend is in the market for a new car...she likes the Nissan Rogue...she has done well with her Nissan and isn't to interested in straying....I am trying to get her to look at the Fords....any advice on the Nissan's?

I've had an Xterra since 2005 and never have had any mechanical issues (70K). I think the only time I've been in the shop is for oil changes and mileage maintenance + tire changes.

[Ragone]

I sent you a pm macro.. i need a few more tidbits of info.. will have your pin after that..

[Ragone]

quick bump, i have 2 more x-plan pins left for this year if anyone is considering buying a new ford... please don't pay full price.

[Ajaxab]

Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, recently posted his experience of buying a new car. Interesting read and interesting comments as well: http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/car_buying

[terpkristin]

Anybody here have any thoughts on the "small" or "crossover" type SUV's? Based on Consumer Reports ratings, it looks like the Toyota Rav4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Murano have the best rating. As many of you know, I am disgusted with Mazda in general and have been looking for a new car more or less since I bought my 3 in 2007. While I'm not excited to have a car payment again, this is a good time for me to try to take the plunge, since I'm getting ready to have back surgery and will do better with a car I don't have to duck to get into.

Thanks as always to this community that offers more information than even my best Google-fu can usually turn up...
/tk

[molson]

Older thread but I hadn't read the last few pages about buying new......I have my system down that I hope to use for the rest of my life. I do some research, decide the car and price I want, and I email my offer to every dealership within X number of miles. If I have more than one response that says they can do it, maybe I ask for a little more. Then I go in and get it. I don't want any test drives, chatting with salesman, traveling to multiple dealerships, or phone calls back and forth. I don't even really care about the color if they give me the price I want. Yes, obviously I'm single.

[rjolley]

tk: My wife has a Honda CR-V and loves it. Plenty of room, smooth ride, and no issues since we got it in 2009. We also got a good deal because I was buying a Pilot as well and we got them both during the switchover to the new model year.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Anybody here have any thoughts on the "small" or "crossover" type SUV's? Based on Consumer Reports ratings, it looks like the Toyota Rav4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Murano have the best rating. As many of you know, I am disgusted with Mazda in general and have been looking for a new car more or less since I bought my 3 in 2007. While I'm not excited to have a car payment again, this is a good time for me to try to take the plunge, since I'm getting ready to have back surgery and will do better with a car I don't have to duck to get into.

Thanks as always to this community that offers more information than even my best Google-fu can usually turn up...
/tk

My mom has a Murano. Its been a very reliable car. My dad drives a crap ton (75k+/year) so after she drove it for three years (princess needs a new car every 3 years) he took it the last ~1.5. At this point they have like 185k on it...and its been dead reliable. Brakes, a battery, tires and wiper blades.

That said...

My wife looked at the smaller crossovers last cycle, and her conclusion was they were caught in between the benefits of both. They didn't give her the safe "feel" of the Tahoe she got out of. The certainly cant haul as many people or tow as much (I dont suspect either is an issue to you?) they didnt handle as well or get as good as gas mileage as a car, and the surprising thing was the mid size cars with an actual trunk actually have more room for storage (shopping bags in her case) than the cute utes.

Now you nailed the major counter point, I hate getting in her current car because of my knees. In fact just yesterday we packed the kids and drover 280 miles in my dually truck (at 14mpg) just to avoid getting in and out of her car(at 35 mpg) .

[Scoobz0202]

Ragone -

I live with my brother while i'm going to school and him and his wife are looking for a new car. I understand if you would want to keep it FOFC only of course (if you even have any left).

[Lathum]

So my wife and I are moving back to Cincinnati and we are going to be buying another car. Anyone had any experience buying directly from the factory and not going through a dealership?

[britrock88]

Originally Posted by Lathum

So my wife and I are moving back to Cincinnati and we are going to be buying another car. Anyone had any experience buying directly from the factory and not going through a dealership?

Though I don't have any special knowledge, I'm not so sure how possible this is to do. Apparently the auto industry is fairly well-regulated in breaking car manufacture and consumer sales into different tiers, giving so many dealerships reason to exist.

In other news, I spent all afternoon at a dealership and drove away in a '13 Ford Escape SEL. I have high hopes for it (I'm the type to drive a car into the ground), and I don't think I got screwed on the pricing/financing, so I feel about as good as I imagined possible. The bigger implication is that it's yet another sign of my becoming a "real adult" -- out of school, landing a job, an impeding move, and now buying a car.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Ragone

quick bump, i have 2 more x-plan pins left for this year if anyone is considering buying a new ford... please don't pay full price.

Bump - not sure if you still have any x-plan pins left (or if they rollover with the new year), but the wife is getting sick of our old 2nd car and is itching to replace it.

The issue is she's rabid about getting an electric car. As I've pointed out to her, there's still a premium to be paid for them at this point. I may have talked her into the idea of starting with a plug-in hybrid for now, and then a few years down the road replacing our current primary car with a full EV; that way we have a car with unlimited range still (the PEV), but both cars are primarily working off the electrical grid.

My question would be if your x-plan pins also cover the Energi models (and for that matter the Focus EV) - we're taking a close look at the C-Max Energi. I love the looks of the new Fusion, but with 2 kids I suspect the storage capacities of the C-Max fit our needs better, and obviously the difference in price is significant.

Thanks in advance!

[SackAttack]

I'm in the market for a vehicle for the first time, so this thread is now relevant to me (there may be other, more recent threads, but this is the one I could find.

Huzzah!

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

TI will NOT give my contact details to a car showroom when looking around for a car, why not - I work from home and have better things to do than answer pointless calls from a car dealership .... if I want to buy from you then I'd be in your dealership writing a cheque, if I'm not then I'm not buying or have gone elsewhere thank you very much.

I set up a brand new Google Voice number, and set it to not forward calls to the cell phone # I had to provide. New Gmail account. Sure, I'll give you my contact info, but it's the curated stuff. You can email me/call me all you want, but I'll only see it when I'm good and effin' ready, thank you. How well that works, we'll see as I go through the process.

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Anybody here have any thoughts on the "small" or "crossover" type SUV's? Based on Consumer Reports ratings, it looks like the Toyota Rav4, Honda CR-V, and Nissan Murano have the best rating. As many of you know, I am disgusted with Mazda in general and have been looking for a new car more or less since I bought my 3 in 2007. While I'm not excited to have a car payment again, this is a good time for me to try to take the plunge, since I'm getting ready to have back surgery and will do better with a car I don't have to duck to get into.

Thanks as always to this community that offers more information than even my best Google-fu can usually turn up...
/tk

"Crossover" SUVs are what the lady and I are looking at, and that's almost verbatim the list we've been examining. Not as much the CR-V as yet, but the RAV4, the Murano, and from Hyundai, the Tucson and Santa Fe have been on our radar. I would be over the moon if we could make a RAV4 Hybrid happen on our budget but, well...we'll have to see.

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

My wife looked at the smaller crossovers last cycle, and her conclusion was they were caught in between the benefits of both. They didn't give her the safe "feel" of the Tahoe she got out of. The certainly cant haul as many people or tow as much (I dont suspect either is an issue to you?) they didnt handle as well or get as good as gas mileage as a car, and the surprising thing was the mid size cars with an actual trunk actually have more room for storage (shopping bags in her case) than the cute utes.

Kinda depends on the crossover and what chassis it's built on. Some of them are on passenger car chassis (chasses?) and others have the truck underpinning them.

The Hybrid RAV4 has some pretty impressive MPG, and even the gas variant isn't awful, but obviously this is 5 years after that post, so.

So anyway, we're looking at the crossovers, and our list right now basically looks like:

Test driven:

RAV4
Santa Fe
Tucson

Not test driven yet:
CR-V
Murano

Jenny wants but I'm leery as hell of:
Explorer

Back story on that last one is that shitty treatment at the Ford dealership on a warranty issue with my first (only) vehicle soured me on the entire company. She loves the cabin size on the Explorer and wants us to take one for a test drive, but I also suspect that the only way to get the Explorer into our budget would be to go used AND have it be older/higher mileage since it's got a higher MSRP than the other models we've been looking at.

I've been fiddling around with TrueCar and I'm aware of Edmunds and CarMax, but as this is my first bite at the apple, any advice for how to maximize the ride while minimizing the cost is appreciated.

We anticipate being able to pay for the vehicle in full at the time of purchase, so financing isn't necessary (and I don't think either of our credit scores would get us the really great financing terms). It's just a matter of finding the vehicle that has most or all of the features we want without blowing a hole in the budget.

[cartman]

My mom just got a VW Tiguan. Haven't seen it yet, but they are coming down this weekend. It seems to be a solid contender in the CUV space.

[Silver Owl]

FWIW, I have a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe that still runs great. Its probably the best car I have owned as far as reliability. I would definitely check them out if they are on your list.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Silver Owl

FWIW, I have a 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe that still runs great. Its probably the best car I have owned as far as reliability. I would definitely check them out if they are on your list.

We did a test drive and liked the car. I don't know if it's #2 or #3 on our list right now, but it's up there.

My guess is it goes something like:

#1: RAV4 Hybrid
#2: RAV4 gasoline/Santa Fe
#4: Tucson
#5: Explorer?
#6: Murano
#7: wild card!

Past the top coupla there the options are "if the budget ends up not being there for the top choices." We still have to test drive the Explorer, so who knows. It might move up the list. I suspect it won't because Jenny has liked the RAV4 and the Santa Fe, both of which offer better pricing and gas mileage than the Explorer. Also, I'm kinda inimically opposed to purchasing Ford vehicles again after my dealership experience with warranty repairs on my Ranger.

But who knows.

[Honolulu_Blue]

If anyone is ever interested in a GM vehicle - Chevy, Buick, GMC, or Cadillac - I can get you a discount. An good one, if you're trading in an GM vehicle, a great one if you're trading in some other OEM's vehicle.

That's all!

[Izulde]

I'll be looking through this thread once I finally get off my rear and turn my temps into an actual license, so I can finally shave off the $600+ a month I spend on Lyft and be able to do a lot more socially. A lot of times I skip social events because I'm like that's $20-30 just to get there and back, so nah, I'll just stay home with the dog.

[rjolley]

We've had Hondas for the past decade and they've been great. I got a new Pilot last year after having my 2008 Pilot for 10. It was a great car, but developed an issue that would've potentially been more expensive to fix than the car was worth.

My wife got her CR-V at the same time and is still driving it with no plans to replace it. When we finally do, it'll be for another CR-V or possibly a Passport, which sits between a CR-V and a Pilot.

Before I got the new Pilot, I looked at other SUVs and the Pilot provided the best reliability and features for the cost.

Good friends of ours just got a new Mazda CR-9 and love it. I believe they replaced a Murano that was at the end of the lease.