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Smart Shopper Selecting and Buying My First Car
764 messages, Last post on Aug 17, 2009 at 12:29 PM
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| As wonderful as TMV sounds, it's pretty useless when dealing in the Canadian market, with Canadian prices that aren't a simple exchange rate relative to American prices. | |
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Replying to: jezebel (Mar 26, 2005 10:15 pm) The question that I would pose to you is do you really need a new vehicle. Sure, it means that your payment streams will be more regular as you will spend less in the early years of ownership on repairs. On the other hand, it can be very expensive for people starting out, especially if they are carrying significant amounts of university debt (more of a problem in the US). Personally, I recommend purchasing a 2-3 year old used vehicle. Generally, the people who do BEST in the car purchase process are those who do their homework upfront. If you read this board for very long, you will see dozens of messages that go like .."I bought a new 2004 Blahmobile and gosh, I really hate the car... how do I get out of a four year lease ..." Good luck.
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Replying to: jlawrence01 (Mar 27, 2005 3:18 pm) Is that north of Oklahoma City? Didn't understand you were in Canada. You probably won't run into any snake-oil car salemen in that great country.... A read of Consumer Reports annual digest, the automobile section, would still be a good idea. And I would think your libraries would have a copy. |
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If you don't mind a used car, try looking for a clean, low mileage 2-3 year old used car. Those will generally be the best value as they still have some warranty left and the first owner has taken a substansial wave of depreciation. If you really want, instead of buying an new car, you could try on a certified pre-owned entry-level luxury car. Acuras, Infinitis and Lexuses should be fairly reliable, although resale for a Lexus is outrageously high. Remember to pre-arrange financing and make sure you don't buy unnecessary extras- disability insurance, rustproofing, protection packages, etc. |
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Yeah, of course I will consider used cars.. and certainly I have more research to do, so I can't say for sure what will happen.. But at this point, I'm definitely attracted to a newer car. One major reason is that I tend to have strong devotion to certain cars. In high school, I was in love with the last model Civic, but the new one does nothing for me. If I bought an older Civic, I'd have to get a 2000 or earlier model, and even then, that car has been going downhill since its 1997 model. Between 2000 and 2004, there was a lull with no real car that did everything for me - some were attractive, but didn't have the quality to necessarily back it up. Finally, Mazda brought out their new 3, and this is exactly what I would buy if my finances were right. There's a possibility I could find a one-year-old car for sale, but in Canada, where these cars are really popular, that's highly unlikely. Besides that, I probably wouldn't buy a used Mazda 3, because then I'd be stuck with a car from the first production year - which is probably going to cost more in the long run (eg, the malfunctioning airconditioner is already a major problem). I don't want a luxury car (the increase in insurance - which is VERY expensive in Canada - and gas would more than make up for the savings of buying a used car). I don't know anyone who can really help me deal with the shady used car market. And most importantly, I'm primarily interested in import cars (Mazda almost certainly, but I would look at Toyota, Hyundai - or even Honda to use mostly as a bargaining chip with dealers), and the depreciation on these cars is very minimal in the first few years. Especially in the Canadian market, where small cars like Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, and Mazda 3 are very popular on the resale market.. a year-old Japanese car will likely go for close to base MSRP for a new car - you only save the air tax, freight, PDI etc... So maybe this is pretty particular to the market, but as practical as a used car may seem, I can't convince myself it's actually worth any of the trouble.. Especially since I would want to get a cellphone in case of a breakdown, which is an added expense since I otherwise don't need one, but would be regularly traveling on a highway through unpopulated areas every time I go home to visit my parents. So in the long run, the savings aren't nearly as much as one might find in, say, buying a 2 year old Impala or Lexus.
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Replying to: jezebel (Mar 27, 2005 5:29 pm) You are going to need a cell phone in any vehicle if you are going to do any significant travel through unpopulated areas. New cars break down occasionally while they are under warranty. I have a fleet of about 15 cars in the fleet that I manage, most under warranty, and we have several breakdowns each year where we take them into dealerships. Besides, you might run out of gas, hot a patch of ice, or strike a deer on the 401. Been there, done that. In fact, I just missed hitting a bear outside of Eganville, ON last summer. Dealing with the shady used car dealers? Look on the APA website (www.apa.ca) where they look at some of the Canadian NEW car dealers and you may be surprised that you will find some pretty dubious practices. My approach in dealing with any car salesman is "Trust but verify." If I am going to buy ANY used car, I send it to my mechanic and have him look at the car. I want him to look for any potential problems. I also want him to make me a list of repairs that I will need to make to bring the car into spec. For example, if he finds transmission issues, I won't buy the car. If he sees that the tires are in bad shape, I will reduce the price that I am willing to pay for the vehicle. I do not buy new cars for my personal use as my cost per mile would be much higher. I would have to pay 1) higher sales taxes, 2) higher insurance rates, and a 3) a much higher acquisition cost. We pay cash for vehicles so financing is not an issue. Our concern with buying new is that we like to put our personal capital into appreciating assets (think RRSPs) rather than assets that lose value pretty quickly. Over 20 years, our cost per mile has been well under US$0.25, well under the costs of a new vehicle. |
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Replying to: bolivar (Mar 26, 2005 11:32 pm) |
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Consider a no-haggle dealer. They're perfect for someone that might feel inexperienced or intimidated by profession salespeople who do this every single day. More importantly I've had a pleasant experience with these and focused on picking the right car instead of the right price. Strongly recommended. Fitzmall.com in the DC area has several brands, FWIW. -juice |
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Replying to: jezebel (Mar 27, 2005 5:29 pm) If you don't mind driving a so-so car, you might want to try Saturn. Being a GM brand, it'll carry the typical boatload of incentives that GM likes to toss on its so-so cars. But the upside of Saturn is that their dealerships are friendly and courteous, almost like Lexus dealers. You won't get ripped off but what you gain in service you trade off in the actual product. The ION is so-so and the VUE, according to CR, is unreliable. |
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ALL car dealerships can be "no haggle". Just pay the asking price! Nothing special with these stores. Seriously, all of the information needed to avoid getting "ripped off" can be found right here in these forums. |
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