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Smart Shopper What's the best vehicle for my needs?
1145 messages, Last post on Sep 17, 2009 at 12:59 PM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
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Replying to: shawbeg (Jan 24, 2009 6:28 am) **** 14-16K for a used vehicle that has good features and handling? Even the smallest Mercedes gives the basic imports a real thrashing. Now, the Mazda 5 is a nice car, to be honest. But there are tons of alternatives. I just don't personally like driving a jellybean MazHonToy sedan. All the soul of a rental car, to be honest. Note - I'm avoiding the entire diesel thing entirely, as that currently leaves you VW, which are well, not quite the most reliable vehicles.(the new ones are fine, but way out of your budget) Other choices that you might consider are the Honda Fit. Why? Because with the rear seat able to recline as it does, the legroom is enormous. Seriously, it has the rear legroom of a Buick. Sure, it only fits 4 in comfort, but so what? Hauls stuff pretty well, too, and the new model that just came out fixed a plethora of tiny issues. Basically the first gen Fit was brought over from Japan and the steering put on the other side - the rest of the car was still speced for Japanese driving. So the angles and mirrors and other small issues in the interior were reversed from U.S. norms. That's been fixed. Very nice car now. Then again, there's nothing wrong with a GM, either. A 1-2 year old Grand Prix can be had for about your budget. This fits 4 nicely, and while some say it's not good enough for the interior, it's no worse than any other sedan out there. ie - it may seem tacky compared to an Avalon, but it's loads nicer than a Yaris. Get the 3.8L engine. It's bulletproof and reliable. The 4 speed automatic may be a bit stodgy, but it gets good MPG(28-30mpg highway in real world driving). It's also one of the least expensive transmissions to fix as well(huge plus in my book). Half the price to fix it compared to a Camry, actually. And, since you're looking at used, the transmission is a huge factor. Plus, it has the goodies like traction control, ABS, and so on as normal equipment. (the Mercedes also has this advantage - even a bare bones luxury car has all the safety equipment). The Grand Prix also has three things that I like about it. 1 - It's stupidly low priced now. I've seen one year old models going for about what a new Yaris goes for. 2 - 100K drive train warranty starting in 2007. Get one with 20K on it and enjoy 80K more miles without worrying about it. Note- if it's certified, you can extend the factory warranty more years if you drive less. (ie - 8/120K is common and hardly any more money) 3 - The shifter is 1-2-3-4 all in a single line and dead simple to shift as such in traffic. If you remember the shifter on the old Volvos, it's identical. First, it has a legitimate first gear(most automatics now don't) - and it's easy to nudge it from first to second or hold out overdrive. Combined with the sport suspension option, it actually drives very well. It's the least obnoxious automatic in any car that I know of. It doesn't try to out-think you, doesn't have paddles/a stupid +/- or other idiocy. It has a lever and you can manually override it whenever you wish. Large, good mpg, long warranty, depreciates like a rock. Makes it a very good used value.I picked Pontiac because it's the sportiest yet least expensive version GM makes with the 3.8L engine. I plugged in $13K, any distance, and certified/used 2008 Grand Prix into Autotrader and it spit back 280 hits. $12K gave me 79 results. This is the asking price. How low you can actually haggle now if you have cash? 11K consistently. For $11K, it's an absolute steal. That buys a 5-6 year old Civic? I have driven both and while it's nice, a Civic is still an economy car. Note - that's a 40% drop in value in a *year*(22K minus 3-4K in rebates - about $18K was typical last fall on a base model)- that's most of the first decade's depreciation out of the way. Expect it to lose 1K a year after that if you do buy it for 11-12K. That's quite decent depreciation, actually.
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Replying to: shawbeg (Jan 23, 2009 11:31 am) Otherwise, Ford Freestyle, Chrysler Pacifica, most any late model domestic would still have a long life ahead of it at $15k. |
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Replying to: plekto (Jan 25, 2009 1:48 pm) |
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DH and I want to buy a minivan. now it's up for grabs on whether we really need one or not, DS was born recently and we are sort of musing over having another DC in the next year. DH is currently deployed. when he get back in May we get to move from Atlanta to Seattle. We currently have a Honda Civic and a Saturn SL2 both are 2002's or is it 2003... anywho the thing that is given us the most want for getting a minivan now instead of later is the thought of moving cross crountry in a sedan. granted all our stuff will be going by way of moving van. its just the getting of DH, DS, and I to the other side of continent that is a little concerning. if we buy a van we will sell DH's saturn Anywho we have been setting aside money to go towards a minivan for a little since it is something we knew we wanted to get at some point. basically since both out current cars are paid off we been putting aside $300 a month to "pretend" we have a payment and eventually use to go towards a down payment. So I suppose the first question I have is when to buy? DH gave me the ability to be able to buy without him and all trusting my judgement and all. I'm okay with that but i prefer not to. Or do I wait till he get back and we try to do it during the two we have in atlanta before we actually move? or do we suck it up and just wait till we get to seattle... or do we just flat out don't get a mini van? The next question is if we get one which one? Our biggest thing is Safety. but after that we don't really know. I suppose cost would be next. we are looking at $300 a month payment... $350 if we really really had to... We are leaning towards new and perhaps a Toyota, Honda, Kia, Hyuandai or Nissian. I'd like some comforts: power seat controls, tinted back windows, nothing too fancy. We aren't really fans of the wood looking stuff and prefer cloths seats to what ever the other thing is lol. hmmms not sure what else i can add... but yelp! |
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Replying to: macmacmoo (Mar 25, 2009 7:00 pm) tidester, host SUVs and Smart Shopper |
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Replying to: macmacmoo (Mar 25, 2009 7:00 pm) Might the most convenient option be to sell the Saturn now and buy the new vehicle after moving, so you do not have to drive two vehicles from Atlanta to Seatlle? It looks like all of them are pretty safe, with just some possible differences in rear crash whiplash protection (sometimes the ratings are low, just because one needs to actually have the head restraint properly adjusted) http://www.iihs.org/ratings/summary.aspx?class=80 We aren't really fans of the wood looking stuff and prefer cloths seats to what ever the other thing is lol. Good to hear and welcome to the exclusive anti-wood/anti-leather club.  .
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Replying to: macmacmoo (Mar 25, 2009 7:00 pm) Never shop for a car based on monthly payment. Only shop based on the price of the vehicle, and then determine what the monthly would be. There is big difference in how much you will end up paying at $300 per month on a 4, 5 or 6 year loan. If you shop based on monthly payments, unscrupulous dealers will take advantage of you. To calculate the monthly payment, go to bankrate.com calculators. If your husband is in the service, you can get 4% apr from the Pentagon Credit Union (penfed.com), if your credit is good. Regardless, before you go shopping get preapproved, so that you won’t be tricked into a higher apr than you qualify for. As far where to buy, if you are buying new, buy it in the state with lowest sales tax. Depending on how much you have to put down, you can get a new Honda Odyssey LX for under $22K. That’s invoice minus factory to dealer incentives. I would stay away from Kia, Hyundai or Nissan because they are not as reliable.
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Replying to: macmacmoo (Mar 25, 2009 7:00 pm) $350/month... You're looking at closer to a 6 year loan, which I never like recommending, but, in your price range should be a base Honda Odyssey LX or a Toyota Sienna LE- both fit your specs and will be solid choices for years to come. Do some research and see where pricing is more competitive; since you're comparing Atlanta and Seattle, I doubt there would be any huge supply issue with Odysseys and Siennas. If you could save a bit more for your down payment before taking the plunge, it'd definitely lower your payments and you could shorten up your loan term. Have you considered perhaps a used Toyota Sienna? The Sienna has had the same basic design since 2004 with a freshening in 2006/2007 (exterior trim changes, reshuffling of options, new wheels, and the new 3.5L engine) so if you found say, a used 2007 model, it'd be almost exactly like the new '09 model but a bit cheaper. I say wait a little bit; take a friend with you when you go test driving who's calm, cool, and controlled in buying situations to keep you in check and to keep you from doing anything rash. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I never liked anything longer than a 36 month loan, regardless of the car. |
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Replying to: exb0 (Mar 26, 2009 5:16 am) Not sure why it makes a difference, new vs used, at least in Washington you pay sales tax on either. The tax in Washington is 9%+ (it varies somewhat by city/county) AND, if you bought it recently (I think within 6 months) and payed no sales tax (as in Oregon), you have to pay the Washington sales tax when you register it. I don't know for certain, but I think that if you paid tax to a state with a lower rate, you may have to pay the difference to Washington. 
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Replying to: macmacmoo (Mar 25, 2009 7:00 pm) Odyssey is huge, lots of room, great van. Buy this is you need space above all else. Mileage is good compared to an SUV but it's no economy car. Take a look at the Mazda 5 if you don't want it TOO big. We've been really pleased at the combination of features in this vehicle and are amazed why more people don't buy it. It's very highly rated by CU as safe and reliable. The Mazda 5 is like a micro-minivan with ability to seat 6 in three rows. Definitely not as roomy as an Odyssey, it has a lot of room in a small package with outstanding visibility and maneuverability. Each second row kid gets their own captain's chair. Drives more like a sporty sedan than a minivan as it is based on the Mazda 3. Excellent crash test scores, side curtain airbags even in rear rows. Not as tall as an SUV so much reduced rollover risk. Sliding doors are great in tight parking spaces. And still a lot of room for cargo. Good mileage and a lot of content for the price. |
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