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Midsize Sedans 2.0

18220 messages,  Last post on May 24, 2013 at 7:58 AM

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What is this discussion about? Hyundai Sonata, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, Volkswagen Passat, Mazda MAZDA6, Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Malibu, Kia Optima, Car Comparisons, Sedan

Messages Page 1490 of 1823

#14883 of 18220 Re: It's sort of like... [jimbres] by acdii

Apr 23, 2010 (6:43 am)

Replying to: jimbres (Apr 23, 2010 6:08 am)
I guess I am in that 20% bracket. I have purchased 5 new vehicles since 2007, and haven't lost money, or rolled payments over on any of them, in fact my last two purchases have reduced my monthly payments. I started with a Prius, fine car for what it is, but we didn't like it, and quickly outgrew it. There were certain safety issues we had with the car that my wife refused to drive it. We traded it for a Hyundai Veracruz, which was more practical for us with having 3 kids, and not wanting a minivan. We kept that for 2 years, and only got rid of it recently after driving it in a snow storm and having an unpleasant experience with it being FWD. Had it been AWD, we would still own it. The trade on the Prius paid off the balance we owed on the loan, plus equity we had in it paid off the difference between what we owed and what was worth on a 2001 Crown Vic that we also traded, so the the amount financed on the Veracruz, was just for the Veracruz, no rolling over any loans. When we traded in the Veracruz, we got more than we owed on it, the resale value on the Veracruz was surprisingly very high(and it's a Hyundai!), and I got a very sweet deal on a 2010 Flex Ecoboost. After we had the Veracruz for a while and not having a second car, we found, not having two cars was a handicap where we live, so I found a sweet deal on a Camry Hybrid, and snapped it up, and after 16 months of ownership, we found too many things wrong with it, and a deal for a Fusion Sport came across my plate, and again, I got what was owed on the Camry, and got the Sport, at 0% financing. Between the Flex and the Sport my monthly payments dropped over $150.
 
The funny thing is, the car that I have been looking for since 2006 happens to be the 2010 Fusion Sport, there was no car on the market like it until late last year, and I really like the Ford. We both really liked the Hyundai, but we could not find an AWD version of it for a price we were willing to pay, and on a whim, test drove the Flex and we both really liked it, and once we test drove the Ecoboost, I really fell in love with it, it is the perfect family car for us, so chances of us trading out either of these cars in the next few years is very slim. All in all I actually have made money trading in the Prius and Veracruz, I had an extended warranty on the Prius that I got $1400 back on, when I only paid $800 for it, (a whole other story there), and the Veracruz was overpaid on the payoff so I got an additional $550 back on it.
 
Unless Ford makes a Fusion Sport with a rally suspension and Ecoboost, I don't see me getting rid of the Sport for quite some time, it is too much fun to drive, and so is the Flex. When you put 500 miles a week on, and spend at least 2+ hours a day behind the wheel, you want a car that is comfortable, and fun, not boring and anemic like the Toyota's were.

#14884 of 18220 Re: It's sort of like... [bhmr59] by syitalian25

Apr 23, 2010 (6:57 am)

Replying to: bhmr59 (Apr 22, 2010 9:11 pm)
Well if your car has a decent amount of miles on it, there always comes a time when it would be much nicer to have a new one. You could even trade it in for the same model, only new (that's what I did with the Sonata) and it has been nothing but a serious upgrade. If the resale on the original Sonata hadn't been so terrible my payments would have went up only slightly for a much better overall car. I wouldn't wear a 10 year old pair of sneakers, no matter how awesome they were at the time, and I'm not driving a 10 year old car either.

#14885 of 18220 Re: It's sort of like... [acdii] by temj12

Apr 23, 2010 (8:32 am)

Replying to: acdii (Apr 23, 2010 6:43 am)
What do you like about the Fusion Sport? I recently purchased a 2008 Ford Fusion SEL with the V6. I had been driving a 2005 Honda Accord. We bought it as an extra car. I love the car and the way it drives. The service record for this vehicle is really good. I am considering buying a 2010 Fusion Sport. The salesman says that the 3.5 liter V6 is really quick. Have you driven the 3 liter V6 for a comparison?

#14886 of 18220 Re: It's sort of like... [temj12] by akirby

Apr 23, 2010 (9:21 am)

Replying to: temj12 (Apr 23, 2010 8:32 am)
The sport is significantly quicker according to testers (should be - has about 40 more hp) plus improvements in almost every other area for all the 2010 models. You won't be disappointed.

#14887 of 18220 Re: It's sort of like... [akirby] by thegraduate

Apr 23, 2010 (9:23 am)

Replying to: akirby (Apr 23, 2010 9:21 am)
I think it's a 23 hp difference (240 to 263) if I recall correctly.
 
The Sport should run solidly in the mid 6s; the heavier '08-'09 Taurus with the same powertrain, assuming FWD, could make it in just under 7 seconds. Plenty potent.

#14888 of 18220 Re: It's sort of like... [acdii] by jimbres

Apr 23, 2010 (9:24 am)

Replying to: acdii (Apr 23, 2010 6:43 am)
Reading your post made me dizzy. We - my wife & I - have purchased a grand total of 6 cars in the last 25 years. We currently have the last 3 in our household fleet.

#14889 of 18220 Re: It's sort of like... [temj12] by acdii

Apr 23, 2010 (10:51 am)

Replying to: temj12 (Apr 23, 2010 8:32 am)
I like the way it rides, handles and performs. I test drove all models of Fusion, the Sport handles the best and is pretty damn quick for a 4 door family sedan of it's price range. There is only 1 gripe I have with it, the seat bottom could be a bit longer, my left leg tends to cramp up due to where the stitching presses against the tendon behind my knee, but only the Sport seat is set this way, the others the stitching is a bit further forward. I may in the future just have the bottom reupholstered to be more comfortable, but it is not anything that would make me not want the car. Had this car been around back in 2007 when I first bought the Prius, I would have purchased it then and would have about 90K or more miles on it by now. I got it late September last year and have just under 15k on it already. I do have an issue with a warped brake rotor, but I will have it serviced when I go in for the 15K mile maintenance. I probably warped it stopping from 115 MPH
 
As for the number of cars I have owned since the early 80's, too many to count! LOL I have owned Vega's, GM's, Chryslers, Mazda's, Isuzu's, Toyota's, Fords, Honda's, but never a Nissan. The best car I ever owned had to have been the 1992 Crown Vic with performance package. It was a sweet ride, too bad it started to rust. What I like about the Fusion Sport is it reminds me so much of that car, just in a smaller package, and it handles better only because it is smaller and lighter than the Vic, but that car had a very nice ride, lots of power, and handled real well for a car of it's size.
 
If the Fusion Sport doesn't make someone happy to drive it, then they are in the wrong car, or just need another 10K to spend on one that will.

#14890 of 18220 Re: It's sort of like... [jimbres] by jeffyscott

Apr 23, 2010 (12:02 pm)

Replying to: jimbres (Apr 23, 2010 9:24 am)
We have bought 8 vehicles in 25 years. 3 of these were used. 2 of the used ones were bought for our kids to use. We also still have the last 3 of those that were bought new.
 
I'm not too sure about the way acdii thinks about money, given this statement: haven't lost money, or rolled payments over on any of them, in fact my last two purchases have reduced my monthly payments.
 
I don't really know what "rolled payments" even means. I think it is unlikely, to say the least, that he traded the cars in for more than he paid, so I am not sure what the claim of "not losing money" actually means. He seems to be one who thinks not in terms of how much something costs, but instead how much it costs per month...so not losing money probably just means the car did not depreciate faster than he paid off the loans.

#14891 of 18220 Re: It's sort of like... [syitalian25] by jeffyscott

Apr 23, 2010 (12:11 pm)

Replying to: syitalian25 (Apr 22, 2010 6:35 pm)
That still seems high to me. 18,500 per year would be 92,500 mi in 5 years. Would a 5 year old Sonata with that many miles on it really have a value of $8500?
 
Edmunds is showing me more like $6000 for a 2005 with 92,500 miles...and that's for selling it yourself. Trade in is even lower, well under $5K.
 
(BTW 18,500 miles per year is well above average, I think the average driver puts something like 12-13,000 miles on)

#14892 of 18220 Re: It's sort of like... [jeffyscott] by acdii

Apr 23, 2010 (1:49 pm)

Replying to: jeffyscott (Apr 23, 2010 12:02 pm)
By not losing money, I mean, I paid for the cars use, and when I traded it, I didn't owe more than what I got for it, hence no money lost.
 
If you lease a car, at the end of the lease you turn it in. You pay for the car's depreciation through a lease. Basically this is what I did, just not by leasing the car. Needless to say I just got lucky that the cars all held high resale values so that when I traded in the cars they did not have any negative equity in them. When you trade in a car, any negative equity, that is money in which the car is worth less than what is held by the bank note, is what you either have to pay off upfront, or roll it into the next car loan. So lets say the car you finance is 28K, the trade is worth 22K, you owe 24K, that extra 2K you either need to pay off right then, or add it to the loan of the next car, so you finance a 28K car for 30K. This is where you wind up totally upside down on a car loan, somewhere you don't want to be, and in most cases is where you wind up on a used car loan due to the higher finance charges. In all my trades I was in the equal or positive category, no negative equity on any of them. This is basically where you wind up if you lease a car.
 
In all the cases except the Prius, The money I paid out went towards depreciation of the car, since I put on a lot of miles, the cars depreciate fast, hence the short turnaround times between cars, if I still drove the Prius, it would be in negative equity territory, where I would owe more on it that its market value. I got rid of it when it still had decent market value, same with the Camry Hybrid and Hyundai Veracruz. The main difference between the way I have been doing it and a true lease, once I hit the mile limit on the leased car, it would have to be parked until the lease ends, or pay a large penalty for excess mileage. I have also been able to negotiate some really good deals on the cars, and I keep my cars in pristine shape, which helps tremendously when it comes time to trade them. The Prius and Veracruz were like new when I traded them, the Camry had some body damage from a storm, and a horse, so I got lucky that I got payoff on it in the trade, which took some heavy negotiations.

Messages Page 1490 of 1823

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