RunningAHEAD - Topic: auto loans/buying a new vehicle?

shyrunner07

posted: 7/29/2007 at 9:35 PM

Never had to deal with this in the past, so my knowledge is zip zero zilch... We own 2 cars (pontiac grand am/prix) which are both getting up in age (one is a 99 and the other is a 91). Lately the 91 has become more unreliable than i'd like...don't really want to pump in any more money than what we really have to into it. Got a mailing from a local auto dealership this week...pretty standard "visit our website to see how much credit you qualify for" kinda thing. Roll eyes

Normally I just toss them right into the shredder, but maybe this is the time to start considering purchasing a new(er) car. What should I look for, in terms of financing? I'm pretty sure the interest would be steep, right? and then there's the issue of the vehicle itself...omg, i have no idea what on earth we should be looking for. I saw on the dealer's website a 2000 Chevy Blazer with 97k miles- is that still do-able, or would milage like that mean that the car would crap out in the near future? What do you look for when you see the initial description of the vehicle in print? What about test driving...how does that work? /complete and total dork when it comes to cars most likely, i'll probably just wind up cancelling my appt and we'll just stick it out wtih the cars that we do have....

modal

posted: 7/29/2007 at 9:47 PM
modified: 7/29/2007 at 9:52 PM

You have an early 90's grand am with high mileage? Shocked

I push buying a used Japanese car (Civic/Accord/Corrolla/Camry). You may want to check out... http://www.fightingchance.com/ http://www.edmunds.com http://www.familycar.com Book on buying cars http://tinyurl.com/32jaem Member of a Wholesale Club? Check out their buying programs http://www.costco.com/ http://www.samsclub.com Got questions? Google.com probably has answers but always make sure you have some idea where the information is coming from.

Vim

zoom-zoom

rectumdamnnearkilledem

posted: 7/29/2007 at 9:50 PM

Quote from modal on 7/29/2007 at 9:47 PM:

I push buying a used Japanese car (Civic/Accord/Corrolla/Camry).

Ditto. And think about fuel efficiency for certain, too. A Japanese mid-size sedan would be a great car for VERY high miles in most cases. Though if you went new, now is the time to find an '07 clearance model on a lot. A Mazda might be nice.... Smile

k

Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

~ Sarah Kay

modal

posted: 7/29/2007 at 9:54 PM
modified: 7/29/2007 at 9:54 PM

Quote from zoom-zoom on 7/29/2007 at 9:50 PM:

A Mazda might be nice....

If you want to be advertising Zoom-Zoom's RA screen name all over your local....

Vim

shyrunner07

posted: 7/29/2007 at 10:17 PM

i don't think "new" would be in our horizon for a while.... Tongue

Though i would love a car like yours K...roomy and sporty.... thanks for the links modal- so much to sift out online, it's very dizzying! The ones you posted should give me a head start in figuring out what i should need to know... Smile

Yep, our 91 has 175k miles. It's a good car for the most part...but it'd be nice to have a car where i don't have to wonder before putting the key in "will you start today Blue?"...lol

zoom-zoom

rectumdamnnearkilledem

posted: 7/29/2007 at 10:35 PM

Quote from shyrunner07 on 7/29/2007 at 10:17 PM:

Though i would love a car like yours K...roomy and sporty....

You know, the 3 first came out in '04. I'll bet you could find a nice used one if you started looking--but they go really fast, so you may want to get an idea of exactly what you are looking for, price range, etc, then give your list to a dealer and let them do a search. Crown Motors was OK to deal with. Other models that would be similar to our car would be the Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix (same car--mostly Toyota guts). Those are all over the place, so you'd likely have no problem finding a used one. k

Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

~ Sarah Kay

Davdaws

Swadvad

posted: 7/30/2007 at 9:24 AM

Don't buy a new car. They lose too much value on the front end. You pay $20,000 for a new car and two months later you owe $20,000 on it, but the blue book value is only $14,000. If you yearn for a newer car, try to find a low mileage, one or two year old car. Our current "soccer mom" van had 15,000 miles and was just over a year old. It looked brand new to us and has been a good vehicle. It was being used as a loaner vehicle by the dealership body shop. The blue book value has always been equal to, or more than what we owe on it. Just a suggestion.

Run To Win

#2867

posted: 7/30/2007 at 11:26 AM

Save money, pay cash. Not having a car payment is great. Look for something with 10k-30k miles that is only 1-3 years old. You'll get a much better deal than if you tried buying new.

Run to Win
25 Marathons, 17 Ultras, 16 States (Full List)

zoom-zoom

rectumdamnnearkilledem

posted: 7/30/2007 at 11:28 AM

Quote from Davdaws on 7/30/2007 at 9:24 AM:

Don't buy a new car. They lose too much value on the front end. You pay $20,000 for a new car and two months later you owe $20,000 on it, but the blue book value is only $14,000.

True...unless you buy new and keep the car for its entire lifespan, as we do. Then we want exactly what we want upfront, since we tend to drive our cars for a minimum of 15 years--that's a long time to be saddled without features you want. We also drive manual transmission vehicles, which are hard to find at all on dealer lots (used or new), much less without the vehicle being bare bones. Buying a newer car is generally good advice, but there are exceptions to that.

Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

~ Sarah Kay

Davdaws

Swadvad

posted: 7/30/2007 at 11:55 AM

Quote from Run To Win on 7/30/2007 at 11:26 AM:

Save money, pay cash. Not having a car payment is great.

GREAT advice. ALWAYS the best way to go. Debt is like a prison sentence. It limits your ability to have control over your life. (A current sore spot with me. I should have made better decisions a few years ago. Doh!!!)

Mississippi

posted: 7/30/2007 at 12:44 PM
modified: 7/30/2007 at 12:45 PM

Once again - I like your avatar! Smile

Not so much a fan of this one though.... Sad

Michelle

Mississippi

posted: 7/30/2007 at 12:58 PM

It helps to have an ex-husband in upper management at a Toyota dealership - getting a car at inventory cost helps lessen the pain of the monthly payment. Smile

At least that is how my husband feels after just buying a fully loaded 2007 Corolla from my ex. I think we put $1000 down and the monthly payment is $300 for 5 years. More than he wanted but it could have been worse. My mini-van we did buy used though, back in 2001, it was financially safer to put down $2000 and then have payments that weren't all that big. The van is now paid off and still going fairly strong. My next vehicle will be a Toyota. Big grin

Michelle

Davdaws

Swadvad

posted: 7/30/2007 at 1:48 PM
modified: 7/30/2007 at 2:06 PM

Quote from Mississippi on 7/30/2007 at 12:44 PM:

Not so much a fan of this one though....

What's wrong with "Buckzilla?" I put that up to see who would comment first. I thought Jeffgoblue would like that, after his posts about killing Fred the 1000 pound hog.

modal

posted: 7/30/2007 at 2:50 PM
modified: 7/30/2007 at 2:53 PM

You need a scope shot on the horse too! Big grin

Excellent meat! I tried it for the first time in May. They used to slaughter horse locally for international consumers, but too many people were griping so I believe they moved out. Dude, what happened to the scope shot on the buck's head? Sad

Vim

Mississippi

posted: 7/30/2007 at 4:08 PM

Quote from modal on 7/30/2007 at 2:50 PM:

You need a scope shot on the horse too!

*gasp*

Michelle

auto loans/buying a new vehicle? (Read 766 times)