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| auto loans/buying a new vehicle? (Read 270 times) |
shyrunner07 |
posted: 7/30/2007 at 1:35 AM |
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.  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.... |
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| view log Runs With Snowplows |
posted: 7/30/2007 at 1:50 AM |
| Quote from modal on 7/30/2007 at 1:47 AM: 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....
k |
Kirsten
• Ladies Locker Room •
.: 2008 Goals :.
• Run 1500 miles
• October 5 - 1st marathon - Milwaukee Lakefront - in my home state of WI
• PRs: 5k ~ 15k ~ 25k
• 1st trail race |
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shyrunner07 |
posted: 7/30/2007 at 2:17 AM |
i don't think "new" would be in our horizon for a while.... 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... 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
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| view log Runs With Snowplows |
posted: 7/30/2007 at 2:35 AM |
| Quote from shyrunner07 on 7/30/2007 at 2:17 AM: 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 |
Kirsten
• Ladies Locker Room •
.: 2008 Goals :.
• Run 1500 miles
• October 5 - 1st marathon - Milwaukee Lakefront - in my home state of WI
• PRs: 5k ~ 15k ~ 25k
• 1st trail race |
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| view log Swadvad |
posted: 7/30/2007 at 1:24 PM |
| 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. |
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| view log Blaine Moore |
posted: 7/30/2007 at 3:26 PM |
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
I just started using Twitter - anybody else on there? http://twitter.com/RunToWin
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| view log Runs With Snowplows |
posted: 7/30/2007 at 3:28 PM |
| Quote from Davdaws on 7/30/2007 at 1:24 PM: 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. |
Kirsten
• Ladies Locker Room •
.: 2008 Goals :.
• Run 1500 miles
• October 5 - 1st marathon - Milwaukee Lakefront - in my home state of WI
• PRs: 5k ~ 15k ~ 25k
• 1st trail race |
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| view log Swadvad |
posted: 7/30/2007 at 3:55 PM |
| Quote from Run To Win on 7/30/2007 at 3:26 PM: 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!!!) |
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posted: 7/30/2007 at 4:58 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. 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.  |
"You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast.
These are some good times so take a good look around.
You may not know it now but you're gonna miss this" ~ Trace Adkins
RunningAhead.com Texas Independence Relay Team
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| view log Swadvad |
posted: 7/30/2007 at 5:48 PM
modified: 7/30/2007 at 6:06 PM |
Quote from Mississippi on 7/30/2007 at 4:44 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. |
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posted: 7/30/2007 at 8:08 PM |
Quote from modal on 7/30/2007 at 6:50 PM:You need a scope shot on the horse too!
*gasp*
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"You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast.
These are some good times so take a good look around.
You may not know it now but you're gonna miss this" ~ Trace Adkins
RunningAhead.com Texas Independence Relay Team
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