Used Car

[snafu]

We never buy new anymore as the depreciation for 2 years is too high. A lot of lease-back cars can be a good deal as the contracts require lease holders to follow maintenance, keep within contracted mileage perimeters and take care of the body.

If you decide to buy new, I suggest you ask for upgraded tires. The tires on many new vehicles are the lowest grade possible, not available to consumers. If you are attracted by the 0% financing, pay particular attention to fees and other names for putting their hands in your pocket.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Interesting point about upgrading used. I have no idea I'm not sure what I want used even to be honestly. But I thinking that cars off lease were too new for the price range I was hoping to keep to of $5 to $10k.

[baconexplosion]

I don't deal with dealerships any more. There is no need to pay for markup... Buying from a private party is usually cheaper.

The biggest tip in my book is to stay home if you have "car fever." If you are chomping at the bit to get a new car, you'll pay too much.

Take your time and shop wisely!

[johna]

We always check edmunds.com for for car values and reviews. Always get a carfax. If buying from a dealer, they should provide one for free.

[cschin4]

I would just say that a used car isn't always the best deal. It can be. But, you can overpay for a used car as well. And, there are bennies to buying new. So, really consider your own situation, how long you tend to keep a car and so forth before deciding. There are also newer safety features. For instance, i upgraded and bought my new Sienna a few years back because i wanted to ensure that i would have side impact airbags as i transport my kids in it. You should make those things part of your shopping list as well. And, my front seat has a sensor which turns off the airbag if someone is too light as well. It isn't only about the price.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Good points about new cars. You can overpay either way. Safety features are the main reason for the newer car.

[nick__45]

Originally Posted by artwest

We just bought a used car last May. A 2006 Dodge Stratus with 29,000 mile on it for $9900.

Here is what we did. We searched on the internet for cars in our area. We had a definite price so we looked at cars in that price range or slightly higher (with the idea of negotiating the price down).

We found this Stratus at a local dealer. It was listed slightly higher than we wanted to pay but we went in to look at it anyway. The salesman came out an talked to us and made an offer. We told him "thanks, but that's not good enough". That was true, it wasn't in our price range and we were in no hurry to buy a car. He took us into his office and made a couple of more offers and we kept telling him that wasn't good enough. We were getting ready to leave and he asked us if we would talk to the manager. The manager took the car that we were going to trade in for a test drive, he came back and made us another offer. Again it wasn't good enough. Finally the manager made a final offer. It was in our price range so we finally made a deal. We paid $300 more than the initial price that we said we would pay (we kept it low knowing we would probably raise it some) and they deducted $1700 from their original offer.

Why the heck did the manager take the car for a test drive? Was he going to tell you he'll buy it himself or something? Or is it possible that he took it out for that Italian tune-up before letting you have it. A lot of idiots at car dealership and rental place are certified in performing Italian tune-up. I have seen it happened in front of managers and nobody cares.

[Frügal]

First of all, you need to have your future vehicle make and model (sometimes year, as well) chosen ahead of time.

When my wife and I were looking into getting a new car while I was away in the Army, we both did loads of research. We browsed Craigslist and similar sites (such as cars.com) for cars in our price range. I had a few things that were a MUST:
Manual transmission
4 cyl, no larger than 2.0 litre
4 doors
No more than 50k miles
No more than $6,000

Some may think this asking just too much. Au contraire, my friends!

What we found was quite a few Ford Focus vehicles in our price range. (Keep in mind, we looked at vehicle ~$2,000 over our budget as well, as prices can always be negotiated.) Some were good deals. Others, not so much. You can usually tell by the images. Others have to be seen in person. How do they keep the environment that the car is sitting in? Are there things piled up in the corner of the driveway? Chances are they do not take very good care of their vehicles...

Since the Ford Focus was the vehicle that was mostly in our range, we did some more research on it, and on the company. Turns out that the 2007 Ford Focus was an especially good year. Minimal issues. Good resale value of $11,500 (at the time), and great mechanical quality. (We used Edmunds.com for most of our research, as they have user reviews and quality ratings. Here it is: 2007 Ford Focus ZX4 S 2.0L 4-cyl. 5-speed Manual Reliability)

We used KBB to determine the suggested retail price (as this was from a dealership): Kelley Blue Book (Current suggested retail is over $8,000)

The car was being offered at $6,500. Seeing as how this was - at the time - $4,000 under retail, my wife asked why. They mentioned the car had a 'rebuilt' title. This means the vehicle was 'totaled'. This does not necessarily mean that it was careened off the road, flipped, and otherwise maimed. This just means that the assessed damage to the vehicle was quoted (by the insurance company, where quotes are ALWAYS high) as exceeding half of the value of the car's resale value, if it were to be repaired. This means that, at the time, the repairs were quoted at being more than $5,000. This is easy to do, when considering the accident: Rear-ended, forcing the front of the vehicle into the vehicle in front of it. Airbags were not deployed.

So, both bumpers had to be replaced, hood and trunk re-aligned, grille replaced, etc.

This car, however, had everything we wanted: A/C, power windows and locks (I wanted manual), no cruise, manual transmission, four doors, 2.0L engine (which I pump 40 mpg out of, even though it is only rated at 23), and less than 50k miles (had 29,800 when we got it a year ago!).

After having called me and doing some research, my wife walked into the dealership the next day and said exactly this: "We will not pay more than $5,500 for the car, including tax, doc fees, etc. We have $1,250 down, and we want less than 15% financing." And that is just what we got. (Of course, when I got home, we explored more options, and got the interest down to 4.99%.)

---

Basically, it comes down to this...

DO YOUR RESEARCH

Do not purchase a vehicle just because it is in your price range, or because it looks nice, or because it feels good when you drive it. (Shoot, my wife couldn't even drive stick, was 9 months pregnant, and had to have one of her friends drive it home!)

Purchase a GOOD vehicle. See that Edmunds page for our car that I linked? See all those green check marks? Ya... Get a car like THAT!

If you do your research, and ignore your temptations, I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

Edit: I forgot to mention...
A great resource for purchasing vehicles, is enthusiast forums. When I look into buying a Mini Cooper, for instance, I look at MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring
Enthusiasts take VERY good care of their vehicles. These vehicles tend to be in like-new condition, and have super low mileage.