Car buying

[Steve of phpBB]

looks like we're in the market again.
the boy was in car accident on saturday night (he's ok, EMS checked him out, taking him to ortho tomorrow to get his knee checked out just in case)..
since he got his license.. 3 accidents, two totalled vehicles (guessing the mrs. volvo ain't going to make it.. all airbags deployed .. all 8 of them.. and at $2K each... better odds we get a check)

he says it wasn't his fault, and insurance said, we'll he got hit.. so probably not.. haven't seen the police report (online now, hae to wait 5 biz days, wtf)

mrs is crushed.. was the first car she owned outright.. insists we'll need a duplicate (or similar).. i'm like... hmm... i can get my bike.. we don't need two cars (kiddos in daycare 5 blocks away) we both work from home, boy is going away to school end of next week.. rather we pay down stuff, insurance will go down (in nj no less!)

who am i kidding. we're buying a car, probably by labor day. yeay.
any suggestions? i'm pushing her to a sedan, already have the atlas for family/costco/home depot stuff.

Ugh, that sounds rough. I'm glad your son is okay.

[elflaco2]

thanks.
he was where he wasn't supposed to be.
Same as the other two times.
the car and the money are one thing (not a small thing) -- larger issue is the lying and lack of trust... i'm like we're going into lots of debt so YOU can go to college? hmmm.. let me rethink that. can't get through the kid, won't talk, not motivated, hates school loves running rude and disrespectful and so on.. (i'll move that topic to maybe rants or something.. want a check, is it me and my expectations or is it really him)

[mister d]

Sounds like sorta where we were back in the early-NJ-move, still-in-daycare days. We ended up leasing a Camry that coincided with daycare ending so we could reassess at that point but just ended up buying it out. It drives fine which is all I need from a second car.

[Sabo]

I never followed up on my post, but I ended up buying a 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid about a month ago. Used CarGurus.com to locate used Honda Accords, and a dealership about 50 miles away had a used hybrid that was rated a great deal by CarGurus. The car had been on the dealership lot for about 50 days, so they lowered the price quite a bit and I jumped on it. The car had been used by a rental car company, but it was listed as a certified pre-owned Honda so I wasn't worried about its history.

All I know is I LOVE this car, and I'm getting about 51 mpg since we bought it. I'm enjoying filling up every three weeks or so, and each fill up is just a hair over 10 gallons. It's a massive improvement over the 18 mpg I was getting in my old Toyota Highlander.

[govmentchedda]

Glad he's feeling ok, flaco. Sorry he's being a pain in the ass. Sounds par for the course with my two teen boys. On one hand so mature, on the other so immature.

[Giff]

Yikes flaco.

[bfj]

thanks.
he was where he wasn't supposed to be.
Same as the other two times.
the car and the money are one thing (not a small thing) -- larger issue is the lying and lack of trust... i'm like we're going into lots of debt so YOU can go to college? hmmm.. let me rethink that. can't get through the kid, won't talk, not motivated, hates school loves running rude and disrespectful and so on.. (i'll move that topic to maybe rants or something.. want a check, is it me and my expectations or is it really him)

Annoying and incredibly frustrating...and very typical teenage boy behavior. Him going away to school may be the best thing for your relationship. It certainly helped mine with my oldest (who is back now, but it is manageable). He doesn't like school but likes running. He will learn quickly that running will go away if he doesn't get grades, right? I know none of this makes it any better. Glad he's ok. Sorry for the hassle that you're going through.

[bfj]

I never followed up on my post, but I ended up buying a 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid about a month ago. Used CarGurus.com to locate used Honda Accords, and a dealership about 50 miles away had a used hybrid that was rated a great deal by CarGurus. The car had been on the dealership lot for about 50 days, so they lowered the price quite a bit and I jumped on it. The car had been used by a rental car company, but it was listed as a certified pre-owned Honda so I wasn't worried about its history.

All I know is I LOVE this car, and I'm getting about 51 mpg since we bought it. I'm enjoying filling up every three weeks or so, and each fill up is just a hair over 10 gallons. It's a massive improvement over the 18 mpg I was getting in my old Toyota Highlander.

Love my 2023 Hybrid CRV. I do a lot more highway driving these days, but I'm still getting 40 mpg in the summer. Do you use the paddles and B mode to drive and maximize the MPG (I don't).

[elflaco2]

thanks.
he was where he wasn't supposed to be.
Same as the other two times.
the car and the money are one thing (not a small thing) -- larger issue is the lying and lack of trust... i'm like we're going into lots of debt so YOU can go to college? hmmm.. let me rethink that. can't get through the kid, won't talk, not motivated, hates school loves running rude and disrespectful and so on.. (i'll move that topic to maybe rants or something.. want a check, is it me and my expectations or is it really him)

Annoying and incredibly frustrating...and very typical teenage boy behavior. Him going away to school may be the best thing for your relationship. It certainly helped mine with my oldest (who is back now, but it is manageable). He doesn't like school but likes running. He will learn quickly that running will go away if he doesn't get grades, right? I know none of this makes it any better. Glad he's ok. Sorry for the hassle that you're going through.

thanks. hoping that's the case.
we take him down wed. he isn't packed. and the police report came in. his fault. now the fun begins.

[rass]

thanks.
he was where he wasn't supposed to be.
Same as the other two times.
the car and the money are one thing (not a small thing) -- larger issue is the lying and lack of trust... i'm like we're going into lots of debt so YOU can go to college? hmmm.. let me rethink that. can't get through the kid, won't talk, not motivated, hates school loves running rude and disrespectful and so on.. (i'll move that topic to maybe rants or something.. want a check, is it me and my expectations or is it really him)

Annoying and incredibly frustrating...and very typical teenage boy behavior. Him going away to school may be the best thing for your relationship. It certainly helped mine with my oldest (who is back now, but it is manageable). He doesn't like school but likes running. He will learn quickly that running will go away if he doesn't get grades, right? I know none of this makes it any better. Glad he's ok. Sorry for the hassle that you're going through.

thanks. hoping that's the case.
we take him down wed. he isn't packed. and the police report came in. his fault. now the fun begins.

Jeez dude, sorry. I must have missed this last week. Glad he's OK, but that's a lot.

[elflaco2]

the sage is over (or just beginning)
as per the south plainfield PD .. boy was at fault, allstate handled all -- 100% via text and email and their platform. spoke to folks at he local office a couple of times, got a couple of calls from teh call center in Pune or Bangalore --we had the title and lien release letter three weeks before the accident, so that was easy to just drop off at fedex (well, had to get the power of attorney notarized so they could transfer the title).. and we should have the $$ deposited by friday.
i did attempt to negotiate the value (and i should have taken some things out of the car, like the spare, tools, rack rails.. good price for those on marketplace/craigslist.. as they didn't affect the offer) they said sure.. show us 3 comps that are higher - but not from kelly bluebook .. ten minutes of browsing and i said, i'll take your offer (well, no .. the missus made me stop looking and just take the moola)

so now..
now we wait - likely use the cash to pay something off - and spend 1/2 as much on a certified used or something new not as fancy as what she had (she finally went through all stages of grief)

the boy? off at school - we should see him this saturday at incoming freshman & family bbq.

til next time!

[Nonlinear FC]

Just purchased a 2023 Volvo XC60 from Hertz. It's not fully loaded, but it has a number of cool bells and whistles. We paid a lot less than what we were seeing at traditional dealers.

And the fact that it was no haggle was a tremendous upside for us. We took some of the coverage they offered baked into the price, so it could've been even less expensive. One of the packages included an option for a second key fob and we jumped on that.

[P.D.X.]

isn’t anything no haggle if you just accept their price?

[Nonlinear FC]

Hilarious. Quite right.

[tennbengal]

I could click to find out, I suppose, but, better to here from people I trust - if the tariffs come - does that fuck up prices on imported cars? Will that then lead to domestically produced cars costing more because they can?

tl/dr - should any car purchases happen sooner rather than later?

[EnochRoot]

I could click to find out, I suppose, but, better to here from people I trust - if the tariffs come - does that fuck up prices on imported cars? Will that then lead to domestically produced cars costing more because they can?

tl/dr - should any car purchases happen sooner rather than later?

Tariffs will raise the price on domestic cars too. Saw a financial piece about that a couple weeks ago.

IMO the best decision if you’re in the automobile market is to pull the trigger now rather than after Jan 21.

[Nonlinear FC]

Trust and believe, we weren't absolutely desperate for this vehicle. The new administration accelerated this purchase, for sure.

[tennbengal]

Gracias.

[DSafetyGuy]

I could click to find out, I suppose, but, better to here from people I trust - if the tariffs come - does that fuck up prices on imported cars? Will that then lead to domestically produced cars costing more because they can?

tl/dr - should any car purchases happen sooner rather than later?

Tariffs will raise the price on domestic cars too. Saw a financial piece about that a couple weeks ago.

IMO the best decision if you’re in the automobile market is to pull the trigger now rather than after Jan 21.

Almost all auto parts are manufactured overseas.

[EnochRoot]

I could click to find out, I suppose, but, better to here from people I trust - if the tariffs come - does that fuck up prices on imported cars? Will that then lead to domestically produced cars costing more because they can?

tl/dr - should any car purchases happen sooner rather than later?

Tariffs will raise the price on domestic cars too. Saw a financial piece about that a couple weeks ago.

IMO the best decision if you’re in the automobile market is to pull the trigger now rather than after Jan 21.

Almost all auto parts are manufactured overseas.

Yup.

Wife is total WFH, but our (lone) care has 85k on it (2015 Altima). We're eyeballing a new or later model Altima (or one of the Subarus) btwn Turkey Day and Xmas for that reason. We'd probably get $5k for it in a trade-in. Like the idea of looking into a former rental car. Don't those get ridden hard and put away wet though?

[P.D.X.]

And how many cars are made in Mexico currently for the US market? They're all going to be 2-3x the cost next year? It's just insanity.

[Giff]

There were several reasons why I needed to keep my truck for about two more years at least. Now there's one more!

[DSafetyGuy]

Almost all auto parts are manufactured overseas.

Yup.

Wife is total WFH, but our (lone) care has 85k on it (2015 Altima). We're eyeballing a new or later model Altima (or one of the Subarus) btwn Turkey Day and Xmas for that reason. We'd probably get $5k for it in a trade-in. Like the idea of looking into a former rental car. Don't those get ridden hard and put away wet though?

I have read in the past that a major red flag for buying from a rental car company is that very reason, but that was many years ago. I don't know that it is still that case now, but I imagine it is.

[EnochRoot]

There were several reasons why I needed to keep my truck for about two more years at least. Now there's one more!

There's also the notion of putting a few grand into our car and just keep it for four more years.

[Nonlinear FC]

I could click to find out, I suppose, but, better to here from people I trust - if the tariffs come - does that fuck up prices on imported cars? Will that then lead to domestically produced cars costing more because they can?

tl/dr - should any car purchases happen sooner rather than later?

Tariffs will raise the price on domestic cars too. Saw a financial piece about that a couple weeks ago.

IMO the best decision if you’re in the automobile market is to pull the trigger now rather than after Jan 21.

Almost all auto parts are manufactured overseas.

Yup.

Wife is total WFH, but our (lone) care has 85k on it (2015 Altima). We're eyeballing a new or later model Altima (or one of the Subarus) btwn Turkey Day and Xmas for that reason. We'd probably get $5k for it in a trade-in. Like the idea of looking into a former rental car. Don't those get ridden hard and put away wet though?

The best used car to buy is a former lease with a pretty low mileage agreement. Leased cars typically (almost always) have required maintenance agreements, so you can't just drive them around for 25k and not get them serviced. (It's usually either annually or every 10k.)

Rental used cars aren't the same, BUT they are constantly being serviced. And they have the documentation to back it up. You can't send out a rental to a customer with an engine light on or risk that it's going to break down or malfunction or glitch on a customer. They also put on new tires and will replace rims that are scratched or fix anything on the interior that is torn or smudged or whatever. We had them fix some scratches that were on the bumper, no cost.

Rental companies typically put a cap on the mileage in their rental fleet and they absolutely get taken out of the rental fleet around 14 months in. We bought a 2023 model with a little over 20k miles on it. And we test drove it and it was absolutely an amazing ride.

We're headed down to Richmond on Saturday to sign the final papers (most of it we did virtually today, and if we were having it delivered, they would've emailed these forms and sent a FedEx label to send them back.) Incredibly painless way to purchase a car that was absolutely on the top of our list (including the color and interior we wanted.)

[Nonlinear FC]

Almost all auto parts are manufactured overseas.

Yup.

Wife is total WFH, but our (lone) care has 85k on it (2015 Altima). We're eyeballing a new or later model Altima (or one of the Subarus) btwn Turkey Day and Xmas for that reason. We'd probably get $5k for it in a trade-in. Like the idea of looking into a former rental car. Don't those get ridden hard and put away wet though?

I have read in the past that a major red flag for buying from a rental car company is that very reason, but that was many years ago. I don't know that it is still that case now, but I imagine it is.

I think it really depends on the company AND the type of vehicle you target. We really trust Hertz and Avis and all of our research said these two were Gold Star for purchasing like we did.

If you pointed me at Budget or Enterprise... No fucking way, man.

I'd also say if you're looking at higher end vehicles... Not trying to be a dick, but... Those cost a lot more to rent, and that demographic is less likely to treat the vehicle like absolute shit. That's more of a gut thing than a researched thing. The stuff I just posted and this thing about the company is backed by a pretty significant amount of "research" by us over the last 2 months.

I'm just a point in my (our) life where I'm tired of pulling up to places with a banged up Rav4 or a Passat that is missing part of its front grill. I also like being in a Volvo because it's, like, a luxury level car that doesn't come with "oh, look at that prick" that a BMW, Mercedes or even a Lexus conveys.

Yes, I'm being silly. I also know how people are.

[Nonlinear FC]

Final thing, and I can only speak to Hertz, they have very reasonably priced packages that cover the electronic system and other damages not covered by USAA (who we love). It pretty much takes the pucker/worry factor about the cars being rode hard and put up wet out of our minds.

We're super pumped and I can wait to pick this thing up. I've rented some OK cars over the last year, and I'm always blown away by the advancements in them. My Passat is 12 years old. It feels like the Flintstone mobile by comparison.

I've been watching this one dude's tutorials most of the afternoon and I'm floored. Can't wait to tinker with things. It really is like getting a really expensive, hugely functional toy.

[The Sybian]

When I was in high school, my father bought a car from a rental place that eventually became mine. I was surprised by that purchase, but he said it was too good a deal to pass up. We had the car for a long time with no issues, I even brought it to college. Sold it because I didn’t want a car when I went to Boston. Don’t remember how many miles we put on it, but it was well over 100k and nothing beyond routine maintenance.

[Keg]

Just purchased a 2023 Volvo XC60 from Hertz. It's not fully loaded, but it has a number of cool bells and whistles. We paid a lot less than what we were seeing at traditional dealers.

And the fact that it was no haggle was a tremendous upside for us. We took some of the coverage they offered baked into the price, so it could've been even less expensive. One of the packages included an option for a second key fob and we jumped on that.

It’s pretty whack that a second key fob isnt standard anymore. I purchased a new truck a year ago. I didnt realize until the drive the home that they only gave me an eighth of gas tank. I got a good deal on the truck but I felt swindled after that.

[GoodKarma]

It's always annoyed me on the sticker where they list the features/packages, etc. that list "full tank of gas" as one of the features. Technically true, I guess, but when you're charging hundreds for floor mats and $45k for the vehicle I find it mildly insulting

[Giff]

I may have mentioned this before, but people keeping dealer license plate frames or stickers on their vehicles is one of my biggest pet peeves. Anytime I get a new car, the first thing I ask them once everything is signed is to remove any of that before they give me the keys.

[A_B]

I may have mentioned this before, but people keeping dealer license plate frames or stickers on their vehicles is one of my biggest pet peeves. Anytime I get a new car, the first thing I ask them once everything is signed is to remove any of that before they give me the keys.

I remove the Dealer Decals from mine as well. I think they are tacky. I didn't pay to give you free microadvertising!

[Giff]

I may have mentioned this before, but people keeping dealer license plate frames or stickers on their vehicles is one of my biggest pet peeves. Anytime I get a new car, the first thing I ask them once everything is signed is to remove any of that before they give me the keys.

I remove the Dealer Decals from mine as well. I think they are tacky. I didn't pay to give you free microadvertising!

Exactly! You want to take $50 off my monthly payment, you can have the license frame. $75 for a decal.

[Nonlinear FC]

Yeah, I don't understand keeping those on unless you are related to someone that works there. I have an alumni plate on one and a generic one on the other.

[The Sybian]

Yeah, I don't understand keeping those on unless you are related to someone that works there. I have an alumni plate on one and a generic one on the other.

Laziness. Yes, I know it’s 4 screws. I don’t even know if I still have them on.

[Nonlinear FC]

Reminds me I need to yoink those frames when we turn in the Passat.

[bfj]

Does anyone else transfer their tags? Saves more money on Tag and Title if you don’t have to assign new plates. Tried explaining this to someone at work the other day and they couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t want temp plates and new tags. I walked away.

[Giff]

Does anyone else transfer their tags? Saves more money on Tag and Title if you don’t have to assign new plates. Tried explaining this to someone at work the other day and they couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t want temp plates and new tags. I walked away.

I didn't even know that was a thing.

[DSafetyGuy]

Does anyone else transfer their tags? Saves more money on Tag and Title if you don’t have to assign new plates. Tried explaining this to someone at work the other day and they couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t want temp plates and new tags. I walked away.

The sales rep asked if we wanted to transfer them when both my wife and I bought our current vehicles, several years and many miles apart from each other.

[bfj]

Does anyone else transfer their tags? Saves more money on Tag and Title if you don’t have to assign new plates. Tried explaining this to someone at work the other day and they couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t want temp plates and new tags. I walked away.

I didn't even know that was a thing.

There’s always a fee to “tag and title” the car. Part of that is assigning new plates to the new vehicle and charging you around $200 for it. You can transfer your tags from one car to the other for free. At least in MD that’s how it works. Most people think tag and title is one fee for both, but it can be split.