boofMcboof Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 My 2003 Subaru Impreza has about 160,000 miles on it and I've never had any major problems with it. Great build quality. The 2012 Imprezas have brake pedal issues last time I checked, so I'd stay away from them until they get resolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCsportsfan53 Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 agreed with boof, Subarus are very well built, as are the new Jettas. As far as the old bugs, the engine was all the way at the back directly over the drive wheels which aids traction tremendously (same as with FWD). Also, they had skinny tires on them from factory, unlike most of today's cars. On pavement wider usually = better in terms of grip but on snow you want skinny tires that cut through the snow like pizza cutters as opposed to riding on top of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdlives Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 We have a Ford Escape that we love. I would buy another one. That's the best recommendation I can give. On another note, I had a TDI for similar reasons (gas milage, cause I drive lots too) I liked it, but handling in snow wasn't ideal. Important point considering I live in the DC metro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Die Hard Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I owned a 2002 VW Jetta TDI. Great on mileage... and about NOTHING ELSE. That car had the wierdest things break all the time.. so whatever I saved in fuel was sapped up by other ongoing stupid expenses. And it was terrible in the snow... I feared for my life in that thing. Heated seats were nice, though I`d never buy Volkswagen ever again. And I`ve spoken to countless VW owners... and it`s about 50-50. Half love them for its reliability... the other half had lemons like I did and felt exactly the same way. My family is going to stick with Hondas from now on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 Whelp, I decided to take no one's advice and bought a Nissan Xterra. Not the best gas mileage, or price range, I know, but I fell in love with the car when I drove it. 4WD, new tires, and a price I could live with after a few hours of negotiations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubble Screen Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Whelp, I decided to take no one's advice and bought a Nissan Xterra. Not the best gas mileage, or price range, I know, but I fell in love with the car when I drove it. 4WD, new tires, and a price I could live with after a few hours of negotiations. That's actually a good choice. Nissan makes some good cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 I couldn't pass up the warranty and the really low mileage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckus Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Honda CRV. The wife and I have a Honda Fit (love it) and a Ford pick-up truck. My next car will be a CRV when I sell my truck in a few years. Edit - I see you got a Nissian. Good choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted February 1, 2012 Author Share Posted February 1, 2012 I negotiated for 2 hours, with my mom at the other end of the table saying "no, unacceptable, no, no, no," my dad on the phone talking to the sales person asking important questions like "Well, does it have a towing package, tell me it comes with a towing package!" (like I'm going to use that any time soon, lol)and my brother who owns an Xterra calling me on the other and giving me advice on negotiating. It was quite the cluster of a scene. But it worked out in the end, after one walk out on our part, then the guy telling me to name my price. Anyway, I'm really happy with the car and how the negotiations ended up. I pick it up tomorrow!!! And I heard Nissans are great too. Subarus, from what my coworkers told me, are too expensive to fix when they actually do have problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubble Screen Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I negotiated for 2 hours, with my mom at the other end of the table saying "no, unacceptable, no, no, no," my dad on the phone talking to the sales person asking important questions like "Well, does it have a towing package, tell me it comes with a towing package!" (like I'm going to use that any time soon, lol)and my brother who owns an Xterra calling me on the other and giving me advice on negotiating. It was quite the cluster of a scene. But it worked out in the end, after one walk out on our part, then the guy telling me to name my price. Anyway, I'm really happy with the car and how the negotiations ended up. I pick it up tomorrow!!! And I heard Nissans are great too. Subarus, from what my coworkers told me, are too expensive to fix when they actually do have problems. That sounds great. And you did the right thing, all those people having your back. Those salesmen can be pretty shady. Someone gave the best advice the other day. They said never act "too" interested when you're in there. And you did well by leaving once. I like negotiating with them for awhile, then walking out. They inevitably will call you back, if not that same day, the next. And then you usually end up getting a better price. A lot of my family owns Nissans. Some of them, that's all they ever drive. They swear by Nissan vehicles. The Xterras are pretty sporty. Good luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcsluggo Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I negotiated for 2 hours, with my mom at the other end of the table saying "no, unacceptable, no, no, no," my dad on the phone talking to the sales person asking important questions like "Well, does it have a towing package, tell me it comes with a towing package!" (like I'm going to use that any time soon, lol)and my brother who owns an Xterra calling me on the other and giving me advice on negotiating. It was quite the cluster of a scene. But it worked out in the end, after one walk out on our part, then the guy telling me to name my price. Anyway, I'm really happy with the car and how the negotiations ended up. I pick it up tomorrow!!! And I heard Nissans are great too. Subarus, from what my coworkers told me, are too expensive to fix when they actually do have problems. my god i hate the car buying dance.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Whelp, I decided to take no one's advice and bought a Nissan Xterra. Not the best gas mileage, or price range, I know, but I fell in love with the car when I drove it. 4WD, new tires, and a price I could live with after a few hours of negotiations. More often that not, this is the case. Car buying as, anything, becomes more intuitive than a logical process. I'm in advertising and the data show that people who buy purely on logical, empirical facts are less happy with their purchases in the long run. Particularly with cars. Most of it has to do with cars being this outward representation of ourselves. In fact, a lot of car advertising isn't to get people to buy a certain car, but actually to reassure people who purchased those cars that they made the right choice. Fighting buyers remorse, essentially. But don't consider an "intuitive" purchase a bad one. In Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink, he states that humans have evolved the uncanny ability to make accurate, snap judgments. Everything you've seen and heard about Nissans. The test drive. Knowing other people with Nissans and what you think of them all these things and more have been filed away in some subconscious level of the brain and we access it pretty easily when the time comes. FWIW, I know many people with XTerras and they love it. Many more with Nissans, and they love them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AsburySkinsFan Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 my god i hate the car buying dance.... Same here, the best experience I had is when we bought our Altima, we had the dealership owner doing the work (because of a name drop...first time that's ever worked), we got the car we wanted in the price range we wanted with little or no fuss. The whole process took about two hours from the time we walked in the door to the time we drove off the lot. Best evar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elessar78 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 my god i hate the car buying dance.... Same here, the best experience I had is when we bought our Altima, we had the dealership owner doing the work (because of a name drop...first time that's ever worked), we got the car we wanted in the price range we wanted with little or no fuss. The whole process took about two hours from the time we walked in the door to the time we drove off the lot. Best evar! You guys should try the internet route. You can do it through Yahoo! But basically, you know the car you want. Spec out the features you want and dealerships will send you their bids. You can take first bid, or use these bids one against the other. Essentially you've set them negotiating against each other before they even negotiate against you. If you get the price you want, then you're set. Basically you go in, test drive, sign and drive away. If you want to bleed them dry. When you go in you could negotiate further because there's the standing threat of taking one of the other offers. The trick is navigating through the minefield of the backroom. That's when they'll try to sell you pricey add-ons. Security systems, spoilers, scotch-guard, rust protect. Then they'll try to get you to go with their financing. So even if they sell you the car at invoice, they'll try to get your money through other means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dockeryfan Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Whelp, I decided to take no one's advice and bought a Nissan Xterra. Not the best gas mileage, or price range, I know, but I fell in love with the car when I drove it. 4WD, new tires, and a price I could live with after a few hours of negotiations. lol, you didn't follow any of your own recommendations. Under 25K, good gas mileage. Throw that out the window! I'm really just kidding, because I know you'll love the car, but it's funny that the things you put as important really were not qualifiers in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special K Posted February 2, 2012 Author Share Posted February 2, 2012 lol, you didn't follow any of your own recommendations. Under 25K, good gas mileage. Throw that out the window!I'm really just kidding, because I know you'll love the car, but it's funny that the things you put as important really were not qualifiers in the long run. It wasn't brand spanking new, so it was within my budget. MPG's I figured I could eat with my mileage money. So yes, I pretty much rationalized everything to myself because I loved it. Best of all, it looks like I'll get to try it out in the snow tomorrow!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckus Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 You guys should try the internet route. You can do it through Yahoo! 10000000+ Buying through private sellers online is great too. Take out the middle man and save thousands. It is easy and just as safe (if you do it right) then buying from a dealership. My last car was so easy. I got pre-approved with my credit union for an amount. Found the truck I wanted online and made an appointment to met the seller. Met the guy in a parking lot downtown. Test drove it for 20 mins. Made an offer and settled on a price conditional of inspection. Had a well known car inspector come out, he did a 500 point inspection. Printed out the results. I used those results to knock down the price a bit more on the spot. We then both drove to my credit union and they took care of everything. Loan papers, cutting checks, title (he was still paying it off), transferring warranties. Got it for 4,000 less than the lowest offer I could get from a dealer and it still has 50k miles in warrenty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8181 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Sorry to hijack but I'll be in the market for a car soon.... I leased a $50,000 car and will have paid approximately $25,0000 in payments. Residual value is set at $25,000. I'm kind of a dummy when it comes to car finance, so bear with me... Can I expect to be able to buy my car at $25,000 at the end of the lease? If so, what the heck is the downside of leasing a vehicle versus owning? The fact that I can spread payments over 8 years (3 year lease, 5 year auto loan) and not pay interest on the first $25,000 is boggling to me.... This is the first vehicle I've ever financed as I normally owned cheap cars that I paid for in full, so this is all new to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosher Ham Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 8181, PM The Mayor, he should be able to help you with this one. He has a post in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HogNose Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I'm kind of a dummy when it comes to car finance, so bear with me... Can I expect to be able to buy my car at $25,000 at the end of the lease? The Mayor could probably give you some good advice and an answer. :thumbsup: http://www.extremeskins.com/showthread.php?361974-Well-ES-what-car-should-I-get&p=8818294&viewfull=1#post8818294 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.A.C.O.L.B. Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I think the Honda Insight hybrid has become my clear cut #1 seed. Anyone have any thoughts or opinions on it? Is the extra grand or so worth it for the navigation? #2 seed is probably the Jetta TDI Gonna test drive a bunch of stuff this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GibbsFactor Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I'm in the market for a minivan and this is only the third car I've ever purchased. Should I go through financing at the dealer or get it from another bank? I understand the haggling that needs to be done at a dealer finace office and their rates are competitive with what I'd get from a bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOF44 Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I'm in the market for a minivan and this is only the third car I've ever purchased. Should I go through financing at the dealer or get it from another bank? I understand the haggling that needs to be done at a dealer finace office and their rates are competitive with what I'd get from a bank. I generally get pre-approved from my credit union and also have the dealers try to compete with that rate. Only once has the dealer done better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
da#1skinsfan Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 2012 Mercedes Benz C62 AMG. Spend the extra $35,000 it's worth it. Thats a C63. And it's the black series, which is going to be ~$120k as equipped in that pic Great car though. EDIT: Traditionally you should go to a Credit Union or other financial institution for the lowest rates. However, when dealers are running finance specials they will typically be the best. 0% or 1.9% for example...not typically going to beat that outside of a dealer. As for lease versus finance - essentially you are paying a higher "finance rate" when you lease a car versus buying it. If your goal is to keep the car, you should not lease it. If your goal is to switch cars every 3 years, leasing is great. On the $50k car you own, the $25k you "owe" at the end, or the residual price if you want to buy the car - that money will be financed unless you pay cash. You will pay interest on it. You won't just pay $25k over 5 years, you will pay $30k. The real question is, for your specific example - either your residual is wrong, the calculation of your payments is wrong, or the price you paid for the car was a ridiculous deal. Otherwise, typically leasing would work like: $75k car $1200/month payment = ~$43k paid in first 3 years ~$43k residual at end of 36 months Very general swag using some averages, as money factor/residual/purchase price differs from model to model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GibbsFactor Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I generally get pre-approved from my credit union and also have the dealers try to compete with that rate. Only once has the dealer done better. Good looking out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.