Buying a car... what do you think...

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zoomie Thanks for this thread. I just went and bought a Sonata based upon all the feedback on here. Sweet deal. They discounted $900 off dealer invoice, $3,000 rebate, and gave me full Kelly Blue Book trade value on my big boat 2003 Mercury. Got out of there for a little over $10k and a brand new car with a 100k miles warranty plan and the automatic transmission. I'm 6'3" tall and this car is as roomy as my Merc, and has a bigger trunk! I didn't even haggle, there was no need. I was going to buy a Cadillac but their salesman was the laziest I have ever come across.

Thanks for letting me know the price you got... I know the price I was given was over invoice... but I was 'just looking', so it did not matter...

Still have to get my wife out to test drive this weekend... if I can...

[Martha]

I just heard from a local auto dealer that there is some chance that all the cash for clunker money could be gone within a month or two. He said they are backed up with all sorts of people wanting to trade in their clunkers.

So don't wait.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha I just heard from a local auto dealer that there is some chance that all the cash for clunker money could be gone within a month or two. He said they are backed up with all sorts of people wanting to trade in their clunkers. So don't wait.

To add to the above, I read the program was retroactive to all qualifying clunker trade-ins as of July 1....

Quote:

In 135 pages of "cash for clunkers" rules issued this morning, the government throws a nice bone to anyone who might have already traded in their clunker in the past couple weeks and bought a new car: the incentive of $3,500 or $4,500 is retroactive to July 1.

Here's the quick read on the 'cash for clunkers' rules just published - USATODAY.com

[BunsGettingFirm]

So if you use your cash for clunker trade in + all of your GM card award dollars at once, you could get a new Pontiac Vibe for $10k? Hmm...I may have to look into that.

On second thought, I priced out a 2.4L Vibe with cruise, keyless, and auto transmission, and the price topped $20k even on carsdirect. I drove a 2008 Impreza today with only 11k miles on it, and it's only $15,800. A new 2009 Impreza is $17,800 with automatic, so assuming that cash for clunker program is going to give me $1000 more for my trade in than the KBB trade in value and that the dealer won't pay anywhere close the KBB value for a straight trade, then a new Impreza and an old one will cost me exactly the same or at the most $1000 more.

I am going to test drive the Mazda3 next week just to see if it's worth the extra dollar.

[bow-tie]

Keep in mind your clunker has to have a combined mpg rating below 18mpg (which precludes most cars). My '98 Bonnie has just rolled 200k on the clock, but it has a combined mpg that's too high. What a pisser....

... by the way Zoomie, Hyundai has come a LONG way with their cars in the last handful of years. From everything I have heard and read, you will be happy with your choice. Sometimes it really sucks being a GM loyalist....

[Texas Proud]

OK... the wife just did the test drives... from the top to the bottom.. with an added car...

#1 Sonata
#2 Elantra touring
#3 Elantra
#4 Pontiac G6
#5 Pontiac Vibe....


SOOO, now have to dicker with the price.... and what to get on the car... wife wants leather and sun roof....

[bright eyed]

I used the online sales dpts and it was very quick and easy - via edmunds, you can click a "ask for quotes now" button, you can choose which local dealers you want it to go to and specify what you want (make, model etc). consider setting up a new yahoo or such email as they will continue to email you later...

You will start getting email quotes pretty immediately - they are all different - some dealers really send you nicely laid out quotes and some send you obvious generic looking crap that doesn't even match what you want.

But once you see what you are looking for you can start haggling. Once I got a quote I liked, I replied to the other dealers what I was quoted and they started trying to outbid each other. Took less than one hour and i got far below invoice...it seems the internet sales guys are often paired with the fleet sales guys and have different prices and incentives than the floor sales...i called the winning bidder and we made an appt to pick up the car.

I was nervous they'd try to haggle or do some shenanigans when I got there - I printed out the email quote and on the phone confirmed the terms with the guy. The only shenanigans were from the finance guy who was trying to sell me all kinds of weird add ons, insurance etc that i didnt' want.

I might also add that my make,model, color was extremely hard to get (there were only 1 or 2 in all of southern cali) and it didn't matter, they dealer wanted to make the sale and they got it for me, picked it up the next day...

good luck!

[SarahW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud What is 'American' and what is not?

IMO, "American" car means that the actual profits are returning to an American company. America's wealth is slowly being drained away, but no one takes notice as they defend their Toyota/Hyundai/Honda. It's the new world economy, donchaknow? :Potstirrer:

JMO, and buy anything you want...it's your money.

[JOHNNIE36]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarahW IMO, "American" car means that the actual profits are returning to an American company. America's wealth is slowly being drained away, but no one takes notice as they defend their Toyota/Hyundai/Honda. It's the new world economy, donchaknow? :Potstirrer: JMO, and buy anything you want...it's your money.

Agree 100%. All those that think they are buying "American" because the car is made in the U.S. are only half correct. Sure, we get people employed but the profits go to Japan, Korea, Germany, etc. OTOH, some of our cars are made in Mexico and Canada. As a GM retiree I was stunned the other day while at the Saturn dealer. They had a 2008 Saturn Aura(?) coupe. I believe that was the name. Salesman told me they were "giving" it away as it wasn't going to be made any longer. I looked at the window sticker and it read: engine-country of origin (Hungary), transmission-country of origin (Japan), final assembly Antwerp Belgium. And here I thought it was an "American" car.
Never saw that before.

[Martha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud OK... the wife just did the test drives... from the top to the bottom.. with an added car... #1 Sonata #2 Elantra touring #3 Elantra #4 Pontiac G6 #5 Pontiac Vibe.... SOOO, now have to dicker with the price.... and what to get on the car... wife wants leather and sun roof....

I thought leather was about impossible in the south as they get so hot. No?

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha I thought leather was about impossible in the south as they get so hot. No?

Frank has leather seats on his Murano. Due to window tinting and one of those foldable silver sun block thingies that blocks sun from coming in the windshield, they don't really get that hot. But without all that, they would.

I have know people with regular cars whose leather seats get really hot. They usually sit on a towel (I know, I know, pretty pointless).

All in all, I prefer fabric seats.

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarahW IMO, "American" car means that the actual profits are returning to an American company. America's wealth is slowly being drained away, but no one takes notice as they defend their Toyota/Hyundai/Honda. It's the new world economy, donchaknow? :Potstirrer: JMO, and buy anything you want...it's your money.

Profits? In the auto industry? Haaaahahahahahaha!!! Pull the other one; its got bells on.

[Leonidas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martha I thought leather was about impossible in the south as they get so hot. No?

Nah, we got more leather down here than an S&M convention.

It's not much of a problem as long as you remember to put the sunscreeen up in the windshield whenever you park outside. Forgetting, while wearing shorts, as my wife often does, can bring forth pain on the bare skin.

Thanks to whoever turned the thinking here towards Hyundai. The Genesis Coupe looks like something I might want and the warranty is sweet. Have to do some more research first, but it wasn't something I would have even considered before reading this thread.

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leonidas Nah, we got more leather down here than an S&M convention. It's not much of a problem as long as you remember to put the sunscreeen up in the windshield whenever you park outside. Forgetting, while wearing shorts, as my wife often does, can bring forth pain on the bare skin. Thanks to whoever turned the thinking here towards Hyundai. The Genesis Coupe looks like something I might want and the warranty is sweet. Have to do some more research first, but it wasn't something I would have even considered before reading this thread.

Actually, the Genesis coupe is something that I would like to get for me... but I am TRYING to get my wife weened off an Explorer.... which gets 16 mpg... OR to go as cheap as possible for now... also, at the dealerships they only seem to have the top of the line right now... say $30K and up... so again, not in the cards at this time...

[martyb]

Less than an hour ago, I was on a Hyundai lot, just killing time. I'd never heard of the Genesis, but there were a couple of them parked side by side. One was a completely loaded out SUV looking type vehicle, the other one was a sporty coupe. The sticker on the SUV one was just over $40,000!!! and the coupe was $28,000. I remember when you could buy TWO Hyundai Excels in Austin, TX for $8000! Of course, you needed the 2nd one for when the transmission fell out of the first one at around 50,000 miles! However, the thing that I really noticed, other than the prices on the cars, was that the SUV style Genesis sticker said 86% foreign (Korea & Japan) parts, just 4% American parts, & it didn't say where the other 10% were from. The sporty coupe version was 80% Korean & 3% U.S.,didn't say about the rest. It did say that the vehicle was 100% assembled in Korea, though. I think the SUV was also assemble somewhere else, but I don't recall where.

[Zoomie]

From memory, I believe the Sonata sticker said 60% of parts made in Korea, 40% in USA and assembled in Alabama.

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyb Less than an hour ago, I was on a Hyundai lot, just killing time. I'd never heard of the Genesis, but there were a couple of them parked side by side. One was a completely loaded out SUV looking type vehicle, the other one was a sporty coupe. The sticker on the SUV one was just over $40,000!!! and the coupe was $28,000. I remember when you could buy TWO Hyundai Excels in Austin, TX for $8000! Of course, you needed the 2nd one for when the transmission fell out of the first one at around 50,000 miles! However, the thing that I really noticed, other than the prices on the cars, was that the SUV style Genesis sticker said 86% foreign (Korea & Japan) parts, just 4% American parts, & it didn't say where the other 10% were from. The sporty coupe version was 80% Korean & 3% U.S.,didn't say about the rest. It did say that the vehicle was 100% assembled in Korea, though. I think the SUV was also assemble somewhere else, but I don't recall where.

You must not had seen the Genesis if you thought it was an SUV.... it is more like a lexus or mercedes sedan than and SUV..

The top of the line car has a V-8 and is supposed to compete with the two cars I mentioned... you can buy one with a V-6 for the low to mid 30s I believe... the coupe is a completely different car... but the $28K is the mid point... it has the V-6, but not that much more... the base car has a turbo 4... cost below $23K IIRC...

[JOHNNIE36]

From Consumers Report, April 09 issue: Hyundai Genesis Sedan, price range $32K-$37500 and the Coupe price range $25K-$32K are two different cars. The Coupe is meant to offer the sportiness of an Infiniti G37 while in the price range of a Ford Mustang. They're not completely rated because they are new and there is no long term issues as yet. According to Consumers the Genesis Sedan has an overall road-test score of 92% which is tops for the "upscale sedan" category. Second was Lexus 350 and third was Toyata Avalon.

Also, according to Consumers Report, the top rated manufacturer is Honda at overall score of 78 while Hyundai is rated ninth with a score of 70. They mention in the reviews that Hyundai "has a long warranty but poor resale affects value". No clue as to why the poor resale.

[Zoomie]

""Hyundai "has a long warranty but poor resale affects value". No clue as to why the poor resale."" -- probably because they were poorly built until the last 4-5 years. It takes a long time for a bad opinion to fade away.

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOHNNIE36 Also, according to Consumers Report, the top rated manufacturer is Honda at overall score of 78 while Hyundai is rated ninth with a score of 70. They mention in the reviews that Hyundai "has a long warranty but poor resale affects value". No clue as to why the poor resale.

Resale value is first and foremost a function of perceived long-term quality. This may or may not translate to higher actual quality, but it's the perception that matters in the marketplace.

Detroit could start building the most reliable cars ever and Honda and Toyota could start cranking out junk like Detroit circa 1980, and it would still take MANY years for the perception of Ford and Chevy to catch up to the reputation of Honda and Toyota, and many years before the U.S. automakers saw improved resale value relative to the Japanese models.

Presumably the market isn't sold on Hyundai's long term quality.