Buying new car

[freedomatlast]

I've never been in one, but I'd imagine the seats might be a bit bigger than a lot of more modern vehicles.

I'd have to give my vote for most comfortable new car seats to Nissan and Infinity.

 

[aja8888]

One nice thing about all these high tech cars coming on the market is in 2 - 3 years there will be some nicely discounted, low mileage used cars coming on the market that one can pick up for 1/2 price or less

 

[W2R]

I kind of like the Venza. It seemed like a good "jack of all trades" vehicle to me...a good blend of sedan, wagon, crossover, SUV, and minivan, but not too much of any one.

One thing I've been noticing about a lot of newer vehicles, is that it seems like they're making the seats smaller and thinner. Even in bigger cars, it feels to me like they're putting compact car seats in them. My current daily driver now is a 2003 Buick Regal, and I swear just about every newer car I've been in lately, seems like the seats are just under-sized. And often the seating position is rather low, too. Not low, in relation to the ground necessarily, but low in relation to the floor. So even in an SUV or truck, you might sit up high off the road, but still low to the floor, so legroom isn't that great, unless the seat goes back really far.

I wonder if the Venza is similar? I've never been in one, but I'd imagine the seats might be a bit bigger than a lot of more modern vehicles.

I like the Venza, too. I am tall, but even after my recent total knee replacement surgery it had plenty of legroom for me to get in and out (quite a feat with some SUV's since one's knee is tender and doesn't bend easily right after that type of surgery).

The seat does go back really far, and the seat back tilts all the way down to flat if/when desired; both of these adjustments were a huge help during the first few weeks after surgery. The seats do not seem small to me.

 

[brewer12345]

One nice thing about all these high tech cars coming on the market is in 2 - 3 years there will be some nicely discounted, low mileage used cars coming on the market that one can pick up for 1/2 price or less

Yeah, in a year's time that may be what we do when it is time to look for something. The only issue with used is that I hate haggling. Kind of thinking I might hire a broker to do it for me.

 

[aja8888]

Yeah, in a year's time that may be what we do when it is time to look for something. The only issue with used is that I hate haggling. Kind of thinking I might hire a broker to do it for me.

What I have noticed recently is that a new business model has come about for "off lease" vehicles. So many people are leasing rather than buying due to high initial pricing, companies like Echo Park ( https://www.echopark.com ) are buying up off lease vehicles and specializing in selling them. We recently bought a really clean 2018 Dodge Grand Caravan with about 22,000 miles on it for about 1/2 MSRP. We need that for my wife's wheelchair access and those work good for handicapped situations.

 

[skipro33]

You need to be aware that if you have your foot on the brake at all, it disables the front collision avoidance system. In other words, if you depress the brake pedal even a little bit, the system assumes you have things under control and it won't apply the brakes harder automatically.

I have not tested forward motion with this but not true backing up. Backing up, foot on brake to keep speed slow, this car will stop about a foot from hitting the object and will not let you go further back without long-pressing the soft key on the display panel. This can be a problem when towing a trailer and needing a few tries to line things up. Not tested with a hitch mount bike carrier yet. Can't do a system override, each time car is put in reverse requires a new override press on the screen.

 

[skipro33]

I have mortgage payments on several properties lower than this... I had the cheapie financing on the Lexus and the payment was still $500 a month. After a couple of years, I just paid it off. Couldn't stand to look at that.

My goal now is to stick with mid-$20's priced cars and a payment of less than $350 with the 0.9 percent financing.

You did negotiate a good deal. Congratulations!

This is 48 month financing. I'll trade in at the end with 50% equity of new car price, or approx $18,000. Normally I apply that to the next car, but this time I kept the equity because the interest on the new car loan was so low; .9% and I used that equity to pay off an RV loan 3 years early that was 6% interest.

My old car was $250 a month. I sold it and paid off my RV which was also $250 a month. Working on my taxes, the tax cuts seem to show I am over paying my federal taxes by $250 a month so I adjusted tax withdraw on Social Security accordingly. Basically all adds up to $750 a month; my monthly budget does not see any increase in expenses. The payment is invisible to the budget as the dollars sourced cancel out.


Next time around, with the equity of my trade-in going towards the replacement car, my payments will be around half, or $375 if 4 year finance and back down to what I was paying around $250 a month if I go 72 month finance.

I imagine that my next car may just drive itself and after that, no one will own a new car, just pull up the app and summon one to take you where ever you want to go.

 

[rk911]

...I have not kept a car (Daily Driver) more than 3 years in the last 27, never paid a penny in maintenance in all that time, and at 66 I am not about to start now. All have included maintenance including fluids, wipers etc...

our daily drivers are an '03 Jeep Wrangler (104,000 mi) and a '10 Jeep Liberty (83,000 mi) both of which are meticulously cared for and maintained (there is additional mileage on both that does not record on the odometer from being flat towed behind our motor home). no plans to replace either of them anytime soon but if something should happen and because of the i-don't-have-to-pay-attention-cuz-the-car-will-save-me electronic safety craze we may have to buy something used or cash.

 

[brewer12345]

What I have noticed recently is that a new business model has come about for "off lease" vehicles. So many people are leasing rather than buying due to high initial pricing, companies like Echo Park ( https://www.echopark.com ) are buying up off lease vehicles and specializing in selling them. We recently bought a really clean 2018 Dodge Grand Caravan with about 22,000 miles on it for about 1/2 MSRP. We need that for my wife's wheelchair access and those work good for handicapped situations.

Interesting. They have locations near me, so I will have to keep them in mind.

 

[DCdave]

^^^^^^^

I agree with most of the above, BUT GOOD LUCK with #8. No experienced dealer will give you actual pricing via email as they are smart enough to know what you will do with it.

I’ve twice done number 8, soliciting prices online from dealers, and it has worked great both times. Each time I sent emails to 5 dealers (I’m in a major metro area) requesting pricing for a specific model and color and letting them know I am buying that week and want their best “out the door” price including doc fees, tax, license etc and state that I want the exact amount to write on my check. I also email that they should send their best price as I do not want to negotiate and will not visit the showroom to sit down with the sales manager to discuss pricing.

We bought a new Honda Odyssey (our old one had 220k miles) a month ago. The lowest bid was $1,250 less than the next lowest and a whopping $5,100 less than the highest bid. Perhaps that dealer needed to hit a quota or something. (I find it helpful to offer to buy on nearly the last day of the month). I double checked the pricing on the KBB site and we did indeed receive an extremely aggressive bid.

The entire email process took 45 minutes of my time, I picked the low bidder and they already had the contract printed, with the exact agreed-upon price, when I arrived at the dealership. I highly recommend this as a method for buying a vehicle.

 

[skipro33]

My last 2 cars and my RV were internet sales. So much less stress for negotiations.

 

[SoReadyToRetire]

I feel lucky in that this Spring I bought a 2017 Hyundai Accent. Looks & feels new. Only 20K miles on it, NO bells or whistles (unless you consider automatic door locks and remote mirrors bells & whistles, ha ha).

It has no fancy electronics, an old-style dash, and gets ~40mpg. The ONLY thing I wish it had (that I could always add on) is cruise control.

So if you want an economic old-style newer-model car, get a 2017 Accent! (Oh--and it was only $9500!)

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

There is a YouTube channel by an old mechanic who used to even have a TV show, Scotty Kilmer. I recently viewed a show of his with the top 10 (IIRC) used cars he likes. Toyota and Honda are his favorite makes--but he does not favor every model and every year. I only paid attention to the Daily Drivers. He also has posted things like his top 5 used cars under $500 and top 10 under $1000 (lists for my kids).
(Please be aware, we ain't well heeled like many of y'all. I drive a 22 year old pickup, but only when I have to.)