Buying a new car

I think that exhausts my expert knowledge. Open the bonnet (that's the thing at the front generally), put your hand to your chin, purse your lips and shake your head. It might work.

Going to check out a car this evening. anyone any experience in buying privately?

i know to check the bodywork for signs of a crash, check the towbar for signs of trailer use- is it normal/acceptable to ask to take it to a mechanic before paying?

Perfectly normal, the AA and the RAC among others have a service where they will come and give the car the once over and run an HPI check that ensures that the car has no outstanding loans against it. (that is for the UK but I'm sure other countries have similar orgs providing the same service)

Probably best not to do what I did: drive 30miles in torrential rain, have a look at car (it's raining, and it's night time), sit in car, ask vague sound-like-you-know-what-you're-talking-about questions, get driven in the car because you're not insured to drive it yourself, spend 5 minutes thinking "well this one's alright, and I can't really be arsed going through this rigmarole again on the off-chance I'll save £50", shake owner's hand.

I think I did alright out of it, but it's no fun.

I think the more you're paying the more amenable the seller will be to things like taking it to a garage, although I'd wonder why a seller wouldn't want a car to be looked over properly. A HPI check is probably worth the money, especially if the history seems patchy.

And what Ed said.

Consumer Reports Used Car Buying Guide has a checklist of things to look for when examining a used vehicle. There's a ton of things in there that I would not have thought of. Worth the ten bucks or so to pick this (or a similar book) up and have a quick read-through.

i'll look into that check, cheers.

€225 euro...... it's great peace of mind, but i think i'll take a car-buying friend for the advice and suss the seller out first.

agreed to buy after having a look, test drive and doing an internet check on the mileage etc.

some people enjoy doing this?? stressin me out tbh

I am waiting for my license and our accountant begging us to buy a car. My husband's convinced he'll demand us to buy (cause we have to up our expenses to cut on taxes). :-) I can't wait! haha J/K The mere thought of doing this, scares the shit out of me. Doing a test drive? I know it's essential, but I think IF I would do it, I'd ask to go to a parking lot and drive around a bit. :-)

need to buy a "new" (used) car sometime in the next year probably. is there an easy way to find out which dealers are fairly reliable (ie aren't going to try to gouge me too much, aren't going to be selling shitty cars disguised as good cars)?

Has anyone ever tried buying a car remotely? I'm seeing if I can do this without stepping into a dealership at all.

I would only do that with a brand new never owned before car, or perhaps a certified used car. Any other kind of used car is too risky.

However, if you know what you want and they'll drop it at your house and your financing is squared away, I'd say go for it.

Thanks - yeah, we're looking at new cars. Seems like a good way to get an upper hand. Plus, we have a 3 year old and I know they'll put us in some holding cell and make us sweat it out and say yes to whatever deal after being stuck there for hours.

Yeah, my thinking is that you'd probably feel freer to haggle when you're not in their house. After you get the price you want, it's just like having a refrigerator delivered. If it's fucked, you've got a warranty.

Totally. Thanks!

You can buy a new car online easily enough, but I wouldn't even consider buying a car I hadn't extensively test-driven and checked out IRL, which usually means going to a dealership. Once you know what the car drives like, if you find the seats comfortable, etc., you can skip the haggling with a dealer to actually buy it.

I've had my truck 12+ years and I'm starting to get that New Car Smell® in my nose. Any recommendations? Inclination is to switch from a pickup to a car or small SUV.

New or gently used?

I was driving a quad cab RAM 1500, when my work emphasis changed I bought a 2014 Kia Soul in December. I'm enjoying it a lot - there's enough room in back to carry a good amount of stuff with the seats down (it's like a mini-minivan), parking is so much easier, it's got plenty power for the highway. Beyond that, the interior is just nice - leather(ette) steering wheel, good materials everywhere.

Will say that I recommend springing for whatever package has power seats - I didn't realize it at the time but my basic seats don't have a lumbar support thing built in, which would be nice. The basic seats are still good, though.

My comparison points were a Golf TDI (too expensive, didn't bother test driving) and a Ford Focus Titanium (more expensive, less room in the back but very nice itself).

xp - Could go either way. We've bought new four times and never had a particularly bad experience.

Lumbar support would be sweet.

I'd say that if you're not opposed to buying something that's pre-owned, and you've got a Carmax near you, go test out a bunch of different cars and/or suvs in one trip.

Also, as a person who is insanely happy with the suv he bought at Carmax, I'd recommend them as just a genuinely awesome place to buy a car.

Kias and Hyundais are the Toyotas and Hondas of the 21st century. They've really stepped up quality-wise in the past several years, and you get more car for your buck since the Korean makers don't have to pay the tariffs the Japanese makers do.

Rumor is, Tupelo's getting a Carmax within the next few months. Probably won't wait that long if we decide to do it, but you never know.

Part of this is inspired by driving a new Toyota Sienna for two weeks on the trip to Maine last year. I had forgotten that long road trips could actually be comfortable.

Looks like the only one in Mississippi is in Jackson. Dunno how far away that is from you, though.

About 2.5 hrs. Memphis and Birmingham are closer.

lol I'll shut up about them now.

As far as brand new cars go, the 2014 model Mazdas look fly as hell. They share a lot of design with Ford—and have for years—but the Mazdas looks a little less "Fordy".

VWs will run forever, but that hinges on strict adherence to scheduled maintenance. And if you don't have a good VW shop near you, then you'll be miserable.

Of course, you could always hunt down an old Volvo 240 wagon with NPR and "Coexist" stickers on the back and rest assured that thing will never die.

We test drove a Kia Venga today. The car salesman had left a copy of "Psycho Candy" in the car.

Genuine question: would there ever be any reason to buy a four wheel drive Suzuki Swift rather than an ordinary one?

4WD/AWD overrated as far as snow traction goes IMO. It does help some, but I'd rather be driving a front-drive car with good winter tires. 4WD also adds considerably to the price of the car, and detracts from fuel economy. I might spring for AWD over rear-drive though if that's the choice in the car i'm considering; I like being able to steer the wheels that propel the vehicle, very useful for getting myself unstuck in snow.

Thanks Lee626.

I'm kind of wondering whether they're a good thing to have on (UK) country roads or whether I'd just be better saving the money.

The Mazda 3 is a dope looking hatch/wagon IMO. They weren't an option when I was looking, unfortunately.

Hi dere, we now have a 2014 Mazda CX-5, this color:
http://media.caranddriver.com/images/11q3/409394/2013-mazda-cx-5-first-drive-review-car-and-driver-photo-417157-s-429x262.jpg

Even when it's standing still, all of time and space is blurred around it. It's sweet.

BTW, the factory audio system (specifically USB/ipod/iphone interface) is straight-up garbage in current Mazdas, if that's important to anybody looking at new vehicles. It's a known thing to Mazda but they're not confirming or denying that they'll ever fix it.
- takes several minutes to read the music library on whatever is attached by USB before anything will play
- always starts at the first song in the library, never at the last point played when the engine was turned off
- plays any volume of songs (album, artist, playlist) alphabetically by song title, wtf
- touch-screen UI on the console is very slow and clunky

The workaround is to connect via headphone jack with a stereo cable, which lets you control the playback via the ipod/iphone, but still, this is stupid.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123826135-Resuming-Playback-with-2014-CX-5-GT-Tech-Stereo-and-other-issues

Other than the audio system, I can't recommend the Mazda highly enough.

Ever since I got a(n aftermarket) stereo with a usb port, I haven't touched my iPod. I just dump music on a thumb drive and plug it right in.

I guess we'll be looking this weekend. Cost to pass inspection is more than the value of the car. The 2000 Camry is not long for this world.

Starting with Mazda - checking out both the CX-5 and Mazda3 hatchback. I'd like the smaller car but as a big dude I won't know comfort until I'm in it.

Another friend was recently in car shopping mode and was getting recommended the CX-5 left and right. I don't know what she ended up going with, but everyone who owned one of those was goddamned evangelistic about it. I do know now that I've got an suv I don't think I could ever go back to a regular car again. Too low to the ground and, with my could-go-at-any-moment back issues, the less contorting the better.

Finding the right thing for both myself and my tiny wife is hard. I'd love something that was easier on the back, but if she's not comfortable that's a problem, too.

Gotcha.

there's a little over a foot difference in our heights. It makes things tough sometimes.

I'm like a broken record about this whenever friends are car shopping, but check out your Kia and Hyundai dealers before you look at Toyota and Honda. Korean manufacturers don't have the tariffs that Japanese manufacturers do and you can get more car for your money (also, they've stepped up their quality game significantly in the last five years).

I had a Hyundai for years. No problem with them or Kia beyond not enjoying driving the few I've rented of late.

I'm very happy with the CX-5. Our previous ride was an extended cab S-10, so the Mazda feels cavernous on the inside by comparison, but it handles like a much smaller vehicle than the truck -- tight turning radius, U-turns, whipping into parking spaces and such. I'm not used to having to rely so much on the mirrors and the back-up camera -- the truck's small passenger compartment and upright windows made it easier to look around directly, but that is an inexperience thing on my part and you can check it out on a test drive. The proximity alerts on the side mirrors are very nice. My wife and I are about the same height so we don't have to test the range of the driver's seat controls, but they seem to have a decent range of up-down-forward-back.

As mentioned above, connection to the audio system via USB is horrible, but bluetooth and AUX-in get around that.

do not buy a new car. it is a terrible decision. taking a new car off the lot is like immediate 30% depreciation. buy a year-old car.

omg I had a 2001 Civic before my current car
I wouldn't buy a new car (even tho I bought current car as new...long story) if I was you. Get a certified used with a decent warranty. There's the old saw about losing thousands of $ as soon you drive it out of the lot, plus buying new is no guarantee you're not buying a car that will give you problems. I've had way more issues with current car (bought new) than I did with the Civic (bought with 30k miles on it).

xpost 2-3 yr old Civic is a good recommendation

i’ve had my 2012 civic since 2013 and it is a fucking awesome car

i have a buddy who has had the same civic for 20 years now - the odometer broke about 5 years ago at 280k miles

and don't base what you buy on which payments you "can afford". as in sure you *can* afford $X per month, but can you get a decent, reliable car for less? the stress of having to make payments that put you on a thin-margined budget isn't worth the upgraded car.

I wonder if my old Civic is still on the road. It was still going strong when I traded it in. New owner got a free amp that I was too lazy to unmount.

yeah nice cars are overrated - and i say that as someone who commutes an hour (15 miles!) each way to work.

all that said i am seriously considering buying a new civic r type because i am an idiot

i can’t wait to spend two hours a day shifting between 1 and 2 in stop and go traffic with a 300 hp engine

Hey GD,yeah I hear you. My $300-month is a comfortable-level "afford". I'm extremely paranoid about over-extending myself financially.

Thanks for the advice all. I'll look for a 2015-2016 Civic/Corolla. The supply in my area may be limited, though. And I kind of need to make a decision within the next three days since I don't technically have a car anymore.

Even though the timing of this is shit, I should finally be able to get a car with A/C. I live in Tampa, FL, and I haven't had A/C for about two years. My commute is basically a two-hour-a-day hellish experience. It's basically a two-hour 100 degree sauna with the added benefit of car fumes. So there's that ;)

I've only bought used and never with a trade in (I drive my cars into the ground). As others have noted, mildly used cars are better deals, and going the certified w/warranty route, while costing a bit more than buying one from a private party, will let you not worry so much about it.

My current car is a 2002 Mazda Protege5 that I bought in 2004 w 44K miles on it. It's been great.

And the A/C still works! (though I rarely use it)

you could check out the honda fit too....my mom went from a '98 civic to a fit a couple years ago and she loves it. bonus points if you have a use for the storage space in the fit.

The Fit, huh? **researching**

oh yeah i agree, get a year-old or so car and you can afford a gooder one. i had a shitty trade-in and i'm including that in my down payment 4 u. best of luck.

Used cars are not a very good deal right now, IMO. I needed a midsize truck for work when I bought a couple of years ago, the savings on a used Tacoma were poor compared to new with all the bells and whistles that get upgraded every year. New vehicles generally have more room for bargaining and financial incentives too.

I wound up getting a Chevy Colorado with the fancy 4x4 package for $8500 off MSRP. I wasn’t trading in, though, just a straight down payment.

As far as small cars, the Kia Soul is great - good features for the price, reliable, good warranty, outstanding visibility because it's more upright than most compacts (sort of a mini crossover SUV).

Only knock is that their gas mileage isn't quite as good as some of the other small makers.

Hot tips...

Kia and Hyundai both make far better cars now than they did just 10 years ago. In many cases, they are comparable to or better than Honda and Toyota for a lower cost.

If you live near a Carmax, go out there when you have a few hours and test drive 3 or 4 different things you're interested in. Carmax is a totally low/no pressure place to do this because the sales people don't work on commission.

If you find one you like, and Carvana operates in your neck of the woods, consider shopping there and having them deliver your car directly to you. They're cheaper than Carmax, but are just as beloved.

re: the Kia Soul — I want one of these so bad. I had a Ford Escape for several years and got really used to being able to buy larger things and drive them home myself without having them delivered. Then I bought I Jetta to get some better gas mileage, but now I can't haul around shit. The Soul seems like the perfect compromise, but I'm still a little bit underwater on the remaining balance of my Jetta loan vs. what I can reasonably expect to get for it in trade.

Test drove a Kia Optima last summer and while it was a nice car with nice features for the price, it amplified every minute bump in the road... very rough ride.

Wound up with a Subaru Impreza hatchback. Very satisfied so far. It lacks some drive-assist features that others in its class have, but I didn't really see the value in those.

fwiw, I do love my 2012 VW Jetta. Once upon a time I owned an old Audi from the 80s and I swore I'd never own a VW or Audi again, but this car is like the complete opposite of that one. Solidly built, reasonably budget friendly to maintain, and a peppy engine.

I ended up getting a new Kia Rio. I visited a bunch of places (Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Kia) and the Rio was the best deal for me. I was looking at some used cars but I just can't deal with the anxiety of having car payments and potential car repairs during the second half of my 5 year loan. I was able to get it for about 15k with everything included (tag, taxes, all the endless fees). Took me four hours of negotiating, though. Freaking miserable.

i've been driving a corolla since 99 when i bought it new. it runs great but in the last few years random things have been breaking on it. i got into a conversation with my mechanic about getting a new car and he strongly recommended the honda fit... in his experience no-one ever brings them in for fixing.

That's cool. I still love Civics but I definitely had issues more issues than anticipated (transmission went out at 60k and the engine at 160k).

To be fair, Honda paid for the transmission to be fixed outside the warranty after I called them. They didn't have to do that.

Did you get the sedan or the hatch?

The sedan, strictly on the fact that I liked the look slightly more (I think the sedan is slightly cheaper too).

If you live near a Carmax, go out there when you have a few hours and test drive 3 or 4 different things you're interested in. Carmax is a totally low/no pressure place to do this because the sales people don't work on commission.

Seconding the recommendation for Carmax. Bought a 2013 Dodge Charger from them last year and it's pretty much the best newish used car I've purchased.

For myriad reasons, and much to my frustration, we decided to buy a second car. Maybe it's the seller's market, maybe it's just tradition, maybe they just didn't give a shit, but every dealer we went to (we wanted used) was absolutely terrible, even when they meant well. We had multiple dudes take us out for test drives that didn't know a single thing about the car we were driving, unhelpfully googling (wrong) answers to questions we asked. We had a guy that talked more about his former job at Men's Warehouse than the task at hand. We had another guy describe a strange tick of the car we were driving as "retarded." We had another guy that just made us wait 30 minutes when the car we had scheduled for a test drive was being taken out for a test drive by someone else; the car sold to the other party literally while we talking about it with the guy, but I suspect he used us as leverage to pressure the other people into buying. We had yet another dude, "the manager," who, when we asked some questions based on research we'd done, literally said, irritated, "it sounds like you know more about this car than I do, why are you even asking me questions?" We went to drive a car at Carmax (usually good!) we were assured was clean and not smelly, and it stank thoroughly of cigarette smoke. We test drove another car somewhere else, liked it enough, and asked if there was any way, should we decide to buy it, it could be brought out to our house (not too far), and they sort of said yes but admitted they'd prefer we drive it off the lot ourselves so they could "ask if we were interested in some of their special offers and extras." I know car salesmen are the worst, but ... car salesmen are the worst.

We tried, we really did, but in the end we went with Carvana, which, as my wife said, took about as much time as eating two tacos, and that was only because she was multi-tasking. You get a full week to return it with no questions asked, and apparently three "swaps," if the car you get is not just what you want and you find a car you like better. Can't beat that.

I was passively shopping for cars before prices ballooned in the spring, and watched a bunch of people's accounts of buying from (and also selling to) Carvana. For the most part they seem on the up and up, so I'll definitely consider them when things get back to normal—if I even decide to change cars.

Let us know down the road if it was a decent experience.

What's the car?

My wife got a 2018 Mini Cooper. It's being delivered in a couple of weeks, so we'll see how it goes! We (I) really wanted a hybrid or EV, but we couldn't find one that was right for us, or our budget, or that would fit with the other one in the garage. We sort of justified it as, well, it's used, it's the second car, already that means less gas and miles since it won't be the main hauler. Like I mentioned, I would have preferred sticking with one car, but we have two teens, one of whom drives, and next year they will be going to the same school for the first time in years. Said school is around 2 miles away, which is too far to walk, not practical to bike much of the year, and public transportation here (a PACE bus) extremely unreliable. So the older kid gets to drive the older, bigger (safer) car, and take her sister to and from school, too. Then, in a year, she'll be off to college and won't need a car, and we'll be down to one kid who doesn't drive, but we'll still have two cars, one of which will soon thereafter be the one the younger one learns on and drives. By the time *she* has her license, the older one will be graduating from college, and we can determine if we want to give her the old car, or possibly get rid of both cars and replace with a better one-car choice for us, which by then, in 4+ years, might be a more practical EV.

We're planners. ;)

The impetus right now, fwiw, was related to the same car shortages that have inflated used car prices. Car rentals are scarce and prices through the roof. New and used cars are flying off the lots (relatively speaking). It's going to be a problem for the foreseeable future, right when being a two-car family makes the most sense for us. We realized if we ever needed a second car, even for a couple of days, it was going to prove a challenge, but we also realized with two bigger kids it was going to be harder and harder to avoid. Just bad timing we couldn't avoid, but we figure a relatively short-term issue that we will reassess when the family next radically reshuffles.

My 19 year old car is currently crapping out and I'm feeling very cursed considering how terrible the market is right now

recently found this list of most sold cars in america 2021 and can't get over it
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g36005989/best-selling-cars-2021/

https://i.imgur.com/nEcsuER.png

what are people using these cars for?

this is the best selling car in Europe:
https://www.best-selling-cars.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/VW-Golf-Blue-Snow-768x432.jpg.webp
https://www.best-selling-cars.com/europe/2021-full-year-europe-top-25-best-selling-car-models/

what are people using these cars for?

Occasionally, some light duty, but mostly just as status symbols. American roads have wide lanes, parking lots have wide spaces, and if most of the other drivers out there have a high vantage then you want one too (I guess).

My brother has one of these monstrosities and just replacing the tires alone is about $2500.

remarkable

I guess it makes sense in a way

but really mindblowing, did not realize those big trucks were so popular

I'm legit pissed that all the US brands and about half of the import brands have quit selling sedans and hatchbacks in the US. I've never bought a car new, and probably never will, but that means the inventory next time I'm shopping will be almost wholly SUVs and Crossover things.

(Also, they stopped offering any kind of low-end or starter economy cars anymore. "Are you poor? Fuck you, buy something that's 20 years old," they say.)

that is indeed the strategy brought on by the chip shortage. if you can’t sell in volume, only sell high margin. which has of course made the used car market blow up too because who can afford these new cars

and i don’t see them changing their tune any time soon tbh. if they can make record profits in a pandemic when everyone’s driving less and there’s a chip shortage, well just think how much this strategy could net them in normal times

what are people using these cars for?

i think you are somewhat underestimating how many people live in rural places with shitty roads, and/or that actually need a truck. Ofc there is merit to the status thing, too

i don't think the quality of rural roads in 21st century america is really relevant to the portion of car sales that are large trucks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aZqn4K5ZcU

yeah a new silverado is like $70k - it’s a luxury car

roads are a lot worse in the city here than in the surrounding counties/rural areas. i'm sure that's why baltimore cops who live in york and lancaster drive these kinds of trucks, so they can get over all the potholes and steel plates.

fair point. can attest that being the case in the city i just moved out of. i thought the potholes were exclusive to that shithole since i've never seen another city nearly so full of bad roads. . .

In 2008 I bought a new Ram 1500 Quad Cab (I was working construction) for $18,250. Not the Hemi but still a V8, even. Inflation yada yada yada but I assume I'd be lucky to find the equivalent for under $40k today.

Probably not even $40k since the juiced-up Focus that is the Bronco Sport is about $40k if you want a 4 cylinder engine.

roads are a lot worse in the city here than in the surrounding counties/rural areas.

seriously, same here! I would actually be interested in a visual comparison between Baltimore and Oakland in terms of road quality, with bonus points for pictures including sidewalk furniture. ... meanwhile I drive to the suburbs / rural areas to visit my parents, who live on a cul-de-sac where everyone but them has the big new truck ... and those roads are pristine.

The CX-5's big flaw is revealed -- if the battery is weak and the weather is cold, the rear liftgate won't unlock.

read a review of the toyota hydrogen fuel cell car

seems like the future

my barely informed hot take is that hydrogen fuel cell is a dead-end for personal vehicles

Yeah, there's a reason Toyota is the only maker still playing around in that field.

https://www.gemcar.com/street-legal-carts/

xp oh didn't realize, seemed so promising