Buying a car, what are your preferences?

[Brian D]

Buying a car can be a stressful situation. What do I want? What color? What amenities does it have? New? Used? Lease? Just too many questions...

We (my wife and I) have taken to looking at cars that come from either events or corporate/private leases. We find better deals on these cars. They are usually around 3 years old (end of lease) and for the most part have low mileage, plus, they are still in manufactures warranty period. And the plus is the trade-in value is retained.

The latest purchase for us was a high end German car. For the price and amenities, was the best choice. For 3 years old, it had very low mileage and the warranty is good until 10/2020.

So do you by new? Used? or what?

 

[Rick486]

Buying a car can be a stressful situation. What do I want? What color? What amenities does it have? New? Used? Lease? Just too many questions...

We (my wife and I) have taken to looking at cars that come from either events or corporate/private leases. We find better deals on these cars. They are usually around 3 years old (end of lease) and for the most part have low mileage, plus, they are still in manufactures warranty period. And the plus is the trade-in value is retained.

The latest purchase for us was a high end German car. For the price and amenities, was the best choice. For 3 years old, it had very low mileage and the warranty is good until 10/2020.

So do you by new? Used? or what?

We have 3 cars, the youngest of which is 8 years old. They all run fine, are well maintained, and live in a garage. 2000 Nissan Maxima, 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2011 Jeep Cherokee. I try to avoid buying cars, period.

 

[kloudie1]

I buy used when I can find what I want, gently used.. I bought a 2003 Infiniti new at a great price through a company discount since our company supplied lubricants to Nissan .. I recently replaced my old 2001 PT Cruiser that I bought used in '05. Since it was a manual transmission, I got it at a great price. Its replacement is a new Hyundai Kona that I just bought a few months back. Those two, the '03 and the '19 are the ones we drive today. I do my own maintenance so I buy reliable things that I can service myself. Seven of the 21 I've owned over the years were bought new.

 

[Whatfiero1]

Buying a car if u live in a southern climate buy a white or light colored car in north black car so sun heats up on cold days. The car has to have a passenger key hole. so when driver's side frozen you can unlock other side to start car. prefer rear wheel drive but all wheel do better in snow check internet for best cars to maintain some cars BMW has skyrocketed maintenance cost that start at 5 yrs old

 

[dlochner]

Since 1991 I have only bought new Ford Rangers. I then drive them until the monthly repair bills begin to approximate a new car payment. Currently I have a 2011 Ranger with 130,000 miles. It will be replaced in about 2 years. Ford was not producing Rangers for domestic sales for a few years. During the hiatus I was worried that I would have to switch models or brands. Ford came through for me last year.

I have purchased used cars from dealers, both program cars and trade-ins. I have never had a great experience with them. My wife now drives a 2016 Honda Accord. It has been trouble free. I figure we'll get 10 to 12 years out of it. Paying for the initial depreciation is worth it to have a car that is trouble free for a number of years.

We bought the Honda through the USAA car buying program. It made the process almost painless, no haggling. Had several offers and took the lowest deal which was a couple of thousand below 2 other dealers.

 

[DougM]

I have nearly always bought new, American vehicles. However, that was before I retired. Being from the midwest, there is a lower percentage of foreign vehicles on the road. No matter what, because of the salt used on roads in winter, all cars tend to rust out before they wear out.

I now have a crossover that I bought new in late 2016 and this is the first that I have kept long enough to have to replace the tires. This last spring I found a 2016 BMW for my girlfriend for a good price with only 6500 miles on it.

The new features on cars that I appreciate are the backup cameras and the blind spot warning. The bad part is switching from the car that has those features to the one that does not.

Since I now spend my winters in the south, I can appreciate the the fact that people have the ability to keep cars longer because they still look good, and if they are maintained they can easily go 250,000 miles or more with no major issues. ( now the interiors wear out before the rest of the car).

Another factor in the car buying process in this state is the annual personal property tax levied at 4% of the value. I had never heard of that and I personally think that amounts to highway robbery and detrimental to both new car and used car sales overall.

 

[Kings Gambit]

I don’t buy many cars. I just turned in my 1987 Ford Bronco II to charity in June of this year. Too expensive to keep up repairs and I wasn’t driving it much. The first and only NEW car I’ve ever bought. My wife likes cars more than I do and has owned only Toyota or Lexus since we’ve been married, but starting with ‘em even a year or two before that. Everyone white or pearl white. Now when it’s time to replace, typically after at least 200,000 miles, we shop around for a used white Toyota Avalon with low miles from a dealership and pay with cash. I just bought her a ‘17, I got the “old” one, a ‘13, but with only with about 172,000 mi. So, we’re early this time around. Not that stressful anymore.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Buying a car if u live in a southern climate buy a white or light colored car in north black car so sun heats up on cold days.

I used to think that too, however, our son got us a great deal on a black car/black interior. We live in Florida. Having had it now for over 1year, it’s become apparent the black car is no different than my previous light grey one in terms of temperature.

Similarly, have always had boats with dark colored topsides, both here in in Rhode Island, and never noticed any difference.

 

[Justin_NSA]

We bought 2 cars this year. In March we got a '17 Impala when my wife's '99 Cadillac STS blew a headgasket. Common in that vintage Northstar engine we found out too late. Last month I bought a '18 Subaru Outback with the 3.6R engine.
The Impala is a great car. 305HP V6. Very happy on the open road. The wife loves the technology. It's her rolling office. Sedans aren't popular so resale value isn't good. That works for us because we got a good deal and we keep cars a long time.
The Outback was sort of a rational splurge if I could call it that. I'm into wagons. I replaced a '03 Ford Focus wagon. I called it my "lake car" because I could haul a lot of stuff to and from the boat. I really wanted AWD and I didn't want a lethargic 4cylinder. In '18 Subaru made a midyear refresh so it is vastly improved from earlier models. So '18 was the target for me.
There are other cars that fit the bill. European cars are very tempting but expensive to service and maintain when you keep them as long as we do. i will never buy a new car again. The value plummets that first year.

Do not be ashamed to negotiate the sticker price when you find what you want.

 

[Kings Gambit]

The “value” of a new car does not automatically plummet right after purchase. It has the same intrinsic value a few days after as the few days prior to purchase. What you lament having paid for with the purchase of a new car (or even a used one) from a dealership is the “service overhead” that’s tacked onto the price of the car, and that does not drive away with you. You spent/consumed that portion of the cost as a service fee to buy from a dealership, and clearly you cannot resell that with the car. Hold the car for ten or so years so as to amortize that initial payout for service overhead, and maintain it well. When you resell, you might recover some of that overhead by fetching a better price than other cars for sale of the same year and model, etc., that were not cared for as well.

 

[Jim26m]

Until 2017, I've always bought used, either through a dealer friend at auction, or salvaged and rebuilt myself. Finally bought a new domestic tow beast. I wanted a bottom line work truck with rubber mats, vinyl, and no frills. The Admiral wanted carpet, cloth, and bells and whistles. So, we compromised and got what she wanted.

Lots of touch screen technology, computers, etc, so I bought the extended warranty from the dealer ( standard warranty excluded a lot of electronics and some other high cost stuff).

So far, I've had a seatbelt recall, and a brake system failure/recall. Brake system failure on a two year old vehicle is unacceptable. Engine and transmission are constantly changing modes, dropping cylinders, locking/unlocking torque converter, etc. As an engineer, I can envision what's going on behind the scenes and all of the things that can go wrong - that enable me to get 23 mpg hwy in a truck that tows 11,000 lbs (23 mpg not while towing). Love the truck, but not sure about the ability of car builders to test/control their component suppliers (or their own procurement personnel). Not sure how well the electronics will hold up parking in the sun everyday either.

Cars are getting pretty complex, so the lure of buying late model fixer-uppers is fading for me. I'll probably buy new for the Admiral (with extended warranty) and build a retro beast for myself if my current truck falls down - so I can understand it and fix it... Hate depending on others to fix my stuff.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Hold the car for ten or so years so as to amortize that initial payout for service overhead, and maintain it well.

That's what we do. Buy at end of year when new models are coming out, keep them usually ten or more years. Do not like white or dark colors, they get dirty. All cars get dirty, but these colors show it. Beige or light blue/grey don't so much.
Downside of long term ownership is fuel mileage, which has improved drastically since we bought this last cuv.

 

[Kings Gambit]

That's what we do. Buy at end of year when new models are coming out, keep them usually ten or more years. Do not like white or dark colors, they get dirty. All cars get dirty, but these colors show it. Beige or light blue/grey don't so much.
Downside of long term ownership is fuel mileage, which has improved drastically since we bought this last cuv.

Hi Stu. We just don’t put down all that many miles per year. So, improving mileage efficiency with newer models is not as important to us, cost-wise, as to others who do drive a lot. I live only two miles from work: only four miles from the dock where the boat is. Wife works out of the house. I also ride the bus a lot; plus, I have a bicycle that I can and do ride to work occasionally, etc.

Actually, I can easily get to just about anywhere along the coast between home and Morro Bay to the north, and San Diego to the south, with combination of bus and train. If I require a car at, or along, destination I just get off near (within about 7 mi. ) an Enterprize rental and they’ll come fetch me to rent me a car, and then take me back when I’m done with it.

Throw in air travel & ferry and I could get to, for example, Prince Rupert, from here (home) in probably less than a 36-hr “day” but possibly another half day depending on the timing of connections (which is where the real time-sinks are in this type of travel). Bus-plane-plane-bus-ferry. (I suppose I could just fly there if in a hurry, but not the point, really.) So, I don’t really NEED the car that much. Just paying for convenience.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Another part of the big question is whether to go gas, diesel, hybrid, or electric. For those of us that keep our dino fueled vehicles a long time, we may well be into the electrically powered age when it comes time to buy again.
I appreciate the new science, but that energy still has to come from somewhere. I've read about possible future brownouts in electric-dense neighborhoods as homeowners plug in theirs cars for the night. Will "off-peek" hours be a thing of the past?

 

[Kings Gambit]

Buying an expensive electric car now could put you way behind the technology advancement curve by ten years hence. The car could be nearly worthless for resale if even still drivable/serviceable then, etc., IMHO. It’s hard for me to get behind the idea of an expensive vehicle with a “fuel range” of 350 mi or (usually) less before incurring significant down time to recharge, etc.

 

[TomY]

Always used. It's been several decades since we bought new so I'm sure I'd faint at the sticker price today.

I need a truck for work and I buy those very used. Most sailboat owners need a pick up truck as well. Maine hits new car buyers with a huge excise tax, every year. We pay the lowest for our cars, and our boat, due to age.

We're always the last stop for a vehicle. I'm proud that we've sent at least 2 to demolition derby's, at least one to the 'islands', (which means they won't pass inspection on the mainland), and my last truck, I drove to the crusher and onto the scale. I got a check for 90 bucks which is the first return on a car since we bought new (it wasn't even due for an oil change) !

 

[sail sfbay]

After 17.5 years of owning an 7.3 F-250 and towing a ski boat and fifth wheel, I just purchased a 6.7 F-350 crew cab dually for towing a fifth wheel.

 

[jon hansen]

i like 10 to 15 year old toyotas, avalons. use to buy 5 year old town cars. i am 6'5". i like 10/15 old ford vans for work/tow. have a 85' jeep cj7, bought it new. it's my yard tractor in sturge, what a piece of junk, no rust, stored inside, also drive it down to aeolus every day. drove like crap from day one. finally got rid of the carter 257 carb and went with a weber 2 barrel. it is totally silly machine, worth huge money because of some jeep cult thing. it's the model that killed people from rolling over.

kids take it every chance they can. (aeolus is in the back ground)
when both of my daughters turn 16, i bought them used red Miatas for school cars. told them that most women could be driving minni vans by the time they were 35, with car seats in them. better to enjoy a roadster while they can.
i put my son in a 89' town car. told him that he would never drive that much american metal ever again. he drove it just like a teen age boy will.
two years ago i bought a 96' benz sl out of forida/no rust. i've been tickling it, got it rocking. fast. 4 wheel
drift. did you know that in most states the fine for driving over 100 mph is the same as for vehicular homicide, who knew?

then i have a 86 honda helix and a 04 bmw 1150 r roadster bike.

the most expensive ride by far was this thoroughbred. costly transportation

 

[Tally Ho]

I tend to purchase new cars, but I keep them a long time.
-My daily driver is a 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid I bought new...206,000 miles...going for 300,000. I drive 115 mikes a day.
- I just bought my wife a new Subaru Outback,..replacing her 2004 Toyota Sienna we bought new.
- The exception to “new” is my 2000 BMW Z3M roadster convertible. Bought her used. ;-)
- And my boat...1988 O’Day 322 ...a “good old boat”. Not too old, but old enough to be reasonably priced.

when I retire, I want to get rid of the Civic (she should be used up by then) and buy a nice truck...debating about new or a few years old.

Greg

 

[JamesG161]

We just added a car to our family.






Bentley S2 1961 Rolles Royce engine.

Good news...
1) Sat in a garage for 30+ years and we bought for $5000.
2) I am the only family member who has driven with Right side steering.
3) Leather interior and secretary fold downs in back seat, perfect condition.

Bad news...
1) Brake pads cost $700
2) Carburator $$$$$
3) $6000 so far.

Super good news...
Started up on first crank up, since sitting for so many years. Of course we took all precautions of making sure it would crank.

Happy Jim...

PS: Recent antique car sale of this car in NY City $130k.
PSS: Wife always wanted an antique car, won't sell it.