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Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

Original post by marymoon

ETA: In this post I'm asking for advice on this one experience at the dealership where it took some time and BS but we found a car that we feel is exactly what we want at a budget we feel we can afford. I am not asking for advice about whether or not I should be buying a car , or dumping $5K into Fh's junker, whehter or not it makes sense to have a birthday party for FH or not, or any other opinions. if you have another opinion, you can FM me, but I'm really just asking for advice on this car. Thanks

I dropped my car off at the dealership for some service and while we were waiting to be picke dup we looked at some used cars. We saw a few that we really liked. Only a few years old, fairly low mileage, decent price.

There were two identical cars. One had 47,000 miles, one had 37,000. We were first told the 37000 mile one was about X thousand dollars, and the 47000 was X-1 Thousand dollars. This was just the salesman's estimate on the lot.

When we got inside to get actual prices, te prices were only $50 apart (both were in the X thousand dollar range). So I was baffled, I asked them shouldn't the high mileage car be cheaper? (we actually liked the color better on that one) But they said, no, they paid more for it at auction, blah blah blah, so we took that one out of the running, because, for the same price, I'd take the lower mileage, of course. So we went for the black one with lower mileage, and I was annoyed with the dealer's BS so finally I told him i used to work there and blah blah, and I know so and so and so and so, and I don't want any BS I just want the car. So he came down $1000 and said that was the lowest he was allowed to go. We said ok, put down a small deposit to let them run our credit so we could get an idea of payments. We came home and I checked Kelley blue book. The KBB value of the car was about $600 LESS than what we were quoted. So FH called back all irate demanding his deposit back. Then they took $500 off the car and claimed to be losing money, blah blah. We really like the car, and I've looked around, it really suits us and our budget and we like the car. Do you think we should buy the car, since the price is now about blue book and it has a pristine carfax record, or do you think we should just keep looking and maybe get a car we like less?

I'm going to see my old boss tomorrow to look at new elantras and see what he has used (he didn't have that car used...excpt with double the mileage)..so my options are open at least until after that meeting, but would you buy it anyway, since it's what we want at the price we want, or do you think we not buy it there b/c they weren't up front?

TIA
jandt2006 Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

my coworker used to have the jetta now she has the newer mode, forgot the name. I do not know much about VW but aren't they expensive to fix if something goes wrong? are they considered american or foreign cars?

marymoon Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

Posted by jandt2006

my coworker used to have the jetta now she has the newer mode, forgot the name. I do not know much about VW but aren't they expensive to fix if something goes wrong? are they considered american or foreign cars?


They're foreign. Supposedly they are more $$ to fix, but according to all my research they're actually one of the cheaper cars to own over a period of time because 1) less does typically go wrong and 2) they have low depreciation cost
jandt2006 Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

sorry i dont' know what else to say
marymoon Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

Posted by jandt2006

sorry i dont' know what else to say


Thanks so much. I'm defintiely still researching. I'm SO tired of it!! and I'm frustrated!!!! I've been in 2 accidents, so safety is a huge issue for me, and I eally want antilock brakes, but it always comes in some $2000 pakcage or something!!!!!!!
jandt2006 Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

oh i'm very sorry to hear about your accidents, i really give you a lot of courage to be able to get back in the car and driving again. safety is a big issue for me also!!, i usually just drive big cars. i thought most newer cars have antilock brakes, and if they dont' have it you probably can just have it installed somewhere?

marymoon Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

Posted by jandt2006

oh i'm very sorry to hear about your accidents, i really give you a lot of courage to be able to get back in the car and driving again. safety is a big issue for me also!!, i usually just drive big cars. i thought most newer cars have antilock brakes, and if they dont' have it you probably can just have it installed somewhere?



I'm SO surprised to find out that a lot of them don't have it standard. Especially withe the less expensive cars. it's always part of some package, and it's a rare fine for some makes, etc. I'm so surprised by this! On the saturn it comes with a trim pakcgae that includes like OnStar or something...what does OnStar have to do with ABS!? GRRRR
jandt2006 Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

they get you coming and going

marymoon Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

Posted by jandt2006

they get you coming and going


Absolutely!

Aside from my intense personal affinity for VWs ever since I was a kid and loved beetles, I love VW's because every feature you could want is standard, even on the cheapest model.
jandt2006 Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

what year range are you looking for?

marymoon Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

We were looking at 2002s today, but anything since the redesign would eb good, I think that's 1999-now. It deonds on mileage. I'm not 100% sold on the jetta. it just seems like the best option out of everything. We were looking in the $5K range, and they were like 1994 cars and stuff with 80K. Nothing is cheap! You really get what you pay for, I think!

jandt2006 Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

ok my FI brother had a vw at one point i believe it was the jetta but it was a lot older it was a really nice car i'm not sure what happened to it. the cars come and go all the time in his driveway
do you ever come out to suffolk?
marymoon Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

Posted by jandt2006

ok my FI brother had a vw at one point i believe it was the jetta but it was a lot older it was a really nice car i'm not sure what happened to it. the cars come and go all the time in his driveway
do you ever come out to suffolk?


For outlet shopping, LOL!

Seriously though I haven't been to suffolk in awhile, but I drive all over. tomorrow we're looking at cars in the bronx... some people don;t venture far, but we love to drive, we have family and firneds everywhere and a lot fo events that require drriving, which is part of why this car decision is SO important.
jandt2006 Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

wow lucky you, i really dont' have any friends, i have a lot of family though.

june262004 Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

Im not trying to be a b!tch. I just don't understand. You post all the time about having money problems. I feel for you. I know how that feels.

We have been tight on money. Its a hard transition when you move out of your parents house and in together. Im currently going on Job interviews with no luck.

I would love a new car. The car I have is a 1994 Honda Civic. Ive had it since High School. I never had any problems with it. Thats why I suggested you try to buy a junker.My car is worth 3500.00 They are out there you just have to look!!! Dealers are always more money!

buying clothes- WHAT IS THAT? I havent bought new clothes in a long time. The summer clothes I wear now are from last year. And the winter clothes are wore are from last year too. When you are on a tight budget you don't go out buying clothes for every season.

YOU asked for opnions and I gave it. I said why don't you buy an old car rather then a newer car. Since all you ever do is say you don't have money but then you are out buying a new LV bag. I just don't get it.

GOOD LUCK with whatever you decide!
sarahthegreat Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

i can see why you are getting upset - a lot of us are on a budget - we just don't always talk about it. and you've mentioned your $$ woes several times. and i agree that buys a 'junker' car is not always worth it b/c of break downs and repairs. but why buy a 2002? i have a 99 nissan sentra and its given me no problems, aside from brakes & battery (nothing unusual.) and we (chris & i) know what its like to live with almost nothing, but we get by. if fh needs a new car, get a used one, but it doesn't have to be 15 or 16k, mine was only 7500.

dpli Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

I think that the dealerships (even if you used to work there) are ALWAYS going to try to make more money if they can. I wouldn't necessarily eliminate the car just because he quoted you a higher price than KBB. That's what they do - it's all part of the sales dance.

I bought my car from a dealership used and I am glad I did. It was still under warrantee when I got it at 2 yrs old, but I paid far less than what the new cars cost. I do think that the car is probably in good shape, since you got the clean report. If you can afford it and it's what you want, I would say get it, since you have been looking for a while. I went the newspaper classifieds route and it was a disaster - I narrowly missed buying a car that had been totalled out by the insurance company and passed off as perfectly OK.

BUT....I do know someone who has a 2003 Jetta and has had lots of problems with it - mostly the electrical system.
DjPiLL Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

Jenn:


If you really need a new car... and are looking at either Dodge, Chrysler, or Jeep... i might be able to get you a killer deal.

I have a really good relationship with one particular dealer in Queens.

Let me know if you need anything.


Also keep in mind anything GM... you get their employee price on the car with no BS. Might be another good option.
jandt2006 Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

i believe she is looking for a used car she said that her max is 5k.

marymoon Posted:

Re: Ok, so what do you guys think of this (car buying)

Thanks.

Rich.If nothing works out today, I'll let you know. I'm levaing a a few moinutes to go see my ex boss, who I know will not try to screw me over. Even with the used cars the whole financing thing might not work out. new cars have better incentives and financing deals for college grads, (no downpayment, no payment for 30,60 or 90 days, etc). I'm finding it all SO frustrating. We stopped back in on the used car dealer (he told us we'd been approved, so we wanted to see payments - i was there pciking my car up) and wheraas last night on the phone they were trying to seal the deal by telling us we were approved, now they're like 'your credit's not so good, so we're waiting for a better approval, only crappy banks approved you so far).' and Doug got really upset b/c he has excellent credit, so this guy was full of it, and then he was like 'i'm not going to say you have bad credit, I don't know anything about it, that's why i have finance managers.' Then I went to the new car dept just to see what the new cars looked like, and a salesman friend of mine told us we'd probably do a lot better on the new car because they are much more aggressive with low interest financing, dealer incentives, etc.

But comparing a new car to the old, I just brought in my car for service for the first time in a year and a half, and oil change, inspection and everything I needed done was under $200, and I don't really need anything other than an oil change until another 10-15K miles, so that's such a huge difference compared to the thousands of $$ in maintenance costs on FH's current car. I was hoping lightning would strike ona cheap used car, but it really hasn't... so..we'll see

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