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School me on new car buying

3K views 32 replies 21 participants last post by  Tab 
#1 ·
Looking at the option of buying or leasing a new car...a little more sided to buying. Never bought new before, only the 2 used I've ever had.

Looking at new cars because of their reliability, warranties and building up credit. This would be a dedicated daily driver. I'm getting a little tired of replacing parts on my higher mileage jeep, but planning on keeping that to go wheelin and real crappy winter days. Definitely checking out the 4 cylinder / 5-6 speed manuals for gas mileage and since their cheaper. Looking around 16k-21k.

I'm not sided to any manufacturer and I'm looking at everything. Want to do this right and not live on a prayer with my payments.
 
#2 ·
Motrctyman just picked up his company car. A 2011 Camry. He tried getting a Ford Fusion, Chevrolet Malibu, and Hyundai Sonata...to name a few...but none of them could beat the deal he got on the Camry.

He got a 5 speed 4 Cyl. with blue tooth, and the other typical options...air, rear window defogger, automatic, keyless entry, CD player.... Here in Alabama, he got it out the door including taxes for less than 20K...which was his budget maximum.

For any car, you need to find a dealer to negotiate, and DON'T BE AFRAID to walk away... a day or two later, ALL of the time , they'll match a lower price from our experience. Good luck.
 
#3 · (Edited)
For any car, you need to find a dealer to negotiate, and DON'T BE AFRAID to walk away... a day or two later, ALL of the time , they'll match a lower price from our experience. Good luck.
x2. very important advice. even if you think it's your dream car and you'll never find another one exactly like it (which is not true, especially since you're buying new... any new model is a dime a dozen and can be had anywhere)

My girlfriend just bought a 2010 Ford Fusion and absolutely loves it. I really like it too. The interior is very nice, has connectivity to cell phones/mp3 player, has aux port in the center console, and the instrument panel is really sharp looking. The ride is good, and the gas mileage is excellent. I would definitely recommend this car to anyone looking for a nice riding, good looking, fuel effecient, and something that's not going to cost you an arm or a leg.

You weren't very specific, other than saying you prefer to buy, and gave us your price range... but are you wanting to buy a economy type sedan (Fusion, Camry, Civic, Malibu), light truck (Colorado, Ranger, Dakota), or a small SUV in your price range (Escape, Liberty, Compass, Equinox, etc)? It'll vary quite a bit in our suggestions if you don't at least narrow it down to a type of vehicle.

In my opinion, go out and drive a ton of cars. That'll help immediately eliminate certain models and put other models towards the top of your list. And I would literally make a list... write down what you really liked about it and also what you weren't so crazy about. If you spend an afternoon going dealer to dealer and getting figures/pricing/payments/interest rates/rebates/other incentives, etc etc all afternoon... at the end of the day, your mind is going to be exhausted. Take pictures with your cell phone and take good notes, so at the end of the day... you'll really be able to accurately review all the information (both good and bad) that you got. Otherwise, you'll be wondering who said what, and what was the best pricing, and who you liked and who you didn't.

Generally, the first price you get from the salesman will not be his best price. If you basically tell him that you've been shopping around and have seen similar priced vehicles going for less... then if he really wants to make the sale, he will come back with a slightly better offer. And as noted above... Once you walk away, it's VERY likely that the salesman will call you back in a day or two saying that he's "talked it over with his boss", and that they'll able to give you even a better price on it. Just let them know right away that you aren't bullshitting with them and that you are serious about buying one in the very near future. It'll give them an incentive to make the sale.
Buying a car can, and should be exhausting. Especially if you want the best car and best price that'll suit you, it'll require a lot of homework to be done on your end.

Good luck, it's an exciting, yet frustrating process. :thumb:
 
#4 ·
I just went through this process last month. Oh yeah... and if you're looking for something a little nicer than a Fusion, I found several very low mileage (20,000-30,000) Lincoln MKZ's that were absolutely SPOTLESS for about 18-19k. They are a really nice looking and nice riding car. I just preferred the interior of the Mercedes better, so I went with that.
 
#8 ·
:sonicjay: :sonicjay: :sonicjay: :sonicjay:

BTW: I have a Honda Civic Hybrid. Love it. Only I'm putting about 20K+ miles on it every 3 months. I think I'm going to look into a VW Diesel. Replacing the power battery every year is too expensive.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I'm probably going after an economy car - sedan or coupe. I've been doing about 200 miles Monday through Friday. Been driving our 2wd Sonoma pickup with the 4.3L for a while here. Just topped it off at $35 getting on average 18 mpg. Wouldn't mind something a little easier on the wallet. Oh the good old days of filling up for $20 :rolleyes:

So yeah, knock small trucks off the list since I have access to one and fact being I don't haul stuff on an every day basis. Plus I would like to somewhat survive the snowy streets if I'm driving it. I've got the 4x4 SUV already, so I'm set in that area as well.

I'm looking around the area of the Focus, Cobalt, Civic, etc.. Actually stopped and looked at the local Kia dealer today...those Forte Koup look interesting. The bluetooth stuff would be a definite must if I'm cruising in a stick shift.

I'm not really looking into the luxury market, plus my clothes get dirty at work, so no point in covering a leather seat in dust.

Ford is definitely up high on my list of manufacturers to look at. Probably would check out the Fiesta, Focus and Fusion. I got a chance to drive a friend's 09 Focus with a 5 speed / 4 cyl and was impressed how well it did with 5 people in the car acceleration wise.

For any car, you need to find a dealer to negotiate, and DON'T BE AFRAID to walk away... a day or two later, ALL of the time , they'll match a lower price from our experience.
I can easily agree with that. I'm not in any hurry to buy, which may or may not be a good thing to say to a salesman.
 
#12 ·
VW's are like Audi and Mercedes...repair costs up the ass with no lube. I know I saw something about free / provided maintenance for a year or somethin, but I wouldn't mind taking a look at one, especially if its a TDI.

Anyone had any experience with leasing for something like 3 years then buying after?
 
#15 ·
I'm a full time salesman for Wilson Marine.

Best sales tactic I've ever had used on me. Gentleman came in and put down a deposit by check on the boat that we had been discussing. Leaves the building, as he's pulling out of the driveway he calls me and says "Ian, why dont you just hold on to that check for a little while. I'm starting to get cold feet, it might be a little out of my budget"

What else was I supposed to do, the only way I could handle the objection was lower the price. Found out afterwards that it's an age old tactic. Worked great on me!
 
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#17 ·
The newer Impreza's are very impressive. Building a older one and trying to make the same power and reliablity as a newer one is expensive to say the least.

I hate vw's in general I had a golf and that kind of scorned me. I am a fan of the TDI engine though. The last few years they have become quite refined fuel sipping machines. The maintenance cost are high but if you consider it is a diesel and not just a gasser it puts it into perspective. The thing is underrated with it's balls tied down by the current emissions standards in place.

Because you are not bound by those standards(I love that this is not a emissions state) you can make this into a very respectable ride that still gets better gas mileage then a Toyota Reamus.

If you don't want to mess with it due to the warranty that's good also. Run it until it runs out then get a extended warranty. All the while you will get great acceleration while getting impressive fuel mileage.

You can look into 2010 models and save a boatload while still getting the performance of a 2012 model. At the very least you should take one for a test drive.
 
#20 ·
you're not that far from Troy. Run down to the Troy Motor Mall, where virtually every make is represented. Start test driving cars, and figure out what you like.

Then, more than likely you have settled on a brand that has multiple dealerships within a 30-60 minute driving radius and start shopping them.

IF, as you might be leaning towards a Ford comes up, then do as Hancho, and others have, and go visit Dana at Suburban in waterford.


I put too many miles on a car to seriously consider "new" for me. In July, when my BMW was totaled, I was in a bind, as I too wanted a small, nimble, reasonably efficient but still fun car. Hatchbacks were high on the list - but not a critical decision point.

I ended up with a 2008 VW Jetta GLI, with the 2.0T and the 6 speed manumatic, dual clutch DSG gear box. with ~35kish on the odometer - certified preowned. OEM warranty ran until 50k, at which point a 2 year, 24,000 mile CPO warranty kicks in. This was the 4th car I had made a cash offer on ($18k and change) - the first 3 offers, the sales managers were like: "I can't believe you're going to walk way from a deal over $xxx.xx dollars" - my rebuttal was I can't believe you're going to let a deal walk away over that amount. All 3 of those dealers called me back the next week (Beginning of the following month) asking if I was still looking. One was literally the very next day, and let a barely audible "fuck" escape his lips when I let him know that I literally had just picked up my new to me car. :)
 
#31 ·
Yeah, thought that was a little weird seeing this topic up on the first page. lol

Since we're going back 2 years i grabbed myself a '11 Focus SES with a 5 speed and sunroof. Very happy with the car. 37 mpg highway with the cruise set at 75 during the summer. 24,300 trouble-free miles. Gonna be putting another ~1500 on it next month on a road trip to Maryland.

Actually ended up getting it from Avis Ford down at Telegraph and 12. Lou Marchessi (probably butchered that little bit) was the sales guy. Real easy person to talk to, no pressure. Manged to find $3500 in rebates without an employee pin number (vs. the $3000 straight friends & family deal would have gotten me).

Holzer Ford was a joke. I got the only Haji in the place who wasn't that helpful. My 2 necessities were a moon/sun roof and 5 speed. Didn't even care what trim level. Took them over an hour to bring one up from their auxiliary lot, which couldn't have been that far away. The test driven one didn't even have the moon roof. He sat there and ignored us while we waited. Pretty sad I would think to the fact I went to school with 2 of the family's kids.

I did stop in to Suburban Ford on 59 / Airport. Got stuck with the salesman who worked next to the Dana guy everyone keeps promoting.

I've never wanted to kill a salesman so bad in my life. Every time I made a statement he said "no problem"...."no problem"..."no problem". I wanted to run him over. There weren't any deals there.

So anyways I would definitely go to Avis again. I've worked at a dealer before, I know how those bastards like to work.
 
#32 · (Edited)
I have had a million people sit next to me in the 11 years Ive been here. I know Lou pretty well, he used to work here for a short time. He is a good guy and im sure you got a fair deal from him. As for the guy that you talked to here. One thing to always remember in any business you are working with, the company/business is only as good as the person who represents it. You could walk into any store, talk to 3 diferent people from each store and have 3 totaly diferent experiences. I'm sorry to hear that you had a bad experience and I would put a $100 that the guys name was John...lol (who is no longer here anymore) But if you would like to find him I know what dealership he went to :sonicjay::sonicjay:

Glad to here you bought a Ford!:usa:
 
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