Buying a car

[qesehmk]

Guys need advice buying a car. Buying a sedan for wife. Budget 30K max. Old new doesn't matter as long as it's a good car.

If anybody has recently bought a car then please let me know what you bought and why.

[incredible]

Guys need advice buying a car. Buying a sedan for wife. Budget 30K max. Old new doesn't matter as long as it's a good car.

If anybody has recently bought a car then please let me know what you bought and why.

Are you going to trade in any other cars? the market is very good to buy a car. with not much sales over the last one year, dealers are giving a lot. My friend bought an SUV (Audi Q7) for 35K after trading in his car. I am guessing you could get a good sedan for under 30 K if you have trade in and good bargaining. You dont have to settle for old for 30K. If you plan to buy German then buy barely used or dealer vehicles where the for around 5K miles you will get fantastic deals of at-least 10K off the sticker price.

Big cities will have these types of deals. As an example Atlanta dealers of German cars give great deals on their dealer vehicles with miles less than 5K.

[Pundit Arjun]

Are you going to trade in any other cars? the market is very good to buy a car. with not much sales over the last one year, dealers are giving a lot. My friend bought an SUV (Audi Q7) for 35K after trading in his car. I am guessing you could get a good sedan for under 30 K if you have trade in and good bargaining. You dont have to settle for old for 30K. If you plan to buy German then buy barely used or dealer vehicles where the for around 5K miles you will get fantastic deals of at-least 10K off the sticker price.

Big cities will have these types of deals. As an example Atlanta dealers of German cars give great deals on their dealer vehicles with miles less than 5K.

Q, I would suggest you to look at Model 3. Back in 2012, my wife had a bad crash on a new honda pilot [A great SUV] by the way. All 4 cars involved in the accident were totaled and my wife was in ICU for 2 days.
For safety reasons and the ability to pull the drive logs quickly [Yes - we were sued by the wrong driver and pulling the logs out of Honda was a nightmare with Honda legal teams involved] - Went with Model S.
We are now on to our third Model S and are at peace.

I know my wife and kids are safe. I can pull the logs anytime by sticking a USB drive at my own will. The maintenance costs are way low [compared to the GL550 I drive].
Please do look at Model 3 or S.

[AceMan]

Guys need advice buying a car. Buying a sedan for wife. Budget 30K max. Old new doesn't matter as long as it's a good car.

If anybody has recently bought a car then please let me know what you bought and why.

You might want to try out lease option. I am using Honda as a reference, the price is comparable to other brands for the similar models, all are new.

I am referring to 0 down payment

Civic 125-275/ month depending on good credit and model variant
Accord 150-300/ month

Both models provide 2 years service included in east coast. Should be similar on continental US.

The total cost for accord top end model over 3 years is under 11,000.

You get additional tax benefits if you lease the car in your company name.

I have been leasing cars since 2014.

[incredible]

Q, I would suggest you to look at Model 3. Back in 2012, my wife had a bad crash on a new honda pilot [A great SUV] by the way. All 4 cars involved in the accident were totaled and my wife was in ICU for 2 days.
For safety reasons and the ability to pull the drive logs quickly [Yes - we were sued by the wrong driver and pulling the logs out of Honda was a nightmare with Honda legal teams involved] - Went with Model S.
We are now on to our third Model S and are at peace.

I know my wife and kids are safe. I can pull the logs anytime by sticking a USB drive at my own will. The maintenance costs are way low [compared to the GL550 I drive].
Please do look at Model 3 or S.

That came to my mind as a first suggestion, but then the price even with few upgrades shoots up beyond 45K and no negotiation or bargaining possible with Tesla.

[incredible]

That came to my mind as a first suggestion, but then the price even with few upgrades shoots up beyond 45K and no negotiation or bargaining possible with Tesla.

Also two issues with Tesla, specifically as it relates to accidents etc., the parts availability and getting the car back is 2 to 3 months time even after a minor accident. My friend was stuck with a rental car for quite some time after a simple school drop hit by another car. Other problem as far as accidents are concerned, German cars are more stronger and focussed on protecting the driver. But I do agree the advantages of logs etc. I am not yet ready for AI driven cars yet (said by a guy working in AI)

[nbk1976]

Guys need advice buying a car. Buying a sedan for wife. Budget 30K max. Old new doesn't matter as long as it's a good car.

If anybody has recently bought a car then please let me know what you bought and why.

I found buying through TruCar (and there are many such websites) to be the best and pressure-free. You get to see the car you like with prices in your area and what your dealer is offering. Get the best pre-approved rate from elsewhere and negotiate a better deal through the dealer. Do all the numbers agreement over e-mail. When you are happy with the price and other details, visit the dealer and do a test drive. If you like the car, you can buy it without any further negotiation because everything is already agreed upon.

Good luck!

[krnashvom8]

Guys need advice buying a car. Buying a sedan for wife. Budget 30K max. Old new doesn't matter as long as it's a good car.

If anybody has recently bought a car then please let me know what you bought and why.

If you are fixed on a sedan, then IMO one of the best, extremely reliable one is a Lexus ES 350. You should be able to find one driven under 50k miles maybe 2016/17 model in your budget range.

[peterpan]

Guys need advice buying a car. Buying a sedan for wife. Budget 30K max. Old new doesn't matter as long as it's a good car.

If anybody has recently bought a car then please let me know what you bought and why.

Best value for money is buying used with 2-3 years coming off of the lease. Lot of depreciation would have been absorbed by 1st owner. If you are worried about warranty etc go for certified Used. A bit more expensive but best bang for the buck. You can get wide high end used models at $30,000.

[srimurthy]

Best value for money is buying used with 2-3 years coming off of the lease. Lot of depreciation would have been absorbed by 1st owner. If you are worried about warranty etc go for certified Used. A bit more expensive but best bang for the buck. You can get wide high end used models at $30,000.

I agree with this. If one is not fixed on getting a brand new, a slightly used user 15K miles will get the price lower by atleast 5K.
Most of the models give little problems until 100K or 120K and you can get a good resale value / decent trade in value for Japanese models.
If they are German or American models try switch just before hitting 100K or 120K.

And don't get any extended warranty or GAPs or anything are they not much value. I follow the suggestion of my BIL who has a buy here pay here small dealership. And he worked with bigger dealers before and started his own.
So looks for certified, with low miles and then negotiate. Also usually go and close before month end as the salesman has an incentive to close deals that month as they usually have a base salary and then commission on the no of sales they close that month.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

Been driving a Prius sedan for 10 yrs now, still rides as new. Amazing car, not to mention still gives ~ 45 mpg, used to give me 50+ for the first few years.

[rocketfast]

Instead of pure sedans, I would look also at the CUVs : Toyota RAV4 or Mazda CX5. They both have 5 star crash ratings, look nice and cost ~25k. You can also look at Toyota RAV4 hybrid if you are environmentally conscious. Model-3 is already recommended and has the best crash ratings among sedans.

[qesehmk]

Incredible, Pundit, Ace, nbk, nash, peterpan, sri, turbulent, and rocket - truly appreciate the insights.

It's been a while we bought a sedan. We have been a honda shop CRV - Pilot - Odyssey. I am a frugal person. So won't go for luxury at least for now - although later this year I might splurge on myself and buy a benz SUV. Very early on I wanted to buy a BMW when I became a director. Then finally it happened (13 years back!) and I passed on buying a BMW. It's like that GC thing. It changes a lot of things in a way but in a way it doesn't change anything.

Of late the cars have become so sophisticated that it might be worth splurging on a benz SUV. For now I guess we are gravitating towards accord hybrid. My son thinks new car has better features than a 3 year old one. On my own I might have gone for a precertified one but with kids it is very tough to argue especially when they are teens or adults.

Thanks again .... this was very useful.

[Turbulent_Dragonfly]

If you are thinking about a Merc SUV, the GLA class will not break the bank but looks nice and rides sporty.

https://www.caranddriver.com/mercedes-benz/gla-class

[AceMan]

Incredible, Pundit, Ace, nbk, nash, peterpan, sri, turbulent, and rocket - truly appreciate the insights.

It's been a while we bought a sedan. We have been a honda shop CRV - Pilot - Odyssey. I am a frugal person. So won't go for luxury at least for now - although later this year I might splurge on myself and buy a benz SUV. Very early on I wanted to buy a BMW when I became a director. Then finally it happened (13 years back!) and I passed on buying a BMW. It's like that GC thing. It changes a lot of things in a way but in a way it doesn't change anything.

Of late the cars have become so sophisticated that it might be worth splurging on a benz SUV. For now I guess we are gravitating towards accord hybrid. My son thinks new car has better features than a 3 year old one. On my own I might have gone for a precertified one but with kids it is very tough to argue especially when they are teens or adults.

Thanks again .... this was very useful.

Most of the people I know who came in 2000s can be classified as the 2nd hand Honda Accord /Toyota Camry generation. My first brand new car was a Toyota Prius, and similarly my teen tries to convince me the benefits of a Tesla as a clean energy car and good for the planet. I asked him a question, have you accounted for the landfill these Tesla's are going to cause the planet 20 years later when they are to be junked. I had seen the bad effect of plastic bags in India which was a rage in 1990s. Prior to that we had paper bags, jute bags, cloth bags.

The answer was unbelievable. Tesla is involved in Mars travel. These will be shipped to Mars !!!

[qesehmk]

Most of the people I know who came in 2000s can be classified as the 2nd hand Honda Accord /Toyota Camry generation. My first brand new car was a Toyota Prius, and similarly my teen tries to convince me the benefits of a Tesla as a clean energy car and good for the planet. I asked him a question, have you accounted for the landfill these Tesla's are going to cause the planet 20 years later when they are to be junked. I had seen the bad effect of plastic bags in India which was a rage in 1990s. Prior to that we had paper bags, jute bags, cloth bags.

The answer was unbelievable. Tesla is involved in Mars travel. These will be shipped to Mars !!!

Haa haa haa !! Only people with teens can understand the joke!

My older teen used to be exactly like this. He would say it to my face - "Baba you are old. You are from India." !!! Meaning you don't understand nothing. Now he has graduated out of this phase. Now he speaks pretty interesting things ... and actually makes me feel old. The quality of his peers is simply mindboggling. The focus the energy the freshness of ideas. When your teen goes to college you will see this transformation!

[vedu]

Most of the people I know who came in 2000s can be classified as the 2nd hand Honda Accord /Toyota Camry generation. My first brand new car was a Toyota Prius, and similarly my teen tries to convince me the benefits of a Tesla as a clean energy car and good for the planet. I asked him a question, have you accounted for the landfill these Tesla's are going to cause the planet 20 years later when they are to be junked. I had seen the bad effect of plastic bags in India which was a rage in 1990s. Prior to that we had paper bags, jute bags, cloth bags.

The answer was unbelievable. Tesla is involved in Mars travel. These will be shipped to Mars !!!

My first car in US was a brand new Toyota Corolla for like $16,000. That car proved so reliable...it is running well since 2007...only thing it ever requires is regular oil changes and occasional tire changes. When GM stock got absolutely plummeted last year, I bought bunch of it. Now I have so much unrealized capital gain that if I sell the stock, I can buy upcoming Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq together with that profit. But I continue to drive my old Toyota Corolla everywhere with pride and wish it can last me for another 10 years. I guess I will be very emotional the day I will have to part with it. When I see people driving around big GM trucks and corvettes with pride, I say "Thank You" in my mind and continue to hold my GM stock hoping it will narrow the huge gap it currently has with Tesla market cap, as they go deep in electric vehicles and autonomous driving through their San Francisco based subsidiary, "Cruise Automation"!

[suninphx]

My first car in US was a brand new Toyota Corolla for like $16,000. That car proved so reliable...it is running well since 2007...only thing it ever requires is regular oil changes and occasional tire changes. When GM stock got absolutely plummeted last year, I bought bunch of it. Now I have so much unrealized capital gain that if I sell the stock, I can buy upcoming Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq together with that profit. But I continue to drive my old Toyota Corolla everywhere with pride and wish it can last me for another 10 years. I guess I will be very emotional the day I will have to part with it. When I see people driving around big GM trucks and corvettes with pride, I say "Thank You" in my mind and continue to hold my GM stock hoping it will narrow the huge gap it currently has with Tesla market cap, as they go deep in electric vehicles and autonomous driving through their San Francisco based subsidiary, "Cruise Automation"!

Great investment ! Do they still pay a dividend or they stopped it?

[vedu]

Great investment ! Do they still pay a dividend or they stopped it?

Which one? Toyota Corolla or GM stock? Corolla was better investment between the two by quite a margin...but I couldn't scale it beyond 16K.

No dividend for now, but there are rumors of restarting it by the year end. I would personally not like them to start back the dividend. Cruise has gone through multiple rounds of capital raises in last 2-3 years. Some of them were strategic partnerships, but those that were not strategic, I would rather GM/Cruise not take that outside capital by diluting GM's equity in Cruise, and instead invest all that dividend capital in Cruise, pay off the debt, invest in other growth opportunities (and they have plenty of opportunities), etc. In general, I have come around to hate dividends. I consider paying dividend is admission by a company that they don't have any investment opportunities for future growth. And particularly, if a company that pays dividend when there is a lot of debt on the balance sheet, I hate that the most. That's just my personal opinion.

[qesehmk]

Q, I would suggest you to look at Model 3. Back in 2012, my wife had a bad crash on a new honda pilot [A great SUV] by the way. All 4 cars involved in the accident were totaled and my wife was in ICU for 2 days.
For safety reasons and the ability to pull the drive logs quickly [Yes - we were sued by the wrong driver and pulling the logs out of Honda was a nightmare with Honda legal teams involved] - Went with Model S.
We are now on to our third Model S and are at peace.

I know my wife and kids are safe. I can pull the logs anytime by sticking a USB drive at my own will. The maintenance costs are way low [compared to the GL550 I drive].
Please do look at Model 3 or S.

After doing some research - yes indeed Model 3 is a great choice. I didn't need 4x4 but long range is probably must for me which will cost 50K with tax. So that puts this way out of my budget. But I do think Model 3 is a fatanstic choice that is better than comparable benz bmw or any other luxury brand.

[Pundit Arjun]

After doing some research - yes indeed Model 3 is a great choice. I didn't need 4x4 but long range is probably must for me which will cost 50K with tax. So that puts this way out of my budget. But I do think Model 3 is a fatanstic choice that is better than comparable benz bmw or any other luxury brand.

Your family and you will not be disappointed, Q. Most importantly, Your wife [The Boss] will be happy and safe .
God Bless!!!