Buying a car can be hassle free!

[tripods68]

I meant to write this last October. I'd thought I still share my car dealership experience.


For years we needed a third car. We have been driving an old used car with a lot of mileage, and I hate it. It gets me where I need to go, but I’m tired of fixing leaks and broken parts all the time. It's annoying that I have to take it to the mechanic every time. We end up with only one good car which my wife and I share together. Even when the repairs take care of everything, I know in a week or two it just ends up going back to the shop.

I have finally decided that I am not going to do it anymore. I have decided to buy a new car! Fortunately, I have been researching Nissan Sentra for a while. Sure, it's slow but who cares. I only need this car to commute and give me great mileage. I don't want something fast that eat too much gas and my pocket. I kept asking myself, do I want something stylish? Do I want something big? Something economical? Each time I think those things, all I see is a dollar sign flashing in front of my eyes. Finally, my wife and I decided to stay economical.

After I had done some more research online, I knew that I would need some expert advice. Eventually, I went to a local dealership to check out some new models and discussed the quote I received for one particular brand. We talked to the salesman, and we listened to him carefully. He was honest and treated with professionalism were impressive. He had a lot of very helpful suggestions and showed us some nice feature like Bluetooth and push-button start. After a lengthy discussion, we finally decided which one and the car color. I was expecting this purchase to be a serious hassle, but the experience was almost painless. Everything went smoothly, and now I have a brand new car!

It would be unfortunate if we got a ticket the moment we drove off the lot. So we drove it very slowly with big smiles on our face.

[snafu]

I've an older car and trying to decide if I should buy something newer.
I wonder if you'd be willing to share some general details that I struggle with. Did you ultimately buy a new [leftover] 2016 model or new on the lot, 2017? Did you buy an electric/dual model? Were features like blue tooth and choice of color on your 'must have' list before you went to the dealership?

Were all 3 of your vehicles bought 'new? ' Would share your reasoning for buying new, rather than a gently used vehicle depreciated one or two years? How did the new vehicle affect auto insurance rate? Did you trade the older, # 3 vehicle, sell privately or retain? How did you work out final price? Had you discussed pricing and financing with your own or another financial institution or go with dealer's program?

Sorry, I find it such hard work to buy another auto.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Great car for driving for Uber/Lyft (joke, lol).

[danielaa]

Nissan is a great car as long as you take care of it! Also, make sure you have insurance in case something happens.

[TexasHusker]

While buying a 3 year old car may in fact turn out to make the most sense financially, there are benefits to buying new:

1. Warranty. While the car might not ever need warranty work, most do.

2. A new car has no defects, and there are no concerns about how it has been cared for.

3. Most maintenance items - replacement tires, brake pads, timing belts, transmission fluid changes, water pumps, etc. - are 3-4-5 years away with a new car. With a three year old car, many of these items are imminent.

I am 50 years old and have had many cars, most of them used.

But for at least one of our cars, a Range Rover currently, we have grown to like the lease concept. No repair concerns due to the warranty, 15,000 miles a year allowance, and at the end of 30 months we will trade out for new.

Probably doesn't make good financial sense per se, but it is a luxury we can afford and have piece of mind with.

Oh the other hand, I bought a pristine 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser that quite literally looks like brand new, for $37K cash. It was $85K new. So we are using a blended approach.

[disneysteve]

2. A new car has no defects

I would definitely disagree with this one. A new car may have defects. We just don't know what they are yet.

The last car we bought new was recalled 4 times during the 4 years we owned it. It was then destroyed in a fire caused by a manufacturing defect.

This is the whole point behind lemon laws.

[msomnipotent]

My new Subaru was in the shop 9 times within the first year. They were sneaky and got around the lemon law by saying the same problem was actually different problems, and I still have the same problem! I just stopped taking it in. I have decided to sell it back to the dealer when the time comes, and then when they say that such and such is wrong, I'm going to say, "Good. Now fix it because it is still under warranty." And they will say, "Well played, msomnipotent".

I think our next car will just be a green sheet. An in-law gets the employee discount and can give it to us, so we just pick out what we want and give them the discount code. No haggle.

[TexasHusker]

I would definitely disagree with this one. A new car may have defects. We just don't know what they are yet.

The last car we bought new was recalled 4 times during the 4 years we owned it. It was then destroyed in a fire caused by a manufacturing defect.

This is the whole point behind lemon laws.

What I meant to say is that the car is not in imminent need of reconditioning. Cracked windshield, needs new tires, etc.

[Thrif-t]

In '09 I bought a brand new Honda Odyssey thru the internet. Meaning I did all my haggling and going back and forth with the dealer rep thru email. It was great!! It might've taken a week but I wasn't in a hurry. When we finally decided on a deal, we went to the dealer, took it on a test drive and signed the papers. If I ever buy a new car again that's the route I'm going, all online! I'm not going to the dealer and spending hours haggling back and forth, waiting for him to talk to management and all that. Yuck no thank you!

I was so proud of myself too for doing it on my own. My DH wouldn't have anything to do with buying a Honda cause his dad worked for GM so that's the only cars their family would own. At the time we needed a mini van and GM didn't have one. My Honda has been great, and I hope i have it for a lot more years to come

[disneysteve]

What I meant to say is that the car is not in imminent need of reconditioning. Cracked windshield, needs new tires, etc.

Understood. Certainly, when you buy used, you need to balance condition against price. As long as the price fairly reflects the condition, that's fine. I have no problem buying a used car knowing that it needs tires, brakes, or other wear and tear types of things (windshield wiper blades, filters, etc.). When we bought DD's car last year, we took it to a trusted mechanic and got it checked out. Then we knew what we were looking at repair-wise and factored that in to what we paid for it.

[bjl584]

I bought a new truck back in 2011, and it too was hassle free. I found it on the lot, drove it, liked it, and the numbers worked. Couldn't have been easier.

I guess there is something to be said for having excellent credit, a fully paid off trade, and a big down payment.

I still have the truck. It is 6 years old, has been paid off for a couple years now, and has 62,000 miles on it.

[QuarterMillionMan]

One sure way to buy a new car without haggling is to bring the advertisement where they say something like 5 at this price. I bought my new 2007 Dakota at this exact same price of $13,999. When I arrived they still had 3 remaining at that price, a red one, a silver one, and a white one which is the one I chose. Taxes and fees were an additional $2000 so I was out the door at $15,999 for a brand new 2007 Dodge Dakota which I'm still driving today with 111,000 miles.

[QuarterMillionMan]

BTW yes I did keep that sale ad to this day (10 years later).

[tripods68]

I've an older car and trying to decide if I should buy something newer.
I wonder if you'd be willing to share some general details that I struggle with. Did you ultimately buy a new [leftover] 2016 model or new on the lot, 2017? Did you buy an electric/dual model? Were features like blue tooth and choice of color on your 'must have' list before you went to the dealership?

Were all 3 of your vehicles bought 'new? ' Would share your reasoning for buying new, rather than a gently used vehicle depreciated one or two years? How did the new vehicle affect auto insurance rate? Did you trade the older, # 3 vehicle, sell privately or retain? How did you work out final price? Had you discussed pricing and financing with your own or another financial institution or go with dealer's program?

Sorry, I find it such hard work to buy another auto.

No trade. We kept the old car as standby car in case my wife's Honda Odyssey needs repair. Our van is 11 years old and we bought it new in late 2005. It's been fantastic and reliable-hardly gives us any type of trouble. The other vehicle (Hyundai 2002) is just the opposite (you get what you pay for right!) gives us all kind of trouble now.

We were already in bad situations for a while since we had one truly functional vehicle.

We end up buying 2016 model that had big discounts with the options we want. We also paid in cash. That's the key, make sure you have the money in the budget to pay cash. What that does, it changes the dynamic of the entire negotiation process. No credit score, no shopping for multiple finance lender/banks. We didn't need our credit scores to determine our interest rate and payments. We didn't have to play this game.

When you pay for something in cash, you have the upper hand and the leverage in any negotiations. That's profound.

To get the best price on any vehicle, research the vehicle & options. Once you pinpoint the right vehicle, contact few dealerships and go test drive it. Get several quotes online. I use Edmunds.com and TrueCar to research vehicles and pricing. Look for major holidays and sales events where they give the highest discount. When you are ready, bring the lowest quotes and have them try to match the existing offer to take off additional discounts, or free oil change.

Hope this helps.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I feel like all the cars we want have no depreciation for used versus new. But now we drive two subarus and 1 year old cars sometimes cost more. 3 year old cars for $3k doesn't give me enough of a discount to buy used.

We have bought used a 2006 hyundai in 2012. It was about 50% off and a good car. Last 4 years to 10 years before three different mechanics told us not to drop more money into it.

So i won't say no to used but i think it depends on brand of car and what sort of deal they are giving you.