Grex Agora47 Conference Item 175

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15-39

40-64

65-89

90-114

115-120

Author

Message

jep

shopping for a car, this time because I have to

Nov 16 15:08 UTC 2003

I totalled my car recently by hitting a deer.  Now I'm looking for a 
new car.  Meanwhile, I've been driving my pickup truck to and from 
work, to the tune of about $75 per week.

So, I am buying another car in the next week or so.

120 responses total.

jep

response 1 of 120:

Nov 16 15:13 UTC 2003

I was more or less looking at two or three cars, and more or less 
basing my choices on Consumer Reports on-line.  From their reviews, I 
settled on a Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic.  They're two excellent 
cars from the reviews, with great gas mileage (near 40 mph), and the 
features I want (air, cruise, 5 speed, CD player) for a price I can 
afford; aroun $15,000.

But I'm a member of a GM family.  I have a dad who retired from GM, 
and a brother working for Saturn.  Consumer Reports really hates GM; 
none of their cars are reviewed as being very good, and the ones in my 
price range are rated as horrid.  I was interested in a Pontiac 
Sunfire or Saturn Ion or something like that.  They're described in 
terms that make it clear you'd be nuts to buy one.

Anyway, I called a local GM dealer to see what the family discount is, 
and it's remarkable; it's a couple of thousand dollars.  Also, Chevy 
Cavaliers are drawing $4000 rebates right now.  In addition to that, 
there's a financing discount; if you put up to $2000 down, you get 
half of that amount as a rebate.  I could buy a Cavalier with 
everything I want except cruise control for around $8500.  It's EPA 
rated at 26/37.  Consumer Reports tests cars for mileage, and they're 
usually not too far off from the EPA numbers.

The Cavalier is a crummy car compared to a Corolla or Civic, but it's 
a little more than half the money for me.  I'm no car nut.  I just 
want to get to and from work, and go on occasional vacations.  
Sunroofs, spoilers, alloy wheels, etc. do very little for me, I find, 
when I contemplate paying for them.  I'm thinking this Cavalier might 
well do all I need.  It even comes in different colors.  Many cars 
come in shades of black and white, plus red, and that's it.  This one 
can be had in green (Go State!), or yellow, orange, or a few other 
colors.  As long as it doesn't cost more, that's a bonus.

keesan

response 2 of 120:

Nov 16 15:58 UTC 2003

What would a used Toyota Corolla cost you?  How much would it save you on
gasoline per year?

tpryan

response 3 of 120:

Nov 16 18:33 UTC 2003

        A two year old used car, bought with *regular* finance 
rate, could end up costing more per month.

slynne

response 4 of 120:

Nov 16 18:54 UTC 2003

While I am no GM fan, I am not sure you can go wrong at $8500. I mean, 
at that price, does it really matter if it only lasts half as long as a 
Honda?

scott

response 5 of 120:

Nov 16 19:25 UTC 2003

Depends on what it costs to fix, and how often it need to be fixed.

slynne

response 6 of 120:

Nov 16 20:43 UTC 2003

Yeah, but how often does a new car need to be fixed? Even if it is a GM 
car. Does it come with any kind of warranty?

aruba

response 7 of 120:

Nov 16 22:46 UTC 2003

I really like my Honda Civic, which has served well for 13 years, but if I
got a couple thousand dollars' discount for buying GM, I think I'd go for
it too.

My mother came from a GM family too - her Dad was a lifer.  But she gave up
on GM after her 1976 Chevy Chevette.

jep

response 8 of 120:

Nov 17 03:10 UTC 2003

The dealer I talked to told me there's basically no possibility of 
negotiating on price when you get the GM discount, because they're 
selling the car at factory price anyway.  I'll check on that (by 
asking for price at another dealership or two)... but does anyone know 
if it's true?

I wish the GM WWW sites showed the family discount in the price, so I 
could really compare their cars to others.

re resp:2: If someone is selling a 2 year old Corolla, chances seem 
pretty good it's got problems.

A year ago when I brought up the discussions about buying cars, I 
thought I'd prefer a used one.  I also thought I'd have the chance to 
take my time, check out different cars, and get to know a little about 
what I was doing.  Right now, if I came across a $2000-3000 used car 
that was pretty reliable, I'd buy it.  The problem I have is that I 
don't know how to tell a good used car from a bad one.

And I have got to get out of driving my pickup truck quickly.  I am 
spending $75 per week just in gas.  (I'll pay for a Cavalier in about 
3 years at that rate.)  The truck has 150,000 miles on it.  If 
something happens to it before I have another car, I am in a very 
difficult position.

I have spent maybe $2000 in car repairs this calendar year.  I'm not 
willing to pay for another car *and* keep a big repair bill too.

I'm focusing on gas mileage as my priority.  I have even considered 
the hybrid cars, Toyota Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid.  Unfortunately, 
I drive enough miles (25-30K per year) that the expected life span of 
the batteries (100,000 miles) might catch up to me before the price on 
the batteries drops enough to make replacement worthwhile.  Right now, 
replacement batteries are about $4000.  I expect I'll look at hybrids 
again in a few years.

twenex

response 9 of 120:

Nov 17 05:10 UTC 2003

Bit of a pickle.

sj2

response 10 of 120:

Nov 17 07:51 UTC 2003

I would rate cars on the following :- 
- Price (ofcourse)
- Price and availability of spares. Do they have a 24 hour spares shop 
in your vicinity? Here, surprisingly, Mercedes spares are cheaper than 
Toyota.
- Free service with the new car. Here (Oman), Toyota gives 2-3 years 
of free service with the car depending on the model.
- Quality of service. Check with other owners. Also check how long 
they take to service your car. Here, Toyota services the car within 6 
hours. Mitsubishi takes a day. If informed a day in advance, Toyota 
even arranges for a car for the six hours.
- Check for warranty conditions. Here, Mitsubishi sends you a list of 
spares to be changed every year. If you fail to change them, the 
warranty is void.
- Resale value. If you plan to change your car in the next 4-5 years, 
how much would you get for it? How fast can you sell it off, if needed?

mary

response 11 of 120:

Nov 17 11:54 UTC 2003

Edmunds.com  should be able to tell you what the dealer
pays for any car on the lot.  They go to the link reporting
any incentives the manufacturer will be paying the dealer.

I know for a fact that having this information saved us
at least a couple of thousand dollars a car.  

I wouldn't own anything but a Civic.  I bonded 25 years ago. ;-)

mary

response 12 of 120:

Nov 17 11:55 UTC 2003

s/then/they

remmers

response 13 of 120:

Nov 17 13:33 UTC 2003

I gave up on GM after my 1971 Chevy Vega experience.  This highly
touted "Motor Trend Car of the Year" was a pile of junk two years
later.  Switched to Toyota for my next car and have purchased only
Japanese cars since.  To be fair, I think Detroit has gotten its
quality control act together much better since the 1970s, not
because they wanted to but because the foreign competition forced
them to.  But still, Toyota and Honda still seem to lead the
field in low frequency of repair records.  My current car is a
Toyota Camry.

Just my two cents.  Not sure that it helps John out all that much.

russ

response 14 of 120:

Nov 17 13:58 UTC 2003