Buying a car ... tips / tricks / advice

[Nick]

I'm on the verge of needing a new car. I am driving a 2003 Saab 9-3 with 175k miles on it, wife has a 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer with ~110k on it. Looking to replace her car this spring, and mine a year after that. they are both paid off, which is nice.

Since we are having a kid and have 2 labs, I think I want something bigger, small SUV style would be good. I've been eyeing a VW Tiguan. I really want to stay < 25k for the car and get something with < 15k miles on it.

Any tips on what sites to look at? I used to use Autotrader, but that was eight years ago and not sure if there are any other better sites out there. Haven't done any test drives yet, just starting to poke around slowly here and see what is out there.

Also, considering selling car private sale vs. trading it in to try and increase what we can get from it. Trade in values for the '02 Lancer are around $3k, but private sale is supposedly around $4000.

This one seemed pretty decent, Certified pre owned, has 25k, but is 4wd and has an upgraded package.

 

[jrmagic]

If I were you I would forgo the extra grand or whatenver you think you can get from a private sale and see what you can get from a dealer. There are lots of potential headaches involved with the private sale that I wouldn't want to deal with.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

pros and cons to both, i had a great experience selling on my own and with dealers. Just and FYI, my buddy was in your position last year, one on the way, 1 dog, got the Tigan...he's now looking for something bigger...was too small for him, wife, dog and baby gear....

 

[hammer]

pros and cons to both, i had a great experience selling on my own and with dealers. Just and FYI, my buddy was in your position last year, one on the way, 1 dog, got the Tigan...he's now looking for something bigger...was too small for him, wife, dog and baby gear....

Any advice on selling an older car with issues?

I had a brief look inside a Tiguan when I was looking a few years ago. Seemed a bit on the smaller side which is OK if that's what you are looking for.

 

[Cheese]

If you're going to a dealer to purchase, make sure you get the dealer prep or document prep fees ahead of time. These fees can be anywhere from $100-$1000 and are tacked onto the invoice after you've negotiated the price. In other words, the cheapest option may be for a more expensive invoice with lower "out the door" fees.

 

[HD333]

Throw the Saab or Mitsu on Craigslist for a week and entertain offers, cash is better than a trade in. A few years ago I ended up trading in my Saab 9-3 after a Craigslist sale fell through for only $500 less than the price I agreed to on craigslist. Dealers will be aiming for wholesale value not trade in. We just traded my wife's car and ended up at average trade in value. Dealers will either move on your trade or the purchase price, all comes out the same in the end. We had to resort to the get up and walk away tactic buying her new rig.
I 2nd or 3rd that the Tiquan is real small, 2 Labs, a kid(and kid accessories ) will be a real tight fit.

 

[skijay]

Early last summer my friend needed help purchasing a new car. She chose the 2011 CRV LX. When we went to purchase it, I downloaded the KBB (Kelley Blue Book) app for the iPhone (Droid must have it, too). I used it while at the Honda dealer in Enfield, CT and made her offer the "Fair Purchase Price" that was on KBB for the CRV. They declined and came back with a higher price. I called the next closest dealer while sitting with the sales guy and sales manager. I was able to find the same CRV in Hartford, CT and suddenly the price she offered was accepted.

 

[Nick]

Nice, good tip Skijay

 

[wa-loaf]

My sister-in-law just got the new CRV. It's really nice and good sized inside.

 

[Rushski]

The newer Subaru wagons are quite a bit bigger than they used to be. Plus their AWD is near-perfect and extremely reliable.

 

[Glenn]

If you're looking at a fairly "new" used car...look into new. The gap between a year or so old used car and new car is narrow. With out me blah blah blahing....the used market is pretty hot right now. It may make sense to spend the extra few grand and just get new.

 

[Nick]

Yeah, I noticed it is very low today. My 2003 Saab 9-3 was 1 year old and had 4500 miles on it when I bought it. So, basically new. I was looking for something like that. It was a CPO also which was nice b/c it had a bumper to bumper 100k warranty.

SPeaking of Saab, saw brand new 9-5 Aero sedans for $19k !!

 

[xwhaler]

Consider the Kias. We just got a 2012 Sorento AWD v6 EX for my wife at the end of November. Already have put close to 7k miles on it with her daily commute and every wknd ski trips.
If you had asked me 5 yrs ago to look at a Kia I'd have said no way but they have come a long way. We are similiar to you in that we have a dog and will start to have a kid in the next year or so. We wanted something AWD with space.
We test drove 7 vehicles and Kia was the best looking+value+options+independent reviews/reliability for us.

I beat the dealers up good. Check out truecar.com. Build out your vehicle and see the closest dealer that has the exact build out you want. I then printed the sheet and sent it to 20 local (within 150 miles) dealers to see if they would beat the price. The truecar dealer was in upstate NY but I made it clear to the local guys that I would go there to get the vehicle if they couldn't beat the price.
It took some coordination keeping all the replies startaight and some dealers had no interest in getting into a bidding war but at the end of the day we rolled away with an unbelievable deal. Got it at Kia of Saco in Maine who were real easy to work with once they knew I was interested in price and price alone.

 

[andrec10]

I have a 2011 Outback and its been great! Gets 30mpg on the highway and is a LOT bigger than a Tiguan...I checked them both out. IMHO...

 

[Nick]

It's funny you know I have this preconceived notion about Kia but it actually looks pretty damn nice.

 

[xwhaler]

Abt 5 yrs ago Kia made a really smart move in hiring the director of design for Audi to run their program. I'm not comparing a Kia to an Audi but many of the new Kias are head turners and can get mistaken for a higher end luxury vehicle if you don't see the badge.

We test drove both the Sportage and the Sorento. I liked the Sportage but it felt too small for us. I'm 6' 1" and 200lbs and I felt like I was sliding off the seats, almost like they werent long enough or something. The Sorento is real comfortable and loaded with nice options.

The other vehicles in this segment we test drove:
Toyota Venza (this was our #2 choice. It's got a bit of a funky design but is really well laid out inside)
Rav 4....nice option but can;t get past the spare tire on the back...really limits its effectivness in tight places as it adds 4' to the length of it with the side hinging tailgate.

Mazda CX-7: We have an '06 Mazda 3 I use for my daily commuter car and have had good luck with the car so far so I wanted to like the CX-7. To us it felt dated and I didnt see the point of getting a turbo charged SUV that required premium fuel given our annual miles exceed 30k.

CRV: We test drove the 2011 model as the 2012's were not yet on the lots. Nice vehicle, well laid out but if you want options it doesnt really have much. The 2012's are a bit nicer looking IMO.

You could also consider a Subaru Tribeca. Those didnt sell that well so the Truecar pricing on those was impressive...3rd row seating standard and still respectable MPG...AWD comes standard as well.

 

[hammer]

I beat the dealers up good. Check out truecar.com. Build out your vehicle and see the closest dealer that has the exact build out you want. I then printed the sheet and sent it to 20 local (within 150 miles) dealers to see if they would beat the price. The truecar dealer was in upstate NY but I made it clear to the local guys that I would go there to get the vehicle if they couldn't beat the price.
It took some coordination keeping all the replies startaight and some dealers had no interest in getting into a bidding war but at the end of the day we rolled away with an unbelievable deal. Got it at Kia of Saco in Maine who were real easy to work with once they knew I was interested in price and price alone.

Beating up and comparing dealers works well when you want what they have on the lot...but if you have a specific option set then it does get harder. When we bought our Jeep we wanted the tow package, a specific trim level, and a few specific colors...which made finding the right vehicle tricky. We even tried to use the Zag buying service, but the participating dealers could not be bothered to work with us so we just haggled over a vehicle with another dealer. Worked out OK in the end but I know we didn't get the "best" price.

Lots more choice out there...the Korean and US automakers have stepped up their game and the Japanese automakers have been resting on their laurels a bit much, so it's not as much of a no-brainer to look at or get a Japanese make vehicle as it was a few years ago.

 

[ScottySkis]

Well one great thing about craigslist is you get more of story behind car, i bought a great used honda civic 2000 year six years ago, girl who so it to me only used to go to college and home, low miles never had it in shop the year i owned it ran great only problem was people in bronx decided to steal it and dismantled it and leave it by yankee stadium

 

[Black Phantom]

Well one great thing about craigslist is you get more of story behind car, i bought a great used honda civic 2000 year six years ago, girl who so it to me only used to go to college and home, low miles never had it in shop the year i owned it ran great only problem was people in bronx decided to steal it and dismantled it and leave it by yankee stadium

Do you have any pictures of what was left?

I used to see couches on fire there in the summer time!

 

[EllenK]

I have an '09 Chevy Equinox which I like. The newer ones are the same as the GMC Terrain and may be worth you checking out!