Buying a car ... tips / tricks / advice

[ScottySkis]

I bet it would have been better to drive to VT.

Well driving it the ball bearings broken is not good but ya south vt is easier drive

 

[Nick]

Where are you going to put 2 dogs, gear, a wife and a child in there?

That woudl jsut be my car for work / etc. if we were going somewhere as a huge family we would pile in the Edge or whatever SUV style vehicle we end up getting :lol:

 

[Nick]

I will admit US cars have made huge strides since the early 2000's. I would almost never have considered a ford before.

 

[Geoff]

It totally baffles me why people are still buying massive cars with crap fuel economy. When gasoline shoots up to $6.00/gallon, those same people are going to be posting here crying that they're going broke buying fuel and that the resale value of their massive cars has cratered.

 

[Nick]

It's all what you can afford. If we get an SUV it won't be used for daily driving, my car would be used to take me back and forth to work. The SUV would be for a) camping b) skiing c) whenever we all have to pile in together somewhere. but th emajority of miles would be on my personal Saab which gets 32mpg

 

[o3jeff]

Did you buy anything yet?

 

[Nick]

No, I'm just starting my search. I am planning on buying in about 2 month's time.

My lumbar support in my car broke this morning when I got into it :lol: I sit in the seat and CRACK i heard it behind me / felt it just collapse. Not that it's critical but one of those signs that things are starting to go :lol:

 

[drjeff]

It totally baffles me why people are still buying massive cars with crap fuel economy. When gasoline shoots up to $6.00/gallon, those same people are going to be posting here crying that they're going broke buying fuel and that the resale value of their massive cars has cratered.

Its called families with 2 to 4 kids, 2 dogs and a bunch of the kids friends to tote around from school to the soccer field to friends houses and then the associated back packs and gear bags that accompany each kid. And family trips, often anything smaller than a 10 foot uhaul doesn't have enough space when you factor in ski gear in the winter and bikes in the summer ;-)

As soon as my kids are in college, me and my wife will totally downsize our vehicles, probably down to 1 mid sized suv and a sedan or two. Until then, the amount of time I say to myself "I wish I had a smaller, more fuel efficient car" is way less than I say to myself "thank god for all the space in my full sized SUV"

 

[hammer]

As soon as my kids are in college, me and my wife will totally downsize our vehicles, probably down to 1 mid sized suv and a sedan or two. Until then, the amount of time I say to myself "I wish I had a smaller, more fuel efficient car" is way less than I say to myself "thank god for all the space in my full sized SUV"

This is where we are at, except we went with a less fuel-efficient SUV for the towing capabilities. Was nice to not "need" a 3rd row.

I also wanted a sportier sedan so we didn't look for a 30+MPG model. Want to have something nicer to drive on those 20+ mile commutes even if I take a fuel cost hit.

 

[drjeff]

This is where we are at, except we went with a less fuel-efficient SUV for the towing capabilities. Was nice to not "need" a 3rd row.

I also wanted a sportier sedan so we didn't look for a 30+MPG model. Want to have something nicer to drive on those 20+ mile commutes even if I take a fuel cost hit.

I will say that last night I really did enjoy driving around a bit in the 2012 Audi A4 loaner the dealership gave her since they weren't able to get a part in on time yesterday for her Q7 and have the service done for when she needed it. Brought back flashbacks of almost 10 years ago before we had kids and we had an A4, and how much fun that car can be to drive on a winding road!

 

[Geoff]

Its called families with 2 to 4 kids, 2 dogs and a bunch of the kids friends to tote around from school to the soccer field to friends houses and then the associated back packs and gear bags that accompany each kid. And family trips, often anything smaller than a 10 foot uhaul doesn't have enough space when you factor in ski gear in the winter and bikes in the summer ;-)

As soon as my kids are in college, me and my wife will totally downsize our vehicles, probably down to 1 mid sized suv and a sedan or two. Until then, the amount of time I say to myself "I wish I had a smaller, more fuel efficient car" is way less than I say to myself "thank god for all the space in my full sized SUV"

The difference is that you're at an income level where you simply don't care about fuel economy and you don't seem to care at all about your carbon footprint. You've structured your life so you have a big daily commute and a significant every-weekend drive. I don't get the whole "I have to own two huge dogs, thus I need a massive SUV" thing. You own a vacation home with a washing machine. You could trivially put your wife and two rug rats in a 40+ mpg diesel small station wagon with snow tires.

 

[Puck it]

The difference is that you're at an income level where you simply don't care about fuel economy and you don't seem to care at all about your carbon footprint. You've structured your life so you have a big daily commute and a significant every-weekend drive. I don't get the whole "I have to own two huge dogs, thus I need a massive SUV" thing. You own a vacation home with a washing machine. You could trivially put your wife and two rug rats in a 40+ mpg diesel small station wagon with snow tires.

Wow, an anrgy elf. It is America last time I looked at my passport. Free to buy what you want!!! If he wants a big SUV, it is his perogative and no one should judge each other.

 

[Nick]

Ironically the mileage of a car really doesn't matter when it comes to carbon footprint. It's how far you drive it and how often, right?

A Prius driver that puts 600 miles a week on a car will more of an impact than a Ford Edge that is driven 250 miles a week*

*Although if you are stuck on a given distance then it matters, i.e. same person switching cars would matter

 

[drjeff]

The difference is that you're at an income level where you simply don't care about fuel economy and you don't seem to care at all about your carbon footprint. You've structured your life so you have a big daily commute and a significant every-weekend drive. I don't get the whole "I have to own two huge dogs, thus I need a massive SUV" thing. You own a vacation home with a washing machine. You could trivially put your wife and two rug rats in a 40+ mpg diesel small station wagon with snow tires.

If you had a couple of kids who are active in sports and other school events more nights a week than they aren't almost year round, it might make more sense to you. Otherwise, I really wouldn't expect it to make too much sense to you in your situation. As for the washing machine thing in the vacation home, week in and week out the only clothes that travel with me are the ones i'm wearing on the way up/back. Kid clothes, since they keep out growing stuff very quickly these days are a different story And then there always the added space benefit of being able to put a kid in SEPARATE rows of seats if they're driving each other, and hence often the adults in the car too, CRAZY!

If I was a 50 something guy without kids and/or large pets and in a financial situation where I wasn't really worried about the cost of a vehicle either, what's in my garage would be different than it currently is. Different situations one is in a majority of the time can call for different choices. Right? Wrong? I guess that's all from the perspective of the primary user in each circumstance

 

[Geoff]

Wow, an anrgy elf. It is America last time I looked at my passport. Free to buy what you want!!! If he wants a big SUV, it is his perogative and no one should judge each other.

Not really. Just because Dr Jeff is high income doesn't give him the right to pollute my water supply, pollute the air I breathe, or spew carbon and sulfur into the atmosphere to increase global warming. This is not 1780 where the population of the United States was a few million and most of the country was open rural space.

 

[Nick]

Shouldn't we complain about all high mileage drivers then regardless of their chosen vehicles?

A parked Hummer puts out less emissions than a running Prius

 

[wa-loaf]

Not really. Just because Dr Jeff is high income doesn't give him the right to pollute my water supply, pollute the air I breathe, or spew carbon and sulfur into the atmosphere to increase global warming. This is not 1780 where the population of the United States was a few million and most of the country was open rural space.

Ban cars! Trains for everyone!

 

[deadheadskier]

If you had a couple of kids who are active in sports and other school events more nights a week than they aren't almost year round, it might make more sense to you. Otherwise, I really wouldn't expect it to make too much sense to you in your situation. As for the washing machine thing in the vacation home, week in and week out the only clothes that travel with me are the ones i'm wearing on the way up/back. Kid clothes, since they keep out growing stuff very quickly these days are a different story And then there always the added space benefit of being able to put a kid in SEPARATE rows of seats if they're driving each other, and hence often the adults in the car too, CRAZY!

If I was a 50 something guy without kids and/or large pets and in a financial situation where I wasn't really worried about the cost of a vehicle either, what's in my garage would be different than it currently is. Different situations one is in a majority of the time can call for different choices. Right? Wrong? I guess that's all from the perspective of the primary user in each circumstance

In bold is what I think is important. It's up to the user.

Now, you have done a lot of justifying your "need" for a big SUV. It's a want thing really. My childhood and family income bracket was probably fairly similar to the life you live drjeff. Family of four commuting to Okemo from the Boston suburbs every single weekend in mid-sized sedans with all season tires. Occasionally a friend would come along, and we'd sit three abreast in the back. We never had all wheel drive or even snow tires and made the commute safely for many years.

Really the only difference between my family and yours was the lack of dogs. For the life of me, I can't understand why any skier would have a dog unless they had a non-skiing spouse willing to be the caregiver. I had a yellow lab for 9 years in my 20s. Loved him dearly, but it was like having a child.....that didn't ski. Unlikely I get a dog again until I hang up the skis.

But that was my folks preference. They actually got a SUV when I went off to college and my brother was long gone when they really didn't have a need for extra space and hated the thing. Been back in sedans ever since.

Ultimately, most peoples vehicle choices are based more upon "wants" than "needs"

 

[hammer]

Not really. Just because Dr Jeff is high income doesn't give him the right to pollute my water supply, pollute the air I breathe, or spew carbon and sulfur into the atmosphere to increase global warming. This is not 1780 where the population of the United States was a few million and most of the country was open rural space.

IMO people driving older less fuel-efficient and more polluting cars can do as much if not more damage than the "high income" person who owns a relatively new SUV or CUV. If you don't believe me than why does CA have a buyback program?

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/avrp/avrp.htm

Yet we heap praise on people who can keep their 10+ YO, 200K+ mile cars on the road...

Just a bit...

 

[Puck it]

Not really. Just because Dr Jeff is high income doesn't give him the right to pollute my water supply, pollute the air I breathe, or spew carbon and sulfur into the atmosphere to increase global warming. This is not 1780 where the population of the United States was a few million and most of the country was open rural space.

And it is up to him! Not you or someone else.