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Loan Dusty Road
Feb 27, 2007
Proposed Budget: $10-20k
New or Used: used
Body Style: Passenger Van or Minivan
How will you be using the car?: 2 infants and 2 medium dogs (40-55lbs). Looking to be able to do long distance trips (1-4K miles) with all of us and all the gear we want. For example our twins are 14 months right now, bringing 2 pack and plays would be loving amazing. Tent camping and all the gear I would potentially want.

I’m basically conflicted between getting a minivan or passenger van. We have a Mazda3 hatch that we daily drive and is fine for us in the city. We also took this on a month long honeymoon through 5 national parks prior to kids (and didn’t bring dogs).

Minivan will have better comforts, gas mileage, and I assume maintenance costs. Can handle the needs but I’m thinking I’ll be playing Tetris for any long trips and likely have to make choices on what we can bring.

Passenger van will allow me to bring whatever I want for tent camping and also allow me to tow once I get a travel trailer 2-5 years down the road. Both vehicles can take a roof rack for additional storage.

Prices seem to be all over the place. I’m currently looking at a 2011 Toyota Sienna LE, 100k miles, one owner, very clean for $14,000 and a 2014 Ford E-150 XLT, 75k privately owned for $20,000.

Vast majority of passenger vans in my market are either fleet or rental. The price reflects it too, like a 2016 Chevy Express 2500, 100k, $13,000 fleet.

Minivans quickly go up in price with less years and mileage. I was shocked when I saw how expensive new ones are. Lots of rentals in this market so you gotta be vigilant and recognize price differences.


Right now I’m leaning towards the Passenger van. Ideally this will truly be a road warrior and not a commuter. My wife currently isn’t working and I work from home. In the next few years I see us both having new jobs that require us to commute, and will be able to afford a 3rd vehicle at that point (guessing a medium SUV).

The budget is tight and cash flow is king right now. But my wife should start working in the near future and I’d prefer to buy something that will last the next 10 years and enjoy.

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Uthor
Jul 9, 2006

Gummy Bear Heaven ... It's where I go when the world is too mean.
You mentioned a city. Where do you live? My buddy has a passenger van that he uses for conventions and touring with a band. It is HUGE. Parks it in his driveway, but blocks his garage doing so. Parking anywhere is always a chore. It's also expensive to fix and burns a lot of fuel. On the plus side, he can fit a ton of stuff in there.

I'd lean towards a minivan. It'd just be an easier thing to drive day to day. You can always rent something larger for trips if you find the need. Or tow a trailer.

FilthyImp
Sep 30, 2002

Anime Deviant
Might be an edge case for the Ford Flex.

Though you could almost assuredly get. More comfortable minivan for that price.

Loan Dusty Road
Feb 27, 2007

Uthor posted:

You mentioned a city. Where do you live? My buddy has a passenger van that he uses for conventions and touring with a band. It is HUGE. Parks it in his driveway, but blocks his garage doing so. Parking anywhere is always a chore. It's also expensive to fix and burns a lot of fuel. On the plus side, he can fit a ton of stuff in there.

I'd lean towards a minivan. It'd just be an easier thing to drive day to day. You can always rent something larger for trips if you find the need. Or tow a trailer.

I’m not worried about city driving at all. I have lots of experience driving large trucks and vans. Im in Boise which is spread out as well.

Parking at home won’t be an issue either.

FilthyImp posted:

Might be an edge case for the Ford Flex.

Though you could almost assuredly get. More comfortable minivan for that price.

A Ford Flex has less cargo space than a minivan so that’s a non starter.

Loan Dusty Road fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Jan 20, 2019

The Oldest Man
Jul 28, 2003

Just get a Pacifica, that thing's cargo area is straight up witchcraft.

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

Dustoph posted:

Proposed Budget: $10-20k
New or Used: used
Body Style: Passenger Van or Minivan
How will you be using the car?: 2 infants and 2 medium dogs (40-55lbs). Looking to be able to do long distance trips (1-4K miles) with all of us and all the gear we want. For example our twins are 14 months right now, bringing 2 pack and plays would be loving amazing. Tent camping and all the gear I would potentially want.

I’m basically conflicted between getting a minivan or passenger van. We have a Mazda3 hatch that we daily drive and is fine for us in the city. We also took this on a month long honeymoon through 5 national parks prior to kids (and didn’t bring dogs).

Minivan will have better comforts, gas mileage, and I assume maintenance costs. Can handle the needs but I’m thinking I’ll be playing Tetris for any long trips and likely have to make choices on what we can bring.

Passenger van will allow me to bring whatever I want for tent camping and also allow me to tow once I get a travel trailer 2-5 years down the road. Both vehicles can take a roof rack for additional storage.

Prices seem to be all over the place. I’m currently looking at a 2011 Toyota Sienna LE, 100k miles, one owner, very clean for $14,000 and a 2014 Ford E-150 XLT, 75k privately owned for $20,000.

Vast majority of passenger vans in my market are either fleet or rental. The price reflects it too, like a 2016 Chevy Express 2500, 100k, $13,000 fleet.

Minivans quickly go up in price with less years and mileage. I was shocked when I saw how expensive new ones are. Lots of rentals in this market so you gotta be vigilant and recognize price differences.


Right now I’m leaning towards the Passenger van. Ideally this will truly be a road warrior and not a commuter. My wife currently isn’t working and I work from home. In the next few years I see us both having new jobs that require us to commute, and will be able to afford a 3rd vehicle at that point (guessing a medium SUV).

The budget is tight and cash flow is king right now. But my wife should start working in the near future and I’d prefer to buy something that will last the next 10 years and enjoy.

We own a 2013 Odyssey with 90,000 miles. It's had very few problems. I would recommend one of them.

Generally, go for the bottom trim level, as automatic doors and the fancier stuff just tends to break and isn't all that useful. You can get a much more recent model with lower miles if you stick to the basics. The bottom level car was plenty of car for us. Kids and leather interiors often don't get along well.

stranger danger
May 24, 2006

Ford makes a passenger version of their Transit Connect panel van that might be worth a look. It's a true minivan vs. the Sienna et al. which are huge vehicles, but a quick google says 78-123 ft^3 of storage space for the Ford and 39-150 ft^3 for a 2011 Sienna. It's cheaper than the other passenger vans as well. Finding one might not be as easy since Ford mostly sells them as panel vans.

KYOON GRIFFEY JR
Apr 12, 2010



Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22
the SWB TC is quite small

it's also slow

you are going to be way better off with a minivan, i think. if you want more cargo space get a roof box.

Loan Dusty Road
Feb 27, 2007
Seriously considering renting a minivan for a day just to pack it with all of our poo poo and see how it feels.

powderific
May 13, 2004

Grimey Drawer
I say do it, it's probably the easiest way to figure out if you actually need a gigantic full size van or no.

Chunjee
Oct 27, 2004

incogneato posted:

Internet Says Subaru but also Not Subaru

Forester would probably be a good mix for how much city driving you're planning. However for what you'll pay around here; I'd just get a Toyota. I don't know specifically about Rav4/4Runner but they're Toyotas so it's a no-brainer. Only other thing that comes to mind is Ford Explorer which my co-worker swears by.

Jeep Renegade? No, would be an awful choice if you want reliability.

Nitrox
Jul 5, 2002

Slur, your fighting style is extremely problematic!

As a minivan driver, I went from Toyota Sienna to Honda Odyssey to Chrysler Town & country. Neither one cost more than the other in maintenance or repairs, and my Chrysler has 180k miles at this point. Odyssey feels more planted on the road with better steering and brakes feedback. But Chrysler has the most interior space and cost 50% less that the other brands once the miles run up. We rented a new Pacifica to go skiing in Colorado and it's amazing. We pretty much settled on it for our next purchase in the future.

CannonFodder
Jan 26, 2001

Passion’s Wrench

Dustoph posted:

Seriously considering renting a minivan for a day just to pack it with all of our poo poo and see how it feels.

And minivans can get a trailer hitch for a small trailer or a rear shelf that I see all the time.

Minivans are the perfect "kids and dogs" vehicle, and will be far more comfortable and usable than a big passenger van.

Synastren
Nov 8, 2005

Bad at Starcraft 2.
Better at psychology.
Psychology Megathread




Proposed Budget: up to $20k
New or Used: Either. If used, budget drops to ~$15k
Body Style: 2 or 4 door
How will you be using the car?: General transportation. Work, mainly, etc.
What aspects are most important to you? Reliability, followed by fuel economy.

We did some quick browsing today at a few dealerships, and there was a strong case made for a new Corolla. Really, we're looking for general recommendations for models that we can go check out in person. If we have to go a bit over budget, we can make a case-by-case judgement.

Help me out gearhead goons, pls~~

KYOON GRIFFEY JR
Apr 12, 2010



Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22
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rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
ssssssssssssssssssssss

Guinness
Sep 15, 2004

You sound like a prime candidate for a

KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:

pppppppppppppppppppp
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
ssssssssssssssssssssss

Something Offal
Jan 12, 2018

by FactsAreUseless
Gotta keep the budget in mind broskis. It depends how highly you prize new vs. used. If new then Prius is just outside your budget, but the Corolla fits in, and the Corolla is a pretty nice shitbox. You're looking at low trim levels, though.

KYOON GRIFFEY JR
Apr 12, 2010



Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22
I loving hate the Prius and I would buy a $15k used Prius over a $20k Corolla. Only the very base LE scrapes in under $20k OTD.

On CarMax I can find Gen 3 Prius Fours with 30-50k miles for $15 grand without breaking a sweat. The Four trim has a bunch of good poo poo on it.

The Scion iM is a pretty good used buy.

Synastren
Nov 8, 2005

Bad at Starcraft 2.
Better at psychology.
Psychology Megathread




So it seems like Corollas are not very well liked; is it mostly because of the body type or is there something more significant?

Also, how would a Civic or other non-Toyota model fare in comparison to the deafening chorus of "Prius?"

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

Synastren posted:

So it seems like Corollas are not very well liked; is it mostly because of the body type or is there something more significant?

Also, how would a Civic or other non-Toyota model fare in comparison to the deafening chorus of "Prius?"

If your two criteria are fuel economy and reliability, a hybrid is going to be at the top of the list and the Prius at the top of that list.

Something Offal
Jan 12, 2018

by FactsAreUseless

Synastren posted:

So it seems like Corollas are not very well liked

I mean, it's not a Bad Car, but it's the 2nd cheapest model Toyota makes so virtually every effort is spent towards cost cutting. In 2019 they've done their best to innovate and it has a nice design and thought-out interior, but everything is cheap. The plastics, seating, drivetrain, chassis, everything will feel cheap.

The exception: it is a class leader in standard equipment because that is a push Toyota is making, so it has auto climate and adaptive CC on the cheapest trim, which is very unique not only in the class but across the industry. If you do a search on cars.com for anything with ACC, and sort by lowest price, Corolla will always be at the tippy top.

Something Offal fucked around with this message at 01:21 on Jan 25, 2019

JnnyThndrs
May 29, 2001

HERE ARE THE FUCKING TOWELS
I’ll go against the grain and admit that I’d take a Corolla over a Prius because I hate the Prius driving experience so loving much, so I’d advise a test drive before you get too deep into decision making. If you don’t mind how they drive, Priuses are good reliable economical vehicles.

vincentpricesboner
Sep 3, 2006

by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

Synastren posted:

Proposed Budget: up to $20k
New or Used: Either. If used, budget drops to ~$15k
Body Style: 2 or 4 door
How will you be using the car?: General transportation. Work, mainly, etc.
What aspects are most important to you? Reliability, followed by fuel economy.

We did some quick browsing today at a few dealerships, and there was a strong case made for a new Corolla. Really, we're looking for general recommendations for models that we can go check out in person. If we have to go a bit over budget, we can make a case-by-case judgement.

Help me out gearhead goons, pls~~

If you and your partner are really excited about buying new and picking out your own colour and driving it from 0. I'd cross shop a new Kia Forte and Hyundai Elantra which are both good cars at great prices. They are about 90% of the car the Corolla is for about 80% the price.

I think the Civic is the best compact car being made, but its a bit expensive in its class and their are some concerns that their problems with the turbo motor might not be fixed. But its the best in terms of handling,performance,fuel economy, high tech features, comfort, etc etc. Looks butt ugly outside though.

Internet Explorer
Jun 1, 2005





I drove a rental Corolla a few months ago and thought it was fine. Had enough pep in sport mode, the adaptive CC was good, and the headlights were surprisingly bright. I didn't have any complaints on the interior but I only had it for a short time period and wasn't paying attention to that. If you like it, you could do worse. But as others have said take a good hard look at a Prius.

KYOON GRIFFEY JR
Apr 12, 2010



Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22

Synastren posted:

So it seems like Corollas are not very well liked; is it mostly because of the body type or is there something more significant?

the new one is a lot better than the old one but it just got redesigned and it still isn't a class leader in anything. there's good standard safety tech, the car is deadly dull to drive compared to its peers, it's slow, the fuel economy is worse than its peers, and the interior is not very nice.

If you really are opposed to a Prius the standard thread recommendations are the Mazda3, the Honda Civic, and the Hyundai Elantra. The Civic has had some teething problems on the 1.5T engine, so get the 2.0 instead (LX trim only, I believe) and you'll not have any problems.

JnnyThndrs
May 29, 2001

HERE ARE THE FUCKING TOWELS
A question: There’s a bunch of people obliquely mentioning problems with the Honda 1.5 turbo motor, both in this thread and in other places, yet the only issue I’m aware of is the fuel-in-the-oil dilution problem under extremely cold conditions with people who mostly drive very short trips.

Is that what everybody’s referring to, or is there something else? Because if that’s it, I’ll continue to recommend it, since I live in California and most people I know commute a fair distance.

vincentpricesboner
Sep 3, 2006

by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

JnnyThndrs posted:

A question: There’s a bunch of people obliquely mentioning problems with the Honda 1.5 turbo motor, both in this thread and in other places, yet the only issue I’m aware of is the fuel-in-the-oil dilution problem under extremely cold conditions with people who mostly drive very short trips.

Is that what everybody’s referring to, or is there something else? Because if that’s it, I’ll continue to recommend it, since I live in California and most people I know commute a fair distance.

If you believe youtube comments its a massive problem. Consumer reports said it something to be aware of, but for the thousands of CR-Vs and Civics they monitor for their reports, 7 people had that oil dilution issue.

But it was obviously a real issue for a decent amount of people, Honda did issue a software update for it.

But yeah, the Civic and the CR-V are the best vehicles in their class, so they are totally worth considering.

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

JnnyThndrs posted:

A question: There’s a bunch of people obliquely mentioning problems with the Honda 1.5 turbo motor, both in this thread and in other places, yet the only issue I’m aware of is the fuel-in-the-oil dilution problem under extremely cold conditions with people who mostly drive very short trips.

Is that what everybody’s referring to, or is there something else? Because if that’s it, I’ll continue to recommend it, since I live in California and most people I know commute a fair distance.

Every car is going to have its own weird niche issues. It's not a serious problem.

trebuchet_tom
Dec 17, 2003
SO FULL OF HATE! Or is that hunger? DAMMIT! I can never tell the difference. Oh well, I'll just go kill some classmates I don't like, and if I don't feel better, I'll eat something.
Proposed Budget: 8-12k
New or Used: Used
Body Style: (e.g. 2 door? 4 door? Compact/Midsize/Fullsize Sedan? Truck? SUV?): Compact SUV, SUS, or wagon
How will you be using the car?: Weekend trips to the mountains near Denver, CO during all four seasons, the occasional road trip, errands around town when my wife's car is unavailable
What aspects are most important to you? Reliability, AWD or 4WD, ground clearance, reasonably quick, would like to keep total length down as much as possible for ease of street parking

I got some good advice in this thread or one of its predecessors, so I thought I'd come back. I'm looking for a weekend getaway car that will handle the mountains well. So far I've been looking at things like mid-late 2000s Subaru Forester XTs and Outbacks with the 3.0 engine. I only really like the styling of the Outback Sedan that they briefly made, though. The Jeep Cherokee and Ford Escape both look interesting, but I'm less confident of their reliability. Are there other competitors I should be looking at?

I'm open to something that needs a bit of work after purchase if the initial price is on the lower end of my budget. I'm thinking about test driving this tomorrow, but it's not clear to me if it's had the timing belt, pulleys, and water pump done as recommended. It seems like a steep price if I need to have that service done:
https://www.truecar.com/used-cars-for-sale/listing/JF2SH66659H714562/2009-subaru-forester/

I also found this on my local Craigslist, but I know he hasn't done any of that work after contacting him, so again the price seems too high: https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/d/denver-2011-subaru-forester-xt-114k/6792358524.html

shovelbum
Oct 21, 2010

Fun Shoe
I'm happy to hear so many good things about the current Civic, but what is the best car in the size class up? Camry?

vincentpricesboner
Sep 3, 2006

by LITERALLY AN ADMIN
Accord is probably the best all around. Camry Hybrid the best appliance-car. Hyundai Sonata the best value.

trebuchet_tom
Dec 17, 2003
SO FULL OF HATE! Or is that hunger? DAMMIT! I can never tell the difference. Oh well, I'll just go kill some classmates I don't like, and if I don't feel better, I'll eat something.

trebuchet_tom posted:

Proposed Budget: 8-12k
New or Used: Used
Body Style: (e.g. 2 door? 4 door? Compact/Midsize/Fullsize Sedan? Truck? SUV?): Compact SUV, SUS, or wagon
How will you be using the car?: Weekend trips to the mountains near Denver, CO during all four seasons, the occasional road trip, errands around town when my wife's car is unavailable
What aspects are most important to you? Reliability, AWD or 4WD, ground clearance, reasonably quick, would like to keep total length down as much as possible for ease of street parking

I got some good advice in this thread or one of its predecessors, so I thought I'd come back. I'm looking for a weekend getaway car that will handle the mountains well. So far I've been looking at things like mid-late 2000s Subaru Forester XTs and Outbacks with the 3.0 engine. I only really like the styling of the Outback Sedan that they briefly made, though. The Jeep Cherokee and Ford Escape both look interesting, but I'm less confident of their reliability. Are there other competitors I should be looking at?

I'm open to something that needs a bit of work after purchase if the initial price is on the lower end of my budget. I'm thinking about test driving this tomorrow, but it's not clear to me if it's had the timing belt, pulleys, and water pump done as recommended. It seems like a steep price if I need to have that service done:
https://www.truecar.com/used-cars-for-sale/listing/JF2SH66659H714562/2009-subaru-forester/

I also found this on my local Craigslist, but I know he hasn't done any of that work after contacting him, so again the price seems too high: https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/d/denver-2011-subaru-forester-xt-114k/6792358524.html

I didn't realize that the Rav4 also came in a V6 edition. I'll be looking at that too. In my experience, passing on mountain highways and roads is a real chore with most crossovers' standard engines, so I feel like the CRV is out. The CX5 seems to be just out of my price range.

I also realize now that I wasn't specific about why 4WD/AWD and ground clearance is important to me. This car also needs to be able to navigate some tricky roads to access campsite and trail heads.

Kin
Nov 4, 2003

Sometimes, in a city this dirty, you need a real hero.
I'm in the middle of shopping around for a car. I've done a bit of research and i've settled on a Ford Focus Titanium 5 Door 1.0L EcoBoost 125PS Petrol 6 Speed Manual. The thing i'm not sure about is the engine as i really don't really know that much about them.

My last car was a Peugeot 207 with a 1.4 litre engine and my first thought was that because the Focus is a bigger car, the 1.5 litre version would be the best option. I was always under the assumption that basically bigger cars needed bigger engines, but have i got that right?

The sales guy i was speaking to today was talking about how engines have improved over the years, new technology, etc and started talking about how the BHP is more than enough for the car not to feel sluggish or anything like that.

So rather than litre size, when it comes to engines is it more about the BHP and, as such, this 1.0 litre on the Focus is going to feel more powerful than the 1.4 that was in my old Peugeot?

Loan Dusty Road
Feb 27, 2007
In terms of how quick a car is, for a general idea you would look at the ratio of the weight of the car to the HP and torque. Do that for your old car and compare to new ones to generally see if it would be slower or faster. You can also look at 0-60, 1/8, 1/4 mile times (or equivalent to where you are) and see how they compare.

But yes, just liter size of the engine alone is irrelevant. 2 different engines with the same displacement can have very different amounts of power. The EcoBoost should have a turbo, which adds power to the engine. Meaning you can get similar power with a smaller engine.

Loan Dusty Road fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Jan 27, 2019

Nocheez
Sep 5, 2000

Can you spare a little cheddar?
Nap Ghost
2200 mile update on my 2019 Camry Hybrid LE:
I love it! It drives great, the heated seats have been the most welcome feature that I did not expect to enjoy. I don't always get 50mpg daily, but I usually get around 47 with combined driving on a full tank. The trunk is spacious, even though it carries a full spare under the well-designed full size spare enclosure.

The interior is comfy and dare I say attractive? I've had many Toyotas and this Camry's interior quality is the best of them, although my 92 Supra was very nice for its time. I have an infant in a rear facing seat and there's plenty of room. We took a 1000 mile road trip to visit family, traveling across the West Virginia mountains. I got noticeably worse mileage going north compared to south, which makes sense as the combustion engine ran for pretty much the entire trip. Going slower would probably have helped, but to be honest I was really enjoying having so much more power than my old ride.

I recently took a work trip to Wisconsin, so I was excited to rent a non-hybrid Camry SE. I thought it looked a lot more sporty than mine, with sharp wheels and some exterior touches that might make you forget it was a Camry for 2 seconds.

Feeling the engine run non stop was a bit different and the car felt louder overall. I was very sad when I got on the road and realized that heated seats don't come on the SE. It was one thing I was looking forward to having in such a cold climate.

Anyone thinking of a Prius might think about driving the Camry. I got mine for $25.6k with tinted windows and floor mats. It doesn't feel like a poverty spec car at all. The only thing I would change are the hubcaps. They're pretty ugly with being able to see the steel wheel underneath.

ExecuDork
Feb 25, 2007

We might be fucked, sir.
Fallen Rib
Does anybody know anything about interstate car sales in Australia?

I've just moved to Armidale, NSW (from Canada) and we've decided to buy a Suzuki Jimny - it checks the boxes for us, (small 4x4) and there are a couple for sale in southern Queensland (Gold Coast/Brisbane area) that we want to check out. Our budget is up to about $10K AUD, and both cars we're currently looking at are advertised at $8500.

One is at a Suzuki dealer and apparently has 6 months rego in QLD.
The other is a private sale and is not currently registered.

In either case, if we buy the car we'd drive it straight back to NSW and register it here. We've sent a message to the private seller asking if they could get a temporary rego for it so we could test drive it. For the dealer, we need to figure out how registration works - do we need to register it in NSW immediately, and lose the 6 months, or can we drive it on QLD rego for half a year?

Has anyone ever bought a temporary registration in QLD? We can't even get an estimate for how much that might cost. The QLD government website suggests it's quite commonly used for getting a newly-purchased car home (you have to specify an individual journey when you get the temporary rego, presumably most people say "seller's place to my house").

Also, any advice for cheap and easy ways to get from Armidale to Brisbane, we've found the bus/train service but maybe somebody knows a better way?

And a finance question: my Australian bank account (Commonwealth) comes with an app that lets me calculate loans available to me. Based on my income, expenses, and so forth they're willing to loan me up to $11K at 8.9% for a 2-year loan and about $500/mo repayment, on a secured-car loan. Quick google searches show a large number of car-loan places advertising 4.5 or 5% (usually in all caps with lots of bright colours). Most used-car dealerships advertise some sort of financing, though I haven't seen enough details to know what the interest or repayment schedule might be like. I'd rather keep the period under 3 years because that's the length of my job contract here, started a couple of weeks ago. A $500/month payment is reasonable for our budget.

To summarize:
Big Bank will loan me $11K at 8.9% for 2 years
Internet Car Loans MAYBE $10K at 5% for an unknown period
Used Dealership MAYBE $8 500 at unknown% for unknown period

As a general rule, do interest rates go up or down with longer loan periods? Would I get a better rate on a 5-year loan, or a 1-year loan?

KYOON GRIFFEY JR
Apr 12, 2010



Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22

Kin posted:

I'm in the middle of shopping around for a car. I've done a bit of research and i've settled on a Ford Focus Titanium 5 Door 1.0L EcoBoost 125PS Petrol 6 Speed Manual. The thing i'm not sure about is the engine as i really don't really know that much about them.

My last car was a Peugeot 207 with a 1.4 litre engine and my first thought was that because the Focus is a bigger car, the 1.5 litre version would be the best option. I was always under the assumption that basically bigger cars needed bigger engines, but have i got that right?

The sales guy i was speaking to today was talking about how engines have improved over the years, new technology, etc and started talking about how the BHP is more than enough for the car not to feel sluggish or anything like that.

So rather than litre size, when it comes to engines is it more about the BHP and, as such, this 1.0 litre on the Focus is going to feel more powerful than the 1.4 that was in my old Peugeot?

The 207 was not turbocharged and the focus is. This makes a huge difference. There is more power and more importantly more torque available lower in the RPM range, which makes the car feel much quicker especially in urban driving. Did you test drive the car? The 1.0 is shockingly fun in the Fiesta and is perfectly adequate in the focus. It’s a great engine.

Test drive it and find out.

Kin
Nov 4, 2003

Sometimes, in a city this dirty, you need a real hero.

KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:

The 207 was not turbocharged and the focus is. This makes a huge difference. There is more power and more importantly more torque available lower in the RPM range, which makes the car feel much quicker especially in urban driving. Did you test drive the car? The 1.0 is shockingly fun in the Fiesta and is perfectly adequate in the focus. It’s a great engine.

Test drive it and find out.

Cool, thanks for the info. It's this kind of stuff about engines (including the terminology) I just didn't have a clue about.

I've got a test drive this weekend and I'm about 80% sure I'll be getting it if it doesn't feel sluggish (which based on the feedback here I don't expect it to now).

Are there any general things to discuss with the sales guy to get him to knock the price down any?

He was trying to get me to buy at the weekend there by banging on about 'getting the last of the January stock' out of the door before the end of the month. He knocking off a value that brought the monthly payments down by about £30 because of that but only if I bought things that weekend.

KYOON GRIFFEY JR
Apr 12, 2010



Runner-up, TRP Sack Race 2021/22
yes, walk away if you don't like the deal

edit: which country are you in?

KYOON GRIFFEY JR fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Jan 29, 2019

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Loan Dusty Road
Feb 27, 2007
And shop based on the price of the car, not the payment they say they can give you. Figure out the math and your financials prior to going.

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