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It's an adequate, sensible car.
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Jan 18, 2023 07:36
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Captain Log posted:That said, there are some car manufacturers I am wholly unfamiliar with, and unsure if they are worth keeping in search results - I'm pretty happy with my 2016 Mazda MAZDA3 (compact car--Mazda's competitor to the Toyota Corolla & Honda Civic). It's been a great car to own. Other than a few minor manufacturer recalls, I've had no issues with the car and only have had to pay for maintenance and wear items so far. It's also pretty fun to drive for being a commodity car. I don't know what the used car market is like right now, but the reason why I bought a new Mazda and not a new Honda or Toyota in 2015 was that I was able to get more of a discount off of MSRP with Mazda than the other two bigger name brands. It looks like you are interested in midsize/compact SUVs. I haven't read reviews or have any experience with their SUV products, but I suspect that they are pretty similar to the MAZDA3.
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Jan 18, 2023 11:53
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Captain Log posted:- Kia Mazda is extremely good. I have a 2017 Mazda 3 and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Very little upkeep, the drive is fun, and the interior is basically entry level luxury. The new ones are apparently even nicer although I haven't test driven them. Outlets gush over their entirely product line for a reason.
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Jan 18, 2023 12:53
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Not entirely clear on the modern character and informational requirements of this thread(is the template truly necessary for a pretty broad advice outreach?), but I'm looking for some advice on options for buying a reliable, relatively modern car that ideally wouldn't cost more than $20k. For background, I have what could best be described as utterly mediocre credit. Not bad, but not especially good, either. Currently, I net around 45k/year and I am mostly saving a large part of that to ideally buy a house in the next two years or so, currently taking advantage of my aging boomer parents' largesse to have minimal living expenses whilst doing so. I could theoretically pay straight cash for a car, but I would rather put down a substantial down payment and take out a modest loan to improve my creditworthiness in the meantime. I've only ever personally purchased two cars in my life, both sub-$4000 used cars that were more than a decade old at the time of purchase. Here's the rub: I work a graveyard shift and have some pretty severe social anxiety. Also the car thing is relatively urgent, my existing ride (a 2004 Honda Accord) is rapidly deteriorating due to a degree of negligence stemming from the working nights issue. At this point, I just want to start fresh with a car that I would actually have some sense of propriety over and keep in good working condition (whether or not that actually works out, this needs to happen). What are my options for going about such a thing? I'm not a car nerd in the least, I just need something that I can rely on. Is there a trustworthy way to buy a car via the internet? And if so, how onerous are the little things?
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Jan 18, 2023 13:37
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Thank you all very, very much for the input. These are brands that are popping up in my searches I've always discounted, and I'm not sure why I thought that way. Maybe because the Kia sells that loving box thing and Chevys always look cheap? Yeah, a compact SUV would be amazing for the simple fact that with my lower leg braces, it's easier to get in and out of something higher off the ground. But otherwise, I don't need anything else related to an SUV, which is why I'm fine with a compact. Our main family car is a 2013 Hyundai Tucson we've had for six or seven years, and it has been an absolutely stress free car without any problems. I wish I could clone it. Also, my general search parameters have settled in around $8k, because there is a lot of reasonable stock to pick from in Portland if you are willing to be patient and do a lot of searching. This seems to slot me into the 2010-2015 and around 100k miles range, generally speaking. (Again, I am leaning towards keeping the Volvo for a while. But if I can get $2-3k out of it and immediately roll that towards a newer car, I would likely do it. I've had offers on the car before, so I'll keep my ears open.)
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Jan 18, 2023 13:38
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Just had a long look at a '19 kodiaq with 21k on the clock for 21k cash and I'm test driving it Friday goddamn that thing so nice and roomy
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Jan 18, 2023 13:40
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Beet posted:Not entirely clear on the modern character and informational requirements of this thread(is the template truly necessary for a pretty broad advice outreach?), but I'm looking for some advice on options for buying a reliable, relatively modern car that ideally wouldn't cost more than $20k. For background, I have what could best be described as utterly mediocre credit. Not bad, but not especially good, either. Currently, I net around 45k/year and I am mostly saving a large part of that to ideally buy a house in the next two years or so, currently taking advantage of my aging boomer parents' largesse to have minimal living expenses whilst doing so. I could theoretically pay straight cash for a car, but I would rather put down a substantial down payment and take out a modest loan to improve my creditworthiness in the meantime. I've only ever personally purchased two cars in my life, both sub-$4000 used cars that were more than a decade old at the time of purchase. If you don’t fill out the form we tell you to get a Prius. We’re going to tell you to get a Prius anyway.
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Jan 18, 2023 14:08
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Inner Light posted:YOU MOFOS HAVE DONE IT AGAIN The 2023 Prius is a pretty radical departure from the line of previous generation Priuses, power is almost doubled and 0-60 mph is down by something like 4 seconds. I'm not sure anyone here has owned or even test driven one.
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Jan 18, 2023 14:49
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Take the Prius badge off the back with dental floss and people will think you have a fancy new sportscar.
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Jan 18, 2023 14:52
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Throatwarbler posted:The 2023 Prius is a pretty radical departure from the line of previous generation Priuses, power is almost doubled and 0-60 mph is down by something like 4 seconds. I'm not sure anyone here has owned or even test driven one. It is a radical departure and they want people to think it’s a REALLY radical departure. And on the exterior, it is. But after watching the Doug video I feel it will probably be the same reasonable, reasonably priced, appliance machine with “good enough” touches sprinkled throughout to keep it modern. Very very well done but I don’t know if it will be enough to keep consumers away from crossovers. Also it’s boring (except exterior) but so is everything these days.
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Jan 18, 2023 15:14
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Throatwarbler posted:The 2023 Prius is a pretty radical departure from the line of previous generation Priuses, power is almost doubled and 0-60 mph is down by something like 4 seconds. Why does anyone need to accelerate that fast they should have left it the way it was. This is going to endanger pedestrians and other motorists as the typical Prius clientele will find a 0-60 of less than 9 seconds to be completely uncontrollable.
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Jan 18, 2023 15:53
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I understand they also substantially reduced cargo volume to achieve the more sleek profile, so that it more resembles a compact instead of a midsize sedan. Maybe they're trying to drive people to the RAV4 or Corolla Cross hybrid.
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Jan 18, 2023 16:05
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Bank posted:I don't! I only bought the Pilot because it was cheap. I have two kids (8 and 10) and we are smallish people anyway (I'm the "biggest" at 5'5"). We don't plan on hauling other people around, just some ski gear and maybe go camping, but I think we can buy a roof rack or something for that. If I cared about how the car drove I'd buy a CX-5. If I didn't as much, I'd buy a Honda CR-V.
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Jan 18, 2023 17:24
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Beet posted:Not entirely clear on the modern character and informational requirements of this thread(is the template truly necessary for a pretty broad advice outreach?), but I'm looking for some advice on options for buying a reliable, relatively modern car that ideally wouldn't cost more than $20k. For background, I have what could best be described as utterly mediocre credit. Not bad, but not especially good, either. Currently, I net around 45k/year and I am mostly saving a large part of that to ideally buy a house in the next two years or so, currently taking advantage of my aging boomer parents' largesse to have minimal living expenses whilst doing so. I could theoretically pay straight cash for a car, but I would rather put down a substantial down payment and take out a modest loan to improve my creditworthiness in the meantime. I've only ever personally purchased two cars in my life, both sub-$4000 used cars that were more than a decade old at the time of purchase. So the TLDR of this post is that you are a 20-30 year old with bad credit, making around 45k a year and heavily subsidized by your parents, who wants to buy a 20k car they can't afford after a life of driving lovely beaters that you've never taken the time or effort to maintain (but this time you will because of reasons). You also want to buy it 100% online because of social anxiety. I personally think you need to take a look at your life circumstances before dropping 20k like this, especially if you're also planning on buying a house "in the next two years or so". Otherwise, I guess actually follow the OP's proposed format so people here can actually give you some suggestions because just "20k" and "low maintenance" is just going to get you the answer of "Prius".
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Jan 18, 2023 17:38
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Beet posted:Not entirely clear on the modern character and informational requirements of this thread(is the template truly necessary for a pretty broad advice outreach?), but I'm looking for some advice on options for buying a reliable, relatively modern car that ideally wouldn't cost more than $20k. For background, I have what could best be described as utterly mediocre credit. Not bad, but not especially good, either. Currently, I net around 45k/year and I am mostly saving a large part of that to ideally buy a house in the next two years or so, currently taking advantage of my aging boomer parents' largesse to have minimal living expenses whilst doing so. I could theoretically pay straight cash for a car, but I would rather put down a substantial down payment and take out a modest loan to improve my creditworthiness in the meantime. I've only ever personally purchased two cars in my life, both sub-$4000 used cars that were more than a decade old at the time of purchase. This post was way harder to read than if you just followed the template, OP e: an 04 Accord will probably keep running longer than anything you can afford right now and repairing the vehicle is probably far and away the most advantageous financial decision. Driving a worthless depreciated pile of scrap around will always save money compared to buying another vehicle. Especially if your state has zero safety inspection like mine in IL. What is wrong with it? Inner Light fucked around with this message at 18:05 on Jan 18, 2023 |
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Jan 18, 2023 18:02
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dpkg chopra posted:So the TLDR of this post is that you are a 20-30 year old with bad credit, making around 45k a year, who wants to buy a 20k car I would consider anything over $7500 to be wildly over budget at that income level. Maybe go find the lowest mileage Toyota or Honda you can find for $8000 that looks like it's been well maintained. When I was making $40k my car was a $3500 sedan with 140,000 miles on it and I thought I was stretching myself. Before that it was a $2000 Toyota Corolla with 120,000 miles on the clock and ran like a top, but cops loved pulling that thing over for some reason
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Jan 18, 2023 18:11
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Am I the only one that caught 45k net? 20k is substantial but not really irresponsible depending on the rest of the budget. Aggressive but affordable note with 5k down. If it were gross it's a little more of a losing prospect but could still be structured and something I'd only recommend to a carfan. You're generally rewarded for driving the cheapest thing you can manage though so if you're saving for a house you can only benefit from advice to find the cheapest you can stand. Lots of upgrades from an 03 beside just trying to keep your current car repaired. Little secret about human nature: buying a new or newer car is not going to change your attitude on car care and often makes it worse as a new car pretends to be much more resilient about the small maintenance stuff while accruing mechanical debt. Thread refrain advice applies: repair your current car until you find a Prius you like for a price you can afford.
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Jan 18, 2023 18:30
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The BFC perspective has been covered to a degree already, but here's a bit more: You mention that you have mediocre credit - is this due to limited credit history or actual delinquency? The former is easier to overcome. If the latter, the behavior that drove delinquency must be addressed first. I assume that since you are saving for a house this is under control, but you might want to do some introspection if you have messed up your credit score. With a mediocre credit score you are going to be paying a very high interest rate on a used car note. It would be therefore advisable to spend as little as possible on a new vehicle. AI perspective: What is wrong with your current car? we recently discussed the difference between maintenance and repairs; if this is just a maintenance deficit you will be best served by spending the money to maintain your current car. If there's something actually broken on it maybe it's time to consider a new car. Also yeah bub use the template - it provides a structure that forces people to organize their thoughts rather than just word vomiting a bunch of vaguely coherent words on the page that don't necessarily provide readers with the information required to give you decent advice. For instance, you haven't told us anything about how much you drive, which is important!
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Jan 18, 2023 18:51
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zedprime posted:Am I the only one that caught 45k net? 20k is substantial but not really irresponsible depending on the rest of the budget. Aggressive but affordable note with 5k down. If it were gross it's a little more of a losing prospect but could still be structured and something I'd only recommend to a carfan. I did catch it, but I don't trust what he means by "net", and honestly at that income range how much of a deduction are you getting from taxes, 10k a year? Does that really change his budget that much?
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Jan 18, 2023 18:59
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dpkg chopra posted:I did catch it, but I don't trust what he means by "net", and honestly at that income range how much of a deduction are you getting from taxes, 10k a year? Does that really change his budget that much? I mean to most people "net" means what goes in your pocket after all payroll deductions, including federal, state, and local taxes, medicare and social security, health insurance, and retirement contributions. So I assume that is what the OP means by "net."
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Jan 18, 2023 19:30
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Maybe I'm nuts but my rule of thumb has been don't buy a new car that costs more than 2/3 of your annual gross income. That's always been my limit. Now if you don't want to actually live inside the car, you might need to adjust that ratio even further down.
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Jan 19, 2023 07:07
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How would this be relevant for someone living paycheck to paycheck, no matter the income? A better metric would probably be leftover money after overall household expenses.
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Jan 19, 2023 15:18
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Nitrox posted:How would this be relevant for someone living paycheck to paycheck, no matter the income? A better metric would probably be leftover money after overall household expenses. Virtually everyone lives paycheck to paycheck. Budgets are usually flexible, though, so there is some slop to make room for a car payment. We can generally live on much less than we are used to spending if we try and have other priorities. Proper budgeting also helps you find an upper limit, where you're cutting into necessities.
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Jan 19, 2023 16:20
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Comparing your total purchase to your gross wages is an easy way to switch over from short sighted note amount chasing to long term capital depreciation. Ideally you want both of fitting a note (and repair budget) into your monthly budget and fitting the purchase price into a 5 or 10 year plan. But if you're paycheck to paycheck that plan probably doesn't exist so rules of thumb help keep you in check. And yeah, car purchases are normal people's candles scenario where they end up forced to think long and hard about their budget and find some candle budget to cut. Considering most people coming into the thread have a car and for the last couple scenarios like this you have fine but repairable 20 year old cars you also have cost shifting from repairs to the note but repairs are infrequent and may be hard for a normal to rationalize into an equivalent note.
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Jan 19, 2023 16:36
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You'll pry the "subscription services that I haven't used for nearly a year but refuse to get rid of" portion of my budget from my cold dead hands.
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Jan 19, 2023 17:12
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didnt know where else to ask this - I'm planning on buying a car soon. My credit is absolute poo poo, and I have about 2000$. Besides Craigslist, what are other more reliable alternatives in searching for cars? Also, I just want a reliable Point A to Point B car, thinking a honda or toyota; should I wait until my next paycheck for a little bit more money? I'm spending so much drat money on Lyfts and Ubers to get back and forth for work as it is, and if I get a car soon I can start saving a fuckload of money
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Jan 19, 2023 19:40
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Facebook Marketplace has pretty much become the place to sell stuff. I almost never use craigslist anymore. 2,000 dollars is not going to get you a reliable point a to b car in todays market. When I messed up my life and needed a cheap beater almost 20 years ago, I bought a busted rear end Dodge Neon for like 1800 bucks and put about 500 into it fixing all the oil leaks, and doing some preventative maintenance on it. It got me through a couple years until I was in a better place without issue. The valve seals were leaky so it smoked a little here and there and burned oil, but it got me to work and back. Sold it for 1500 bucks. My go too recommendation for a cheap beater has been to find a Mercury Grand Marquis online that someone's grandparents owned. A Crown Victoria will work as well. Those panther platform cars are really reliable and not expensive to fix if something does go wrong. I used to see them for 2K or 2500 on my local craigslist, but even the used car market has raised the prices on those, the cheapest one I would even look at on my local craigslist is now 4800 dollars.
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Jan 19, 2023 19:51
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Buddykins posted:didnt know where else to ask this - For what it’s worth, I bought a 2001 Volvo S40 for a haggled down price of exactly $2000 in cash. I bought it with the knowledge that it would need a belt and water pump job ($1k) and other repairs. I’ve easily put $2k into the car in the time that I’ve owned it. But I budgeted for that. I’ve been searching low end cars, and you can see my silly questions in the last few pages of this thread. $2k is pretty grim territory.
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Jan 19, 2023 20:08
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I appreciate the response. i might have a buddy help me with FB Marketplace because I dont have a FB. I read the OP and I really dont want to lease a car, especially with my absolutely HORRENDOUS credit, and when I was younger I was really stupid and leased a car that I had to just stop paying because I couldnt afford the payments. however, i am able to make payments with the job I have now and I think it'd be nice to have something reliable if possible. I just wish I got all that money back I put into that drat car. It was just a loving waste. really sucks to have idiot mistakes you made nearly a decade ago follow you to this day with leases and poo poo.
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Jan 19, 2023 20:09
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If it happened a decade ago it should be long gone from your credit report. Developing credit from a "thin file" is a lot easier than fixing bad credit - because for that you mostly have to wait until it falls off. And this stuff has. Do you have a credit card? That's how you start building credit. Anything - even if you have to get a secured card. Pay off the statement balance every month. Do that for 9+ months and your credit score will rocket upwards. If you can wait to save up and finance a car until then, great. If not perhaps you can finance something now at a terrible rate, get that credit card, build credit through both of them and refinance after a year. Not optimal, but nothing about this is going to be.
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Jan 19, 2023 20:15
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First, the vast majority of people should never lease cars under any circumstance. Taking a loan out to buy a car is different than a lease, but if your credit is absolutely hosed, a car loan is not the place to start to rebuild it given how much you will eat on interest. Today's used car market is loving bleak at $2k. You don't get to be picky about brand and will probably be better off specifically avoiding a Honda or a Toyota because a $2000 Honda might not even run. You need to find the best condition anything you can get a clear title on at that price point. Sedan, coupe, hatchback, crossover, small pickup, whatever. If the goal is to stop bleeding yourself dry on rideshare, get something cheap for now, and dump the money you say you can spend on a car payment into a savings account and don't touch it. If that $2k car lasts you six to twelve months without needing any major repairs, you should already have enough saved to either handle a major repair if it comes up, or to take a stab at the used car market again and buy something less lovely.
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Jan 19, 2023 20:19
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if a car lasts me 6-12 months right now, that would be absolutely ideal for the situation i'm in. I appreciate the advice and input  i'm still going to keep an eye out and think on it, and I feel more comfortable about things now, thank you so much.also thank you for mentioning building credit - I definitely should start sooner rather than later 
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Jan 19, 2023 20:27
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There's a credit card thread in this very sub forum and they have some recommendations on a secured credit card good luck
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Jan 19, 2023 20:46
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The absolute best "build credit" hack unfortunately requires you to have a close friend or family who has decent credit and likes you enough to want to help, but if that is a thing you have, it's worth doing: Have them add you as an authorized user to a card they regularly use, but not actually give you the card when it comes in the mail. There's really no downside to them, since it won't affect their credit at all and it doesn't cost them anything (for the vast majority of cards, anyways - some very fancy cards are exceptions). As long as you trust them to not miss a payment or default and leave you the bill, your credit will just go up passively over time without anyone needing to do anything. As an added bonus, a lot of cards don't keep track of how long you've been on it, just how long the credit has been open. When my mom did this for me, my score shot up 50 points overnight because I suddenly had a 12 year old card with perfect payment history on my report. Since then, I've done this for 3 or 4 close friends and it's been nothing but upside for them and other than having some extra junk plastic come in the mail, it doesn't affect me at all. It's pretty great.
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Jan 19, 2023 23:24
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I'd worry about it less when creditors were paying you to take their stacks of cash and many may have just been checking your score. But they are closing the cash spigots and anyone who is taking longer than 5 minutes to check your credit is getting a customized analysis or else the raw report to do their own analysis which may judge you harder than the forced-public agency score calculations. Since they've been forced to make them available to the products themself (you) the numerical score itself has become maybe the least useful its been which is saying a lot. Good to know where you stand generally but like even 50 point jumps and drops are noise that wash out in any large outfit doing its own thing with a raw report anyway.
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Jan 20, 2023 00:35
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Buddykins posted:I appreciate the response. i might have a buddy help me with FB Marketplace because I dont have a FB. I read the OP and I really dont want to lease a car, especially with my absolutely HORRENDOUS credit, and when I was younger I was really stupid and leased a car that I had to just stop paying because I couldnt afford the payments. FB is free and easy to sign up for, seems kind of annoying to use a friend’s time to do exactly the same thing you could do, unless the friend is like really into this or something. Coming from me a guy that can be annoying. You can also delete the account later if you don’t want it? But anyway yeah, $2k will be tough. If that’s really your ceiling you’ll just have to click away on FB until you find something the least objectionable to you. You’ll also encounter a relatively high proportion of scammers at that price range, people passing off broken cars as working properly via cosmetic repairs, etc. Ironically, it is also the price range where getting a pre purchase inspection begins to make less sense as it is a significant proportion of the purchase price. Inner Light fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Jan 20, 2023 |
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Jan 20, 2023 00:39
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Depending on where you live, just get a 125 scooter and save a bunch of $. And a helmet!
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Jan 20, 2023 00:54
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I would totally get a scooter or motorcycle if i was still in the city lol however my work commute is about 30 minutes and requires being on the tollway or a highway
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Jan 20, 2023 01:10
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would an extra 1000$ make a difference? I got a 2006 kia spectra for 2000$ back during lockdown and that lasted me about a year before it crapped out on me on a freeway. It might not have, if I ever took it to a mechanic to check and see if it had any issues about to pop up. I made the mistake and learned from it though, and I really liked that car.
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Jan 20, 2023 01:17
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Buddykins posted:would an extra 1000$ make a difference? I got a 2006 kia spectra for 2000$ back during lockdown and that lasted me about a year before it crapped out on me on a freeway. It might not have, if I ever took it to a mechanic to check and see if it had any issues about to pop up. I made the mistake and learned from it though, and I really liked that car. Another $1k might make a difference but you're still at the point where this is primarily luck and timing. Especially if you don't know what you're looking at and how to reasonably evaluate the likelihood that it's a POS. Do you know anyone who is good with cars? Even just a little bit? Someone who could look at it, craw under and make sure it's not all rotten, do the research to know what to look for on whatever it is that you're looking at? E: On second thought, the best use of an additional $1k is the tires and maintenance any $2k car is gonna need. Motronic fucked around with this message at 01:31 on Jan 20, 2023 |
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Jan 20, 2023 01:21
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