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I could use some input. Proposed Budget: $20k upper limit New or Used: New Body Style: Compact, 2 or 4 door How will you be using the car?: Errands like grocery shopping, getting around LA on the weekend; no long commute but occasionally (2-3 times per year) I drive back to Arizona. I don't have a family and generally don't have more than 2 passengers at a time. What aspects are most important to you?: I'd prefer something reliable with reasonable cost of ownership/maintenance, but has to be compact, not ridiculously tiny like those Smart cars, but something that will help significantly with parking in this city. I'd also like something with a good track record of safety. Currently I have a 2004 Nissan Xterra that is at the point where if I put any more money into it, I'll be committed to driving it until it's dead; or unloading it while it still has some trade-in value and getting something more appropriate to where I live now (Los Angeles). I know very little about cars so I'm just starting to look around. I got the Xterra when I moved to Arizona and needed something larger to move furniture and stuff around, but now I don't have that need, and I'd rather have something smaller that is easier to park with better fuel economy. Since I'm just starting to look, of course I asked folks around me for recommendations, and a colleague really likes her Fiat. She's somewhat biased as she's originally from Europe, but I read a few reviews online that rated them positively, but for all I know I stumbled on the only good reviews in existence. I'm going in to test drive a Fiat 500 (Pop or Sport, can't remember exactly which one I was looking at online) on Friday. From what I've seen they fit the bill for what I need in terms of size, and I like the style; my concerns are if there is some glaring obvious reason why it would be dumb to go with it if I end up liking it, or if there is a really good reason to go with a different car. One thing I thought might be an issue is that since it's European, maintenance may be more difficult, but this is LA where I imagine there are probably more than a few shops that can handle Fiats, so it might not be such a problem. While I'd like to keep the cost down, I also don't mind paying a little more for a car whose style I like better. I do not give a poo poo about luxury and optional crap though. I'm not going to be spending enough time in it during the week to want any cool toys- as long as it has air conditioning and moves I'll be satisfied. Thanks for any help.
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Nov 19, 2014 03:12
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Throatwarbler posted:Well you can go and test drive one, the FIAT has some weird ergonomics - e.g. the seating position is very high and upright, that are sort of love it or hate it. Also based on all available data the reliability of the FIATs aren't great, although that wouldn't stop me from buying a new one with a new car warranty. Does not get good crash test ratings. They look pretty cool but I don't see a very compelling reason to get a non-Abarth 500. Thanks, this is helpful. I actually like that kind of ergonomics so I'll see how I feel about it on Friday. What about the Nissan Cube? It's not quite as compact, but we had one for a rental in the Florida Keys once and I thought it was pretty manageable- it's 4 door but I think still easier to deal with than my Xterra as far as parking goes. Forgot about it until after I made my post- I'm not a big fan of the cube shape, I just remember when we were using it for that weekend were all pleasantly surprised by it.
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Nov 19, 2014 04:02
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Throatwarbler posted:The height of cars like the Cube mean a serious penalty in terms of highway fuel economy, while you don't seem to really need the marginally expanded storage space. If you like the styling I think the Kia Soul is probably a better/cheaper alternative albeit it has the same issue with fuel economy. Okay, that makes a ton of sense. One last question- you said you didn't see a compelling reason to buy a non-Abarth 500; what about the Abarth makes it worth looking at? Thanks again for the input.
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Nov 19, 2014 04:38
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Throatwarbler posted:It's pretty fast and fun to drive and relatively cheap. The turbo engine is rev happy and makes a cool noise. Ok, all things that I don't care about. Well, I'll go ahead and give them a test drive, but looking through that list, I'm definitely going to follow up on some of those others- the Honda Fit looks pretty and is still in my price range. Thanks again for the help.
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Nov 19, 2014 05:17
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Shifty Pony posted:Just a heads up from someone who just reserved one after digging deep into just about every single "what did you pay?" thread on the internet: 2015 Honda Fits are basically going for MSRP with very little room (a few hundred bucks at most) for negotiation. They didn't make a 2014 model promising the redesign which held over demand a bit, the 2015 was delayed for a few months, and they are having trouble shipping the things to most of the country because they go via rail through Texas and Texas railways are clogged with oil shipments. Supply might be a bit better in CA but it looks like people are reporting that an EX automatic will still be ~$20.5k and an LX auto will be ~$18k. Thanks for the heads up, I gave the Fit a test drive and I liked it- I think the Fiat was zippier and more maneuverable, but I'd prefer not to have the steering wheel impale me during a collision, so I think I'm going to go with the Fit. I actually get a discount as a UCLA employee at a local Honda dealership so we'll see how much lower that price will go. I did see the Carfax report for my current Xterra, and it has an accident on it dated May 2009. I absolutely did not get in an accident that year- I even checked with my insurance company in case for some reason my memory was off. Anyone have any experience with errors on a Carfax? I submitted a request to their website for them to check on that entry, but I'd like to know how much of a hassle this is going to be to fix. I'd prefer to buy the new vehicle within the next month and this entry is affecting my trade-in value.
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Nov 24, 2014 11:15
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:The actual effective difference in safety between the 500 and the Fit is very small. The 500 performed poorly in the small overlap test, whereas the Fit performed "average." Small overlap type crashes are very rare. I thought it was zippier and more maneuverable, but I was also satisfied on both counts with the Fit, and there are a number of other things about the Fit that I preferred; chief among them being that the back seats can fold down, and that there was more legroom for passengers. The fiat was just a little too small.
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Nov 25, 2014 03:15
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skipdogg posted:Great writeup. I'm not sure if anyone else would be interested, but I can throw together a comprehensive write up on the actual purchase process. I've purchased 9 brand new vehicles and 1 used so far and consider myself really familiar with the financial aspects of the transaction. Yes, please.
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Dec 4, 2014 11:00
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I keep seeing 2nd Gen Prius mentioned by the predominant posters in this thread; is this because they are used so are cheaper for most buyers, or is there a fundamental reason like a design flaw that the 2nd gen would be preferred over 3rd gen? I'm asking because if I'm willing to deal with the price point of a new 2015 Honda Fit, a new 2014 model Prius c is roughly in the same price range but I'd actually see the savings in fuel over the Fit without having to own it for 10 years. Listerine fucked around with this message at 01:30 on Dec 6, 2014 |
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Dec 6, 2014 01:28
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Throatwarbler posted:The 3rd gen isn't substantially too different from the 2nd, they're all great cars and you should buy the newest one you can afford. If the only 2 cars you are looking at are the Fit or the Prius C then I guess the Prius is a reasonable choice if you can get some substantial discounts on it vs no discount on the Honda, but you can probably do better with other cars. I'm still doing a lot of looking around, but wanted to know if there was something funky about 3rd vs 2nd gen. I think I'm leaning towards buying new rather than used- I like the idea of just starting fresh with a vehicle whose history will be entirely mine- and I can afford it. One thing that's irritating me is that I can get a discount from Honda based on being a UCLA employee but they don't disclose what that would be until I start talking about which car I want to buy.
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Dec 6, 2014 02:22
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Leperflesh posted:Dealership-quoted prices for used cars are also at a hilarious markup. If you pay the sticker price for a used car at a dealership, it had better be a rare-as-hens-teeth car, or you're being ripped off massively. How hilarious? Someone in the past few pages posted some good advice about hunting for new cars, but what is the best strategy for talking down the price on a used car? Email the internet manager at the dealership with exactly the price you want to pay and see if they bite?
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Dec 11, 2014 04:48
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I did a test drive with a new 2015 Prius and I really liked it. My credit qualifies me for 0% APR for 60 months. This would be my first time buying a new car and I'm terrible at negotiating; can I expect to get the price much lower, given that it's already the President's Day sale event and it's an in demand car? And what should my angle be- just give them a number I was hoping to pay and see how far down they'll come to it? I don't want to toss out a number only to find that it's completely unrealistic. Also how do they make money off a loan with zero percent APR?
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Feb 16, 2015 22:42
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Clockwerk posted:You can open by quoting the Edmunds listed price and see if they can beat it. Once you have a few better quotes, start pitting them against other dealers with previously quoted prices. How accurate are Edmunds listed prices? Clockwerk posted:Who is offering the credit, the dealer? If so, they make money off you purchasing the vehicle from them at a price that makes them money. If it's your credit union or something, I have no idea, but I doubt that is the case. The dealer is offering, it's one of the incentives for the Presidents Day sale event. edit- Also who do I email, the guy I talked to originally or should I look on the website for someone else? I don't know which guys at a dealership are empowered to make the final decisions.
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Feb 17, 2015 03:14
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I've moved the dealer from MSRP down to $22,633 for a 2015 Prius Two. I'm going to see if I can move that further, but does that sound like a terrible price? From what I've seen in some places that's below average for this car but I'm not sure if that's true.
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Feb 20, 2015 05:49
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chupacabraTERROR posted:I bought one back in July for $21k flat before fees and taxes. This was in San Diego, not sure if that matters. I emailed like 10 dealers and played them off each other until I got that price. Yeah I tried that route, I had one dealer all but tell me to go gently caress myself when I tried to get him lower than my current offer. He countered with 60 bucks less. I'm up in LA. What's the consensus on paying to extend the bumper to bumper warranty beyond the first 3 years?
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Feb 21, 2015 11:35
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