Cheap New Car

[boomhower]

I can't qualify for a CU loan, at least mine won't touch me. I went back to Capitol One where I already I my wifes car and they gave me 12k at a crappy rate that fits my crappy credit. I'll be eying the Vibe thread.

 

[jonnyGURU]

I was in a similar prediciment. A few years ago, I got a job that was pretty far from home. I planned to move closer to work, but would have to sell my house first.

I used to drive an old car that I LOVED. But it wasn't reliable enough for the commute I had to do. I considered used, fairly new, cars with some sort of warranty (just in case) that I could buy cheap and get rid of quickly once I moved closer to my work. Something like a Civic or Corolla or something.

The problem is, reliable used cars hold their value TOO WELL. I found that for what I could buy a decent used car for, I could buy something like a Hyundai Elantra.

I went to the local Hyundai dealer and bought an Elantra off the lot for $12K (this was back in 2005, so they were even cheaper than they are now).

I drove that car over 200 miles every day and loved it. And after moving closer to work, I decided to keep it instead of selling it like I had originally planned. It's now four years later and I still have the thing and it's never been in the shop once.

I thought I needed a good used car. I thought buying a cheap new car would be something I would regret. I was wrong. And in today's economy, there's even more reason for you to consider a good, cheap new car with a full warranty instead of something new.

Oh... and the reason I was looking at Elantra, Civic, Corolla or Sentra is because Accent, Fit, Yaris or Versa are VERY small. I'm 6'4" and 240lbs. I can't say I was very comfortable in any of the latter mentioned cars. By all means, if you're a smaller guy, go for a smaller car if it doesn't bother you.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I've only heard positive press about Hyundai / Kia in recent times. It sounds like you have a solid plan. Go for it!
Don't worry about looks/style ... worry only about if it meets your needs, and if it's comfortable/fun to drive...

 

[chin311]

jonnyGURU --i know the yaris and fit are tiny ass inside but have you been inside a versa? its roomier than most, and im 6'1

 

[desy]

Versa seats are the same size seats they put in the Altima.
My salesman was 6 5 and put the drivers seat as far back as it could go and his knees didn't touch the seat back.
The Versa has 4 cf more interior room than a Civic

 

[boomhower]

I have kept looking and found several cars I like better but 9k with a decent feature set and a killer warranty is getting really hard to turn down.

 

[hans030390]

I like the Kia Forte. A lot...for some reason.

 

[boomhower]

So do I but to get one with air is $16k. Since its new there are no rebates, by the time you add tax, title, etc. Its going to be every bit of 12k if not a touch more. If I could spend that much I would go with a Mazda3 and call it a day.

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: boomhower
So do I but to get one with air is $16k. Since its new there are no rebates, by the time you add tax, title, etc. Its going to be every bit of 12k if not a touch more. If I could spend that much I would go with a Mazda3 and call it a day.

With the Forte? When we were looking (just a couple days ago), they had rebates ranging from $1000 to $2000. Must be an area/dealership thing. They would have also given us $500-1000 for proving we own a "similar" car...in our case, an old Civic. Basically they're paying us to NOT go with Honda this time around.

Either way, my parents bought a Sentra, which is also very nice (it almost feels like a luxury car, especially compared to every other car in that same price range).

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: desy
Versa seats are the same size seats they put in the Altima.
My salesman was 6 5 and put the drivers seat as far back as it could go and his knees didn't touch the seat back.
The Versa has 4 cf more interior room than a Civic

The bigger interior is all the that Versa has on the Civic. It's less powerful, gets worse fuel economy, does not handle as well, is not as safe, and IMO is way uglier.

 

[SickBeast]

I was recently considering swapping my 06 Civic EX for an Elantra. With the low interest rates and incentives, it would have saved me $150 per month. The problem is that it's impossible to sell a used car in today's market without taking a huge loss. I wound up keeping my Civic.

My wife and I extensively test drove the Elantra. We came to the conclusion that in the city, they were nearly equivalent, but on the highway the Civic felt much more solid and handled much better. The Elantra tended to get blown around quite a bit and would sway if we passed a truck or something. IMO both the Civic and the Elantra are great cars, it just depends on how much you want to spend. That said, the Elantra needs close to $1000 in service at the 100,000km mark that the Civic doesn't need until 160,000kms, so you need to factor in things like that as well.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: jonnyGURU
I was in a similar prediciment. A few years ago, I got a job that was pretty far from home. I planned to move closer to work, but would have to sell my house first.

I used to drive an old car that I LOVED. But it wasn't reliable enough for the commute I had to do. I considered used, fairly new, cars with some sort of warranty (just in case) that I could buy cheap and get rid of quickly once I moved closer to my work. Something like a Civic or Corolla or something.

The problem is, reliable used cars hold their value TOO WELL. I found that for what I could buy a decent used car for, I could buy something like a Hyundai Elantra.

I went to the local Hyundai dealer and bought an Elantra off the lot for $12K (this was back in 2005, so they were even cheaper than they are now).

I drove that car over 200 miles every day and loved it. And after moving closer to work, I decided to keep it instead of selling it like I had originally planned. It's now four years later and I still have the thing and it's never been in the shop once.

I thought I needed a good used car. I thought buying a cheap new car would be something I would regret. I was wrong. And in today's economy, there's even more reason for you to consider a good, cheap new car with a full warranty instead of something new.

Oh... and the reason I was looking at Elantra, Civic, Corolla or Sentra is because Accent, Fit, Yaris or Versa are VERY small. I'm 6'4" and 240lbs. I can't say I was very comfortable in any of the latter mentioned cars. By all means, if you're a smaller guy, go for a smaller car if it doesn't bother you.

This has been my experience as well. The same advice is trucked out again and again "Just buy a year old Honda and let some one else eat the depreciation hit". What depreciation hit? It seems so many people have taken this advice that a year old Honda now sells for about the same as a deal on a new car. And a new car usually has a better warrenty and is less likely to have a history of abuse (I'd say thats a real concern when buying a repoed car) or semi lemon status. Plus the financing is usually a better deal on them. If you have a gas sucking heap lying around to subtract another $3500 off why even bother with used?

 

[StageLeft]

Yes, using Cash for clunkers a new can make sense. Otherwise from a financial standpoint it very rarely does.

The problem is, reliable used cars hold their value TOO WELL.

Honda and Toyota do but you can get other used cars that are reliable and drop hard, such as a Nissan.

It seems so many people have taken this advice that a year old Honda now sells for about the same as a deal on a new car.

They sure can be close. I do think that a late model honda is a bad car to buy used. Their depreciation is not enough compared to their competition.

 

[desy]

The versa is WAY cheaper than a Cvic so it has more than just interior room

 

[adlep]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Yes, using Cash for clunkers a new can make sense. Otherwise from a financial standpoint it very rarely does.

The problem is, reliable used cars hold their value TOO WELL.

Honda and Toyota do but you can get other used cars that are reliable and drop hard, such as a Nissan.

It seems so many people have taken this advice that a year old Honda now sells for about the same as a deal on a new car.

They sure can be close. I do think that a late model honda is a bad car to buy used. Their depreciation is not enough compared to their competition.

This is true to a degree...

For example used H. Element appreciates a lot. But a used H. CRV is a bad buy because it holds the value like crazy.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: adlep

For example used H. Element appreciates a lot.

You mean "depreciates".

 

[boomhower]

After some extensive shopping the best I can find is an Elantra for 10.2K OTD after CfC for a GLS with air/stereo package/5-speed. It is higher than I want what I think it should be but the only thing I can find cheaper is a Versa and that is just to small and the 1.6 would kill me. I think I am going to go pick one up tomorrow afternoon.

 

[marvdmartian]

Don't be afraid to try to dicker with the dealer a little bit, to get it closer to your target price, boomhower.

I picked up an '09 Sonata GLS on Friday, using CfC. Put $1500 down, plus they offered $3000 rebate, and I got $3500 for my old truck. With TT&L, it got the price down to $15300 + change. I asked the salesman what it would take to get it down to $15K even, and he told me to hold on, he'd go ask the sales manager. I was already happy with the price, since the MSRP was $21440.50, and the TT&L came out to $1067.82, or $22508 and change for the car, minus the $8K down, plus the extended service plan that brought the bumper to bumper warranty up to 10 years/100000 miles (extends the warranty to match the powertrain warranty). He came back a minute later, told me they'd split the difference (cut it down to $15150) plus throw in a couple oil changes.

Was it a big deal? Heck no! But what the heck......if you ask, the worst they can do is say NO, and it's highly likely they're going to budge a little, and maybe throw in a cheap perk or two! :thumbsup:


BTW, I'm VERY happy with my choice of the Sonata! I did sit in an Elantra, but being old and fat, I liked the extra room of the bigger model, especially for long driving trips. The Elantra is a nice model too, though, and I think you'll be happy with it.



Oh, concerning the $1.49/gallon gasoline deal that I think I mentioned earlier in this thread? Come to find out, in order to get that, you give up $1K of your rebate in exchange for the lower gas price. I asked the salesman about it, he told me that, and the quick math I did in my head told me it wasn't worth it. With the current gas prices only being ~$1 higher than the target price of $1.49/gallon, you'd have to get 1000 gallons of gas from the plan in order to come out even........but the Sonata 4 cylinder only gets you ~480 gallons maximum! The Elantra would be even less, since it gets slightly better gas mileage (and that's how they based the maximum). So basically, if you get this plan, you're betting that gasoline with skyrocket in price over the next couple months, and stay there for the remainder of the first year you own the car. In my case, gas would have to be around $3.60/gallon minimum, in order for this plan to pay for itself.

In other words, it's a marketing gimmick.......nothing more! :thumbsdown:

 

[boomhower]

My local dealer wouldn't budge from 10.7K. The 10.2k offer was over the phone with a dealer about 1.5hrs away. I'll try a get them down some, I was wanting 10k even so it shouldn't be to hard I hope.

 

[SandEagle]

Originally posted by: boomhower
My local dealer wouldn't budge from 10.7K. The 10.2k offer was over the phone with a dealer about 1.5hrs away. I'll try a get them down some, I was wanting 10k even so it shouldn't be to hard I hope.

did you check the auto section of your Sunday paper? i found many cars going for 7000-10000 after CfC. 10.2 for an elantra after CfC seems kinda high IMO

 

[boomhower]

I agree, but that is what they are going for. I live in North Carolina and my local dealer wants 10.7, big guys is Fayetteville want 10.5, with the lowest I have found in Charlotte at 10.2k. Only thing I can figure is the demand of the CFC driving up the prices an lower end cars. Sticker on the car is 17k, 2k rebate and 4500 CFC takes it to 10.5. Take off a bit more and add OTD crap and it ends at 10.2k.

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: boomhower
After some extensive shopping the best I can find is an Elantra for 10.2K OTD after CfC for a GLS with air/stereo package/5-speed. It is higher than I want what I think it should be but the only thing I can find cheaper is a Versa and that is just to small and the 1.6 would kill me.

Yeah.. definitely the thing that kicks most ass about the Elantra is the 2.0L 16V. The car has absolutely no problems getting out of it's own way. Most cars in this class are 1.8L 8V and smaller.

 

[boomhower]

Well I got my car! Got them down too 9.7OTD. I was very happy with the final price. It took some work but better late than never. They are playing with the financing and trying to beat my pre-approved rate. If they can that would just be icing on the cake. I pick it up tomorrow afternoon and will post some picks.

 

[stag3]

wow 15k for an elantra?
you can get nissan versa's for 11k now
for 15k i would probably get a fit tho

 

[jonnyGURU]

Originally posted by: stag3
wow 15k for an elantra?
you can get nissan versa's for 11k now
for 15k i would probably get a fit tho

Reading comprehension?

He said he had 15K to spend. He's only spending 9.7K on the Elantra.

Even my Elantra was only 12K and that was with AC, 4 speed auto, AM/FM/CD, factory passive alarm and cruise control.

And for what you pay for an Elantra, you get a bigger car, longer warranty and more powerful engine. All already discussed in this thread if you were inclined to read past the first post.