The Official Thread: Which Car(s) to Get?

[DonJuanjr]

What needs to be done when you're ready to buy a used car is do what insurance companies do when they total a vehicle and negotiate a payout to you. Its called a market analysis.

In your area look on the few car sites and search for vehicles that have the things you're looking for. 4x4, under 85000 miles, fwd, etc... Compare what you see, and use kbb and carfax. This will inform you as to if you're getting a good deal, or over paying based on it's history. When you look at it, take it to a mechanic that you choose to do a bumper to bumper inspection. You may need to make some concessions such as color, or no sun roof or whatever. I did this, and found a vehicle that's 11 years old, with only 1 previous owner and under 26000 miles. I spent every day looking for over a month to finally find it. I had to drive an hour and a half to get it.

 

[nicksaiz65]

What needs to be done when you're ready to buy a used car is do what insurance companies do when they total a vehicle and negotiate a payout to you. Its called a market analysis.

In your area look on the few car sites and search for vehicles that have the things you're looking for. 4x4, under 85000 miles, fwd, etc... Compare what you see, and use kbb and carfax. This will inform you as to if you're getting a good deal, or over paying based on it's history. When you look at it, take it to a mechanic that you choose to do a bumper to bumper inspection. You may need to make some concessions such as color, or no sun roof or whatever. I did this, and found a vehicle that's 11 years old, with only 1 previous owner and under 26000 miles. I spent every day looking for over a month to finally find it. I had to drive an hour and a half to get it.

Since I’ll be paying for the car outright with cash now, this is what I’ll be doing every day. I’ll consider it my after work “homework.”

I don’t plan on getting a fancy car yet. Also, I’ll have plenty of time since it could take a second to save up for it.

How much did you end up paying for that car out of curiosity? Great deal.

 

[DonJuanjr]

How much did you end up paying for that car out of curiosity? Great deal.

Under 15. I did need to do a few things to it that the mechanic found, though I used the information to negotiate the price lower at the dealership. I took it from the dealership right to the mechanic for the test drive. According to KBB I overpaid by a couple thousand, but in the current used car market, good luck not over paying. The difference is, for similar style and aged vehicles in the price range the mileages were closer to 100k.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

What needs to be done when you're ready to buy a used car is do what insurance companies do when they total a vehicle and negotiate a payout to you. Its called a market analysis.

In your area look on the few car sites and search for vehicles that have the things you're looking for. 4x4, under 85000 miles, fwd, etc... Compare what you see, and use kbb and carfax. This will inform you as to if you're getting a good deal, or over paying based on it's history. When you look at it, take it to a mechanic that you choose to do a bumper to bumper inspection. You may need to make some concessions such as color, or no sun roof or whatever. I did this, and found a vehicle that's 11 years old, with only 1 previous owner and under 26000 miles. I spent every day looking for over a month to finally find it. I had to drive an hour and a half to get it.

FWIW in today's market you will usually have a hard time getting someone to allow you to take the car to a mech, regardless if the seller is a dealer or an individual. Usually you will have to bring someone with you, meaning you can't put it up on a lift before buying.

 

[DonJuanjr]

Usually you will have to bring someone with you, meaning you can't put it up on a lift before buying.

The few that I asked just wanted a copy of my ID in case I never returned the vehicle... Though I avoided independent dealerships and stuck to the official manufacturer dealerships. A tip that I got from mechanics was that when used car shopping, you'll be more likely to come across quality used vehicles from manufacturer dealerships vs. independent. They only keep the best quality used cars on their lots and bulk auction the lower quality ones.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

The few that I asked just wanted a copy of my ID in case I never returned the vehicle...

That's good to know. A lot of the adivce givers online claim otherwise, but it could be just curbstoners and jaded salesmen bsing people. Your vehilce and price range could be a factor. With the car I'm in the market for, it's mostly cheap dealers and ghetto people. Sucks to be buying right now, but I'm not paying for another longer than short term in today's market. Generally sellers are entitled af these days

How long ago did you buy?

 

[DonJuanjr]

That's good to know. A lot of the adivce givers online claim otherwise, but it could be just curbstoners and jaded salesmen bsing people. Your vehilce and price range could be a factor. With the car I'm in the market for, it's mostly cheap dealers and ghetto people. Sucks to be buying right now, but I'm not paying for another longer than short term in today's market. Generally sellers are entitled af these days

How long ago did you buy?

Half a year ago.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

The few that I asked just wanted a copy of my ID in case I never returned the vehicle... Though I avoided independent dealerships and stuck to the official manufacturer dealerships. A tip that I got from mechanics was that when used car shopping, you'll be more likely to come across quality used vehicles from manufacturer dealerships vs. independent. They only keep the best quality used cars on their lots and bulk auction the lower quality ones.

The main litmus test is always the test-drive, but yeah the manufacturer dealers exist to limit headaches. Many of the independent places are buy-here-pay-here places looking to exploit people with credit issues and don't care as much about car quality. But if you can pay full price cash at a independent dealer, you can get some good deals.

What car did you get?

 

[DonJuanjr]

What car did you get?

A foreign grocery-getter.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

A foreign grocery-getter.

That's a good idea. When the chicks start starving, one can drive around offering them "food" in the way a van driver offers children "candy".

 

[BillyPilgrim]

Got a new (used) car the other day, wanted to report dealer prices have gone down 10+% over the last month or so. If you're going with a dealer, some of the smaller dealers (even as small as a one-man operation) have less overhead and smaller lots so they have to (and can) price their cars to sell. Just check out the rep beforehand.

The private market is going to be affected obviously but not right away because as with the housing market, peeps are sentimental, stubborn and many have made plans with the money they were expecting to get.

 

[MatureDJ]

$500/ month is the most I’d ever want to budget for a car payment.

Many Americans Are Now Spending Over $1,000 a Month on Their Car Payment

Are four-figure monthly payments the new norm?

money.com

 

[MatureDJ]

A Honda Accord would be a good choice.

A nun's car if there ever were one.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

A nun's car if there ever were one.

If the design is post 2010 or so it's a decently sleek looking car

 

[nicksaiz65]

Many Americans Are Now Spending Over $1,000 a Month on Their Car Payment

Are four-figure monthly payments the new norm?

money.com

I’ve decided to heed Dave Ramsey’s advice and avoid having a car payment. Changed my mind on this stance.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

I’ve decided to heed Dave Ramsey’s advice and avoid having a car payment. Changed my mind on this stance.

Not only do you want to avoid payments, you want to avoid using a card. If you can pay in hard cash, most dealers will give you a discount. Mine gave me a $500 discount. Not very feasible with higher-end cars, though.

 

[nicksaiz65]

Not only do you want to avoid payments, you want to avoid using a card. If you can pay in hard cash, most dealers will give you a discount. Mine gave me a $500 discount. Not very feasible with higher-end cars, though.

I could definitely find a use for that $500 haha.

 

[BillyPilgrim]

I could definitely find a use for that $500 haha.

@Jesse Pinkman you have an order Jesse

 

[nicksaiz65]

Hey friends and family, it’s been a while. I’ve just been working my ass off and saving money for the past few months. At both my regular tech job and my part time.

Big Update

I got approved for my car loan. I applied for a loan of $8,000 and they’ll have $7,600 directly to my bank account within a few days.

I did it by increasing my income from $68,500 up to $80,020 per year by getting a side hustle. Then, I went to a different lender and got the loan. That was all it took.

The payment will be $250 a month. That’s way less than I was paying for Hertz/Enterprise. Once I knock out some major upcoming expenses, my move being the main one, I’ll be able to clear that debt pretty quickly.

Now all we have to do is, shop a reliable car. My parents didn’t seem to think I could get a reliable used car under $10K though. I guess that’s inflation? I was shooting for a car in the $5K range. I guess we’ll see what happens. I’m sure I can do it with all the recommendations in this thread tho.

I absolutely don’t need some super nice, fancy car that I can’t afford. I just need a decent, reliable car ideally under 100K miles that can take a lot of driving on the weekends and get me from Point A to Point B.

Also, I will NOT be driving if I’m sleep deprived. Knock on wood, if I wreck that sunuvab*tch I’ll be in the exact same situation I was, but even worse.

 

[nicksaiz65]

Many Americans Are Now Spending Over $1,000 a Month on Their Car Payment

Are four-figure monthly payments the new norm?

money.com

This is pretty relevant… my boss told me he’s spending $1200 a month on the car payment for his truck.