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Soysaucebeast posted:it's finally ready to give up the ghost I think. I've put 6k into it so far this year, and it just broke down AGAIN so I need to move on. When I see things like this I'm always curious exactly what you've done, what the failure was that caused the kind of outlay, and what just broke now. Because we've had people come in here saying they just spend thousands of dollars on things like a timing belt, tires and brakes (these are all expected and periodic maintenance items, not repairs) and now something else broke (maybe legit) and they want to get ri of the car - the car they just put 3-5 years worth of maintenance parts on. Not a very good decision in most cases. Or they spent thousands of dollars replacing a transmission and now they need brakes/ties, etc and think they car is "broken" again, when it's not: it's in need of regular, expected periodic maintenance.
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Jul 18, 2023 15:08
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zedprime posted:Congratulations on your new Prius. Thanks for all that info. I was leaning towards a Prius anyway so that's not a shock. I just wasn't sure if a hybrid would be worth it to me since I have such a short commute. I've seen people say that with a shorter commute the extra cost from a hybrid wasn't really worth it, but it's nice to get a second opinion on that. Looks like it's time to start shopping around for a loan! Motronic posted:When I see things like this I'm always curious exactly what you've done, what the failure was that caused the kind of outlay, and what just broke now. I'll have to go get my papers out of my glovebox for the full list of everything, but my repairs weren't maintenance items. My car was driving fine except for the AC being out but I was planning on taking a roadtrip from MO to CO next week, so I took it in to the shop in May to get everything looked at since it's so old and I didn't want to break down in the middle of the mountains a thousand miles from my apartment. That bill came out to 5k, and then it started acting up again last week so I had to get the power steering pump completely replaced for another 1k. Now it's periodically hitching when I shift into drive (but not all the time, just when it feels like it) and I'm afraid the transmission is about to go out. As far as I'm aware my car has the original transmission so I'm sure it's due to be replaced anyway. I was already planning on getting a new car towards the end of this year/beginning of next one so I had a decent down payment already saved up. I just figure that since I've put so much money into this car already this year, and since it's still acting up, and since I'm due for something major to need to be replaced, I'm just going to go ahead and get a new one. I'm giving my husband my current car since he doesn't have one at the moment, so at least all that money didn't go to waste. Edit: You got me curious, so here's what I've had done this year: Replaced the Intake Manifold Replaced the Throttle Body Gasket Replaced the EGR Gasket Replaced the AC Compressor Replaced the Valve Cover Gasket Replaced the Suspension Ball Joint Replaced the Tie Rod Replaced the Power Steering Pump Misc maintenance stuff like oil changes, alignments, etc. I'm good about taking it in when it's due for an oil change and they usually check everything over maintenance-wise for me then. Soysaucebeast fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Jul 18, 2023 |
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Jul 18, 2023 15:41
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That's not even close to $6k worth of work. You got ripped off, sorry.
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Jul 18, 2023 16:08
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Motronic posted:That's not even close to $6k worth of work. You got ripped off, sorry. Awesome lol. Well I was planning on going back to my old mechanic once my husband and I got a second car anyway. Right now I'm just using the only one in walking distance since my car has been in and out of the shop so much and my old mechanic is out in the boonies.
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Jul 18, 2023 16:50
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Soysaucebeast posted:Thanks for all that info. I was leaning towards a Prius anyway so that's not a shock. I just wasn't sure if a hybrid would be worth it to me since I have such a short commute. I've seen people say that with a shorter commute the extra cost from a hybrid wasn't really worth it, but it's nice to get a second opinion on that. Looks like it's time to start shopping around for a loan!
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Jul 18, 2023 17:14
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Motronic posted:That's not even close to $6k worth of work. You got ripped off, sorry. How do you avoid getting ripped off if you aren’t a car guy?
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Jul 18, 2023 17:22
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buglord posted:How do you avoid getting ripped off if you aren’t a car guy? Ask people who you know whose opinions you trust, or ask your local reddit. Don’t put a ton of weight on “I’ve always had good experiences at dealer X” or one-off recommendations.
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Jul 18, 2023 17:56
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It's great to get a second or third opinion when presented with an eye-watering estimate like that. Different shops will have different labor rates, and dealerships usually the most expensive. If someone tells you that certain parts need to be replaced and then the next two mechanics say they don't, then you know where not to go. Some places just really want to upsell services, and will claim your brakes or shocks or whatever are at the end of its life, while in reality, you can drive until the brakes start to squeal or the shocks actually feel different. Then there is also an issue of a mechanic not being able to troubleshoot the issue correctly, and they will insist on replacing random parts until the problem is solved. They will shamelessly leave you on the hook for all the unnecessary parts they swapped out. Word of mouth can be very informative and so are online reviews. A lovely shop will have a trail of bad reviews, guaranteed. People don't like getting swindled
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Jul 18, 2023 18:28
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Soysaucebeast posted:So I have literally never bought a car before, and I'm in the market now and have no idea what I need to do here. I've been driving the same 2006 Ford Taurus since 2008 and it's finally ready to give up the ghost I think. I've put 6k into it so far this year, and it just broke down AGAIN so I need to move on. I'm not interested in luxury cars, but I have no idea which ones are good budget ones anymore. I don't know why I'm gonna say this but I rented a Kia K5 a couple of weeks ago and it seemed pretty decent, and a low-option one (or a lightly used more loaded one) may be close to your price range. But I don't know if Kia is really up with Honda or Toyota on reliability.
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Jul 19, 2023 05:36
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What is the common opinion of Subaru’s the first model year after a major redesign? I ask because my father is talking about buying a new car in the next year or so, and has been talking up the Forrester that is supposed to be getting a redesign next year. He has stated he is thinking of getting one after the redesign. I think mainly because one or two people he knows are madly in love with their Subaru vehicles and have been repeat buyers for awhile. I am trying to get some kind of a list of what is actually important out of him. Because at this point all I know for sure is that he needs to get two sets of golf clubs in the trunk with room for 2-3 days worth of luggage for him and my mom. Bonus points if they can fit sideways (East to West when facing the cargo area). And that the vehicle can’t be too low to the ground. He had trouble getting into and out of my mom’s 2002 A4 she used to have. So not really looking for recommendations at this time, more just trying to figure out if I really need to work on steering him to something other than a newly redesigned Forrester next year.
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Jul 19, 2023 17:37
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Found a car I'm interested in. Private party with a loan. I'm available to go pick it up tomorrow. I can't recall buying a car where I wasn't able to get the title right away so I have questions. The title is currently held in California by the bank. The car is in Illinois. I'm available to go pick it up tomorrow but the title will obviously not be there. There's apparently paperwork that can be filled out that will have the title sent directly to me. There'd obviously be a bill of sale in this, is that normal or sketchy? The bank can request the title be sent to this particular branch but that will obviously take some time. Do I wait until they actually have it before going to grab the car? e: gut says to wait but then trying to get the car gets weird with my days off. e2: just gonna wait till the local branch has the title. fknlo fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Jul 20, 2023 |
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Jul 19, 2023 19:56
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Proposed Budget: Less than 20k? +/- 5k, but as cheap as possible New or Used: Used How will you be using the car?: ~10 mile work commute What aspects are most important to you? Automatic, Reliable, Cheap I need a car to get to work. It’s about a max 10 mile commute one way 5x a week. I’ll use it for shopping as well, also generally around 10-15 miles at most if not way less. I literally hate driving and think it’s the worse thing in the world. My “as cheap as possible” budget isn’t out of financial limitations but I literally hate driving so I want to spend the least amount possible. What’s the cheapest car I can get away with that won’t end up costing me a fortune to maintain? Just tell me what filters (makes, miles, etc) to use on carvana or a similar buy-online website (I don’t want to deal with haggling and people) to avoid getting something that’s known to be terrible to upkeep and so on. Also it’s my first time buying/owning a car of my own so I’m completely new to the process. Boris Galerkin fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Jul 21, 2023 |
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Jul 21, 2023 15:58
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Enjoy your Prius.
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Jul 21, 2023 16:05
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Boris Galerkin posted:What’s the cheapest car I can get away with that won’t end up costing me a fortune to maintain? Just tell me what filters (makes, miles, etc) to use on carvana or a similar buy-online website (I don’t want to deal with haggling and people) to avoid getting something that’s known to be terrible to upkeep and so on. Carvana can be (and regularly is) 20% more expensive than buying from a local dealer, let alone private party. I get why private party can be scary, but if you just go to a local Toyota dealer and can say "no" for 15 minutes to the finance guy, you can save like $3-4k vs Carvana. If your budget extends to $25k and you're getting a loan, realize that you get lower interest rates on a new car loans than used cars, and you might be able to get a new Toyota Corolla Hybrid for $23k+TT&L that's actually cheaper in the long run than a used Prius for $22k+TT&L. Edit: You could also try to get a Kia Rio, MSRP is like $17k and they're fine cars. I'm guessing they'll be marked up more over sticker. Either a new Toyota or base, simple-engined Kia you can drive for the next 15 years without thinking about it too much. Twerk from Home fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Jul 21, 2023 |
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Jul 21, 2023 16:10
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Deteriorata posted:Enjoy your Prius.
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Jul 21, 2023 16:14
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Ok so I legit thought new cars were like $50k minimum. That should tell you how much I know about cars and why I’d very much prefer to just buy one online like I’d buy something off Amazon. In that case I’m looking to spend way less than $17k for a used car. So from what I’m seeing the magic words I’m looking for are Toyota and Kia? I don’t know if the Prius thing is a joke or not. E: Throatwarbler posted:Do you have a place to charge an EV? If so, one of those really cheap and lovely evs like a Nissan leaf or Chevy bolt might work out better, evs generally have fewer things to unexpectedly go wrong than gas cars. Sadly neither my home nor work have EV chargers. Which kinda sucks because I feel like my use case would be perfect for EVs. I’ll literally never drive more than an hour. Boris Galerkin fucked around with this message at 17:09 on Jul 21, 2023 |
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Jul 21, 2023 17:04
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Do you have a place to charge an EV? If so, one of those really cheap and lovely evs like a Nissan leaf or Chevy bolt might work out better, evs generally have fewer things to unexpectedly go wrong than gas cars.
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Jul 21, 2023 17:05
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Boris Galerkin posted:Ok so I legit thought new cars were like $50k minimum. That should tell you how much I know about cars and why I’d very much prefer to just buy one online like I’d buy something off Amazon. $50k is right around the current "average" price of a new car. The prius thig is not a joke. They are relatively inexpensive to buy (used to be cheaper), exceptionally reliable, cheap to run and cheap to fix. This is why the most of the taxi fleet in the US is rapidly being replaced with them. Which just makes them even cheaper to fix. The are boring and soulless to drive, but absolutely perfect "get from here to there" appliances.
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Jul 21, 2023 17:12
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I imagine the batteries on a used Prius are gonna be generally poo poo though? Just basing that off of how phone batteries go to poo poo after a few years.
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Jul 21, 2023 17:15
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Boris Galerkin posted:I imagine the batteries on a used Prius are gonna be generally poo poo though? Just basing that off of how phone batteries go to poo poo after a few years. Not necessarily. Also, you can still drive just fine with totally dead batteries. And places can replace individual cells now. None of it is expensive. Again: taxi fleet scales of aftermarket parts and service support.
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Jul 21, 2023 17:20
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Boris Galerkin posted:I imagine the batteries on a used Prius are gonna be generally poo poo though? Just basing that off of how phone batteries go to poo poo after a few years. Nah. I mean, idk, maybe, but even if the battery was hosed it's like $1,000 and you'd probably know if the battery was hosed very quickly which still makes it more economical than most other options.
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Jul 21, 2023 17:26
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Boris Galerkin posted:I imagine the batteries on a used Prius are gonna be generally poo poo though? Just basing that off of how phone batteries go to poo poo after a few years. Still rocking the original battery(to my knowledge) with my 2007 Prius that's approaching 150k miles. Age is going to be more important than mileage with them but as mentioned they aren't exactly difficult or super expensive to repair/replace. So I'm waiting on the title to come in to this guys bank. The only options to get the title day of are to wire the money in advance or to pay with cash. Otherwise they'll release it after a hold with a cashiers check. I guess I'll have to look into setting up a wire transfer that can happen day of? I don't know how that poo poo works. My favorite part of this is that I bank with a credit union. This guy also banks with a credit union. His is one of the few that aren't part of the co-op network or this wouldn't even be an issue. Buying cars is so dumb. e: so reading up on this, it seems fairly normal to meet at the bank that has the lien on the vehicle, pay that off, then they mail you the title once they have it and the money has cleared? fknlo fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Jul 21, 2023 |
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Jul 21, 2023 17:44
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Deteriorata posted:Enjoy your Prius. New thread title
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Jul 21, 2023 20:05
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Most people (even "car" people) are very confused about Priuses. A Prius (other than the plugin one) has a ~1kwh battery, a Tesla Model 3 has a 50-80 kwh battery, they are not the same thing. Prius isn't an electric car, it's a gas car that has some clever engineering to minimize the use of gas through a small battery and electric motor sitting beside the engine.
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Jul 21, 2023 20:24
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I posted a few months back about looking at Camry or Accord hybrids for a new car. Situation has changed a bit since then: Have a bigger budget, access to good charging options and after test driving the hybrid sedans, want something that drives/performs more like the 04 Acura TL I'm replacing. In summary, fun to drive but fairly efficient because California gas prices & city based commute. The i4 caught my eye because it seems to tick those boxes and has good reviews. Is this dumb and/or any other options I've missed in that price range? I've seen the Ioniq 6 also has pretty good reviews.
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Jul 21, 2023 21:06
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McKracken posted:I posted a few months back about looking at Camry or Accord hybrids for a new car. To be clear, you want a fully electric car? What's your budget? New/used?
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Jul 22, 2023 03:36
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Boris Galerkin posted:I imagine the batteries on a used Prius are gonna be generally poo poo though? Just basing that off of how phone batteries go to poo poo after a few years. Those batteries can last for quite a while. If you're worried about the battery, try to find a used Prius that has already had the battery replaced once. That's what I did and it turned out to be a good decision. Boris Galerkin posted:So from what I’m seeing the magic words I’m looking for are Toyota and Kia? I don’t know if the Prius thing is a joke or not. Some Kias are good cars, but I would never buy one after the rampant theft that's been happening ever since it was revealed that they're ridiculously easy to steal. I would never feel safe.
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Jul 22, 2023 05:25
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Motronic posted:$50k is right around the current "average" price of a new car. Feels like averaging across all car classes just gives you a random useless number. Like the three top selling vehicles in the US are pickups and I’m not buying a pickup.
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Jul 22, 2023 13:55
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smackfu posted:Feels like averaging across all car classes just gives you a random useless number. Like the three top selling vehicles in the US are pickups and I’m not buying a pickup. It's not useless! It's how you make clickbait headlines.
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Jul 22, 2023 13:56
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I actually wasn’t able to easily find the median price which would probably be a lot more useful but you can look at average price by segment which filters out all the 80,000 trucks and 120,000 dollar luxury cars. 
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Jul 22, 2023 14:38
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Ok that is way more interesting.
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Jul 22, 2023 19:17
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I was doing due diligence on all the cars I hadn't considered but figured I'd check out, and somebody tell me- how in the gently caress is the same base model SXT Charger that Fred Flinstone bought new starting at 34 grand
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Jul 22, 2023 20:57
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It's a full size american 4 door sedan  120" wheelbase is pretty good. It's a lovely rental car, but it's big enough for two adults and a kid. The LWB crown vic has a wheelbase of 120.7", otherwise it's 114.7"
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Jul 22, 2023 21:18
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GD_American posted:I was doing due diligence on all the cars I hadn't considered but figured I'd check out, and somebody tell me- how in the gently caress is the same base model SXT Charger that Fred Flinstone bought new starting at 34 grand Someone probably did the math on exactly the max amount car a military grade E-3 can afford at 15% apr, and priced the car accordingly. They also don't sell for MSRP, one of my local dealers has a bunch of SXT's on the lot listed at almost 5K off MSRP and I bet there's still room to move on them. Look at this beauty waiting for an enlisted person from one of the bases down I-35 to come snap it up. https://www.bluebonnetchryslerdodge.net/inventory/new-2023-dodge-charger-sxt-rwd-sedan-2c3cdxbg4ph536190/
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Jul 22, 2023 21:40
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GD_American posted:I was doing due diligence on all the cars I hadn't considered but figured I'd check out, and somebody tell me- how in the gently caress is the same base model SXT Charger that Fred Flinstone bought new starting at 34 grand Even in base form, it's got room, decent power, styling that isn't wimpy. If you want something in that price range that can carry 2 kids and and let you still feel like a MAN, what else is there?
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Jul 23, 2023 06:04
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Number_6 posted:Even in base form, it's got room, decent power, styling that isn't wimpy. If you want something in that price range that can carry 2 kids and and let you still feel like a MAN, what else is there? Oh that's definitely in Base Form.
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Jul 23, 2023 19:43
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We’ve been leasing a VW Atlas and the lease expires at the end of the year. I don’t like leasing and would prefer to purchase - are there any resources on calculating my options? Our <30k miles SUV should be a dealer’s dream given the used car market. I’m wondering if there’s a path to buy the car and immediately trade in or sell it elsewhere and put the gains towards a new car. The car had 14 miles on it when we leased, so we know it’s entire history and it’s been great for our needs. I’d be comfortable keeping it, but want to explore all the options. My in-laws have only leased, so my spouse’s experience is a new car every 3-4 years.
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Jul 23, 2023 20:56
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Democratic Pirate posted:We’ve been leasing a VW Atlas and the lease expires at the end of the year. I don’t like leasing and would prefer to purchase - are there any resources on calculating my options? So depending on where you live, anytime the title changes hands it generates a taxable event. I'm in Texas and leasing is more expensive here because we pay tax on the value of the vehicle when we first lease it, and then pay tax again if we buy it. That sorts sucks compared to places where you just pay sales tax on the lease payment. There's a bunch of different scenarios where you live and what kind of deal you can negotiate. Generally you have 3 options 1) Turn the lease in, pay the disposition fee and walk away. This is the ideal choice if the car is worth less than the lease buyout. 2) Pay the purchase price of the vehicle at the end of the lease and keep the car. I did this once on one of my leases. We liked the car, decided to keep it another year and a half. 3) YMMV on this, you can trade the car in early. I did this once as well, but it was like 6 years ago. The dealer gave me the difference between current value and the payoff, and I used it as equity towards my next car. I did not buy the car first in this scenario as that would have been a taxable transaction here in TX. This gets really location specific, I think California if you don't keep the car 14 days you can avoid the sales tax. I read that online somewhere, don't know for sure, don't live there. This may be moot if you live somewhere with no sales tax on vehicles. Some automakers changed the rules on ending leases early in the last couple of years. I've only leased Ford's so I'm unfamiliar with the VW contract. There should be a section in the lease on buying it early, purchase price, lease end restrictions, etc. I think Ford doesn't allow you to buy the lease out/transfer equity the last 6 months of the lease now. VW may have lease buyout restrictions in place (These are designed to get traffic back to their dealers and maintain an inventory of used vehicles). Carvana's website says they can't buy out VW Credit leases right now. This what I would do: Gather info about lease end purchase price and current "good" trade in value. Check your lease paperwork, online account, etc for lease end processes, procedures, etc. Figure out what your options are. If you want to buy the car, take into account Tax, Title, License fees, because those will be charged (This could quickly wipe out the difference between current value and purchase price depending), but when you trade it in you should pay less sales tax on the next car, so this could be close to a wash. I would lean keeping the car at this point. Depending on what you want to buy next, the car market is still a bit rough. You've got a low mileage vehicle that you know 100% of the history on that should last for a long time if properly maintained. If you do buy the car at lease end, go in prepared like you would any other car purchase. Get your financing arranged in advance from your credit union or bank. Decline all the extras they're going to offer you. They can't change the price of the car, but they still can take you to the cleaners in the finance office. I've heard of bullshit fees to make the car certified preowned plus all the usual extended warranty, tire protection, buying up the interest rate on the loan bullshit.
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Jul 24, 2023 16:27
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Help me AI, it's been literally 15 years since I last bought a new car and I feel like I am totally out of the loop for current best practices as far as shopping for a new car and not getting ripped off at a dealer (or elsewhere). Proposed Budget: $40-45k as a ceiling but less is definitely fine New or Used: New, unless there's a recent used model that would be a standout bargain Body Style: small to midsize SUV/crossover How will you be using the car?: mostly city driving with 0-3 passengers, hauling stuff around that would usually fit in the back of an SUV (ie don't need an open truck bed), occasional and possibly unscheduled roadtrips What aspects are most important to you? Reliability, cost of fuel/maintenance, environmental responsibility I have been eyeing PHEV models in particular. Ford has the Escape which can run all-electric for short distances and qualifies for the EV tax credit, so I've been looking at that, but I don't know if it's a good model or if the tax credit is worth it vs just buying a cheaper vehicle. I would consider all-electric except for the "unscheduled roadtrips" part since they would be work-related and not going on them would not be an option. Hyundai and Kia have some reasonably priced options but I gather that their recent (pre-2022) cars are trivial to break into and currently account for a ridiculously high percentage of stolen cars, and I'm a little worried that even if they've fixed the problem your average thief is not going to be smart enough to realize my car isn't one of the stealable ones until after they've already smashed my window and cracked my steering column.
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Jul 24, 2023 19:22
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Porfiriato posted:Help me AI, it's been literally 15 years since I last bought a new car and I feel like I am totally out of the loop for current best practices as far as shopping for a new car and not getting ripped off at a dealer (or elsewhere). I would buy a RAV4 Hybrid. I'm a huge Ford homer and I wouldn't buy an Escape. I'm sure they're a fine car but there is no reason not to buy the Toyota.
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Jul 24, 2023 19:29
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