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broadly speaking though do not go to new vehicle manufacturers websites to find used cars i am pretty sure that will be relevant advice in the future
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May 3, 2024 20:35
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Boris Galerkin posted:So I'm doing research into buying baby's first car. I've asked itt before and was recommended a Prius. I also said before that it would be much easier and less stressful for me to just buy it off of like Carvana but was recommended not to do that. I think that going to a CarMax and sitting in and driving some cars is going to be the fastest way to figure out what you want. Look at different makes, look at crossover vs sedan, see what ergonomics you like. Car manufacturers sites are a good place to look at specific configurations, trims, and options, but a terrible place to actually try to buy a car.
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May 3, 2024 20:35
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IOwnCalculus posted:Anything they'd specifically add to the car to make cat theft harder is going to be a significant drag on other things the automaker cares about more than cat theft: I had a Suzuki from 2000 that had two cats, on on the manifold, and one later on. It had that exact failure, but in this case, the forward cat was clogging up the rear cat. Cars don't like going highway speeds when they can't get the exhaust out.
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May 3, 2024 20:56
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Going to a Carvana/CarMax and just sitting in various cars to get a feel for what you like and dislike is a great plan in your current situation. Lurk Facebook Autos and Craigslist so you can start to notice patterns and get a feel for what's normal, what isn't, and who you can ignore. If you haven't shopped around for auto loans yet, talk to a local credit union about it. There's not a generic "preapproval letter" you can get for car loans like you get for mortgages, but you can talk about age/make/model/mileage and see what terms they would offer, and have a better idea of what your payment would be like. Make sure your credit's clean and you have payment history. When you're closer to pulling the trigger (i.e. have a sense of your budget, requirements, specific likes and dislikes), you can start seriously learning about and looking for the cars you like. Look for forums or subreddits for the models you like and read about common problems to look for. If you're really lucky you can find local recommendations for mechanics. Speaking of, find a mechanic you trust who will do your Pre-Purchase Inspection (PPI). Know what their process is, so you know when to get them involved.
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May 3, 2024 21:19
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Motronic posted:Any information you receive now likely won't be relevant in a "good while". I know but I'm used to walking into a store and picking out what I want and then paying for it (or ordering it online). So I'm more asking about the process for buying a car because it's not just "walk into a deal ship and pick a car you want and swipe your card". Basically I want to know what I need to do to not get hosed over, because my impression and understanding is that literally everyone involved in this process is incentivized to gently caress me over.
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May 3, 2024 21:24
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Boris Galerkin posted:I know but I'm used to walking into a store and picking out what I want and then paying for it (or ordering it online). So I'm more asking about the process for buying a car because it's not just "walk into a deal ship and pick a car you want and swipe your card". It can be if the credit limit on your card is high enough. Generally, you're better off arranging a loan separately. You need to set a budget for what you can afford to spend, then determine what you need the car to do and figure out what make/model will fit. Then look at the intersection of price and models to find specific cars to try out. Test drive a few to find out which you feel comfortable in. Then you whip out your credit card and drive it home.
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May 3, 2024 21:30
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I feel like I don't care if the car is comfortable because it just needs to get me from A to B and it needs to have AC I guess. I commute via public transit right now and it's getting real tiring. Literally price is my only concern. I have 10k in cash saved for buying a car (separate from my emergency funds) and I can save more if needed. I want to spend the minimal amount of money possible that's my #1 priority. The last time I asked about what cars to get itt people said Prius. E: will my insurance be super high because I don't have a history of driving? Last time I owned a car (well, a car my parents let me use) was 15 years ago. E2: if I am searching on Facebook how do I know the seller is legit and not a scam? Do I always ask for carfax and is that generally always given out? Boris Galerkin fucked around with this message at 21:36 on May 3, 2024 |
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May 3, 2024 21:33
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Boris Galerkin posted:I feel like I don't care if the car is comfortable because it just needs to get me from A to B and it needs to have AC I guess. I commute via public transit right now and it's getting real tiring. Literally price is my only concern. I have 10k in cash saved for buying a car (separate from my emergency funds) and I can save more if needed. I want to spend the minimal amount of money possible that's my #1 priority. The last time I asked about what cars to get itt people said Prius. You say that now but I think you'll feel differently if you find you're $10k into a car that gives you a backache after thirty minutes. I can't predict your insurance rates but I will say that if you haven't driven in that long, you should take a defensive driving class. I mean specifically driving, not some classroom road safety thing for chronic offenders. Find something that will give you some experience controlling a car in a difficult situation.
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May 3, 2024 21:39
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Zorak of Michigan posted:I can't predict your insurance rates but I will say that if you haven't driven in that long, you should take a defensive driving class. I mean specifically driving, not some classroom road safety thing for chronic offenders. Find something that will give you some experience controlling a car in a difficult situation. That's not a bad idea probably. I get super stressed driving whenever I do it (rental etc) and my smart watch is like "you have an abnormally high heart rate while sitting down are you ok" because of how stressful it is.
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May 3, 2024 21:44
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Boris Galerkin posted:I know but I'm used to walking into a store and picking out what I want and then paying for it (or ordering it online). So I'm more asking about the process for buying a car because it's not just "walk into a deal ship and pick a car you want and swipe your card". Basically I want to know what I need to do to not get hosed over, because my impression and understanding is that literally everyone involved in this process is incentivized to gently caress me over. The answer to that will not be the same today as it is later. That's the point I'm making. Whatever specific information you get on how to finance, where and how to shop are going to be 50 to 100% different in the next several months to years. If that is too much to keep track of go do what everyone else does: walk into a car dealership and finance it with them. If you want to save money, ask these questions when you are within 30 days of buying and people here will tall you what the car and finance market currently is at that time and how to take advantage of it.
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May 3, 2024 22:00
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Boris Galerkin posted:That's not a bad idea probably. I get super stressed driving whenever I do it (rental etc) and my smart watch is like "you have an abnormally high heart rate while sitting down are you ok" because of how stressful it is. what if you... just kept taking public transit
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May 3, 2024 22:10
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It sounds like not buying a car is the right choice. All advice previous to this is also pertinent should you decide you want one.
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May 3, 2024 22:51
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Boris Galerkin posted:my smart watch is like "you have an abnormally high heart rate while sitting down are you ok" because of how stressful it is. Are you really sure you want to be driving because drat that's not a good sign Granted more drivers really could use a little more stress about driving because it is dangerous and needs your attention, but not like setting off heart rate alarms stress.
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May 3, 2024 23:38
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If you haven't driven much in 15 years it's going to be stressful. Driving is stressful and only once you're doing it regularly do you get used to it. Think back poo poo when you first started driving as a kid, not much difference. The number one way not to get hosed on buying a car is either negotiate an out the door price beforehand or get the price while you're there and go home and sleep on it while you research it / double check. Also if it's a used car get a pre-purchase inspection. Do not skip this for any reason.
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May 4, 2024 02:06
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Boris Galerkin posted:I feel like I don't care if the car is comfortable because it just needs to get me from A to B and it needs to have AC I guess. I commute via public transit right now and it's getting real tiring. Literally price is my only concern. The price you pay for the car itself is only one cost, you'll have to pay to keep it maintained, insurance, for fuel, and you effectively pay for depreciation as well. Commuting in a nice car is qualitatively nicer and less stressful than in a horrible shitbox. Something modern may have adaptive cruise control, active lane keeping, which can make the whole thing much easier. Other people here will have information on the differences between Prius models and generations, and there are also things like Camry and Corolla hybrids that are worth sitting in to see what fits you best. If driving is so unfamiliar that you freak out when you sit behind the wheel, as others have said please get some lessons.
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May 4, 2024 08:46
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$10k can pay for many years of Uber/Lyft and car share options, without taking on a burden of car ownership and forcing yourself behind the wheel. This may be better in your specific case, but you'd be the one to know
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May 4, 2024 10:32
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My main/only source of stress is basically anytime I have to change lanes because people are always going +10 over the limit, don't use turn signals, and they don't yield to my turn signals. I like to think this isn't a me problem but an everybody else is an inconsiderate rear end in a top hat problem. This is probably something a class could help with. Honestly the two reasons I'm thinking about saying gently caress off to public transit is (1) it's hard to date as a "professional" without a car and (2) the weather sucks to wait outside for the bus in the spring summer and fall. I feel like these two things are worth the costs of ownership but I also don't know what the cost of ownership is. I know it's not just the car and gas and insurance, but not much else. Is there a way to get insurance estimates without having a car? Boris Galerkin fucked around with this message at 12:32 on May 4, 2024 |
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May 4, 2024 12:22
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A defensive driving practical course is like 50% how not to die during changing lanes. You should definitely take one if that's your anxiety. You can call or visit the website of any insurance agency at any time and walk away with a quote in 20-30 minutes knowing as little as a year, make, and model because they are sales businesses built on quoting you as fast as possible to try and set the hook on using their insurance. Not to turn you away from the thread because we are here to answer questions like this but do you have any friends with a car to talk to? The Internet is all well and good but you seem to be operating on an extreme amount of lack of awareness of cars for an American and to reiterate again a lot of the practical advice is time and region specific. If you have a car friend they can at least get you speaking the language and knowing base expectations and you can come back to the internet when you're ready for the full refinement of the process.
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May 4, 2024 13:04
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Boris Galerkin posted:My main/only source of stress is basically anytime I have to change lanes because people are always going +10 over the limit, don't use turn signals, and they don't yield to my turn signals. I like to think this isn't a me problem but an everybody else is an inconsiderate rear end in a top hat problem. This is probably something a class could help with. This is a you problem. You are the dangerous one by not driving with the speed of traffic flow, and nobody is going to "yield to [your] turn signals", that's not a thing. A turn signal is a notification of intent, not a request. You need to take a driving course.
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May 4, 2024 15:32
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A bunch of this stuff is eminently googleable. People are not obligated to yield to your turn signals when changing lanes. In every state with which I am familiar, you, as the person changing lanes, are obligated to ensure that you can change lanes safely. If a car is coming up faster in the other lane, you cannot change lanes safely, and they are not obligated to yield to your turn signal. Again, you should strongly consider not getting a car. But if you really need to, you absolutely need to take a driving course. edit: god drat it motronic
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May 4, 2024 15:34
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As people above have said, people won't and shouldn't yield to your blinker. If you don't feel comfortable driving as fast as other traffic (completely reasonable in many places), stay in the right/middle lane, be as predictable and decisive as possible, and give yourself plenty of time to make decisions. Definitely take a driving course too.
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May 4, 2024 15:53
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lane changing around where I live with less traffic, people are generally nice about letting you in (keywords: less traffic and nice. they definitely are not obligated to) as you inch closer to inner boston traffic all that poo poo is out the window. don't seize the gaps and effectively block cars overtaking you while you try to get out of a forced exit.. well.. enjoy your walking speed detour through downtown. certainly boston is about 100 times more stressful than where I live.. i would probably drive a lot less or not at all if I lived there. anyways it sounds like you're in denser traffic by the amount of stress, so hopefully a defensive driver course would teach you more about lane changing than they would in my area.. so i guess echoing one posters advice above.. try to find a course that is going to put you in real situations.. not a high school ed style course that takes you through the basics on country roads or whatever
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May 4, 2024 15:56
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The course needs to cover remdial drivers ed because this kind of thing is in the handbook for taking the test to get a learners permit. Perhaps once those requirements are satisfied and a solid understanding of right of way and rules of the road are demonstrated they can move on to things like highway merging and changing lanes.
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May 4, 2024 16:02
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I'll accept I'm a bad driver but I think I'm a better driver than 90% of the population here because that 90% uses phones while driving.
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May 4, 2024 16:12
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ethanol posted:as you inch closer to inner boston traffic all that poo poo is out the window. I love driving and I like Boston but when I visit Boston, I drive to from Michigan to Alewife Station and park my car there for the duration. Trying to drive in Boston is absolutely positively not worth the aggravation.
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May 4, 2024 16:26
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Nitrox posted:$10k can pay for many years of Uber/Lyft and car share options, without taking on a burden of car ownership and forcing yourself behind the wheel. This may be better in your specific case, but you'd be the one to know In my area uber just to the light rail station is $25 one way. Round trip 5 days a week $10,000 is barely 40 weeks worth of Uber I suspect within a month of driving regularly again he'll adjust pretty good
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May 4, 2024 18:49
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Yeah rideshare is absolutely not an option that makes financial sense. I entirely sympathize with the public transit thing being subpar too, there was a time I went without a car for about two years and my bus ride to campus was 2 hours each way, it made my life completely miserable and this was in California where the weather was at least good. Getting a car was a super huge factor in improving things. But you need to take driving lessons. Owning a car doesn't have to be super expensive - you can buy a reasonably decent mileage 10 year old Toyota or Honda for $10k in reasonable condition and just sit on it for at least that long after, insurance will be relatively cheap and gas mileage shouldn't be too bad. Certainly better than pissing away your money at Uber rides or wasting hours of your life daily trying to get public transit to work. Shipon fucked around with this message at 00:21 on May 5, 2024 |
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May 4, 2024 20:58
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Pre Uber needing to be profitable, I used to take Uber to work 2-3 days a week because it was $3-5 and parking downtown was $7 Between gas insurance maintenance I was saving $5000-12000 per year and went on a lot of budget hostel European vacations The days of $5 ubers are long over though unless you live in Mexico City
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May 4, 2024 21:12
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Hi all, several questions: 1) Is there any practical difference buying a used Prius from Goonworld Toyota vs Jethros Queen Cars? I can see a world where a OEM dealership uses their branding to imply a used car of theirs isnt a lemon theyre trying to offload at any moral cost. 2) Are PPIs a good idea if buying from a dealer? Is it even feasible Will I get laughed off the lot for doing so especially when the market is still pretty hot? 3) If a car has an accident on Carfax, who determines the severity of it? Ill see cars that have a reported accident thats categorized as Minor, which carfax lists as cosmetic damage only. Are any reported accidents a red flag, regardless of severity? Whats the congenital wisdom here?
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May 5, 2024 04:26
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Alright I bought a replacement car. I still have my old car. This old car is registered as totaled. Its aesthetics are beat to heck and the mechanics are serviceable but not great.
Thank you goons for helping me through this process 
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May 5, 2024 06:10
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What was the old car? I'm not real familiar with this, but I expect the answer will vary depending on the purposes for which the totalled car might be suitable.
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May 5, 2024 06:34
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buglord posted:Hi all, several questions: 1. In terms of the car itself, mostly no. Buy Here Pay Here type lots are even worse to deal with than regular dealerships, and will often have a GPS tracker installed on everything in inventory. Personally I've never found any car at those smaller lots to even be priced well enough to consider. 2. Yes, just because you're buying from a dealer doesn't mean they aren't hiding just as much poo poo as a private seller. If anything it's more likely they don't even know what they're hiding if they picked it up at auction. The only times I would waive a PPI would be either if you're confident in your own ability to inspect the car as it sits on the lot, or if you're buying from one of the few dealerships with an established return policy (Carmax, etc) where you can PPI the car yourself afterwards and unwind the deal if you find anything too disturbing. 3. No idea how Carfax flags severity, but this comes back to both of the previous points. A car with any accident history should be worth at least somewhat less than a car with a blemish-free Carfax. However, if a crash truly only damaged cosmetic or easily repaired/replaced components, there's no reason the car can't be just as reliable as it was before. The problem entirely lies within how much you trust what you know of / can see of the crash history. A cursory inspection should be able to pick up any obviously badly-repaired crash damage - paint that doesn't match (especially on plastic bumpers), panels that don't line up. A more thorough inspection will pick up subframes that are bent, or flood damage that wasn't reported. That last point is why an inspection is still critical - just because an accident happened, doesn't mean it's on Carfax.
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May 5, 2024 07:03
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Ornery and Hornery posted:Alright I bought a replacement car. So the car was totaled and you bought it back from the insurance company? That's typically the only way you end up with a total/salvage car. If you didn't you would have transferred the title to the insurance company who would have junked it for you. If you still have it, you can either junk it yourself or fix it, usually to a standard that it passes a state inspection, and it gets titled something like rebuilt. Your state dmv site has steps listed on how to do this, look them up. I imagine there's some other process for junking a vehicle and notifying the state about it.
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May 5, 2024 15:58
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https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/coram-2005-honda-civic-si-coupe/7738751554.html This is a bad idea, right? Is there any way to unfuck that horrible wrap? What are skunk parts? Should I offer this guy $2k?
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May 5, 2024 16:35
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DildenAnders posted:https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/coram-2005-honda-civic-si-coupe/7738751554.html The whole thing reads as "poor youg person with bad taste in deperate need to unload a piece of poo poo they've been driving hard and recently patched up with ebay parts by an amateur". Why would you even consider buying something like that?
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May 5, 2024 16:47
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The same reason a moth flies into a candle. (I am also a poor, young person and I want a fun, manual hatch for cheap. But also realize this thing is a shitheap and I shouldn't even entertain buying it, hence I am asking strangers to tell me not to buy it).
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May 5, 2024 16:51
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Buying poo poo like that is how you stay poor.
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May 5, 2024 16:57
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Zorak of Michigan posted:What was the old car? I'm not real familiar with this, but I expect the answer will vary depending on the purposes for which the totalled car might be suitable. 2003 Honda civic 160k miles. It still runs decently fine. It reliably gets you from A to B but the driving experience itself is bad and the car looks like poo poo. It has wireless Bluetooth to play audio from your phone but it doesnt have working A/C. Infinotize posted:So the car was totaled and you bought it back from the insurance company? That's typically the only way you end up with a total/salvage car. If you didn't you would have transferred the title to the insurance company who would have junked it for you. If you still have it, you can either junk it yourself or fix it, usually to a standard that it passes a state inspection, and it gets titled something like rebuilt. Your state dmv site has steps listed on how to do this, look them up. I imagine there's some other process for junking a vehicle and notifying the state about it. My old car was hit by a pickup during the pandemic which did significant damage to the aesthetics of the car but somehow didnt harm the mechanics. I basically just had to redo the tire where the car got hit. I was able to drive the car to a nearby mechanic and they affirmed it was safe to drive home. So I did. Because the car is so old and because the pandemic had such a backlog, the insurance company would not pay for repairs because that would cost more than the value of the car. So the insurance company cut me a check for a few grand and I kept the car. I never transferred ownership to the insurance company and I never bought it back. I just kept it. I researched the dmv in my state and basically I just updated my registration to say that it was totaled but still driveable.
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May 5, 2024 17:03
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Ornery and Hornery posted:So the insurance company cut me a check for a few grand and I kept the car. I never transferred ownership to the insurance company and I never bought it back. I just kept it. I researched the dmv in my state and basically I just updated my registration to say that it was totaled but still driveable. I guess different states handle that differently then, but it sounds like you already answered your own question. Usually the car will have to pass a state safety inspection to become "driveable" after a total but if not, yolo. If your state doesn't care then do whatever you want with it, you treat it like any other car that needs a current registration and such. It still needs liability coverage so make sure your insurance didn't cancel the policy on you. E: getting money from it, you can sell it as is to some moron like the guy a couple posts up, or to a salvage yard. Maybe donate, I have no idea if donations take totals. Infinotize fucked around with this message at 18:32 on May 5, 2024 |
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May 5, 2024 18:30
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This is the first time I'm hearing of something like that, but I guess the insurance company didn't care enough to get $400 scrap value from that car. A running car is going to be worth at least 1500, if you can reconstruct the title and put it back on the road. If the car passes a safety inspection, congratulations, you don't have to fix cosmetic damage. You will get your R title in the mail and it's ready for Craigslist. Someone needs a car to get to work tomorrow, and they don't give a poo poo if the sheet metal is chewed up ∆∆∆ Yes, it's totally donate-able! Most donated cars go straight to the auction and you get a text write off receipt of the value it fetched, minus the processing fees. It's usually very little money.
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May 5, 2024 18:35
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