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Fairly overlapping with the current discussion but different budget and less experience with bikes besides throwing my bike in the back of compacts with the seat down or using the cheap trunk racks Proposed Budget: $35k max, prefer to stay around $30 New or Used: probably gonna have to be new as I don't think I have it in me to used car watch to find a deal Body Style: Fullsize, crossover/small SUV, comedy option small crew cab pickup How will you be using the car?: Short commute daily driver M-F Weekend warrior from an indie folk song music video: hauling gear for car camping, hauling bikes, hauling kayaks, hauling furniture from estate sales Bonus if we can fit car camping gear plus bikes or kayaks with easy external racking or towing Interested but not mandatory ability to tow smallest camper trailers. What aspects are most important to you? Best hauling value up to the point of diminishing returns for suburban tourist loads Prefer phone integration with the console for maps. Have a lot of good feelings about Android Auto from rentals but would like anything that can cast google maps from an android to a console SE US so main geographical concerns are in pouring rain handling and heat/AC effectiveness E. I guess other important aspects is we have a lot of road debris so bonus points to anything that won't need the windshield replaced every 6 months. Jeepy crossovers are right out zedprime fucked around with this message at 17:34 on Mar 18, 2021 |
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Mar 18, 2021 17:22
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Guinness posted:To me it sounds like you are squarely in the mainstream "compact" CUV market. Toyota RAV-4, Honda CRV, Mazda CX-5, or Subaru Forester.
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Mar 19, 2021 22:33
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powderific posted:I'm also assuming that the OP meant that more as an example of a non-headline, down the list feature and not their number 1 must have in a car thing. But yeah even with the threat of nut smashing when the seat is all the way forward and wheel all the way down, I kinda appreciate having that space clear when getting in.
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Mar 31, 2021 22:10
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AWD improving straight line safety on a degraded surface is a half truth because they generally get The Fancy Diffs and brake controllers and that technically helps maintain continuous contact. Don't get it for rain on pavement though. AWD is meant for degraded surfaces, I'd say primarily snow, slush on pavement or dirt. Rain on pavement is degraded but it's a very easy problem to solve more simply. I mean wet pavement only degrades traction when you make bad choices about tires or travel speed. Definitely don't treat it as a hydroplane preventer: hydroplaning is no traction at any tire so all the fanciest diffs and brakes in the world aren't going to find it any sooner. But yeah being in the CUV market myself currently you might get it anyway depending on the model and trim you're looking at. If you're talking about opening up doors for road trips, an extra set of rims so you can be ready with both all season and winter tires is the simpler investment if you have a choice to get FWD instead. Legit snow tires get you everywhere except back country park roads or mountain passes in which case you need chains or AWD. If you're not from around where you need AWD or chains you're probably not gonna do it as a tourist because just stay off the road at that point.
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Apr 1, 2021 19:15
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Unsinkabear posted:Edit: Nevermind, comment below about extra fail points is a good one. Screw it, then. Re. Tire strategies, the absolute best economy option to have a car you can drive in snow is two sets of rims, one with all season/summer and one with winter. You need somewhere to store the rims and tires and somewhere to put them on and off yourself to take most advantage. All weather work nearly as good in the snow but the economy breaks down because they wear down super fast because you are running a tire that's like half winter tires during summer conditions. The economy breaks down less when you don't have room for rims or doing the switch. But if you're talking about going on tour during snow but don't live in snow you almost definitely don't want all weather. Running all season and planning your trips around weather or being able to bail on travel plans if the road is too dicey for all seasons is always an option.
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Apr 1, 2021 19:35
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IIRC some states also earmark it for electronic waste programs so we aren't stuck 20 years from now with an unmanageable Li ion junkyard. It can be hard to tell where road use tax and ewaste tax ends and gas pork/protectionism begins admittedly.
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Apr 6, 2021 01:09
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Deteriorata posted:If you're talking about strictly new cars, the MSRP generally doesn't drop at all. The sale price on an individual car can vary depending on the day of the month, the month of the sales year, and economic conditions. Like everyone is saying hybrid CUV is enough buzz words combined with global electronics fuckery that you're probably not gonna get coupons on a RAV4 prime this year. If it gets bad enough the 2-3 year used are gonna sell very near new MSRP like ye olde hybrids.
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Apr 18, 2021 05:51
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You have no leverage because it's not on and will never be on the dealers books. Which can be good and bad. You will generally get it for invoice + fees + a non negotiable haircut. You'll know what you're paying immediately, they will probably show you the invoice price catalogue, and you will have no hopes of talking it down. If you try to shop different franchises they probably all land around the same haircut but you may find someone marginally cheaper. If you have access to any car buying services this is their bread and butter and is the only variable way to minimize the fees and dealer haircut.
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Apr 19, 2021 18:26
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Any car on a lot is vulnerable to Just A Bad Month for the dealership. I wouldn't plan on moving the earth on popular class, popular car in class, popular trim on car or especially all of the above. But you can get lucky postponing you trip to a month end or quarter end. And also ask yourself if you're ready to live Car Deal Life where you start shopping somewhat early and just set aside time to visit the dealership every other 25th of the month to re-up your interest, trade in appraisal, and drop dead price. Or really at the same time list your trade in privately. The most latitude in most new car purchases is what you're gonna get on the trade in. AMA about getting ripped off this weekend because I desperately wanted to close before electronics got worse but the dealer I was working with doesn't have a 10+ year used business pipeline. zedprime fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Apr 19, 2021 |
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Apr 19, 2021 19:20
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I'd rather be in a RWD with snow tires than a FWD on all seasons. A better question for my penny pinching self spoiled on southern depreciation curves is if you are still ok throwing 40 grand at something that's now depreciating at the speed of road salt.
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Apr 23, 2021 20:19
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From a safety point of view I wouldn't drive a crossover in any standing water I wouldn't take a sedan through. The deck clearance or air intake position isn't the limiting factor here. If you dislike how it feels to get in and drive your current car I'd be looking for a comfortable car in any shape and not limit yourself on how raised it is.
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Apr 30, 2021 13:45
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A crossover or CUV that isn't a mom mobile and a car from the 2000s that doesn't look like a flat egg are both riddles on their own. To combine the two is an enigma for the millenium.
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Apr 30, 2021 16:07
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Besides budget, expected driving habits are important to make sure you don't fall into your 1% doubt range. That's going to be hard to do as a late comer to driving but it's worth thinking about because a hybrid MPG comes with a premium price bump and a lot of people are shocked when their total cost of ownership breaks even after 10 years because they just go to work and get groceries around the corner and don't have a hell commute that breaks even in a year. Hybrids are a home run for a huge swathe of the american driving lifestyle but there's exceptions.
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May 4, 2021 23:27
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Toyota RAV-4, Honda CRV, Mazda CX-5, or Subaru Forester all come highly recommended in the thread including the hybrid versions of the RAV-4 or CRV if their gas mileage makes sense for you. I picked up a CX-5 from the threads recommendation after shopping around a little more on strength of it's gadgets vs price compared to the RAV-4 or CRV but I also didn't need a hybrid. Where standard hybrids are meant for long stop and go commutes, plug ins are great for short trips if you local infrastructure supports a lot of leach charging. If you can plug in at work or at Wholefoods and get off hours pricing for charging overnight at home you can get away with sipping nearly no gas and paying real cheap electrical rates for half your time in EV mode. If you aren't into hybrids on idealogical grounds there's a bunch of accounting you can do to figure out gas vs hybrid vs plug in. I'd imagine a family of four can fit into a full size/wagon very easily if you aren't into the extra cargo and size that comes with a CUV. You might be surprised at how strollers and car seats can pack away these days. Being the minivan or third row SUV family comes with downsides in that your whole social circle thinks you're the kid hauler now. Some people are into that though.
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May 5, 2021 19:54
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I'm starting to lose the plot in this multi variable car calculus request. Are you buying a van, lifting it, and painting a wizard on the side or not? I don't think you've had a disasterful idea yet and you've got a couple different versions of what you need, which is going to be useful in the used market. Hit the pavement and let your butt tell you what's the right one.
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May 10, 2021 18:24
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PittTheElder posted:Maybe this is more of a general finance question, but does anyone happen to know of a calculator to tell what the value of a dealer zero percent finance loan actually is? I'm sure I could write one myself in excel or something but As mentioned if you're willing and able to buy out and they're passing incentives on it can totally be worth it to take the bate. But run you own numbers to see if it makes sense. They'll helpfully do it ahead of time to fish you in, and they might helpfully make mistakes. The only place they need to be legally correct is the truth in loaning document you're not going to see till 10 minutes into signing your soul away and the best way to know you've been in the right track the whole time is when that matches your envelope calculations. Unsinkabear posted:Carvana is telling me that the 2013, 65k miles vehicle I currently own which has those advanced safety features is worth $11k and change in this market. The only negative marks on their questionnaire were that I only have one key and there is a minor accident on the car's record, both of which I can accept in whatever I replace it with. I thought I might have to stretch to 13k, but $15k just to get something with high miles seems unbelievable. If prices are nuts on used cars across the board, then shouldn't I be getting just as much of a premium on the one I'm selling as the one I'm buying? What am I missing that makes getting a handful of the things my current car has in something with a slightly larger cargo area and an extra inch of ride height so unreasonable? For reference the Kia Soul introduced FCW in 2016 as an option. That sounds about right for FCW market introduction to mass market cars. So remember you're looking for a newer car, in a popular body style, and need to sort through a bunch of abused ones in a sellers market.
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May 16, 2021 13:28
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e. I wanted to give a benefit of the doubt because my rentals in the Ft Lauderdale area would be good for at least one FCW trigger a week and I am not a defensive driving champion but I try to do my part. But these are all times I was already braking and the car was like maybe do it a bit harder? and I was very personally insulted. So if your foot isn't already on the brake pedal when it triggers you need to rethink your habits and talking about mirrors or GPS/screens is a real bad sign about your habits. bird with big dick posted:It's pretty common for automakers to have an either/or incentive i.e. you either get a $2000 cash rebate or you get 0% financing. zedprime fucked around with this message at 18:22 on May 16, 2021 |
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May 16, 2021 18:17
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Unsinkabear posted:So it looks like I might be in a position to sell my car now while the used car market is wild, get as much out of it as possible, and then wait until fall before buying its replacement. You folks have your finger on the pulse better than most, do you think the supply and demand are likely to have settled down by then, or do I run the risk of things getting worse instead of better? Getting into the tea leaves here but there's also a fair bit of inflation pressure so I'm fully expecting the current prices to lock in by the time electronics price correct and that's just going to be the market rate for the extended future.
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May 22, 2021 15:26
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Now is the perfect time to get out of a popular good car and into an unpopular bad car.
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May 26, 2021 15:21
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Raise a used Prius, add mud flaps and a racing vinyl. Seconding getting a used Miata, they really are the Prius of the daily driver sports car. It will be cheap enough you can skip a gun month and get it entirely secondary to what you are driving now: real car culture is having a driveway of hulk's you are always working so you can try your hand at maintenance. After you have a baseline of stick experience, take a vacation to a race school experience. You'll get the track day spiel without ever having to kit out a car for track days. This is important because a lot of people really do go once and trade their Corvette back in for a Miata. If you are still into track cars after fixing up a Miata and going to a week long race school congratulations on your new Corvette, you can park it next to the Miata. zedprime fucked around with this message at 13:33 on May 27, 2021 |
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May 27, 2021 13:30
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Nomyth posted:Forgive me for not knowing what BFC's perspective is, but what are the red flags, in detail? If someone asks you your budget for a car you should have a number. It should be based on what you have fluid in your bank account as cash, what you have as secured assets like a house or 401k, and what you have in durable goods that you might part with in exchange like car trade ins or if you're willing to swap out your guns. That budget should take into account what is your current expenses and what are your future expenses. It sucks to think about but when you deal with a lot of toys, you always need to be thinking "how do I liquidate all this crap for an emergency" because it is a bigger deal to do to toys than secured assets. Tldr: 'i make a lot of money to spend on toys' is a red flag that betrays you might not put the amount of effort into budgeting and wealth management that backs up those toys. There are tons of people in trades and engineering who have never been taught budgeting and have 90k+ salaries and spend it all on corvettes and boats and end up eating Vienna sausages out of a shoe when the boat sinks and they're sued for tboning their Corvette into a minivan of a family of 6. Late edit: I speak a lot in analogy and metaphor anchored in my personal experiences so I just wanted to clarify when I say Corvettes and boats I mean figuratively. You can easily substitute "any car more expensive than a 2 year old Prius" for Corvette and "guns and anime vinyls" for boats. I'm not trying to put Corvette into your mouth as something born out of this threads optimism when you said you wanted a hot car zedprime fucked around with this message at 17:04 on May 27, 2021 |
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May 27, 2021 15:18
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I have to admit I had an automatic Mustang GT 5.0 once upon a time and despite the slushbox from an Explorer (got it the year before sequential automatic was even an option) going cachlunkchlink whenever you put the hammer down, going really fast in a straight line got a lot of stuff out of my system so I can rest easily in boring cars now. I know I am perfectly boring now because before Hertz got reamed by the pandemic they had base model Challengers and mid model Chargers in the loyalty lots some times and driving them around I was like "ahh yes, slow cars that sound fast. This is perfect." zedprime fucked around with this message at 17:10 on May 27, 2021 |
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May 27, 2021 17:07
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KillHour posted:Because for some reason I still don't understand, all the other millennials got together without me to decide that the new "cool car that shows you're a wealthy and interesting person" was going to be full-size SUVs and pickup trucks. I must have slept in that day. Maybe Gen Z will save us with 80s wedges again.
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May 28, 2021 14:49
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Unsinkabear posted:I hope we are so lucky Because new ones don't exist there's a small culture of getting one of the last ones coming out in the 90s-00s and wrenching on it to keep it alive at all costs but I'm not a mechanic to want to get into that. E. Ford is perpetually toying with the idea of bringing back a truck that size to the US market but realistically that idea is dead in the water because of the aforementioned bigger is better culture for people in trucks. zedprime fucked around with this message at 15:08 on May 28, 2021 |
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May 28, 2021 15:05
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I'm recently in a CUV so I had every opportunity to size upgrade to a Bronco Sport already. I totally forgot they had confirmed the Maverick for MY22. I think my brain blocked it out after I learned it was a pickup shaped Bronco and not a sexy utilitarian turn of the millenium Ranger. I'm not sure you can make a car shaped like that anymore because of safety. This reply is typical of all the little excuses that are going to murder the Maverick in the crib.
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May 28, 2021 16:03
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PittTheElder posted:So is paying cash for a vehicle just a complete trap? I was genuinely surprised when I ran the numbers yesterday and even at relatively awful 7% interest rates, the finance cost is significantly less than a modest return from the market. There's no right answer. Ex. banks selling car loans at 2-7% don't think securities are safe to go all in. But there are tons of car people who use their car loan as fuel to go hard into the market. I personally do my own planning on securities doing 3-5% a year which makes me treat auto loans as a wash and I let my monthly budget vs upcoming capital needs do my deciding. That means I'm leaving money on the table when the market is being dumb but my rear end won't be exposed in a recession.
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May 28, 2021 16:42
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You also get into the wheels within wheels wealth management even at low or no interest. Does Canada have the equivalent of a Roth account? If you're in the US and aren't at the Roth limit but you're putting money into a traditional investment account, you are in most accounting plans loving up. The correct thing is to go back in time and not gently caress up and have your ducks in a row to get a 0% car loan. But if paying cash helps you restructure your monthly budget to feel safe putting what would be your car note into your Roth, I would consider that a win over putting a lump sum backstopped by your car loan into an investment account because of the differences in tax exposure. That calculus changes again if you need that money short term for house renovation or something and there's moments you might want an investment account without being at your yearly Roth max. A lot of this is just trying to look very busy accounting and that's why I play dumb and come at it from monthly and capital budgeting. My car money was never going to go into investments, it's in a competing pool of "poo poo gotta get done at some point" money. I'm an idiot but this makes me a happy idiot.
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May 28, 2021 17:07
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PittTheElder posted:Well I could just make the monthly payments without drawing down the investment. But yeah you're right that in the scenario where I pay cash, the proper alternative is to count the payment I'm not making as investments. Put total cost of ownership on each option on a piece of paper and ask if you can live with those numbers for the features you get. Save the accounting for later, assume worst case loan terms, and ask your gut can I live with this number disappearing from my bank accounts for my shiny chariot. Your answers may surprise you.
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May 28, 2021 20:17
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gamer roomie is 41 posted:Man I just bought a Mazda CX-30 online and forgot to request the Costco price sheet... I hope I didn't lose out on too much. Oh well, it would've only been a few hundred off max, and it feels good to just have it done with. They're delivering it to my house the day I'm moving in. After many long years of driving beaters, then nice-ish but boring used economy cars, I finally got my first brand new car! Inventory on your local lots for any make probably isn't going anywhere but down this summer which may trigger mid year MSRP changes. Facebook friend bs. etc but a highschool acquaintance is mechanic at a Ford dealership and he was posting they have 0 deliveries scheduled in June.
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May 29, 2021 23:28
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Motronic posted:Had a friend just buy a CX-5 Carbon Turbo yesterday. I didn't ask yet, but I can drat near guarantee you he paid MSRP or at the most got $900 off that they made up for with the Mazda 3 he traded in. I'm sure they somehow ate the ($750?) loyalty money. 
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May 30, 2021 19:09
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If its not trim/option interlock then its people in the inbetween climates are big babies that can be upsold into an AWD with the threat of a snowflake ruining rush hour. But like the aforementioned Mazda turbos only come in AWD because they presumably didn't want to engineer how to get 230-250 hp out of the front comfortably.
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May 30, 2021 19:28
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It sounds like you have an excellent opportunity to put your requisite 6 months family expenses in savings (which is also fat that helps you not do things like fill credit cards up with unforeseen expenses like moving somewhere). Your intuition seems half right, you should use your windfall to settle debts and build savings. Settle everything with toxic APRs, build your savings to absorb 6 months expenses or another unforeseen moving event which put you underwater originally, whichever is more. Note I use that as a benchmark but not because you will exactly move in the same way again, but because people's unforeseen events usually repeat themself in magnitude but not in exact causes. If you can afford a truck sized down payment and a truck sized car note after all that congratulations. If you don't you can still just get a truck and be underwater again, most of the US does and they only occasionally become homeless and move into their trailer.
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Jun 3, 2021 16:20
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Nomyth posted:What are the signs that the market is good to buy in, anyways? Do those times even exist for luxury/sports cars? There are commodity luxury and sports cars. These are the ones on the lot in quantities of more than 1. The above generally applies, if there's enough stock to keep tabs on their velocity. There's high end that they keep on the lot. These aren't usually gonna go on sale and when they do you can probably treat them as 1 year used because they are endlessly test drived by people who can't afford them or given out as loaners to try and hook the more gullible marks running through their maintenance shop. Buy it out the catalogue if you want it, but you aren't gonna get a deal. A lot of the top end just aren't on the lot unless you're in a worldwide top 20 by wealth city. You gotta buy out the catalogue. It's gonna cost what it's gonna cost.
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Jun 3, 2021 20:57
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skipdogg posted:Like what kind of car are you talking about here?
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Jun 3, 2021 21:22
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In and out parking fees on an improved spot run like $50-75 a night these days anywhere you aren't constantly watching your underwear and grill.
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Jun 4, 2021 00:15
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:I am going to go against the grain and advise you that if you are carrying around firearms you should have a trunk. Sure, it doesn't really stop anyone, but it means people can't peek in and see your poo poo. Yes there are covers etc, but trunks are very much more out of sight and out of mind.
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Jun 4, 2021 16:08
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LittleFuryThings posted:What is the BFC/GWM method to determine your budget for buying a car? I've seen the 20/4/10 rule, but that seems very restrictive. Have also seen the 35% - 50% of your annual salary as the max you should get financed. Are people typically putting down much less than 20% in this thread? Total cost at 50% of your (pretax) yearly salary is another benchmark I like as an absolute ceiling. This violates the 10 part by a large margin but is budgetable if you are a carfan. The correct way to look at it is related to capital depreciation. Whichever way you buy and finance, if you're getting a new car you are burning 90% of that money in the next 10 years of that cars life. This makes it really easy if you want to drive a car into the ground even without getting into monthly or yearly depreciation because you can basically budget your next decade as burning that money completely. If you want to chase new cars every 3-5 years you need to get more serious about the curve to consider ideal trade in times etc. to figure out your total burning of money to the car god. But basically look at your next 5-10 yearly budget. What money can you live with never seeing again over that time range? Because that's what the sticker price is on a car, used or new. It's much easier to buy new right now if you can afford it. Certified pre owned disappear the day they hit the lot and used car sellers are selling faster than you can get a prepurchase inspection. Anyway for your car recommendations,you entered the thread during a strange dad-car tilt so don't pay too much attention considering what you're looking for isn't that. if you have no serious preferences (all your asks are pretty baseline or universal options for new cars now) congratulations on your new Prius. Don't think too hard about the hybrid, it's just the easiest to recommend Car brand Car.
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Jun 4, 2021 20:31
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I haven't been in a compact that struggles to hit 80 since highschool and college in the 00s with people driving cars from the 80s to 90s. Like how old is the Fit? Is the running gear about to go? Did you lose a cylinder somewhere? Your priorities and price range means you can look into crossovers or very base model CUVs but they are in direct odds to priority 1 and 2 (even with asking a Prius to hit 85mph) for very cosmetic gains in priority 3. A couple inches of deck height and some awd do not make something much more confident feeling on gravel. It's still in rock slinging range if you don't like the dings and your dynamic handling might be a little more butt comfortable with the extra travel available but isn't doing anything extra to keep you moving in the right directions. A commuter car that needs to do dirt roads occasionally is best answered with a hybrid compact. If you actually meant your priority 3 is priority 1 then we can recommend your favorite shaped Subaru. zedprime fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Jun 16, 2021 |
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Jun 16, 2021 17:01
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To be fair getting a compact into the power zone will find every loose thing that could possibly vibrate so it does sound really terrifying if you're not used to it. Test driving my CPO Civic I really flogged it and the sales guy was tripping over himself like "oh my we will find that noise and secure it down before you get it if you want it" and in my head I'm like "I was just looking for a cloud of oil coming out..."
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Jun 16, 2021 18:40
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just another posted:Whether it's the car of my constitution, passing on the highway sucks in a Honda Fit, especially when you're accelerating off 70mph, and especially if there's an incline. I've driven this thing for ten years, coast to coast, including multiple road trips within the Rocky and Coast Mountains, so I'm not liable to change my opinion or decide I want something similar.
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Jun 16, 2021 19:11
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