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Car Buying Process

What I’ve learned from buying a lot of cars:

Everyone is in a different position financially. They may be at a different stage of their life. Their family size may be different. The amount of miles they drive per year is different. People are different sizes. Rural vs. Urban. Some people see vehicles as just an appliance to get from a to b. Some people care about the environment. Some care about performance. Some care about making a statement. Some people buy on emotion while others just buy on stats.

I give my opinion on cars because I’ve liked them since I was a kid but I know that my opinions are probably different than most and has changed over time.
 
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cycloner29 said:
Moral of the story- stick to your guns and buy a car at the end of the month!
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Trying...currently $2,000 apart and I walked with no quick call back after I left. Might see what tomorrow brings and how anxious they are to make one more deal this month.
 
Bobber said:
Have a Dodge with 156,000, Toyota with 160,000, and Honda with 120,000. All run great and no plans to get rid of any time soon. With my kids starting to hit their teen driving years will probably switch to straight liability insurance and if one gets banged up, fix out of pocket or buy another old beater.

Plan to buy a nice Lexus for my wife when the youngest graduates!
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No idea if this is true, but I've heard a Lexus is just an overpriced Toyota
 
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Cyclone.TV said:
On a random side note, has anyone had a Mazda CX-5? I’m looking for a compact suv and just drove one the other day. Wondering if anyone had any experience with Mazda’s.
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Picked up a CX-5 for the wife in 2015 new. It's a nice little SUV, handles fine, and most importantly, it's not too big for my wife. Downside is that I'm 6' 2", and if I put the passenger seat back to where I'm comfortable, there's minimal room in the back seat. Combine that with the size of freakin' car seats these days, and it can get a little close with the small guy back there.

I agree with the poster who said the CX-7 would have been the right size for us. Too bad they quit making it!
 
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CtownCyclone said:
Picked up a CX-5 for the wife in 2015 new. It's a nice little SUV, handles fine, and most importantly, it's not too big for my wife. Downside is that I'm 6' 2", and if I put the passenger seat back to where I'm comfortable, there's minimal room in the back seat. Combine that with the size of freakin' car seats these days, and it can get a little close with the small guy back there.

I agree with the poster who said the CX-7 would have been the right size for us. Too bad they quit making it!
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I noticed that. I drove it home but didn’t get the car seats in it before I took it back. Good call.
 
dmclone said:
What I’ve learned from buying a lot of cars:

Everyone is in a different position financially. They may be at a different stage of their life. Their family size may be different. The amount of miles they drive per year is different. People are different sizes. Rural vs. Urban. Some people see vehicles as just an appliance to get from a to b. Some people care about the environment. Some care about performance. Some care about making a statement. Some people buy on emotion while others just buy on stats.

I give my opinion on cars because I’ve liked them since I was a kid but I know that my opinions are probably different than most and has changed over time.
Click to expand...

You mean that different people have different needs and wants. And that's ok?

Somebody should put that on a t-shirt or a bumper sticker or something. It very well might save our country.
vauEUgn.gif
 
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BigBake said:
Trying...currently $2,000 apart and I walked with no quick call back after I left. Might see what tomorrow brings and how anxious they are to make one more deal this month.
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I think it is definitely a YMMV situation and can be dependent on model you are buying. All last fall we were trying and it never mattered what time of month we were in contact as they never changed their tune.
 
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CloneGuy8 said:
No idea if this is true, but I've heard a Lexus is just an overpriced Toyota
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Depends on definition of overpriced.

Acura = Honda
Lexus = Toyota
Infiniti = Nissan

They are more expensive but when I researched our Pathfinder the sister vehicle in an Infiniti held a much high resale. Are they 95% the same car, yes.
 
DECU sent the check yesterday via overnight. The past two days I think I've been texted and emailed asking "when is the check going to arrive" at least five times. I'm relieved that they received it this afternoon so I can stop being badgered.
 
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What are some of the accessories you lot have in your vehicles? Floor mats came to mind this morning.

Definitely Ed Hardy seat covers as well :jimlad:
 
CloneFan4 said:
DECU sent the check yesterday via overnight. The past two days I think I've been texted and emailed asking "when is the check going to arrive" at least five times. I'm relieved that they received it this afternoon so I can stop being badgered.
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Gotta pay that rent!
 
Anyone have experience dealing with two different dealers on similar cars? How did you handle it? Tell dealer 1 the price dealer 2 is giving? Send em both an email with their current offer and tell em to reply with best deal?
 
Resurrecting this thread since it has provided guidance during our car search, but wanted to vent for a bit.

Found a used midsize SUV that we liked that had been sitting on the lot of a high turnover dealer for over a month. Had a test drive, emailed our interest, got the initial offer from the dealer down about $800 below list, so we’re thinking the door is open to negotiate with a lot of factors on our side. Go in, have it inspected, went to offer, manager stays stubborn on their initial offer and tries to hand-wring like we’re raking them over the coals with their initial offer in the first place and they’re taking a $500 loss, so we ask what the wholesale price was...got nothing but a look of bewilderment and an “I don’t know; I have no way of knowing”...so we walked.

This isn’t our first rodeo, so we were definitely ok with getting out of there, but I’m more shocked at how stupid they think potential customers are that the dealer would only be taking a $300 profit at-list for a used car. It seems like no one really wants to haggle anymore...and I’m not sure if that’s because the general newbie car buyer is so feckless these days with KBB price, NADA, and TrueCar that the dealer doesn’t want to bother with anyone who even remotely understands what is going on in the business, or what. Don’t get me wrong, those are great tools, but you have to know how to read them and how it relates to the business.

Moral of the story, in most cases they are never making only a few hundred dollars profit at-list on a used car...it is more like a few thousand ($4-5). Also, any dealer who moves less than $1k and tells you they’re taking a loss, don’t be swayed...walk if they’re stubborn. All of this depends on the car of course, but your general average mass-market car applies.
 
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Has anyone bought a car off of ebay motors? Can you get a better deal? Also, how much is the shipping usually?
 
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