Buying a New Car (IN THIS ECONOMY???)

In terms of the experience we just got a new one. We've had 1 leased and 1 owned for several years at this point. Owned one I drive and is an old beat up VW which I will drive til it dies. 6 years ago we flipped the leased one from Infiniti to BMW. My wife husband like thes 3 series but wants Xdrive and a bunch of other features. Leasing has been decent since it covers all maintenance, as we've thus far stuck to loaner cars with a few more miles on them, which knocks the price down.

With the old one's lease ending my wife basically went searching on local dealerships looking for what would meet her requirements. Once she found one she liked she emailed and negotiated that way, eventually getting the price she wanted for the one she preferred. They tried to claim production had slowed due to COVID so there was little inventory but they came down anyway. Ended up with what I think is a pretty good deal.

BennyBeaver said:

BennyBeaver said:

We like to lease cars on a 3 year cycle. That way they are always under warranty and have mostly all the new tech, safety, etc. The internet makes it fairly easy to shop, but I like to pick a dealer near home for convenience. I have not tried any of the online car buying services, but they look intriguing. I once used a car broker, Frank Guisness (former HUSKY Basketball legend), and ended up with a good deal and ease of shopping. He ded now tho. https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/uw-husky-basketball/husky-basketball-great-frank-guisness-dies-at-87/

I trust Tom McParland; car buying expert, lots of good advice here: https://automatchconsulting.com/advice/

I'm a fan of Toyota and Mazda too.

Do you haul around kid(s) or pet(s), or both? If so, a fold down 3 row seat is a good idea, so Highlander makes sense.

If not, you don't need a Highlander. Look at the RAV4 AWD Hybrid. Our Camry Hybrid has ~150k and all I've done is tires, oil, and the major services 30, 60, 90, 120k. It has never had a brake job tho due to the Hybrid system. Rock solid. Fuel efficient. Safe. Shitty in the rain and snow, even with good tires.



We have a Mazda CX5 that is great. Kinda sporty, safe, not as fuel efficient as you'd expect for a 4 banger. A good size without being cramped. Big enough for 4 adults to take to the mountains or peninsula for the weekend. The '20 has a turbo option. The lease is up in October so will likely replace it with a new one.

99% sure the RAV4 Hybrid has the same powertrain (engine, motors, battery) that the Prius and Camry Hybrids have. Solid, proven tech.

Oh, and if you are going to buy via finance, get pre-approved loan from your bank/CU so you have financing ready to go. A lot of manufacturers are offering 0% loans or if not, better rates than your bank. But being pre-approved gives you more flexibility. And get a ball park of the trade-in value of your Honda before going in.

Swaye said:

BleachedAnusDawg said:

New Ford Bronco is coming out soon. Lot of rave reviews for them already. Jeep is cramming a 392 V8 w/450 hp in the Wrangler, but I guess you care about mpg for some reason even though that's one of the most overrated things to consider when buying a car, IMO.

If you buy a Japanese car it means you don't really care about cars.

Dude, the Hemi Wrangler has given me a permanent boner for the last week.

This is all I have to say to Chrysler wrt their modern Hemi branding:



What I love about this branding exercise the most is that hemispherical combustion chambers were a compromise for making power born out of a lack of better ideas. Not only did Chrysler never have a monopoly on that combustion chamber design, so it was a branding exercise from nearly the get-go, but every engine builder in the world--Chrysler included--has since developed many better ways to make power. Branding a modern engine as "Hemi" is the equivalent of slapping a "56K dialup" emblem on a modern cellphone and people eating it up like it's awesome.