First time buying a car on my own...

[iluvtofly 0]

So when I got my first car my parents played a major role in picking it out (their stipulations since they payed for half of it). In a couple months I'm going to need to buy a car. There are so many out there it's hard to chose from. Obviously I'm going to get a used car. Is there someplace that I can compare different models side-by-side? Also, is it possible to find a decent used car for $10k? Or am I out of my mind thinking that. Thanks for all your help.

[JENNR8R 0]

Look at http://www.edmunds.com/

They have reviews and a comparison feature that I've found to be helpful.

What do you call a beautiful, sunny day that comes after two cloudy, rainy
ones? -- Monday.

[1969912 0]

Gawain posted a link to a pretty good article about car sales tactics and buyer pitfalls, last week, I believe. The article focused on new car sales, but the group that published it has an advice page that may cover used cars here:

http://www.edmunds.com/caradvice.html

You might look here too:

http://www.cartalk.com/

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[Kid_Icarus 0]

Get an An-2

________________________________________
"What What.....

[1969912 0]

Re: Getting a decent car for under 10K$, Edmunds has a "best bet used cars" section. One of the ones they recommend is '01-'05 Hyundai Elantra. The estimated prices for 2005 models were all under 10K$. My 2000 Elantra has 128,000 mi on it now with no problems.

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/bestbet/articles/index.html

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[TALONSKY 0]

Just a couple of small suggestions:
1. If possible find financing at a credit union etc before going to buy a car. (this will save you the fun game of what’s the highest % rate we can nail you with)
2. Always approach buying a car in the mind set, I am happy with my current car and I am more than happy to leave driving it if I am not happy with the deal. Generally, it has been my experience that a dealer will try not to budge the price at all if they think you will buy it.

[TALONSKY 0]

I paid $11,500 for my 2004 Elantra new and have over 78000 trouble free miles on it so far.

[kelel01 1]

My 2000 Elantra had 150k+ miles on it when I sold it, and the only problem I had was with the rear windows. Weeeeeeeellllllllll worth the money.

And yeah, they're cheap as hell. We occasionally sell Hyundais (taken on trade) on our lot, and they're A LOT of car for the money. My boss loves them.

[millertime24 8]

Hi. I just got finished with that very thing a couple of weeks ago. What you want to do it weigh quality vs price. Ive found that either German (VW etc) or Japanise (Honda, Toyota etc) are usually the best quality for the price. I just purchased a 2000 Toyota Camry for $8,999 and love it. It gets good fuel economy, the payments are about $275 mo and insurance is dirt cheap. Also, dont just jump on the first thing that looks like a good deal. If its a good deal today it will be a good deal tomorow. Look at several different dealers and find out which one has the BEST car for the BEST price. It took me about 2 weeks to find mine. You can also use these websites as a refference as to how much a car you are looking at is selling for in your area:

cars.com

autotrader.com

Good luck and you can always PM me if you have questions.

Muff #5048

[mouth 0]

Make sure to do your homework on which model you choose because dealers tend to attempt to take advantage of a single female just because they can. Look around and see what is available that you like, note all the options on the car,then speak to a rep and get a price without trade so that you can compare the price to NADA.com figures for retail sales. Then you can take to them about trade values for your vehicle when you settle on something. Also, note that trading your vehicle will not give you as much return as selling it yourself.

Remember there is nothing wrong with thinking it over as they will often come down on the price over the period of a day or so.

--
Hot Mama
At least you know where you stand even if it is in a pile of shit.

[1969912 0]

Quote

Hi. I just got finished with that very thing a couple of weeks ago. What you want to do it weigh quality vs price. Ive found that either German (VW etc) or Japanise (Honda, Toyota etc) are usually the best quality for the price. I just purchased a 2000 Toyota Camry for $8,999 and love it.

Good advice, but there is another way to look at it. I'll use your 2000 Camry and a 2005 Elantra as convenient examples because they have almost the same retail value.

Using Blue Book avg. mileage, the 7 year old Camry would have over twice the number of miles on it, 79,000 vs. 38,000 for the 2 year old Elantra.

The 2000 Camry and the 2005 Elantra both have the same number of NHTSA recalls (3). FWIW, the 2000 Elantra had just one.

Not sure about the Camry, but in 2000 you could not even get a Hyundai without A/C, Pwr windows, locks, etc. It was all standard.

Both cars have the same crash test ratings as well.

Anyway, the mileage and age difference would mean a lot to me.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[diverdad 0]

And by all means. If you are going to get a used car, you need to run the CARFAX report on it if you are serious. We ran it on a bunch of different cars we were looking at and found that one had been in a serious accident and the other in a moderate accident. Luckily we found this out and didn't give them a second look.

Good Luck. I don't envy you a bit.

Scott

[tetra316 0]

Buy from a private party if you can. You will save hundreds if not thousands. Just get it checked out by your mechanic first. Still worth the money even if you do have to check out a couple cars first. (I used to work for a dealership.)

[sundevil777 94]

Quote

And by all means. If you are going to get a used car, you need to run the CARFAX report on it if you are serious. We ran it on a bunch of different cars we were looking at and found that one had been in a serious accident and the other in a moderate accident. Luckily we found this out and didn't give them a second look.

Good Luck. I don't envy you a bit.

Scott

Carfax is better than nothing, but not all it claims to be:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/automobiles/06CARF.html?ex=1336190400&en=04c2bdacd4657fb4&ei=5118&partner=rssaol&emc=rss

People are sick and tired of being told that ordinary and decent people are fed up in this country with being sick and tired. I’m certainly not, and I’m sick and tired of being told that I am

[MakeItHappen 15]

Quote

So when I got my first car my parents played a major role in picking it out (their stipulations since they payed for half of it). In a couple months I'm going to need to buy a car. There are so many out there it's hard to chose from. Obviously I'm going to get a used car. Is there someplace that I can compare different models side-by-side? Also, is it possible to find a decent used car for $10k? Or am I out of my mind thinking that. Thanks for all your help.

Start price comparing and test riding now. That way you can find the car (make/model) that you want. Then when you buy you just look around for the best deal on that make/model.

Last year my Nissan Frontier truck was totaled. After 6 long weeks of driving rentals around, the insurance company said my truck was totaled, (something I knew the night of the accident). They gave me 3 days to find a replacement. (The rental disappears after 3 days). I knew I wanted another Frontier (new or used) and only looked at those, except for an occasional test ride in Toyotas, Chevy, or Fords. That was to verify that I liked the Frontier best. I did one more search on a Sunday night on AutoTrader and found a truck that was almost an exact replacement for my truck. It was newer and had fewer miles. I looked at and drove the truck Monday morning and went home in my new to me 2000 Frontier, less than 40k miles. Only cost $8k, plus taxes and licenses. I was essentially reset to where I was before the accident. I made $1500 on the insurance settlement because the insurance company gave my 98 Nissan with 90k miles, an automatic and power windows/locks.

This is my 3rd Nissan truck, so I know a lot about the different year models. The new ones are cheaper than 2 year old models, but have less leg room and jump seats that fold up towards the back wall and not the sides. They are still in the way when tucked up. So if you find some car that you like, do test drives in various year's models. You'll learn all about the features and how they changed, much better than surfing.

If you know how to check out a car/truck buy used from private individuals.
You can talk them down below Blue Book because you will be giving them more than a dealer would. That's your pitch, 'Hey, you can't get this much from a dealer.'
Dealer prices are overpriced, but sometimes include a warranty (for more $$).
You should pay less than blue book from an individual.

Pay cash for your car. Living without car payments is heaven.
Never finance anything that depreciates. It doesn't make any sense.
The money that you would be paying in interest is the savings toward a newer and more expensive car, the next time around.

I've owned 3 motorcycles, 1 car and 4 trucks. I financed the first car and the first truck. The mistakes in financing were agreeing to buy insurance that would payoff the loan if I died. Somehow, they convinced me that I HAD to do that. I did not understand how you sell a car that has a loan on it. I still don't know the details on that. I sold my Mustang (my first car), with a dead engine, to some Mustang restoration place.

When my first truck was near death, the dealers tried talking me into $100 payments for a new truck. I said 'Nope I do not want car payments. I want my out the door price to be $xxx". That's what I got. They adjusted my trade-in (the near dead Mits) and sale price to accommodate me. It also helped to buy at the end of a month.

When I bought the 98 Nissan Frontier in 2000, I had the luxury of planning the purchase. I bought from a dealer. In retrospect, I paid too much, but I still got my money's worth from it. Paid cash for it too.

Do not buy a vehicle with a salvage title.

I could write another chapter on the tactics the sales people use and how they pressure you into buying.

If there were some things that I know now, that I wish I knew then (in my 20s), it's that financing is NOT the thing to do, have someone check out the vehicle, if you can't do it yourself.

.

.
Make It Happen
Parachute History
DiveMaker

[iluvtofly 0]

I know that financing usually is a bad idea but in my current financial situation I don't have any choice. I don't have the money to flat out buy a car but I have to get a car. Fortunately though my bank gives good rates on their car loans so I shouldn't get screwed over too badly. Thank you for all of your advice. I will definitely start test driving now instead of waiting like was originally going to do.