Buying a new car (1 Viewer)

[DavidJ]

David, I'd probably still be driving my 1999 Accord EX V6 if not for the high school kid who turned in front of me rushing home for lunch. It's been gone about 2.5 years now, but had about 187k on it when it went. Still drove well and did what it was supposed to in the collision.

 

[David Norman]

David, I'd probably still be driving my 1999 Accord EX V6 if not for the high school kid who turned in front of me rushing home for lunch. It's been gone about 2.5 years now, but had about 187k on it when it went. Still drove well and did what it was supposed to in the collision.

Luckily never anything that bad. The worst wreck was 2002-2003 I had a teenager driving his Dad's Suburban turn into me at a traffic light -- both stopped going opposite ways across the intersection, I'm going straight across and he's turning right. His eyes never even say me when the light went green (no phone, no texting, both hands on the wheel, but absolutely no idea there was a car in the vicinity. I saw him start turning and swerved right but he just kept going and got me right behind the back rear door -- drove my fender into the tire, back bumper. Poor guy was shaking worse than I was worried what his Dad was going to do so I sort of felt sorry for him -- his Surb has almost zero damage. We weren't going more than 15 so no real harm done.


Hit a small deer and few years later picking my kid up from a distant field trip about 2am. We weren;t more than a mile away from the school and my kid is already snoozing and never stirred. 6 inches from missing it, but he got me in the left front and did about $1500 of cosmetic damage. It ran off hurt, but some bigger deer were standing nearby watching the whole thing so I look into the mirror at my sleeping kid and all I can think of was those 'parents' watching their child get hit so the car didn't mean so much by then (Damn Bambi and all that anthropomorphic crap)



Really, the time I felt worst was in spring 1999 when I probably had the car about 3 months was probably the biggest hail storm I've seen in my 50+ years -- marble and golf ball size stuff just pummeled the car when I was at work and it was in the parking lot. I watch stuff bouncing off the hood and top from a window in the office and there's nothing you can do. Hundreds of little dings, but no glass damage. never did get it fixed and to this day I can still look at the surface and see the small dents. it made me never want to get a new car again -- it was devastating to watch your new baby just get beaten to a pulp.


I just realized this week that I should drop my collision/comp because even with $500 deductible by the time the Insurance pays much of anything they're more than likely just going to declare it totaled and pay virtually nothing on it. .

 

[DaveF]

Yep. At 165k and 11 years, I could keep driving. No accidents in this car either, so just normal body wear from a decade's use.

But I think it's about time for some new niceties for commuting.

 

[David Norman]

Definitely know the feeling. Sometimes you just sense you want something new and it's really a hard thing to shake.

 

[Alf S]

These days as I get older and wiser I am able to shake off the "wants" when it comes to things like cars. Especially when you use the payment calculator on a car site and it says the payment for the exact car/SUV you want is "$400" ++ a month. Then you can easily shake the want and just stick with what ya got as long as it still gets ya from point A to point B.

 

[schan1269]

Worst accident I've ever been in...

Terre Haute I70 west exit for 41. Waiting at the light and cars start slowing down. Semi blares his horn, he hits the intersection still yellow. I see green between the cab and trailer. Past, I go...smack right into the side of a Pontiac Grand Am(little front drive).

Driving a loaded Chevy G30 van pulling a 15ft enclosed trailer...also loaded. Spun that car 180° and just crushed both side doors and the back corner tire was up in the trunk. The van? One of the two rubber bumper guards was gone and the bumper mount shifted to the right about an inch.

I only moved about 5 feet.

 

[DaveF]

I came close to a bad accident on I-70 because of fog one weekend, returning to college. But fortunately my travels on it were always safe, otherwise.

 

[DaveF]

For anyone else car shopping right now, at least two brands are running 24-hr test drives. I've seen Buick's ads on TV. Lincoln I was alerted to, and then some googling found it again for linking here. Lincoln would be fun, but they're outside my budget and I'm traveling so much right now, I don't have time to do it just for fun.


Buick


Lincoln

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Chevrolet driving a Buick.

 

[Mark Booth]

Dave, Another vote for the Mazda6! Please go test drive one! It is a wonderful departure from the "appliance" nature of the Camry and Accord. Honda used to make fun-to-drive cars but I guess they discovered Toyota's secret that selling boring cars was a way to make more money (less money spent on engineering to make them fun).


And while you are the Mazda dealer, also test drive the CX-5!


Mark

 

[DaveF]

Dave, Another vote for the Mazda6! Please go test drive one! It is a wonderful departure from the "appliance" nature of the Camry and Accord. Honda used to make fun-to-drive cars but I guess they discovered Toyota's secret that selling boring cars was a way to make more money (less money spent on engineering to make them fun).


And while you are the Mazda dealer, also test drive the CX-5!


Mark

For some reason I always forget about Mazda. I mean to try the 6. It gets good reviews. I liked it pretty well last time I test drove it.

 

[DaveF]

Change in plans: Wife bought a 2016 Corolla tonight. We made the deal on Sunday; the car was delivered this afternoon so I came home early and sold her old Camry to CarMax and completed the paperwork to take ownership of the Corolla.


Because of my less than thrilling test drive of the Honda and CarPlay, we returned to the original plan to buy her a new car first. She's easy: she wants a Toyota, and decided she'd be happy downsizing to a Corolla. She played with the 2015 and 2016 last week and concluded the 2016 was the best choice. As far as I could tell, the price difference was about $1000, less than year's depreciation. And I like buying new-new.


I should have time later this week to describe the price we paid and how we got to it. You can tell me what I did right and wrong; and I can do a better job on my car.

 

[Alf S]

Congrats! New cars are fun.

 

[skylark68]

Congratulations on the new car. We just bought a new Highlander for my wife.


I'm mainly a domestic buyer, only other Japanese car I've bought was a Miata back in '02, but the Highlander was her choice, and it rides really well, and has some real nice features.


Funny story about a new Corolla we test drove back in '04 when car shopping for my wife was that she really wanted a stick, and the only one on the lot that had a manual was one that had apparently languished on the lot for quite awhile (no one buys manuals anymore outside of sports cars I guess). The battery was dead so they jump started it and we took it on a short test drive. The battery died about midway through the test run, so the salesman and I push started it. Nice benefit of a stick, I guess.


Good luck with the Corolla, it should be a nice car!

 

[John Sparks]

Congratulations on the new car. We just bought a new Highlander for my wife.


I'm mainly a domestic buyer, only other Japanese car I've bought was a Miata back in '02, but the Highlander was her choice, and it rides really well, and has some real nice features.


Funny story about a new Corolla we test drove back in '04 when car shopping for my wife was that she really wanted a stick, and the only one on the lot that had a manual was one that had apparently languished on the lot for quite awhile (no one buys manuals anymore outside of sports cars I guess). The battery was dead so they jump started it and we took it on a short test drive. The battery died about midway through the test run, so the salesman and I push started it. Nice benefit of a stick, I guess.


Good luck with the Corolla, it should be a nice car!

We still have our 2003 Highlander and it has 259,000 miles on it and it's still going strong! The wife wants a new car, so she'll be looking in November. She can buy whatever she likes as long as I have my Corvette!

 

[Richard V]

Love my Dodge Charger, 4Dr Sedan. Economy approx 27-28 combined MPG. 3 yrs old, never a mechanical problem. Roomy, easily seats 5, good power and acceleration. First Dodge I've ever owned, will buy again from Dodge. If that helps at all. Also check out Costco and Sam's Auto buying programs, can't hurt.

 

[Alf S]

I love the look/style of some new Dodge products, but I've had HORRIBLE experiences with them (Avenger and Intrepid). Both had horrid transmission issues and cost us an arm and leg to fix.


I swore off Dodge forever after those two failures.

 

[Didier R]

Budget is $28k-$32k (before taxes).

You should buy something for 5K and give the rest of the money to charities. To Syrian refugees maybe.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I have been looking at the Corolla for myself Dave. I hate big cars, all trucks and SUVs. My preference has always been 2-door coupés and hot hatchbacks. My Celica is the perfect size for me and it's a real shame Toyota stopped making them a few years back. My current interests for my next car are the Corolla, Civic and Golf GTI. My wife owns a Mazda 3 and we decided we'll never buy another Mazda after hers.

Let us know how well you both like the Corolla after a few weeks and miles. I'm really interested in more in depth reviews.

 

[atfree]

Budget is $28k-$32k (before taxes). Late model used is sensible advice, which I'm going to ignore At least until I've done test drives, I'm very interested in the newest smartphone-integration features, which is only available in 2015 or 2016 models.


I need a sedan or mini-SUV for a mixture of daily commuting, weekend errands, and vacation driving. Memory seats are highly desired, for the fantasy that I could easily switch with my wife for some of the vacation driving.

You should buy something for 5K and give the rest of the money to charities. To Syrian refugees maybe.

Or buy something for $10K and spend the rest on blu-rays!!!