Buying a car?

I just bought a used Jeep Liberty, 170K for 3800... 30K mi on new transmission and AC unit.

Took it to the shop, thorough inspection and about 9 problems fixed and $1100 later and it's almost completely fixed up from a mechanical perspective. Redid the coolant system to ensure no head gasket issues and we're ready for another 30-50K on it until the next item. I did order a new front drive shaft to use the 4x4 again (wasn't strictly necessary), as apparently the UV shroud had rotted away and some parts had shaken loose after it dried out since it was never used by the previous owner. I also need to take it to the electrical auto place downtown to find a short somewhere still. I have to go to the junkyard to find a few replacement trim pieces for cheap this weekend. Also, I just ordered new seat covers, some matching cloth to reupholster the door panels and a matching leather steering wheel cover. I plan on ripping out the seats and getting it hot water extracted and fully detailed professionally before I redo the interior.

All told I'll be out probably $6-6.5K for a sturdy 4x4 that I can mod freely without feeling bad. Next summer I'll probably do a lift kit and redo the wheels on it. I could have bought the same thing without the repairs/customization and a few less miles... just about ready to need a new transmission.

This is my first foray intoowninga used vehicle since my very first car about 13 years ago.

Any advice on getting a new car? The wife and I are down to one vehicle and its not cutting it anymore. Its not an immediate need, but it may be in the upcoming months. We leased a car a few years ago and that went well, but outside of that, I have no real experience in buying a car. We have a pretty small bugdet, and it would mostly just be for me getting to and from work. We have a family car, so as much as I don't want to be driving in a shoebox, my only reason for a bigger car is driving comfort. What say you, oh car gurus?

j00t_sl said:

Any advice on getting a new car? The wife and I are down to one vehicle and its not cutting it anymore. Its not an immediate need, but it may be in the upcoming months. We leased a car a few years ago and that went well, but outside of that, I have no real experience in buying a car. We have a pretty small bugdet, and it would mostly just be for me getting to and from work. We have a family car, so as much as I don't want to be driving in a shoebox, my only reason for a bigger car is driving comfort. What say you, oh car gurus?

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What's your budget?

j00t_sl said:

Any advice on getting a new car? The wife and I are down to one vehicle and its not cutting it anymore. Its not an immediate need, but it may be in the upcoming months. We leased a car a few years ago and that went well, but outside of that, I have no real experience in buying a car. We have a pretty small bugdet, and it would mostly just be for me getting to and from work. We have a family car, so as much as I don't want to be driving in a shoebox, my only reason for a bigger car is driving comfort. What say you, oh car gurus?

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Don't buy new. Get something that's a year or two off the lot, with low KM's and a year or two of warranty left. There's little or no reason to buy a new car other than being able to pick exactly the options you want, and potentially ease of financing. If you've got a "pretty small budget", you shouldn't be looking at new in my opinion. Even for my business we've basically sworn off buying any new trucks. Instead we've been buying used trucks from large fleet leasing companies, and it's been great. Generally we've been buying 12-18 month old trucks with 10-15,000 km on them, for less than 2/3's what we'd pay for new. Why pay 40-45k for a new work truck when you can buy a near-new one for 28-30k.

Frenzied Wombat_sl said:

What's your budget?

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If everything lines up with finances, id say about $300 a month, but that's off the cuff without taking the time to go in depth. Just started a new job so I can ballpark stuff, but I won't know exactly for a month or two

Eomer_sl said:

There's little or no reason to buy a new car other than being able to pick exactly the options you want, and potentially ease of financing.

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I agree unless you are buying something that is typically modded and/or has a turbo. That car, returned as used so early in its life, is bound to have problems.

Wrecked my car, fucked ran me off the road and I got a ticket for it. So furious. And now I have to shop for a new car. Never bought a used car before, not sure what to do.

Resign yourself to the fact that if you're doing a private sale, nothing the seller tells you can be trusted, and they're probably lying about everything. And if you're buying from a dealer, accept that you're probably paying too much. And that they're also lying.

chaos_sl said:

Wrecked my car, fucked ran me off the road and I got a ticket for it. So furious. And now I have to shop for a new car. Never bought a used car before, not sure what to do.

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Take a look at rental car sales. You can usually find 2 year old cars with 30-40k miles for pretty good prices. Being rental cars they are usually well kept with service records readily available. They almost always sell them at or close to wholesale and no scumy sales men. Even used car dealerships will buy from them too.

Mixtilplix_sl said:

Take a look at rental car sales. You can usually find 2 year old cars with 30-40k miles for pretty good prices. Being rental cars they areusually well keptwith service records readily available. They almost always sell them at or close to wholesale and no scumy sales men. Even used car dealerships will buy from them too.

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Must be high brow Canadian rental cars or something.

I would never, ever consider buying a used rental car. Regardless of the mileage. Those cars get driven like shit by a million different drivers. At least with a private sale of a car with only one or two previous owners you can kind of assess them and make an educated guess as to whether or not they beat the car up while they owned it.

I typically try to buy lease turn ins when I'm buying used. I feel that those usually bump up the odds that it isn't going to be a dumpster fire.