We have this douche nozzle at my second job (supermarket, so think a kid in his early 20's working part time) that walked into a dealership and paid $13000 for a low 2000's Infiniti with 117k miles on it. Does the car look cool? I guess, maybe a little. Does it look like it's worth $13k? Hell no. The point is, this kid probably bought this car as a status symbol to look cool, but in the end he just looks like a douche. If he worked here and drove an older Mercedes he would look even douchier. The funny part is the dealership tried to sell him a brand new 2012/2013 Sentra for the exact same price and he refused.
I'm looking at getting a new car soon too. My 2002 Altima (3.5SE) has 180k miles on it and I'm starting to fear the worst. The last repair I did was simultaneous replacement of all 4 brake pads and rotors and a new radiator. That was about $1200 in the bucket that I didn't want to spend.
My fiance has a 2010 Civic that she bought brand new and it is a wonderful car. It has absolutely 0 pickup which is to be expected. I mean, when you merge on to the highway be prepared to spend 2 minutes trying to accelerate to 65mph. Gas mileage is really good for her commute, she typically fills it up once every 2 weeks or so (doesn't drive far). We've had it for almost 3 years now and have never had to do anything to it at all except replace one tire. She ran over a nail and drove on it flat all day (women
). Point is, we bought an economical car brand new and have reaped the benefits of it ever since. I would feel much better driving around a brand new civic than some Mercedes or Infiniti or whatever.
I'm debating between a few cars. Originally I was looking at the new Altima's, but I don't think I can justify their price. They drive great, but I've had some problems with my 2002 that I really don't want to have to deal with. For awhile I had a couple of o2 sensors go every summer. I'm also looking into a new Accord.. I used to own one and the thing was a tank. The price is a bit higher than the Civic, but I am a large dude and my fiance's civic is way too small for me. No one can sit behind me when I drive that car. Subaru's also are looking nice, but I'm not really that knowledgable as to how affordable and reliable they are, maybe an Impreza would do the trick.
On this topic, do most car dealerships allow you to buy a lease out at the end instead of paying overage costs if you go over the allotted miles? For instance, my fiance will be 4k miles over the 36k that she should have driven.. will the dealership most likely allow her to just buyout the car and skip the mileage costs? It's something I am considering because I may end up travelling long distances to work.
