Buying a car?

Also of note, if your not getting about 7k or more off MSRP on the Murano then find another dealer- but I have literally 6 Nissan dealers within a 30min drive and 10 within an hour and a half- so I am sure that's why I was able to get the deals I got on my Nissans.

example- hope link works

http://www.jenkinsnissan.com/new/Nis...0de378fee0.htm

9k off msrp off of SV model... displayed on the interwebs for all to see and in stock, your dealer should at least match that on the same or above trim.

The Murano's are due for a new generation very, very soon so /shrug - they are still nice cars and top not materials and construction- this generation is still made in japan.

Aye that seems like a good price for a SL, my Murano was an SL as is my Quest-- I was going to go SV on the van but they got me a good deal and the wife really wanted a DVD player built in.

The AWD Nissan has on the murano is nice. An SL with AWD is going to get close to a LE...I think all LEs are AWD so see if they have an LE sitting there if they will give you it for the same price or close- I think it will just bump up your rims and nav? drive the LE though- many do not like the ride change 20" rims give on the Murano over the standard 18" level the SV and SLs have.

Edit: random note but I still have the back cargo cover an a 100mile driven on OEM Goodyear for the 18" from my Murano if you happen to get a murano and would want any of those things it will just cost shipping.

new 2013/2014 Mazdas look damn nice, and their new skyactiv engines are awesome for the MPG/HP balance. We drove a CX5(small SUV) and it was easily the best handling, sportiest SUV that we drove. My wife loved it because it was the one SUV we tried that actually handled closest to her Mustang that we were trading in. Unfortunately, it's pretty damn small, felt smaller than my Ford Escape even, and we were looking to go bigger so we had to rule it out. The crappy part is, they discontinued the CX7, so you have to go all the way up to a 3-row CX9, there's no in-between midsize SUV model from Mazda anymore :/

Why did they do that? the cx7 was a decent midsize suv for what it was- the 5-7-9 cx series was a nice lineup... guess the numbers showed people did not like the midground, either the big guy or the small one. The people that used to live next to me had a cx-9 for about 8 months then they traded it for a 7, then whatever their full sized sedan is... I cant see any of those trades being in the black or green with that little time on the books...but whatever not my payment.

It is hard for the true midsize suvs to get chosen, either you sacrifice some size and get more MPG and it usually costs less- or you can pay just a bit more and get a full size with 3rd row etc... So I can see why they cut the thing, it was an exact replica of the 9 just smaller lol- in that thought the Murano is more, how do I say... Luxury than something that should be bought over the Rouge or Pathfinder in straight up stat comparison... You could put an Infinity symbol on the Murano and not change a thing- and it is different than the FX Infinity so it has its place. Nissan keeping it for a 3rd generation says it is still selling fairly well all things considered. One of the Dr's I do tech work for got an LE murano on lease the same time I bought mine, he bought some big ass benz sedan after the lease was up...every time we talk cars he misses his murano... but as a jewish dr you have to have a german car...like that makes any sort of sense... his brother has a 2 story hight double- 2car with garage with those car carracel things in them- sure he razzed his bro for driving a "Nissan" so now he has a benz its all good

And the worst part about some of these mid-size SUVs with 3rd rows (Mazda CX9, Hyundai Santa Fe GLS) is that no decent sized adult would ever be able to get in and out of the 3rd row comfortably, or for that matter even most teenage kids. That 3rd row would really only be usable by small kids, the space to get back there is just tiny. If you want a truly functional 3rd row, you pretty much need to go up to something huge like a Expedition, Yukon Denali, or Escalade.

Just look at how these are designed:
Denali:

Escalade:

CX9: (and Santa Fe GLS is real similar)

You can't go through the middle of the 2nd row to get to the third, you have to push the 2nd row seats up and crawl in behind them(which there is very little room to do so, worse than crawling into the backseat of a 2-door car)

one of my wifes criteria for our 3rd row searching was captains chairs so there was a pass through other than the moving of the 2nd row.

the pathfinder sadly does not have this option but they have some special collapsing motion or some shit that allows kid seats to not be removed and still allow passage, that's one of the reasons for between seat access, also the 'loss of the 3rd seat!' is bull...no one uses that damn sliver of a seat.

Yeah, you're going to have to get a $50K+ SUV or a mini van to get the feature of the 2nd row passthrough access to the 3rd row of seats. That's about the only vehicles I've seen it in.

I'm looking to pick up a first car for a teenager. I'd like to spend a few grand and get something that is fairly reliable local transportion. Google Fu has not been very helpful and my research is all over the map. I do not want to spend 8 or 10k on a used car, but I do want to get something decent.

Any ideas?

Good luck, 3k used to get you a decent used car, now you're looking at 6-9k for a nice honda/toyota because no one wants to get rid of them.

for captains chairs, the GM trio and Durango have them.. The Durango its a separate option that's available on all trims, for the GM trio you had to go up quite a bit to get the captain chair option. The highlander to me was too damn small all around deff the driver seat, and its 3rd row is tacked on and useless for anything but kids, and leaves almost no room with the 3rd row up.

We just sold my wife's 1998 Mustang(non-GT) with relatively low mileage for its age(130K) for $4000, if that gives you roughly an idea of what type of car to expect for 3K. For 3K Its either going to be pushing 20 years old, have well over 150K, maybe more like 200K miles, or possibly both if its something reliable like a Honda. The used car market is pretty nuts at the moment. About 8 years ago I sold a 10 year old Ford Taurus with 110,000 miles on it, and the best I could get for it was 2K, and it was a MUCH better deal than the Mustang we just sold. That Cash for Clunkers program 5 or 6 years ago taking a lot of older used cars off the roads, combined with the economy going to crap has really driven up the value of used cars in the last half decade or so.

It sucks, but it pretty much takes 4 or 5 grand to get you a vehicle that has any chance of lasting more than maybe 2 more years. Back in the 90s I had all sorts of friends who bought $1000-$2000 used cars and drove them all the way through highschool and into college. That just doesn't happen anymore. a $1000 car nowadays is something that you'll probably have to have towed to the junkyard within a couple months.

joeboo_sl said:

We just sold my wife's 1998 Mustang(non-GT) with relatively low mileage for its age(130K) for $4000, if that gives you roughly an idea of what type of car to expect for 3K. For 3K Its either going to be pushing 20 years old, have well over 150K, maybe more like 200K miles, or possibly both if its something reliable like a Honda. The used car market is pretty nuts at the moment. About 8 years ago I sold a 10 year old Ford Taurus with 110,000 miles on it, and the best I could get for it was 2K, and it was a MUCH better deal than the Mustang we just sold. That Cash for Clunkers program 5 or 6 years ago taking a lot of older used cars off the roads, combined with the economy going to crap has really driven up the value of used cars in the last half decade or so.

It sucks, but it pretty much takes 4 or 5 grand to get you a vehicle that has any chance of lasting more than maybe 2 more years. Back in the 90s I had all sorts of friends who bought $1000-$2000 used cars and drove them all the way through highschool and into college. That just doesn't happen anymore. a $1000 car nowadays is something that you'll probably have to have towed to the junkyard within a couple months.

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Such truth, sometimes it can pay to think outside the box however- I bought a 1984 Mercedes 380SL for 3k- wife hated it and I resold it quickly for cost- but could have gotten more for it- those old ass benz's are tanks you can get a SEL or sedan type of that era, maybe a nice diesel for 3-5k- whatever used car you get, say you budget 5k- buy one for 4k and instantly put 1k of standard work into the thing and you should find yourself in a decent car- you will end up with a better product imo- a 4k car vs 5k car are both going to need almost the exact same work done to them to get them to last another 50k+ miles for a 1-2year kick... and kids are hard on cars, unless they are a 'car person' and do their own oil changes and stuff and are aware of how to treat a machine.

I just bought a 2013 Kia Optima EX model over the weekend. So far I'm very happy with it. I had a V6 and it is taking a while to get used to the 4 cylinder.

Just ordered a 2014 Estoril Blue Audi S4 on Saturday. Got it with NAV, manual tranny, B&O stereo upgrade, 19" tires, and aluminum\black wood inlays. Won't be here until September though

What do you guys think about leasing a car instead of buying?

Dealers have a lot of tools and tricks to screw you can get the leg up in profit in the end, leasing just allows them to use more of them... and people forget that the leasing is done in the 'back office' just like financing - you can do a deal on your price/msrp etc and you can negotiate 'points' just like you can APR- but you then have to be careful of residual etc...

In no way am I saying car dealers should not make a profit off selling cars, but they should also provide fair and honest prices with reasonable mark ups- and they do not so we are all left 'playing the game' unless you buy a Toyota, then you pay the Toyota price, much like the Apple price is on their tech and the Iron price is in the iron islands. No deal gets out the door with a set of keys "at a loss" no matter what they say, period. My sales man was like "We will be taking a loss on the trade already" I looked him in the eye and said "You are honestly telling me that you in the end will not make a profit off my new car sale and the selling of my trade in?" he knew I was not up for bullshit and I did not sign anything that meant two shakes and he said "...in the end we will make a profit off both....yes" if he would have kept on his QQ poor us story I was going to leave right then and there- and he knew it.