Car Buying Help

My recommendation is to wait for a major recall at one of the major manufacturers and then go buy that make of car. Deals for days!!!

That's why I am driving a Toyota right now. People were panicking that Toyota's were going all Skynet and trying to kill everyone.

Of course... that's the long game. You may need that vehicle before another major recall. Decisions, decisions...

Also hilarious: Less than 24 hours after my little rant about truck prices, Ford announced this today:

2016 Ford F-150 gets new Limited model

The average price paid for a full-size pickup this year is $42,429. Ram is right at that mark, with an average price of $42,256, the Chevrolet Silverado is below it, at $38,384, and the Ford F-150 is above, at $46,573. That average transaction price is thirty percent higher than it was six years ago, and that F-150 price is eight percent higher than one year ago. We can thank that escalation for the arrival of the new F-150 Limited, a truck that Ford says responds to the "growing needs of discerning truck customers interested in exclusivity, capability and craftsmanship." Reuters went further, saying customers want "trucks that could substitute for a higher end German sedan."

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This will basically be a >$60k pickup truck. /boggle

Wealthy rednecks will lap them up by the boatload. Since moving to Texas I simply don't understand the desire for a pickup truck unless you actually haul shit, but people here dump tons of coin into fancy pickups (Harley edition, king ranch edition, etc). I drove a pickup for a few weeks after just moving here and I don't understand the allure.. At all.. They handle like shit, corner like shit, consume gas like shit, park/turn like shit, and generally accelerate like shit. Literally the only positive they have (besides hauling stuff) is that you can see over traffic in front of you, but again most people I see driving these fancy pickups haven't hauled anything beyond groceries.

Also, there seems to be an unwritten rule that if you drive a fancy pickup you must park in the spot labelled "compact cars only", take two spots, and have your tail partially blocking thru traffic.

lendarios_sl said:

Hopefully new. Im a very cheap, person. While i do like watching nice cars, I'm more than happy with a non luxury car. The cars i droven in my past are. Lada 2105, Bronco II 1990, celica 1989, Acura LS 1990, Corolla LE 2005. Until the corolla everything was 10 years or older.

Im debating new vs 1-2 year old used. If I want a nice package with electronics, the cost for it will be astronomical.

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Gotta answer all the questions!

There's a 1992 corvette with 192k on facebook yardsale here. I laughed for like ten minutes thinking about buying that for my daily driver and blaring billy Squier continuously.

Im still here lurking. If anyone is on the lookout for buyinga vehicle, let me know. I can send you our employee purchasing pricing which is $300 above cost LESS holdback (which can be anywhere from $200-$700 depending on make/model). I get an invoice sent to me, and I can forward it onto you. Keep in mind this price would only be good at a Group 1 Automotive owned dealership, but can be used to leverage at another dealership (works sometimes, but most times they still try to waffle and make up the money some place else). Most folks after going back and forth with the other dealer just end up buying from one of our stores with the price in hand. Not to mention if they are militant about getting any back end products (warranty etc) they also get employee pricing which is COST + $200 which is very cheap, because that is where most dealerships bend you over the counter.

My advice for back end products is, extended warranty maybe worth it depending on what kind of manufacturer you go with, but ignore the rest. Anywho, PM me, I will try and get back to you. I have helped a few folks before.

Dis_sl said:

Im still here lurking. If anyone is on the lookout for buyinga vehicle, let me know. I can send you our employee purchasing pricing which is $300 above cost LESS holdback (which can be anywhere from $200-$700 depending on make/model). I get an invoice sent to me, and I can forward it onto you. Keep in mind this price would only be good at a Group 1 Automotive owned dealership..

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I'll send you a pm this fall. Would be glad for the help.

Just an FYI, if you are a costco executive member they offer costco pricing on new vehicles through dealerships that they use. Just looked into a 2016 Honda Fit at my local dealer and the cost was 50$ over invoice. The dealership told me Costco pricing runs 50-100$ over invoice depending on the model. It is a no haggle price though, so if your not interested in playing the game and just buying a car at a set price, it might be the way to go.

Legal action begun on getting mine bought back. Gonna find a lawyer for 1000 an hour and hope they can get it done in 15 minutes so i don't go in the hole.

lagsalot_sl said:

Just an FYI, if you are a costco executive member they offer costco pricing on new vehicles through dealerships that they use. Just looked into a 2016 Honda Fit at my local dealer and the cost was 50$ over invoice. The dealership told me Costco pricing runs 50-100$ over invoice depending on the model. It is a no haggle price though, so if your not interested in playing the game and just buying a car at a set price, it might be the way to go.

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Same deal as TrueCar or any other lead program. Dealerships get certified, then they get leads through whatever CRM software they are using from said lead source. In this case Costco would be the lead. Our dealerships are certified with Costco. Employee pricing is still better because of less holdback. You guys have to remember cost of a vehicle INCLUDES holdback.

Holdback is money held by a manufacturer until the vehicle is sold. So they will generate a profit off of the vehicle based on the amount of the holdback by make/model.

The new A4 is freaking sweet looking. Can hardly wait to see what they do with the S4.

The new Audi A4 - AudiWorld

Really? Doesn't look much different from the previous version to me. I really find Audi's styling for the most part to be really, really fucking boring. Not to mention that they look waaaaaaaaaayyyy too similar to the equivalent VW models.

All will be forgiven if they start selling an RS4 or RS6 Avant in North America, however.

Eomer_sl said:

Really? Doesn't look much different from the previous version to me. I really find Audi's styling for the most part to be really, really fucking boring. Not to mention that they look waaaaaaaaaayyyy too similar to the equivalent VW models.

All will be forgiven if they start selling an RS4 or RS6 Avant in North America, however.

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We can only wish. This the only Audi I would purchase.

Eomer_sl said:

Really? Doesn't look much different from the previous version to me. I really find Audi's styling for the most part to be really, really fucking boring. Not to mention that they look waaaaaaaaaayyyy too similar to the equivalent VW models.

All will be forgiven if they start selling an RS4 or RS6 Avant in North America, however.

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I agree that the exterior styling hasn't changed much and that with the exception of the A7 and R8 it's not all that exciting, but I find the interior on this new model gorgeous and love the LCD gauge cluster that can display maps. Then there's tons of nifty yet small things like color adjustable indoor LED lighting. I do take exception with the "it's just a high end VW" trope. My ex drove a Passat and it was nothing like my S4. You can tell there's similar lineage at some very base level, but they feel/ride like totally different cars.

Unfortunately I don't think they'll ever bring the Avant to the US.

Frenzied Wombat_sl said:

Unfortunately I don't think they'll ever bring the Avant to the US.

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Eh? The article you linked mentioned an Avant A4 all over the place. All Avant means is wagon. My dad's got an A6 Avant (2010 I think?), and my mom used to have a 2006 A4 Avant. So there'll be an A4 Avant in NA by the looks of it. The only question is whether they release a hotted up S4 or RS4 Avant (I just can't see them doing 6 series Avants in NA, but one can hope).

Frenzied Wombat_sl said:

My ex drove a Passat and it was nothing like my S4. You can tell there's similar lineage at some very base level, but they feel/ride like totally different cars.

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I don't have any experience with Audi, but you weren't comparing the right car. The heart of the GTI and the heart of a few lower level Audis is the same.

I wasn't even really getting in to the underlying mechanics. I was just talking about styling. The silohouettes of equivalent Audi and VW models are damn near identical. Maybe the body panels aren't entirely interchangeable, but they're damn close.

Probably. I mean, all the big manufacturers are simplifying the platforms for their cars. With VW Audi, it's all riding on the MQB platform.

I'm just thrilled I don't have to pay over $30,000 for access to a really awesome turbo and transmission.

Is there an RS3 or RS4 at all or in the US?