I’ve flirted with the idea of buying a car before, but I think I’m ready to make it happen. Why?
- So Tom doesn’t have to drive me to golf
- So Tom doesn’t have to drive me to bowling
- So Tom doesn’t have to drive me to our parents house
- So Tom…
You get the point, I rely too much on others (mostly Tom). Last week I bike shared THREE MILES in 90 degree heat with my fucking GOLF CLUBS on my back so I could golf with Gourlay, Dale, and Vince. I just shouldn’t have to do that.
From what I understand, everyone thinks they know the best way to get a car. I listen to a sports podcast and they spent 15 minutes at the end of one episode talking strategy for buying a car at a dealership; “Never put any money down, say you have to think about it, threaten to leave!” Those are not my style.
Loyal readers, give me advice. I don’t need anything fast or flashy. What’s the best way to go about getting a car? New? Used? Give me a Honda Accord, give me a Nissan Altima, hell I’d even drive a Prius! Just give me a good car and the best way to buy it. I hope for responses from Bill, Matzah, Not Dave, Addasheee, but all are welcome.
P.S. I told my dad this week I was thinking of buying a car. His first question was “What are you going to get? Something fast?!” My dad has always driven unnecessarily expensive cars and I don’t know why. It must be a generational thing. I do not need a fast car.
My advice (which Bud didn’t even follow), NEVER buy a new car again. You can get a 2 year old car for a good price. Very low miles. Usually off a lease. And, if you buy from a dealer, you will get a warranty extension and maybe even an oil change or two.
In your case, I don’t even think you need anything that new. You buy something nice, then worry about it all the time when you park it in the city.
Just get something that’s supposed to last forever when it still has a good bit of the forever left on it.
Sheee suggestion is CarMax. Download their app and peep what they have, seems like we share similar views on cars. Maple Shade is probably the closest one to you. In Jan 2019 I bought a 2015 Nissan Altima with 37k miles for 14k. No haggling on pricing or anything like that which I liked.
Carvana always interested me. Maybe because of the giant carvana tower in fishtown. Should you buy a carvana car because the weens is intrigued by an enormous futuristic looking tower? Yes.
Go to carmax/carvana/carsense and get a used Japanese or Korean car. Most reliable + cheap, easy to find parts.
If you just need something to get you from point A to point B go with a compact/small-sized like a civic, altima, corolla or accent. If you want anything more move up to a small suv like a CR-V, RAV4, Rogue or Santa Fe. Gives you 4WD, trunk space, more room and more ground clearance. I personally see no point in buying a full-sized sedan — more room needed for parallel parking but still no 4WD? F that.
Look up the model year for the car before you commit to it to make sure it is not a shitty year for that model.
I do street parking on 20th street and get clipped by other cars constantly so I wouldn’t recommend going with anything nice unless you have a reserved parking spot. When you and Megan settle down in the suburbs you can get another Beamer.
Yes, yes, and yes. All very good suggestions!
I can’t stress this enough, be sure to keep parallel parking in mind, so size definitely matters.
I personally can’t comment on carvana/carmax/carsense, but similarly, I browsed on Autotrader; I narrowed down my search to year/make/model and then called a few places. It did involve negotiation (and walking out of a finance department in protest), but I eventually got what I felt was a good sale from a dealer.
Note: Don’t buy a used car that was previously part of a rental fleet (Hertz, Enterprise, etc.) Preferably one prior owner, and get a CarFox report.
Lastly, the right opinion is not always the most popular (and I can only assume that this won’t be, to at least two people that I know of). But here goes… As an owner of a business, you are privy to certain “leisures” that us timecard-punchers can only dream of. For instance, you could have the business make your car note payments (and upkeep – gas, maintenance, insuance, etc) as a “business expense”, thus, decreasing the amount of taxable income the business generates. Additionally, you’ll register the vehicle personally (and not commercially); this will save on registration, title, and insurance. You can essentially double-dip. So that’s the “Why”, but to get check-writing privileges from your business partners? That’s the “How”, and that’s on you. Godspeed.
THIS is why I write these blogs. Thank you everyone who commented. I will be making a purchase soon.
I bought 2 cars from Carsense (now another name), but when I researched my last car, I found that Carsense was several thousand dollars higher than the dealer I bought from, and no haggling. Also, Carsense offers a “lifetime warranty” on the engine that requires an oil change every 3 or 4 months. Ridiculous. A waste of money. I do not recommend.