Silicon wiper blades FTW. But the rest don't have a quick fix.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thief Silver
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Silicon wiper blades FTW. But the rest don't have a quick fix.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thief Silver
Man this is such a nerve wrecking decision to try and pickout the car you want. Especially since it's the first time I'm picking out a car, and honestly I don't have lots of time to do it. My dad says he generally starts looking at cars a year before he's ready to buy, I've been actively looking for this week. Tomorrow I'm heading out to the dealers so I gotta figure out where I wanna put my priorities.
>.<
If you know the basic criteria, your search should be pretty focused, so at the most, you would need about a month.
Before I got my new car, I spent about a month researching what I wanted and what I could afford. The real pain in the ass is haggling the dealer to lower the price you pay for the car. THAT process is soooooo much fun, let me tell you.
Buenos Suerte.
Alright well Cars.com is fantastic and has really helped me figure out what I want at least moreso. Though I love the power and the look of the Lancer, the 29 MPG on the highway is kind of a deterrent. Also Airconditioning doesn't come standard lol what?
I love the look of Coupe's, but 4-Doors = so much less of a pain in the ass as well. The Cobalt and G5 seem pretty great actually though I'm reading some complaints on the seat comfort (Also it appears the cobalt starts about 2k less than the G5? That would be a definite swing in favor of the Cobalt) Also I have a hard time supporting what is essentially a rip off of another car or I guess it's referred to as "Badge Engineering."
The Versa though, while it looks a little boring in comparison, gets the best gas mileage and honestly sounds like the most utility. It's also a little on the weak side and doesn't offer any upgraded engines.
The M3 has lots of power, and is close in MPG to the Cobalt and G5, apparently also has the lack of comfortable seats and many of the same complaints as the G5 and Cobalt as well >.<
Ah, apparently the G5 starts higher because it comes with more standard equipment (Have to look into that) Sentra is a bit more expensive and has these listed as the complaints:
Is the Stability System meaning it doesn't have a suspension?Quote:
ABS not standard
- Drum rear brakes standard
- A-pillar can block view
- So-so styling
- SE-R is underwhelming
- No stability system
Well I'm taking tomorrow off to go look at Cars, so I guess while I like the look of the Lancer the most I'm gonna go ahead and push that one off my list, leaving me with the Versa, G5, Cobalt, and M3.
I figure in one day I should have enough time to check out each one. The Honda fit while it sounds great is a bit weak and ugly so I'm passing on that as well.
Sorry if my little updates are annoying.
Also I may or may not end up having to learn how to drive a stick.
LOL.. all cars have a suspension. If they didn't, you'd have one hell of a ride. Stability systems provide additional control during bad weather conditions (sans wind conditions), agressive steering, etc.
If you're looking at the Mazda 3, it take a serious look at the Civic. I test drove an M3 and a Civic LX and the Civic was better overall by leaps and bounds. If you don't want to get a new one, you could get a pre-owned Civic for a good price.
Any reason why you haven't looked at Hondas?
If you're looking for fuel economy, a reliable car, a car with a high re-sale value, and have a budget of about $18K, there's no reason not to test drive a Civic.
Also, most car websites will give you the option to select several cars at the same time and compare them online, so that should help out with the selection process.
You can't make your choices only based on specs and reading. The cars you're looking at are way different, you have to go drive them. See if you can notice the things that they did in the articles, and if they would bother you compared to the other cars you drive.
Go look for comparison tests on www.caranddriver.com. They will probably have some that contain a couple of the cars you like against each other. I've never been to cars.com, but www.edmunds.com has user reviews for used cars. Look up last year's model of the cars. Those are a great resource for finding out what generally goes wrong within a year or two, how it holds up, and what people think once the newness wears off. Edmunds will also tell you about all the rebates and specials that are being offered on each model.
Once you're ready to buy read the articles about that. There are some really good ones that tell you exactly how to get a good deal. It helps a lot if you can go through the internet sales dept. Haggling over email is much easier than in person. Since the internet sales manager doesn't work off commission you generally get it cheaper that way too. Lots of cars have forums dedicated to them online. They will generally have a thread about what kind of deals people are getting so you will know about what you should pay.
When you're out taking test drives don't give the sales guys your phone number! Take their card and tell them if you decide to go that route you'll give them a call.
18K is a bit above mine, honestly the max I can go is probably 16k. Especially since the 18k will be the base price and there will probably be things I want more than just that.
I need to work out my budget too, if I can get my car payments + insurance to be $400 a month I would be hella happy.
I have checked out the Honda's but didn't really like any of them, the closest was the Fit which sounds like it's a bit of a weaker car and I hate hatchbacks. With a passion.
Yeah I've been using Cars.com and Edmunds as well, and I intend to test drive as well, but I had to narrow it down to a few cars instead of wanting to test drive 20 different cars.
As for haggling, my dad is helping me out with this so I'm going to be learning the whole way.
To stormy's point, you should also check out www.consumerreports.org. Yes, it does cost to become a member ($24 for the year), but you'll get access to reviews on all kinds of other products.
I like consumer reports because it breaks down the overall quality of the car you're looking at for each year it was manufactured. Some years are better than others for particular cars, so this may also help you find a good used car as well.
Yeah I'm going to be using consumerreports tonight as well. Also using edmunds to find out the dealer invoice prices to help with the haggling.
Consumer Reports doesn't know shit about cars. You are better off at Edmunds. They also give the JD power ratings for used cars. It's like consulting Rolling Stone for their video game reviews.