Car Shopping Advice

[tarheelpride]

9 hours ago, OneBadCat said:

If you're looking for a sedan have you considered a second generation Acura TSX? They are essentially dressed up Honda Accords. But with depreciation I'm sure they are pretty reasonably priced now. Whats your budget? I have a 2008 first gen I bought cash and its held up wonderfully. Leather still looks brand new and the honda 4 cylinder is pretty much bullet proof.  

Gotta stick with the 2015 or newer per The bank’s conditions, otherwise I’d look at them. I wouldn’t mind a TSX and I like the way they look. The TLX on the other hand isn’t something I want, strictly because the trim level I would want has buttons to press to put it in drive instead of a gearstick. 

 

With how how my wife received the XC60, I’m hoping to test an RDX this weekend. I’ve found some 2016’s that would stay within our price range and barely touch my insurance rate. 

 

Looking to spend less than 25k after adding in taxes and such. Have a decent down payment to put on the vehicle too

[tarheelpride]

I'll throw this out there just to get a feel on it:

 

Under the condition I have a mechanic and/or body shop check out the car, how would you all feel about purchasing a vehicle with a reported accident? Depending on what the CarFax or AutoCheck says about it, of course.

 

I've been avoiding looking at vehicles with an accident on record, but I feel as if I could be missing out on a steal, especially if the accident is minor and everything is fixed (hence the inspection). Then again, I could be avoiding headaches down the road.

[thefuzz]

16 hours ago, tarheelpride said:

I'll throw this out there just to get a feel on it:

 

Under the condition I have a mechanic and/or body shop check out the car, how would you all feel about purchasing a vehicle with a reported accident? Depending on what the CarFax or AutoCheck says about it, of course.

 

I've been avoiding looking at vehicles with an accident on record, but I feel as if I could be missing out on a steal, especially if the accident is minor and everything is fixed (hence the inspection). Then again, I could be avoiding headaches down the road.

All about the accident.  It wouldn't scare me off, but you also need to consider how long you will keep the car, and the potential resale.

Personally, I would feel much better about it if you were buying a Toyota or Honda that you are going to drive for 5-10 years vs. a Volvo or Infinity that will start to break your bank once it's out of warranty and you ditch it after 3 years.

[panther4life]

16 hours ago, tarheelpride said:

I'll throw this out there just to get a feel on it:

 

Under the condition I have a mechanic and/or body shop check out the car, how would you all feel about purchasing a vehicle with a reported accident? Depending on what the CarFax or AutoCheck says about it, of course.

 

I've been avoiding looking at vehicles with an accident on record, but I feel as if I could be missing out on a steal, especially if the accident is minor and everything is fixed (hence the inspection). Then again, I could be avoiding headaches down the road.

How does the carfax classify the accident? Sometimes it will just blandly say accident reported, other time it will be more specific like minor damage and state what happened. Anything that says moderate damage or more I’d take a hard pass on. 

I wouldn’t be scared of it, but as Fuzz mentioned  if you go to trade or sale it down the road l, know that the carfax will have an impact on it. Granted if you’re going to keep it to 100k miles or more then the accident reported won’t impact  you that much.

Also I don’t want to put any specific dealers on blast here because they are not all bad, but if you’re buying a used car from a Franchise dealer(Honda, Nissan,Hyundai,etc) vs joes used car lot, that also makes a huge difference.

Plus since you mention a  potential steal, always look to see how long the car has been on the lot. Anything in that 60 day range will be a top priority for them to sale. The key is, making sure it sat there that long because of factors other than something being wrong with it.

Since you are on a used car kick now, I highly recommend checking out Cargurus.com. Excellent consumer friendly site for used cars and even tells you how long each car has been on the lot, otherwise you’d have to check the carfax. 

[LinvilleGorge]

2 hours ago, panther4life said:

How does the carfax classify the accident? Sometimes it will just blandly say accident reported, other time it will be more specific like minor damage and state what happened. Anything that says moderate damage or more I’d take a hard pass on. 

I wouldn’t be scared of it, but as Fuzz mentioned  if you go to trade or sale it down the road l, know that the carfax will have an impact on it. Granted if you’re going to keep it to 100k miles or more then the accident reported won’t impact  you that much.

Also I don’t want to put any specific dealers on blast here because they are not all bad, but if you’re buying a used car from a Franchise dealer(Honda, Nissan,Hyundai,etc) vs joes used car lot, that also makes a huge difference.

Plus since you mention a  potential steal, always look to see how long the car has been on the lot. Anything in that 60 day range will be a top priority for them to sale. The key is, making sure it sat there that long because of factors other than something being wrong with it.

Since you are on a used car kick now, I highly recommend checking out Cargurus.com. Excellent consumer friendly site for used cars and even tells you how long each car has been on the lot, otherwise you’d have to check the carfax. 

Yeah, CarGurus is great. I found my current car on there. Got the deal worked out over the phone and email then flew from CO to Raleigh to pick it up. Booked a roundtrip ticket just in case I decided to back out after checking it out in person. Even after the flight, gas, and hotel I still came out about $3k ahead of what I would've said here in CO. If it's a 4x4 or AWD Toyota/Lexus or Subaru here in CO it's worth it's weight in gold.

[tarheelpride]

Hopefully this weekend will be less stressful. Spent several hours combing through the various sites and found Acura RDX's and Lexus ES350's that would be in our price range. Just need the wife to test drive the Acura. I want to go in that direction but she wants the Lexus.

 

As far as the accident thing, I thought I found a low mileage, CPO Acura RDX that was running around 20k. Turns out, it had an accident and suffered "moderate damage", so that is a no-go.

 

If we can't agree on anything, I can come to accept a very nice Civic and get myself an SUV in a few years.

[LinvilleGorge]

Why the RDX vs ES? Do you want a crossover "SUV" or a sedan? The RX would be the Lexus equivalent to the RDX.

[tarheelpride]

12 hours ago, panther4life said:

 

Also I don’t want to put any specific dealers on blast here because they are not all bad, but if you’re buying a used car from a Franchise dealer(Honda, Nissan,Hyundai,etc) vs joes used car lot, that also makes a huge difference.

Plus since you mention a  potential steal, always look to see how long the car has been on the lot. Anything in that 60 day range will be a top priority for them to sale. The key is, making sure it sat there that long because of factors other than something being wrong with it.

I think we're gonna go with a franchise dealer location or CarMax, based off the reviews I'm seeing compared to the smaller car lots. One lot I was considering, turns out, sell plenty of cars that have been involved in accidents. Some even with frame damage. The negative reviews all mention the same theme: they refuse to stand behind their vehicles. It's a shame since they do have the lowest prices. I do want to use their price points in negotiation with other dealers to get myself a better price.

 

As far as how long they've been sitting on the lot, which website would be the best for that? Cargurus? Autotrader? I haven't taken too much notice to that specific detail. I'd imagine it would be a high time to start.

[tarheelpride]

1 minute ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Why the RDX vs ES? Do you want a crossover "SUV" or a sedan? The RX would be the Lexus equivalent to the RDX.

Wife wants a Lexus and the RX350 is outside of our price range. Even the smaller version, the NX is too expensive. I'd prefer the SUV and would want to sit up, but we do need something she would feel comfortable driving as well, hence the ES model. Compromises.

[panther4life]

8 hours ago, tarheelpride said:

Wife wants a Lexus and the RX350 is outside of our price range. Even the smaller version, the NX is too expensive. I'd prefer the SUV and would want to sit up, but we do need something she would feel comfortable driving as well, hence the ES model. Compromises.

Car gurus. FYI Carmax does not negotiate, price you see is price you get.

 

[Ja Rhule]

So I’m going to buy Audi...  now throw ur best advise at me.  I’m in no rush.

[LinvilleGorge]

19 minutes ago, ARSEN said:

So I’m going to buy Audi...  now throw ur best advise at me.  I’m in no rush.

Only buy one under warranty and bail on it before the warranty expires. They have a really bad habit of turning into absolute money pits around 75k miles. Lots of maintenance required and none of it cheap.

[panther4life]

20 hours ago, ARSEN said:

So I’m going to buy Audi...  now throw ur best advise at me.  I’m in no rush.

Don’t do it buy a Benz instead

[toldozer]

22 hours ago, ARSEN said:

So I’m going to buy Audi...  now throw ur best advise at me.  I’m in no rush.

what model?