Underfoot Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 This is a super appropriate topic to have appear, since I am starting the process of buying a new (used) car. This is the first time I've ever car shopped or had to take a loan, so I'm super nervous about the whole thing. I just graduated university so my budget is a little tight, but I have some flexibility. What I'm looking for: 1. A reliable car that will last me at least 7 years, with few issues 2. A car with good gas mileage . . . 3. Comfort + drivability in snow (I will be moving to Ann Arbor in January) + desired features like cruise control, auxiliary cable etc are secondary 4. Hatchback style is appealing, for the extra space it affords if you fold down the backseats My budget is $15k-18k and I'm only looking at used cars. Right now, I'm strongly leaning towards a 2012 or 2013 Honda Fit or Honda Civic, though I have yet to test drive anything. I can do manual or automatic. Do you have any suggestions for me overall? I need to get a loan (I can put down a pretty sizable down payment, but I will need to have a loan for $8-11k), and I have never gotten a loan. Should I go through a credit union? I know someone mentioned to not go through the dealership--is there a reason for that? How do you negotiate the price of a car? I've never negotiated the price for anything in my life! Should I absolutely have a mechanic look over the car, or do I only need to do that if the car isn't certified pre-owned? I'm really intimidated by this whole process, so any tips or suggestions are very welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitestripe Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 Underfoot: Those were the exact things that I was looking for when I bought the car I have now. I ended up with the Scion XD. (the little one) It has cruise control and an aux cable, but not Bluetooth. A hatch was a must. We were replacing a 7ish year old Mazda3 hatchback with 130K miles on it. We were planning to replace it in the summer, but in January it died. It was not worth fixing. That car went great until 100k and then everything started to break. We pretty much needed a car immediately, so we could not wait for something to become available. I would have loved a Matrix, but they had stopped making them. I seem to recall there was something strange about VW Golfs not being available. (Did they stop making them for a while?) I drove a Versa, a Yaris, and a Fit and hated all of them. They had no pick up and I felt like I was in a tin can. We considered a Ford Focus, but the dealer was unspeakably rude to us so we left. I drove the Scion and liked it well enough, so that is what we bought.I also drove a Civic, but the Scion was more fun, plus I sat up higher in the Scion. I live in the snow belt, and the car has been fine in the winter. I did buy snow tires, but I can get around just fine if it starts to snow before I get them on. I just prefer to have them, especially since my job is at the top of a very large hill and I am often working late at night on weekends when plows are not aS frequent, plus at the time we lived outside of town in a very hilly area. My Scion is six years old and I have had no issues. I'd be keeping it but I can't haul stuff and kids at the same time. ETA: I test drove all the cars in the middle of the winter, so I had a pretty good handle on how they did in bad weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underfoot Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 The Scion xD wasn't even on my radar, I'll have to look into that! Also, sorry for completely hijacking your topic :blushing: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Pepper Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Transmission: I've always driven standard. I am not sure what I would do with myself in an automatic. Probably stomp on the break all the time looking for a clutch. I've noticed that a lot of automatic transmissions are including a clutchless shifting option, even for base models. I was always a manual transmission person, but had to go automatic for various reasons, one an arm injury that was starting to make driving feel a bit torturous. It wasn't as hard to switch as I thought it would be and the clutchless shifting is a nice bonus to have when I feel I really miss having more control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitestripe Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 It's all good. Scions are basically Toyotas, but they have a hipper vibe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I've noticed that a lot of automatic transmissions are including a clutchless shifting option, even for base models. I grew up with manual but auto is really nice in stop-go commuting traffic and clutchless shifting is really fun for performance driving when you have some space. At this point I think manual only exists because so many people are slow to change habit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Well, if you live near the Canadian border, the Canadian dollar is on sale. Two years ago we were near par, now we are worth 76 cents to the US buck. There are lots of used Toyota Matrixes available for sale. There must be a web site somewhere explaining how you can buy a used car in Canada and import it into the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 I grew up with manual but auto is really nice in stop-go commuting traffic and clutchless shifting is really fun for performance driving when you have some space. At this point I think manual only exists because so many people are slow to change habit. Manual transmissions are also way cheaper to fix and less prone to problems. It's just less stuff to break. A new clutch might run you a grand, but a new AT in many modern vehicles could run you $2500 to $4000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Manual transmissions are also way cheaper to fix and less prone to problems. It's just less stuff to break. A new clutch might run you a grand, but a new AT in many modern vehicles could run you $2500 to $4000. Yes, cost is a difference. But if you are driving cars within their first ten years of life, the transmission is under warranty for a lot of (most?) models. So the simpler, cheaper manual is not an issue for the person buying the car when new. They have a lot more influence on car features/design than the people who buy far downstream, even if resale value is part of their thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitestripe Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 FB: I'm about 2 hours from the border, not terribly far. I wonder what the rules about importing a car are. It's probably a headache. And then the kilometers will be on the top of the speedometer, instead of little numbers underneath, right? ;) I do like the control of manual transmission in snowy weather. Especially I on that damn hill I go up every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Yes, cost is a difference. But if you are driving cars within their first ten years of life, the transmission is under warranty for a lot of (most?) models. So the simpler, cheaper manual is not an issue for the person buying the car when new. They have a lot more influence on car features/design than the people who buy far downstream, even if resale value is part of their thinking. That makes sense. I think the newest car I ever owned was 12 years old, but I guess with a warranty it's not as much of an issue. But if you're buying even a new used car, even CPO there are a lot of things to watch out for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fragile Bird Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 FB: I'm about 2 hours from the border, not terribly far. I wonder what the rules about importing a car are. It's probably a headache. And then the kilometers will be on the top of the speedometer, instead of little numbers underneath, right? ;)I do like the control of manual transmission in snowy weather. Especially I on that damn hill I go up every day.When the Canadian dollar got strong, all kinds of people went to the US and bought cars to bring back across the border. I would think that if you searched around there's somebody with a how-to-do-it website. Maybe the auto club? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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