Why did you choose the car you bought?

[Earlybird]

I have been a public transport girl for much of my adult life, with brief interludes of renting a car when I needed to drive somewhere inaccessible. We have recently moved, and now I need to buy a car. EEEKKK! I haven't paid much attention to cars since I was in my early '20s....which, suffice to say, is a long time!

I've done a fair amount of research on various makes/models - safety, reliability, expert ratings/test drives, specifications, resale value etc. Last week, I test drove 5 cars, and am due to visit one more dealership on Tuesday. Obviously, when I see/drive the cars, the more aspects of 'do I like the look of it' and 'how does it feel to sit inside and drive it' become considerations too.

Instead of narrowing it down, I am feeling more confused than ever.

Is it better to stretch to a more expensive car that will hold it's value for resale? Better to get a low mileage used car (still under warranty), or sparkling new (if the numbers work)? I'm doing this on my own, so no dp/dh to bounce ideas off - I'm free to choose what I want, which also means free to make a bad decision....

How did you decide which cars to look at, and what made you choose the one you bought? Any regrets and/or things you wish you'd thought of?
What would you like your next car to be, and why?

Thanks for helping me think this through...

Public transportation in Tenn. not doing it for ya?

What kind of car are you looking for? Have you found any you really like?

LOL! Yes, don't fancy standing in the heat waiting for one bus an hour!

Have looked at Toyota and BMW so far. Going to Honda on Tuesday. Seems every other car around here is a Toyota or Honda.

What car have you got, and why? BTW - saw on the other thread that you've been unwell today. Hope you feel better soon.

I've always had Toyotas or Hondas. When we found out we were pregnant with DS, I stopped working. I always leased cars when working (I loved getting a new car every 2 years and never having to deal with fixing anything) and the lease came up. DH wanted to buy a car outright, and at that point in our life, buying a Toyota or Honda new for cash wasn't an option. We got a Kia Optima brand new with all options for $12K. I was not too thrilled, because I'm a Honda girl all the way, but in reality, it rides better than my Accords, and we've only had to ever replace the tires and a battery once. I think it is almost 5 years old right now. DH has a Toyota Tacoma he bought 10 years ago that was about a year old, and he's had to replace a clutch fan twice. I drive a Dodge Caravan now, but that is because MIL died last year, and she had just bought it before she found out she had cancer. It was almost brand new and had 3000 miles on it.

Toyotas and Hondas have a really good reputation for being fairly trouble-free, and most people I know have one or the other and have very little problems. If you choose a Honda, stay away from the HX models (they are designed for gas mileage, which is great, but it constantly had something strange with the transmission, and I'm really glad I leased that one, because it was on warranty to fix it)

How familiar are you with the car buying process? You really have to be on top of your stuff, or it is easy to get taken. DH usually takes about 10 hours to buy a car, but he gets the price knocked down a lot. Have you looked into buying from an auto broker? We've never done it, but other people we know have, and they tend to get really good prices and are happy with the experience. My mom bought her last car through one, and was pleased in how much she saved. DH's step-mom bought a Chevy Tahoe several years ago. She got all the extras and did the negotiating herself without FIL, and payed $50 grand for it. DH's cousin bought one the year after her from an auto broker, it was the exact same down to the color, and he paid $36,500 for his.

I hate shopping for cars. The dealers around here love seeing unaccompanied females, and really try their best to upsell and give you bad deals. I'm more than happy to have DH do the shopping for me.

Like I said, I love leasing a car and getting a new one every few years (you can negotiate lease prices, too, if you didn't know). I'm a complete Honda fanatic, but in my head, I know that while the resale value is nice, it is probably throwing some money away. DH is really good at saving money, and likes not having car payments. His advice is to get a newer model low-mileage used car with a warranty, because once you drive it off a lot, the value plummets. He was thinking of trading in the Kia to get a Prius hybrid, but when he gets promoted, he's going to get a company car, so we don't need 4 cars.

I hope I didn't write too long of a book, or acted like you weren't prepared. I'm just surprised at how many of our friends (male and female) just walk in, pay the price on the sticker and drive out with their new car when they could have saved thousands.

I've got a Jeep Liberty and love it. My H picked it out, his and hers. It's a brilliant 4x4. We need them here in Colorado for the Winter. I was told to avoid most other US Brands. The new Honda Hybrids are brilliant apparently as are the Prius. Also good are the Subaru Outback - estate cars. If you really hate buying, find yourself a good auto broker like CCM mentions. There are plenty around who'll help you out and they can save you thousands. Go for one with a good safety record and the LATCH system for car seats.

You can get some really good deals on new if you buy older models and they still come with the three year/five year warranties etc. Strangely enough my Jeep is maintaining it's value well. There is a new baby Jeep called a Compass which gets a good write up. Great vision and super handling.

Good luck Earlybird you can do it. Just pretend you're shopping for clothes.

I went with toyota (in NZ) after a lifetime of buying european cars. Toyota are the biggest selling here which means cheaper to fix, and Jeremy Clarkson said they never need fixing.

I have bought 2 ex demo cars now which saved me the depreciation hit but I knew the car had only been used for a few careful test drives. The toyota had only done 200km, was top of the range because it was the display car and had $10,000 off the price. I bought the 5 year worry free motoring, so I don't have to worry about service costs, I just insure it, fill it with fuel and may need to buy new tyres for it.

It has the best safety rating for an MPV which was important to me, and can hold us all comfortably, oh and the colour was nice.

Honda don't have any haggling I believe (is that also the case in the US?) but I would have had to stump up the money for one, to maybe get more when I sell it. So unless you have a lot of money sitting around it's a false economy IMO.

Do any dealers offer interest free credit? That was a large part of my decision to go with Citroens when I lived in the UK - free insurance as well was motivating as I was under 25.

Resale value - irrelevent to us, as we have no intention of selling it for at least 10y.

New v Nearly new - we went for new (for the first time ever!) because we found a website (drivethedeal) where we found the car we wanted, new and to our spec, at less than the nearly new price.

We needed a car that could take 3 carseats across, and wanted the ability to carry more passengers as well, so that we wouldn't have to convoy every time we visited/were visited by our parents/friends etc.
W
e wanted a reliable make and diesel for greater fuel efficiency.

We weren't hugely worried about general safety, as most cars of the class we were interested in have reasonable safety ratings. The safety aspect that particularly concerned us was that we wanted to be able to have a tonneau cover and load retention net in place whether we used only2 rows or all 3 rows of seats (to isolate the luggage from the passengers, and to keep luggage hidden).

Ultimately we chose the Ford Galaxy because it has 7 full-size seats (ie can carry 7 adults in comfort), none of which have to be removed in order to get a large boot. The boot is also still respectable with all 7 seats in use. It was the car we both felt most comfortable driving (not relevant, I know, to you). I was concerned with comfortable handling, sightlines, and not too boingy ride as I drive mostly on country roads. Dh was concerned with acceleration and handling at speed, as he does mostly motorway driving. The one thing it lacks, IMO, is sliding doors.

Looks were irrelevant, and accessories fairly low down on the list of priorities.

I chose my car because I knew it would be the only one in the school car park. Every other car I could think of made me think of a particular family at the school and I didn't want to copy them!
I also LOVE driving it. It makes me very happy.

It's always nice to wake up and find helpful messages waiting!

The only two cars I have ever had are a Toyota Celica (first car I bought with my own money when I was in college), and a leased BMW station wagon (are they called estates or saloons?) procured when I was 8 months pregnant and thought I'd need/want a car. Both cars were lovely, though visits to the BMW dealer for service were pricey.

I am lucky in that I have strong personal contacts 'near the top of the food chain' at all 3 of the dealerships I've visited so not quite the gullible lone female wandering onto the lot. But, I still need to do my homework.

For those who can bear it, here's more of my thinking out loud:

1. Toyota - The 2008 Highlander is just starting to come onto the lots here. As it's just dd and me most of the time, not sure I need a car this big (with optional 3rd seat that would suit only pixie size people), but it certainly looks nice and has every bell/whistle a person could want. Financing is available at just over 5% for those with good credit rating, so pretty good rate. A new 2008 Highlander would cost about the same as the dealer loaner 2007 BMW cars with low mileage (less than 10,000 miles).

I asked about the hybrid cars, but was told that they are not as good as people think because they cost $5-6,000 more than same model with regular engines and are harder to have serviced because it's such a specialised thing. I drove a friend's new Hybrid Highlander earlier in the week, and liked it alot (great acceleration which surprised me), but are my 'green' convictions so strong that I'm willing to pay quite a bit more? Not sure....

I didn't look at the RAV-4 because it seemed too small (and the kind of entry level SUV rich kids get for their 16th birthday), but wonder if I should go back and take a look.

2. Honda - going to the dealer on Tuesday, where the GM will show me what's on offer, and will do the deal for me (should I wish to proceed). I plan on looking at the Pilot (think it's the equivalent size to the Highlander, so maybe too big), and the CR-V. No idea about what financing is on offer for either. The manufacturer is currently offering $3000 off list price to move 2007 cars off the lot, so that discount would be in addition to whatever the dealer wants to cut off. I know there is not much stock on the lot as they are such popular cars and it's the end of the model year - does that mean I won't have much choice in colour/features? Not sure....

3. BMW - I drove a 2007 328 station wagon (7,000 miles). amd a 2006 X-3 (small SUV, with 8,000 miles) - both were dealer loaner cars. Both very comfortable. Both have long warranties to cover any mechanical issues and upkeep. Both cost about the same, and are roughly equal in price to new Toyotas and Hondas. No financing deals or rebates on offer. These cars probably rank highest for me on 'aesthetics' because they feel more luxurious - but is that the basis for a decision, especially when it will hit hard in the wallet?

More random thoughts (if you're not asleep by now): as I said earlier, seems that every other car around here is a Toyota or Honda which obviously means people like them and they are good cars. But, something in me doesn't want to have the same car as everyone else.

I've been told to steer clear of auto brokers in the region for now as there were huge problems with cars being sold that had been flooded in Hurricane Katrina...also, have been advised that it's better to go via a dealer because if I've bought a car from them, they'll 'take care of me' should there be any mechanical issues.

I've leaned away from Subaru because the only person I know that drives one has had big and recurring mechanical problems (she cheerfully call it her 'lemon'), but know from my research that they are viewed favourably by professionals.

So, I'm not much closer to a decision....thanks for reading...

Hondas are pretty good all round - reliable and hold their value pretty well. Bear in mind that a lot of depreciation occurs the second it's driven out of the garage so may be worth looking at an ex demo or something. Ex-OH's Honda Civic was 6 months old & already £3k less than it was new.

I have a Ford Fiesta - wanted a car that size & was put off by a couple of garages nearby (Toyota & Vauxhall), didn't like the Polo, second hand Jazzes were scarce at the time & I really liked the Fiesta & I found the perfect one so got it!

When I was looking the salesmen pretty much said it was down to preference & budget - they said most cars are pretty similar in terms of safety & reliability.

Earlybird if you can afford it the hybrid would be my car of choice. I love BMW but I hear parts are really expensive. You get more for your money with the Japanese. But heck those new baby Beemer SUVs are gorgeous.

Size - number of seats plus boot space
Built in DVD player
Low mileage for age

Easy- right number of seats, and was the cheapest local car on ebay (we were broke and garage had written off our old car, in a bit of a sticky problem as Dh needed one for work)

Has worked out well though, and Dh will replace with a newer model of same (Espace) when he needs to as he loves it

I forgot about the hurricane. I saw a story last year about how many flooded cars there were out there and what a big problem it was. I don't think many of them made it all the way out here, so it skipped my mind.

DH has worked where we are now for 7 months. In that time, he's had to go get his boss twice, because his bosses fiancees' BMW has broken down twice, and he's been stuck as he gave her his car.

My best friend here has a Highlander. They really bought too much car than they could afford, and she has to watch how much she drives. Hers has never gotten the gas mileage that they said it should, and I was really surprised how fast it eats through gas. Not sure if it is just a problem with her car, as I don't know anyone else who owns one. She's had to fight with her dealer to repair things under warranty that broke, too, but I think that is an individual dealer problem.

I'm pushing for the CR-V. I looooove that car. It was my dream car until we got our van. (With 4 of us, 2 in car seats we need all the room we can get, and I like being able to take people with us when we go places. That and it is strange how the smaller the person is, the more stuff you haul around for them.) DH was going to be nice and trade in the van for one, but it just seemed kind of a waste of money when we could have a practically brand new car for free. My best friend from where we moved from last year had her CR-V, and it rode great, had great gas mileage for the car it was, and was virtually problem free. I know several other people who have them, and they all love them and have had a really good maintenance track record. You can get a good amount of stuff in them to haul around, too. My only thing about them is they redesigned them for this years model, and I don't like the new look. But when the kids get bigger and not in car seats, I definitely would be interested in getting one for myself.

When things are really bad for the automakers, some of the American ones like GMC offer 0% interest, but I haven't seen any of those offers for awhile. Honda and Toyota have had financing specials, but never have had to resort to 0% financing to get people to buy.

safety safety safety, it was on the top of my list. If you have kids it should be yours to

Ours is supposedly one of the safest, but in relaity I think price is overwhelmingly the only criteria for some people.

Chap on our campsite got a nrew car (dad couldnt remember which sadly)- first drive was Scotland to Cornwall- returned 5MPG! Obv. broken and is returning on way home, but poor chap had to get an overdraft to get home!!!!!!
!

Dh and I wanted to buy an estate.

We went to the newsagents, bought 3 car magazines (first time ever). Looked in the section for best estate cars.

They all said Mazda 6.

We went out and bought a Mazda 6 (second hand mind, would never buy a new car, depreciation and all).

Very easy.

as much safety as possible for the money

this is a good site [[http://www.euroncap.com/home.aspx ncap car safety ratings]

aaargh

ncap car safety ratings

I'm only looking at cars with good records for safety, performance and resale.

C&C - I don't know anyone with a BMW, so interesting to hear that it's proving unreliable in your dh's experience.

As I said, I tend to think that the mid-size Toyotas and Hondas (Highlander and Pilot) are probably bigger than I need. I'm sure there will be a time that it would be nice to have seating for 8 people, but it would be seldom used, so largely a waste. And you're right - the mileage is shocking.

At the moment, I'm leaning toward a fully loaded CR-V or Rav-4 because either of those would cost less than a gently used recent model BMW. But, I'll probably get confused again when I visit the Honda dealer.....and I didn't mention that the Honda dealer also has the Volvo concession for this area. And I do like the look/sound of the Volvo wagon and SUV.

love audis
good solid cars.

Twas cheap.

We've got 2 - ancient Ford Puma and Audi A6 Avant.

The Puma we got because it was great fun to drive, pretty cheap for a fun car, and very easy to parallel park in tiny spaces (lived somewhere with on-street parking at the time).

We got the Audi to transport 2 large dogs who couldn't travel together (one would get nervous and attack the other). We wanted a car that would fit a particular type of dog box with a sturdy partition down the centre. The only cars that would fit it (I traipsed around garages for months with my measuring tape ) were the Audi A6, Ford Mondeo (dh not keen), Renault Laguna (too unreliable) or a Land Rover (poor fuel economy).

Now we only have one dog, and don't use the dog box, but have acquired ds (and dc 2 on the way) and a large pushchair, so the large boot is useful.

I hate it though (would drive the old Puma any time in preference). The moment we have passed the pushchair stage we'll replace it with something smaller and easier to park.
I wish we'd got the Mondeo estate instead.

When the Puma dies we'll replace it with a tiny car of some sort.

Honda CRV is very safe and has a good case against other 4x4s ( not that I wish to get into that debate)The 2.2CDTi engine gives good fuel econonmy.

My budget was prob a lot lower than most, but in the end I went for an older VW Golf.

I love it, its like a bloody tank, and no doubt isn't that fab on mpg, but for a first car, I love it.

I believe they are pretty well made and imo quite cool.

My ex is german, and he and I always liked vw's, in any shape or form, so when i managed to afford this one it also had a lovely 'two fingers to you matey' factor too.

Ive got a bashed VW polo, me and my kids and my clutter fit in it and its got a good stereo. As its a VW polo its easy to get parts for, its cheap on the insurance as well.