I’ve used TrueCar for our last 3 cars and I get a guaranteed price (I like to research using car gurus, auto trader,etc) then I don’t mind using that price and negotiating lower off a good price already.......just keep saying No till they stop attempting to sell u the car then u know u hit rock Bottom then pull the trigger
We were in the market before the quarantine hit. I test drove both and preferred the Palisade, but I'd be happy in either. The Telluride is sportier and the Palisade has more of a luxury feel. The guts of the cars are largely the same; the Telluride's dash just felt a little cheap to me compared to the Palisade.
wolfpck the 4runner is an SUV for someone that would rather be in a pickup. Always nice having the trunk window that rolls down if you’re driving around with your pups too. Take that with a grain of salt though, I’m a big Toyota fan.
If you are buying new, I would look at using Costco. It's easily worth the annual membership. They have a preset dealer list that they set a no frills price with. From what I saw is that it is real low, but not the lowest price that the dealers will go, so if you like negotiating you can use it. Costco pretty much cuts out all of the bullshit negotiations. I was already negotiating with the dealership that I bought from and they said the only way they could go lower was if I had a Costco membership, which I did plus Costco had a promo with the manufacturer. Ended up with a couple extra hundred off the Costco price at the end of the day. Overall, I was able to take off about $6k from sticker.
Overall the process was so simple and stress free with not dealing with a sales staff, etc. Trade in was more than a local dealer had said they "think they can get us" Their pictures and details on any imperfections on their website are very good. We opted for home delivery (no extra cost) over the novelty of doing the car vending machine thing When they delivered we got to drive it around for as long as we wanted and look for anything wrong Wife found some tiny brown spots on the rear bumper, they ended up sending me a check for $150 for a detail for that 7 days trial to drive it after drop off with the option to just end the deal and get the trade in back is just an outstanding concept Also have the option during that 7 days to reject the one they brought and pick out a different vehicle from their website to have them bring and start another 7 days Comes with a 90 day warranty, that is through one of those extended warranty companies At about 60 days after we received the car, the a/c compressor went out, took it to the local dealer. Looked up my warranty info on the carvana app, picked up rental car and wife got her car back a couple of days later with zero out of pocket costs (I think we paid upfront for the rental, but they reimbursed us) Tell me any regular car dealer that would have replaced the compressor 2 days, let alone 2 months after we bought a car from them.
I second carvana .. bought a car from them 2 cars ago .. was a great experience. 10/10 highly recommend.
For small/midsized cars Mazda 3 Mazda 6 Honda civic Honda accord Toyota corolla Toyota camry VW golf gti Kia Soul Kia Stinger Subaru WRX Those are all good cars
Looking at carvana now and their whole website is really impressive. I think I’m gonna go this route too. Thanks for the insight
Thoughts on Acura TLX, Toyota Avalon, Infiniti G series? Bricktop the white These were the top 3 results on carvana when I put in what I’m looking for
We used to have an avalon and have had an infiniti g While the infiniti was fun to drive, the avalon kicked its ass in fuel economy and overall maintenance
TLX are great. Make sure to look at what engine is in each one though. The 4 cylinder is more fuel efficient but some might think it is a little underpowered for the car. I never wanted a minivan, but they are so convenient and easy to drive. Also helps that they are like half the price of the big suvs.
of those three, i would go with the avalon. it's the biggest of the three and you cant be toyota reliability/build quality. They aren't particularly thrilling to drive but they are truly bulletproof cars, toyota's v6s are some of the best engines ever made. Infiniti as a brand may actually be going defunct soon as Nissan is a tremendous amount of debt and sales have plummeted due to corona virus. I would go with the infinit only if you got a really good deal or are totally in love with the looks. Acura makes a fine car but they've been criticized lately for behind on tech and not doing enough to differentiate themselves from the underlying honda engineering. For the same money in the midsize segment, its very hard to justify paying the premium for the acura over say, a camry or mazda 6. If you're looking for a full sized sedan, consider buying a used luxury car. Chrysler 300s and Cadillac CT6s can be had for insane values and are largely going to be very reliable (though not to the absurd degree of the Avalon). A 2017 CT6 that retailed for 65K can be had today with 30k miles on it for 30k. You can get a 2015 chrysler 300 with a 365 horsepower V8 that retailed for 50k for 20k. Just don't do the used luxury route on european cars or you will get crushed by repair bills.
The new(ish) Camry and Accord are pretty awesome for economy cars. Both have ~280hp sport options and a ton of tech for like 27k brand new.
I really like the 300S, but a huge portion of the models available are retired rental fleet cars. If you can find one that's off-lease though or otherwise a one-owner car, they are a steal: https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/813316941/overview/ I can't imagine ever buying a car brand new...
I had to trade in my beloved miata after nearly getting killed by lifted trucks 3 times in 3 days. Went with a 2015S with the 5.7L hemi V8 that had one owner and every options package with 32k miles on it. I paid 23k about 18 months ago. Its been great thus far. Even has adaptive cruise control and automatic front braking.
Is it common/easy to extend a lease? Mine is up next month and I don't really want to get anything new since I'm wfh until at least January. Do I have any leverage to renegotiate price if I want to go another 6 months or so? I'm significantly under my miles.
I think some will give you an extension if you call the finance department and talk to them. No clue if six months is reasonable or not. Can’t hurt to ask.
Just catching up on this thread and thought I’d offer my two cents on Carvana. Overall the shopping experience was great for us but the purchasing portion left a little to be desired, but I think that’s because we blended the “old” way of doing things with going the carvana route. We obtained financing beforehand and the process of getting that from the bank to Carvana was a pain in the ass that took well over a week and too many phone calls to count. It was so annoying my wife almost killed the deal. Looking back, we probably would just initially finance through Carvana and then turn around and immediately refinance through a bank for their much lower rates. Maybe they’ve improved their processes since then, or maybe it was our bank’s fault, I don’t know. I just know it sucked.
Wife has a CX5 from the year right before the redesign (2017 I think) and my father in law has the 2019 fully kitted out. Both are huge fans and I think they’ve held their value really well.
Thanks! I've heard from friends who got the old CX-7 that they liked it with the HUD, just was wondering if the drive-ability carried forward. If I do pull the trigger it'll be for the signature 2020 model since those are getting marked down pretty heavily right now.
I think that’s the one my FIL has. It’s got the same engine at the CX-9 (like 250hp) plus all the bells and whistles (adaptive cruise control, lane assist, etc.). My wife’s may be slightly underpowered in my opinion but it’s still plenty to get in and out of traffic. I think you’ll be really happy with it.
just bought a 2020 CX-5 awd we really like it, slightly underpowered but nothing too crazy it’s plenty good........it’s smooth, looks really nice and for the price u can’t beat it.......biggest drawback and only real negative the back cargo area isn’t that big everything else we been really happy about
With I had gotten the CX-5 over my Mazda3. Of course doesn’t really matter as I bought it at the end of 2019 and it now has 2,000 miles on it.
My first car was a CX-5. Only ever had one problem with it, and that problem was going to cost like $3K to fix so I just got rid of it and got a new car.
to be fair, the actual best mazda car is the miata. i regret selling mine every day and fully intend to buy another one once I can afford to have 2 cars for myself.
probably the most beautiful of all the JDM cars of that era. Prices have been skyrocketing though. You'll be lucky to find one for less than 30k at this point (90's FD model) I had a 2016 and loved it. 2018 introduced more horsepower and a higher redline as well as backup cameras and a telescoping steering wheel. I happen to think the ND is the best looking and best driving of the bunch so i'd look for one 2016 or newer. Prices for the NA (the original model) have gone way up, especially post covid. I adore NA miatas, but paying $6k+ for a 30 year old convertible is nuts to me. The NC miata is the heaviest and slowest miata, and in my opinion, the worst looking. Prices are weakest for those. if you are choosing between NDs, club is the sweet spot for trim level. Has the limited slip differential + the better looking wheels. Brembo wheels/big brake option looks nice but isn't necessary. The RF hardtop version is extremely good looking, but probably not worth the extra 4-6k you'll pay for it unless you do a ton of highway driving (which you shouldn't do in any miata) They're extremely easy to modify so if 180hp isn't enough, you can drop in a turbo for less than 5k and boost it to 250+ hp in a car that weighs nothing.