dude, thats my car
So a few months back my wife pulls her voodoo over me or something
and gets me to buy a NEW CAR (yeah im an idiot)
BONUS it was done inside city limits/ YAY SALES TAX
Then it turns out the economy tanked and its now worth NEW
almost fivegrand less them my current balance. :headshake .
But now when I get into arguments with my wife over other things
I KEEP BRING THIS UP> our parents told us to wait for the car.
WE WOULD BE IDIOTS FOR GETTING A NEW CAR.
should i trade it in for a different one and hope for a reduction or credit
or will i be forever upside down on this stupid
nicely made foreign hunk of metal and plastic.
I am really fine taking the bus and dont see why she clings to the damn thing.
I guess im to green or something, as i dont see why we need these death traps.
I wouldnt actually mind if it just went POOF! one day
except id probally have to pay them at this point to take it.
IDEAS? helpful suggestions to influence the misses?
pretty sure "THEY" are watching me
so paying someone to steal it is out of the question.
being upside down in your car is the american way.
trading it in in hopes of reducing your payment almost never works.
let's have some details.
what kind of a car is it specifically, and what do you owe......and did you buy gap insurance?
WTF do you care if some piece of paper says you're upside down? You still have it, you're still driving it. Just pretend you don't know what the "street value" of it is. Do you throw away all your clothes when the department store puts them on sale a few weeks later too?
One of the useful things my dad taught me is to never buy a brand-new car unless you're into throwing away $5000 by driving a block.
That, and the inexplicable habit of trading in the almost-new car for another new car every couple of years, are two American habits I will never understand... it makes no financial sense whatsoever, it's inexplicable! Is it stupidity? Vanity? What is the appeal of purposefully losing money on that scale? Can anyone explain this?
One of the useful things my dad taught me is to never buy a brand-new car unless you're into throwing away $5000 by driving a block.
That, and the inexplicable habit of trading in the almost-new car for another new car every couple of years, are two American habits I will never understand... it makes no financial sense whatsoever, it's inexplicable! Is it stupidity? Vanity? What is the appeal of purposefully losing money on that scale? Can anyone explain this?
I agree. I've always said "buy two years old and about 30k miles...it's already depreciated by driving it off the lot, but you didn't eat that money, and any problems have probably already been discovered." Actual words may vary. ;)
I haven't had a car payment since, like, 1995. I will again, soon, as my car has almost had it, but I'm looking at hondas about 2 years old.
if you are going to keep the car for 10 years+, then why not get exactly what you want and know that it's got no pre existing issues? if you're going to want a new one in 3, you should either pay cash for a used one or lease a new one if you have to have new.
My grandfather's philosophy was that every used car on the market is on the market because the previous owner thought there was something wrong with it and didn't want it any more. Why would you buy a car from someone when they don't want it any more?
I don't completely agree with his philosophy, but he has a good point. You just have to figure out what is "wrong" with the used car you are buying and if that "wrong" thing is something you can live with. But every used car has something "wrong" with it from the perspective of the previous owner.
if you are going to keep the car for 10 years+, then why not get exactly what you want and know that it's got no pre existing issues? if you're going to want a new one in 3, you should either pay cash for a used one or lease a new one if you have to have new.
That was the advice in Consumer's Reports way back when Mrs. Dar and I first got married. Buy new, run the wheels off it. It's worked pretty well for us so far.
I'd take LJ's advice on buying a car any day (unless he was selling it ... :cool:) ;).
I'm with dar. I prefer my cars to be virgins when I get 'em.
My grandfather's philosophy was that every used car on the market is on the market because the previous owner thought there was something wrong with it and didn't want it any more. Why would you buy a car from someone when they don't want it any more?
I don't completely agree with his philosophy, but he has a good point. You just have to figure out what is "wrong" with the used car you are buying and if that "wrong" thing is something you can live with. But every used car has something "wrong" with it from the perspective of the previous owner.
I don't think so: a lot of people just think they have to have the newest car on the market all the time. Keep up with the JOhanssens, or something.
My younger sis-in-law and I were talking about this, she's a "new car every three years" person and though I can see her perspective I think it's a waste of money. She does make the point that she is in her car a good amount of the time so she's going to make sure she's happy...but you can do the same thing with a one or two year old car. Between the two of them they have great income, so I guess it doesn't matter to them. Plus she's in sales (and hugely successful) and always gets good deals because she knows the game.
My Honda was 2 years/30k when I bought it, paid it off in 3 years, and had another 10 of good use. My current car is an always paid off clunker, and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg in depreciation.
It's the brand new cars you can't be sure of issues. Recall this, recall that...oops, we put the brakes on wrong, sorry we didn't notice before it shipped.
"but but...I look so GOOD in this car, and everyone is envious." ;)
if you are going to keep the car for 10 years+, then why not get exactly what you want and know that it's got no pre existing issues? if you're going to want a new one in 3, you should either pay cash for a used one or lease a new one if you have to have new.
I agree. I am 40 (in July) and only had three vehicles my whole life. The first I bought used. The last two were bought brand new at the dealership. I like the fact that it does not have any mileage on it and, if something is wrong with it, I have the whole factory warranty behind me.
Then again, I drive the living piss out of them. I had the last new vehicle I bought for 11 years and my current car for the last 9. I plan on getting a new vehicle next year because it is starting to nickle and dime me to death. My nickle and dime, I mean $1600 last year and $1000 this year. That's a hell of a down payment on a new car.
I had . . . my current car for the last 9 [years.] I plan on getting a new vehicle next year because it is starting to nickle and dime me to death. My nickle and dime, I mean $1600 last year and $1000 this year. That's a hell of a down payment on a new car.
You can probably expect the car to cost you about $1500 on average a year in maintenance costs from now on. But $1500 a year for a car is a bargain. That's $125 a month. You can't get any new car for that kind of money. Buying a new car is about wanting that new car smell, not about good financial sense. It's virtually always better to keep an old car running than to buy a new one.
My grandfather's philosophy was that every used car on the market is on the market because the previous owner thought there was something wrong with it and didn't want it any more. Why would you buy a car from someone when they don't want it any more?
I don't completely agree with his philosophy, but he has a good point. You just have to figure out what is "wrong" with the used car you are buying and if that "wrong" thing is something you can live with. But every used car has something "wrong" with it from the perspective of the previous owner.
A LOT of newer used cars are on the market, especially at the dealer's lot, because the previous buyer couldn't afford the car payment anymore. Additionally, a lot of them are on the market because the previous owner is one of those "trade 'em in every three years" types. Then there are the cars that were leased for a couple of years. The only thing wrong with them from the previous owner's perspective is that they weren't "new enough" anymore.
Every car has something wrong with it, or will have something wrong with it... buying new is no guarantee that it won't need constant repairs. My neighbor's new car is in the shop more than my 20-year-old monster... plus my monster gets better gas mileage than most new cars.
Call me frugal, call me cheap, call me whatever... I just don't get the new car appeal. It seems like throwing away money.
Oops, I see Shawnee already said it... I should have read the whole thread first!
My grandfather's philosophy was that every used car on the market is on the market because the previous owner thought there was something wrong with it and didn't want it any more. Why would you buy a car from someone when they don't want it any more?
I don't completely agree with his philosophy, but he has a good point. You just have to figure out what is "wrong" with the used car you are buying and if that "wrong" thing is something you can live with. But every used car has something "wrong" with it from the perspective of the previous owner.
In general I would agree, especially with the cars that are 4 or 5 years old, enough for problems to start kicking in. But you'll often find cars on the lot that are only 1 or 2 years old, because it was a lease and the person just decided not to renew. (The whole concept of leasing a new car seems insanely foolish to me, but hey, I appreciate that other people do it I guess.)
Can anyone explain this?
I've been driving shitty used cars my whole life... eventually, inevitably starting down the road of throwing countless dollars down an endless pit (how long do you keep getting it fixed, how soon before you roll it off a cliff and get another?), periodically at the mercy of some unknown, untrusted mechanic, periodically wondering whether the former owner knew full well about the mechanical issues and that's why he sold it (and simultaneously pondering the ethics of doing the same thing to the next guy). I've had quite enough of that. I have other things to worry about.
My latest purchase is a brand-new Honda, fresh from the factory. I will have every service done at the dealership where it was purchased, thus removing all complexity from the equation. I will drive this vehicle for many, many, many years to come. I will get every last use out of this vehicle. My kids will drive it. When it stops moving, I will scavenge it for parts. Then I will scavenge it for scrap metal.
The way I see it you have two choices in life, with all purchases: buy a series of cheap, shitty, ten dollar items which last a month, so that you spend $120 a year, or buy ONE good $50 item which lasts ten years. In this example, you save $1150 over ten years by spending "more" for a good product.
A Honda doesn't need to be brand new to be a great purchase. One or two years old, same car pretty much. You've lost your 1150 just driving it off the lot.
But yeah, hondas will run forever.
You can probably expect the car to cost you about $1500 on average a year in maintenance costs from now on. But $1500 a year for a car is a bargain. That's $125 a month. You can't get any new car for that kind of money. Buying a new car is about wanting that new car smell, not about good financial sense. It's virtually always better to keep an old car running than to buy a new one.
I thought this until I realized that I had spent more than the value of the entire vehicle on repairs on said vehicle. Essentially, I could have bought a whole "new" used vehicle with all that repair money. But, what would be wrong with that one? More money spent. How much money does one spend on a series of old, shitty vehicles before just STOPPING that whole process and getting ONE good, NEW vehicle?
Nothing, as long as you realize you won't actually drive it forever like you say you will. In about 8-10 years, it's going to be that same shitty used car, needing repairs every month, just as if you'd bought it from someone else. But I fully agree, at some point the repairs become a losing game.
A Honda doesn't need to be brand new to be a great purchase.
Maybe.
One or two years old, same car pretty much.
Maybe. Or maybe not.
You've lost your 1150 just driving it off the lot.
Maybe. Or maybe I have to spend more than $1150 in repairs. You know what? I don't have the time or patience to have my transportation be a freaking roulette spin every time I turn the key. I need my vehicle to reliably transport me to work so I can earn money, every day. Hoping that it will probably run pretty good :::fingers crossed::: is not good enough.
Maybe that previous owner, that nice older gentlemen, had a crackhead grandson who snuck the thing out and drove around in first gear all day. Who knows? "Good" cars aren't immune to shitty owners/borrowers.
Nothing, as long as you realize you won't actually drive it forever like you say you will. In about 8-10 years, it's going to be that same shitty used car ...
Wrong. It will be a well-kept, well-maintained older vehicle. I will know the history of any issues it has ever had. I will have the information to make those decisions.
Maybe. Or maybe I have to spend more than $1150 in repairs. You know what? I don't have the time or patience to have my transportation be a freaking roulette spin every time I turn the key. I need my vehicle to reliably transport me to work so I can earn money, every day. Hoping that it will probably run pretty good :::fingers crossed::: is not good enough.
I hear ya brother. My vehicle is killing me, but I can't seem to make myself be ready to take the plunge of a car payment, and the looking for a car, and the deciding on the car, and the haggling over the car (for which my sis-in-law will be in tow because I'd just say "Oh, it costs that? OK") and all of that.
I also see the point that you don't have a clue how the previous owner drove it, and seemingly good parts could be on the edge...with carfax you can find some things out, but not everything.
I don't know. I've also looked at the Honda Fit, which would have to be new, but I also know I will drive it until it dies, like I do every car.
Heh, when my last Honda died, I called my mechanic to find out the verdict. His office manager was like "Um, hang on, let me get Mark." It was like she was getting the doctor to deliver the news. Mark was like "Oh, man, I hate to tell you this (Shawnee) but it's bad..." He knew I loved that thing.
I thought this until I realized that I had spent more than the value of the entire vehicle on repairs on said vehicle. Essentially, I could have bought a whole "new" used vehicle with all that repair money. But, what would be wrong with that one? More money spent. How much money does one spend on a series of old, shitty vehicles before just STOPPING that whole process and getting ONE good, NEW vehicle?
But... new vehicles need quite a bit of money in annual maintenance as well, and on top of that you have a big car payment. I'm skeptical.. but then, I'm on my second car, I'm 38, and I bought the thing for $500 and then put about $2k into getting it as perfect as an older car can be. So, $2500, and I'm in the same boat in terms of knowing exactly what's been wrong with it, because I basically had it rebuilt. Then, no car payments, $400/year insurance, about $100/month in maintenance over the last eight years, and it's just now needing major repair, and I'm thinking about getting a newer model... mostly because the interior door panels are starting to fall apart, and you can't buy them new anymore.
Nothing, as long as you realize you won't actually drive it forever like you say you will. In about 8-10 years, it's going to be that same shitty used car, needing repairs every month, just as if you'd bought it from someone else. But I fully agree, at some point the repairs become a losing game.
We had our Accord for 22yrs. It was a wonderful reliable car for most of that time. Even at the end we only had to have major work done every year or so.
We only gave it away when I was worried about the darlets driving it.
what kind of a car is it specifically, and what do you owe......
08 Hyundai accent (good as new except the passanger door is a bit beat up)
11,853.59 (@13.5APR) about 335 monthy payment
ten year warrenty was the seller,
i never even changed the oil myself
(tho in my defence, she drives it more then i do)
and did you buy gap insurance?
misses says yes, but all i remember is the unemployment coverage
(@13.5APR)
Hay-zeus Creesto. I forget what it's like to have questionable credit.
We bought new because the 0% interest rate made the payment the same as what a used (2yr old off lease) one would go for.
yeah i have a bad habbit of not paying doctor bills.
I don't think I could ever bring myself to pay more than $8000 for a car. Can get a nice '98 Volvo V70 for $8000.
08 Hyundai accent (good as new except the passanger door is a bit beat up)
11,853.59 (@13.5APR) about 335 monthy payment
ten year warrenty was the seller,
i never even changed the oil myself
(tho in my defence, she drives it more then i do)
misses says yes, but all i remember is the unemployment coverage
yeah...you're going to be driving that for a while yet. so you'd.. better get used to the idea.
might as well get xm radio back
People *buy* on emotion, and justify on facts. Here are some facts:
[list]
[*]Getting around costs money
[*]Value is a relative term
[/list]
There's an abundance of values associated with cars, new and used.
[LIST]
[*]new and shiny
[*]reliability
[*]operating cost
[*]new car smell
[*]depreciation
[*]appearance
[*]comfort
[*]performance
[*]availability
[*]practicality
[*]image
[*]etc etc etc
[/LIST]
Someone faced with a car buying decision might consider and rank any or all of these factors or many others. What *value* each of these factors has varies from person to person. And then there's the cost/benefit consideration that is inevitably included. I might *want* champagne, but the budget says beer. NOT WHILE DRIVING OFFICER!
And of course, we all rank these values differently and then go on to present them as facts to support our position. Thankfully, I can cross off my bucket list "buy a new car". I see no need whatsoever to repeat that experience.
Real patriots will ask tw for instructions.
Can get a nice '98 Volvo V70 for $8000.
If I was going to buy a used car it would probably be an old Volvo. Hondas last forever because of design finesse; Volvos last forever because they are an indestructible tank.
I traded a puppy for a car and they gave me $1500 and they spent $1200 to fix the shocks, brakes, tranny, fluids etc. I thought it was great deal. I figure I have no payments so if I have to spend any money on this car it will be less than car payments. I think I am becoming a chrome-aholic though I did put a new grille on the front cheaply but I look at it like its an old car it needed a new set of choppers. ;)
If I was going to buy a used car it would probably be an old Volvo. Hondas last forever because of design finesse; Volvos last forever because they are an indestructible tank.
I think I'd go Jeep Wrangler
I think I will take one of these as my next demo:
That thing is just begging to be converted to one giant subwoofer enclosure. You could literally bounce down the road.
Looks like it is made by fisher price.
Poor LJ will never be the same Case and CF since you "dissed" his dream car! ;)
Jim, I saw heaps of those in Japan ... I fear you may face some, ah, "size issues".
Maybe you could rip out the driver's seat and drive from the back seat. Have to shift the speakers, though...
I've been driving shitty used cars my whole life... eventually, inevitably starting down the road of throwing countless dollars down an endless pit (how long do you keep getting it fixed, how soon before you roll it off a cliff and get another?), periodically at the mercy of some unknown, untrusted mechanic, periodically wondering whether the former owner knew full well about the mechanical issues and that's why he sold it (and simultaneously pondering the ethics of doing the same thing to the next guy). I've had quite enough of that. I have other things to worry about.
My latest purchase is a brand-new Honda, fresh from the factory. I will have every service done at the dealership where it was purchased, thus removing all complexity from the equation. I will drive this vehicle for many, many, many years to come. I will get every last use out of this vehicle. My kids will drive it. When it stops moving, I will scavenge it for parts. Then I will scavenge it for scrap metal.
The way I see it you have two choices in life, with all purchases: buy a series of cheap, shitty, ten dollar items which last a month, so that you spend $120 a year, or buy ONE good $50 item which lasts ten years. In this example, you save $1150 over ten years by spending "more" for a good product.
Flint, I hope you vanity search this. How's your '08 or '09 Honda treating you these days? I just stumbled across this old thread searching for something.
I've since changed my views, and think used cars are the way to go. New cars are just too expensive, and if you are careful, you can find a decent used car.
Have you kept up with the Honda maintenance? Do you still love it, or have you moved on?
...and if you are careful, you can find a decent used car.
I'd modify that to "...if you are
patient...".
Popdigr looked for another car for over a year:
2003 Park Avenue, one owner, 32,000 miles,
literally every fucking button you ever heard of. Dude bought it new, got fatally sick less than a year later, and never drove it again. Popdigr got it so cheap, it was a sin.
By the way, estate sales are where it's at for good low mileage used cars.
Hey, what do ya know, Baby's in my driveway!!
Sky rockets in flight!!
I worked with a guy that bought a new top of the line Buick ('cause his wife wouldn't let him buy a Caddy), and traded it in every 2 years with less than 10k miles.
That was the "American Way" for lots of people just a few years ago.
(But back then Ford was building crappy cars, and the foreign
manufacturer's began gettting more market share due to quality control.)
My fore-bearers would buy new, run the wheels off them, then stick it out behind the barn because a lot of the parts were the same on a 10 year newer car of the same make. Then Detroit got clever and nothing was interchangeable.
I remember guys coming into the speed shop wanting to price a ring and pinion for a Mopar. I'd tell they to crawl under it and find out what rear it had, because for several years no matter which model or engine or trans, it might be any of three different rears. Fords, you needed the serial number because they'd change parts in the middle of the year.:facepalm:
My fore-bearers would buy new, run the wheels off them, then stick it out behind the barn because a lot of the parts were the same on a 10 year newer car of the same make. Then Detroit got clever and nothing was interchangeable.
I remember guys coming into the speed shop wanting to price a ring and pinion for a Mopar. I'd tell they to crawl under it and find out what rear it had, because for several years no matter which model or engine or trans, it might be any of three different rears. Fords, you needed the serial number because they'd change parts in the middle of the year.:facepalm:
I hate that kind of crap. Thank MBAs. It's about making money, not making you happy or making your life easier and by extension, building customer loyalty.
[/get off my damn lawn, you kids!]
Flint, I hope you vanity search this. How's your '08 or '09 Honda treating you these days? I just stumbled across this old thread searching for something.
I've since changed my views, and think used cars are the way to go. New cars are just too expensive, and if you are careful, you can find a decent used car.
Have you kept up with the Honda maintenance? Do you still love it, or have you moved on?
My 08 Honda drives like a dream, and my
02 Honda still gets the job done.
My next car puchase will probably be another new Honda.
Although...I was given pause to think about this when a guy who worked for me bought a pre-owned Lexus. Here's the deal: a 10-year old Lexus has enough Consumer Reports reviews for you to know that it will go X number of miles with only standard maintenance--if there were any systems that were going to break down within X number of miles, it would have already happened (to the people who put more miles on in a shorter time) and you'd be able to get that information. So I can see that, given a certain model of car, with enough years under its belt (since production) to form historical data; and given that you can find a
low mileage car of that model, you can reasonably predict what the next X number of miles is going to look like.
Yeah. When we bought our used Camry, I was also including Lexuses in our search results for used cars, but my wife nixed them. Apparently, we are not the kind of people who will drive a Lexus. It was fine with me. They all get poor gas mileage since the engines are all huge.
Your wife is right. Everyone secretly thinks Lexus drivers are douchebags. I won't let Mr. Clod get one either.
The thing that attracted me to them is that they are just Toyotas, but they have leather seats. And in my looking at used cars, I saw that leather seats were generally stain free, while upholstered seats usually had stains. We were fortunate that we found a stain free upholstered car.
But the douchebag factor is real, and it's silly to have a huge engine when a moderately sized one will move the car just fine with less gas.
I've never been happier than when I first drove my 6. I might be even happier with a V8. Passing around here requires a tumescent engine.
A perfectly cromulent usage.
The thing that attracted me to them is that they are just Toyotas, but they have leather seats. And in my looking at used cars, I saw that leather seats were generally stain free, while upholstered seats usually had stains. We were fortunate that we found a stain free upholstered car.
My first car was an Acura Legend, old enough to be affordable but it still had all the features that had made it a luxury vehicle more than a decade prior. It taught me that I will never have leather seats in a vehicle again.
For one thing (and I know this doesn't apply to you,) leather gets
scalding hot in the summer here, and will literally burn the back of your legs if you're wearing shorts. But the other thing about leather seats is that when they get old, they crack. It kind of starts happening all at once--for me, it was about two years after I bought it--and in six months you go from a nice smooth surface to giant pieces of upholstery padding sticking up all over the place. Plus, the edges of the cracks are sharp and pokey on your legs.
That being said, it's likely that modern seat leather is of a better quality, and that the aforementioned super-heated summers also contributed to this particular car's leather falling apart.
You have to condition leather. It's skin. It needs moisturizer.
and it can't puts the lotion on its skin by itself
My friend's used Lexus was almost identical in form and dimension to my old Honda, except... every single feature was slightly better. A little bit updgraded, but not too much. The stereo doesn't have an EQ, but it does have a "mid" knob, for example. The little deals that spray out wiper fluid aren't just ugly little black bumps, the have a little shell that matches the paint job. Little things, but in every area. The engine had two more cylinders, but not too many; just a little more power, but still very decent mileage. I thought it was a very smart car--not a new one, mind you, but an older model with an established track record.
Maybe people would think a lot of kinds of cars are driven by douchebags. But ultimately, there is not a very good rationale (that I know of) behind thinking of a device intended to convey you from point A to point B as a method of garnering favorable opinions--mostly from complete strangers which you will never, ever meet!
The Lexus, let me tell you, it had zero wind noise (or engine noise, for that matter). Absolute, total silence in the cabin of that vehicle. This is called "luxury" and it is the reason that luxury vehicles aren't just over-priced regular cars with a fancy name slapped on. They are considered better because they are actually manufactured with components of superior quality.
So why care what people (strangers, mostly) think (being jealous, probably) because you are driving a--literally--better car. If you can afford it, get the best car you want. FUCK everybody else and their opinion--which can be shoved squarely up their ass. In MY opinion.
ETA:
I guess if we carry this thinking to its logical conclusion, we should all get bad haircuts and wear shitty clothes. I mean, someone might think we're a douche if we actually had nice things, or whatever. WHO. FUCKING. CARES.
Not everyone driving a Lexus or BMW is a douchebag, it's just certain brands have a disproportionate share. The problem is not that the douchebags think they're better than everyone else, who gives a shit what they think.
The problem is the way they treat other motorists, racing ahead and cutting people off at a merge, taking two parking spots or worse double parking, all those things that make driving a frustrating experience for most people.
Right, well that's the person, not the car.
I mean, obviously.
Arguing that there is a statistical basis for making an assumption about the person is a weak argument.
Certainly it's the driver, the car has no say... unless it's a Google car.:haha:
I taught English to some Lexus workers, and lots of Toyota workers.
To get a job at Lexus, you must first work at Toyota for a few years - I think three. Regular Toyota workers get retrained and retested every month. As a fictionalised example, if you consistently place your components within the specified 2 mm tolerance, you can keep working at Toyota. If you consistently nail it right in the middle, within a 0.5 mm tolerance, you can apply to transfer to Lexus. Even then it is competitive, and there will be ongoing retraining.
Not everyone driving a Lexus or BMW is a douchebag, it's just certain brands have a disproportionate share. The problem is not that the douchebags think they're better than everyone else, who gives a shit what they think.
The problem is the way they treat other motorists, racing ahead and cutting people off at a merge, taking two parking spots or worse double parking, all those things that make driving a frustrating experience for most people.
If you watch their commercials carefully, you might wonder if they are actively targeting the douchebag market.
If you watch their commercials carefully, you might wonder if they are actively targeting the douchebag market.
Yeah, they're saying if you're better than everyone else drive this.
I think you can tell a lot about a person based on their choice of car
I'm driving a '92 Honda Accord. In theory anyway. I should be driving it later this week.
What does that say about me?
What would it say about me if I denied that I riced the shit out of it?
Unfortunately, that says you are invisible.
The reality is that you didn't choose that car. Fate put it in your path. Its a reliable means of transportation, and you have bigger fish to fry.
Next
I drive a Toyota Sienna. What does that say about me, car guru?
It says that your kids run your life. Especially if you have the little family of stickers on the back glass. It also says that youre a woman between 30 and 45. Youre practical, and you make a decent living. You probably went to college.
minivan means you care more about the function than form. But you chose the toyota instead of the honda or chrysler. Youre less timid than the honda driver, but not as brash as the chrysler driver. You'll check both mirrors before merging, but probably won't stop dead at the top of the ramp like a honda driver.
For some reason, I think you have a gold or light blue van.
I drive a maroon 1995 Nissan Maxima with 200K miles...
The kids and I play this game in the car on trips. We see a car ahead, and try to guess what profile the driver will fit. I always win.
It says that your kids run your life. Especially if you have the little family of stickers on the back glass. It also says that youre a woman between 30 and 45. Youre practical, and you make a decent living. You probably went to college.
minivan means you care more about the function than form. But you chose the toyota instead of the honda or chrysler. Youre less timid than the honda driver, but not as brash as the chrysler driver. You'll check both mirrors before merging, but probably won't stop dead at the top of the ramp like a honda driver.
For some reason, I think you have a gold or light blue van.
I HATE the little family of stickers thing, and would never do it (except perhaps in an ironic fashion--there's a family in my neighborhood that has two large Transformers Decepticon logos, and three small Hello Kitty logos, and that makes me smile.)
This one is dark red, but the color was irrelevant, it was chosen entirely on the fact that I wanted a manual sliding door and the only one in the whole city was red. The previous one was a very pale greenish-silver.
My sister has a zombie family
2003 Land Rover Disco II...
You clearly stole that car. Give it back.
I drive a maroon 1995 Nissan Maxima with 200K miles...
What, a Maroon?
Do I have to clean the dog hair out of it first - or can I send it back as it is?
You can be lucky with used cars.
In 2008, I bought a 1998 Nissan Pathfinder that came fitted with an aftermarket snow plow blade. A year later, the left front suspension tower almost completely separated from the bodywork, and the brake master cylinder and steering shaft were all that were keeping it in place. The car was still drivable, but it was one bump away from simultaneously losing front suspension, brakes, and steering. I parked it while I tried to figure out how to fix the suspension problem.
After it sat on the driveway for a couple of years, I decided that it just wasn't worth the time and effort of making the repair, and in late 2011, I was about to call a wrecker to come and take it away when I did a search on the internet and discovered that a recall for the very same suspension failure problem had been issued in mid-2011.
Nissan would either repair the suspension tower failure, or in extreme cases, make an offer to buy back the vehicle.
In the end Nissan declared my vehicle unrepairable and offered to buy it back for more than what I paid for it (and certainly for far more than it was worth). Who am I to argue with a deal like that. I still have the snow plow assembly and now that we've seen that we don't really need it any more, I'll stick on the market just before next winter.
What, a Maroon?
Hey, you ignoranimus!
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You can be lucky with used cars.
Totally true. I've gotten lucky many times in used cars.
Totally true. I've gotten lucky many times in used cars.
Doing it yourself doesn't count. :rolleyes:
Oh. In that case, never mind. :(
You can be lucky with used cars.
In 2008, I bought a 1998 Nissan Pathfinder that came fitted with an aftermarket snow plow blade. A year later, the left front suspension tower almost completely separated from the bodywork, and the brake master cylinder and steering shaft were all that were keeping it in place. The car was still drivable, but it was one bump away from simultaneously losing front suspension, brakes, and steering. I parked it while I tried to figure out how to fix the suspension problem.
After it sat on the driveway for a couple of years, I decided that it just wasn't worth the time and effort of making the repair, and in late 2011, I was about to call a wrecker to come and take it away when I did a search on the internet and discovered that a recall for the very same suspension failure problem had been issued in mid-2011.
Nissan would either repair the suspension tower failure, or in extreme cases, make an offer to buy back the vehicle.
In the end Nissan declared my vehicle unrepairable and offered to buy it back for more than what I paid for it (and certainly for far more than it was worth). Who am I to argue with a deal like that. I still have the snow plow assembly and now that we've seen that we don't really need it any more, I'll stick on the market just before next winter.
We had over 20 of them in our service lot back then.
We had over 20 of them in our service lot back then.
Mine sat on the local Nissan dealer's service lot for close to 5 months, and during that time I saw incompetence or just plain outright lying (most likely both) at a master level.
After my car had been on the lot for over 4 months, one day I dropped in to the dealership to make yet another fruitless inquiry with the warranty manager that I'd been dealing with for all those months about the state of my car's processing. I used to drop in every few weeks as I'd been told over 3 months previously that the car had been declared a buy-back case, and had signed over the title to them at the time, and they were just waiting for official notification. I'd last dropped in to see the warranty manager just 2 weeks previously to let her know that we'd accepted an offer on our house, and we would be leaving the province in just over a month and would like some resolution of the case. The warranty manager wasn't there and I was informed by the service manager that she had resigned unexpectedly (gave them just one or two days notice and had already left town with all her possessions).
As I discussed things with the service manager, other than the fact that it had been booked in for the recall months earlier, it was still on their lot, they had the keys, a copy of the signed over license, and a copy of a bill for the towing to their lot that I had paid for and was still waiting for reimbursement, she could find no records of my vehicle's recall paperwork. Nobody at the dealership had any idea that a rental had been provided to me by the previous warranty manager, and its cost was now probably in excess of the buy-back valuation of my car.
I had kept my own records of every meeting and phone call with their now ex-warranty manager (mainly to document the fact that in 4 months, she'd never returned a single call, and because I was getting just a bit suspicious of her actions), and could provide the name of the woman at the company handling the recall processing in Canada that their ex-warranty manager had been dealing with for the past 4 months. I also had details of both times the front suspension had been disassembled for photographs at the dealership and sent on to the recall processing company (the company apparently lost the first set).
When the dealership contacted the company to speak with the woman, they were informed that she had left the company months earlier (long before the date my records indicated that the ex-warranty manager had informed me that she'd been speaking to her and had requested another set of photographs) and there was also no record of my car details ever being processed there either.
Queue a look of panic on the face of the service manager.
Things certainly happened in a hurry after that meeting. I suspect there was some very interesting discussions at the dealership after I left that day.
I got a phone call the following day asking me to return the rental ASAP and they'd provide a dealership loaner in its place. I was also informed that yet another set of photographs would be taken and sent off, but that would have to wait until the dealership could get an exterminator to take care of the head sized wasp nest the insects had built in the car while it sat on their back lot over the summer.
Less than 2 weeks after my meeting with the service manager, I received a phone call in which the buy-back figure was officially discussed, and 2 days later, I signed the paperwork accepting the figure I'd been offered. I had the cheque in my hand less than a week after that.
Where does that experience fall on the luckiness continuum?
;)
Where does that experience fall on the luckiness continuum?
;)
The process was a pain, but other than time, it cost me nothing. I had a supplied rental vehicle for about 3 months that cost me nothing other than gas, and eventually I received a buy-back offer that was about 50% more than I paid for the vehicle 4 years earlier.
The rusted out hulk that wouldn't hold fuel because of all the rust holes in the gas tank, wouldn't stop properly because the rear brakes dildn't work due to the rear brake lines being rusted through, and as far as I was concerned was nothing but scrap metal, was bought back by Nissan's agents at a payout figure that was close to $1000 above the private sale blue book value of a similar age vehicle in good condition.
I've spoken to a lot of Pathfinder owners in this part of Canada, and only about 1 in 10 are even aware of the recall and repair/buyback deal. If I had the time (and lower moral standards), I'd be searching for similar condition Pathfinders that haven't been through the recall process, buy them and do it all again. People were doing this with an earlier Ford mini-van repair/buyback until Ford figured out that a lot of the vehicles were being pulled out of junk yards, and required that the vehicle had to have been owned and licensed/insured for at least 6 months by the person presenting it for the recall.
While I was going through the process, I mentioned the recall to a friend of mine in Australia. He had relatives living in Montreal that were about to move back to Australia and were selling up most of their possessions. All four members of the family each owned a Pathfinder in the affected range of vehicles. Only two were drivable and they were trying to sell those two and were about to scrap the other two before they moved. He told them about the recall, and after inspection, Nissan bought back all four.