Steps to buying another car?

[pinkytoe]

I have been putting this off for a year now because I hate the thought of car payments and high insurance rates but...I will have income reduced by half when I retire so it makes sense to buy and pay off the car we need to get while still working. I could pay cash but with other large expenses coming and silly low interest rates on car loans, I will finance a portion for now. This past week, my faithful 20 year old Volvo started to over-heat so I know it will probably need a water pump or who knows what else. I am making a list of steps so that I can approach the whole process in a rational way. Keep trucking a bit longer with the old car or bite the bullet? Can you add to my list - anything I might have missed?

1) Get estimate for repairs on old car to keep running another six months while saving more for new car pay-off.
2) Determine cost vs value for doing repairs/buying new car
3) Find three new/slightly used car models to test drive and compare
4) Get insurance rates for all three
5) Get pre-approved at credit union for car loan
6) Determine savings amount needed to pay off in one year.

[ToomuchStuff]

A couple things I would add, is while you start looking, don't be in a hurry. (look now, before your other vehicle is dead) Let others know your looking and look at estate sales, etc. (might find an older low miles model for a decent price)
One other item, if there is a vehicle you tend to gravitate to, find out what are both good and bad options. (ask your mechanic, if x motor is less problematic then y motor, offered in them)

[SteveinMN]

I am not at all a fan of "Click and Clack" on public radio, but they uttered the best advice I've ever heard on when to get rid of an old car: when you no longer have confidence in it. That can be fairly soon if your job takes you all over at all hours (say, visiting nurse, third-shift worker in a cold climate) or much later if most of your travel is optional/discretionary or if there's another vehicle (or HourCar or bus) you can use when this one goes down.

A big change in income or a buying opportunity, though, is another good reason. More stuff I would think about:

- I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a mechanic who will give you an accurate estimate of coming costs. At 20, even a Volvo is subject to things that just wear out. Some of them will be regular-wear items; others will be weird stuff like turn-signal stalks. You may also find that some of these parts are no longer available new/remanufactured/OEM or may be scarce even used. You may find yourself in a race between keeping the old car on the road and what you're "saving" to add to a down payment.
- Does your credit union (or Costco membership or such) offer a car-buying service? You might check out the cost of new cars you might consider owning; going this way can save a lot of hassle and money.
- I would be very careful about buying a used car. There has been so much flooding in so many places it's well worth having a good mechanic inspect even the nooks and crannys for evidence of problems. Use your favorite Web search engine to look up "title washing" (https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22title+washing%22). Consider CARFAX or a similar service -- but realize even they can't list everything that can happen to a vehicle.
- Consider maintenance costs of the new cars. For instance, does one run only on premium gasoline? That's an expense the others may not incur. Some sites can help calculate the cost of scheduled maintenance over tens of thousands of miles; you may find one car is significantly less expensive to maintain than others -- even within the same model range.
- I wouldn't stop at three models to test and compare, either. Maybe three finalists. But there should be many examples out there and you're spending a lot of money, so shop around.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I'd be careful about buying a used car, but it wouldn't make me get a new one. I took my used car I was thinking of buying from a dealer, to an independent mechanic, I asked about things like what if they turn back the odometer, what if it's really a katrina car and the hid it (at the time) etc.. the mechanic (a very honest mechanic, whom I have known for a long time) kind of just rolled their eyes. They were like: you are buying a car from a maker dealership (not a used car dealership or anything), they don't do that stuff (like "your'e paranoid, girl!"). But they did do a full inspection of the car at the mechanic's, which I would definitely recommend you get. The car was good. Also do do the CarFax and get the history. A car coming from a dry climate with no snow etc. is probably in better condition of course. Go to Edmunds.com if you want to research makes and models of cars to figure out what cars you'd like. I did with very specific requirements: fuel efficiency, needs few repairs/lasts a long time, safe for a small car (a giant car might be safer but then that's not fuel efficient), and then ultimately at the end of the day within my budget (but it's not like I didn't think of spending more). I narrowed down to a few cars and test drove some new cars even, and even had a prefered color and got it (I wasn't after the absolute best deal, clearly not when buying from a maker dealer).

[Gardenarian]

I have had bad luck with used cars. The only exception is the Honda Odyssey the my MIL gave us; we knew she had serviced it religiously and it had very low mileage. Most people don't want to get rid of a reliable car with low mileage, though.

I also wouldn't buy a car on credit; I would get the car I could afford.
my $.02

[pinkytoe]

The irony is that I only drive about 60 miles a week if that. So from that standpoint, keeping this one running whatever the cost makes the most sense for now as it has never let me down yet and everything else is in good working order. It only has 160K on it too so some life left. But...I don't know where I will be in 2-3 years or how much driving I will need to do. I too am concerned about used cars from the flooding standpoint; they often move them around too.

[Teacher Terry]

We replaced our old Volvo at 14 years because it was having a ton of expensive repairs. My hubby's old Saturn was still going but also 14 yo so when a good friend of ours was selling a used Toyota with low miles we grabbed it now. Who knows a years from now if we could get a good deal on something else. We have had really good luck buying cars that are 3-4 yo from new car dealers. They come all fixed & certified with a warranty. Also 9 months ago we bought a honda accord that was the dealer's special. It was 1,000 under bluebook. I think the color might have held it back from selling. It was a cross between tan & gold.

[SteveinMN]

I don't know where I will be in 2-3 years or how much driving I will need to do.


Who knows a years from now if we could get a good deal on something else.
So -- playing devil's advocate here -- why would people who regularly keep the household inventory to a usable minimum and declutter stuff they no longer use/need spend the kind of money it takes to buy even a used car just because "maybe someday"? :devil:

[pinkytoe]

why would people...?
Great question...I wish I knew the answer. My logic is that the old Volvo is the only car we own (dh has a company car for now) and I am trying to get big ticket items paid for before I retire. Maybe it doesn't make any sense at all as I have been known to use faulty logic before. If I am honest, I am a bit tired of driving an old beater, too. Good news is I found an experienced Volvo mechanic in my hood who is going to give me an estimate on what needs to be fixed. Step 1...

[Blackdog Lin]

pinkytoe - I understand completely. Get a new(er) one paid for, for retirement, and get rid of the old beater. Check. Exactly where we were recently.

Don't discount your gut-feelings. Your instinct on the thing. After deciding to do the thing (replace old beater driven 16 years to 210,000 miles) we finally decided to go shopping. I told DH we didn't need to actually BUY a new car, but it was time to start researching and looking into them.

Long story short: one of our last test-drive cars (we were about out of possibilities at that area dealer) spoke to us. Spoke to both of us and basically said "buy me buy me I'm the one!". So we did and we feel pretty darn good about it. Time will tell the full story, of course.

It sounds like your guts are telling you it's time to replace the old family beater. Run with it and find a new(er) vehicle that speaks to you. People like us don't just go spend big bucks - or credit- to replace things for no reason. I believe in gut feelings.

And try to have fun with it. :)

[jp1]

I am not at all a fan of "Click and Clack" on public radio...

Completely off topic but I'm curious why you don't like the car talk guys?

[SteveinMN]

Completely off topic but I'm curious why you don't like the car talk guys?
A little too much 'show' and not enough 'go' for me. And a viewpoint on cars that hasn't changed much since the 90s.

[pinkytoe]

Oy...The mechanic said I only needed new hoses for which I was gleeful but just called and said that when he was removing the hoses the radiator flanges broke off. So now the radiator has to be replaced!! I hate cars!!

[iris lilies]

So -- playing devil's advocate here -- why would people who regularly keep the household inventory to a usable minimum and declutter stuff they no longer use/need spend the kind of money it takes to buy even a used car just because "maybe someday"? :devil:

Here's one scenario: Both of our old vehicles, including DH's little truck that he drove for nearly 20 years, went kaput the same summer. It was the summer of President Obama's Cash For Clunkers program, used vehicles were at a premium. So we didn't have much time or interest in making time to run around and find used vehicles. But if we had the place to park it, it would have been wise to identify the Perfect Used Car beforehand and just buy it up. As it was, we bought two brand new vehicles and took that hit as we drove them off the lot.

The last two cars I had were bought used and I loved them, and they kinda fell into our lap. Just not this time.

[SteveinMN]

My experience here is that many would rather throw out/reassign/give away/sell too much rather than too little. Given the attendant expenses of even letting a car sit in the driveway, buying one for less-than-certain use seemed an interesting choice. Certainly there are several situations where taking the opportunity to buy makes sense; my question was meant merely to sponsor some thinking about why the step even was being taken. It sounds like people are making the decision aware of all their options.

[Packy]

Here's one scenario: Both of our old vehicles, including DH's little truck that he drove for nearly 20 years, went kaput the same summer. It was the summer of President Obama's Cash For Clunkers program, used vehicles were at a premium. So we didn't have much time or interest in making time to run around and find used vehicles. But if we had the place to park it, it would have been wise to identify the Perfect Used Car beforehand and just buy it up. As it was, we bought two brand new vehicles and took that hit as we drove them off the lot.

The last two cars I had were bought used and I loved them, and they kinda fell into our lap. Just not this time. "Kaput" is a meaningless term on this board. Almost no one even knows what you mean. Kaput sounds Yiddish--- Is it? Did you mean to say that you were tired of driving the same old, dirty, old, outdated, worn, unstylish vehicles, that your neighbors made snide jokes about? That they had many, many deferred maintenance issues, 'cause you didn't have time to fool with it? Then, at one point they needed an essential repair because it no longer functioned? That the cost of the repair, though far less than replacing the vehicle, was just "pouring money down a sinkhole"? Well, the proper description to use on this board is: "we drove it until the wheels fell off", or some variant of that. See? Hope that helps you some.

[iris lily]

...Well, the proper description to use on this board is: "we drove it until the wheels fell off", or some variant of that...
Gee, I thought that this was a variant:

"...he drove [it] for nearly 20 years..."

[thinkgreen]

I knew what kaput means. But just for those who don't, from a google search...

ka·put
kəˈpo͝ot,käˈpo͝ot
adjective informal
adjective: kaput
broken and useless; no longer working or effective.
synonyms: broken, malfunctioning, broken-down, inoperative; defunct, dead; informal conked out, on the fritz, done for

Origin - late 19th century: from German kaputt, from French (être) capot ‘(be) without tricks in a card game.’

[Packy]

Yah. Verrry Goot. Verrrry Inter-rest-ing, as they used to say on Hogan's Heroes. No, wait---that was Artie Johnson on Laugh-In. Sorry. My whole base of knowledge and reasoning is based on 1960's Tee-Vee shows. Just like many of you kids derive your Gold Standard, your Greenwich Mean Time, of true-life experiences from cable tv, faux "reality" shows, night-time and daytime talk shows, contemporary Hollyweird mooovvees and Tee-vveee shows. And, last but not least: Advertising. See? Of course--you just HATED McGuyver; he was just too ingenious, according to what I've read. But, I ain't never seen that show. Anyway--I see no verbiage in that definition, which I am sure the poster(thinkgreen) drew upon because it best suited their position--I see nothing that specifically states "worn out beyond repair, like a light bulb whose filament has broken, or a matchbook whose matches have all been struck". Ha. Gotcha. Someday, when I get time, I'll discuss my road breakdowns in my old pickups, and how I had no need for Triple-Wimpy A or felt the need to go out and pay $43,000 for a nice clean safe, new pickup, so I wouldn't have to worry about meeting up with a serial killer(as seen on Tee-Vee, played by george hanks or tom pitt, etc.) on a lonely highway. Thank Me..

[Packy]

Give it a couple more years, and you kids will be boasting about how frugal you are because "we drove our prius until the battery was Kaput!". Just betcha.

[pinkytoe]

Just to appease my curiosity, I test drove a new Subaru Forester this weekend. Funny to me what are considered basic features now. It also made me realize what a tank I drive - solid, smooth and heavy. The Subaru though nice seemed very flimsy by comparison. For now, I will continue to drive my 20 year old car and sock away the funds to buy future wheels if and when our plans becomes clearer.

[Packy]

I'd like ta get ahold of about a '48 Tucker Torpedo, and fix it all up. They was waaaay ahead of their time. I may call click n' clack on npr and see if they know where one is for sale.