Which car to buy?

bigaudiofanatic

Well parents and I have talked and with me wanting a better car the said they will co sign for me and get a loan and just pay that back. I like my civic but its just..boring and its old as well starting to show its age from me beating it up all the time.

I want to get a 4 door car with a nie sized trunk and good power. Here is what I am looking at. Any owners that have or do own these or any post experience with these would be great.

nooshinjohn

2005 or 2006 Jaguar XJR... It's got Space, Grace and BALLS!

...and is a very reliable car to boot.

bigaudiofanatic

nooshinjohn wrote: »

Jaguar XJR...

Sorry not a ford person I do like the looks of those though.

nooshinjohn

The big cats have nothing to do with Ford except that they were the parent company at the time. The Jag uses an all-aluminum construction and shares nothing at all with another Ford product. They even bested Lexus in initial quality and reliability marks. Won't hurt to at least drive one and compare.:cool::)

ViperZ

Personally, my preference would be a BMW 5-series (528?), but maintenance will be on the high side. If you're looking at the new TL, why not try a slightly used Type-S?

Being young and not having a mortgage has its advantages .

bigaudiofanatic

nooshinjohn wrote: »

The big cats have nothing to do with Ford except that they were the parent company at the time. The Jag uses an all-aluminum construction and shares nothing at all with another Ford product. They even bested Lexus in initial quality and reliability marks. Won't hurt to at least drive one and compare.:cool::)

Ah I did not know that thanks for the info.

ViperZ wrote: »

Personally, my preference would be a BMW 5-series (528?), but maintenance will be on the high side. If you're looking at the new TL, why not try a slightly used Type-S?

Being young and not having a mortgage has its advantages .

I have thought about those as well thanks.

concealer404

I'd vote keep what you have and enjoy that money in other ways. And stop beating on it so it lasts you.

None of those cars REALLY makes sense for a young kid fresh out of high school living with parents.

You want power, 4 doors, and a trunk? Get something older, pay cash. Part of the novelty of living with your parents is that it's cheap. By you getting a loan, you're taking that away from yourself.

bigaudiofanatic

concealer404 wrote: »

I'd vote keep what you have and enjoy that money in other ways. And stop beating on it so it lasts you.

None of those cars REALLY makes sense for a young kid fresh out of high school living with parents.

You want power, 4 doors, and a trunk? Get something older, pay cash. Part of the novelty of living with your parents is that it's cheap. By you getting a loan, you're taking that away from yourself.

I was thinking at first to get a used 350z but when I move out I want something with space in it. I do want power and it to be sporty but I want it to be economical as well. Really can only put 2 people in a z.

As for my car the reason it wears out is not from just beating on it but the civics of this year are known for problems. The auto trans are week and break easily and the head gasket has already been replaced as well as clamps put on my heat shields. My sisters has done the same and my mothers trans also wore out. That is not my problem now just know its getting old.

Knucklehead

SmartCar?

lumpy

Subaru impreza wrx sti will be all you can handle and it has 4 doors

concealer404

I'd still just pay cash for an older car...

I'm not trying to lay stereotypes here or anything, BUT:

1) Where do you work and what do you do?
2) How old are you?
3) How stable is your job?

It may feel trite coming from someone who is only 24, but the last thing you need right now is a car payment.

Save up a couple grand, and buy something older, reliable, but with the features you want. I guarantee that you could find something for $3-$4k that would fulfill all your needs and be plenty reliable.

Older maximas are still plenty fun, and cheap. Older 90s BMWs are fun, cheap, and fairly reliable if you stay on top of maintainence. Parts are slighty more expensive for them than some other cars, but sources are out there that make the parts no more expensive than say... Toyota parts.

Hell, a 4 door V6 camry would fulfill your requirements, unless you're looking for baller-status-pick-up-the-girls kind of thing.

Or even a V6 Accord. Maybe an older 4 door Civic with a B-series swapped motor or something. You've got tons of options that will be more financially responsible than just going out and getting a loan for something, simply because you can.

On the flipside, life is short. Enjoy it. Just voicing my opinion. I drive old reliable crapboxes because they're cheap, and still fun. And if something horrible goes wrong, i can walk away without feeling bad.

Have you considered keeping the Civic and getting a project car?

Knucklehead

Your wise in your young age Ben.

Fireman32

concealer404 wrote: »

I'd still just pay cash for an older car...

I'm not trying to lay stereotypes here or anything, BUT:

1) Where do you work and what do you do?
2) How old are you?
3) How stable is your job?

It may feel trite coming from someone who is only 24, but the last thing you need right now is a car payment.

Save up a couple grand, and buy something older, reliable, but with the features you want. I guarantee that you could find something for $3-$4k that would fulfill all your needs and be plenty reliable.

Older maximas are still plenty fun, and cheap. Older 90s BMWs are fun, cheap, and fairly reliable if you stay on top of maintainence. Parts are slighty more expensive for them than some other cars, but sources are out there that make the parts no more expensive than say... Toyota parts.

Hell, a 4 door V6 camry would fulfill your requirements, unless you're looking for baller-status-pick-up-the-girls kind of thing.

Or even a V6 Accord. Maybe an older 4 door Civic with a B-series swapped motor or something. You've got tons of options that will be more financially responsible than just going out and getting a loan for something, simply because you can.

On the flipside, life is short. Enjoy it. Just voicing my opinion. I drive old reliable crapboxes because they're cheap, and still fun. And if something horrible goes wrong, i can walk away without feeling bad.

Have you considered keeping the Civic and getting a project car?

I agreee. Why give yourself a car payment. Buy cash for a used car and then take that money that you would have used for the car payment and sock it away every month for a year or two then you can buy a nicer car. Repeat the process and you can get nicer used cars every few years and never have the car payment. I will never have a car payment again. If I cant pay cash for it i will not buy it.

concealer404

Knucklehead wrote: »

Your wise in your young age Ben.

Heh, maybe one day i'll become wiser and step UP to buy those $3-$4k cars instead of a fleet of $1000 and under cars. I may find myself with more free time, and probably the same amount of money.

But on the other hand, even with maintaining the 4 cars i own right now, i still pay quite a bit less a year than i would just with a new car payment, so it works out.

I paid $2850 for all 4 cars, combined. We've got the reliable sensible daily driver for the girlfriend, that's still fun to drive due to a complete suspension refreshing. (Escort - $700) We've got my race/fun car that's reliable and fun to drive because it's got a TON of suspension/brake work, but still a stock drivetrain (Celica - $600). We've got my daily driver that's reliable when i'm not messing with it, and fun to drive because i redid the suspension, and it makes a metric assload of power. (MX6 - $900). And the backup car that's going to be torn down for more work on the Escort. (MX3 - $650) I've got DDs, i've got toys, i've got power, i've got reliability, i've got plenty of space to haul stuff, i've got MPG, i've got tire smoke shows. I've got it all, really.

I'd rather build a race car with that car payment.


Also worth mentioning: Insurance on a new car that the bank owns is WAY higher than minimum coverage on an older car that you own. With the girlfriend and i on all the cars, we pay less than $100/month. For everything. I have tickets on my record, and i'm not 25 yet for that rate reduction.



But really, BAF. I've seen your stereo install threads. You seem handy. I think you need a project car.

nooshinjohn

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Enjoy!

Demiurge

I'll be mean (practical) again and suggest that if you don't keep what you already have to drive into the ground, you'd do well to look at more economical cars for your personal situation.

BMW, Lexus, and Acura (or even Jaguar) from recent model years are for people who have extra money to spend on luxury. You clearly don't.

While I wouldn't suggest buying a $3-$4K vehicle, I would look at $8-$12K vehicles that are only a couple years old. Maybe step up to an Accord. You can get a 4 door with a nice sized trunk. No, it isn't exciting, but the purpose of a vehicle for a guy your age and financial situation should be to get from point A to point B reliably.

$0.02

woodguru

For less than the price of a new Maxima you can have a three or four year old Infinity M-45 that cost $50k new, an M-35 is less than that if you want the 6 cylinder.

Especially if you are going to finance a car buy used and build in some retained value, that Maxima or anything else will be worth a third less as soon as you drive home.

In this economy it doesn't even make sense not to take advantage of some of the fantastic buys on the market, find the nicest car in the best shape you can for the least amount of money and it helps weather a bad economy. Let people who have excess money take the loss on cars.

I'm driving a $115k Audi S8 I picked up for $20k even, I put $5k tires and lighter whees on it and I'm still under the price of that new Maxima. By the way I have had three maxima's and think they are excellent cars, first one in 85 was new and the next two were used and way cheaper.

You can buy an older Audi A8 that cost $85k new for around $10k to $15k, 32mpg out of a 310/340 horsepower V8.

I hope that gives you something to think about, good luck on the search, there are a lot of great used cars out there.

One last thing, stay away from the mid model cars like kids and people who can't afford to keep up with a car right and get the type of thing affluent people lean toward, they have the bucks to pay for excellent maintenance.

bigaudiofanatic

nooshinjohn wrote: »

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Enjoy!

Ya right 95k I would just get a gtr for that kind of money.

woodguru

concealer404 wrote: »

I'd still just pay cash for an older car...

I'm not trying to lay stereotypes here or anything, BUT:

1) Where do you work and what do you do?
2) How old are you?
3) How stable is your job?

It may feel trite coming from someone who is only 24, but the last thing you need right now is a car payment.

Save up a couple grand, and buy something older, reliable, but with the features you want. I guarantee that you could find something for $3-$4k that would fulfill all your needs and be plenty reliable.

Older maximas are still plenty fun, and cheap. Older 90s BMWs are fun, cheap, and fairly reliable if you stay on top of maintainence. Parts are slighty more expensive for them than some other cars, but sources are out there that make the parts no more expensive than say... Toyota parts.

Hell, a 4 door V6 camry would fulfill your requirements, unless you're looking for baller-status-pick-up-the-girls kind of thing.

Or even a V6 Accord. Maybe an older 4 door Civic with a B-series swapped motor or something. You've got tons of options that will be more financially responsible than just going out and getting a loan for something, simply because you can.

On the flipside, life is short. Enjoy it. Just voicing my opinion. I drive old reliable crapboxes because they're cheap, and still fun. And if something horrible goes wrong, i can walk away without feeling bad.

Have you considered keeping the Civic and getting a project car?

This is the best advice on here, there are a lot of great cars available for a few grand.

bigaudiofanatic

woodguru wrote: »

For less than the price of a new Maxima you can have a three or four year old Infinity M-45 that cost $50k new, an M-35 is less than that if you want the 6 cylinder.

Especially if you are going to finance a car buy used and build in some retained value, that Maxima or anything else will be worth a third less as soon as you drive home.

In this economy it doesn't even make sense not to take advantage of some of the fantastic buys on the market, find the nicest car in the best shape you can for the least amount of money and it helps weather a bad economy. Let people who have excess money take the loss on cars.

I'm driving a $115k Audi S8 I picked up for $20k even, I put $5k tires and lighter whees on it and I'm still under the price of that new Maxima. By the way I have had three maxima's and think they are excellent cars, first one in 85 was new and the next two were used and way cheaper.

You can buy an older Audi A8 that cost $85k new for around $10k to $15k, 32mpg out of a 310/340 horsepower V8.

I hope that gives you something to think about, good luck on the search, there are a lot of great used cars out there.

One last thing, stay away from the mid model cars like kids and people who can't afford to keep up with a car right and get the type of thing affluent people lean toward, they have the bucks to pay for excellent maintenance.

From what I have seen in my used car market area they are pretty expensive. But I have seen some good buys as well. If I cam across a good buy on a Z I would probably keep my car let it run into the ground and beat the z to death. Than whatever money I save in that time frame replace the car with a 4 door. But I can only afford one car at a time and considering mine is paid off and has 116k on it. It has done well. I expect to pay a bit more for service for higher end cars. A used bmw I read if you can afford around 500 a year or less for maintenance you will be fine. The acuras are good as well for maintenance.

nooshinjohn

bigaudiofanatic wrote: »

Ya right 95k I would just get a gtr for that kind of money.

LOL!!!:eek::D So would I. That said, the 2005 version can be had with 40k on the clock and for under 25 grand.:p

shadowofnight

Demiurge wrote: »

While I wouldn't suggest buying a $3-$4K vehicle, I would look at $8-$12K vehicles that are only a couple years old. Maybe step up to an Accord. You can get a 4 door with a nice sized trunk. No, it isn't exciting, but the purpose of a vehicle for a guy your age and financial situation should be to get from point A to point B reliably.

$0.02

Thats a good 2 cents , you can still get a really nice car in great condition after somebody else lost their shorts on it as new and then ended up selling/trading it in.

I have to do just that for my father this coming Thursday...he is 76 years old and still sharp as a tack and drives really well. He was standing on his porch and saw a huge SUV turn the corner and they floored it...the SUV went right for his parked Toyota...hit it so hard it went over the curb and took out the front yard fence.

If his car hadnt of been parked there , the girl would have ended up in his livingroom. The girl was 14...yup 14...driving her brothers friends SUV.

My dad just got the insurance check , and we are going on Thursday to buy a couple year old car for him somewhere around 10K ( He got 8,200 for his 2000 Camry...If we find something he likes for that great...if not I will kick in whatever he needs...hopefully not more than 10K )

But yeah, buying a new car at your age if you need to make big payments ( And I saw BMW 5 series mentioned...TL's...350Z's..etc....you are talking pretty big chunks of change every month for those...plus insurance ..again at your age with a sport orientated car...ouch ) is pretty rough.

woodguru

I just learned how to do pictures, here's the Audi S8, it pulls 8000 rpm in fifth gear, the way the gears are track oriented it is at 3200 rpm at 80mph. My wife's A8 was at 2200 at 80 but it gets 32mpg vs the 21mpg of this.

I am looking at selling this and figure I'll be doing good to get $16k

Thatwasn't a plug, I don't figure to find a buyer on the Polkie site )

bigaudiofanatic

The first look I thought it was a 740il.

woodguru

The first owner leased it on a $115k lease with a payment of $1680.00 per month (ouch).

I paid $20k cash three years ago when it booked at $32k with 85k miles.

I'll be lucky to get sixteen or seventeen grand for it and the tires and wheels were $5k after I bought it. The value is going up because they used one in the transporter movies which is increasing the awareness of just how fast these things are.

TECHNOKID

I'll be mean (practical) again and suggest that if you don't keep what you already have to drive into the ground, you'd do well to look at more economical cars for your personal situation.

Nissan Versa

obieone

Well, IF you want to save $5k, you could get the Accord EX V6. That's the car I'd buy IF I had any disposable income.

exalted512

I have nothing to add, its all already been said.

But I reallllllly want a CTS-V...just saying....haha

If I won the lottery, that day I would be shopping for one!
-Cody

VR3

Did I read on here his current car had 120,000 miles?

Dude my truck has 150,000 miles and I drive it hard, I pull up fence posts and tree stumps with it...

Shows no signs of giving up at the moment - What are you doing to your car to wear it out?

audiobliss

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote: »

Did I read on here his current car had 120,000 miles?

Dude my truck has 150,000 miles and I drive it hard, I pull up fence posts and tree stumps with it...

Shows no signs of giving up at the moment - What are you doing to your car to wear it out?

Yeah, but he's got a honduh!

bigaudiofanatic

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote: »

Did I read on here his current car had 120,000 miles?

Dude my truck has 150,000 miles and I drive it hard, I pull up fence posts and tree stumps with it...

Shows no signs of giving up at the moment - What are you doing to your car to wear it out?

I probably beat my car more than you do with your truck. I go threw a set of tires in about 17 months. I am not saying it can not go to 298k like our old honda did but I just want something better.

When you work on cars and install car audio systems and drive bmw 740's and z's and Mercedes and than drive your "honda" its not even close to the same. I know the saying that there will always be something better but still.