Buying a car, need advice

Kias

I know a lot of people really get in to cars and love looking at cars, test driving them, reading about them, etc. I am the opposite of that. I never liked shopping for a new car, which is likely why I have been in the same make/model (Jeep Grand Cherokee) for over 10 years.

Now I have been putting this off as long as I can, but I pretty much have to pull the trigger on a new car by the end of this month. The gas on my 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee has been painful and I will be traveling a lot in the next couple years (2 hour trips, 4-hours total most weekends, with a 6-hour, 12-hour round trip about once a month). I also have a 30-minute drive to work every day. This is all highway/interstate driving.

Now I am looking at diverting from my usual pick and am trying to open up my options to get a solid, gas efficient ride. I really like my SUV's, but I know I don't actually need one. One of the cars I am looking at now is a Nissan Juke with about 5k miles on it that I can get for about $300 a month if I trade in my jeep (The Nissan place offered me 2.5k for the Jeep). I am also thinking about hybrid options, like the Prius or a hybrid Camry, considering how much traveling I will be doing to save on gas. I would prefer to get my monthly as close to $200 as I can, but if I'm saving on gas, I can do up to $300.

So, with that context, does anyone have any suggestions for what I should be looking for? Is there any reason why I shouldn't be picking up a hybrid? I heard that the battery/gas thing is less effective for long road trips, is this true?

Basically, any advice anyone wants to give, I would appreciate. If there is a make/model I should consider that isn't mentioned that I may get in that price range, please throw it out there.

Talondel

When buying a car, do not negotiate based on how much you want to pay a month. Go to your bank/credit union and tell them you want to get pre-approved for a car loan and see what rate you can get and what payment *they* think you can afford (which may vary significantly from your own estimate). Use that information to figure out how much you can afford to pay. You can use something like this: http://www.edmunds.com/calculators/affordability.html to do the math.

Based on what you said ($2500 trade, $200-$300 payment) you should be looking between $11,500 and $16,000, assuming you're willing to make payments for 5 years. Those numbers can change a lot depending on how long you want to be making payments (which is why you should never negotiate payments, often the dealer will just tack on another years worth of payments to get the payment amount where you want, but you wind up with a 78 month loan).

Don't forget to take into account sales tax. Also, research how sales tax works in your jurisdiction. Some places you pay sales tax on the full amount of the sale price, other places you only pay tax on the difference between the sale price and your trade in.

Know what fees you should expect to pay going in. For a used car, this should be taxes, title fees, and a reasonable doc fee. Don't pay for 'warranty transfer fees' or 'refurbishing fees.' These are the 'rust proofing' and 'paint sealant' of the modern car dealer (i.e. made up things they don't actually have to pay for that they try to charge you for).

Get a good estimate of your trade-in value before you go in. Stick to a conservative value (wholesale value, not retail value, and be realistic about your cars condition.

If you know all those things going in you should be able to negotiate the 'out the door' price. That is, the price of the car, plus fees, less your trade value. You don't care how they get to the price you want, just that they get there.

As far as what to buy, if you're looking at used cars I would tend toward small engine non-hybrid over a hybrid, just because we still don't have a lot of information about the long term cost of ownership of a hybrid (based on your history, I'm assuming you will want to keep this car for a long time). In my mind (meaning, my personal biases, not necessarily an objective evaluation) I would steer away from a car like a Juke. I just don't see that being a reliable car over an extended period. I would be more inclined to something with a better track record of reliability like a Mazda CX-5 or a Honda CR-V or Element.

Donovan Puppyfucker

If you're going to be doing a bunch of miles, you are going to need to have comfort and cost of ownership pretty high up on your list of criteria.

Not just fuel consumption, but servicing costs, tyre costs, insurance costs etc. etc.

As for comfort, your driving position and the seat are going to be the two biggies - a car can have a super-plush ride, but if the seat gives you stabbing pains up and down your spine if you sit in it for more than half an hour, roadtrips are going to suck balls.

A medium size Japanese sedan with a modern efficient engine (perhaps a Mazda 6) would serve you loyally for many years. I dunno where you live, but BAM, there you go.

The Black Hunter

A nissan juke or something similar would be fine. Japan really does make the best compact cars and I think that extends to small SUVs, though you could check out a hyundai guilt free, they make quality rides.

If I were you I figure out the rough year models to be looking at, (3-5 years old, 4-7 or whatever best fits your budget) and then going test driving, google image search cars you might like and just browse information about them. I would avoid a hybrid honestly, they are something of a luxury and you won't really be making your money back off the investment for quite a long time.

Wezoin

Also just as a heads up, hybrids are great on gas at city speeds but the benefit of the hybrid engine is generally lost at highway speeds. If you are doing a lot of highway you might find it more economical to go with a small gas powered engine instead of a hybrid. Alternately diesel is a really fuel efficient option if the fuel is readily available near you.

Djeet

Generally hybrids aren't as efficient on highway as they are city, but I wouldn't characterize the difference as their benefit being lost. 45 is worse than 50, but still better than pretty much any small petrol engines in highway. The US doesn't have very many inexpensive diesels (and no "small" [<2.0L] diesels) so they don't figure in if OP is in US.

You should figure out how many miles you're putting on, your HW/city break, and determine how many gallons/miles you'll put on. Then factoring in the length of time you'll own the vehicle, and putting in avg costs for maintenance and service, compare the mileage savings to the cost differential of a hybrid or diesel to a high economy petrol car.

Slo

I've found the new mazdas to be really fuel efficient. 58mpg highway, 40 city.

You could even get the cr-x if you don't want to give up on that SUV feel entirely. (50mpg highway, 36 city)

cookiekrush

Make sure you're getting everything up front and broken down, so you see all the fees and what exactly everything is going to cost. Even if you're given the base price of the car, they don't tell you all the hidden fees and taxes until it comes to signing the documents. Those fees are negotiable and sometimes the dealership will pick up those fees.

I totally agree with the hybrids. They're more cost effective with city driving. On the highway, they're not up the standard that normal gas cars would be on. You'll be losing a few MPG, but depending on your commute, it may not make a difference to you. You also should think about the battery life on the hybrids as they're not as solid if you're constantly wearing them down. They're pricey to replace as well.

Since you've been an in SUV for so long, you should think about if you want to get another SUV, sedan, or a crossover. SUV and crossovers will always have lower MPG, but they'll be much better than what your Jeep got. Hondas and Toyota are well known for their gas mileage. Their upkeep isn't bad. However, to me, they're not build well, or rather heavy. It felt too light of a car to me. This is only because I do snow driving.

I personally love my VW Jetta, however I drive a TDI, so you'd have to go for a 2.5 or 2 engine for regular gas. I get about 42 highway, and about 36 for city. This is based on my driving and my hour commute to work.

illig

i'd suggest 2 approaches:

1. If cost is your ultimate priority, no matter what car you buy - it will most likely be more expensive to own (car payment + gas) than the jeep (gas only) for the next few years. Unless the Jeep is on its last legs, or you really want a new car (hey - you're allowed! ), then consider just keeping the Jeep and driving frugally

2. If new car is a requirement, you should abandon any SUV/cross-over type vehicles - get a car (a wagon/hatchback if you need the space) as it will certainly be more fuel efficient than a comparable SUV/CUV/cross-over.