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Thread: Need advice, shopping for a new/used family car

  1. #101
    We too have been looking at getting a larger vehicle. With an active family of 4 we need the space. In some instances it's for cargo, in others it's for people. As such we're looking at vehicles with a third row seat. We have many friends with vans and sure they are nice but I don't really want a van. After driving a few around my wife thinks they are too big, thank goodness, and we've focused on crossover type vehicles.

    We've driven a bunch and looked at more. I kind of had a mental list going in. Some stayed on the list while others didn't. There were a few that also got added to the list. I'm really liking the Honda Pilot. Like a lot of 3rd gens they keep their value. One that is 1-3 years old isn't that far off from new, so we might go that route.

    We have a friend with the newest Pathfinder. It's pretty big and far from the Pathfinder I liked growing up. In the end it will be the car my wife drives and if it's anything like now I'll only drive it to the gas station and maybe on the weekends. She's coming from a 5 speed turbo Subaru so she wants something with some pep. Pretty much everything we've driven is bigger than my 3rd gen but surprisingly they don't seem like dogs.

    The Pathfinder, Mazda CX9 and the Highlander are ones that are still on the to drive list. My wife doesn't care much for the Highlander, especially for it's new price and we both have yet to even sit in a Mazda. Thankfully both our vehicles are working well and we like them. That's better than being forced into a new car without having time to research.

  2. #102
    Quote Originally Posted by Kryptoroxx View Post
    Call me a loyalist or whatever but I never plan on leaving Toyota.

    I guess it would be wise to shop around though whenever I do get in the market.

    We would take a swing at like an 08 Camry or something similar just because of the trunk and the kiddos but I think we will probably end up with a sequoia or 4th gen runner with 3 rows of seating. I don't think we are done having kids yet. A Camry would be bursting at the seams with 3 seats across.

    I would love a Camry wagon.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
    Owned a Corolla Wagon with the 1.8L engine and made in Japan; probably , next to my 1997 4Runner, the best Toyota I even owned. Solid vehicle and always problem free......

  3. #103
    I was reminded why I hate dealers and why I hate having a military haircut while shopping for anything negotiable.

    Called and did most of the arrangements on the phone since the dealer is an hour and a half away. Got there and they low ball me by 2k on my trade all while telling me about all the service members or "young kids" that they sell too. Then to top it off they try to bully me into the buy now. Another family came in conveniently right as we were getting back to the dealership.

    I wonder if I had a dick on my forehead or stupid stamped there. Last time I go to that dealership.....well correction. Last time I go there without a couple of buddies. Take a mechanic and a lawyer and have all kinds of fun watching them sweat while you nitpick the car to death and explain the lemon law in excruciating detail.

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  4. #104
    I think we can probably all tell stories about sleezy car salesmen that will do or say anything to get you to buy a car. Tesla direct sales is where it's at. Almost as good, I bought the Acura through Costco (no haggling with salesmen) and the BMW i3 can be bought on Amazon in some countries. (I wonder if I could get free super saver shipping on that.)

    People are tired of the current sales model and it is in the process of unraveling.

  5. #105
    Our experience at Ford was OK. They were pushy as hell but I've seen worse. Next time I will probably go through Costco or AAA or go through truecar.

    I could have got a better deal, but not by much, maybe a couple hundred at the most.
    2005 Lexus LX470 - Stock for now...

    1998 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4x4 + a bunch of goodies. Lifted, Locked, Illuminated and Armored. Winner,"Best Offroad Truck" - 2010 Pismo Jamboree. It's been upside down and still drives me to work.

  6. #106
    We had the most unusual experience with Costco. First off, we went to Ford to look at the Fusion, but had to park at the Acura dealership because the Ford lot was packed. We walked by an Acura TSX Sportswagon and my wife immediately fell in love with it, but they started at $31,985 which was out of our price range. (We wanted to stay around $26k.) So we did not drive it, and in fact we barely did more than say "this is nice but we can't afford it," and we walked away. We did our Ford test drive and over the coming weeks tried other cars. When we heard about the Costco auto buy program Hanna threw the Acura into their website (just because she was curious) and it came back with a price that I thought for sure was in error. It was somewhere around $27,000. We had not even driven the car because of its price, but suddenly we were interested because at that price we were only stretching our budget about $500-$1,000 over the cost of a Honda Accord or Ford Fusion.

    The TSX wagon is a very low volume car--the one we had seen on the lot locally had been sold and the nearest one was 150 miles away. We printed out the Costco price and drove the distance to the dealership with one in stock. Drove it, wife fell in love and we sat down to do the paperwork. We never officially used the Costco program--all I had was an initial quote from costco with a price and the name of the dealership that was closest that had one. Without even an official quote from Costco, the dealership matched the Costco price without much work and the car was ours. I think it was meant to-be because without any hassle we got the car for $5,000 less than MSRP. Actually it was more because the car had some options (floor mats, mud guards, Acura aluminum doorsill appliques, etc.) that weren't even factored into the Costco price.

    Had we officially gone through Costco I'm not sure how it would have worked. But somehow things just worked and I would happy to use them officially next time I am in the market for a car. Haggling with a salesman like I did for the LEAF is frustrating, time-consuming, and generally sucks.

  7. #107
    Quote Originally Posted by paddlenbike View Post
    I think we can probably all tell stories about sleezy car salesmen that will do or say anything to get you to buy a car. Tesla direct sales is where it's at. Almost as good, I bought the Acura through Costco (no haggling with salesmen) and the BMW i3 can be bought on Amazon in some countries. (I wonder if I could get free super saver shipping on that.)

    People are tired of the current sales model and it is in the process of unraveling.
    We tossed the idea of trading the scion. It will be fairly easy to sell it up here for what we owe. There's a thing called pcs season here where most of the people are either leaving or coming to the base. Since military movers will only move one car many families will sell or buy when they move.

    Plus the scion will be priced to move. I'm not looking to make a profit from it.

    Also I found out that highlander was a ridiculous price too so there are more in the area at better prices. Just have to drive into LA to look at one tomorrow.

    **Edit Not going to drive to LA tomorrow. We are waiting on either the Scion to sell first and get rid of it or my promotion. After debating for about 2 hours we came to the conclusion that while it would be nice to do now.....we don't need to do it now. Good cars can be found easily enough. Now I started looking at Honda Pilots as well. What else is there that is similar for space with 3rd row seating? I've not been impressed with domestic cars judging by what my friends have....but most of them are at least 10 years old lol.

    Don't want to get into anything more than 18k. I don't want much of a car payment. We have other stuff we owe on so efficiency and reliability will be big for our purchase. The highlander 2nd gen runs at about 20 city and 27 highway according to what I've read on the 2.7L 2TR. I think that's a great engine although I'm sure it will feel a little weak in the Highlander as well.


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    Last edited by Kryptoroxx; 06-17-2015 at 08:15 PM.
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  8. #108
    Went and took a look at some of the highlander competition and I was not impressed at all. The entertainment packages were better but I can install anything in that department if it were that much of a need. The ride was pretty good in some of them as well. Where the highlander shines is some of the innovation with the third row seating, gas mileage, and the comfort of the seats for me. I can't stand wide seats as they don't fit me well at all. I like being supported with a firm seat. Some of the highlanders lacking features are kind of a boat feel in the suspension as well as visibility with backing. That this really should have a backup camera standard. Also the stance seems really narrow. All in all though I really like the highlander the best though. Especially with the 2tr engine. I think its an excellent engine and the vvti really helps with the weight. Toyota was also smart when they added a 6 speed to help the 4 banger out. Just my opinion as we were shopping. I think the sedans are a different beast though.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk
    98 3rz 4x4 5spd- Monstalined, 99 Talls, 4.30 E-locker, Extra Lights
    In Progress:
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    1st Gen Rollbar Shelf

  9. #109
    Just to put a close on this we ended up with a 2008 toyota highlander limited awd for around 19850. Great price and it's loaded with comfort. The dealership was great to work with and the only real complaint is the rocketbox doesn't work with it. The nice thing is though that there is so much interior space I'm not sure if we will really need it.







    We found it when we weren't even looking. It was nice to be able to breathe on the way back down the coast though. The little scion had done it's job and now will move on to someone else.

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    98 3rz 4x4 5spd- Monstalined, 99 Talls, 4.30 E-locker, Extra Lights
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