Dang, Subarus are really looking appealing. Now the age old question: new, used, Certified Pre-Owned, Craigslist?
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Dang, Subarus are really looking appealing. Now the age old question: new, used, Certified Pre-Owned, Craigslist?
new- cant change your own oil, like to burn money?
used- bought first by someone else who cant change their own oil, some good, some bad here
Certified Pre-Owned- seriously? used, but someone looked at it for 20 minutes. Trans, engine etc can all be festering junk, but at least you paid more, and bought a warranty. Bought a warranty, no you paid for health insurance on a car
Craigslist- yup, all of the above available there, sold by all kinds of folks.
If you know something about vehicles, and trust yourself "reading" bs from other folks, go used, take your risks, plan on a couple things needing addressed and save a bunch of cash. If you know nothing about cars, then buy new, sell before the warranty is up, repeat. Guys like me love guys like that. Otherwise, where would I buy cheap used cars from! Preowned makes no sense to me at all. If I sell barf, is it better if I call it "predigested"? Certified nothing. You pay more, they send you packing, and you can spend $ on a "warranty" and IF a problem comes up, HOPE that they cover it, less the deductible. Or keep the $, and stuff it in the bank, for IF something needs fixed, walla self insured.
Check Elio out OP http://www.eliomotors.com/my-story/
Forgot my [Sarcasm2]
New:
- You're the first owner and it shouldn't have any problems. Just as Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon, you'll be the first man to carve his ass grooves into the seat.
- You might be spending money to get what you want and you gotta go to a dealership for a new car, which means cars salesmen. So stay sharp.
- Car manufacturers like to add improvements with each new model year so I tend to avoid the inaugural model years in a generation. Just my thing though.
Used:
- Buying used is a great way to save a lot of money, great deals can be often found when buying used. You'll also save money on insurance being it's a older car.
- You're picking up someone's sloppy seconds, as that could imply, that shit could be straight up wrecked. Expect having to do repairs that are out of the norm. Things gets neglected and they get passed on to you.
- Carfax is great. Use it to your advantage in this situation.
CPO:
- Someone looked it over, replaced a few things, and the dealer slapped a warranty on it. In a sense you get a new car at a kinda used car price, avoiding the big depreciation of the first few years of new car ownership.
- It's still someone's sloppy seconds, stuff can still break. Think of CPO as a reduced risk used car.
- Look into factory backed certified used cars. Car manufacturers will typically have set parameters for cars to be eligible for CPO, further reducing future risks.
Craigslist:
- Look at used.
1997 Jetta. And don't look back.
[Beer]
Heuberger is the big gun in the area of course. They're actually really good there, and have some of the best pricing on Subarus in the south west US from what I understand. Bought mine there 2 years ago, never a problem, their service dept has also been really quick every time I've gone compared to the other dealers in the area. Didn't feel any sales pressure. They've got a huge lot down there, it's kind of funny watching the sales guy find the car you want to look at since they're spread all over motor city. Oh and a free coffee/espresso bar there while you wait. At certain times of year they'll offer pretty big discounts to clear inventory, I got an extra couple k$ off mine.
As for used/cpo/etc, check pricing. I don't think you'll save much over new, since they hold their value pretty well, especially around here. I know a friend was trying to find a relatively new used Subaru to save some $ over new, and he had to get into the 8-10 year old range to start saving some real money.
I canot think of any reason to own a car, that is all
Quote:
http://www.ar-15.co/images/tf_ideal/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by MarkCO http://www.ar-15.co/images/tf_ideal/...post-right.png
Shocks, bushings, plus a pitman and steering control total about $400 from Rock Auto. The control arms are not shot, maybe the bushings. But the pitman and steering, yes, around 150 or so , they need a redo. Compare the gas plus insurance to the newer car's gas plus insurance.
Hate to say it, but used Hyundais are pretty good values in this realm if you really decide to go with a car/small SUV.
Replacing the control arms is an easy way out for replacing the bushings. Control arms are not much more expensive than the time and materials invested in replacing the bushings (for me, anyway.) It also needs most of the 100k mile maintenance, which was priced out by the stealer ship at almost $1k. Also, my mechanical knowledge and skill is very limited with it comes to vehicles (something I really want to change someday). I've changed my own oil and rotated tires a few times... That's about it.
Maybe we should start a COAR15 "Oil and Burgers" club. :) If I had a lift in the shop, I would.