Buying a new car advice recommendations

Ever consider a new Honda Civic? Iv heard good reviews about them and their MPG is excellent. A new one can be had for well under 30K.

Quote from gpister : ... We are basically looking for a gas efficient car with a nice look basically also something affordable. ...

By buying a new car you instantly lose 10-20% just by driving it off the dealer lot. Now, if you're really after that new car smell then there is no substitute, but if your intent is to save money then don't even look at new cars. Also, fuel efficiency only goes so far. It's interesting to see how some people pay thousands more for hybrid models but in the end they don't come anywhere close to saving that amount of money vs. driving a non-hybrid car.

If you want to save money, buy cars with 10-20K miles on the odometer. They still look and feel new. You still get manufacturer's warranty for the whole car until you reach 36K, for most cars, and 50K for the drivetrain. Some CPO (certified preowned) cars have extended warranties of up to 100K miles but you have to be careful with these because dealers tend to price them accordingly and you may overpay.

My $0.02+tax

The sentra is a smaller car than the altima. smaller car = less materials needed to manufacture it = less expensive car

For me, I NEVER EVER trade in a car. A few hours of selling the car yourself could be a difference of thousands of dollars. Honestly, when was the last time you turn down a job that paid you thousands of dollars for just a few hours? And yet people trade in their cars left and right. A suckers deal. Dealers will never offer anywhere close to retail price because they need to turn a profit.

I see the Altima as the larger, better model car than the Sentra. With most thing, the higher, the better the model, the more it cost to make, the more they sell it for.

In the past, buying use car that is two to three years old with 20K-30K miles was a great bang for the buck. I remember paying about 40% less than buying a new car. I just don't know if that still applies in this market. In my area, the used car price is through the roof, pass the sky, and it's nearing the moon. With special financing with new cars, in certain situation, it's better to buy new. My brother had to make that choice last year. Buy a new or used truck. In the end, he was better off going new due to the 0% finance.

Know your market. Know what current cars are being sold for in your area. Price shop. Go to more than one dealers. Make them go ebaying for your business...best deal gets the deal.

Oh, last time I went car shopping. It was SUPERBOWL and not a soul was at a car dealership. I happen to walk around and saw that they didn't sell a single car that day. I came out with a great deal.

Quote from calnbs : For me, I NEVER EVER trade in a car. A few hours of selling the car yourself could be a difference of thousands of dollars. Honestly, when was the last time you turn down a job that paid you thousands of dollars for just a few hours? And yet people trade in their cars left and right. A suckers deal. Dealers will never offer anywhere close to retail price because they need to turn a profit.

u make it up from trade in tax and depends on the car u r selling.

Thanks for the advice guys. The reason I don't see us selling this car privately is because I don't see it selling to me it doesn't seem a high resale value car (Ford Escape 2006 I still wonder why my folks got that model very unappealing). I just want to go easy and course talk to the dealership (actually a couple) see who will work with me the best deal. Since this model came in 2013 I didn't want to look into until mid 2013 and to the end where they will want to get rid of there stock and give better deals. I don't mind a semi new one I just want to get a good deal, however I want to see what other models are comparable with the Nissan Altima (price and gas mileage mostly). If its the Nissan Altima next step as one of you mentioned is to do research to who will offer me the better deal and work best. I agree that new cars also lose a lot of value so I don't mind a semi new car to be honest I just want something reliable and I do agree the Hybrids are price at the moment, but I see this as an investment since the CUV we have has terrible gas mileage.

Quote from gpister : Thanks for the advice guys. The reason I don't see us selling this car privately is because I don't see it selling to me it doesn't seem a high resale value car (Ford Escape 2006 I still wonder why my folks got that model very unappealing). I just want to go easy and course talk to the dealership (actually a couple) see who will work with me the best deal. Since this model came in 2013 I didn't want to look into until mid 2013 and to the end where they will want to get rid of there stock and give better deals. I don't mind a semi new one I just want to get a good deal, however I want to see what other models are comparable with the Nissan Altima (price and gas mileage mostly). If its the Nissan Altima next step as one of you mentioned is to do research to who will offer me the better deal and work best. I agree that new cars also lose a lot of value so I don't mind a semi new car to be honest I just want something reliable and I do agree the Hybrids are price at the moment, but I see this as an investment since the CUV we have has terrible gas mileage.

If you're not interested in selling the car yourself you might consider donating to a charity that you like. Many charities take cars and resell them. You don't as good of a tax deduction as you used to but it's still a nice thing to do and you get a little financial benefit. You could also try CarMax or stop at several dealerships to see what the best offer would be. You don't have to trade in (or sell) the car where you buy your new (or new to you) car.

I would start looking for a 2 to 4 year old vehicle with lower miles. I would get your financing in place first. Try your local bank or credit union. Penfed (federal credit union open to all US citizens - you have to make a small donation to join) has excellent rates at 1.49%.

https://www.penfed.org/

Quote from calnbs : For me, I NEVER EVER trade in a car. A few hours of selling the car yourself could be a difference of thousands of dollars. Honestly, when was the last time you turn down a job that paid you thousands of dollars for just a few hours? And yet people trade in their cars left and right. A suckers deal. Dealers will never offer anywhere close to retail price because they need to turn a profit.

I feel the same way. I recently decided to upgrade from my Acura TL to an Infiniti G37Sport. I did not trade in the TL because I wanted to get maximum value for the sale. Obviously, trading in could leave several thousand on the table. But here's some things to consider that I've learned from my experience. Cars that are more expensive than ~$15K are sometimes difficult to sell privately because buyers of those cars often need financing. Not too many people have $15K in cash they want to use to buy a car. So, even though your car may be desirable, you limit your buyer pool even further to the people who can pay cash for it. For the same car, a car lot can offer financing (we'll forgo the argument about interest rates on those kinds of loans). I'm not saying suitable buyers aren't out there, because there are plenty of people that can and do pay cash for cars in that price range. But I'm just saying they are a subset of interested buyers.

Another thing to consider is the time of year that you are selling your car. Around the holidays, people are less likely to spend money on a car unless they have to. They won't make a purchase just to treat themselves - they're more focusing their money on presents.

Quote from kyotuosa : u make it up from trade in tax and depends on the car u r selling.

You don't make it up totally, but it bridges some of the gap. For example, let's say you buy a car in PA for $20K and you have a car that you may trade in. The dealer will give you $16K for your trade in but KBB says you can get $18.5 from a private party. The sales tax on the purchase would be $1200 without trade in or $240 with trade in (because you only pay tax on the difference between the sale price and the trade in price).

In the end, if you trade in the car you pay $4240. If you don't trade in, you pay $2700. But the bottom line is, is $1500 worth the time/effort it takes to sell your old car private? That may be a few hours over the course of a week, or that may be over a couple months. That question can only be answered by the individual.

Quote from heavylee : You don't make it up totally, but it bridges some of the gap. For example, let's say you buy a car in PA for $20K and you have a car that you may trade in. The dealer will give you $16K for your trade in but KBB says you can get $18.5 from a private party. The sales tax on the purchase would be $1200 without trade in or $240 with trade in (because you only pay tax on the difference between the sale price and the trade in price). In the end, if you trade in the car you pay $4240. If you don't trade in, you pay $2700. But the bottom line is, is $1500 worth the time/effort it takes to sell your old car private? That may be a few hours over the course of a week, or that may be over a couple months. That question can only be answered by the individual.

what happen is if you are actually trading in for a car then you can just negotiate the OTD price and they will take care of the tax by doing some accountint work. So in your example u r buying a 20k car, but the scenaro would be different if you are buying an 40k, 60k, or an 80k car. You'd have a lot more room to bring down the car you are buying. Like i said depends on the car you're trading.

We are looking to trade in the car to get the price lower so I doubt giving it to charity will be a choice here. So focus on the car is there anything else equivalent in style/price/gas mileage to the Nissan Altima?

Sonata

Your post is confusing. Are you buying a car or your parents? That could change the desired style.

Quote from gpister : We are looking to trade in the car to get the price lower so I doubt giving it to charity will be a choice here. So focus on the car is there anything else equivalent in style/price/gas mileage to the Nissan Altima?

Since your not in a rush here, research and education is your best bet. Your OP is a bit confusing and it shows your confusion about the car market in general. The Nissan Sentra and Nissan Altima are in 2 different classes of car. There are a lot of basic differences between them. Most notably is the size. The Sentra is classified as a small Compact Car, and the Altima is considered to be a mid-size. The Altima is a brand new model just released in 2012 and in addition to it being larger (and heavier) it is more refined, offers more technology, and luxury than the Sentra. So it's hard to compare these two models of car on just MPG because they are a lot different and there should be more factors in your decision than just mpg. http://www.edmunds.com/sedan/before-buy.html

Also know that most people rarely see the posted MPG numbers. People think that it's the government who tests all new cars and comes up with these numbers and it's not. Manufactures do their own testing and then the government spot checks just a few every year. Also know that the testing mpg circuit used is not really compareable to real world driving and the test can and is gamed a bit.

Style is subjective. Chances are since it's your parents your tastes are not going to be the same as theirs.

As far as comparable cars there are a lot in this midsize class to look at. Here is just one example http://www.edmunds.com/sedan/2013...guide.html There are tons of good info online about car research. I would also recommend you go around to dealerships and drive some cars. A car might rate well but as a driver you might hate it because the suspension is too stiff or floaty, or the seats don't fit your body etc. So you have time go drive and see what you like, and do research. Also remember it's their car not yours so their input is important too.

I just went through the car buying process...pick the car you want. If you can, rent the car for a few days to get a feel for it. I also used many different sites, edmunds, truecar, yahoo autos, kbb, to get pricing and options available.

Find dealers in your state, and start emailing, keep a notebook with dealer and salespersons names, and what the quotes were. I took the lowest quote and sent it to the next highest dealer to see if they would match.

A local dealer went under the quote of a not so local dealer so we went with that dealer. Make sure the options are the same..

On quotes make sure they are before any rebates..look at the manufactuer's site for available rebates...get the lowest quote then take the rebate.

The frst dealer I went to wanted 25000 for a 2013 Hyundai Elantra Limited..after all the emails I got it for 19499 after rebates.

All that new car "20 off the lot lost" are those people who pay full price...you can minimize that by offering less than sticker. They will hem and haw about losing money but they will come down on the price.

After we decided to go with the local dealer...another dealer came in 200 dollars lower..but they were a 2 hour drive and I decided it wasnt worth it...

You have lots of time...do your research..see what the car is selling for..read reviews, do some test drives..

You are in control of the purchase, it is you who has to make the payments, do not let the dealers get the best of you. If you do not like the offer, try another dealer...

Good luck and if you have any questions..you can ask here or pm me!