New Car Buying

[tvguy]

My sister and a niece and nephew had Subarus. I can verify the engine issues after about 100k. Sister did buy another one.

Subaru has very loyal owners. They do have engine issues, specifically problems with oil consumption and blown head gaskets, but a friend had her engine fail at 125,000 miles on it and Subaru replaced it for free. Well, they offered to fix it for free, then said they would pay for half the repair once the car was apart in the dealership, and after a bit of back and forth, did pay the total bill.
While a blown head gasket isn't cheap on any car, it is much more expensive in a Subaru because they have what is known as a "boxer" or "pancake" engine instead of an inline 4 cylinder engine. So instead of just pulling the cylinder head to fix the gasket, you have to remove the engine to get to the cylinder head.

 

[NannyBeBe]

I'm driving around my 16 year old Honda CR-V and plan to do so for at least another 10 years. These cars will last forever. Getting to 300k miles is not unheard of. My car is only at 102,000.

I drive a 2006 Honda Odyssey Touring Van. I plan to drive it for the rest of my driving years. Every little bell and whistle still works. It just turned 105,000 miles. The paint has suffered from the intense sun in my area but that does not concern me. If I were buying a new car, it would be a Honda or nothing.

 

[cvjw]

We have owned several Toyotas over the years and my local dealership would hardly negotiate on price when the parking lots were full of new Toyotas. I can only imagine what it is like now to buy a Toyota with such a small supply of new vehicles.

My husband owned a Subaru Outback for 10 years. Not a single issue until it hit almost 100,000 miles. We think the transmission was going. We got rid of it at that point.

I have driven Hondas for 10 years. My 2 have been practically trouble free. Nothing mechanical has ever gone wrong. It has been little things like the lift gate motor making weird noises. My next car will be an Acura - I am staying with the Honda family.

 

[BrianL]

We have owned several Toyotas over the years and my local dealership would hardly negotiate on price when the parking lots were full of new Toyotas. I can only imagine what it is like now to buy a Toyota with such a small supply of new vehicles.

My husband owned a Subaru Outback for 10 years. Not a single issue until it hit almost 100,000 miles. We think the transmission was going. We got rid of it at that point.

I have driven Hondas for 10 years. My 2 have been practically trouble free. Nothing mechanical has ever gone wrong. It has been little things like the lift gate motor making weird noises. My next car will be an Acura - I am staying with the Honda family.

That negotiating thing will vary greatly by individual dealership. When I bought my last Toyota (a while ago admittedly), I went to all three local dealerships. One was pretty unwilling to play ball, one just seemed disorganized, and one gave me a very nice and fair deal. THe management varies greatly. Of course now they have a lot more power on pricing, and I doubt any negotiate, but not just Toyota.

 

[DLgal]

I drive a 2006 Honda Odyssey Touring Van. I plan to drive it for the rest of my driving years. Every little bell and whistle still works. It just turned 105,000 miles. The paint has suffered from the intense sun in my area but that does not concern me. If I were buying a new car, it would be a Honda or nothing.

Nice.

My CR-V has been garage parked for 16 years so the paint still looks really good. I also chose a fade resistant color (light green). I had a red 1998 Civic that was not garage parked, and by the time I sold it in 2003, it was already fading.

 

[leahgoogle]

We are also in the market for a RAV4 (although looking for a couple years old). The prices for new or used RAV4s are crazy! People love them and they are very dependable. We don't need a car right away either so we are holding out for the prices to drop.

 

[kymom99]

No offense to anyone at all…..but those of you saying you drove 10-15 years and just reached 100k. Omg! We drive a lot. I put 50k on my Camry in less than 3 years.

 

[tvguy]

No offense to anyone at all…..but those of you saying you drove 10-15 years and just reached 100k. Omg! We drive a lot. I put 50k on my Camry in less than 3 years.

My mom had a car for 27 years and it had 77,000 miles on it when she got rid of it.
I had my family car for 31 years and it only had 155,000 miles on it when I traded it in
Our 2020 Camry has 17,000 miles on it, and it is only that high because we took a 3,600 mile road trip in it in April.
But we have had a "spare/weekend/vacation" car since 1986.

 

[DisneyHardin]

No offense to anyone at all…..but those of you saying you drove 10-15 years and just reached 100k. Omg! We drive a lot. I put 50k on my Camry in less than 3 years.

I was thinking the same thing. I drive 50 miles/day round trip to work, so the miles add up fast on mine. We've had our new car for 9 weeks and it already has 3000 miles on it.

 

[tvguy]

I was thinking the same thing. I drive 50 miles/day round trip to work, so the miles add up fast on mine. We've had our new car for 9 weeks and it already has 3000 miles on it.

Only about 2,250 of that is commuting, so you are on track to put 13000 miles a year on it just commuting. So only slightly above average.

 

[sam_gordon]

Only about 2,250 of that is commuting, so you are on track to put 13000 miles a year on it just commuting. So only slightly above average.

But that's just commuting, add in running errands, shuttling kids, maybe a couple trips and it adds up quick.

Don't feel bad @kymom99, when I was working locally, we were putting 20k+ miles on TWO vehicles every year.

 

[tvguy]

But that's just commuting, add in running errands, shuttling kids, maybe a couple trips and it adds up quick.

Don't feel bad @kymom99, when I was working locally, we were putting 20k+ miles on TWO vehicles every year.

But it is above average. I understand some folks drive 20-30,000 miles a year, and there are folks who driving only a few thousand miles a year which is why auto insurance has mileage brackets. Average is about 13,400 miles a year. 5,000 miles a year is where your rates start getting ratched up.
https://www.insure.com/car-insurance/mileage-and-car-insurance-rates/

 

[starry_solo]

Everybody seems to like their Subaru, so I must have the one Subaru (a 2015 Forester) that's a problem. The worst issue has been a battery drain issue that's currently the subject of class action litigation and settlement. I've owned it since 2018 and I'm on my 4th battery.

My next vehicle will be a Toyota, which I've always had great results with, or a Honda. DW loved her Honda, so it'll probably be a Honda.

We had a Subaru in the 1980s/1990s. Didn't like it. Presumably they've gotten better, but back then, after a few years, the electric windows stopped working and the electric doors too.

 

[kymom99]

But that's just commuting, add in running errands, shuttling kids, maybe a couple trips and it adds up quick.

Don't feel bad @kymom99, when I was working locally, we were putting 20k+ miles on TWO vehicles every year.

It really depends on where you live I guess. Some places, things are just spread out. My dad had a car that we bought when he died. It was 6 years old and had about 25000 miles on it. But his pick up truck had lots of miles because he ran it back and forth to the farm and to pick up the grandkids from school. I work 2 counties over. I spend a lot of time in the car.

 

[DLgal]

No offense to anyone at all…..but those of you saying you drove 10-15 years and just reached 100k. Omg! We drive a lot. I put 50k on my Camry in less than 3 years.

Well, if it helps, my husband's 2017 Civic has 101,000 miles. We took our cars in for the 100k major service at the same time.

 

[tvguy]

It really depends on where you live I guess. Some places, things are just spread out. My dad had a car that we bought when he died. It was 6 years old and had about 25000 miles on it. But his pick up truck had lots of miles because he ran it back and forth to the farm and to pick up the grandkids from school. I work 2 counties over. I spend a lot of time in the car.

Yeah, when I was working my commute was 32 miles round trip (of course I worked at home for 15 months due to covid). Our weekly grocery shopping starts at Walmart which is 3 miles from home, hit the chain grocery store on the way home, 6 miles round trip. That's why I love the suburbs, other than work, everything I need is 3 miles or less away.
My dad was a lumber salesman, he drove 30,000 miles a year. Cars in the 50's and early 1960's weren't very good. He had to buy a new car every 3 years.

 

[ncc1701]

No offense to anyone at all…..but those of you saying you drove 10-15 years and just reached 100k. Omg! We drive a lot. I put 50k on my Camry in less than 3 years.

Haven't posted yet but while have never kept a car 10 years , that would be about when we might hit 100,000. We used Public transit for work, so had no real commute milage other than 2 miles or so each way to the train.A lot of our mileage , other than trips was visiting DH's parent a couple times a month while they were alive. Dpending where they lived about it was 60 to 200 mile round trip.Now that we are retired it just visiting my Mom almost daily . But she is only a 12 mile round trip

 

[Skippy918]

Well, if it helps, my husband's 2017 Civic has 101,000 miles. We took our cars in for the 100k major service at the same time.

oh wow! I have a 2016 civic and have about 42k miles on it.

try the Costco auto purchase program.

 

[Christine]

No offense to anyone at all…..but those of you saying you drove 10-15 years and just reached 100k. Omg! We drive a lot. I put 50k on my Camry in less than 3 years.

I used to be like that--by about 5 years out, my cars would have upwards of 150K on them. Then I'd rotate them out as a second car and it would slow down. Sold my Highlander with over 200K on it. Now, post COVID and the fact I only go into work 2-3 days a week and I carpool--my 2018 Camry only has 35K on it.

 

[GAN]

I'm posting for my sister. She's thinking about buying a new car, a Toyota Rav4. She's been to 3 dealerships. The first dealership marked the car up $9k. MSRP was $32K and they wanted $41k. Would not talk trade, gave her a Carmax number to call and Carmax wasn't interested. She went to 2 more dealerships today and they would not negotiate price. 2023 Rav4's are all in transit. My sister has a 17 year old Honda CRV. It's in good condition with decent mileage. She's not hard on a car, takes care of it and works from home. The one dealership today she specifically went to because their website said "top dollar for your car, even if you don't buy from us." Donating her car is an option for her if it came to that. And she can pay cash for a new car. She doesn't tell the salesperson that though. I know experiences vary from state to state, but wondering if anyone has purchased a new car lately and does this seem to be the norm right now with car buying. My sister doesn't need a new car right away. She's thinking of waiting till Fall and maybe she can get a 2023 leftover or maybe the market will change by then and get a 2024?

The market is still hot, so I’d wait it out …interest rates are starting to work and soon enough dealers will be looking to move cars. And hopefully rates will start to drop. As far as selling above MSRP, if you‘re looking at a car on a lot, they’re going to get all they can. You almost need to be looking for a car with a specific trim so they’re forced to order the car from the factory to gain an advantage. I just ordered a Ford Bronco, which is a difficult truck to get right now because capacity can’t meet demand, and I point blank asked the dealer if they will work for MSRP. Yes, they have a sale(in 6-12 months). No, I walk. The truck should be here in a couple weeks ….at MSRP.