Age of your vehicle hits record in USA

[shoothoops]

My co-worker bought a used vehicle via Vroom.   He had a positive experience.  The truck was in good condition. they brought it to his driveway and took his used vehicle away.   Everything was like clockwork.

This is helpful as I just saw my first overlapping Vroom listing using the half a dozen or more other sites. Carvana has had a few more overlapping but combined less than five or so...unless I go specifically to their sites. I believe both give the 7 day guarantee but I will double check. The first few from Carvana were a little bit overpriced, some others were good prices. The Vroom price was excellent on one vehicle. I know this is increasingly popular in recent years. Both have listings with Wholesale Club sites, but some others too such as Cars.com or CarGurus.

[shoothoops]

Bought a couple of cars from Carmax. Very hassle - free process, but they tend to be a little pricier than haggling with a dealer.

Yep I was a little taken aback at the higher pricing at first. Subsequent searches had a little better pricing. Enterprise is a bit similar with no haggle but Enterprise has much better pricing than CarMax across the board. Much of the Enterprise inventory is one, two, three year old type vehicles. And selection varies by brand.

[warriorchick]

Yep I was a little taken aback at the higher pricing at first. Subsequent searches had a little better pricing. Enterprise is a bit similar with no haggle but Enterprise has much better pricing than CarMax across the board. Much of the Enterprise inventory is one, two, three year old type vehicles. And selection varies by brand.

Our Carmax purchases were over a decade ago, and I don't think the price difference was as bad back then. Whenever we have been in the market more recently, we have looked there, but we have ended up buying from a dealer.

[MU82]

I love the idea of Carmax. Unfortunately, I ALWAYS have found better deals elsewhere.

Good place to check out the stock and get a no-pressure test drive or two.

[shoothoops]

Question for Hyundai and Mazda owners:  On average what would you say is longevity of vehicle?.....vs say Honda/Toyota which can probably be 300,000 miles with mostly regular maintenance minor fixes on average with good fortune.

[warriorchick]

Question for Hyundai and Mazda owners:  On average what would you say is longevity of vehicle?.....vs say Honda/Toyota which can probably be 300,000 miles with mostly regular maintenance minor fixes on average with good fortune.

I have owned several Toyotas and Mazdas.  I would say their longevity is about the same.

[The Sultan]

I think the dealer experience has much improved over the last decade.  The auto companies know that this has been a problem and have been encouraging consolidation toward the dealers that give a better buyer experience.

The last three cars I have purchased have been from dealers and I thought the experience was fine.  I won't use the dealer service however unless it is a warranty issue.  IMO that is overpriced.

[warriorchick]

I think the dealer experience has much improved over the last decade.  The auto companies know that this has been a problem and have been encouraging consolidation toward the dealers that give a better buyer experience.

The last three cars I have purchased have been from dealers and I thought the experience was fine.  I won't use the dealer service however unless it is a warranty issue.  IMO that is overpriced.

I would say that in general, that is true, but our last purchase from a dealer was an absolute nightmare *cough* Russ Darrow *cough*

We had gotten a great quote on the car we wanted via email before we even got to the dealership.  We got there, test drove it, and decided to buy it.  Then they told us a price that was $2,000 more than the email.  When we showed them the email, we were told that price assumed a $2K trade-in. When we asked where in the offer it said that, we were told it was the line "other terms and conditions may apply". They did not give us the original price until we threatened to file a complaint with the Attorney General.

To punish us, they made us cool our heels for several hours before we could fill out the paperwork.  While we were waiting, we spoke to another customer who was given the same trade-in b.s., but he had decided to give in and pay it. 

More crap from the business manager (who, when we said we didn't want an extended warranty of any kind, acted like that was literally not an option we had).  More waiting for them to bring the car around. They all but threw the keys at us.

Start to finish, it took us 5 hours to buy a car that we agreed to purchase 15 minutes in.  But I guess that worked out to about $400 an hour.

[jesmu84]

The dealership model of car sales needs to end.

[MU82]

Question for Hyundai and Mazda owners:  On average what would you say is longevity of vehicle?.....vs say Honda/Toyota which can probably be 300,000 miles with mostly regular maintenance minor fixes on average with good fortune.

We own 2 Hyundais, both bought new -- a 2011 Santa Fe with 83,000 miles and a 2016 Sonata Hybrid with 40,000 miles. While I can't answer your 300K mile question, I can say that both cars have been trouble-free and the couple of minor problems the Santa Fe had were covered under either the 5-year bumper-to-bumper warranty or the 10-year powertrain warranty.

Both have been a pleasure to own, and if I sell my Santa Fe next year as planned, I'd have trouble justifying buying something other than a Hyundai (or Kia) to replace it. Bang for the buck, including the warranty, is hard to top. But I will stay open-minded, as I like several cars made by other companies as well.

[tower912]

My first Mazda 6 lasted 11 years and 130k miles.   Mechanically, it was still going strong.   It was a hatch with the tacked on ground effects of the day.   There was a tiny bit of rust on a wheel well going into the polar vortex.   6 months later, the rust had really spread.   The 2015 6 has 80k miles and has never had a mechanical issue.   300k?   No idea.

[buckchuckler]

Question for Hyundai and Mazda owners:  On average what would you say is longevity of vehicle?.....vs say Honda/Toyota which can probably be 300,000 miles with mostly regular maintenance minor fixes on average with good fortune.

The owner will have a much bigger impact on the longevity of the car than the manufacturer. 

[Coleman]

Dealers suck. Bought my last used car in a private sale and it was amazing. Also saved a pretty penny on sales tax (yes, I still paid sales tax, but in Illinois on private sales it is based on the age of the car vs. a percentage of the sale price from a dealer, and I saved about $1000 on that alone).

As for dealers....the last time I bought a car from a dealer, the car had 500 more miles on it than advertised. Turned out the dealer manager had been driving it to and from work. They would not knock off any more than $150 for the extra miles.

Then, when I said I wanted to pay cash, they made us wait 2 hours and still got the sales pitch from the Financing guy. We were in the dealership for like 5 hours.

[shoothoops]

My first Mazda 6 lasted 11 years and 130k miles.   Mechanically, it was still going strong.   It was a hatch with the tacked on ground effects of the day.   There was a tiny bit of rust on a wheel well going into the polar vortex.   6 months later, the rust had really spread.   The 2015 6 has 80k miles and has never had a mechanical issue.   300k?   No idea.

My post wasn't really asking if they would go 300k. It was more of acknowledging that some Honda's and Toyota's can as I have seen it. It's more of a comparison between those on the high miles end and perhaps some others that struggle at the 120k end, which I have sewn as well w/some other brands. I do appreciate everyone's feedback. 👍

[WI inferiority Complexes]

You would have to buy a $40k vehicle from a private party in IL to save $1,000 in sales tax, (I don't know what you bought). A $15k vehicle will save you $300; a $30k car will save you $600 in tax.

If someone went 500 miles over on a lease, it would cost the customer between 20-25 cents per mile in overages. A $150 discount for 500 miles seems completely reasonable to me.

"Waiting longer because you are paying cash," is complete fiction. Paying cash is by far the quickest way to buy a car.

[jesmu84]

Announcing that you're paying cash upfront removes a whole lot of negotiating power. Don't do it.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

I, the car salesman, could not care less if you are financing or paying cash. I get the exact same amount either way.

[tower912]

I have generally had positive interactions with dealers.   If the salesman pisses me off, I walk away.   I go in with a budget, a couple different models in mind, a positive attitude, and having done enough research that I know nearly as much about a car as the salesman.   If the numbers aren't close, I move on without taking it personally.   

[Billy Hoyle]

I think the dealer experience has much improved over the last decade.  The auto companies know that this has been a problem and have been encouraging consolidation toward the dealers that give a better buyer experience.

The last three cars I have purchased have been from dealers and I thought the experience was fine.  I won't use the dealer service however unless it is a warranty issue.  IMO that is overpriced.

The dealership exerience was hit and miss for me. BMW and Subaru were really good and respectful. Some expected pressure but in the end both offered really strong deals. Volkswagon, however, were brutal. Picked the most expensive Tiguan off the lot, kept trying to get us to agree to "a really good deal" without telling us the amount, wouldn't let us leave when we said we wanted to discuss over coffee at Starbucks to compare everything. Finally when we said we had to go and would think it over lunch because we (for real) had a previously scheduled appointment they called us before we'd walked across the lot and left messages talking about a "really great deal" but no numbers.  Bastards!

Nissan was the best. I got into the Rogue and couldn't fit. The salesman said "nothing we can do about that" and we left.

When we're ready again we will likely go Carmax based upon experiences of friends.

[Coleman]

You would have to buy a $40k vehicle from a private party in IL to save $1,000 in sales tax, (I don't know what you bought). A $15k vehicle will save you $300; a $30k car will save you $600 in tax.

If someone went 500 miles over on a lease, it would cost the customer between 20-25 cents per mile in overages. A $150 discount for 500 miles seems completely reasonable to me.

"Waiting longer because you are paying cash," is complete fiction. Paying cash is by far the quickest way to buy a car.

1. Not true, you have to factor in the age of the car. I bought a very low mileage  8 year old car for $12000....sales tax due...$65. In the city of Chicago, sales tax would have been 10% of sales price at a dealer. So yeah, I saved OVER $1000 (https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/forms/sales/Documents/vehicleusetax/rut-5.pdf)

2. That is at the end of a lease. A vehicle with fewer miles depreciates more quickly per mile.

3. Hard for you to say that, considering you weren't there and don't know the practices of the dealer.

[WI inferiority Complexes]

1. Not true, you have to factor in the age of the car. I bought a very low mileage  8 year old car for $12000....sales tax due...$65. In the city of Chicago, sales tax would have been 10% of sales price at a dealer. So yeah, I saved OVER $1000 (https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/forms/sales/Documents/vehicleusetax/rut-5.pdf)

That is different for old vehicles. I apologize, I missed that.


2. A vehicle with fewer miles depreciates more quickly per mile.

I'm not sure I understand. Let's say you're buying a 2017 Impala with an advertised 35,183 miles for $20k. You get to the dealership, and it has 35,683. Then it would be ok to get $150 off?

But if the vehicle was advertised as having 2,183, and in reality had 2,683, you'd want more than $150 off?


3. Hard for you to say that, considering you weren't there and don't know the practices of the dealer.

But, just as hard for you to say, no? I'm just trying to picture it. "Yeah, I only got one up on Saturday, and had to entertain Coleman the whole day. Chris put his deal at the bottom of the pile because he was paying cash."

[Coleman]

Pretty common knowledge that cars depreciate much faster when they are newer and have fewer miles.

A car going from 7,500 to 8,000 miles will depreciate more than a car going from 150,000 to 150,500

[MU82]

I've had some good dealer experiences, mostly on my last few buys as it's so easy to go in very prepared now. Years (and decades) ago, I had some epic tussles, 3 of which led me to walk out of the dealerships even though a decent amount of time had been spent in negotiations.

I won't waste everybody's time with all these anecdotes, but I will say that one involved my salesman actually using the N-word, very casually as if it was something he said all the time, to describe former Minnesota North Stars player Tony McKegney. I couldn't believe my ears, said out loud, "What the fu%#?!?" and stormed out past several disbelieving salesmen and customers. When I got home, I called his manager and reported him. I hope he got fired, but I never checked.

[warriorchick]

I won't waste everybody's time with all these anecdotes, but I will say that one involved my salesman actually using the N-word, very casually as if it was something he said all the time, to describe former Minnesota North Stars player Tony McKegney. I couldn't believe my ears, said out loud, "What the fu%#?!?" and stormed out past several disbelieving salesmen and customers. When I got home, I called his manager and reported him. I hope he got fired, but I never checked.

You were in the South, right?

One of my female friends went to a dealership in Nashville and she was fully prepared to purchase a car.  The salesperson saw her wedding ring and told her that he would not sell her a car unless her husband was with her.

[The Sultan]

Pretty common knowledge that cars depreciate much faster when they are newer and have fewer miles.

A car going from 7,500 to 8,000 miles will depreciate more than a car going from 150,000 to 150,500

I always buy new, so perhaps that's why I haven't had many problems with dealers.