get a new car or not?

[synap]

so im really thinking of getting a new car...thing is i love my mx, however it is starting to cost me $ in repairs and up-keep. cost me around $3000 over the last few months, and probally another $2000 or so to have it work/look great again. i have a chance to get a brand new '04 car with ~1200km on it, it's a dealer demo car. this is one of the hardest decisions i've had to make, get a new worry free car or spent $ on my mx for another year or so. any suggestions or comments?

current car is '96 5spd. with 172000km on it, no performance mods. don't really want to swap the engine either. worth the trade in or sell privately?

thanks, dave

[mitmaks]

what car is it? I wouldnt recommend getting brand new car this time, especially from dealer, I wouldnt buy from dealer ever anyways they rip you off. also look at fuel economy of the car, if you can get used/preowned toyota prius or honda for fuel economy.

[jschrauwen]

I was in a sort of similar situation a year ago. Obviously you must be financially capable to make those horrendous new car payments, so money can't be that much of an issue. Anyway, Iwas toying, like you at the idea for a new RSX (200hp model). And then I thought, why not keep the MX as a summer car and get a beater for the winter. I went flipping through the Auto Trader looking at older Protege's when I found a 2002 LX for $7,990cdn. I though there must have been a type-o, but I called the vender (in Toronto) to verify. It seems there's a lot of cars that come off lease at the 2 and 3 year intervals. I've always been a proponent of 3yr old used car buying so when this popped up I had to go see for myself. This car was basically immaculate inside - of course it was, it was only 2 years old but the catch was, it had high mileage - very high mileage. It was obvious that this along with a 2003 model that just came off of lease from the same place was very tempting. Closer inspection showed that it was a lease car than was used for business purposes with nearly 90% highway miles. By looking at the pitting of the windshield and front headlights this was obvious. Mileage aside this same car was selling (used) at a local Mazda for over $13,000cdn. This was a no brainer. Sold for $7,700cdn and that used Protege on the Mazda lot is still sitting there and still at over $13,000cdn. I'll rely on product quality and not dealership warranties to be persuaded to purchase. So now I don't have humongous car payments, get to keep the MX to play with and I have a very sound, reliable Protege' that should give me safe, reliable and years of inexpensive use. Ya, the new car smell, warranties and so on just don't cut it when I start doing the math. I think it's vanity that prevails when it comes to new car purchases, I know i'll never buy new again - it just doesn't pay. And depending on what you are looking for all it takes is someone that has a licence to purchase from the auctions and know what vehicle you want and the price you are willing to pay and that's it. Since you're in Ottawa, I'm sure you would mind the trip to Toronto to pick up a "new" car. If you want a contact name for a car search let me know. This guy will probably take about $200.cdn over what he paid at the auction cause he flips these cars very fast - like in less than one week and they're gone. Anyway, let me know.
John

[synap]

The car is a '04 WRX , however since it's a dealer demo car it is not considered 'new' so there is none of that shipping, freight...etc on the car, only tax. I have a few $$ saved up and should be able to manage the payments. The gas mileage is amost the same as the mx-3. i don't like hondas. I did test drive the RSX type-s, fast...also drove the mazda 3, and a jetta VR6.

Never thought about two cars, but I don't have the room. The price on the car is lower then the same type of car that has 40,000km on it. Subarus make really good cars and are reliable and it still has the new car warranty so no worries about repairs for at least 3 years.

John, do you think your friend can look up a simlar car for me?

[jschrauwen]

John, do you think your friend can look up a simlar car for me?

Well, not really a friend, but it's basically a one man operation, little to no overhead, has a heated storage area and he has a habit of acquiring things like 3 and 4 four year old BMW's, Passat's, Mercedes and then he had 2 Protege's that came off of a lease from Woodstock. Give him a couple of cars on your wish list with the options you like/must have and forget about the $$ at that point. He goes or should i say, he almost lives at the auction so give him a little time if you're not in a big hurry. He'll probably get back to you with some possibilities and you can take it from there. You give him the list and he does the shopping, can it get any easier? Make sure that when he gives you possible cars that he gives you their VIN numbers and you can use that one time fee to do a backround check. Prior to purchase I did one of those backround checks to make sure it was free and clear, no leans and so on - cost $20.cdn i think but worth the piece of mind. Ya, shitload of miles but you'd never know it by looking or driving it. Of course becausae it was such high mileage it didn't quite have all of those major maintenance things done. So I drop $500 for all new belts, oil and fuel filters, air filter, coolant flush, tranny flush, plugs, pvc, the works, and now nothing to get concerned about for a few years. This is the info I still have from last December;
SYGMA MOTORS at (416)875-5232 or (905)290-0203 and ask for Nikola Korabov. Give the details about me, my car and my transaction with him last December and he might remember. What do you have to loose, except giving your money away to some Ottawa dealer, anyways, good luck. More info on me (ph#) in contact list in Toronto Forum.

[PATDIESEL]

Careful of dealer test vehicles. Remeber that most people who are going to test drive a performance vehicle are going to want to test it's performance. All cars NEED a break-in period that allows the seals and metal surfaces to mate properly as they warp from the heat. If the break-in period is not followed then you can be assured there will be leaks and other problems down the road.
my .02, but good luck on whatever you decide.

[jschrauwen]

Years ago I would say the same thing about new car break in period but I think these days that's a thing of the past and the engine has already had it's run-in at the factory - I believe - don't know where I heard that. As far as every Tom, d--- or Harry having their way with a Demo car, I think that's still very true.

[synap]

Yah I was just reading about the break in period, one thing I was thinking about. 1000km or so break-in period and the car only has 1200km on it...hmm that's ify, but newer cars may not really need this. When I test drove it, they wouldn't let me really push it so I don't think let others push it also.

I may go back tomorrow with my uncle (a sales guys) to see what kind of deal they can give me. ahh....decisions, decisions

[happyclown]

Heh, i fell into a similar situation a while ago, a local credit union repoed a '02 WRX with 15,000 on it and they were willing to sell it for $13,000 crazy deal, did some looking and it turned out that a kid somehow got signed for the loan (knew the right people) bought the car new, raced the hell out of it and stopped making the payments.... I didnt buy it.

Dealers are quite a bit better about not letting people beat on cars, but it depends on the dealer and the sales people. I went to a dealership to convince my girlfriend (used to own a 93 impreza) that the new wrx's were the s---, i wanted to test drive the sti but they had none, the sales man was busy and let us take the car out on our own. I coulda beat the piss outa it, but i couldnt bring myself to do it. I now have a friend who got a job at a Dodge dealership and he wants me to pretend to be a buyer so we can go out and have some fun in the new HEMI chargers. (i'll pimp around in it, but it pains me to beat on a new car )

Its such a tough toss up. I hope which ever path you take you end up with a nice car!

Good luck man