Time to put the DJmobile out to pasture

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
:frown:

I'm pretty sure I want another Rav4, but am slightly open to other small SUVs. Any recommendations? I'll either go new or a couple years old if the deal is right.

And are there any car dealerships out there who aren't shady nozzles that are going to piss me off in the sales process? That's always the worst part about buying a car: dealing with the damn salestard.
 

RoseRed

American Beauty
PREMO Member
:frown:

I'm pretty sure I want another Rav4, but am slightly open to other small SUVs. Any recommendations? I'll either go new or a couple years old if the deal is right.

And are there any car dealerships out there who aren't shady nozzles that are going to piss me off in the sales process? That's always the worst part about buying a car: dealing with the damn salestard.
Go see Henry at CARMAX in Brandywine. :yay:
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
We've been treated very well by Prince Frederick Toyota..young salesman named Jarrett was a rare pleasure to work with but I think that's not atypical of that outfit either. Service department has been good too; we had one pesky and obscure problem crop up that was causing battery drain and they located it fairly quickly.

We ended up with a new Rav4 after finding that all the 2-3 year old low-mileage ones were not that much less than new. Also got 0% financing through them, so that helped.
 
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vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
This is a dumb question, but:

What exactly is 0% financing? Does that mean that if the car is, say, $24k, they break that down into however many payments and you don't pay interest on the loan?
 

Kyle

ULTRA-F###ING-MAGA!
PREMO Member
This is a dumb question, but:

What exactly is 0% financing? Does that mean that if the car is, say, $24k, they break that down into however many payments and you don't pay interest on the loan?


:yay:

I'd bet they'll slip some indecipherable fee in there somewhere.
 

Kyle

ULTRA-F###ING-MAGA!
PREMO Member
You ought to get one of these for off road adventure.

action-mobil-0.jpg
 

glhs837

Power with Control
So, the buying process needn't be painful. Develop the price you are willing to pay, depending on the vehicle. New ones in high demand you might have to pay MSRP. Anything other than high demand should go go for some amount over invoice. Say $500-$1000. Work from there. Email dealers, ones that wont discuss price via email, kiss them goodbye. You inital neogotiation should be done before you get there. Out the door price stettled. Last three cars I've bought new has been less than 30 minutes from walking in to driving away.

1. Do your own financing.
2. Know exactly what you want, including option packages, what you MUST have vs what you WANT to have.
3. DO NOT TRADE IN. Sell privately, maybe sell it to CARMAX, but trade in is just another pathway to both spending more time and losing more money.
4. Search inventory online, most makers have a tool that lets you configure with options and search. Virtually always easier than having a dealer do that for you. And reduces the chance that they might do to you what they did to us, where they brought a new Jeep from South Carolina all the way up here and it wasnt configured as we asked. When questioned, she first insisted it had that option, then told us it didnt matter. So we walked.
5. Make sure the deal is set before you show up. You have a blank check go for more than what you negotiated price it.
6. Do NOt let them upsell you on fabric/paint treatments, VIN etching, wheel insurance, any of that crap. If they did it without asking you, they can eat it or inlcude it for free.


All that being said, I would highly consider a certified pre-pwned vs brand new. The amount of off-lease small SUVs is off the charts. Take adavantage of that fact. Add a factory extended warranty if it makes you feel better, but getting a 2 year old upscale model with 30K and a lot more features for less money can be a great deal.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
So, the buying process needn't be painful. Develop the price you are willing to pay, depending on the vehicle. New ones in high demand you might have to pay MSRP. Anything other than high demand should go go for some amount over invoice. Say $500-$1000. Work from there. Email dealers, ones that wont discuss price via email, kiss them goodbye. You inital neogotiation should be done before you get there. Out the door price stettled. Last three cars I've bought new has been less than 30 minutes from walking in to driving away.

1. Do your own financing.
2. Know exactly what you want, including option packages, what you MUST have vs what you WANT to have.
3. DO NOT TRADE IN. Sell privately, maybe sell it to CARMAX, but trade in is just another pathway to both spending more time and losing more money.
4. Search inventory online, most makers have a tool that lets you configure with options and search. Virtually always easier than having a dealer do that for you. And reduces the chance that they might do to you what they did to us, where they brought a new Jeep from South Carolina all the way up here and it wasnt configured as we asked. When questioned, she first insisted it had that option, then told us it didnt matter. So we walked.
5. Make sure the deal is set before you show up. You have a blank check go for more than what you negotiated price it.
6. Do NOt let them upsell you on fabric/paint treatments, VIN etching, wheel insurance, any of that crap. If they did it without asking you, they can eat it or inlcude it for free.


All that being said, I would highly consider a certified pre-pwned vs brand new. The amount of off-lease small SUVs is off the charts. Take adavantage of that fact. Add a factory extended warranty if it makes you feel better, but getting a 2 year old upscale model with 30K and a lot more features for less money can be a great deal.

Can't beat 0% financing though... ;-)

As for the pre-owned thing, the missus spent the better part of two solid months shopping on line and driving all over creation trying to find the Rav4 or Honda CRV she wanted. They simply were not out there...and then she ended up getting the new Rav4 for maybe 5K more than one of the better deals she's found used.

Definitely agree on the trade in advice; did a private party sale of the Murano before buying the Rav4.
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
So, the buying process needn't be painful. Develop the price you are willing to pay, depending on the vehicle. New ones in high demand you might have to pay MSRP. Anything other than high demand should go go for some amount over invoice. Say $500-$1000. Work from there. Email dealers, ones that wont discuss price via email, kiss them goodbye. You inital neogotiation should be done before you get there. Out the door price stettled. Last three cars I've bought new has been less than 30 minutes from walking in to driving away.

1. Do your own financing.
2. Know exactly what you want, including option packages, what you MUST have vs what you WANT to have.
3. DO NOT TRADE IN. Sell privately, maybe sell it to CARMAX, but trade in is just another pathway to both spending more time and losing more money.
4. Search inventory online, most makers have a tool that lets you configure with options and search. Virtually always easier than having a dealer do that for you. And reduces the chance that they might do to you what they did to us, where they brought a new Jeep from South Carolina all the way up here and it wasnt configured as we asked. When questioned, she first insisted it had that option, then told us it didnt matter. So we walked.
5. Make sure the deal is set before you show up. You have a blank check go for more than what you negotiated price it.
6. Do NOt let them upsell you on fabric/paint treatments, VIN etching, wheel insurance, any of that crap. If they did it without asking you, they can eat it or inlcude it for free.


All that being said, I would highly consider a certified pre-pwned vs brand new. The amount of off-lease small SUVs is off the charts. Take adavantage of that fact. Add a factory extended warranty if it makes you feel better, but getting a 2 year old upscale model with 30K and a lot more features for less money can be a great deal.

This was very helpful, thank you! :yay:

I don't require a lot of bells and whistles on my vehicles. Cup holder placement and ability to comfortably hold a 44 oz soda is very important to me, if that gives you any idea. I'm also not a fan of them wasting cargo space with a spare tire that could be mounted on the back of the vehicle like it's supposed to be. What I really want is an exact replica of my 2006 Rav4, which is why I was considering just having it rebuilt. I don't want a new car; I want my car to be new again. :frown:
 

NextJen

Raisin cane
This is a dumb question, but:

What exactly is 0% financing? Does that mean that if the car is, say, $24k, they break that down into however many payments and you don't pay interest on the loan?

Yes. I purchased a new 2018 Tacoma in April at Koons Toyota of Annapolis. They offered 0% financing through Toyota Credit. Basically I borrowed money for free: the amount that I financed broken down into equal payments for the term of the loan. Couldn't pass that up!
 

Clem72

Well-Known Member
Thing to keep in mind about 0% financing is that if they offer you a rebate in lieu of financing, that's actually a financing fee. Like when the Ford dealer says you can have $1000 cash or 0% financing, what they are really saying is that they charge $1000 for that financing. For a $30k car on a 4 year loan, $1000 works out to just over 1.5% interest (it would be 3% on a $15k car loan). Still a pretty good rate, but not 0%
 

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
What failed? Engine or Transmission?

It's consuming oil like a big dog, needs a new paint job, some minor body work and a few other piddly things. There's 155k miles on it. I'm concerned about reliable transportation and not having it keel over on some interstate.

I am still open to refurbishing it rather than get involved in a new vehicle relationship, but I'm leery of a rebuilt engine.
 

glhs837

Power with Control
Thing to keep in mind about 0% financing is that if they offer you a rebate in lieu of financing, that's actually a financing fee. Like when the Ford dealer says you can have $1000 cash or 0% financing, what they are really saying is that they charge $1000 for that financing. For a $30k car on a 4 year loan, $1000 works out to just over 1.5% interest (it would be 3% on a $15k car loan). Still a pretty good rate, but not 0%

The interlocking discounts system is yet another shell game regarding what you can get with what. "$1000 Loyalty Discount*!!!!!!!!" (*Must be used on available delaer inventory, cannot be combined with any other offer,, can only be used by leftahnded albinos born with one testicle)

Thats where the Out the Door price thing comes in. Do NOt engage in that swamp of discounts, tell them to apply what they need to to get you your price. This avoids the whole tapped ina small room four hours while some mouth breather works a foursquare on you.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
It's consuming oil like a big dog, needs a new paint job, some minor body work and a few other piddly things. There's 155k miles on it. I'm concerned about reliable transportation and not having it keel over on some interstate.

I am still open to refurbishing it rather than get involved in a new vehicle relationship, but I'm leery of a rebuilt engine.

You are talking about spending one heck of a chunk of money that will likely not give you the result you are hoping for. At 155K, it's not just the engine that has accumulated a lot of wear. Quality paint work is very expensive these days too. I have a fully equipped shop and still didn't hesitate to send our 2004 Murano (215K miles) and 2000 Grand Cherokee (195K miles) "up the road" once it was apparent the list of things needing rebuilding was growing too long..
 

glhs837

Power with Control
You are talking about spending one heck of a chunk of money that will likely not give you the result you are hoping for. At 155K, it's not just the engine that has accumulated a lot of wear. Quality paint work is very expensive these days too. I have a fully equipped shop and still didn't hesitate to send our 2004 Murano (215K miles) and 2000 Grand Cherokee (195K miles) "up the road" once it was apparent the list of things needing rebuilding was growing too long..

Agreed, once you reach a certain point, any possible money you put in is just increasing your debt in the vehicle, not increasing it's value. And I say that as a guy who owns three vehicles over 100K. Let it go "live on a farm" somehwere.
 

Gilligan

#*! boat!
PREMO Member
And I say that as a guy who owns three vehicles over 100K..

My '91 Toyota SR5 has 167k, my '89 F-250 4x4 has 375k, and my '78 Bronco has a bit over 300K on it... Some of 'em you can keep around a throw an engine or two in, but they tend to be an older generation of vehicle: :yay:
 
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