Buying a car?

Hekotat_sl said:

can anyone give some tips on refinancing a car? Would a year after the initial purchase of the car be a good time to try and do it? My payments are too damn high.

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Did you buy the car brand new? If so, refinancing might be difficult. You now have a used car, and all things being equal, you'll never get a % for a used car that is as low as a % for a new car loan. Unless your credit has changed significantly in the last year, that factor alone might screw you. Also, if your car was brand new, only being a year into the loan, theres a decent chance you're upside down and owe more than the car is worth, and that could be a hurdle for refinancing.

If the car was used to begin with, then you won't run into either of those issues.

24,000 miles on my 2013 Honda Accord I bought January of this year as of today. Second oil change on it finally. I absolutely love this car. It's quiet, gets great gas mileage for a larger car (~36 on average according to my odometer), it's extremely roomy. One other thing I love is how smooth the drive is. I was skeptical about the CVT tranny, but I don't think I could drive a car without it now. I drive my wife's 2010 Civic without it and it's just painful. Not much in terms of feeling bumps in the road either. I love it.

grumblethorn_sl said:

That m4 is jaw dropping. Dat curb weight

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After 8 long years, finally got rid of my E46 M3

Hard to believe that they managed to make an M3 even lighter than that one

I'll definitely be back with BMW (well, if they make their cars more interactive to drive again, instead of the trend from the last few years) one day

Just ordered a 2014 Ford Fiesta SE in Blue Candy. Got it with a 5-speed manual, heated seats, and the SE appearance package. $17.5K out the door.

joeboo_sl said:

Did you buy the car brand new? If so, refinancing might be difficult. You now have a used car, and all things being equal, you'll never get a % for a used car that is as low as a % for a new car loan. Unless your credit has changed significantly in the last year, that factor alone might screw you. Also, if your car was brand new, only being a year into the loan, theres a decent chance you're upside down and owe more than the car is worth, and that could be a hurdle for refinancing.

If the car was used to begin with, then you won't run into either of those issues.

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The car was used, 2012 GTi and I paid under blue book on it. I was thinking of asking my Credit Union and I should have several items coming off my credit history from getting laid off in 2008 so I'm hoping that really helps.

joeboo_sl said:

Did you buy the car brand new? If so, refinancing might be difficult. You now have a used car, and all things being equal, you'll never get a % for a used car that is as low as a % for a new car loan

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This isn't true.PenFed - Used Auto Loan

Ok, so one random bank has an internet-only special rate that is decent. The other 99.99% of banks are going to give you a higher interest rate on a used car.

I just went through this process a few months ago, and my wife is a manager at a branch of a large national bank. We looked at used and new, and all of the local banks and credit unions that we checked with all had higher rates for used car loans than new.

Used car loan rates are almost always higher than new. The newer the used car the lower the rate as we'll.

joeboo_sl said:

Ok, so one random bank has an internet-only special rate that is decent. The other 99.99% of banks are going to give you a higher interest rate on a used car.

I just went through this process a few months ago, and my wife is a manager at a branch of a large national bank. We looked at used and new, and all of the local banks and credit unions that we checked with all had higher rates for used car loans than new.

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Well, yes. I was just trying to be helpful to all the people who read this thread. If you want a good rate on a used car use pentagon federal credit union.

Khane_sl said:

Well, yes. I was just trying to be helpful to all the people who read this thread. If you want a good rate on a used car use pentagon federal credit union.

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I am assuming Pentagon Federal Credit Union has membership rules. Just like I use Navy Federal Credit Union (ex-navy) and you cant just walk in off the street and open an account. I am pretty sure, at a minimum, you need to be a family member of a service member or veteran.

Navy Federal offers 1.79% / up to 60 month loan rate on late model used cars. They also offer 1.49% if you go <36 month.

USAA gave me a 1.39% rate for 36 months on any 2012-2014 MY cars

I think it's only a $5 donation now. I am not a vet, nor are any of my family members. I made a $5 donation and am now a member.

Wait really? PenFed has a pretty good rewards card that I always wrote off as not being applicable to me.

On an unrelated note, anyone have a CarFax account they wouldn't mind running a VIN through for me?

Tuco_sl said:

I need to buy a new car for my wife. Is the best way to get a good used car (<$10000) to shop on autotrader, find a reasonable looking car, check the vin, test drive it out, take it to a mechanic for an inspection and then haggle the price with the owner?

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If by "best" you mean the cheapest, yes. But it might be a bit more work and aggravation than it would be going to a dealership. But you'll definitely save money going that route. So long as you don't do anything stupid and get a mechanic to look at the vehicle before you buy it, you should be golden. Even buying at a dealership doesn't really protect you against much, even if they give you some shitty 30 or 90 day warranty. My girlfriend bought her car from a dealer without asking enough questions or involving me in her final decision, and lo and behold she's already spent $250 on new tires and will be spending $650 tomorrow to fix the front bumper, which is pretty much about to fall off. Thankfully it appears to be fine mechanically.

Have a car, need tires. Don't see a car stuff thread, so figured I'd check here:

Sumitomo tires: good/bad?

Noodleface_sl said:

24,000 miles on my 2013 Honda Accord I bought January of this year as of today. Second oil change on it finally. I absolutely love this car. It's quiet, gets great gas mileage for a larger car (~36 on average according to my odometer), it's extremely roomy. One other thing I love is how smooth the drive is. I was skeptical about the CVT tranny, but I don't think I could drive a car without it now. I drive my wife's 2010 Civic without it and it's just painful. Not much in terms of feeling bumps in the road either. I love it.

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2 oil changes on 24,000 miles? Isn't that... awful? Or is there something I'm missing?