Government 4500 cash for clunkers.. what to get

[chuckm]

Originally Posted by hyperyaris

P.S. I used to buy cheap, used, old cars for the only money I had all at once. They would drive for a month or two, then have some major failure that I could not afford to fix. So, I would buy another. I once calculated a monthly payment for a new Toyota with how much I was paying by buying clunkers every few months, and the new car was cheaper. Sorry, but some of us are poor and HAVE to pay on time, or else we could not drive, and therefore could not work, and therefore would starve to death and die.

And from cfg83:

I've never bought a car with cash. In my life, I've bought two new cars and one used car, all with 60 month loans. Then I make block payments to pay-off the car early (so the bank gets less total interest, hee hee hee). However, if I were to lose my job, I have a low payment. If I then get a lower paying job, I'm still able to make my payment.

So far, I've bought only one car on payments. The first car I bought was an '81 Corolla. I bought it in 2000 for $200 cash. It shook like a wet dog at any speed over 60mph. Over the next year and half, I replaced a starter, alternator and battery, water pump, and head gasket. In each case, I was replacing original parts... not bad for a 20 year old vehicle with around 250,000 miles. Total repairs cost me around $450, doing the work myself (except machining the cylinder head). I then bought my only payment car: an '01 Alero. No major issues, just replaced a battery. I sold it in '04 when I was given a 95 Taurus and thinking about starting a family. Only major repair was a blown transmission ($1,200). Sold it in 06 when I decided I wanted a truck (01 Ford Ranger, wrote a check for $6000). No problems. When gas went through the roof last year, we bought my 01 Corolla (wrote a check for ~$3200). No problems. On the wife's side, in '03, we bought my wife an 01 Ford Explorer (wrote a check for ~$10,000). No problems. If I lost my job or took something lower paying, I don't have any payment to worry about.

Hyperyaris, I'm sorry you've gotten burned, but a cash car doesn't necessarily mean clunker. I got slightly burned on a free-to-me Taurus, but hell, the car was free. And new doesn't mean reliable. Afterall, until recently, 3 year / 36,000 mile warranties were the norm. For total cost of ownership, the Alero was, BY FAR, the most expensive. Buying a car for cash isn't easy, $3 - $10k isn't chump change, but we just do something too few Americans know how to do: SAVE. We make a car payment each and every month to ourselves. My wife plans to keep her explorer a total of seven years, paying herself around $175 each month. We sacrifice a lot of little things so that we get out of debt (only the house left!) and never get into debt again.

[hyperyaris]

Originally Posted by chuckm

And from cfg83:

Hyperyaris, I'm sorry you've gotten burned, but a cash car doesn't necessarily mean clunker.

Well, I agree to a point. When you are poor and ALL you have is $300, though, the chances of getting a clunker versus a gem at $300 change drastically lol.

[Southcross]

the "average" person is already in debt to the gills... $10k in CC debt is the national average? The "average" person would have a car that fell into the "$4500 trade-in car" category, that same "average" person probably wouldn't qualify for a car loan for a "new" car that qualifies for the "trade in"... so... the people buying new cars are probably doing so on a "X number of years" rotation and unless the vehicle was beat to death and a SUV... they won't qualify for the trade in. something isn't making the ends come together

now... if the government said they would pay me $4500 in cash (each) for my car(s)... I'll head over to the ol' safety deposit box and grab two of my titles right now

[rkcarguy]

You can't go wrong with a honda, nissan, or toyota, but I'd avoid the others. Hyundai has this warranty that attracts alot of people, but the car is built to fall apart a year after the warranty expires. I used to sell engines, I know this is a fact. I used to get calls all the time for 10-1/2+ year old Hyundai's, Kia's, etc.
My top pick would also be the fit, and then either the Versa or Yari's depending on the deal and which suits you better.

If $10K in credit card debt is average, then someone else has $20k in debt to make up for me

[theunchosen]

I would go with the Honda Fit and do as SVO suggested and say you've got this much its from a rebate and if you can't get it for X you'll HAVE to get a Toyota or a Hyundai or a Kia.

Two notes, 1 Hyundai's a reliable but if it breaks parts are somewhat difficult to get your hands on. I was working on one last week and we had to order a part from the dealer and it still took a week to get it(the car rolled out Tuesday after sitting on the lift Monday last week coming down, being rolled out by hand, and lifted again this Monday and staying there till Tuesday afternoon). The second note. . .the Prius is not even close to more FE than the old Insight.

If you are buying new I vote Fit with some negotiations, if you are buying used I would still look at a Fit. If it becomes a possibility the 1st gen Insight is the car to have and the rebate makes it around a 4-6K car. . .

[ebacherville]

Originally Posted by cfg83

ebacherville -

I like your thought processes. I think one of the reasons that the Fit/Jazz has been a worldwide hit for Honda is that it serves as a stylish mini-van in a compact footprint.

CarloSW2

YEah it does fit that bill, first time i saw it i though it looked like a cros between a toyota "egg" van and a Pontiac transport..

[hyperyaris]

You cannot go wrong with a Yaris. Better mileage than the Fit, and just as reliable.

[ebacherville]

As for the debt/credit issues, Were pretty debt free, Compared to most americans were very debt free.. we do use credit, however I cant remember that last time we didn't pay of a debt early... and we have assets up the wazoo.. real estate in multiple states One property totally debt free the other with under 80k owed, multiple RV's, motorcycles, 2005 truck paid for in full way before scheduled..

Literally I could plop down a the title for the RV and the truck for collateral and get 30k to play with, get a fully loaded Prius if i wanted to.. but as I stated before that just wont pay off.. were looking at the best choice for the lowest cash to utilize this clunkers program.. we were planning on getting a high mpg car to replace the mini van in the future.. like 1 year out , this just gave us the boost to do it now if we can get a new car for the price of a 2 year old car.. seems like a no brainer..

As with hypermileing its making the best with what you have to work with.. and this is the same case, We want to get the best car for the minimum investment..

Right now our two top choices are the Honda Fit and the Nissan Versa.. both have the largest interior space... after all we are replacing a 7 seat minivan.. we never use the 3rd row, but would like as much space as we can get. The Yaris is nice car but its small by comparison..

As for the Hyundai and Rio offerings.. As I stated before we had a 2002 Accent 2 door, I sold it to a buddy when we had our son( not infant friendly) My friend racks up 25k+ a year, still running strong and he's well over 130k now.. The recent offerings from Hyunda are not the like there old ones.. I know they used to be really bad.. Im not scared of Hyundai.. as for Kia.. don't really know but there are owned by Hyundai.

As for negotiation we are going to negotiate the price no matter what car we get, I know exactly what they pay for the cars, including the holdbacks they get from the manufacture. With haggling and shopping the field, I plan to walk out of there paying less than MSRP including the destination tax and title fees. So about 1000 under MSRP.

Do you think a stingy hyper-miler who challenges them selfs to save a few cents in gas would do anything else

Allot of the manufactures incentives expire at the end of this month.. 6 days , well see what they offer up for this next quarter.. the quarter that the clunker program covers.. We have heard some murmuring of them plugging the program.. However I don't know how many people are going to qualify , 18mpg average is SUVs, trucks, and a few minivans, and how many of those people are going to give up a truck, or 4wd to take advantage of the program.. And then how many of those people that would like to do it actually could do it.. with the economic issues ect.. I know a couple people that there car would qualify and they need a better car and would love to do it , but they are either not working or have a bankruptcy or a foreclosure and HUGE amounts of debt already.

It will be interesting to see what people do, gas isnt expensive again.. if gas were $4 I could see people downsizing.. at $2.60 people are going to drive there SUVs..

[SVOboy]

Originally Posted by hyperyaris

You cannot go wrong with a Yaris. Better mileage than the Fit, and just as reliable.

Not as cool though!

[hyperyaris]

Why would anyone not get a Prius who could?? Man, they have better mileage than Insights, and are very reliable. I do not understand how rich people operate LOL