Small / economy car deathwatch: we've passed "peak econobox" again

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by Xist

A friend had a 2012 Civic. The air conditioning went out. She traded it in for a new Toyota and accepted $4,500 for the trade. Kelley says it was worth $6,500 as a trade-in and $9,200 private party. I do not have any idea what was wrong with the air conditioning, perhaps recharging the refrigerant would have been enough for a while.

The only cheap 9th gen Civics I've seen are riced out. Such a waste of a good car.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

I cannot find the video now, but someone explained that some dealerships have a trick to raise the sale price of a new car to cover the trade-in, so that you effectively give away your car for free.

They get you every which-way. From financing, to charging more for the new car, to purchasing the trade vehicle for less than it's worth, to selling it to the next person for more than it's worth. A consumer faced with the stupid "Foursquare" from a salesman is left feeling that buying a car is way more complicated than it really is, while being distracted from the fact that they are negotiating the sales price instead of trying to spend the maximum monthly amount they can afford.

The only time I purchased a used car from a dealership, Mr. Slick scribbled out his foursquare and asked what I could afford. I told him it's none of his business, and the only matter at hand is the sales price of the vehicle. He asked me what I think the car was worth, so I told him. He laughed at that price saying they had to make money too... 2 weeks later they sold it to me for the price I originally stated; not a penny more. My first offer is always my best offer.

Fancy showrooms, free coffee and expensive vacations don't come from nowhere.

[Xist]

Mom once pushed me into buying a car from CarMax, but instead of driving across town, I went to a lot across the street from me that I thought was similar. Apparently, CarMax has a great reputation for making trading in your car for a newer one as easy as possible, but they will pay you less for your old car, and charge you more for your new one.

The place where I went kept advertising low payments. I do not remember what it was, just that they required payments every two weeks for forty-two months. Perhaps the two-week part is what kept my brain from doing the math on its own. Twice a month for forty-two months would be eighty-four payments, but with fifty-two weeks in a year, that would be twenty-six payments per year, and forty-two months is three and a half years, so $payment x 26 x ...

Where was I?

My flip phone or Nokia should would have had a calculator. I could have figured it out with pen and paper in seconds.

Why didn't I?

It felt like it took forever, so I certainly had the time. It seemed like all that I only had one form left and...

...28%?!

Nope nope nope!

I have mentioned before the chain of dealerships back in the valley that guaranteed $5,000 (or whatever. It changes from time to time) for your trade-in, or, exclusive to that offer, $5,000 off any new car!

Am I the only one to realize that you effectively give them your car for free?

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

I have mentioned before the chain of dealerships back in the valley that guaranteed $5,000 (or whatever. It changes from time to time) for your trade-in, or, exclusive to that offer, $5,000 off any new car!

Am I the only one to realize that you effectively give them your car for free?

Marketing is a powerful tool, otherwise we wouldn't be inundated with advertisements. They exist to first elicit an emotional response, which is then used to inhibit rational thought. The more strongly emotion is felt, the more careful, slow, and deliberate our response should be. This applies to financial transactions, relationships, politics, responding to forum posts... life.

You'd hate to be around me when TV commercials play. I'm always pointing out the marketing gimmicks, such as "Allstate's Accident Forgiveness". Essentially, they forgive a future accident because you have been paying a higher premium all along. I don't like to bet against myself by paying for something I intend to avoid in the first place.

[oil pan 4]

I just sold our 2001 bug with 1.8t engine sport package, for $1,850.
Never trade, unless you hate money and love getting ripped off.
If I would have traded that pile of junk I would have been lucky to get $900 for it.
Instead it paid for about 1/3 of my leaf on the back end.

[19bonestock88]

Originally Posted by mpg_numbers_guy

It's not like it's a sports car or a limited production automobile. I was thinking of vehicles such as Aleros and other Oldsmobiles, Saturns, and the like. Pretty much any of them can be found for $1000 even with only 100K miles on it. Most of the ones I see that are $2000 or more have like <70K miles on them. And neither of them are really bad vehicles like the Neon.

Indeed, it’s why I have my Saturn... however, when the North American Ford Ranger ended production ended in 2011 its values picked up quite a lot considering that before it didn’t hold value all that well... I seen a 2011 Ranger with around 40k on it advertised for $16k... granted it was a SuperCab, 4x4 model, but they only were like $25k new... at 7 years old I’d expect to pay under $10k at most...

[oil pan 4]

Ford 7.3L expeditions go for $16 to $20k.
Not bad for 20 year old vehices.

[Stubby79]

To all you nay-sayers on the Echo/Yaris...I happen to like the instrument cluster where it is in my '05 hatchback. Yes, it took some getting used to, but that goes away after a few days. It's better there! I'm tall and always have trouble seeing the instrument cluster past the steering wheel; it's never blocked where it is. And at night, well, it's not staring me right in the face, blinding me whenever I am staring down a dark road.

Feminine? I feel no need to hand in my man-card for driving it.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Stubby79

To all you nay-sayers on the Echo/Yaris...I happen to like the instrument cluster where it is in my '05 hatchback. Yes, it took some getting used to, but that goes away after a few days. It's better there! I'm tall and always have trouble seeing the instrument cluster past the steering wheel; it's never blocked where it is. And at night, well, it's not staring me right in the face, blinding me whenever I am staring down a dark road.

Feminine? I feel no need to hand in my man-card for driving it.

And you have easy dashboard access right in front of you!

[Stubby79]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

And you have easy dashboard access right in front of you!

Perfect for an MPG gauge!