I'm off to hunt for a new car this morning. My old Echo is still running quite well and it's got a few payments left before it's completely paid off, but it's got 168,000 km on it already despite being a 2005 model and I'm afraid it's going to start falling to pieces in the near future.
I don't really *need* a new car, but I'm seeing all kinds of specials and promotions going on, so I figure now's a good time as any to see if there's a good deal to be had so I can get a new tin can to commute to work with. I discovered that the book value of my old car is only about $4500, even though it's never had a major repair or any dents etc. on the body. What's the book value going to be next year when the car is fully paid off and it starts to drop parts all over the highway on my commute? Negative $500? I burn about 40,000 km a year on my commute, so it'll be over 200K by this time next year and who's going to want to buy a tin can with that kind of mileage?
Anyhoo, I'm leaning towards a Toyota Matrix if I can find the right deal and get a decent trade-in offer. If the dealership can't do any better than $4,500 on the trade-in, I might just say screw'em and keep the old tin can for another year or two rather than subjecting myself to being fleeced. I do have a great relationship with the salesman at the local Toyota, so hopefully he'll be able to convince the higher-ups (read: the management who line their pockets with my cash) to give me a better deal on the trade-in.
Today's the last day of the Boxing Week deals, so let's hope for the best.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Shopping for a new car
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5 comments:
Welcome to Blogland, Pepe!
I would definitely do some car shopping now. We recently got a great deal. I'd have the same fears you do about the value plummeting again if you have any more problems with the car.
I think I'm done buying new cars. I'm so sick of the drop in value. There are plenty of cars with less than 20K miles on them for really good prices.
Another welcome to blogland from me too!
Good luck on the car buying - we bought my CRV on the last day of 2007... not a smart move - then the license plate tags are due at the same time we are trying to shop for Christmas! Ack!
I like the Matrix too - that was one I had my eye on before looking at my CRV!
We bought a new car in August. We shopped around at 4 dealers to find our best deal. We went to the place where we really wanted to buy it last, told them about the offers, and asked them to beat it. The way they beat it was to offer us more for our trade-in. Good luck!
Hi Pepe! I look forward to checking out your blog in the future.
We bought a new car last August too. I think we would have gotten a much better deal if we had waited until November & later but our crystal ball wasn't working right. Car dealers (here in the US anyway) are truly desperate these days; you can make a great deal even on the more fuel efficient cars like the Matrix. Good luck!
Hey Pepe! Welcome to blogland!
I can relate to the mileage dilema with vehicles. My 2005 Monte Carlo has almost 140k on it and we also put about 40k per year. But we'll run this one into the ground like we did our last couple vehicles because Dave can do all the mechanical work himself. Plus I really love this car. *wink*
I hate watching the odometer climb steadily upwards so we often have in on the trip counter instead of the odometer reading...that way it never has more than 999 km on it and I don't get depressed. *snicker*
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