I didn't expect to buy another new car this week.

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Taranaki, New Zealand
I enjoy the experience of driving a new car. Our patrol vehicles have been updated every 14-16 months over the past five years or so, as our workgroup recognises that the two of us (my brother and I) sharing a car can put some milage on it in that time. We generally get to do 100,000 - 120,000 km, then they give it to someone else who does less milage to complete the 3 year term on the front lines.

Personally, way back in 2008, Karen and I bought a 16 month old ex Avis rental car with just under 30,000 km on the clock. At the time we never thought we would ever own a brand new car.

Since 2015, however, we have managed to purchase 3 new cars off the showroom floor, trading in the other two in at 2 1/2 and 4 years old. In the later case it was as long as I was prepared to hold onto a vehicle to maintain the ability to buy new.

Somewhere in the history of this forum is a thread on how I ended up purchasing a 2021 MG SUV, the descendant of the British Morris Garage line, now made in China.

We bought our MG ZST Essence (complete with "moon" roof, faux leather heated seats and electric seat adjustments) in September 2021 for NZ $35,000, complete with on road costs and a tow bar (an added extra). In August last years the car went in for its first (10,000 km) service. Since then we've used it a little bit more often, to the point where it has taken only 8 months to reach the 20,000 km service mark.

In November last year I was working when my shift partner pulled over the local MG dealership manager. He told me then that our car (14 months old with 16,000 km on the clock) was worth in the "high $20,000 dollar range" as a trade in. I took this as being around $28 K. When I told Karen, her response was "Do it". But as we no longer have any consumer debt apart from a small mortgage on the house and one credit card, and we only had a few thousand in our "car account", I simply said it was not time to upgrade yet.

This morning I stopped by the dealership to book in for the 20,000 km service. I asked for a trade in appraisal at the same time, together with a price difference to update to the same model and specs. I told them I had only $8 K in the car account and anticipated it would cost $12-14 K to update, given the increasing costs of everything these days. I was hoping to do the update in the next 6-9 months, but in the meantime wanted a ballpark figure to work on.

I was told that the new car price had gone up by NZ$1,000. I would be looking at NZ $36,000 for the new car, including on road costs and tow bar, and our trade in was still worth $28 K, meaning we only needed the $8 K in our bank account to upgrade.

The fact is that there are still supply chain issues here (I was told last week that guitar strings and straps are like gold to get right now) and that second hand car prices are still going through the roof!

Karen is not keen on getting another car the same colour, she likes variety, but there is one ZST Essence in blue available "right now".

It has our names on it, will be at the dealership Monday and ready to be picked up late next week.

I guess it was a case of being in the right place at the right time.
 
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Never tell a salesman how much money you have.

Never tell a salesman how much money you have.

Also do not tell how much you are willing to pay, before he makes his offer.

I am of opinion that some salesmen would work up a price that exactly matched the money you have available.

Let the dealers staff make the first offer.

Bekeart

Cynical, Sarcastic, and CHEAP ...
 
Never tell a salesman how much money you have.

Also do not tell how much you are willing to pay, before he makes his offer.

I am of opinion that some salesmen would work up a price that exactly matched the money you have available.

Let the dealers staff make the first offer.

Bekeart

Cynical, Sarcastic, and CHEAP ...

Good list but add to it, be prepared to get up and say were done and walk off, that gets their attention fast!
 
BTDT - no shirt

Good list but add to it, be prepared to get up and say were done and walk off, that gets their attention fast!

Some of my best "walk outs" happened after hearing a second price.

With check book in hand, I had asked for their "best cash price".
After saying no to their price, a second price was quoted.
The second price meant that the first price quoted was not the requested "best cash price", but a lie.

Car salesmen and sleeping dogs lie.

Bekeart
 
Bought a 2020 Subaru Forester for my wife (great little car) after testing driving a half dozen similar models, going through Costco saved a couple thousand from the lowest price we had been offered on the lot.
 
I do not know what I am going to do.
Have to really think things out.

My 'Check Engine' light came on, my 'Red Brake' light started flashing & my 'Eye Sight' light came on; all at the same time. Eye Sight is Subaru's collision avoidance system.

Took into the dealer.
First Problem:
#4 cylinder problem = spark plug was totally toasted.

The dealer wanted to replace all plugs, $500. Plugs are $26.50 each from the dealer. I replaced the plugs 35,000 ago (they are supposed to last 100,000: I am at 145,000 miles right now. It took me 5 hours to replace the plugs.

Being the motor was already all exposed I told them to replace the on plug.

Cost: $212.07 for diagnostic test and plug replacement.

That the check engine and eye sight lights are now off.

Second Problem:
Flashing red brake light still on.

The electronic parking brake Actuator/Control Unit was non functional. Unit is $940 Labor is $300. Unit is out of stock, expected availability Sept. 2023.

The parking brake is currently off, however they said it could come on due to the controller not functioning properly. Swell!

I had been a very bad boy while living in New Hampshire!!
The car washes there have under car washing. I did not do it, how stupid of me!.

My undercarriage is totally, extensively rusted to the point that all bolts are basically welded. This time last year my front independent suspension yoke, or whatever it is, needed the barings changed. they had to cut it off and put on a new one because they couldn't get it apart to replace the bearings.

They said my oil pan was extremely rusted especially around the bolts holding it on.

Now What:
Frankly, I do not have the energy or desire to check the spark plugs to see if they are toasted much less replace them like i did before.

I found the electronic parking brake part for $740 online but cannot find any information on where it is located, must be somewhere in the undercarriage to have been damaged.

The possibility of having to pay out $1750 or more ($500 for plugs and $1240 parking brake) and with the rusty bottom which will no doubt produce addition problems in the near future has me quite concerned.

I really, really like my Subaru Outback!
With the current problems and facing potential new problems I may have to replace it.

Problem is I have very limited income and cannot afford to buy a new or used vehicle.

I am thinking maybe leasing would be the way to go but that still puts me in monthly payments which will stretch my resources.

So, Wife and I have some decisions to make over the next week or so.

Life goes on, shxx happens but usually there is a pan somewhere to clean it up; if you can find it.
 
I put a small scrape on my fender. Body shop wants $1500 to fix it. If I turn it into my insurance I lose my accident free and safe driving discounts which will cost me $71 more a month insurance costs. I don't want to shell out $1500 cash. My local car dealer will take my car in on trade with scrape toward a new like model. I have a 2022 and get a 23 for $29 more a month. Or I can put some touch up paint in it and forget it. Not sure what I want to do at this point.
 
In late 2018 I searched all of America on Auto Trader for a brand new 4 door pickup with the following features: power windows, locks, mirrors, tilt, cruise towing package, heated mirrors, back up camera, Sirrius XM radio, carpeting, auto transmission, cloth seats, chrome bumpers and aluminum wheels. I've owned lots of pickups in my construction business and didn't care what brand or color I just wanted the cheapest price and was going to cut the deal over the phone and fly out there and drive it home. In the whole USA it said the cheapest brand new truck with those options was at the Ram dealer not far from me and I bought it $24,200 out the door. I now have 150K miles on it and its been a great truck and still looks pretty new but thinking about buying a new equivalent truck in a couple years for $50-60K makes me sick to my stomach.
 
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I put a small scrape on my fender. Body shop wants $1500 to fix it. If I turn it into my insurance I lose my accident free and safe driving discounts which will cost me $71 more a month insurance costs. I don't want to shell out $1500 cash. My local car dealer will take my car in on trade with scrape toward a new like model. I have a 2022 and get a 23 for $29 more a month. Or I can put some touch up paint in it and forget it. Not sure what I want to do at this point.

For $29 month I’d have already bought the new one. That is providing you actually like the new one.
 
I do not know what I am going to do.
Have to really think things out.

My 'Check Engine' light came on, my 'Red Brake' light started flashing & my 'Eye Sight' light came on; all at the same time. Eye Sight is Subaru's collision avoidance system.

Took into the dealer.
First Problem:
#4 cylinder problem = spark plug was totally toasted.

The dealer wanted to replace all plugs, $500. Plugs are $26.50 each from the dealer. I replaced the plugs 35,000 ago (they are supposed to last 100,000: I am at 145,000 miles right now. It took me 5 hours to replace the plugs.

Being the motor was already all exposed I told them to replace the on plug.

Cost: $212.07 for diagnostic test and plug replacement.

That the check engine and eye sight lights are now off.

Second Problem:
Flashing red brake light still on.

The electronic parking brake Actuator/Control Unit was non functional. Unit is $940 Labor is $300. Unit is out of stock, expected availability Sept. 2023.

The parking brake is currently off, however they said it could come on due to the controller not functioning properly. Swell!

I had been a very bad boy while living in New Hampshire!!
The car washes there have under car washing. I did not do it, how stupid of me!.

My undercarriage is totally, extensively rusted to the point that all bolts are basically welded. This time last year my front independent suspension yoke, or whatever it is, needed the barings changed. they had to cut it off and put on a new one because they couldn't get it apart to replace the bearings.

They said my oil pan was extremely rusted especially around the bolts holding it on.

Now What:
Frankly, I do not have the energy or desire to check the spark plugs to see if they are toasted much less replace them like i did before.

I found the electronic parking brake part for $740 online but cannot find any information on where it is located, must be somewhere in the undercarriage to have been damaged.

The possibility of having to pay out $1750 or more ($500 for plugs and $1240 parking brake) and with the rusty bottom which will no doubt produce addition problems in the near future has me quite concerned.

I really, really like my Subaru Outback!
With the current problems and facing potential new problems I may have to replace it.

Problem is I have very limited income and cannot afford to buy a new or used vehicle.

I am thinking maybe leasing would be the way to go but that still puts me in monthly payments which will stretch my resources.

So, Wife and I have some decisions to make over the next week or so.

Life goes on, shxx happens but usually there is a pan somewhere to clean it up; if you can find it.

Leave it in the Wal Mart lot with the keys in it, go get a nice dinner
 
Kiwicop surely has had a few laughs with his post. Haven't you all noticed what country he's in? The game of car buying is very different in his country! So Yanks can't compare "the rules" any more than I can from my country.
 
Being retired now, I doubt I’ll ever buy another vehicle. I’m done dealing with the “stealerships” in this Country (US). My pickup is five years old, my wife’s car is eight years old, and my favorite car (a Mercury) is twenty years old (all purchased new) and all three have less than 100,000 miles on them. I’ll have them fixed when they break. No EV’s for us either.
 
The possibility of having to pay out $1750 or more ($500 for plugs and $1240 parking brake) and with the rusty bottom which will no doubt produce addition problems in the near future has me quite concerned.

I really, really like my Subaru Outback!
With the current problems and facing potential new problems I may have to replace it.

By some measures, I've spent stupid money fixing my old Tahoe. But I like it, and a lot better than the new ones. I consider repair cost vs book value to be irrelevant. I prefer to look at repair cost vs replacement cost.

A few $1000 to fix a car I like vs many $10,000 for a car I don't like? Easy decision for me.
 

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