Ok gang, I have been talking about the RX350 forever now and my jeep left me stranded on the highway twice this week. so i am either getting the car but am a bit uneasy about the pmt. I was going to lease it because of that. should I go 36months or 48 months? can I payoff the lease early if i want to usually? if i buy the car, the monthly pmt goes wayyyy up.
I test drove a chevy equinox tonight. I can get a deal on the loaded one, which would cost 10K less than the RX. anyone drive the euqnox?
I hate buyng a car. already got screwed at dealers lying. I looked at murano, but it’s hard because i had been so set on the RX…
I have nothing to offer on the new stuff…but can you tell me a bit about your jeep? I have an 01 Grand Cherokee, and I seem to recall that you have a similar aged jeep. Just wondering if there is something going wrong that I should keep my eye on with mine. I’m hoping to keep mine for a while yet…it’s paid for and I like the whole “no car payment” deal.
First, take a look at used RX’s, Murano’s, etc. Typically, you can get a two to three year old car, that might have a warranty (certified used cars) for much, much less than a new car. If you buy new, your car will drop in value about 10-20% the day you drive it off the lot. Let someone else take the depreciation hit.
Second, take a look at some of the automotive consultants/buying services. If you are in Phoenix, I think there is a group called Centennial Leasing that also has an office in Colorado. I used them to purchase my last (used) car. If you want, I can forward you the name of the guy I used (fellow college alumni). All they do is buy and lease cars. They take a bit of a cut off the transaction, but if you know what you want, chances are they can get it for you for the same price, if not less, and you do not have to worry about the hassle of going to the dealer and doing the whole song and dance thing with the sales rep, manager, finance guy, etc.
Third, arrange your financing ahead of time. That way you know what you can buy and will be comfortable with the payments. Then if the dealer has a better deal, take it.
Finally, there are a lot of great cars out there. If you are set on the RX, go for it. It is a very nice car. My folks have the RX 330 and I might buy it from them when they are ready to sell. However, for much less money, you can get a Toyota Highlander, which is essentially the same vehicle mechanically, and bank the rest. I would imagine the Murano is also less than the RX as well. And most of all … I hate to say this … do not buy the Chevy Equinox. There are much better SUV’s out there than that one.
Soph–whatever car you buy will feel new for about 6 months. then you’re stuck with the payment. so, keep your head, remember the payment.
there will be all kinds of people telling you not to buy a certain car. in the end, you have to do what’s right for you.
if you’re interested in anything from Ford, or the Ford line of cars, call me. my brother in law works for Ford, and that is how i was able to get such a nice deal on my Jaguar. The Escape is nice, plus there is volvo, lincoln, mazda, etc, all in the Ford family.
FWIW, i think the Equinox is very nice car. i haven’t read the reviews in AutoWeek, but i liked it when i saw it and thought about it for myself as a next car. i’m sure there are reviews online if you haven’t checked that out already.
in the end, there are plenty of very good cars out there…but get what you can afford–being stuck with a big payment for years really does suck.
I know that the RX is a nice ride, but it is pretty steep for a Mini Ute. Also look at the Subarus, I used to have a couple and loved them. I know the Forrester is an ugly duckling, but get the turbo and the panoramic moonroof and you will forget about the ugly looks and remember the great mileage huge power and more space than two triathlete’s can easily fill.
Just remember on a lease that the mileage is usually pretty low. they have gotten tricky and started to advertise the ‘low mileage lease’ prices which only gets about 10K per year. go over and you are lookng at 35-55cents per mile over - depending on the lease.
Otherwise if you are not a ‘car person’ shop around to all the local dealers and let them know that you are shopping on price. So many of the domestics can bend the rules on employee pricing you can get into some leases for a couple hundred bucks a month.
I got an Equinox in early October. It’s a company car therefore making it the best car ever since it’s free. I like it, it’s much roomier compared to the Jeep Liberty I was driving. My only complaint is it’s very noisy on the interstate and I’m on the interstate quite a bit. OK, the other complaint is it harder to park than the Jeep which had an incredible turning radius and could easily squeeze into small spots.
I have never leased a car but others who I know who have say its a bad deal. I just bought my wife a Mazda Tribute which is a good car. Its an '06 but had been used as a company car so we got it for about 3k less than sticker with about 7k miles. My suggestion would be to look for a deal like that. Its important to know exactly how much your bank will give you with regards to value of the car (100% of the blue book, 80% of the blue book value) thus you will know how much you need to put down to own it. Leasing and buying new seem to be the biggest mistakes in car buying. Good luck.
In the Equinox, I think they have come up with a good looking exterior, but they went the cheap route on the finish and engine. If they would just take that exterior and finish it nicely and put one of their higher tech engines in it, they have a winner. If you are going for a cheaper SUV, there are probably better ones out there. The new RAV 4 (get the V-6!) and CRV come to mind. I would take a close look at the new Mazda CX-7.
We lease three cars for our business. Be careful about the monthly mileage they allow and assume you won’t get out of it early without being upside down on your payment. Get yourself up to speed on money rates before you go tot he dealer or they will hammer you. You can check available money rates at several auto leasing websites.
As others have said, if the payment makes you uncomfortable in any way, don’t do it. There are other options for buying the car you want. If you are set on the RX, look for a used car. Lexus has certified used cars, some still under warranty. Some will be trade-ins, others will be “off-lease”. The off-lease cars usually present some good deals as the miles will be low (generally) and you know they have been serviced ( at least the basics). Because a new car will depreciate in value almost instantly, I have a hard time looking at new cars. I just bought a 2004 Acura MDX that was a lease turn in, and paid less than half of the original sticker price, and only had 19k miles on it (with the balance of the warranty).
If you have any question about whether a used car is any good, have an impartial mechanic check it out…that’s not a problem at all. If a dealer gives you any hassle about it you probably don’t want that car.
As for leasing, I would advise against it. Leasing can be a good option in some cases, but not many. If you tend to change cars every 2-3 years and don’t drive too many miles, a lease may be good for you. Otherwise, buy what you like and what fits your budget. Paying off a lease early is just throwing money away.
I personally love the whole process of car buying…the research, the pricing, the options and making the deal.
I personally love the whole process of car buying…the research, the pricing, the options and making the deal.
Man I hate buying a car. There is nothing worse. No matter what, I feel as though I am somehow getting screwed – be it on the new vehicle, the trade-in, whatever. Last time around I bought a slightly used (I have never bought new) with 19k miles on it. The dealer pulled open the bluebook and used it that to value his car. When it came to my trade-in, he lowballed me. I picked up his bluebook and found the value and asked for that. Boy was he pissed. I said something like “well, you can’t value your car at bluebook price and not mine” or something similar. We ended up somewhere in the middle – on both. I will drive this one into the ground before I have to go through that again. The next car will probably be a Volvo of some sort that can go a million miles or more so that I don’t have to change vehicles for many years!
having done the 4 year lease thing, I say don’t do it. I’ll never do it again.
the main thing is that you’re stuck with it for x years. I was uneasy about lease takeovers (liability). If you want to end early, you pay penalties on top of the monthly payments you owe, its ridiculous. For me, timing sucked because I got laid off with a year+ to go, decided to hang on to the car in case I would need it for work but then a giant tree branch fell on the car and made a mess. That made the possibility of a lease-takeover hard.
In the end though; I was fine. Insurance fixed the car, honda didn’t give me any penalties. (the “wear & tear” was very flexible in my opinion)
I thought a new car would be trouble free but it wasn’t. Had to fix just as many things as an older car. Next time, I’m buying a used pos that I can abuse (and not care if someone dents it -ie. I had my car hit twice while I wasn’t in it, also had some jerk dump a xmas tree on top of it).
Don’t lease and don’t buy American! Go with a Honda/Toyota. It will be cheaper in the long run.
Do some searching on www.edmunds.com before you go to a dealer.
Don’t lease and don’t buy American! Go with a Honda/Toyota. It will be cheaper in the long run.
Do some searching on www.edmunds.com before you go to a dealer.
that’s stupid–there are some very good american cars.
Thank you for that kittycat. You are correct, of course, and JamieJ made a fairly ignorant statement. Where is that Toyota Camry right now on the quality and reliability lists? That’s right, behind the Buick and the Ford Fusion.
I leased it, interest rate was soooo much lower. i have been thinking about this for 3 years, but my car was so unreliable, I needed to act on it! finally:-)
