I want to learn from your mistakes

[funboredom]

I am actually getting some money together to purchase a vehicle. However I am easily excited and lose all rationality when i see a potential vehicle. I am trying to ground myself from making an impulse buy. Please let me learn from your mistakes. Share an experience you had and a tip for how to avoid a similar fate.

[gsprobe]

Don't get married.


Good looking prostitutes are usually cops... or sometimes dudes.... and this one time- both...

[Uk in NY]

LOL...


if you know you are impulsive then NEVER go into a dealership on a whim. you will buy somehting you didnt want.

the internet is your friend. research, compare, research compare, calculate, research etc etc.

When you know what you want, and why. what is SHOULD cost, and how the deal should pan out, then and ONLY THEN go to a dealer. you should be more confident that you know what you are talking about, be more clued up to getting ripped off and walk away happier.

[Benrow77]

Test drive a LOT of cars. I've found that sometimes what I thought I Wanted wasn't what I thought it would be and ended up quite disappointed. Don't get caught up in the new experience, drive it around long enough to really get a sense of the car. Do the things you would do in your car on a daily basis: figure out if your favorite coffee mug/water bottle fits in the cup holder, can you hook up your devices easily, etc. Test drive any cars you think you might want before you finish getting the money together, that way you can't buy anything until you are finished with the research phase. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING ON THE FIRST TIME OUT.

Once you have it narrowed down, do your homework. Look for owner feedback online, compare numbers. If you do your homework you'll know whether you are getting a good deal or not.

There are a lot of good articles about buying cars out there that give you good tips for negotiating with a salesman.

Also, don't take the wife/girlfriend out when you test drive until you have narrowed it down.

[criminalenterprise]

Always pay to have a used car inspected by your mechanic as a condition of purchase.

[Spatzle]

Try getting rentals in the models you like.

While options won't be close you'd get a general idea of what your specific model should be like.

[Smoltz]

Don't buy any car sight unseen, no matter who does a PPI, no matter the reputation of the folks you are dealing with, no matter how good the car looks in pictures and how long the list is of things that have been replaced. I have done this twice and both times with a less than desirable outcome.

[deagle]

http://www.carbuyingtips.com/

http://www.edmunds.com/car-buying/10...-used-car.html

[anzius]

Bring a rational friend/relative and give them 'veto power'. Saved me from buying a lemon Nissan I was in love with. He pointed out some things that seemed off that I was blind to at the time and he vetoed it. Good thing, too, because I eventually found my GTI which I love even more and got a crazy good deal at the time, saving me many $Ks.

[corradovr693]

dont buy stick if you dont know how to drive it. i did like 3 years ago took me like a month to learn

[dr. pimento]

I am actually getting some money together to purchase a vehicle.

My suggestions:

1. Don't get emotional. Once you pick out the car you want given time you will be able to find it.

2. Pick 10 dealers in your area that you will visit. Some will let you test drive and some won't. Go with the flow and don't get upset if they don't let you take a longer drive. For the most part try to ignore their snide comments.

3. Get to know MS Excel and begin to create a spreadsheet that maps out all costs (new car price, trade-in, interest rate, tax rate, etc.).

4. Consider leases but get numbers from every dealer. Drop the numbers into the spreadsheet so that you can truly analyze them.

5. If you have a trade-in ask for their best price; don't give them a trade-in number first -- remember that they're buying the car. Don't let multiple dealers run your credit report. Get your own financing if possible.

6. Try to buy a car from the dealer's lot; some dealers will say they can trade for anything anything but then come up short (after they've taken your deposit).

7. After you identify the dealer you want to do business with ask here on the 'tex if anyone has had any good or bad experiences.

8. Use you gut; if it doesn't feel right walk out and don't go back.

[Jlw2387]

Once you find something you like, and have worked out a deal with the dealership, go home and sleep on it. If you still want the car and think its a good deal a day or two later, then go for it.

[cptn slo]

dont buy stick if you dont know how to drive it. i did like 3 years ago took me like a month to learn

If you want a stick buy a stick even if you don't know how, you have to learn sometime. Just go driving around at night when the roads are empty for a few hours. Make sure to come to a complete stop often and you'll be fine by the end of the night. It should not take you a month unless you only go on really short trips each day and don't have any other practice.



Anyways my advice is testdrive it how you will be driving the car the majority of the time. If you beat on your car 90% of the time beat on it when you test it, if you drive civil 90% of the time see if you actually enjoy it driving normally.

[Body Hauler]

Don't get married.


Good looking prostitutes are usually cops... or sometimes dudes.... and this one time- both...

[Helltime]

Don't settle, if you know of a car you REALLY want, with certain options you want then wait til either A) You find it or B) You can afford it.
oh and DON'T BUY DOMESTIC!
bought the wife a ford fusion about a year and a half ago...biggest mistake of my life, they claim reliabilty but that one sucked donkey balls and was miserable to drive. Glad we traded that POS off on a jetta 2.5 5spd...still have nightmares about that thing

[funboredom]

So i got my car.

Considering all the advice and wisdom bits accumulated along the way I am happy with my decision so far.

I purchased a manual transmission, have not driven one in 8 years but i remember the fun of it.
Will post a pic later. Its a 1985 gti coupe. My first project car my second mk2... I am excited to start.