I'm getting a new car...help me make my decision

That too. You'd be amazed what a general sales manager will agree to in order to pad or meet the monthly quota.

And mltru, if the car already has 140k on it you're not gonna lose much more valuing driving it couple of more months. You're biggest drop occurs when you roll over 50,000 and 100,000. After that it doesnt make much difference because the car's going to auction anyways. Most dealers won't sell a carwith high mileage on their lot because there isn't much demand for them. They'll sell 'em at a dealer auction and that's how places like Bruno's Auto Corral, Bud's Auto Emporium and Wlat's Quality Used Car's get inventory.

 

Everyone I've asked said they'd give me $2000 trade-in for my 97 Plymouth Breeze with that mileage on it. That's more than I expected and I don't want it to go down because I'm not going to be able to put much down (2-3k). Plus, it's getting to the point where I don't really feel completely comfortable and at peace driving it all over the largest state in the land. I'll definitely heed the end-of-the-month advice though.

 

The Nissan Altima is a fantastic, fantastic car for the money. The Malibu is greatly improved over its predecessors, too. Can't go wrong either way if you want something with plenty of room.

Do NOT, however, get a five-year lease. That's far too long to lease a car -- if I'm not mistaken, that's past a Nissan warranty period, and even a 12K lease means 60,000 miles and possibly repairs that won't be covered.

I'm a big fan of leasing -- my current vehicle is leased -- but never lease a car past its warranty period.

 

mltru ... at 140k you're just going to get the wholesale value of the car and that probably won't change with a few more thousand miles on it.

Mystery ... had a buddy at my old shop that had an Xterra and he loved it, but he was an editor, so he just drove to work. Though if you were driving the Cherokee, then you're used to the poor gas mileage.

Oh, and full disclosure to previous post, in an attempt to recapture some of my youth, I leased the new, pimped out version of the truck I had 7 years ago that crapped out on me and put me in a hole it took YEARS to climb out of. Traded in a perfectly nice Honda for something that will get 15 mpg, maybe.

I'm pretty sure I can't be a Democrat anymore after doing that.

The irony is, after signing the papers a few days ago, I still have mixed feelings about it. I remember when I got the first truck, which I couldn't afford at all, I was on cloud 9. Now, I almost feel ill even though I'm very fortunate that I can afford it (at least until I get to the gas station) and have a job that doesn't make me drive all over the planet so I can probably stick within my lease parameters.

And my wife, who is a lurker, will probably say "Guy, you're sharing too much." True, honey. True.

 

Never, ever buy a car from a car salesman.
Call the dealership beforehand, ask for a Fleet Specialist or Fleet Manager.
Tell them you're not interested in dealing with a salesman. Tell them what you're looking for. Is it available. Etc.
Set up an appointment.
The Fleet Manager will let cars go between 9.5% to 10.5% under sticker. It's also termed a "nickel sale." That refers to the $500 over invoice. A price you will never achieve bargaining with a salesman or general manager. If you guys are members of Costco or AAA, they offer similar fleet pricing programs on new cars. But, their price is usually $750 over invoice. They get a $250 finder's fee.

 

Another thing: Go to the local bank, credit union, etc. and get pre-approved for a loan. Puts you in a better bargaining position. You'll likely get a better deal that way.

 

Thiiiiiiiiis is ouuuuuuuur coooouuuuuuntryyyyyyyyyyy ;D

 

From the East Coast ...
To the West Coast ....

 

I got a '98 Mustang Cobra convertible I'll sell ya, 72,XXX miles. Jones vouches for it.
Buy used, less than 35,000 miles with a warranty. Fuck trading in anything. Sell it yourself and you'll make at least $500 more than you would trading it in.

 

Yeah, but then I don't have a car for said period of time. The thing that makes that difficult is that I'm going out of town to buy the car, most likely, so I'll have a have a car to get there. I just don't know if $500 is worth the time and effort of trying to sell a car that's not going to be am awesome car for people to buy. I did put an ad on craigslist for it and got 25 emails overnight, but then I realized I drastically undershot its value, asking $1k-1500 OBO. Now I know I could probably ask for 2-2500.

 

Maybe you're right. But don't expect the dealer to be as nice as the consumer. They're trying to auction it off and turn more profit. Still, I wouldn't try to hassle it myself unless I KNEW I had a buyer with cash in hand ready to hand over the money when I bought my car. Otherwise, let the dealer worry about it.

And I wouldn't worry about driving any more value off a car with 140K miles. On the bright side, its value won't dive much if everything is pretty sound mechanically and the cosmetic stuff is somewhat strong considering.

 

See, I just saw a commercial for "Year-End Sales Event" from Nissan. I think the new models are about to come in in August or September. Am I wrong?