New cars: Hyundai Sonata vs. Ford Fusion

You both have a fair point. And if I didn't have the expensive maintenance coming up, I wouldn't consider doing this right now. But I have a difficult time justifying spending 35-40% of my car's current value on one servicing. And it's not like spending the $1,500 now is going to increase my car's trade-in value a year or two years from now.

That's just my rationale, for what it's worth.

 

Let's just say you buy a fusion, pay about $23,000 for a lower-end model. Your payment is what, $380/month? You fix up your current car and get only a year out of it, then you're ahead $3,000. So, if someone paid you $3,000 would you be willing to drive your car rather than drive a new one? If the answer is yes, you fix up the current one. If the answer is no, then you buy a new one. That's the rationale I would use (but I'd include the difference in insurance premiums when making my decision).

 

I can't help it. It was nice and shiny. ;D

Dr. J actually drove it -- he's the dealer -- I figured I'd crash it. But it rode nice. I like small cars, and the Cruze was enough and smooth enough to make me happy. Plus, since Dr. J is my salesman, he would eat shit and die if the car was a lemon.

 

It's because they're trying to promote their volume car model.

 

The current Chevy Malibus look nice and get good reviews, but I don't know about their reliability. We have a previous generation (2005) which has had the fairly common steering rack issues and starter problems. Not sure if GM has figured those things out yet or not.
I agree with those calling for making repairs. But if you go new route, now is a good time because there are a lot of good midsize cars out there. I would go for a slightly used one with plenty of miles left on the warranty.

 

Thank you all for your advice.

To conclude this story (if any of you care at this point), I went with the Fusion SE. The Sonata SE, in addition to being about $1,500-$2,000 more expensive, had far inferior cash incentives and was equipped with summer performance tires. I wouldn't mind the latter if I lived in a warm climate. But in the snowy northeast, especially with the condition of the streets in the city where I live, I felt much more comfortable with the Fusion's All-Season tires.

I've had it a couple of weeks now and I love it - particularly the SYNC (at only $400 extra for the SE model it's definitely worth it). It's also a far quieter ride than my '05 Altima ever was. Definitely the right decision, IMO.

FYI, until April 4, Ford is offering $2,000 in cash rebates in addition to whatever else you can finagle out of the dealer. If any of you live in the NYC or Philly areas and are interested in the Fusion, PM me and I'll recommend the dealer that sold me my car.

 

Nice choice. Good luck with it.

 

Good move, suburbia.
And I don't understand people who act like it's a badge of honor to drive a car for 250,000 or 300,000 miles.
My 2004 Malibu, which I love and have had virtually no problems with, is approaching 90,000, meaning it's about time for something new before I hit 100,000

 

As for the keep your old car/get a new one debate ... I think you just have to know when your vehicle is falling apart. I had an '01 Dodge Stratus with 150,000 miles on it, and I had been to the mechanic seemingly once a week lately with a new problem. Seemed like everything was falling apart on it. Starter fuse blew and we couldn't figure out if it was a fluke or if something was going wrong with the fuel pump. The upper ball joint blew on the back tire when I was driving, and thankfully, it happened when I was going 5 mph or the car could have been totaled. Then last week, the transmission literally started falling apart while I was driving, and I was lucky to get it to the shop. To replace the transmission and get the timing chain replaced (engine was having issues too), I was looking at upwards of $3,000 in repairs for a car I might have gotten another year out of. Enough was enough.

I hate car payments too, but I'd rather put the money toward something newer than to spend $2,000 a year at the mechanic, and that's where this was heading. Went with a used '08 Altima with 30K miles on it. Heard nothing but good things from friends on the Altima, and with a full warranty extension out to 90K miles, it was an easy choice.

Re, Sonata: I've rented them a few times and was really impressed by how well it handled.

 

You know what else Ford stands for, don't you? First on Race Day ... (old Ford partisan here).

Congrats on the purchase. The Fusion is a good product. But if I were looking at a Sonata, I'd also check out the Kia Optima. The Sonata and Optima are largely the same cars, but the Optima's positioned at a moderately lower price point.

BTW ... Ford is moving to have its NASCAR Sprint Cup car be a Mustang in coming years. It doesn't really matter. There's virtually no correspondence between the Fusion (or the Impala (Chevy), Charger (Dodge), and Camry (Toyota)), and its Spring Cup "version." For starters, all of the NASCAR versions are rear-wheel-drive cars.

 

My wife drives a 2008 Fusion SEL V6. I love everything about it except the city mileage. It's a 62L/16 gallon tank, and with her doing primarily city driving she's lucky to get 475km/300 miles out of it.

Don't underestimate the SYNC/Bluetooth feature - it's awesome.

 

Always an interesting point of discussion once new car is paid off and you are at decision time whether to hold on to or buy new.

Once the repairs start flowing it seems like the monthly payout is almost the same between a car payment and a repair.

I've pretty much come to conclusion that you are better off with new car.