Entropy Claims My Darling Jetta - Car Trading/Buying Advice Sought

I did not know that. I've actually just celebrated my first anniversary of owning my first car, so I am a bit of a noob. I only had one problem where a rat chewed through a fuel line, but that was only $240 with an oil change.

 

Brand loyalty can be a good thing. If VW has maintained the same quality control and you've have good luck, that would be the way to go.

I've only owned GM's & Chryslers. I'm on my second Grand Cherokee in a row (the first was used, but ran good and didn't need any major repairs, the second, a 2010).

 

If I hadn't had such a dramatic rash of odd/inexplicable problems, I would be a VW lifer, for sure. My car isn't a boring econobox, is fun & easy to drive, has the performance/responsiveness of cars 3x it's price (doing a run on the hairpin road from Big Bear Dam to San Bernandino in 28 minutes, beating my dad's time in his Corvette - tapped my brakes twice on the way down -- one of the most exhilarating and joyous driving experiences of my life) and was a great fit for my needs and personality. Before my car's health dominoed, I wanted to eventually replace it with an Eos or a Sportswagen TDI. I love/loved my car so much that I kept throwing money at it even though rationally, I should have retired it to the Great Autobahn in the Sky 2 years ago.

I'm a little burned and ground down with the steady cash drain on this car, and would have to do substantially more research than internet hearsay before I'd trust the long-term reliability of the brand again. Too bad, because VW has so many other great things in it's favor, but this is a deal breaker.

 

You might not want to toss them out since you have a pretty good idea of exactly which VWs from exactly which plants have a good chance of being lemons.

 

Well, if she had sold it at 9 years old it would've been the best car she'd ever owned. Then the buyer would've gotten one of the worst lemons of his life. A great many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

 

Indeed. I grew up in a family that bought all their cars new and never kept one longer than 7 years or 100k miles. They'd laugh at the prospect of buying a car with 100K+ miles and then expecting it to run decently. My car is ancient by that standard. They wouldn't call my car a lemon, they'd call it a miracle it's lasted this long & frankly, they think I'm kind of stupid for holding onto it post-college.

Under California law, my car would *not* be a lemon; it would just be old, out of warranty (by many years) and caveat emptor to any one buying a used high mileage car out of manufacturer warranty.

 

Ok, found this on Craiglist. Sound too good to be true? These start at about 19,000 new, he's selling this one with 10K miles for 12,000 (salvage title due to theft - or so he claims).

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/cto/2011000597.html

I've been crossreferencing Carmax's used cars with their corresponding Blue Book Values on my lunch break. Regardless of what kind of car it is, Carmax seems to ask about $1500 over suggested retail value, plus tax/title/license at about $2600. I don't think Carmax does haggling. The sticker price is what you pay.

 

That's an interesting option, might be worth a carfax to verify.

If it were the right car, I'd show up with cash and haggle him, he's already fallen off his 13k firm...

 

I don't know about the Insight, but check your local car lots for any '08-'10 Honda Accords. I bought my '09 new last year (although I really should have gone used) and it has been just about nearly perfect (I had an issue with the brakes squeaking which was fixed by the dealer quite quickly) and is my favorite of the 3 cars I've owned. Great fit and finish, lots of power for a 4-cylinder and I love the way it looks. I get an average of 26 mpg which includes a lot of city driving and A/C usage (plus...my right foot is 99% lead) and get 400+ miles per tank. I rarely spend more than $40 to fill up if the gas prices are low, and its been very cheap to maintain thus far. I had been a Chevy guy my whole life until my girlfriend suggested Honda. I don't like the way the '11 models look but since you're looking used I'd definitely recommend the '08-'10 models.

 

Here's a question on unloading my current car: Should I attempt to sell it private party with its issues, or would I be better off just trading it/selling it to a dealer, even if I don't drive off with another car on the same day?

I really, really do not want to dump another dime into this car, although it needs its CPU fixed (which may or may not solve its other problems), driver side door lock assembly replaced, tires and struts, as well as some minor leaks. Those are the problems *that I know of*.

I seriously doubt that I'll recoup anything else I put in this car.

Advice?

 

Sad to hear this, Bears.

The good cop/bad cop routine is a good idea.Another is to be ready to walk out of the dealer if they aren't willing to work with your numbers. I walked out on a dealer not once, but twice and had sworn I'd never set foot on their lot again in '95. Went to look at another car at another dealer a few days later and was leaving that other dealer when I spotted a car I liked on the first dealer's lot. Drove it off the lot an hour later and paid about $100 less than Blue Book, even after taxes and fees.

Make sure wherever you go that you take a current Kelley Blue Book unless you have internet over your cell phone. If you have internet over your cell phone, use kbb.com to look up and car you are interested in while you are at the dealer. The price you pay at the dealer should be at or lower than the retail price they show.

As far as the old car, I'd trade it in. However, when you do so you should refuse to even discuss trade with the dealer until the price of the replacement is established.

The current issues sound like they should be repaired by replacing the CPU. My '97 Grand Am had to have one replaced last October and the symptoms sound remarkably similar. In addition though, mine refused to downshift into first or go into fourth when this happened. Driving home the night it happened nearly overheated the car as a result.

 

My car also required several repairs when I traded it in, which I could not afford to pay for before getting rid of it. My mom said that when we went to the dealer they would have someone check out the car and note the repairs that would be needed while I was there, meaning I would get a lot less from the trade in. But they didn't do that at all. Maybe it was because the car looked so immaculate inside and out or maybe that was their policy or maybe they were being stupid, but either way they didn't even take more than a cursory glance at the car, and offered what we considered a very good price for it, considering what we knew about its issues. Maybe you'll have this good luck as well, I'm not really sure what the common practice is on this, I really only have this one experience to go by.

 

I know the blue book value on trade in for my car is $1675. Private party value $2750. "Fair" condition (needs work but doesn't have unfixable problems like a rusted frame).

It might be worth dragging it to the mechanic one last time and letting them inspect it before I hand it to a dealer to inspect it. That way I'll know if the dealer is 'finding' nonexistent problems.

 

Perhaps..

Several Ideas.. and remember in this age of unstable prices, the better the fuel economy, the better off you are in the long run..

Nissan Versa, (I'm the happy owner of an 08 Sedan)
Nissan Sentra
Nissan Altima
Mazda 3 series
Mazda 6 series
Honda Fit
Honda Civic
Current Honda Accords have some issues with the electrics..
Hyundai Accent
Hyundai Elantra
Hyundai Sonata a recall has already been issued, but Hyundai jumped right on the issue

Current Toyota's have quality issues, so for me they are a non-starter for at least 2 more years

 

Agreed about gas prices. Fuel economy is second only to long term reliability in my list of needs for my next car.

From your list, I test drove a Honda Fit (regular model, not sport model) and was underwhelmed. I'm curious to drive a Fit Sport though; I've heard they're better cars all around.

Thanks for the heads up on the Accord's electrical problems. After my recent experiences, I definitely want to avoid those.

 

Your mind tricks won't work on me, boy!

 

If you haven't checked it out already, www.edmunds.com is a great place for reviews and information on new and used cars.

 

Since you're buying another car anyway, definitely look for fuel economy, but make sure you do the math before paying any significantly higher price for a car with better fuel economy.

I did the math once on how long I'd have to drive a Prius before it "payed for itself" in fuel savings. To keep it simple I didn't count maintenance or interest on a hypothetical loan. I just divided the purchase price by the mileage difference between a Prius and my then-current car using $3 a gallon as a nice round number.

I don't have the spreadsheet in front of me now, but it was a little over 500,000 miles.

Your results will be less dramatic of course, since you don't really have the "current" car in the equation, but it'll still be worth a look. The car that gets 27mpg may end up saving you more than the car that gets 35.

 

My sympathy, Bears, and a recommendation: Honda Civic. Good mileage, very reliable, handles nicely. I drove mine for nine years w/ no problems, until someone ran a red light and totaled it.

 

I've also done the math on hybrids vs. efficient gas vehicles. In addition to the hybrid premium one pays up front, there's also increased mantainence costs. The cost to eventually replace the battery is high, for instance. I'll consider a hybrid only if the purchase price is right enough to offset the higher costs of long term ownership.

Which is why I was checking out the hybrid in the CL link that was listed several thousand below retail, and several thousand below what I'd pay for a Civic or Corolla of similar age and mileage.