Car shopping: hard
Dec. 6th, 2005 10:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akawilI haven't posted here in a long time, but I've had a significant life status change lately. To wit, as of this past November 1st, I'm no longer at the university where I'd been since 1990 as undergrad, grad student, and post-doc.
Instead, I'm now working at a small start-up in New Jersey. It's fun, exciting work, and so far I'm having a good time.
However (the point of this post), the start-up is not in a place which is conveniently reachable by public transportation. I've rented a car from Avis, but the cost of this is adding up quickly. So I need to buy a car.
Buying cars is hard.
My company has (through the company we contract our HR through) a program with Toyota which gives us a no-negotiation-required discount -- $200 over dealer's invoice on new cars, and similar margins over the dealership's purchase price on used cars. So I've been looking at Toyotas.
At first I looked at a used Corolla, but the price they quoted me on it was $16,000 -- apparently they paid too much for it -- and that's essentially the same price as a new Corolla, so today![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ladymondegreen and I went to test-drive a new Corolla.
And we didn't like it. The ergonomics of the interior are awkward -- there's an oddly-placed handle where I keep bumping my head -- and the suspension is way too stiff, so we feel every little bounce and jolt of the potholed Jersey City streets we were testdriving over.
Larger Toyotas (the Camry, and the like) are bigger than I'd really feel comfortable driving, and also seem too big for the fairly teeny parking space I've rented.
So unfortunately I'm now back at square one, andladymondegreen suggested I post to my Livejournal.
So, what do people like in compact cars, for about the $16000 range, in either new or trustworthy used? Any recommendations?
Instead, I'm now working at a small start-up in New Jersey. It's fun, exciting work, and so far I'm having a good time.
However (the point of this post), the start-up is not in a place which is conveniently reachable by public transportation. I've rented a car from Avis, but the cost of this is adding up quickly. So I need to buy a car.
Buying cars is hard.
My company has (through the company we contract our HR through) a program with Toyota which gives us a no-negotiation-required discount -- $200 over dealer's invoice on new cars, and similar margins over the dealership's purchase price on used cars. So I've been looking at Toyotas.
At first I looked at a used Corolla, but the price they quoted me on it was $16,000 -- apparently they paid too much for it -- and that's essentially the same price as a new Corolla, so today
ladymondegreen and I went to test-drive a new Corolla.And we didn't like it. The ergonomics of the interior are awkward -- there's an oddly-placed handle where I keep bumping my head -- and the suspension is way too stiff, so we feel every little bounce and jolt of the potholed Jersey City streets we were testdriving over.
Larger Toyotas (the Camry, and the like) are bigger than I'd really feel comfortable driving, and also seem too big for the fairly teeny parking space I've rented.
So unfortunately I'm now back at square one, and
ladymondegreen suggested I post to my Livejournal.So, what do people like in compact cars, for about the $16000 range, in either new or trustworthy used? Any recommendations?
no subject
Date: 2005-12-07 01:35 pm (UTC)Our other candidate was the low-end Saturn, which probably meets your needs. There are things I don't like about it, especially compared to my older Saturn (2000 LS2), but it's not a bad car and would probably do the job. However, service is a bitch for Saturns in the JC area. If the JC Saturn is still open, NEVER go there for service. They were incompetent and did bad things to my car. Go to the dealership in Union instead.
Sorry I don't have more encouraging things to say, but I hope it's helpful.