We're a Subaru family. I've had enough cars.... the least I've ever paid in maintenance is on a previous Subaru we owned. Bought an Outback and Impreza within the past year. Just decided to purchase upgraded versions of both models with most and/or all the bells and whistles, including a wifi hot spot (helps to know the owner of the dealership, sure). On a side note, I am still confused how I have put 8K miles on the Outback in 10 months. As someone who used to put 25K miles per year on cars while driving to the officer everyday, I go to one of our offices once/week and the more distant office once/3 weeks these days, so I feel like I should be at like 5K miles. Maybe I'm driving to the airport and/or Hood River more than I realize?
We had a 5spd Impreza before the Outback, miss that car. The OB truly is the best for the NW. More storage than most SUVs and can cruise past pickups in the Gorge doing 80 smooth as can be.
Dude, the OB cruises. I was driving back from Hood River a month or two ago. Now, EVERYBODY was cruising. Won't say how fast I was going (or the majority of drivers), but cannot believe how fast I was cruising (and every other driver was cruising, for the most part). But it was the shortest drive I've ever experienced from Hood River to home. The OB in Oregon is how the Mercedes sedans drive on the Autobahn.
The wife's lease is up on her Ford Escape so of course with rising gas prices she wants one of the new Broncos!!! Trying to talk her into the sport version at least. Definitely going to check out Costco for this one but we don't have a Costco in town and no need for a membership but the parents have one. Can I use their number and still get the same deal? Do the dealers really check the number/info all the way down or is the membership just a barrier of entry thing and once you get past it no one cares?
Had 4 imprezas, all were manual, all but the 2008 (last one) were a lot of fun to drive (the 2008 was ok, they started Americanizing it at that point). However, they all had oil leak issues, I caught all of them other than that last one - I was out of the country, and it blew an engine a month after an oil service. Wife swore off Subarus since - and the ones I had for rentals were not fun to drive anymore, so, no big deal as far as I am concerned. As for Fed/CA tax credit rebates, I believe they are based on battery size, so a Niro Hybrid Plugin should be around $4,500 Federal and $1,500 state - check to ensure I am right. A full BEV should have $7,500 Federal tax credit and $1,500 state. At least that's what it was when my wife got her Kona Electric. FWIW - The best way to buy new cars is to unleash my wife on the unsuspecting dealer. She got her 2020 Kona Electric for crazy cheap just at the start of the Pandemic. I was wondering if it was smart to buy at the time, she was proven very right... As for Japanese vs. Korean, I would say that there is very little difference now, we had a Kia Soul electric that had no issues at all and the Kona which so far has been almost as good (electrics have a 1 year service interval and in the one our car had, they said they detected a small steering column issue and replaced it under warranty - we have not felt anything). I would say that right now, Toyota / Lexus are probably the best at long term reliability, but I would not trust a Honda over a Hyundai / Kia honestly - there is no difference. For the record, here is the JD Power 2022 dependability rating which actually shows Kia / Hyundai / Genesis (all Korean) even slightly ahead of Toyota / Lexus, Honda tho... they are not the Honda you remember from the 90s: https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/2022-us-vehicle-dependability-study
My wife just bought the new CRV Touring. We've owned Nissan, Toyota, Fords and Honda's and they've all been decent vehicles. I loved the 2010 Ridgeline I had very dependable but not great on gas. I still have a Ford pick up for pulling travel trailer and boat.
We need to upgrade our car to a luxury SUV. Hopefully an EV. Probably won't do it right now though. Just want to ride this chip shortage out and see if car buying returns to normal. I also imagine more people are trying to buy EVs right now because of the gas prices.
Yes, the dealer will ask to see your Costco card. You can ask your parents for their Costco number. Use that, then you'll get an email from the dealer telling you the savings for the particular car you're interested in at the Costco dealer in your area. IMO if the savings is over $500 it would pay for you to get a Costco membership for the year. You can always order from Costco online to take advantage of the membership. I'm guessing the savings are going to be a lot more than $500.
Just got done spending 3 months searching for a used car for our daughter. What a fucking headache. All prices are skyrocketed right now.
In Portland with the no jail time thing, it's actually cheaper to just steal a car and pay the fine if you get caught.
With FORD with the Mach-E Crossover, you can pay MSRP it just takes 6 months as you have to "order" it. The Lexus NX Plug in Hybrid is REALLY nice. Pretty pricy though.
Okay, we finally got an offer under the Costco Auto Program from the dealer in Seattle. Long story short they were being very shady but Costco finally got us a price from the dealer. It was such a battle to get there we were not super excited to do business with them. So we took the price Costco got us from the Seattle dealer to Beaverton Kia. The Costco price on a Kia Niro LXS was $360 below MSRP. We got it at Beaverton Kia for $600 above MSRP. We did not get the paint protection BS, the only extra was the back hatch cover. Very pleased. Added bonus, the color of the Niro in Seattle was OSU Orange. The one we got at Beaverton Kia is Blazer Black! Oh and we got the full $11,500 for her 2016 Kia Soul with 89,000 miles.
Maybe things have changed in 8 years but my wife has a 2014 Hyundai Elantra that has just under 80k miles on it. It’s been a decent car, but it has had its fair share of issues over the years. The rear windows do not roll up or down from the driver seat, and it has had one major issue that we had to take it to the mechanic for to bed fixed. It’s not been horrible, but based on my 2006 Toyota 4Runner I wouldn’t say the quality of Hyundai is anywhere close to Toyotas. The build quality is not anywhere close to as good.
Was working with a dealer to see what they could come up with and he said there's no way they're able to buy it because he found this on the CarFax. I bought the car in March of 2021, with a claim the it was "Accident Free". How in the hell can this be hidden for nearly two years?? WTF
Did you buy it from a dealer or private party? Is the car financed? Have you seen the title? Do you have a regular mechanic? If so have them inspect the vehicle. If they don't see damage ask them to write a letter stating that. Then get a hold of the dealer, tell them this, and ask if their shop would like to inspect the vehicle.
Bought it through Carvana, was finance through their partner but I refinanced. I have not seen the title.
I updated my original post with a couple of questions. Get a hold of Carvana. Explain to them what is going on. Let me know what your mechanic and Carvana says.
