My turn to add to the car thread quagmire. Currently, I drive a 2002 Lexus IS300. It is a great car. Good speed and handling (not great, but good), nice sound system, leather interior, etc. I have one littel problem. No matter what brand tire I use, for some reason, my rear tires ALWAYS go flat - basically I have to use a tire that is pretty low profile on that car, and though I don't drive far, I do go over the usual Houston crappy roads, and the inner wall weakens to the point where I'm always needing to refill, or replace the tire. This has gotten to be both a hassle and an expense. And I'm tired of it. Could be alignment related, a bit, but getting the alignment constantly fixed also is time-consuming. On top of all that, I don't like to drive like a "racecar" driver anymore. So, I think I'm going to just go to carmax and trade it in, and hopefully pocket a little bit of cash in the process. I'm looking at this Nissan Xterra I've never driven an Xterra, but I've wanted to upsize to an SUV or pickup. Anybody ever driven one...any opinions? I'm game for any kind of Japanese car, really - Toyota, Nissan, Acura, Honda - any other thoughts?
I just got my car appraised at Carmax. Very easy process. They said everything was good on it, unfortunately they offered about $1500 less than what Kelly Blue Book said they should. So I put up an ad on autotrader.
XTerra is a good off-road SUV. If you really use an SUV, XTerra, 4Runner, and anything from Jeep are some of the best choices.
My biggest concern is low $ and hassle maintenance wise. I'll probably just keep whatever I get for a few years and then get something new.
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/page001.html Read this piece before going to a dealership. It's a long piece, but very worthwhile - a real eye-opener.
Same with me. I went to Carmax and they estimated about $2000 less than Blue Book, which is usually already pretty low. I was debating between Ebay, Craigslist, or Autotrader. Let me know about your experience.
I've sold my past two cars on EBay. I just put the starting price at the lowest I'd be willing to take. I might give up a couple hundred bucks, but I love the fact that it's gone in a week.
Do you specify local buy only, etc? How do you take payment? Ebay takes a cut and then you take another cut for using Paypal?
I put no delivery. If people are getting the car they want, they're usually willing to drive a ways. I put that I accept PayPal, but neither buyer has used it. One gave me a cashier's check, the other gave me cash. One was local and bought it for his dad in Mexico. The other was from Fredricksburg, TX and came with a trailer big enough to haul it off. All of Ebay's fees total to about $80. It's not the cheapest way to sell a car, but it's awful convenient.
Ebay sounds good. I don't need a great deal, just a fair deal. Although, I realized I need to buy a replacement car first. Then I'll post my old one on Ebay and Cragislist.
Kelly Blue Book and NADA are jokes when it comes to trade in value. Rarely do dealer's come close to those. The best way to judge what a fair trade in offer is, to go to Autotrader, find simiilar vehicles for sale at any dealer, average that price and then take 15-20% off that.
It is long, but so far a good read! Thanks for the link! Here's another really good article on buying a new car with lots of good info!! http://www.tipsoftheweekonline.com/newcar.html
They're factory. I've gotten less angry since I posted the thread. Hey, maybe I'm just not maintaining my car well enough. It could be me, and not the car. I love my car, and the fact that it's free and clear, and has had absolutely no other problems....but this tire thing is pissing me off. I've got to go back and look at my records and see what tires were changed when. Maybe I'm overreacting. Maybe not, though...
