Looking at new vehicle *Decision Made*

NYSpeed Automotive
1

Ok, I am looking for a new vehicle now that I sold my acura. I am having a dilema over trying to decide what to go for. Right now there are two vehicles on the table. I was looking for heated seats and sunroof, but sunroof wasa must (seats can be added easier) I am looking to put $3000 down, and take a loan on the rest.

Some of the considerations for this vehicle are that it will be able to serve me for a while, without a lot of major necessary maintenance. My last couple cars have been 110k+ cars, and all needed about what they are worth in maintenance while I owned them. Another consideration is that my girlfriend can drive it comfortable if needed, and it would be reliable to take on trip to help save miles off her new car (since we took her old one everywhere. ) This ruled out suburbans and most trucks, as she isn’t comfortable driving them a lot. The price range was $7k-11k, depending on mileage, year, and options. The vehicles in consideration were 00-05 regals, bonneville, park aves, 06+ G6 and saturn aura, and 02+ envoys, Trailblazer, canyons and colorados (4 door only) For mileage, we wanted under 60k, depending on price.

So this lead us to the two following choices:

First is a 2002 GMC Envoy SLE. 67,3xx on it. Has the sunroof, but no heated seats or steering wheel controls. needs a rear bumper cover due to a small fender bender, whines when turning in 4x4, but that might just be the way it is. looks nice, garage kept. no rust. Was smoked in, but cleaned pretty well. CD, cass, sunroof, power seats, temp, onstar, tow package. He was asking $8750 for it, but came down to $8300 before I left. Private party. Would keep this one 3-5 years before getting a new one.

Pros: 4x4, trailering package (no need for the 95 explorer I have) new tires. well maintained. Price would be a smaller loan and paid off quicker

cons: gas mileage isn’t the best (coming from a 32mpg acura) bumper cover needs to be replaced at some point, would have to add heated seats (~$500) smoke oder still present. Loan rate would be 6.5% due to it being an 02.

The second vehicle is a 2007 Saturn Aura XR. LOADED! 3.6L V6, 6 spd auto with paddle shift, sunroof, heated leather, 18" wheels, CD changer, fog lights, rear audio system, 2 unmounted snows with good tread. Remainder of 5 yr/100k power train warranty. 56,xxx miles on it. Dealer lemon law warranty. $10,995. Would keep this one longer, more like 5-7 years.

Pros: Newer. Less miles. More options. Needs me to do nothing. Lower interest rate of 4.74%. Nicer inside. exactly what I would want.

cons: priced higher, so load would be out longer. Collision needed for longer. No towing/hauling ability, would need to keep explorer or borrow father’s truck. worried about getting it dirty.

Now, for my driving habits, i drive 7 miles each way for work, mixed highway/city. I respond 3 miles each way for fire calls, roughly 4-8 per week. We take trips to Rochester roughly once a month, which I would do about half, and we go to ithaca every other weekend in the spring/summer/fall. I frequent the junkyard and grab parts about 1-2 times a week, and pick up something large probably once a month from there. I am looking for a vehicle I won’t have to work on, and won’t need/want to modify to make it comfy for me.

Financially, i have a good job that is solid. I have a house already, and a project vehicle to work on. The only big expense besides mortgage and school loans pending would be a ring. no kids in the near future. And i would plan on paying them off early.

So basically, which way do you think the most beneficial?? Would having one vehicle for all functions be better than having one for each purpose (daily driving and tow/haul)? Would the cost be better to have cheaper?

I am leaning one way currently, but would like to see what people have to say to see if there is something I am not considering.

Thanks.

2

I was gonna say you should buy my truck. 2008 trailblazer SS. 3SS with navagation. Has heated leather and a sunroof but it looks to be out of your price range. Has extended bumper to bumper warranty on it. I could call GMAC and get a pay off price if you were interested. I know it’s around $25k though.

Edit: it can also tow and haul things

3

I would love one, ut I know that isn’t in the budget payment wise. Trust me, I checked when I saw it for sale. Plus, once I get to that price, there is a nice 2006 Chevy truck with 22k on it my parents are selling for $19,500 which i would probably buy first.

4

I always pictured you buying a used GTP or G8?

if it’s not in the budget then I recommend suffering longer until getting what you want over getting a lesser newer car now.

5

Aura

6

If those are the only 2 options, I’d say the Aura. I know people with both, and the Envoy has been nothing but problems. And I know more than a handful of people that have them.

7

the whine in 4x4 is probably a stretched o-ring in the transfer case, how about neither?.. Look at a MDX, Murano, or the like

8

i dont really like saturns but ive been in an aura plenty of times and its not a bad ride.
Not what i would buy but it fits your criteria the best out of the two and you wont have to do any work to it.

9

Finding a new car is always a dilema. Hopefully whatever you decide on fits what you need it to do. It’s so nice having an all year round vehicle that doesn’t suck. Pretty much why I picked this truck up.

10

you can definitely add a sun roof aftermarket. granted I would never do so, it is possible.

My buddy has an 06 trailblazer he would sell for like 6-7k. no heated seats, not sure about sunroof. its white, pretty low miles too

11

aura

12

Out of those 2 I would pick the aura all day long.

But I would look elswhere. Murano or FX35

13

So you’re stuck between an 8 year old GMC with a tow package and whining diff, a missing bumper, and smells like smoke… and a car that’s not a total piece of crap?

14

yeah, not to mention $2k more for 4 years newer and in much better shape/optioned

and the only reason not is because you need something to tow and haul with but you already have an explorer?

buy the aura

15

ok, to answer some questions.

There is no G8 I have found in my price range. it is actually at the top of the list, but not in the cards yet.

Waiting is not an option. My car is sold already and getting picked up saturday morning. My father has offered to loan me a car for a little bit, but i’d rather not have it more than a week.

The GMC has a rear bumper, it’s got a 3" tear in it at the corner and a scuff. It smells like cleaning products inside to me, but my father said he thought he smelled smoke and when asked, the owner said they did smoke in it.

I will never add an aftermarket sunroof. ever.

Murano and FX35’s are not really in my price range yet. The closest one is an 04 with 72k for $14,000. And I have no experience with them, so I would be a little hesitant in that respect also.

Also, I’ll most likely be getting engaged/married in the next year or two, so I don’t want to spend more than this cause I still need to get a ring.

I am also trying to be fiscally responsible. My girlfriend works in public service, with a state and grant funded agency. I’m trying to keep myself at the point where I could still get by if I should become the only bread winner for a while. She is more fiscally responsible than I am and bought her new car cash and has no loans or CC’s, so it would just be housing costs and my student loans that would need to be covered.

And the explorer has a broken flexplate and some other minor issues that need to be worked out before it’s on the road.

And these are the two that I have found locally that seem to fit the bill. Thanks for the replies so far. They are giving me some things to think about. i will have to check on the reliability of the envoys. leaning towards the aura I would say right now.

16

use the cash from your sale to fix the explorer and drive that while saving towards what you really want? use your dad’s loaner while you fix the explorer

plus you get a lump of cash in the bank.

17

I thought about that too, but I got an offer for twice what I have into the explorer for it as is (just got it last night) so I decided to get something.

I’ve decided to go with the aura after looking into some common issues with the trailblazers/envoys. Plus, after using the cash from my car to pay off a personal loan, and financing the whole amount for the car($2500 under book value of the car according the them) I won’t have to spend any more a month out of pocket. This is because I was paying more each month on the principle of the personal loan, which actually amounted to more each month than the payment will be for the new car.

So I should have the deal done next week, hopefully early next week. My acura is getting picked up at 3:30 today, so that will be out of the way, so things are good.

18

This is a picture of the car. I signed the purchase agreement saturday, and will be finalizing things with the bank today and tomorrow, and then picking the car up tomorrow at lunch.

http://www.matthewsautony.com/carpics/UC3102-1.jpg

19

fx is such an awesome car

20

good choice :tup: