Need help/advice with purchasing a new car

NYSpeed Automotive
1

First- I know there are a million of these threads, so I apologize in advance.

Second- I have been searching cars on nyspeed for the past week to educate myself on them before I even suggested them as possibilities.

OK! So Tues night in the ice storm Rochester had i spun my car out on 390 and it was deemed totaled (1999 Maxima, I got 7000 for it). It forced my hand and now I need a new car. I am in a rought spot though, so aside from help with cars i need to entertain all options. I plan on going to medical school this fall (waiting on three more schools so its not a definite), so i have to do this wisely.

Things I need:
-Warrenttee. I am not going to mess around with $1000+ repairs anymore. I dont mind normal wear and tear like brakes and tires ect, but I want internals and anything else i can cover, covered.
-reliability, decent gas milage (>25mpg HW, 21 city), fun to drive

Things I want:
-5spd, sedan

Options:
-Lease, so that things are covered, payments are low, and my taste in cars changed anough that in 36 mos i am always looking for a new car. Milage limits work fine for me (10-12K seems typical). My issue with this becomes years of cars i can look at. Can you lease an 06? or does it have to be brand new. I have never bought a car from a dealer. this is new to me.
-Finance through a dealer
-NO private sellers, unless they have a transferable warrentee.

Price range: I need to keep payments <250/mo, preferably lower. I have a 6000-7000 down payment. I also need to consider the addition of a warrentee if I finance.

Cars I am considering (avalibility becomes an issue with some):
-2005 Altima SE-R
-2005-07 Altima 2.5S (if i cant have the SE-R I dont want 6cylinder)
-2005-06 Saab 9-3 (strongly considering. I do not want the Aero. I would want the 2.0T varient. 210hp Arc for 05, or just the 2.0T for 06… they melded the Linier and Arc in 06 and only put in the 210hp 2.0T i guess)
-2004 WRX
-… Name some.

CLIFF NOTES! Totalled my Max and am now 7000 richer. I need advice on purchasing options, as well as cars. I will entertain ALL suggestions. Thank you guys!

2

I think I saw you wiped out on 390.

3

thanks for stopping :)~ jk. it was tues night, 390N. I spun out changing lanes at ~40mph and hit the 104E exit sign. Hit dead center on the Right rear wheel, snapped the axle in half, ejected the R curtain air bag. I was ok though.

4

was your maxima red?

there was a Red car I swore was Mercury cougar in the exact same spot round 12:20 at night and there was a trooper already there.

5

no Gold. Would look silver at night i would imagine.

6

Get a E46 330I BMW, awsome car, and I’m sure you can keep the payments pretty low

7

alright then i guess i dindt see you, but that spot swallowed someone else that night.

Glad to hear your ok, and a E46 sounds right up your ally.

8

Now also considering:
08 Accord coupe (4cyl)
08 Altima coupe (4cyl)

Does anyone work at a dealership and could hook me up with leasing?

9

dude, with 7 grand down… you can lease a new BMW 328/330 for minimal monthly payments.
You’ll have a baller/fun car…and EVERYTHING is covered. including regular maintence.
The only the BMW doesn’t pay for is gas.

10

If you are putting 7K down, you probably don’t want to lease.

Think about it, you are essentially going to lose that 7K.

You can outright buy a new car with 7K down for a low monthly as you are looking.

Keep in mind…it is approximately $20/month for every $1000 you finance.

so $10,000 in loans would be ~$200/month. This is good to at least give you ballpark figures.

11

Don’t lease. It’s just throwing away money. Find a nice used car for 6K and drop the other 1K on a warranty.

12

If you want to lease an 06 check out leasetrader.com or swapalease.com. Keep your 7k in the bank, move into something with nothing down, and make your first 1-2 years of payments out of it.

13

no such thing as a 330 since 06. With $3k down, GOOD CREDIT you could lease a 08 328i for around $300-$400 a month, depending on options

14

y wouldnt u take a v-6 non se-r altima

15

I’d cross the 9-3 off your list given that you need something reliable.

The numbers in here are interesting. Lets work through them for real.

Known:
$7k down payment
$250/mo max payment

Assume:
5 year max financing
7% interest rate

So 250/mo @ 7% for 5 years gives you a principle of about $12,500

$12,500 + $7000 = $19,500.

Take out 8.75% sales tax and $100 for licensing and registration

You can buy a car for about $17,800. You’ll end up paying a total of about $22k with interest. Maybe you can sell it for $5k in 5 years. Total out of pocket = $17k, or about $3400 per year.

Or you could find a 3 year lease at $250/month. It would probably be about the same car as your $17,800 dollar new car, but limited in mileage. You’d pay about $3k per year. Or you could put $7k down on a leased higher end car, and pay $250/month for the lease. That’d be $5300 per year. That blows. Don’t do that till your done with school.

16

3 yr Lease, zero down (tax & tags), cash in the bank to pay the lease payments (7k / 250 = 28 months) & earn a little interest.

New car, no car payment, trade up in three years when you have some cash saved / bills paid.

17

^is what ill be looking to do this summer

18

dude, srsly?

Occupation: Tim Hortons

19

:lol: Maybe he owns a few? :shrug:

20

I’ll believe ya when me shit turns purple and smells like rainbow sherbet.