Yeah the more research into this i do, the more im starting to realize that this is much more complicated than i envisioned. Im going to see what i can do about a Cert. Pre-owned honda. Maybe a 4cyl/5spd accord coupe. who knows. Tomorrow is my test drive day.
the next person that says shenanigans is getting pistol whipped!!!
edit: if you have a question let me know, i can reffer you to some honda guys
Thank you guys for the financing information. I also read thru the Sticky (which i hadn’t noticed till recently) in off topic.
I think i may look for a car just a few years newer than the Max (01, 02, 03) for around 10-12K with a 4-5K down payment, and finance the balance. My last loan was through ESL with fantastic rates and i have a good relationship with them, so what i may try and do is chose a car, get a loan then offer cash for the car to hopefully significantly drive down the price.
A car i am going to test drive today: 2001 Acura 3.2CL type S
Thoughts?
I prefer the TL’s but thats personal preference.
Take a look at Volvo S60’s I think you will be pleasantly suprised, Turbo I-5 and a 5 spd available, or if you step up to the S60 R, 6 spd and AWD and a lot more Horsepower.
You cna get AWD in the regular S60s
That’s the best way to go. Never ever ever negotiate payments with a car dealer.
i’m sorry FRY, did I read that correctly?
jk, I’m not that much of a jerk. It’s usually better to finance with a dealer because we can get a better rate than you can on your own at a bank. The bank will sell you the rate at a fixed amount and dealers (ie. ME!!!) can sell you the rate at whatever the hell I feel like above what i get the rate for wholesale. please don’t listen to FRY, he’s crazy.
Edit: i noticed you are looking at a volvo, one of my best friendsis buying one. if you buy one make sure you get it from a volvo store and get it certified because Volvo gives an insane warranty on their certfied cars
I didn’t mean “Don’t finance through the dealer.” Which I guess is kind of what I said.
What I meant was not to negotiate the car via negotiating the payment. Like don’t say “I’ll buy it if you can do $50 bucks a month less” because they’ll do it and extend the loan term or something. Just too easy to accidentally screw yourself.
Negotiate your price.
Then negotiate pmt terms.
^well thats closer. they kind of go hand in hand but some people like to do it a certain way.
its real easy: if the dealer won’t tell you the term of the payment or the rate they are using, then they are hiding something so don’t buy a car from them, buy one from me… oops, blatant self promotion, sorry.
^no sorry, thats why you pay to be an advertiser 
Yea, you have to remember that most of us have not had great dealer experiences… so we’re trying to prep OP for worst, while hoping for the best (coming to see You apparently).
$0.02
trust me, the stories I have heard people tell when they come in to ask us to help them out amaze me
ex: A guy was in here 2 weeks ago, he owed $19,5xx on a 2005 Cobalt base model coupe with 32,000 miles that he bought new, that car was only 15,000 brand new. WTF?!?!?!?! What the hell kind of people do that crap?!?!?
ok, back on topic
Well i think i found my car.
http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail.jsp;?tracktype=usedcc&searchType=21&pageNumber=0&numResultsPerPage=50&largeNumResultsPerPage=0&sortorder=descending&sortfield=PRICE+descending&certifiedOnly=false&criteria=K-|E-|M-1%7cD-1%7cN-N%7cR-30%7cI-1%7cP-PRICE+descending%7cQ-descending%7cZ-14616&aff=national&paId=135692821&recnum=0&leadExists=true
Anyone have experience with this dealer?
He seems small time, but i went to see the car today
Imaculate inside/outside/underbody. The milage is more or less dead on (8034x), and the feature list is acurate. Not a speck of rust or paint missing, One previous owner (but im going to run a car fax report tonight), and was purchased from a larger dealer for resale. (from the Dick Ide Honda dealer on Empire).
Car drove amazing. I really liked how tight the steering a braking was. It was impressive. I havent had much experience w/ hondas/acuras, and it was a great drive. Transmission was smooth for the most part.
SO. im going to offer 10K cash and try to be done with it.
NADA values it at 10680
nice car, but I would be hesitant… it’s a car that is going to take a severe dive in value very soon IMO… same car in two years will probably go for more like $4k
I think you’d be better off in a couple years newer accord or tsx.
^ just what I was thinking
Plus you might get boned trying to finance a 7 year old car.
Actually, don’t finance a 7 year old car.
I was going to geta loan thru ESL (around 8-9%) at 5K, then pay the other 5K cash, and put the rest in the bank
I’ve had trouble looking for financing for older cars before. But then again, other’s haven’t.
But here’s my problem: Lets say you finance it for 3-4 years, do you really want to be making payments on a 10 year old 100k+ car?
I dunno, just my opinion for whatever it is or isn’t worth.
no i see your point. im in a precarious position with my aspirations of med school come fall (im still waiting on replies, hence my uncertanty of the upcomming 12 months). I dont want to saddle myself with a massive payment/finance option, so i think that right there limits me to an under 12k car, even supposing i drop 6k on a down payment. I have financed 6500 thru ESL at 8% for 60mos with payments at 133.39/mo but i paid it off in 2.5 years by hammering the principle with each payment. The 133.39 was a saftey payment while i was in college, but im full time now while i wait for school so its a little easier. I would finance less (though at a higher rate im sure, i have to investigate tomorrow) with a slightly higher payment and shorter term.
I think im safe because i dont drive much over the summer (im going to be biking to work in prep for a triathalon im doing), so milage will be low, and Im under the impression that Acura and Honda are very similar in their reliability standards (though please correct me if im wrong).
I’ve spoiled myself with little bits of luxury when i had the max (every GLE option on the SE), my BMW, and speed with my Talon (kinda haha). This car hits on alot of the things i like/want, but like i said… sticky situation.
IF i can talk them to 10 (which shouldnt be too hard. NADA is 10625 and similar cars are priced lower with similar milage AND im paying cash upfront… then again im new to this and nieve) I would put 5000-6000 upfront and get an Auto loan thru ESL for 4000-5000, then stick 1000 or so in a sep bank out as a ‘repair slush fund’, a just incase if you will.
I do have a question: just how similar are parts between Acura and Honda? Do they share much the same parts? Or will I be paying a premium over the cost of Honda items?
Grab the G35 for 13k thats in the classifieds on this site?