Need New DD...~15k

[Murlo26]

I wish I did it that way too...much smarter.

I was stupid and bought a house though (maybe not so stupid) then my buddy moved out unexpectedly and I ended up paying the whole mortgage alone, which I can do but it sucks. At the same time the evo motor blew up twice...so that strapped me for any cash.

Just getting out of the hole...so I figured why not go back in with a new car :) But my brother lives with me now so I get rent which will pay for the new car. Savings is a big item I want to get going on, otherwise I will hate myself later in life.

[Halon]

No insult intended, but I just want to repeat what I just heard you say.

You couldn't save money because...
1) Roommate moved out leaving you with the full loan
2) Evo payments

So now you have a new roommate, and no Evo payments, so life is easier now. So since everything is good for now, instead of saving money you're going to get another car loan again. And hopefully the new roommate doesn't move out like the last one did because then you will be right back in the same boat.

Sounds a like you're repeating history to me. Like Chris said, it's your money and everyone has their own way of living, to each their own. I'm no financial genius, so I'm not going to tell you what to do. I obviously just do things a little differently.

Good luck with whatever it is you end up with!

[Murlo26]

No insult intended, but I just want to repeat what I just heard you say.

You couldn't save money because...
1) Roommate moved out leaving you with the full loan
2) Evo payments

So now you have a new roommate, and no Evo payments, so life is easier now. So since everything is good for now, instead of saving money you're going to get another car loan again. And hopefully the new roommate doesn't move out like the last one did because then you will be right back in the same boat.

Sounds a like you're repeating history to me. Like Chris said, it's your money and everyone has their own way of living, to each their own. I'm no financial genius, so I'm not going to tell you what to do. I obviously just do things a little differently.

Good luck with whatever it is you end up with!

edit: evo payments weren't the issue at all, the issue was the evo motor blowing up! Which I guess is an evo payment, but was really an expense. I could've chose to let it sit until I saved up money but my dad helped me out and now I paid him back.

My brother doesn't pay me rent, he pays my dad right now as I owed my dad for my motor builds some as I obviously didn't have 16k or whatever i spent sitting around. Hes paid off now so I am getting an extra 500/mo from my brother now. So basically money I wasn't getting until now is going to pay for the car. My brother isn't going anywhere any time soon. And even if he does, by the time he moves I will be making more money etc.

I know I am not doing this "by the book" or being super smart about it, but I want to clarify I am not a complete jackass with money I guess. Its impossible to post on the interwebs about this stuff without looking silly I guess. Bottom line I have very little expense aside from my house, single no kids/pets. Cars are my expense really. That and food and boozing I guess :) So really I will still be seeing more money next month than I have been for over a year even paying for a car.

Also my intention is to pay this car off in 3-4 years, not 6. I paid the evo off in 3 years, as I paid extra when I get bonus' from work. I will do the same on this.

Just a bit more info I guess, probably more than anyone cares to hear about.

Anyway, the suzuki seems like a good buy here so i might end up picking it up.

Halon, on topic of the thread...sorta. I know you were looking at cars too, so I'd recommend looking at the Kia Optima's if you haven't already and even the suzuki kazashi's! The Optimas were a bit better overall and the loaded ones are awesome, heated/cooled seats, nav, back up cam etc etc and if you don't get the turbo one, you get the decked out 2.4L one its only like 27k or something very reasonable. Just saying, check em out if you haven't.

[Halon]

Cool, good luck to ya, hopefully it all works out!

Yeah we are looking at cars. So far what we've driven are:
-2012 Fusion (2.5 4cyl and v6)
-2013 Fusion (1.6T and 2.0T
-2012 Optima (2.5 and 2.0T)
-2011 Malibu (2.4 and v6)

We've also sat in but didn't drive:
-2013 Mazda 6
-2012 Mercury Milan
-2012 Ford Tauras
-2012 Hyundai Sonata

This is for Katy, so it all depends what she likes in the end. She feels like she needs more power than the basic 4cyl tend to offer for whatever reason, so all of the non-turbo 4cyl are not an option.

So far her favorite have been the 2013 Fusions (1.6T and 2.0T). Pretty much nothing she didn't like about it. And I agree, they are friggin nice. And she doesn't care too much about fancy stuff. All she cares is she wants a spoiler, and leather would be nice but not a deal breaker. It would appear we could get something like that with the 1.6T for around $23-25k right now (even less if you get the basic 2.5 but she doesn't like that).

2012 Fusions, we looked at those brand new ones that Luther had that you told us about. She likes them because when she drives them it feels like her current car, so she feels right at home, yet are still a different enough of a car that she feels it's something new. However all they had were 4cyl and she wants more power. Plus once she sat in a 2013 I think she forgot all about 2012's, lol.

For the Optima, she didn't like the visibility out of the windows for whatever reason, and since she only liked the 2.0T models, 1-2 year old ones with low miles were still over 20K which is pretty much what a brand new 2013 Fusion 1.6T would cost. So we scratched it off the list.

Malibu she didn't like visibility out the windows, scratched off the list.

Mazda 6 she felt is was too much like her current 2004 Mazda 6, scratched off the list.

Tauras is too big, scratched off the list.

Hyundai Sontata, she liked the interior we just didn't find a 2.0T to drive so that one is still an option if we can find a 2.0T to drive. I like these as we could probably find a 2 year old one with low miles for under 20k (and I personally am not a huge fan of buying brand new).

We are still probably a couple months out yet though. Even considering waiting for the 2014 Fusions to hit the lots so we can scoop up a 2013 as they are liquidating them to make room for 2014's.

Haven't driven the Suzuki, but if they are only 4cyl (no turbo) I can already picture what she's going to say about the power.

Oh and she really wants to drive one of the new Dart's. I told her they are smaller like a civic which she said she doesn't want, but she still wants to drive one because she thinks the commercials are cool :D

[Trogdor]

Haven't driven the Suzuki, but if they are only 4cyl (no turbo) I can already picture what she's going to say about the power.


This is one of the major things that reviews knock the car for. It's the only major thing I knock the car for! They REALLY need to make a turbo and V6 version!!!

That said, it's definitely not sucky. I'd say it's in the neighborhood with a GTI or Civic Si.

[Murlo26]

Well, brought knoxville and my dad to test drive the 3 top cars today on my list. Started with the Kia, which both Knoxville and my dad loved, they liked it a lot just like me, confirming it was a strong contender.

Then we drove the legacy, they said mostly what I did, aside from the AWD factor and a few things like heated wipers, it lost to the Kia in almost every way.

Finally we stopped back at WBL and test drove the demo car. They liked this a lot as well. They both said the kia was faster and the outside styling was a bit better. But they both said overall the Suzuki was a much better deal having AWD and the interior was as nice and interior was quieter too. The CVT on the Suzuki is pretty damn smooth, crazy to get used to a car sitting at 6k rpms while you go WOT, never moving haha.

So I did see what buying the kia would be and at 72 mo it was 2.9%, still pretty good, but almost 100/mo more.

So honestly if money wasn't an issue at all, the kia vs. suzuki was pretty damn close, AWD i think edges the suzuki up just a tad over the optima for winters here but in a warm state kia all the way I think. The loaded kia is pimp.

So I basically "bought" the Suzuki today. Bobby had to send my info to Suzuki and I am going to pick it up Monday :)

Overall, the 72mo 0% is just such a good deal. Knoxville and my dad said leasing to buy is silly, really just lease if you have car A.D.D. and like to switch a lot. And when i take that into account, the Suzuki is the clear winner.

I'll post pics monday, maybe tuesday when I get some sunlight. Pumped to have a nice DD again. It has leather, heated seats etc too so not too shabby for ~20k.

[tehehodi]

So is that a $100 for style and a sweet new car for you? Awesome! Congrats! I say, big sea of purple is in need.

[JET]

I think you made the right choice! That is a hell of a deal on a nice car and you won't see 50 of them on the way in to work.

[scheides]

pics of the new beast!

[Murlo26]

pics of the new beast!

Tonight! At work now, picking it up around 7pm or so.

Perfect timing as driving the evo in this cold on the summer tires isn't fun.

I think I made the right choice too and got AWD too. It was just too good of a deal, really it was a better deal then the used cars at 16-17k with the ~3% financing. Free financing ftw.

Excited to have heated seats, never owned a car with one. Only thing I need to do is install a new radio with bluetooth. This one just has usb which is nice but I want bluetooth. That will be my first mod.

RRE (road race engineering) also has mods for the Kizashi which I might look into :)