More Car Info Needed - Knowledge Base: Luxury Car

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October 6, 2008 - Im not a big car guy so i dont know what im looking for. Oh and i can care less about power and speed. Just luxury and something that rides well. cant wait to hear the ideas!

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Greetings. Be open to my suggestions and you will never be tied to a car payment and your money will work for you, not the other way around. ... ... I am mid 40's and an above average income for my area. The most I have EVER paid for a vehicle is 17K for my loaded (purchased a couple years used) SUV. I use it for my kids activities and family trips. My daily vehicle is a 20 year old POS Nissan with 210K Miles. I purchased it slightly used in my mid 20's. but it's the HOW that is important. ... ... Whenever I decided I needed a car, I would go through the want adds and find the cheapest thing that said "runs great" and pay cash for it. No exotic convertables or 4X4's, but each one had a certain personality. If each car lasted just 2 months I came out ahead over payments on a new car. Most lasted several years saving me 1000's The end result was I had what I could truely afford, and I've had my HOME paid for for several years now (before my 40th b-day). ... ... If you have $15 to 17K cash, and want to blow it on a car then great, if you've worked for it anyway. If you think you can handle payments for 15-17, then you will be working for your car. (about 350/month for 60 months). ... ... Oh, ride and leather seats are nice...when they are paid for, but the gals also like it when you can afford to spend money on them too. ... ... Don't feel you HAVE to have a car, but if you need one, get one that won't define how you manage your money.
How about the infinity G35 sedan with 306 horse power, see it at.... http://www.infiniti.com/g_sedan/index.html?intcmp=g_sedan.promo.homepage.home.p1
Wow, you asked a lot of questions and mentioned a lot of specific criteria in your query, so let me see if I can address everything. Here are some things you may want to consider. ... ... Practicality - ... ... I know you mentioned that you want something "impresive" and "luxurious", but at your age, with your first car, and with the kinds of things you'll be using it for, you may want to consider something on the cheaper, more practical side. Sure, every kid wants to drive down the street in a Porsche - but you may find that, at the end of day, it's just more realistic to aim for something like a good ol' Honda Civic, for reasons ranging from cost to reliability. Even though you seem to have collected an impressive car allowance, ($17,000 ain't bad for you age) a high-end taste at a low-end budget and little experience may just end you up with more car than you can handle. ... ... New or Used - ... ... If you're aiming for something fresh off the production line, then great, more power to you. Just remember that, as soon as you drive that baby off the lot, its value plummets, especially for luxury brands, which can hurt any future attempts at resale. You'd probably be best off finding an equally good ride at a lower, nominal price by searching for used cars. If you do this, however, it's best to find a make and model that are reliable (see below) and sold by a trustworthy dealer/private party. Don't go for anything too old (newer than 10-12 years at most should be fine) or with too much mileage (try for 120k and under) as it increases the chances of the car having service issues and functional problems. It also will be harder to pass your state's safety and emissions inspections. Also, get any car you intend to buy inspected by a trusted mechanic prior to purchasing. Be careful not to overpay; to get a good idea how much a used car is worth visit www.kbb.com and look up the blue book value for any car you come upon that shows potential. Also get a history report of the car - by using its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) - to make sure that is was not previously involved in any major accidents that could cause recurring problems. ... ... Reliability - ... ... It just so happens that some cars are more dependable than others. You'll want something (a particualr model) that is known to have few design flaws and major problem areas. DO NOT BUY AN AMERICAN CAR!!!!, as by modern standards american-made cars are far less efficient, reliable, and functional than European cars and, especially, Japanese cars. Your best bet you'd probably be to look into a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan - or their luxury lines Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti, respectively, if you can afford it - because you can run those suckers up into 200k miles with little or no problems. Check around on the Web for more specific detail - trouble spots or recall history for the year and model of the car you're interested in, as well as the cost of repairs should something go wrong, are all accessible in online databases and automotive review sites. Again, don't buy anything too old or with a fairly hefty odometer reading (i.e. w/too many miles). ... ... Extra Costs (Insurance, Maintenance, Gas) - ... ... Who's going to be paying your maintenance and repair costs? What about insurance? If the answer is you, then you may have trouble paying the upkeep on luxury cars. The downside to these kinds of vehicles is that they generally cost significantly more to insure and repair. Check around on the Net for info regarding relative repair and maintenance prices on autos you're considering. Also check with your insurer about average insurance rates for someone in your demographic (age, race, gender), as well as for your potential car, to help keep your and/or Mom & Dad's premiums at a minimum. Finally, if you'll be shouldering the responsibility of fueling the thing up, try to get something that won't empty your wallet every time you go to the gas station. Gas prices these days can be quite high, and combined with gas-guzzlers (like most SUVs), you'll be bleeding money straight into the fuel tank. ... ... Size and Safety - ... ... As a final note, you'll probably want to take size and, especially, safety of a vehicle into consideration before buying. Bigger cars are generally safer, as they take impacts better than smaller cars, but they are usually harder to work on (which means costly repairs) and burn through gas like nothing else (as mentioned above). Make sure the car performs well in gov't crash tests (check the Web) and has at least dual driver and passanger front airbags; side airbags are a plus if you can find a car where they're included. ... ... All in all, with the info you provided, I would think you'll probably want something like a four-door mid-size sedan or a small economical SUV. I don't know whether you'll be driving stick or automatic (stick's more fun!), but here are some types of cars I'd suggest you check out: ... ... - Acura: CL, TL, RSX, MDX, RL ... - BMW: 3-Series Sedan (pricey, though) ... - Honda: Accord, Civic, CR-V ... - Nissan: Altima, Maxima, Murano, Xterra ... - Subaru: Outback, Impreza, Legacy, etc. (Subs are good cars; check around to see if any of them stand out to you) ... - Scion: tC ... - Toyota: Avalon, Corolla, Camry (the new camry's are NICE :) ) ... - Infiniti: G35 or M35 sedans (used, of course; new will run you upwards of $30,000) FX35, QX4, G20, Q45 ... - Audi: A4, A6 (some known to be unreliable, though) ... - Lexus: Whatever. They're just Toyotas, so they're great cars. Look around, you should be able to find some for cheap. ... ... Hope this helped. Sorry it was so damn long...

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