Hi Scotty,
I just came across your YouTube channel and you seem like the perfect guy to help me in a desperate time. My lease on Chevy trax ends in June. We plan to get financed through the dealer or bank. We have no savings. We are used to leasing new cars so we are accustomed to their comfort but we are willing to look at used vehicles if we decide to buy. I have a 2 year old and live in Buffalo, NY so safety is important to me. What vehicle would you recommend? How should we navigate this market? There is such a lack of inventory on reliable vehicles. Right now we are considering 2016-2019 compact SUV with AWD Or FWD. please help!
What are all your available options, in your area?
Right now we are considering 2016-2019 compact SUV with AWD Or FWD.
Stick to Toyota or Honda. Depending on your budget and needs, there are different models you can choose from.
Been a Chevy girl all my life (but migrated to Toyota and Honda), but I'd stay clear of the Equinox. I'd go for a Rav4 or CRV if you could find a decent one.
Not to dig into too many details, sorry to hear that by the way. Any reason you are looking for SUV? If safety is your main concern they actually have on a technical level, higher rates of rollover and worse accidents due to their higher center of gravity. They tend to suck up more gas most times as well. If you are continuing doing a lease, then wouldn't finding an older model be cheaper as well? You wouldn't have to worry about maintenance on an older vehicle for a lease cause shouldn't the lease cover all repairs? Idk how the market is in NY, but here in Cali you can get a pretty good deal on a 2012 right now as it's considered to be 10 years old for lease. Also a hybrid will probably save on some gas, like a Prius or something especially if you are doing city driving. For buying a used car... Good luck for that. With the chip shortage and the pandemic you probably won't find anything decent under $5k anymore for reliability purposes.
The main reason we prefer an SUV is for the cargo space. I’m not totally opposed to buying a car. We only drive 10,000 miles a year so I’m not too worried about SUV’s being more expensive with gas. To be honest I didn’t even know you could lease an old vehicle? Do you mean finance? Maybe things are different in NY. Also, repairs being covered not sure about that either. Maybe if It’s covered by the warrantee they give me or if a buy additional coverage. If we go through the dealer we got approved for a 2019 Chevy equinox for $18,000. But our mechanic said they are junk. So now we don’t know what to do. Hondas, Toyotas, etc are so hard to find right now.
Yeah no kidding there. It's crazy the market right now. If you were able too, I would look into the accord/civic as they actually have a ton of space for what they are. No I meant lease, there are options for leasing older vehicles, it's just not as common. I don't remember specifically what but I'm sure you can Google it. As for the repair cost/warranty, there typically is an option for it and IMO it's worth the couple extra a month just for piece of mind if this is your only option. They should provide it for you without needing to ask for the information but idk. If your budget through financing a car is 18k I would see if you can get maybe a 2013 CR-V as from what I see here in Cali I found one that is 13k for 73k miles. I think that's pretty decent for today's 10-30% marked up prices unfortunately.
If wanting to purchase a car definitely stay away from that Chevy you said you got approved for; safety and quality then yeah Honda or Toyota for sure. Unfortunately this isn't the best time to be in the market for a car and used car prices are very high. I had someone ask me about a used CR-V EX (2019) with an asking price of $28,488 while brand new it's $28,910. So if you want to get used and want a lower price then either you have to go older (maybe even 10 years ago) or higher mileage and keep in mind that they're still going to be higher in price than before.
As far as warranty and additional coverage for a used car from a dealership you have to be careful; read all the fine prints and still I can say for sure they will try all they can to not honor it. If you can purchase used from a third party it usually is a bit lower price than buying used from the dealership. And whatever used car you decide on definitely have your trusted mechanic check it out. If the seller does not allow this then that is a red flag that something is wrong with the car.
I'm not a fan of financing but I do understand not everyone can afford to pay cash for a car so If financially you are able to finance a new car (not lease but purchase with financing) depending on what kind of interest rate you can get etc. you might want to consider this as an option for purchasing a new Honda or Toyota. For example getting a gasoline only RAV-4 LE trim that car if you maintain it will last you a long time. With leasing at the end if you turn in the car you have nothing to show for the lease payments; so see if you can finance a new car and those same amount lease payments instead would be your payments towards the car which is going to be yours.
I've had issues with 3rd party systems, definitely most of em are shady AF. would read all the fine print and make sure they company is accredited. I went through a whole hassle with my 2019 Camry for Triton. Screw them and their Bs, got a charge back and had to go through a month of stuff before I got my money back.
Maybe you can use better language (refer to the forum rules). Financing through ones bank (or any other accredited financial institution) there is nothing wrong with it and many people are doing it for cars, buying a house etc. So one bad experience/choice does not mean it's not a good idea. I think the OP would know this much about financing.
Honda, Toyota and newer Mazdas are all good choices.
