Re: Buying, Owning, Driving and Maintaining a car in North America Welcome to the States! Quote:
Originally Posted by Cesc So I am in the states now guys. I guess some of you may remember my questions from a few weeks ago. I had to incur some sudden substantial expenses just before coming here and hence my Jaguar XF buying dream has gone up in smoke. My car budget has been halved from $30k to $15k. I can at best stretch that by a few thousand more. I will be putting $10k down and get the rest financed and will be buying used. If I cant get financing at decent terms then I will pay all cash upfront rather than paying stupid high interest rates. With that background in mind here are my questions that I am hoping to get answers from members here: |
$15K is a pretty good budget to get a second hand car. Quote:
Originally Posted by Cesc 1) Is it better to go with 2009-2011 base luxury sedans (read 328i, A4 or C300) or with 2012-2014 full size sedans from non luxury manufactureres (read Ford Fusion, Accord etc.). My heart says the former but head says the latter. |
From a resale and probably reliability point of view, your head is right. But then again, you only live once, right? Quote:
Originally Posted by Cesc
2) Can a warranty be bought for a 2010-2012 Bimmer/Audi/Merc with nearly 60k miles on the odo? If yes then how expensive is that likely to be? |
Some places like CarMax sell additional warranty if you buy a car from them. But they also charge a premium for their cars. Nevertheless, for hassle free one price buying, CarMax is THE place to go to. Quote:
Originally Posted by Cesc 3) I will most likely use the car for 18-24 months and then change. How difficult is it to sell a 7-8 year old entry level luxury sedan with 80-90k on the odo? |
A quick check of that would probably be to see how much 7-8 year old cars are selling for these days.
But if you are going to dump the car in less than 2 years anyway, then why do you want to put so much cash in it? Quote:
Originally Posted by Cesc 4) How is a private party sale executed - after I pay cash and take keys what all documents are needed and how do I transfer titles and get the car registered. Is that a cumbersome or time consuming process? What if its a out of state car (bought in NJ/VA/Washington DC and to be registered in PA)? |
Your local DMV website is the best place to go to for this kind of information. Rules and laws vary from state to state. But it is surely possible to buy a car from another state and have it registered in your home state Quote:
Originally Posted by Cesc Here are links to a few cars that I found on craigslist - do any of these stand out as good or bad buys? |
Hard to tell from the listings whether they are good or not. You will need to test drive them and have them independently checked out by a mechanic for any obvious signs of damage. Ask for CarFax reports for the cars you are interested in.
Good luck with the hunt!
EDIT: I reply to you and then go to jalopnik and look what i stumble onto: http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/ten-ca...les-1742653506
Last edited by amitoj : 17th November 2015 at 03:04.
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