should i buy a new car with 400 miles on it from the dealer?

[MazerRackham]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: MazerRackham
Insist on a discount. My RSX-S had 0.5 miles on it before the dealer inspection process! I was in love immediately They put 4 miles on in certifying the car before selling to me. I would consider that to be "new." 400 miles is pushing what I'd call new.

LOL, no. You mean they put 0.5 miles on during certification and 4 miles on it during transport, right? 0.5 miles during transport would be impossible, as they had to drive it farther than that to take it on and off the boat. Being an RSX-S, I'm sure the longshoreman broke it in a bit too...

400 miles and untitled is still well-within the bounds of legally new.


I agree you should insist on a discount. Ideally, getting the car for something close to invoice with an SOA extended warranty thrown in.

edit: Buying for actual invoice or very close to is always a good deal. Don't bind the mouths of the kine that tread the grain.

Um, no. I checked the ODO before the inspection: 0.5 miles. After the inspection: 4.5 miles.

 

[TheLonelyPhoenix]

Exactly how much do you think you can knock down the price of a car over 400 miles that you couldn't have gotten off it anyway?

 

[JulesMaximus]

There will be more cars. Check some of the dealerships around some of the larger cities near you. Hell, I've driven up to Los Angeles to buy my last 2 cars because I saved over $1k on one of them and $500 on the other rather than buy them locally in San Diego.

 

[Rallispec]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: Rallispec
so now i know something is up.

just talked to another dealer in town, they've got what i want in the dark blue color - with the short shifter, momo knob, security upgrade and metal pedals, for 14,700.



Can anyone here vouch for what the regal blue looks like in person? It's much darker than the STi blue i'm used to on subaru's.

Yes. I have a Regal Blue GT.

I much perfer the color to the lighter blue that is offered on the GTs. They actually had the Regal Blue right next to the light blue on the lot. It was an easy choice.

do you have the short throw shifter? Trying to decide if that is worth the few extra dollars.

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Tremulant
When I was getting my car, I told them what I was willing to pay per month and they adjusted their price accordingly. They first offered like 300/month plus tax. I said "280/month, tax included." After going back and forth a few times, they got it down to 280/month, tax included. But my car is also on a lease, I'm not sure how different it is for a buy.

The absolute worst way to haggle when buying a new car is to negotiate based on monthly payments. The absolute worst. Of course one should research what payment they can afford, but ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS negotiate based on purchase price (and not OTD, or "out the door" either, as taxes vary by locality).
For example, say you can afford $300/mo. for 5 years. Using a financial calculator and figuring in a reasonable interest rate (we'll say 5%, rates ARE going up), then you know you can afford a financed amount of $15,897. Add the down payment you're willing (or able) to make, minus any negative trade equity (or add any actual positive trade equity), and you have your OTD. Subtract taxes and you have your purchase price. ALWAYS negotiate from that point. If you must have a trade-in, do not bring it up until the purchase price is settled on, but realize that any negative equity will cost you more.

Never ever lease a car unless you use the car for a legitimate business purpose where the entire monthly lease payment can be written off your taxes.

Why never ever lease? If you like getting new cars often and DON'T mind paying up the ass for down payments, I say it's the way to go!

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: MazerRackham
Um, no. I checked the ODO before the inspection: 0.5 miles. After the inspection: 4.5 miles.

It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that what you are saying is impossible. Like I said, they would have to drive it farther than 0.5 miles just to put it on and off the boat, plus additional transport on both ends (factory to storage lot, lot to rail car, rail to export shipyard lot, lot to boat, boat to import shipyard lot, lot to piggyback carrier, then off the piggyback at the dealer -- and that's assuming no additional rail'ing because you're so close to the Long Beach shipyard). They didn't airlift it straight from the factory to the dealer yaknow. Plus, 4 miles for the pre-purchase inspection is excessive. Typical is 0.5 to 1 miles. It's just around the block, not around town.
Most cars arrive at the dealership with between 5 and 7 miles on them, with some exceptions having slightly higher mileage on them (probably due to factory quality spot-testing and almost never more than 100).
No slight intended, but I think the 0.5 you saw was the tripmeter.

And a couple hundred miles is not that big of a deal as long as the warranty clock hasn't been started. I bought my current car as a dealer trade with just shy of 200 miles on it (all of which were transport, no demo). I got it for a little under invoice and had them throw in a free zero-deductible factory extended warranty. Great deal IMO. And at 23k miles and almost 2 years later, it runs beautifully and has been perfectly reliable. There's no point in being so anal. I got my previous car (an Acura) with 7 miles on the clock and it wasn't as reliable.

 

[phreakah]

btw, back when i was in the market for a subaru STi (about 6 months ago), the dealer said they had a black one in stock, but it was the car that the manager was driving home in..... he said if i bought that car, they would take a considerable amount of money off of the final purchase price.

 

[Bullhonkie]

Originally posted by: Rallispec

do you have the short throw shifter? Trying to decide if that is worth the few extra dollars.

I don't have a Legacy GT, but if the improvement is anything like the short shifters in the WRX and STi, I'd say it's definitely worth it.

 

[5LiterMustang]

If it has more then 50 miles on it, its not new...and btw when those guys "take them out" they beat the living shi!t out of them, I would runaway from that car as fast as you possibly can.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: Bullhonkie

Originally posted by: Rallispec
do you have the short throw shifter? Trying to decide if that is worth the few extra dollars.

I don't have a Legacy GT, but if the improvement is anything like the short shifters in the WRX and STi, I'd say it's definitely worth it.

The Legacy GT has the exact same transmission as the WRX (which Subaru says was "strengthened" in MY05). From experience, I'd say the short throw shifter is worth every penny and then some.

Originally posted by: 5LiterMustang
If it has more then 50 miles on it, its not new...and btw when those guys "take them out" they beat the living shi!t out of them, I would runaway from that car as fast as you possibly can.

If you actually have a 5.0, I guarantee you that it was ridden hard and put away wet at the railyard even if it only had 5 miles on it when you bought it at the dealership.

Under the law, "new" is untitled, less than 3k miles, and the warranty clock has not been started.

 

[sygyzy]

Have any of you here actually bought a car? There is so much misinformation, it's disturbing.

 

I got my impreza with 88 miles on it. The car had to be driven from another dealership about 80 miles away.

 

[whistleclient]

NO!

i did this. turned out the car had electrical problems that i didn't notice until later. probably the car was returned because of this.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: tangent1138
NO!

i did this. turned out the car had electrical problems that i didn't notice until later. probably the car was returned because of this.

New cars cannot be returned or exchanged and still sold as new a second time around. A big NO-NO for a dealership to do that -- some people at the dealership could go to jail even. Once sold and titled, a car is used, even if it only has 10 miles on it. Probably what happened is that you didn't get your car properly serviced at the dealer, as what you described is what new car warranties are provided for. And how could 400 miles cause an eletrical problem? An engine problem, I could understand... but an electrical problem??

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: Rallispec

they're really not budging on the price very much --i'm assuming they're doing the 'supply and demand' routine.

then i'd tell them the demand just went down by one unit.

 

[JC at Ultra]

Are you sure you LIKE the Legacy model?

I'm asking because a friend of mine went from a non-Legacy model Impreza to a Legacy model and we BOTH noticed that the Legacy is geared too much for cush highway driving. The gear box was definitely spaced wider (Not good for short shifting. I swear I was going to stall it in 2nd) and the ride was almost "too" soft in the corners.

Nice car still, no doubt. But I think next year he's going to trade it in.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: JC at Ultra
Are you sure you LIKE the Legacy model?

I'm asking because a friend of mine went from a non-Legacy model Impreza to a Legacy model and we BOTH noticed that the Legacy is geared too much for cush highway driving. The gear box was definitely spaced wider (Not good for short shifting. I swear I was going to stall it in 2nd) and the ride was almost "too" soft in the corners.

Nice car still, no doubt. But I think next year he's going to trade it in.

As I posted above, the new MY05 Legacy GT turbo has the exact same 5MT as the 02-05 Impreza WRX, with wide-ratio gears and the 3.90 diffs. At least the Legacy has the benefit of better low-end torque with the larger-displacement engine. For aggressive driving, you just get used to keeping the revs up, where there is plenty of power. It doesn't finish the quarter in 14 flat at the top of the 3rd gear, or do 0-60 in less than 6 seconds at the top of 2nd, for nothing.
If your friend is used to the Impreza 2.5RS models with the torquey NA motor, short ratios, and the 4.11 diffs (my SO owns one of these, an MY01), I can understand how he feels, but I don't think he should trade the car in so soon. He just needs to get used to it and learn how to drive it properly. Is this your friend's first turbo car by chance?
As for the soft ride, Subaru didn't build the Legacy to sell to boyracer-types. I suggest that he swap out the springs and struts, and maybe add some stiffer sway bars.

 

[NutBucket]

Read the post again Vic. What the hell is a non-Legacy model Impreza? New model I don't know about?

And yes, the ride is soft compared to a WRX but some shocks/springs should take care of that. It does corner quite well for being soft tho, just my opinion.

 

[JC at Ultra]

Sorry Vic. I didn't see your earlier post.

It's not his first turbo. It's just different. A different car and you're probably right. It'll just take getting used to. It's just an odd feeling that the car really does "feel" the same behind the wheel except for when you try to shift at 3K and the tach drops all of the way down to about 700RPM.

As for the "ride:" I'm not sure about the "boy-racer" analogy. No offense was taken, but I'm in my 30's and still like a stiff ride. And the last "rice burner" I've owned was a 1979 Honda CVCC.

 

[JC at Ultra]

Originally posted by: NutBucket
What the hell is a non-Legacy model Impreza? New model I don't know about?

Well, I could've just said Legacy, but I wanted to make sure we were talking about similar models. Sedan vs. Sedan, etc.) Like a Legacy wagon is just an Outback w/ a Legacy package. You can get a Baja with a Legacy package (even though they don't show it on the website,) etc. You know what I mean.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: JC at Ultra
Sorry Vic. I didn't see your earlier post.

It's not his first turbo. It's just different. A different car and you're probably right. It'll just take getting used to. It's just an odd feeling that the car really does "feel" the same behind the wheel except for when you try to shift at 3K and the tach drops all of the way down to about 700RPM.

As for the "ride:" I'm not sure about the "boy-racer" analogy. No offense was taken, but I'm in my 30's and still like a stiff ride. And the last "rice burner" I've owned was a 1979 Honda CVCC.

Don't take offense. I'm in my 30's and like a stiff ride too. Hell, I put aftermarket struts and springs on my WRX.
What I meant is that the average Legacy buyer is in their 40's and likes a softer ride. The car is really designed as a lower-cost alternative to a Passat or A4 Quattro, or maybe a lower-end Volvo AWD. I really like the Legacy GT.

And you must be referring to the 1-2 shift gap, which can be a bit wide for city driving (though not quite as wide as you described). More like rev to 3000 in 1st, then drop to 1500 in 2nd. It can be a bit annoying, I admit, and it is quite a bit different from the earlier close-ratio models. Still, I'm so used to it now I don't even think about it.

btw, there is a rumor that Subaru will put the 2.5 turbo out of the Legacy GT (not the same as the STi's) into the base WRX for MY06, coming out early this summer with a refreshed look. Just a rumor at this point though.

 

[JC at Ultra]

Yeah. I suppose it is pretty much the wide one to two, but in city traffic you tend to notice it A LOT. Out on the highway though, drop it into fourth, RPM's go up, turbo spins up and you're passing people that are doing 80 like they're standing still.

 

[Rallispec]

hey guys, thanks for all the great advice and thoughts (especially Vic) ---

Well i just drove up in my brand new legacy GT. I LOVE it. Went with the dark blue w/ short shifter. (not the 400 mile dealer used model)

i'll get pics tomorrow

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: Rallispec
hey guys, thanks for all the great advice and thoughts (especially Vic) ---

Well i just drove up in my brand new legacy GT. I LOVE it. Went with the dark blue w/ short shifter. (not the 400 mile dealer used model)

i'll get pics tomorrow

I think everyone but you knew that you were driving home a new Subaru tonight.

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: acemcmac

Originally posted by: meltdown75
Well, that's not much. If you are a real stickler, wait. Does it still have that great new car smell? mmm

that smell can come from a can you 'tard

ever wonder why used cars have that smell too???

you'd be an idiot to use that as an indicator

hmmm I wonder where I can buy this new car smell??

might be useful when I try to sell my car