Need Car Buying Advice

gmart74 · Sep 16, 2014

I have a Honda Civic 2-door coupe. I like it. A lot. It drives through any weather, I can park it anywhere, it sips gas, and I can get crazy on windy roads. It does have a major flaw other than the horn: Gmartette's baby seat really doesnt fit. I may, in fact, slip a disk just trying to bang the car seat into the back. On the odd chance I dont slip a disk, I would imagine that little nuggette does not want to be woken up via slapping the car seat against the frame of the car 10 times getting her in the back.

So I'm looking at a 2014 CR-V. But I'm debating whether to wait until the 2015 model comes out. Do any of you have a firm grasp on maximizing value of trading in my car and specifically buying now vs waiting for the new model?

CrimsonForce · Sep 16, 2014

gmart74 said:
I have a Honda Civic 2-door coupe. I like it. A lot. It drives through any weather, I can park it anywhere, it sips gas, and I can get crazy on windy roads. It does have a major flaw other than the horn: Gmartette's baby seat really doesnt fit. I may, in fact, slip a disk just trying to bang the car seat into the back. On the odd chance I dont slip a disk, I would imagine that little nuggette does not want to be woken up via slapping the car seat against the frame of the car 10 times getting her in the back.

So I'm looking at a 2014 CR-V. But I'm debating whether to wait until the 2015 model comes out. Do any of you have a firm grasp on maximizing value of trading in my car and specifically buying now vs waiting for the new model?

If you want a great deal wait till the 2015s come out and buy a 2014. They mark them down pretty good to make room for the "new" inventory. Honda doesn't do that as much because they have no problem selling their vehicles but you still may be able to find a good deal this way. Other than that don't get ripped off on any "extended warranties." I bought a 2013 Honda Civic and it has a 5 year bumper to bumper warranty yet they still tried to sell me warranties to cover repairs during this 5 year time period. They are very slick..

Displaced Bama Fan · Sep 16, 2014

An Expedition EL - Eddie Bauer is one way to go.

crimsonaudio · Sep 16, 2014

Also, don't trade your car in - it's easier, but you get far less for it than you will putting yup with the hassle of a private sale.

For example, I recently sold an extra vehicle for $3k more than I would have gotten on trade in. Took nine days on Autotrader.

Catfish · Sep 16, 2014

CrimsonForce said:
If you want a great deal wait till the 2015s come out and buy a 2014. They mark them down pretty good to make room for the "new" inventory...

Mrs. Catfish has a CRV and likes it a lot. Not as much as her convertible Audi she had when we got married, but sacrifices have to be made when you have little ones. I agree with CrimsonForce's comments above. If you can wait until the end of the year and pick up a 2014, that'd be even better. They REALLY want to get them off the lot then. We had been shopping for a couple of weeks and bought a 2011 on New Years Eve and got a great deal. They knew we were coming and waited for us until after 5:00 PM. They were ready to get our butts out of there! :wink: They literally closed the security gate behind us when we left.

TIDE-HSV · Sep 17, 2014

Looking at that category of vehicle, you might look at the Subaru Forester (redone ground up for the 2014s) and the newly redone Outback...

seebell · Sep 17, 2014

A snarky person would post something about lashing the baby and car seat to the roof of your Civic. A la Mitt Romney. Fortunately we don't have people like that on this forum.

Buy the 2014 model year. Isn't the gas mileage for the CR kind of poor?

ValuJet · Sep 17, 2014

Mrs. VJ has a 2010 CRV and loves it. It will soon be paid for and I will then love it. CRV's are the most popular selling models in that class and they are rated very good for safety. We bought it new and haven't had any problems at all with it.

A private sale will definitely get you more. My problem was I was trying to get rid of a Honda Civic that was only a couple of years old and everybody in the market for a used Civic only wanted to spend $2000-$3000 for one with a lot of miles. We ended up trading it at the dealership for the CRV and I tried to forget about it as quickly as possible.

CrimsonForce · Sep 17, 2014

Trading in isn't the worth thing. Yea you could get more for private sell but then you have to deal with letting people test drive and see it constantly. I would also try Carmax and see how much they will give you for it. They normally fall in between what a dealership will give you and what you could get private selling it..

Displaced Bama Fan · Sep 17, 2014

I just got a new F-150. Plenty of room in the Supercrew cab for a car seat.

formersoldier71 · Sep 17, 2014

seebell said:
Fortunately we don't have people like that on this forum.

Challenge accepted.

gmart74 said:
So I'm looking at a 2014 CR-V. But I'm debating whether to wait until the 2015 model comes out. Do any of you have a firm grasp on maximizing value of trading in my car and specifically buying now vs waiting for the new model?

You're in Baltimore. Just steal one.

ValuJet · Sep 17, 2014

formersoldier71 said:
Challenge accepted.

You're in Baltimore. Just steal one.

I'm thinking if he steals one, it's probably Certified Pre-Carjacked.

twofbyc · Sep 17, 2014

Used to be (I don't know if this is the case now or not, but my old man used to sell cars), you could get the best price on a new car in the end of September, as close to the last day as possible. Septembers are always slow months, new models are coming in and simply put sales managers will often give the best deal you're gonna get.
I agree with others, Craigslist or Autotrader to maximize your Civic's resale value - trade in is asking to give away money.

RedStar · Sep 17, 2014

CrimsonForce said:
Trading in isn't the worth thing. Yea you could get more for private sell but then you have to deal with letting people test drive and see it constantly. I would also try Carmax and see how much they will give you for it. They normally fall in between what a dealership will give you and what you could get private selling it..

Call me cheap, but a couple thousand dollars is a couple thousand dollars.

I could put on a new Aussie Dana 30 auto locker on the front of my Jeep, add a new swing out tire carrier, new Smittybilt front and rear bumpers, maybe even some Bushwacker flares... and I'd still have money left over.

Don't poo-poo on $3000.

92tide · Sep 17, 2014

if you are looking for fuel economy, i would suggest researching the VW diesels. i think they make a vehicle similar to the crv (touareg or something like that) and the jetta wagon (diesel) we have has tons of room for the baby seat and is very easy to get her in and out of the car seat (plus plenty of room for the rest of the crap). i also really like the way the jetta drives (we chose the wagon over the cross over style mostly because we both hate driving the crossover/suv type vehicles)

CrimsonForce · Sep 17, 2014

RedStar said:
Call me cheap, but a couple thousand dollars is a couple thousand dollars.

I could put on a new Aussie Dana 30 auto locker on the front of my Jeep, add a new swing out tire carrier, new Smittybilt front and rear bumpers, maybe even some Bushwacker flares... and I'd still have money left over.

Don't poo-poo on $3000.

Yea for a $3000 difference I agree. I've always gotten within $1000-$1200 on my trade ins of what I probably would have gotten private. Yea I wouldn't just give up $3000. That would be worth the hassle..

cbi1972 · Sep 17, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
Also, don't trade your car in - it's easier, but you get far less for it than you will putting yup with the hassle of a private sale.

For example, I recently sold an extra vehicle for $3k more than I would have gotten on trade in. Took nine days on Autotrader.

If you don't want to deal with random tire kickers, that could be $3k well spent

cbi1972 · Sep 17, 2014

92tide said:
if you are looking for fuel economy, i would suggest researching the VW diesels. i think they make a vehicle similar to the crv (touareg or something like that) and the jetta wagon (diesel) we have has tons of room for the baby seat and is very easy to get her in and out of the car seat (plus plenty of room for the rest of the crap). i also really like the way the jetta drives (we chose the wagon over the cross over style mostly because we both hate driving the crossover/suv type vehicles)

For those of us who cannot stand front wheel drive, BMW has also gotten on board with the diesel wagons. About $10k more up front, same fuel economy, but with the handling of a 3 series.

92tide · Sep 17, 2014

cbi1972 said:
For those of us who cannot stand front wheel drive, BMW has also gotten on board with the diesel wagons. About $10k more up front, same fuel economy, but with the handling of a 3 series.

cool, i didn't realize those were available in the USA yet. the only rear wheel drive vehicle i have ever owned was a toyota tacoma, but i really like driving with that turbo diesel engine.

crimsonaudio · Sep 17, 2014

cbi1972 said:
If you don't want to deal with random tire kickers, that could be $3k well spent

By using Autotrader's email and phone protection system, you can weed those out really fast...

Need Car Buying Advice

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