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What is your priority in purchasing a car/truck/vehicle?

What are your top priorities in buying a car/truck/SUV?

  • The cost of buying the vehicle

    Votes: 34 61.8%
  • Fuel economy and/or how green the vehicle is

    Votes: 31 56.4%
  • How much/how many it can carry - big is better

    Votes: 4 7.3%
  • Luxury/comfort

    Votes: 14 25.5%
  • Performance - ie powerful and fast

    Votes: 22 40.0%
  • Country of origin/brand

    Votes: 9 16.4%
  • Safety of driver and passengers

    Votes: 18 32.7%
  • How the car looks - cute, sharp, prestige

    Votes: 17 30.9%
  • Length warranty

    Votes: 10 18.2%
  • Multi-use capability (4 wheel drive etc). both as car/truck etc

    Votes: 16 29.1%

  • Total voters
    55

joko104

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Mercedes Benz, one of the oldest and largest vehicle manufacturers in the world, and producer of the most expensive mass production cars, admitted their cars are "too heavy" for the current market place. Generally, for their class, a Mercedes weighs from 500 to 1000 pounds more than the competition American, Japanese and Korean cars and other Euro cars. In return, on average, a Mercedes will have a more powerful motor to offset the weight, even in their "economical" cars. All this adds to their prices.

IT also adds to their safety. The most notable was a Mecedes that did a head-on at about 50 mph with a out of control semi truck also going about 50 - like hitting a brick wall at 100 mph. The driver (only person in car) survived. I doubt any would in a typical car American or Japanese car. Rescue crews have complained that their "jaws of life" sometimes can't pry open a Mercede's door, though no lives reported lose as a result. There is a saying that Japanese and American cars are made from thin tin and Mercedes are built of battleship steel.

The reason is because most cars are built to meet minimal federal and EU safety standards, which for the most part are designed around low-speed accidents. Mercedes builds cars for potential Autobaum accidents and well beyond any government requirements. The extra weight is in the amount of high grade carbon steel they use for the driver/passenger compartment. However, the weight adds to the price, costs fuel economy and affects performance despite powerful motors.

Safety still does NOT sell. Mercedes appears to be facing an economic necessity to make less safe cars.

What is your top priorities in buying a car/truck? Pick no more than 3 so it represents a direction of priorities.
 
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Only two:

1. An immediate NEED to purchase another.
2. The one that minimally meets the desired functional utility.
 
Dependability and cost over the lifetime of the vehicle (including resale value) are the two most important criteria for me.
 
gotta have a work truck nice enough to take my best girl out on Friday night
 
I'd say while quality is a big concern price is as well. Many people just don't feel like they are getting a bargain anymore.

I was in the market for a new vehicle two years ago for something sporty/fast. I looked at Mustangs, Camaros, various other cars, when I started seeing the car payments were going to be 750-$1000 a month I just decided to buy a used car.

I could afford it, and it may be worth it, it just wasn't worth it to me. You can rent a pretty modest 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house for that where I live.
 
I want my next vehicle to be a Toyota.

vasuderatorrent
 
gotta have a work truck nice enough to take my best girl out on Friday night

See you're in Texas. At least until recently, more new trucks than cars sold in Texas. The big cross-over SUVs put a big dent in that though.
 
I'd say while quality is a big concern price is as well. Many people just don't feel like they are getting a bargain anymore.

I was in the market for a new vehicle two years ago for something sporty/fast. I looked at Mustangs, Camaros, various other cars, when I started seeing the car payments were going to be 750-$1000 a month I just decided to buy a used car.

I could afford it, and it may be worth it, it just wasn't worth it to me. You can rent a pretty modest 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house for that where I live.

Deciding I need to be more of a domesticated family man, I went looking for a new car when I sold my AMG/Renntech Mercedes S65 with 150K+ miles on it. I looked at pony cars like you did, and such as the big Buick SUV. The prices were stunningly high. Instead, my wife bought me a used performance modified CL65 with 60K miles on it that was a 1-owner with maintenance records and it came with a 3yr/36,000 warranty (a car that cost that original buyer around $220K) for a fair amount less than I could have bought a new Ford Focus for and from $15K to $25K less than a well made middle-level Camero or such as that Buick.

Except for maybe bottom of the line economy cars, buying a new car makes NO sense given the HUGE depreciation the moment you drive it off the lot combined with the HUGE prices.
 
Cost and fuel efficiency, and one other factor which is very important to me: reliability. If Honda built a truck, I would buy it.
 
Dependability and cost over the lifetime of the vehicle (including resale value) are the two most important criteria for me.
Resale value doesn't mean much to me as I tend to keep vehicles and drive them until they die and aren't worth anything anymore. Dependability is crucial to me, though.
 
Deciding I need to be more of a domesticated family man, I went looking for a new car when I sold my AMG/Renntech Mercedes S65 with 150K+ miles on it. I looked at pony cars like you did, and such as the big Buick SUV. The prices were stunningly high. Instead, my wife bought me a used performance modified CL65 with 60K miles on it that was a 1-owner with maintenance records and it came with a 3yr/36,000 warranty (a car that cost that original buyer around $220K) for a fair amount less than I could have bought a new Ford Focus for and from $15K to $25K less than a well made middle-level Camero or such as that Buick.

Except for maybe bottom of the line economy cars, buying a new car makes NO sense given the HUGE depreciation the moment you drive it off the lot combined with the HUGE prices.

I ended up buying a 2006 Mazdaspeed6. It only cost me $17k when all of the other cars I were looking at were $30k-$50k. I've put more than 40,000 miles on it and have never regretted my choice.

I think the biggest problems for these car manufacturers are: Wages of the average American have stagnated over the last few decades while car prices have gone way up.
 
Resale value doesn't mean much to me as I tend to keep vehicles and drive them until they die and aren't worth anything anymore. Dependability is crucial to me, though.

I sell them once they start becoming undependable, which can be quite a long time.

When I was younger, I used to keep them until they died, but I'm in better financial shape now
 
Cost and fuel efficiency, and one other factor which is very important to me: reliability. If Honda built a truck, I would buy it.
Honda_Ridgeline.jpg
 
Resale value doesn't mean much to me as I tend to keep vehicles and drive them until they die and aren't worth anything anymore. Dependability is crucial to me, though.

I drive mine until death. The only thing is that my last 3 were murdered. Stay off your cell phones and pay attention to the road, people!!!!
 
Should have added reliability. That's a major factor. That's why I bought a Corvette instead of a BMW or Audi. Reliability, cost of maintenance. Also because I wanted a 2 seater, and the other companies offerings didn't have the same daily usability as the Chevy offering.
 
Mercedes Benz, one of the oldest and largest vehicle manufacturers in the world, and producer of the most expensive mass production cars, admitted their cars are "too heavy" for the current market place. Generally, for their class, a Mercedes weighs from 500 to 1000 pounds more than the competition American, Japanese and Korean cars and other Euro cars. In return, on average, a Mercedes will have a more powerful motor to offset the weight, even in their "economical" cars. All this adds to their prices.

IT also adds to their safety. The most notable was a Mecedes that did a head-on at about 50 mph with a out of control semi truck also going about 50 - like hitting a brick wall at 100 mph. The driver (only person in car) survived. I doubt any would in a typical car American or Japanese car. Rescue crews have complained that their "jaws of life" sometimes can't pry open a Mercede's door, though no lives reported lose as a result. There is a saying that Japanese and American cars are made from thin tin and Mercedes are built of battleship steel.

The reason is because most cars are built to meet minimal federal and EU safety standards, which for the most part are designed around low-speed accidents. Mercedes builds cars for potential Autobaum accidents and well beyond any government requirements. The extra weight is in the amount of high grade carbon steel they use for the driver/passenger compartment. However, the weight adds to the price, costs fuel economy and affects performance despite powerful motors.

Safety still does NOT sell. Mercedes appears to be facing an economic necessity to make less safe cars.

What is your top priorities in buying a car/truck? Pick no more than 3 so it represents a direction of priorities.

Actually, I have not bought a car in 20 years and putter around in it still with the roof down. When I travel I rent a car that suits, what I am doing and in cities I take cabs. It seems much more practical.

What I see a lot is people wanting to show how much money they have. Friends go out and buy a Porsche or Bentley and feel good. I find that rather embarrassing, as other friends go out and buy 5 Porsches, 5 Bentleys to drive over to the helicopters, at what ever house they are. So buying one Porsche? What are you supposed to say? How much your friend is demonstrating that he is showing off, what his limit is?
 
Cost of vehicle and fuel efficiency. I do a lot a mileage. I am not a car guy It is a means of transportation only, so the rest is pretty unimportant to me. If I wanna have fun I take a plane or bike.
 
Except for maybe bottom of the line economy cars, buying a new car makes NO sense given the HUGE depreciation the moment you drive it off the lot combined with the HUGE prices.

I definitely agree with the idea of buying used cars, or anything really.

I've always been a big supporter of Fords Panther platform (i.e. Crown Vic, Grand Marquis, Town Car) and when I found out that they weren't going to be making them any more I wanted to get one last new Grand Marquis in 2010. I went to Enterprise and bought a slightly used rental, complete with a full warranty for less than most people would buy a new Nissan Sentra.

It was essentially a new car, hardly broken in with 18K miles on the odometer.

We do the same thing with almost everything we buy, from computers to cameras. If we can get a factory refurbished item, we'll take it in a heartbeat.
 
I ended up buying a 2006 Mazdaspeed6. It only cost me $17k when all of the other cars I were looking at were $30k-$50k. I've put more than 40,000 miles on it and have never regretted my choice.

I think the biggest problems for these car manufacturers are: Wages of the average American have stagnated over the last few decades while car prices have gone way up.

We've rented a couple of the Madzas in the past. Seems like excellently made cars.
 
There was no option for "fun to drive," although I guess you could argue that this might be a combination of:

  • Performance
  • How the car looks
  • Multi-use capability


Out of the six cars that I've owned, only one was bought out of sheer practicality. It was a 2005 Chevy Cobalt, I bought it new as a tool to improve my nonexistent credit. I used it as my city driving car, because my other vehicle at the time, a '73 Chevy Custom didn't really get good gas milage and irritated the neighbors when I'd start it at 0530 to go to work.

Generally though, I buy a car because I think it will be fun and because I want it. My Grand Marquis is only three years old so I'm not really looking for anything now, but if I were it'd be either a Tesla Model S, Scion FR-S, Land Rover Defender 90 or the proposed Jeep pick-up truck:

Jeep-Gladiator.jpg
 
I am all about function over form.
I have had very good luck buying used cars (and trucks),
but that market is becoming less of a good deal.
In the past, I used a simple formula.
Select a vehicle/year that is roughly at the end of the payment cycle.
Select a vehicle/year that consumer reports list as better than average reliability.
Look at the brand lot where the vehicle came from (i.e. used Ford on a Ford lot)
Try and find one that came from that dealer.
Have a trusted Mechanic check it out.
The idea on the dealer lot, is that someone bought the vehicle, made all the payments,
and liked the vehicle/dealer enough to go back and get another.
It also takes advantage of the fact that many people get a new car itch as that last payment is coming up.
 

This thing did not do well at all. The lack of ruggedness and a V8 compared to standard pickup trucks had a negative affect on sales. This truck was never taken seriously be real truck owners or professionals.
 
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