"Vimto" (smudgey)
08/20/2014 at 21:10 • Filed to: None
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"Vimto" (smudgey)
08/20/2014 at 21:10 • Filed to: None | 0
| 7 |
Well, after the disaster with the 2014 Sentra this morning, I decided that I was going to have to look at the used market. The reason I have been avoiding it is because financing is much sketchier with used than new, as in, there are no cut and dry APR sale rates to qualify for, et cetera.
I browsed through all sorts of vehicles until I realized I should look into Mazda2s. WE OWN ONE. It's my mother's car, an automatic Sport, and she's even modifying it. She loves her little '2.
See the Gunmetal alloy wheels and roof rack? She picked those out. It even has red lug nuts!
Well, I found one I like that is relatively close to me, about 35 miles away. It is a 2011 Sport model with the 5-speed (the only thing I didn't like about driving my Mom's car was the slushy, slow to shift transmission, and I test drove a new Mazda2 5speed when they were still on dealer lots - very smooth!).
The car in question is Spirited Green Metallic, and has 60,000 miles. Does anyone on Oppo happen to have owned one of these cars for an extended period of time? My Mom has had her Mazda2 for about 2 years, no issues with 40k miles, but we bought it with 34k miles. Yeah. 6k miles in 2 years.
Anything in particular I should look out for?
AthomSfere
> Vimto
08/20/2014 at 21:34 |
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If you want to know how to get the best financing for a used car:
1) Get $100 and open a credit union account
2) Apply for a loan and get the members discount
3) You now know your ceiling for a car price and the APR
4) Find the car used you want and enjoy
It isn't going to be a crazy 0.9% rate like say Subaru is doing, or a 0.0%... But it should beat anything a used dealership could offer you.
Long Live the Longdoor
> Vimto
08/20/2014 at 22:20 |
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I know someone on oppo has one, I think it is/was Scorpio GTX.
I love the Mazda2, pretty solid daily driver/hoon car if you ask me.
sellphones2493
> Vimto
08/20/2014 at 22:25 |
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Ever consider a new Jetta? I know they're not as good as the old ones, but it shouldn't be too difficult finding a new one in stick.
Furthermore, I second the idea of just going to a credit union when buying used. However, they usually have it that you have a max amount you can spend (based on income, debt to equity and so forth), and the car has to fall within 2009 or newer with under 60K.
Another idea, take a look at Carmax. If your credit is decent and you have something for a downpayment (or trade), you can usually get a CAF (Carmax Auto Finance) Approval. I've seen as low as 2.95%, and up to 10%. After 10%, they give it to Santander, Capital One, Wells Fargo, or Drive (that's if you have really really bad credit - they only offer 24%).
While Carmax is rather expensive, the streamlined financing operation is quite good.
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Vimto
> sellphones2493
08/20/2014 at 22:49 |
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Thanks for the tips. I'm scared of the reliability, and the Jetta's MSRP is already pretty high for me, but I like the car's interior and exterior design. Anyway, I have good credit, but I don't have a trade (keeping my current car, which I paid cash for) and right now I have roughly $500 to put down comfortably. I am taking some money out of every paycheck and putting it towards my down payment stash.
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sellphones2493
> Vimto
08/20/2014 at 22:54 |
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$500 should suffice at Carmax. $1,000 would be better, but having good credit is a breath of fresh air for any sales consultant there.
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Vimto
> sellphones2493
08/20/2014 at 22:58 |
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I might wait until I have $1000 to put down then. Unfortunately, the Pensacola area is absolutely miserable as far as car sales go. For any given online search, this location seems to return about 1/3 as many cars as anywhere else, so if something crops up that I am very interested in I need to jump on it.
RotaryLover
> Vimto
08/21/2014 at 05:26 |
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I don't know, but I tried one and it gave me a heck of a smile in the face if you ask me. Check on Mazda forums.