Rio Replacement, Conclusion

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
08/19/2015 at 08:30 • Filed to: None

Well after looking around at vehicles listed from $7,500 to $27,000 I have determined that the little Rio is just irreplaceable while it is still alive and leaking. It has been modified to fit my work needs to the point that it is close to ideal. I did test drive a few vehicles:

*2007 Audi A3 2.0T S-Line

*2008 Mazda3 s Sport Hatchback

*2006 Ford Escape Hybrid

*2015 GMC Canyon Crew Cab, Long Box 2wd

*2016 Hyundai Tucson Eco

*2016 Kia Sorento LX

As you can tell, I gave myself a very wide breadth when looking at vehicles in order to zero in on what characteristics I truly “needed.” I found that the dealership experience impacted me substantially more than the models themselves. After finding a majority of non-franchised dealers around me listing vehicles at over 125% of their NADA clean retail price, plus the general atmosphere and interactions, I was completely turned off from buying preowned. (I avoid purchasing vehicles from private sellers unless I personally know the seller, or I’m looking for a vehicle that will be driven less than 6,000 miles annually by yours truly).

Well that made me check out a new or near-new vehicle from larger dealers. Unfortunately, though I liked the interactions more, the Buick-GMC dealer kept trying to unload everything but the Canyon I inquired about. The Hyundai dealer was by far the best to interact with but, though I like the Tucson, I just couldn’t see myself liking the car still after 18 months.

The golden goose was a 2016 Kia Sorento LX with 2700 miles at $22,000. The catch was that it had heavy hail damage (which was not in the ad or VIN lookup info). Thus, I decided to go through with repairs on the Rio including the alternator, timing and accessories belts, harmonic balancer, plus all the components that the wobbling balancer tore up (that was a repair I knew about since my 120k belt service and I put it off until the 255k when it was literally hanging on one screw that it was unthreading. So over $1700 into a car that has a NADA guide trade-in value of $120 and a bag of Funyuns. Still worth more than any vehicle on the market for me though.

The biggest surprise was, after all those test drives, I missed not having that beaten up turd of a Rio. It has survived going into ditches at over 80mph. It drove seamlessly with a progressively whacky, wobbling balancer for most of its life. Survived a timing belt snap back at 70k miles. The paint has zero fade (not saying the body looks remotely decent, and the interior is far, far gone). Made it 200 miles with a failing alternator. Only four flat tires since I got it with 17,000 miles (now at 256,000). Still can do 110mph without becoming unsettled, and still exceeds the EPA fuel economy (27/32/29 combined). I always see 30 to 32 combined and my foot is through the floor 50% of the time. All these things while doing over 800 miles a week for 2.5 years.

Maybe I’m just lucky with this car. I will say that after the repairs, it got close to 39 miles per gallon on the highway for the first time ever. Just goes to show that all my parts are up to date at this point.

Also, by keeping the car, I can buy something I want rather than something I need. Top end Volvo XC90, AMG C63, trip to Hawaii every month and a Miata, who knows?!

DISCUSSION (7)

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Wobbles the Mind
08/19/2015 at 08:35

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. That little Rio will keep chugging along forever if you let it. Have you thought about a new Mirage as a replacement instead, though? It comes with a long warranty, gets great gas mileage, and Mitsu are desperate to move them, so deals are there for the taking.

Wobbles the Mind > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
08/19/2015 at 08:46

Actually it wouldn’t be the same. This Rio has all but the drivers seat stripped out, it’s basically a little cargo van. In fact I would need something akin to a midsize crossover to get what I already have plus what Im looking for (longer wheelbase and better front leg room...oh and more than one seat).

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Wobbles the Mind
08/19/2015 at 09:25

Sounds like a pretty great car as is, if I had something that tough I’d stick with it.

Textured Soy Protein > Wobbles the Mind
08/19/2015 at 10:02

After finding a majority of non-franchised dealers around me listing vehicles at over 125% of their NADA clean retail price, plus the general atmosphere and interactions, I was completely turned off from buying preowned.

Of course they are. That’s how car dealers work, especially with used cars. Sure, car dealers suck, but that doesn’t mean you can’t deal with them successfully.

If you spend even a little time haggling you can talk that down significantly. Especially in your case where you clearly aren’t hung up on getting the new car, just tell them you’re happy to leave without buying their car if they don’t give you a price you like.

If you really don’t want to mess with that, you can always use dealers just to test drive things and decide on which kind of vehicle you want. Then search on Auto Trader, Cars.com, etc for several examples of the same car. Pretty much all car dealers have internet sales departments, so you email each dealer that you’re looking for their best price on that car, and once you receive all the offers, take the lowest one, email it to all the other dealers, and see who can beat it.

Bytemite > Wobbles the Mind
08/19/2015 at 11:51

Glad you came to your senses and kept the little runt that could. Crossovers were definitely not the way to go. Now go get that Miata as your fun car.

Wobbles the Mind > Textured Soy Protein
08/19/2015 at 12:59

I have no issue withat dealers making money, but listing a beat up vehicle for the clean retail price instead of over the average or rough retail price makes it hard to haggle far. That Audi I looked at had 143,000 miles. Listed at $9998, dropped from $10,998. There was no way to haggle down to 125% over it’s clean trade-in which was something around $7950. That is far too much room. But I learned and will find better listings, better cars, and better dealers.

Textured Soy Protein > Wobbles the Mind
08/19/2015 at 14:34

First, a few general ideas:

Dealers always advertise over-inflated prices on used cars. They’re going to set a high bar and try to keep you as close to that as possible. Even moreso if by “non-franchised” you mean standalone used car lots, not the used car department at like, a Honda dealer or something.

First you said clean retail value, now you’re saying clean trade-in. Which is it? Nobody should expect to buy a used car at a dealer for its trade-in value.

When negotiating, it really doesn’t matter what a bunch of websites say a car is worth. All that matters is what you’re willing to pay for the car, and what the dealer is willing to sell the car for. If those two things line up, you have yourself a deal. While you can certainly look up used car values to give you an idea of what you should pay for a used car, mentioning that’s where you got the number to a dealership is not going to help you. They don’t care where you got the number.

To use your example of the A3:

I checked on Edmunds for values on an ‘07 A3 2.0T S-line 6-speed manual with a random assortment of options. Edmunds says $4268 trade-in, $5606 private party sale, $7259 dealer retail.

If you decided you wanted to buy this car, and you decide the maximum you’ll pay for it is $7259, all you have to do is go to the dealer, throw some number at them that’s lower than $7259, let them do their usual song ‘n dance about “oh we can’t go that low I have to talk to my manager,” go back and forth a couple times, and arrive at their final number. Either it lines up with what you want to pay and you buy the car, or it doesn’t and you don’t buy the car.

Just because the car’s listed for $9998 doesn’t mean the dealer won’t sell it to you for $7259. Unless you come out and ask them to sell you the car at the price you want, you can’t just declare “there’s no way to haggle” it to that point.

An example, from practical experience:

Last fall I looked at replacing my ‘99 Grand Cherokee winter beater with assorted other newer, nicer SUVs. I checked out an ‘05 or ‘06 Lexus GX470 at a Dodge dealer. They were asking $18k. My budget topped out at $13k. I took it for a spin, I lowballed the hell out of them, they said no, I left. The end.

(I ended up buying an ‘05 Grand Cherokee somewhere else for $9700.)