Brand new vs CPO: The Path To My First Car, Part 6

My gratitude to everyone who participated in the poll, specially those who left comments bringing enlightenment to my dilemma. Others, perhaps finding the poll questions rather limited and limiting, chose to send me personal email to share their advice and expound on their opinion.

All in all, the exchange of ideas has been and still is very insightful. Thank you all for helping me in this major path I’m traversing.

I’m already on the last lap. It took this long because I do not have the luxury of physically present company to pick brains with during research and when eventually in the car lot. Except for emails, phone calls, the blog poll, and small talk at work, I am basically on my own.

To compensate, I collated print-outs of every Internet article I found significant about car- buying and filed them according to topics with subcategories. I will carry these along as I turn the bend from internet research to car lot search.

At the beginning of this path, I was pretty sold on the idea of getting a CPO vehicle, but further research - poll opinions included - is now prompting me to buy new instead.

There’s a lot to check on a used car, and if you’re not careful you might end up with a lemon. Though I consider myself fairly thorough, if not overly, the task seems daunting for someone like me who is truly new to car buying.

There are a lot of points to cover from outside the car, to inside the car, to under the car. Someone who has gone through buying and owning a car many times is in a much better position to make a used car purchase. It’s a familiar terrain for them they can probably do it in a breeze.

If I cannot even begin to synthesize the complexities of buying a new car, how much more buying a used one?

One advice about used car-buying is to choose a unit that’s at least 3 years old because it would have saved you the first leg of depreciation which is estimated at 45%. Unfortunately, I did not find any 2004 to 2005 Toyota certified Priuses within a 1000-mile radius.

CPO 2007s cost almost the same, about 87%, as new ones. They are priced high in auctions so sellers mark up the price as well. The shift to small cars a few months ago was not foreseen, so production then does not meet demand now.

A point to consider: older models come with less warranty, if there is any left.

Another advice about used car-buying is to have it inspected by a trusted mechanic. I don’t know anyone since I have not owned a vehicle here in the U.S.

Yes, I could bring it to a friend’s trusted mechanic or even an independent mechanic, but the burden of certainty that lies in the used car’s history which is quite impossible to lift rests in me - the consumer end of the car buying process.

In addition, I do not have the luxury of resources and company to go to a mechanic for an independent inspection so there will most likely be no second pair of eyes to inspect my certified prospect.

Car experts advise to stay away from CPOs if price is priority because the price to pay for a CPO label is not worth it compared to a used one. They attest the CPO market is not for bargain hunters.

Peace of mind is non-negotiable and I know I will find it in a brand new 2008 Toyota Prius. The only thing left to do now is find a good deal.

Polling the People: The Path To My First Car, Part 5

With my car buying research verging on the fanatical, I had become more equipped with information on what to look for and what to watch out for.

As I've previously written, it's a major expenditure, and careful study must be put into it. I cannot be any more specific or redundant than that. I'm glad I hadn't given in to peer pressure into buying a car ASAP.

It’s been quite a path keeping the search ball rolling. I have endured sleepless days [I work nights], missed exercise routines, slept on the couch, taken swift showers, subsisted on quick-cook food and the always reliable Oriental delivery, and fallen behind on literary and academic readings.

If you're a new car buyer like I am, or have a car and want to brush-up on your auto intelligence, here are a few sites that may come in handy.

An investigative report at edmunds.com uncovers the tricks of the trade with a journalist going as an undercover car salesman.

MsMoney.com, a personal finance web site primarily for women and families, offers a helpful guide to buying a car.

User-friendly cost calculators and interesting articles about auto finance and insurance are available at Bankrate, Inc., an aggregator of financial rate information.

At this point, some friends have actually advised me to postpone buying a car because of rising fuel prices. Demand for hybrids has risen. As for Toyota's Prius, there's a shortage of supply as production is at a halt.

A certified '07 Prius I was eyeing online for about a month priced at $28,500 (options and accessories included) at a certain dealer lot is not anymore listed. A similar unit, albeit on a different lot this time, is selling at $29,991. Are hybrid price tags marking-up all of a sudden due to high demand? Is there still a good deal I can look forward to?

The argument between financing and leasing a car is, for me, a no-brainer. Cars are usually leased for the first three years and that is the same amount of time it will incur the most depreciation. Needless to say, the lessee will bear this brunt.

I'm not as status-conscious as to need a new car every three years and subject myself a slave to the vicious cycle of car leasing. Financial common sense tells me to shun lease and go for buy. What do you think?

One factor I plan to consider is a broker, the type that works for the consumer. Have you heard of this? The broker works to get the buyer a better deal than what the dealer offers. Of course, you'll have to pay the broker for the service. I've read about people saving hundreds of dollars, with 15 to 30% of the savings going to the broker. A 70% savings isn't bad at all, right?

I'm not considering a used Prius from a private party because the inherent risk is just too high to take on, so the deliberation now is between a brand new 2008 Toyota Prius and a certified pre-owned 2007 Toyota Prius.

According to NADA Guides and AutoTrader.com, the MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) for a brand new '08 base model is around $22,875; for a CPO '07 is about $22,175.

Basically, a certified pre-owned vehicle is a used car that has been certified in good condition and is being sold by a dealer or automaker with factory-backed warranty. Toyota vehicles in Toyota dealer lots undergo a 160-point inspection.

I haven't quite finished researching. Can you spare your two cents worth?

Which one do you think outperforms the other in terms of depreciation, fuel cost, sales tax, interest, insurance, maintenance and overall cost-to-own?

Confirm your choice by pressing the "Vote" button.

You can also elaborate on your answer by leaving a comment.

Thanks in advance!

Greenie & Techie: The Path To My First Car, Part 4

Way before gasoline price reached almost $4, I’ve been reading about alternative auto energy and am now strongly considering a hybrid.

My reasons: [1] It will allow maximum fuel economy with its impressive MPG rate, specially with current skyrocketing fuel prices. [2] It will help reduce my carbon footprint. And [3] it, in its own small way, will help curtail dependence on foreign oil. The only self-serving reason for a hybrid purchase is [4] I’m curious and excited to have a techie car.

The Internet is a massively useful research tool. I cannot imagine how we survived without it at the advent of the GenX years. It has made my car shopping very informative, although quite cumbersome as well with all the knowledge out there.

A hybrid car is highly expensive to buy compared to regular fuel cars, but you will get your money’s worth vis-a-vis fuel economy after at least two to three years. Its resale value also holds its own against less expensive non-hybrid cars. A Consumer Reports investigation sheds light on this.

It will do little, if at all, to curb global warming unless industry-driven economies make vital changes in their practices, but at least, in its own way, it makes a difference by emitting less carbon waste. More important than the immediate realization of a predicted change it will cause is the timeless principle it stands for.

Despite the steep sticker price and subsequent monthly financing and interest expense, the over-all cost to own and maintain a hybrid is a winner as interestingly estimated in a Yahoo! Green article.

Other gas alternatives are promising but disadvantageous at this point. Biodiesel, made from vegetable oil, burns cleaner but costs more than petro diesel. It is only available in the Midwest.

Hydrogen fuel cell, with zero or almost zero harmful emission, is still in embryonic stage and experts estimate it will not see market light until 20 years later.

Ethanol has a similar story to biodiesel. It's made from corn and available only in the Midwest, and it also produces less carbon emission but costs more than today’s gasoline. This Guide to Driving Green by Consumer Reports works as an umbrella page with many links to interesting topics.

After many days of scanning paper trails, reading article after article, comparing cars online, jotting down notes, and sneaking into various chat rooms of car aficionados - I’ve finally made a choice.

Subaru does not have a hybrid sedan so that leaves me with only Toyota’s Camry and Prius. The Prius is less pricey and delivers more MPG than the Camry. The Prius is also a car built with “hybrid” in the forefront of its concept agendum. Nissan has the Altima Hybrid which returns 32 MPG overall, but there is no data for owner cost and satisfaction and predicted reliability being relatively new. The company's overall reliability, though, ranges from average to below average.

And so the chosen one... ladies and gentelmen... is a sparkling Prius!

Thumbnails of more Prius videos will appear after playing the above video. They range from straightforwardly informative to truly inspirational to outrageously funny.

Okay. I now know what I'm going to get so I'm almost there. Say, how good a deal could it be to buy a second hand over a brand new? What about finance over lease? That only means one thing - back to research.

Elimination: The Path To My First Car, Part 3

When searching to buy a car, the earlier you start to gather information, the better. It’s a MAJOR DECISION and it helps to get all the data you need to make a sensible purchase at the right time. Careful research ought to be put into it so as to come up with the best purchase. We all have different reasons for buying a car. In the end, whichever car we choose to buy is an individual decision.

Ever since I started search for my definitive car, there has been a deluge of facts and opinions for my brain to process. A strike on a searchbox reveals a galaxy of information. A visit to a site opens up to constellations of details and related particulars. A click on a link or tab reveals several other sublinks. My head spins and sputters with all the data fighting for a space in my brain for absorption.

I’m a first-time car buyer and I don’t know much about cars. Being anal-retentive, I feel like reading each and every information there is on any source about cars. Of course that’ll take forever so I’m teaching myself to sift through as I go along. I realize I should’ve started earlier, like maybe a year prior. My target was to have a car by end of May but...Didn’t happen.

Having narrowed my requisite to a gay-friendly sedan, the other factors to consider are price, reliability and value for money. My paper research tools are Consumer Reports magazine and the LA Times. For electronic, I frequent the Kelly Blue Book, NADA Guides and Edmunds web sites, with supplement from the three powerhouse search engines: Google, MSN and Yahoo!.

I decided to shell out only between $25,000 to $30,000 for my first car. With that range Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz are out of the picture.

The A4 3.2 starts at $36,300 and delivers 23 mpg. Although it returned excellent crash test results, the car has only average predicted reliability and owner cost.

The 328i starts at $32,4000, has above average predicted reliability, gives 23 mpg, and returned excellent crash test results. Owner cost, though, is below average, despite the company's offer of zero maintenance cost up to 4 years or 50,000 miles.

The C300 automatic Sport Sedan starts at $35,715 with 21 mpg that can be delivered by either premium fuel or E85 ethanol. This model is new so no safety tests have been conducted and no data is available regarding reliability. But the company’s overall reliability based on several sedan and SUV models has been disappointingly worst. Owner cost is below average.

Impressively and quite aptly living up to its name, Subaru’s 4-door Impreza WRX starts at $24,350 already with keyless entry system, engine immobilizer, antitheft system and Vehicle Dynamics Control. It delivers 25 mpg on premium unleaded gasoline, has above average reliability, and excellent crash protection and owner cost.

Finally, Toyota. The optimized Corolla XRS is $22,654 with fuel economy up to 30mpg and excellent reliability and owner cost. The base Camry LE starts at $21,080, gives 23 mpg and has above average reliability and owner cost. Its hybrid version with similar reliability starts at $29,720 and delivers up to 34 mpg. The Prius gives out the best fuel economy in the industry at 44 mpg. The base edition starts at $23,780. It has excellent reliability, excellent owner cost, and impressive crash test results.

Now this leaves me with only Subaru Impreza and three Toyotas to choose from. Interestingly, Consumer Reports recently released road test videos of 6 sedans, which include the Impreza and Corolla. Click on the link and see for yourself.

Safety & Gender-Sensitivity: The Path To My First Car, Part 2

Many car makes and models speed across my mind. From reliable Toyota, I fancy the ruggedly handsome FJ Cruiser, the versatile RAV4, the classy Camry and the groundbreaking Prius. Its close rival Honda has the sleek Civic and the equally versatile CRV.

Audi comes across as something new to crave :-). The thought of having a car from a (German) company whose products are not as mass-manufactured and ubiquitous as Japanese companies’ is enticing. Plus, I dig its insignia which looks like a double infinity or olympic rings.

Subaru is a relatively novel Japanese car company and is quite a practical alternative if chosen based on unit prices and fuel economy. I have also gotten wind of several first-hand attestations to a Subaru's comfort and ease of driving.

BMW and Mercedes Benz are also considerations, but mainly because these are embodiments of German auto engineering. I doubt these will stay long in my list considering the high cost of ownership and maintenance, despite BMW's offer of no maintenance cost for 4 years or 50,000 miles. The elevation in social status that comes with driving either is currently not essential to my existence.

The one factor I deem MOST IMPORTANT is SAFETY, so I look for ABS (anti-lock brake system), airbags in crucial locations, impressive road & crash test results, VSC (vehicle stability control), etc. Most car companies have the first three as standard features, VSC is often optional. In that respect it's only a matter of optimizing one's choices.

During my search I chanced upon a group that keeps track of which auto companies are gay-friendly and which ones are not. According to Gaywheels, a gay-friendly company offers domestic-partner benefits to their GLBT employees. I was baffled to see Honda and Acura on the unfriendly list. Hyundai, Kia and Suzuki were also mentioned but I couldn’t care less. In a matter of principle, Honda was off my list.

There are many deliberations as I go about my search for the car perfect for my lifestyle, comfort level, principle, need and taste. Will it be a sedan or an SUV? Japanese, German, or American (to help the economy, I thought)? Tried and tested or avant garde? Brand new or second hand? Regular fuel or alternative energy?

Between a sedan and an SUV, I’ve been swerving towards the latter owing to my preference to get on a car by scooting up instead of scooting down; I like the feel of a seat much more elevated from the ground. I also believe a raised seat will allow a better view of the road. But I discovered it only felt that way. Several driving lessons on a sedan afforded me an equally competent view of the road.

Safety-wise, rollover probability is less likely in a sedan because of an SUV's large base center. A sedan is also more financially attainable than an SUV, considering not just the unit’s price but gasoline expenditure in the long run as well. I'm single with full-time employment in one establishment not requiring travel, therefore I expect to do only light city driving that does not entail a huge amount of cargo for which an SUV will come in handy. Until the need arises and until there's a significant change in my buying power, getting an SUV will have to wait.

For now, the pros of a sedan outweighs the ones of an SUV, and so a gay-friendly sedan it will be!

Necessity Knocks: The Path To My First Car, Part 1

I have amazingly survived more than a year of not having my own car in the megalopolis that is Los Angeles, making the most out of the city’s public transportation system. There are three reasons why it took this long.

One, I live very near work, practically walking to and from it. That doesn’t quite give me enough motivation to buy a car. Essential establishments such as banks, groceries, supermarkets and drugstores are just a busride away as well.

Two, I’ve been busy with more pressing things and issues. Buying a car requires diligent research, specially for a first-time buyer like me, and upgrading my work-related skills & knowledge and salient aspects of my personal life I found to be more important than upgrading my metropolitan mobility.

Three, I’ve been saving up. In other words, I hadn’t had enough money to buy a car in the past year. I may be a nurse, but my financial performance is the beginner’s type because: it’s my first time to work in this country, I was sponsored for residency by the hospital I work at, and I’ve only been working a year.

In addition, I had three major purchase projects when I started working: a cellphone, a laptop, and a car. Communication takes precedence over transportation. Another project currently in the works that sprung out of necessity is an air conditioner since my apartment is not equipped with one, summer is so very much upon us, and no way will I go through last year's killer heat wave again!

Since I have achieved the first two, it’s only a matter of time before I achieve the third. I had a little financial setback two months ago when I unexpectedly had to go out of the country. Good thing that happened first, otherwise I’ll be anxious leaving my car here for more than a month.

On my way back, thoughts of buying a car started to crystallize. I figured my days of Metro buses & trains and carpools will have to make way for motorist actualization. Thoughts of endless possibilities of city travel was becoming more and more enticing and apparent. I can just imagine all the places I can go to at any time I want with my own car. I'm set to buy one anytime this year.

But that plan became more specific and its time frame more urgent when I found out that the grocery I frequent that used to bring shoppers home with their shuttle does not anymore! I pretty much took it as an affirmative sign.

I have to buy a car!

ASAP!