ArmyofOne

Cobalt, she likes. Impala is too big i think, and the charger is HUGE from a car standpoint. But I would like her to get in an Import because of the relaibility. I would LOVE to see her get in a BMW/Mercedes, but I am deathly afraid of the gremlins i Hear about in german cars, especially since the ones in our price range will be older or higher mileage and WELL out of warranty.

In any case, We have narrowed it down to a few options. Those options are, in order of importance:

-2006+ Honda Civic LX/EX or Hybrid sedan (Yes a second one).
-Mazda 3 5door.
-1999-02 Accord EX-L
-03+ Accord EX (she doesnt like the leather in the newer accords, but LOVES it in the older ones.)
-1997+ Lexus ES300 (I LOVE this idea, even though its a "toyota", i can work on it in my driveway and get all the parts i would EVER need online. Believe it or not, this one was her idea.)

The other options we discussed were:

1. Waiting another year or so and putting $10,000 down on a NEW ISx50 sedan. I am not home right now, so the need for 2 cars isnt here yet, as of now its just a "want". I work on a military base. On days she needs the car, I can get a ride or walk, or take my mtn bike. (this is my favorite option, new car, warranty, etc etc). There is a Lexus Dealer about 50 miles from us where we will go for service, Burdick Lexus, its on I-81 North of Syracuse.

2. Me "giving" her the Civic we have now, and Purchasing either a low mileage (Below 100K) 1996+LS400, or if we get really lucky, an LS430 in a few months (my DREAM car is the LS430 and she knows it!)

3. Giving her the Civic, and buying another $500-$1000 beater 4cyl to fart around in, and then when we do option 1, take the beater and give it to the lexus dealer for whatever they will give us (a few hundred probably) and apply it to the down payment on the IS.


Does anyone know if you can order a Lexus IS with cloth instead of leather? This is what we would want in the IS:

HID's (i think they are factory anyway)
CLOTH (if we can get it, not a deal breaker)
Moonroof (standard i think)

Thats pretty much it. The big one is cloth, If we can order it that way we will. She LOVES the IS250 RWD in Smokey Granite.

caddyowner

Give her the Civic and buy yourself a beater pickup. You'll always need a truck.

lamar411

1997-2000 ES300's can be had for low prices and you can probably work on it yourself but after looking on autotrader, theres nothing really in your area that has under 100k miles. 1998-1999 2GS might work but high miles is an issue.

This one looks clean but has the highest miles: http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...e&rdpage=thumb has 155k miles and it has the V8.

this one: http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false has high miles but has a black leather interior, 139k miles.

and then theres this one: 1998 GS300, 100k miles and looks decent http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...e&rdpage=thumb

Hope it helps and good luck!

mmarshall

I don't think cloth is an option on the 2Gen IS series anymore, as it was in the 1Gen IS300 (I had a cloth IS300 myself.....wanted it that way). Neither, sad to say, is the 55-series, 16" all-season tire option...which my IS also had. You will get standard HIDs, though, and the moonroof is available, if not standard. It was an option on the 1Gen model (again, I tuned it down because of my height).

Although obviously not the cheapest way to go, a new car, of course, usually lessens the risk involved over most used cars. Saving your money a little more (as you have suggested) and delaying a new IS purchase will also, of course, allow Toyota more time to get any potential throttle-gremlins out.

I like the IS250 AWD myself.................it would be probably #5 or #6 on a potential shopping list I'd have, behind a couple of Subarus, Hondas and Hyundais, though the 45-series tires (which you are now stuck with) are a little too low-profile for my tastes.

There's a suggestion, though, on a potential new IS purchase..........since you can't get cloth from the factory, just get the cheapest interior (or leather package) available, spend a couple of extra $$$ at the auto-parts store (it won't cost that much), and get a nice set of sheep-wool pull-overs for the seats. Strap-on, pull-over sheep-skin covers start at about $50 or so. Regular fabric ones, without real wool (there are fake sheep-skins available too) can be cheaper than that. One word of caution, though: if you use aftermarket seat covers, make sure that they don't interfere with the side-air-bag sensors or activation in the front seats. The ones that do are often marked.

ArmyofOne

There are several reasons SHE (not me) prefers cloth over leather. I love leather.

1. Leather is a pain to maintain, you need special conditioners and such.
2. She isnt the most graceful person in the world, one snag of the purse or watch, or spill of a cup of coffee, and it would be all over. (I then made the point that leather is MUCH easier to clean liquids off of than cloth . But she has a point about the purse, watches, jeans, etc.
3. Leather gets HOT in the summer. I had no idea what to say to this other than "Seat Covers" LOL.

Those are just a few. Like I said it isnt a deal breaker, we were mostly curious. Basically I want the next car we get, to be the one we have for 15-20 years. If I have it from the get go, NEW, I can make sure it is maintained properly, and as such, will last. She only loves the 250, because thats what we test drove last year. If I can put her in a 350, i would love to, but the extra cost when we dont need the power is extremely hard to justify. The 250 isnt "slow" per se, especially after daily driving n/a 4 bangers most of my adult life.

Yet another option, though...Is to opt for a low mileage, CPO ISx50, granted the used car factor comes in, but if it has less than 30,000 miles or so and has earned Lexus' "Certified Pre-Owned" title, How much damage could have been done?

Infra

iTrader: (1)

1. Leather is much easier to maintain than cloth - cloth absorbs anything you spill on it, stains easily, and absorbs smells. Leather can easily be wiped off, and you really don't need to "condition" it more than twice a year - and it only takes 20 minutes to do wipe down all the seats.

2. Leather is pretty durable. Keep in mind it was once an animal's skin. You'd have to pretty aggressive with a knife to actually puncture it.

3. Beige leather does not really get that hot - black leather can, but the IS has perforated leather w/ the premium pkg, which breathes much better - plus all new ones, and most CPO have the premium pkg w/ the heated/ventilated seats.

The IS250 really isn't that slow thanks to VTT-i and a good, usable powerband, but it *is* underpowered for it's class. If you are looking new, it's a big price jump to the 350, but if you are looking at CPO, the cost difference isn't that significant if you can find a 350 with few options. Many people buy a new 250 loaded up with options that out-price a base 350, but the 250 also outsells the 350 many fold, so it can be hard to find good stock.

Digressing a bit... If you are close enough to ride a bike to work... have you thought about giving her the civic, and getting yourself a motorcycle? =)

ArmyofOne

eh, i thought about a motorcycle. Here are my issues with it.

1. I was in a motorcycle accident when I was 7 with my dad. Wasnt our fault, but it nearly killed us. thats the BIGGEST issue for me.
2. The weather is very unpredictable in NY. If I ride, I dont want to ride in the rain.
3. Its very much a pain in the **** to be able to ride a motorcycle on a military base, with classes you have to take and whatnot.
4. At my current duty station, a motorcycle is only usable from may-sept due to massive amounts of snow in winter. this may not always be the case, but either way, a motorcycle does not seem like a viable solution to our issue.

I looked around online and at the Lexus dealer near syracuse they do have an IS250 AWD(2007) with 17k on it. It is CPO with i think a 10/100 warranty. They were asking 27k IIRC. Only problem was...IT WAS SILVER. She wants either MRM, or the dark blue, or black.

Its a very good price. Seeing that they go for about 20k cheaper slightly used, we are definately going to go the CPO route should we choose to go with Lexus. I just cannot justify paying close to 45k (if not more) when I could pay under 30 for one a year or 2 older.

Burdick Lexus also has a neat program called "Find my Lexus". You tell them the color scheme, model and options you want, what you want to pay and (new or used) they will find it, and have it transferred to their dealer from anywhere in the continental US for a fee of $250. I made it a point to ask the sales rep if that applied to CPO cars as well and she said yes. So we will definately be going through this dealer when we are ready. She said with my credit, she might be able to pull some strings and get us in a CPO IS250 AWD with 0 down, 2.9%.

In that case, I might be back in a Lexus sooner than I thought

ArmyofOne

Oh boy...I just got off the phone with my wife...Seems women dont know what they want.


She went to the Hyundai Dealer today. She test drove a 2010 Genesis sedan...LOADED.

Now she wants one of those.

Help...

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

If you're willing to wait a year, have you considered the upcoming CT? It has that NuLuxe faux leather seating that should be able to take a beating. It should get good MPG too

ArmyofOne

What is the CT? I havent heard of this. Is it a Lexus? If so, being that it is a new model, Markups will be HORRIFICALLY high in my area (a 2010 Honda Civic EX-L at my honda dealer goes for $25,000+ttl, and thats for the model without Nav.). That right there just about kills it. And If it is a hybrid, itll be even further out of my price range.

As far as the Genesis goes, She drove both. The fully loaded V8 and a "fully loaded" V6. She actually liked the V6 better, said she didnt want/need the extra power of the V8. Because I want a Lexus, I told her if she can get them down to less than $27k OTD, we will consider it.

It wont happen...


I hope.

caddyowner

I know you're not crazy about a Mazda5, but here's a pretty good review:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100...s-expectations

ArmyofOne

We actually have it down to 3.


In order of priority:

1. Lexus ISx50
2. Hyundai Genesis Sedan 3.8
3. 2010/2011 Honda Civic EX-L.

She is thrilled with the idea of another civic. And the idea of a tiny car payment for a few years makes me happier than a medium car payment over several years. If I put 10K down on a Fully Loaded Civic EX-L/nav, My payment will be below $200 a month for 36 to 48 months. Cant beat that. If I was to put the same amount down on an IS, the payment would still be close to $500 a month, for 60 (or more) months.

mmarshall

Yep.....that's why I spend so much time myself talking with people about car purchases. Sometimes it takes them months (or even years) to decide what they really want.

I don't want to get in between you and your wife in personal matters, but you may just have to show her what is available for your budgets and what isn't. If you are only going to spend less than $10,000, then, of course, a Genesis, even used, is probably out of the question.

However, if she still insists on one, see if the dealership will do a two-year lease. That way, she gets a nice new Genesis for less money than buying one outright (you're only paying for the two-year depreciation/residual value) and maybe after two years she will decide she wants something else. If so, all you do is take it back and turn in the key, provided the car's physical appearance and mileage is within the lease conditions. A three-year lease, of course, will lower the monthly payments, but then you're stuck with it at least a year longer.

SLegacy99

All three of these are fairly different cars. I'd probably opt for the Civic myself given my distaste for the IS and rising fuel prices.

ArmyofOne

Well, the budget thing is more MY preference. We dont have a car payment right now. I was trying to keep it that way, but we CAN afford a car payment, I just dont want to. I have no real objections to it, other than just not wanting to. I have thought long and hard about it, and had endless conversations with her about it. Neither of us have any problems putting a larger amount of cash down and financing, if she will be happy with the car for a LONG time. I did make it clear, though, that barring any mechanical issues, we will have whatever we buy, for at least 10 years. It really makes no nevermind to me. I will be happy with any 3 of those choices. The lexus would make me happiest in some ways...but maybe it just isnt the smartest option of the 3.


We are drawn to the civic for that reason too. However being in the financial situation we are in right now (a good spot), Even with a $400 a month payment (The max we agreed upon), It will not make a difference if gas goes to $8 a gallon or stays where it is. We plan ahead and make it a point NOT to live above our means.

That said, the Civic is really all the car we need. But then, we dont need 2 cars either. All 3 of these cars have their strong points. The Civic of course is low priced and economical, and will probably still be driveable and worth a decent amount of money for 10-15 years. The Hyundai has an EXCELLENT warranty, and isnt rediculous on price. But its Resale value may not hold up, and who is to say it wont fall apart slowly? Hyundai's (though better now) still have their old brand impressions on the average consumer. While that isnt enough to deter Informed consumers like you, myself and most on this board, it IS going to affect the company for a few more years yet.

The IS, well the IS is just frickin schweet. But it has its disadvantages of higher maintenance costs than the other 2, and things like a nearly useless rear seating area.

Hence our dillemna. But we will figure it out. Does your head hurt yet? Try being married to her .