joe80

if those 3 are my choices, i would definitely lease a genesis.
loaded v6 would be very very nice for her. 18/27 isn't bad especially because it doesn't require a premium. it's huge, comfy, and looks great. and you never see them on the road, so there will be alot of 'double take' moments.

ArmyofOne

If you have seen my detailing work, i can make almost any car a head turner but yes, the Genesis is definatley a looker to be sure.

SLegacy99

If you can make the payments on an IS, why not look at an A4. Best luxury vehicle in the segment is my take on it.

ArmyofOne

No. I will not go german. I am trying to Solve problems, not make more.

I love german cars, but i am not yet able to afford to maintain them long term.

LexFather

3 very different cars.

She wants the IS

ArmyofOne

No mike, she WANTS the Genesis, Loves the Civic, and simply doesnt "dislike" the IS. To her the best thing about the IS is the badge.

With $2500 cash back at my local hyundai dealer, and an at invoice offer from said dealer because I am active military, its looking tempting. Lexus is not offering any incentives other than 4.9% financing for 60 months.

Infra

iTrader: (1)

You know, you don't *have* to get a CPO. You can buy a used (pre-owned?) at any dealership and purchase an extended warranty on it, even Lexus' Platinum extended warranty. The CPO is *slightly* better, but you pay ~$3k over what a non-CPO costs, versus ~$2k for purchasing a warranty.

Looking at non-CPO cars can pretty significantly increase the inventory you can consider as well.

Lastly, look at picking up a set or two of these for your spill-prone wife. =)

www.buydropstop.com

I have no connection to the product other than that I own a set for myself and my wife, and I think they are great.

ArmyofOne

true, CPO is more expensive...but we have pretty much already made our mind up that we want to go new, or VERY close to it (less than 20k miles.)

ArmyofOne

OMG car shopping is rediculous. I know we are making it harder than it has to be, an I thank you all for your help. We have yet another addition to the mix. The Hyundai Azera.

Looking at them, they are cheaper than a genesis, and just as nicely equipped. And not as large (a plus for her). I know, I know...every time it seems we have made a descision, we switch it up again. Please bear with us. We are treating this with as much scrutiny as a house purchase. But we know a few things for sure:

-We arent going on the original budget. We are now planning to put 10k down/finance.
-This car will be in my household for a minimum of 10 years.
-We are NOT leasing.
-If we go with Hyundai, We will buy new. the 10yr/100k warranty is NON TRANSFERABLE (was not aware of this).

So, we have a few more things to consider. We arent getting any younger. We are not old by any means (25 and 26), but 15 years from now...after a 20 year career in the army, are my knees/back and especially my bum hip (from an IED strike) going to put up with a road trip in a Honda Civic? I already sound like a bowl of rice crispies in milk when I first wake up in the morning...dont want to think about a 1500 mile road trip in a civic in 20 years, Fully loaded with heated leather seats or not. There are so many factors that go in to a LONG TERM car purchase.

MMarshall (or anyone else), have you looked at the new buicks recently? the LaCrosse is promising, and I wonder what the incentives are?

We are probably going to change our minds 10,000 more times between now and deal day, so bear with us. LOL.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

The LaCrosse may be too big for the wife if you feel a Genises is too big.The new '11 Buick Regal may be a good choice.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...gal/index.html

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

wow, didn't have time to read whole thread, just 1st and last pages so it was very confusing going from 7k and a used car under 100k mi. to leasing a genesis?

dunno what happened in between, but josh, in this economy i'd stick with NO CAR PAYMENTS or very small and you know at least you still have a car at the end of it, and certainly NOT do a lease.

i can't really comment on what to buy, but the entire country can go bankrupt in a few years with hyper inflation, so ditching money on a fancy car right now unless you've got loads of disposable cash would not be my first choice.

there are literally hundreds of different kinds of great cars out there right now. really depends on your (or her) priorities.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Actually hyperinflation will have a positive effect on car payments, if your monthly payment becomes less than what you make per hour

joe80

2011 Azera? like this one?



refreshed Azera is noticeably better. better MPG 20/28 for 3.3 and 19/27 for 3.8, big HP improvement and etc. anyway it's definitely one of the most underrated cars out there. no one buys it and maybe that's a good thing.

what about Sonata? she didn't like the new sonata? i would buy sonata over azera because to me it looks fresher and has much better MPG. 21/28 isn't bad, but sonata does have 35mpg highway. and 200hp is adequate. and if you lease Sonata, it has highest 4 year residual, even higher than accord. but maybe she got spoiled by v6 in azera, and genesis? sonata is still a tremendous upgrade from a Civic though. and i really would scratch Civic from you list. first, you already have one, 2nd redesigned Civic will come very soon. Azera too.

anyway, you really should join the conversation in Edmunds and study how much people pays and what kind of lease deal people are getting.

for ex.
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/Web...index=.ef040b2
-sonata price paid and buying experience. 2 of my buddies got a tremendous help from studying what people are paying at which dealers and etc.



This is what I would do. make a little scoring sheet.
some of my Criterias. score them. 0-10. these almost always works out for me. you won't regret the buying decision when you did all the research.

1. price (incentives, and etc)
2. exterior design
3. interior design
4. warranty
5. brand image(gotta have it factor. is she must not be a brand snob because she is hesitating to choose between IS and hyundai. )
6. functionality(60/40? trunk big enough? fullsize spare?)
7. comfort (seating comfort, backseat comfort)
8. noise level (highway, wind, tire)
9. fit/finish
10. resale value
11. reliability
12. popularity
13. interior volume (she needs to decide if she wants small, medium or large sized cars, but think of the future.)
14. HP/Torque
15. highway comfort
16. premium gas?
17. satellite radio? radio quality?
18. Nav or no Nav?
19. insurance?
20. dealership quality?



You should be thorough in your research. also the size might not be a factor right now, but it could be in the future.
if she got to have a luxury car, then IS is the answer. but if she doesn't mind saving money and have a good reliable comfy cars, then you can't go wrong with any of hyundai sedans you've mentioned. but I really would take a hard look at Sonata. My next car will be sonata, most likely turbo.

ArmyofOne

Welp, car buying just got put on hold.

Seems we will be making a cross country move in the near future. The military pays to ship or drive 1 car...but not 2 and I cant ship one and drive the other. Darn.

We are still going to be looking. and we will definatly be considering the sonata, but it likely will not happen now, until feb-mar timeframe next year.

caddyowner

In my book, when you do buy you should get an automatic 50% discount on whatever you choose. Thank you for your service.

My son served in the Marines and has a partial disability due to his knees. When he returns from his current consulting gig in Iraq, he's planning to buy a Tahoe or Yukon for the room.