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Buying a new suv

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Long story short my fiance lent her brother her suv today and it was totalled. Any good tactics on getting a deal on a new suv? 

We're currently trying to buy a home and plan a wedding. Thiis couldnt have happened at a worse time. Any tips are welcome. 

I imagine she'll want another Honda suv or nissan suv.

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May I suggest looking for something that just came off lease? These vehicles typically have 25 - 35K miles on them, have service records, usually are certified, and come with a transferrable warranty.  I purchased a Toyota Highlander last year with 30K miles for ~ $13 - 15K less than a new one would have cost.  It was clean, looked new, and runs great. I tend to keep vehicles for ~ 150K miles and keep them serviced and garaged, so 30K miles is just starting to be broken in for me. 

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8 hours ago, Cheflife15 said:

Long story short my fiance lent her brother her suv today and it was totalled. Any good tactics on getting a deal on a new suv? 

We're currently trying to buy a home and plan a wedding. Thiis couldnt have happened at a worse time. Any tips are welcome. 

I imagine she'll want another Honda suv or nissan suv.

If your in the process of obtaining a mortgage or closing on a house, you may want to wait on a new car or anything with a credit check and payments.

I’d talk to your real estate agent or lender/bank before doing anything. 

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40 minutes ago, High Exposure said:

If your in the process of obtaining a mortgage or closing on a house, you may want to wait on a new car or anything with a credit chance and payments.

I’d talk to your real estate agent or lender/bank before doing anything. 

Yeah this has me worried the most. We both have excellent credit and with our jobs, she's a nurse and im a chef, we need 2 cars. Unfortunately i dont know how much of a choice we have here. Ill have to reach out to my realtor and see how this effects us. 

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1 hour ago, 10X said:

Depending on the circumstances of the accident, perhaps the brother should be on the hook for buying the replacement for the SUV.

Accident wasnt his fault. A driver supposedly was speeding, lost control and turned his car around on 287. Her brother hit him as the other driver spun out. 

Im trying ti find info on "no fault" accidents here in nj. All these bs laws. 

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2 hours ago, Grapeshot said:

May I suggest looking for something that just came off lease? These vehicles typically have 25 - 35K miles on them, have service records, usually are certified, and come with a transferrable warranty.  I purchased a Toyota Highlander last year with 30K miles for ~ $13 - 15K less than a new one would have cost.  It was clean, looked new, and runs great. I tend to keep vehicles for ~ 150K miles and keep them serviced and garaged, so 30K miles is just starting to be broken in for me. 

We did this type of things with 2 vehicles last year before Wu Flu hit.  Got the "wrap warranty" to go with them.  Well worth the extra couple of bucs.

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2 hours ago, Cheflife15 said:

Long story short my fiance lent her brother her suv today and it was totalled. Any good tactics on getting a deal on a new suv? 

We're currently trying to buy a home and plan a wedding. Thiis couldnt have happened at a worse time. Any tips are welcome. 

I imagine she'll want another Honda suv or nissan suv.

I'd look for a low mileage 18.   Those area usually 3 year lease turn-ins and CPO.   Honda, Toyota would be better than a Nissan.  Nissan's as a rule have really shitty gas mileage.

As to no fault, about all that matters is in the deductible.  You may eventually get the other driver to pay for that, beyond there, it's all about whatever coverage is on your vehicle.  If there is medical related to the accident, your insurance will cover it, not the other guy.  If you are not at fault, any of the out of pocket expenses can be recovered from the at-fault driver.   If this was a snow-storm related accident, and not an obvious thing, chances of recovering it go down a lot.

Always run a dash cam.   If you're at fault, eat the chip :)

 

 

 

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11 minutes ago, Malsua said:

Honda, Toyota would be better than a Nissan.  Nissan's as a rule have really shitty gas mileage

I can attest to this. The vehicle I replaced was a Nissan Pathfinder (my second one). That was the first thing I looked at. Nissan hasn't really kept up - a 3 year old Nissan looks like the interior of a 10 year old Nissan. Technology, electronics, aesthetics - just not up to today's standards. 

Plus, I needed a 6 cylinder to tow the boat; that crossed Honda off the list.  Narrowed it down pretty quickly for me. 

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4 hours ago, Grapeshot said:

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I’ll take two!

 

I bought my wife a Chevy equinox, it’s the 1.5 turbo, you get a ton of bells and whistles standard, if you get the all wheel drive model (recommended) you can turn it on and leave it on for a long commute to work, it’s not that bs all wheel drive where you turn it on get out of a situation and turn it off, you can blow the rear if you leave it for too long on those half assed all wheel drive models. In front wheel drive mode we get a consistent 33 mpg, not shabby for an suv. Do your negotiating online, you will get a better price rather then walking in.  

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2 hours ago, SW9racer said:

Get a Tacoma, with a home you need to transport the more than occasional bulky item. 

Get a Honda Ridgeline over a Taco.
The trunk under the bed alone makes it worth it, let alone all the interior storage upgrades and the nicer ride of the Honda.

The Tacoma is cooler looking. Although the 2021 Ridgeline looks much better than My 2018, but not as good as my 2008 did.

3 hours ago, Grapeshot said:

Plus, I needed a 6 cylinder to tow the boat; that crossed Honda off the list.  Narrowed it down pretty quickly for me. 

Honda Ridgeline is a 6 cylinder.

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Don't buy new and don't buy anything relatively new from GM.

We were in a similar situation about 1 5 years ago.  Wife's 2012 Enclave imploded with little less than 115k miles.  Cracked engine block,1 bad Cat, needed front axle.  Biggest POS we ever owned.

I tried to steer her towards a Toyota Highlander.  She wanted something larger and higher up.

After A LOT of research and talking to a mechanic friend we settled on a 2004 Yukon Denali with just under 105 miles.

Yes it was pushing 15 years old at the end of 2019.  But the 800 series (Silverado, Sierra, Tahoe, Yukon & Suburban) are built like tanks.  People routinely get 300k - 400k miles or more out of them. 

We were able to pay cash.  Not having a car payment is very nice.  We've had it since end of Oct 2019.  Its been great.  

If you don't want to buy something older, get a pre-owned Toyota Tacoma or 4Runner.  Yes they are more expensive but they last forever.  If you don't need an SUV get Camry.  SUV's are what everybody wants these days so they are more expensive.  Somehow everyone managed to drive in the snow before SUVs.  

Now isn't best time to be buying a vehicle.  Inventories are low due to Covid.  Used prices are inflated.  

Good luck.  If you want any information on the older Tahoes / Yukon, feel free to PM me.  Next to newer Toyotas or Hondas the older Hoes & Yuks are almost as reliable.  
 

 

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30 minutes ago, High Exposure said:

Get a Honda Ridgeline over a Taco.
The trunk under the bed alone makes it worth it, let alone all the interior storage upgrades and the nicer ride of the Honda.

Depends, both are great. Do you need 4x4 or is awd good enough. I wish the Ridgeline had a center diff lock. The bed storage is really cool, but if you get a flat you are unloading everything to get to the micro spare. That 8 speed trans is still a bit new but looks promising. End of the day, can’t go wrong with either.  

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Guess you didn't have full coverage. Isn't the other driver on the hook? Chase down his insurance co.

I had to do this when my truck was rear ended. Had collision, but didn't want to go through my ins.

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8 hours ago, Grapeshot said:

May I suggest looking for something that just came off lease? These vehicles typically have 25 - 35K miles on them, have service records, usually are certified, and come with a transferrable warranty.  I purchased a Toyota Highlander last year with 30K miles for ~ $13 - 15K less than a new one would have cost.  It was clean, looked new, and runs great. I tend to keep vehicles for ~ 150K miles and keep them serviced and garaged, so 30K miles is just starting to be broken in for me. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

this times a million.

 

 you almost can't go wrong buying something just in off lease. the other possible option would be to buy from enterprise or one of the rental places. i've got a small fleet customer that's been doing these two things for awhile, and he's not had a bad deal yet. 'cept for the driver that totaled one of the vehicles that they'd onbly had for a week or so.....

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2 hours ago, gleninjersey said:

Don't buy new and don't buy anything relatively new from GM.

We were in a similar situation about 1 5 years ago.  Wife's 2012 Enclave imploded with little less than 115k miles.  Cracked engine block,1 bad Cat, needed front axle.  Biggest POS we ever owned.

I tried to steer her towards a Toyota Highlander.  She wanted something larger and higher up.

After A LOT of research and talking to a mechanic friend we settled on a 2004 Yukon Denali with just under 105 miles.

Yes it was pushing 15 years old at the end of 2019.  But the 800 series (Silverado, Sierra, Tahoe, Yukon & Suburban) are built like tanks.  People routinely get 300k - 400k miles or more out of them. 

We were able to pay cash.  Not having a car payment is very nice.  We've had it since end of Oct 2019.  Its been great.  

If you don't want to buy something older, get a pre-owned Toyota Tacoma or 4Runner.  Yes they are more expensive but they last forever.  If you don't need an SUV get Camry.  SUV's are what everybody wants these days so they are more expensive.  Somehow everyone managed to drive in the snow before SUVs.  

Now isn't best time to be buying a vehicle.  Inventories are low due to Covid.  Used prices are inflated.  

Good luck.  If you want any information on the older Tahoes / Yukon, feel free to PM me.  Next to newer Toyotas or Hondas the older Hoes & Yuks are almost as reliable.  
 

 

the only bad thing on that era gm suv is the oil system for the variable displacement. there was a checkvalve that is part of the oil pan that used to blow oil straight up onto the crankshaft and cause problems. they've updated and corrected that issue. i like their variable displacement though.

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1 hour ago, 1LtCAP said:

the only bad thing on that era gm suv is the oil system for the variable displacement. there was a checkvalve that is part of the oil pan that used to blow oil straight up onto the crankshaft and cause problems. they've updated and corrected that issue. i like their variable displacement though.

The pre-07 (800 series) don't have variable displacment (AFM, DOD, what ever you want to call it).

I heard HORROR stories about the AFM.  My mechanic friend confirmed the issue and so did another mechanic who was selling a customer's vehicle that we went to go look at.  I inquired with him about it and he pointed to a "newer" model across the street (2013 if I recall).  It was his and he had do a rebuild at around 75k miles.  He was able to do himself but said if he was doing it for a client the rebuild would run at least a few thousand.

You can disable the AFM with a simple plug in to the OBD port.  But on a used vehicle with AFM who knows how much damage has already been done.  So we steered clear of anything with the AFM.  

It took us several months to find a vehicle at the right price with not too many miles that drove straight and had little to no rust.  We were driving all over (South Jersey, PA, CT) looking at vehicles.  At one point we drove to Mechanicsburg, PA.  About a 2.5 hour drive one way.  Vehicle looked incredible and had low miles (75k-90k if I recall).  Carfax listed it had been in a crash but we decided to take the drive.  Long story short, it pulled.  BAD.  So we passed.  We ended up finding our's eventually at a small dealership about 45 mintues away.

Do you know around what model year the problem was corrected?  Not that it really matters because hopefully we are driving the 04 for many, many years.  On some of the newer models I've also heard horror stories having to do wiht the newer transmissions (10 gear??).  I've read many stories of farily new vehicles (30k - 50k miles) that have had their transmissions go.  

I like that older vehicles are....older.  Less things to go wrong.  Simpler to work on & fix.  But the 800 series (up to 06 and 07 for some the trucks with the "Classic" trim) they still have heated & power seats, power mirrors & locks, cruise control that you can push forward to increase the cruise speed, etc, etc.  I don't need all the fancy do-doods.  Just a nice reliable vehicle.  And if you aren't in a rush to buy you can find some that have low miles that were well taken care of.  That's one fo the few good things about this area.  Some people don't drive much.  Maybe they work in the city & take mass transit or only work in town / a few miles away from home.   So they have an older vehicle but it has low miles and has been well taken care of.  They are out there if you look.

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the oil bypass issue was corrected somewhere around 2012. i've seen some newer still lose number 1 or number 7 lifters. you gotta pull the head to replace the lifters. sometimes they'll still get a p0522(or is it p0520?) which is for the oil pressure sensor. that one can be either a bad o-ring on the oil pump pickup tube in the engine(gm test is to over fill the engine then lift the back end, and see if anything changes) but more often than not is a bad sensor behind the intake. always replace the pigtail and the little filter under that sensor.

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Guessing a Honda CR-V or Nissan Rogue? I think the market is friendly when it comes to resale on these  

Currently have a VW Atlas. Had a Tiguan prior. Leased both with minimal headaches / issues. 2018-2020 Tiguan had a manufacture issue with the sunroof drain line being easily backed up. But my preference is zee german engineering.

Just remember the wedding is one day. The suv will be around for a while  

 

 

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33 minutes ago, Zabuca said:

Guessing a Honda CR-V or Nissan Rogue? I think the market is friendly when it comes to resale on these  

Currently have a VW Atlas. Had a Tiguan prior. Leased both with minimal headaches / issues. 2018-2020 Tiguan had a manufacture issue with the sunroof drain line being easily backed up. But my preference is zee german engineering.

Just remember the wedding is one day. The suv will be around for a while  

 

 

The crv is ironically what she had. I think thats the direction she wants to go in. 

 

As far as the wedding is concerned i give her what she wants there. Shes not too crazy regarding it and honestly she doesn't limit my gun and ammo hobby sooooo its a win win

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1 hour ago, Zabuca said:

Guessing a Honda CR-V or Nissan Rogue? I think the market is friendly when it comes to resale on these  

Currently have a VW Atlas. Had a Tiguan prior. Leased both with minimal headaches / issues. 2018-2020 Tiguan had a manufacture issue with the sunroof drain line being easily backed up. But my preference is zee german engineering.

Just remember the wedding is one day. The suv will be around for a while  

 

 

rogue has a cvt tranny. cvt trannys are shit. they're so bad that nissan and other manufacturers extended the warranty out to 120k. if it fails after that, they're over 3k to rebuild.

 

 anything vw/owdie is shit unless you lease it then dump it after the 3 year lease. the turbos are oil burners. cats go bad. flex pipes go bad...which requires replacement of the cat. i had 2 customers with tiguans that lost the engines.

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