quote:
Originally posted by MikeR:
It's not malice, but definitely a dishonest sales practice. When we bought my wife's Xterra, the first thing the salesman did was disappear for about 15 minutes, then return with a piece of paper with a monthly payment written on it. I instructed him that we wouldn't go any further until we discussed my trade-in value, my downpayment, APR, and the number of months on the loan; and he looked at me like I had just slapped his mother. They sell a lot of cars that way, though. Person next to us was surprised to find out that her tradein was FAR from paid off...
/rant.
A fleet car isn't too bad, if you can get a screaming good deal on it. Most rental cars are rented out to business travelers at the airport for two or three days at a time. They end up getting better service than most privately owned vehicles.
I would avoid that 3.4 though...
Good luck in your search!
mr [/QB]
Yeah, I feel soooooo glad that I know as much as I do about finance and car buying. I'm the kind of guy who researches everything online and at the library for a few weeks before doing it.
The last two times I bought cars from those guys, there were ZERO shennanigans. That's why this incident dropped my jaw.
My reasons for wanting a new car are very complex, and not really car-related so much as financial. I expect that my credit may get trashed in the next year due to my wife's health. It takes YEARS to fix that, and if I'm driving 18,000 miles per year in a '96 Caprice, I will hit the point where it needs replacement or major repairs before I've fixed my credit. I am trying to avoid buying a car and paying 18.9% APR on the associated loan.
With an '03-'04 vehicle, I will be driving it for a few years more than I will be a '96.
I realize most of you at this point will be biting at the bit to point out the LT1 is a highly reliably powerplant, but I live in Ohio and to be honest, the vehicle has the beginning of automotive body cancer. I'm not really capable of working on my own cars.
Regarding your feelings on the 3.4... yes, I too am EXTREMELY leery of the powerplant.
This here website REALLY scared me:
http://www.gm-v6lemons.com/
I wish the 3.8 would come without the LS package, but it appears that in the real world, 99% of the Impalas with the 3.8 are either cop cars or the LS package.
The LS package seems to push the price up $3-4K. That pushes the payments into "unreasonable" for my current budget.
I've even considered a surplus cop car, but that comes with its own set of hassles.
