New-Car purchase considerations, all of them.

[mareakin]

Beyond the big 4:

1. Power
2. Handling
3. Reliability
4. Utility

What are other considerations when buying a new car?

Some others:

-Maintenance cost: just oil changes basically or needs timing belt every 5 years?

-Insurance cost
-Aftermarket support/OEM parts price
-Tire cost, tire selection: exotic sizes? expensive replacement tires?

Am I missing anything else?

 

[tommygunn]

Depreciation.

 

[expat]

Originally Posted By: tommygunn
Depreciation.



Or, sum it up as 'Cost of ownership'

What are your priorities?

Is this an academic exercise?

There are a whole bunch of financial options to consider also.
Is the car to be new or 'new' to you?
Buy or lease?
Trade in of pay cash?
Etc.

 

[dave1251]

Very simple. Will I like it or not!

 

[DemoFly]

How much you enjoy driving and owning the vehicle divided by cost of ownership multiplied by the rate of depreciation plus or minus the amount of the opposite sex attracted.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: mareakin
-Maintenance cost: just oil changes basically or needs timing belt every 5 years?


Also, ease of maintenance. I like to do a lot of things myself, and if things are a real pain or a FSM isn't at least available, it would drop a vehicle way down on my shopping list.

 

[mechanicx]

I think if you are trying to be practical then something like a Malibu or Camry fits the requirement. If you want sporty and practical then I think you still would be best with a GM or Japanese make, a CTS or Lexus for example. I think European models aren't the most practical.

 

[wkcars]

purchase price, gas mileage, don't know if this is under utility but awd/4x4/2wd

 

[The Critic]

To me, the automaker's parts distribution network is also quite important, as well as the cost of purchasing the dealership scan tool. For long-term ownership, I prefer brands that I can easily obtain the factory diagnostic tools and manuals for at a reasonable cost.

 

[tbm3fan]

1. Handling
2. Quickness more so than power
3. Reliability
4. Ease of maintenance (Do my work)
5. Stick shift (getting harder)
6. Mileage

Those 6 are absolutes with no compromise.

The one that you need to be careful about is ease of maintenance. You could get several cars meeting the other four until you start looking closely under the hood. Did you know that on a recent Ford Edge that you have to remove the engine to change the water pump according to a 30+ year mechanic in my office today while we were discussing difficult cars. Don't buy one.

 

[Rob_Roy]

Interior space. If the baby seat and stroller doesn't fit, the rest doesn't matter.

 

[Colt45ws]

Can I jump curbs in it?
Can I go offroading and high center it without causing repairs to be needed?
If I put it in a ditch, will it pull itself out before anybody comes by and gets too curious?
Oh, sorry, this is my considerations, not general, silly me.

 

[sciphi]

Will the wife let me buy it?

 

[SteveSRT8]

RWD, weight distribution, handling, responsiveness, ease of maintenance.

There's more, but it is a varied list. I have bought many cars for all the wrong reasons.

 

[BigBird57]

I do not know if the OP would like specific advice but I have recent experience with the 4cyl 2011 Malibu and now a generation 8 2008 Honda Accord LX-P I-4.
I lost the Malibu in a car wreck. The lady was high on drugs and turned in front of me. Thankfully no injuries !
The Malibu is a nice car but when compared to the Accord, there is no question the Honda wins. This is coming from a dyed in the wool Chevy man. Government Motors not withstanding.
I am 6'5" and had to sit hunched over in the backseat of the Malibu. The Nissan Altima and the Camry are the same way.
The Accord is modeled after the Mercedes 300 class as far as the interior dimensions are concerned. In this car I can sit straight up in the back seat. The head room and shoulder room are impressive. Just my $.02

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: dave1251
Very simple. Will I like it or not!


Yup.

For me I also have to consider how comfortable I am driving it. That is huge for me( no pun intended )as I am 6" 3" and weigh 300+lbs. The vehicle also needs to be able to meet my towing and bad weather( winter )needs.

In these days MPG is also a big factor. Enough so that I bought an economical( MPG )4cyl small suv and sold the gas hog full sized HEMI Ram. Hated seeing it go but with gas near $4 and just going to rise 24-25 MPG beats the heck out of 10-12 MPG.

 

[SLCraig]

Drivers seat comfort
Seat of the pants feel of the overall drive
Gas mileage
Touch points inside the car (feel of quality)
Potentially easy DIY jobs
Dealer network (are there any, and are they any good)

Off the to of my head

 

[kballowe]

Some of us are fortunate to have more than one car.

My "go to work" car is a 2012 Ford Fiesta. Sort of a tin-can of a car and a little twitchy at interstate speeds with switchy winds.

It's litte, easy to wash, good interior room (for a dinky car).

185/65-15 tires (translation: CHEAP)
1.6L and 6-speed dual-clutch thingy automatic transmission.

10k miles so far, and the mileage readout is consistent with manually-calculated mileage (5 tanks average, each time).
EPA highway 39 mpg but I consistently get better than that. Work is 90 miles round-trip and 90% highway.

.
.
.

 

[Mr_Incredible]

Important considerations would depend on the intended usage. I was looking for a daily driver, so ease of use in the city, easy parking, relative comfort for the price range, do-dads, low maintenance, and high mpgs.

For this last car we just purchased, performance manifested itself as MPGs and cost of maintenance.

We got a Prius c. Averaging about 51 mpgs and no maintenance to speak of except oil changes and filter changes as far as the eye can see. Fairly comfortable, good on the open highway when needed, and goes weeks between fill ups.

 

[01rangerxl]

One thing that might be a consideration unless you plan on servicing the vehicle yourself is the dealer network and the competency of the service department.

My mom bought her Mazda 3 new. The dealer was a hole in the wall with some other brands, but had been around for a few years (with changes in ownership). Turns out they were still useless after the sale. On the first or second oil change they lost the filler cap. A little while later Mazda recalled the cars for a power steering issue. My mom's car was working fine, but she took it in anyway since it was a recall and not a TSB. Whatever the repair was, the dealer botched it, twice. The car was finally taken to another Mazda dealer two hours away to have it fixed correctly. A 3 is not a complex car, but in just a couple visits the dealer's service department demonstrated pretty extreme incompetency. The car now goes to a trusted independent shop only. When the dealer first sold the car, they were trying to get her to spend thousands on maintenance packages...good thing she didn't take the bait because it clearly would have been money down the drain.

My sister ran into a similar issue with her 3, but in her case it was that the dealer went out of business. She lives in the far Northeast, so there's not too many Mazda dealers up there. Before they closed she did get a case of oil filters though.

If the dealer's showroom looks like they furnished it with $100 at Office Depot, odds are the service department isn't much different and I wouldn't count on them being around much longer.