Should I buy a new car?

[Based_Christian_Dude]

I had to look this up. These are preproduction cars. I've heard about this kind of thing before. They haven't been produced under final manufacturing standards, and could have unknown flaws with possibly high liabilities.

I could imagine marking them as totaled, and then selling them at a discount, but if it turned out that they had an unknown problem, the manufacturer could still get sued like crazy.

You could have engineers go over the whole thing to double check the pre-production design and determine if any problems are likely, but that kind of engineering effort is crazy expensive, more than the car is worth.

Sadly, from a business standpoint, destroying them makes the most sense.

That is justified, if they are test mules I have no problem with that but then again I wasn't talking about test mules.

Yes, these were supposed pre-production test cars or vehicles specifically built for "limited" use. But I still don't understand why not just export them to some random countries without the legality issues (e.g. Africa, Middle East, Asia) and sell them there in as-is condition, or donate them to automobile museums.

Buy a Toyota. They are the most reliable cars in the world by a country mile. No contest.

I heard from a few mechanics that Toyota is coasting on their reliability lately and aren't exactly as reliable as they used to be, at least here in the West. They are also having many recalls.

 

[mountainaire]

Thanks for the input. I'll look around then and see what I can find. One thing I noticed is that used Teslas are pretty cheap, comparatively. 15k for a 3 year old car. Is this because the world hates Elon or are they just bad cars?

EVs tend to depreciate extremely fast for a number of reasons. The main reason being the countdown timer to a battery replacement is always ticking, independent of mileage, and if it's out of warranty by that time, the cost of replacement usually exceeds the value of the car.

If you're wanting to explore mountains, EV is probably not a good choice if you want to stray from the beaten path at all and leave pavement. Not many chargers in the wilderness.

 

[Australia Sucks]

I heard from a few mechanics that Toyota is coasting on their reliability lately and aren't exactly as reliable as they used to be, at least here in the West. They are also having many recalls.

I guess try to buy an older second hand Toyota with low mileage to get the old gold standard reliability?

 

[Shadowman]

I recently relocated to Switzerland and am considering getting a car to properly explore it. It should be safe, reliable and be able to go up mountain roads. It shouldn't be small, because I'm 6'4''. 2 adults and 1 kid should fit comfortably even on longer drives within Europe.

What would you recommend? I never personally owned a car in my life and have zero clue.

What's your budget if I may ask?

 

[IM3000]

What's your budget if I may ask?

Ideally below 20k

 

[Based_Christian_Dude]

I heard from a few mechanics that Toyota is coasting on their reliability lately and aren't exactly as reliable as they used to be, at least here in the West. They are also having many recalls.

Forgot to add this link about further details on Toyota's decline in another thread: https://christisking.cc/threads/decline-of-functioning-society.323/post-93159

I guess try to buy an older second hand Toyota with low mileage to get the old gold standard reliability?

That's one way. I see all non-globalhomo vehicles rising in collector's value and pricing if they're at least in okay condition without severe issues. The problem will be that most folks don't maintain their cars well and if they do attempt to fix them, others will say it's not worth it because of the propaganda of new cars are always a better choice. For Toyotas, they generally have retards as half of their owners, so expect to spend a lot of time just looking for that one car.

 

[FrancisK]

The answer for a DD is always a used Toyota, not a new one with turbos and gadgets or any new age car in general. I bought the last of the new 2023 GX460's while the 2024 GX550 was already on the lot. I took one drive in that thing with its turbos and endless gadgets and signed for the old one as soon as I got back.

Change ALL the fluids, check the brakes, tires and suspension......then drive it forever.

 

[IM3000]

I test drove a Tesla the other day and was ready to hate it. To my surprise, the opposite happened. A very fun car, the acceleration is crazy. The massive iPad didn't bother me at all.

Toyotas and Lexus are very expensive in Europe and I don't want a Hybrid.

 

[IM3000]

Ended up getting a Tesla. I can charge at work for free and can also charge at home. Drives great and thus far, I have no complaints. Did a 1000 km road trip and the charging worked out fine. That said, if I regularly drove very long distances or couldn't charge at work/home, I'd not go with an EV.

 

[Blade Runner]

Does anyone know what the deal is with cars with lower MSRPs now showing higher monthly payments compared to a few years ago? Is it all based on interest rates, or what the particular dealership charges? I usually lease cars, and I was looking at a car that has a pretty good residual value (like a hybrid type or a toyota, etc) being high 30s, and the monthly payment is way beyond what I used to lease a few years back and that car's MSRP was low 40s. Another thing they did was this "deposit" thing to reserve the car, which might be in in a few weeks, seemed scammy. Any thoughts?

 

[Thomas More]

Does anyone know what the deal is with cars with lower MSRPs now showing higher monthly payments compared to a few years ago? Is it all based on interest rates, or what the particular dealership charges? I usually lease cars, and I was looking at a car that has a pretty good residual value (like a hybrid type or a toyota, etc) being high 30s, and the monthly payment is way beyond what I used to lease a few years back and that car's MSRP was low 40s. Another thing they did was this "deposit" thing to reserve the car, which might be in in a few weeks, seemed scammy. Any thoughts?

I suspect the projected residual value is probably the biggest factor, but the interest rates may also be a little higher.

 

[FrancisK]

Does anyone know what the deal is with cars with lower MSRPs now showing higher monthly payments compared to a few years ago? Is it all based on interest rates, or what the particular dealership charges? I usually lease cars, and I was looking at a car that has a pretty good residual value (like a hybrid type or a toyota, etc) being high 30s, and the monthly payment is way beyond what I used to lease a few years back and that car's MSRP was low 40s. Another thing they did was this "deposit" thing to reserve the car, which might be in in a few weeks, seemed scammy. Any thoughts?

It's rates but Toyota's in general don't lease very well, Toyota doesn't devalue their product by giving it out cheap the way other brands do. I haven't checked leases in a while because I bought my last car but I know for a little while you get Tacoma's cheap I'm not sue if that's still the case. Mind you "cheap" being three something a month where you used to be able to take your pick of a dozen different much higher MSRP American cars at two something a month zero down. Hell I remember half my family tree getting a dodge dakota for $50 a month ten years ago, not exaggerating it was a one pay lease for $1200 for two years. Prices are starting to come down I've seen some decent deals again on Chrysler products, which mind you are junk but it's a lease so who cares if you just want cheap, but a lot of manufacturers are still holding on to covid pricing for dear life. EV's were super cheap to lease the past year or so because nobody wanted them anymore there was the tax credit and dealers were desperate but the tax credit is over I believe, I'm sure that has changed things. My cousin last month leased a 110k MSRP hummer EV for $500 a month stacking a bunch of incentives and I honestly think he left money on the table it just got to the point where the dealer said "I'm not giving you another dime off I'll give it to someone else", the car is a total joke novelty but still.

I would buy a Toyota not lease it, they hold their value. For my GX460 it's value is still close to what I paid for it a couple years ago, mind you it's a bit of a special case because it's the last year of the last V8 but my sisters RX350 is not that far off. If we had leased them it would have cost us considerably more at this point than what we've paid thus far minus the depreciation. One thing I do miss about a lease is not giving a crap about the car itself, I treat this car like it's my baby just because I know it will hold it's value and I actually own it.

Do you know what the base residual and MF is for the car you're looking for or are you just trusting the dealer not to screw you? I can help find it for you if you need. Are you negotiating the MSRP down as much as you can before you talk lease?

 

[Blade Runner]

One thing I do miss about a lease is not giving a crap about the car itself, I treat this car like it's my baby just because I know it will hold it's value and I actually own it.

Yes, I like to pay for this luxury of not having to think much about it but that I'm in a new car regularly and just change oil yearly with a rotation of the tires. I take care of them, still, but yes, less or no worries.

 

[FrancisK]

Yes, I like to pay for this luxury of not having to think much about it but that I'm in a new car regularly and just change oil yearly with a rotation of the tires. I take care of them, still, but yes, less or no worries.

I get it and I definitely understand that, it's nice not to give a shit about your daily car. Any car other than a Toyota I would never buy new, any other daily car only lease and beat the hell out of it then return it. But the flip side is that Toyotas don't lease very well for that reason, Toyota wants you to buy it they want the owner to care about the car they are smart. This GX will go forever, a new Toyota with those turbos definitely not so I'm not sure what to do after this truck but I'll cross that bridge when I come it, probably go back to leasing....just keep a fun car or two on the side.

I replied to your PM, I'm going to get you covered.