Initial state
Another round of looking at used "cheap" (in fact, it turns out to be a really bad time to buy a car, both locally and globally) vehicles was carried out today. The Camry from Part 1 was bought by someone else the day after I saw it.
The initial setup at Kenny Ross Toyota was like this:
- Hyundai Accent 2005, 126 thousand miles, ~$5.5.
- Hyundai Elantra 2003, 71 thousand miles, ~$7.6.
- Hyundai Elantra 2006, 133 thousand miles, ~$6.6.
- Lots of other cars, mostly American (which we don't trust) or just not meeting my requirements.
Pay to Drive
A raw estimate of gross expenses for a used car is:
Total expenses = how much a dealer asks ("asking price" - it's written above) + 7% sales tax + paperwork and registration (usually ~$200) + repairs to pass state safety inspection (if not inspected) + repairs to meet your personal requirements + initial insurance payment (for me and the cars above, it's ~$300 up front + ~$120 per month for the minimum insurance) - what you can negotiate off the car's price.
Evaluation of Alternatives
The Accent turned out to be in a pretty bad shape, with rust nearly everywhere and dirty internals. And the engine looked too worn and made a rough sound. As we found out, there's a number of problems with it, according to the dealer's mechanic, so we stopped looking at this car.
The Elantra 2003 has really low mileage, and it rises the price for it. The engine made a strange noise on the start (Mike claimed it was an alternator), but then went fine. There was a bit of rust here and there. This price was still way too high; one of the reasons was that the dealership repaired a number of things in the car (totalling ~$800) - and now they included that into the price.
The Elantra 2006 did beat two other cars after an overview and a look at the inspection report. So we took it for a test drive. After it, the car became a leading candidate for purchase. The rest of the text is devoted to it.
Details on Elantra'06
It's time for pics! Took them from the website since I didn't take my own for an unknown reason.
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Below is the list of facts about this Elantra'06 we found out this evening. I expect it to be 80%-exhaustive.
Advantages: young car - only 2006; only a little rust; smooth engine sound (belts were changed recently); front brakes almost new; no apparent external damage; good control on the road; gets to 50 mph easily; transmission fluid and engine oil were changed 2000 miles ago; the battery looks new; an alarm (which is very rare in my price segment) relatively low price for all that.
Disadvantages: a little rust on wheels and on the radiator; rear brakes have maximum acceptable wear, will need to be changed soon; a crack on the rear bumper (no damage to trunk); a couple of scratches on the body; an inspection report mentions a leak in power steering fluid; a bulb in one stop light needs replacement.
This list of disadvantages is 2-3 times shorter than the one would be for two other cars.
Price Breakdown
After some discussion with the dealer, here's the price breakdown for the Elantra'06:
Requested price minus negotiation = 4800 (!!)
7% sales tax = 336
Registration and paperwork = 215
Repairs to pass safety inspection = 0 (the car passed one in 09.2011, so the next one is in 09.2012)
Repairs to meet my personal requirements = 200-300 for rear brakes + 50-400 for power steering leak
Initial insurance payment = ~300
So, merely $6200 separate me from driving now. This number might be much more for other cars in my price segment because of hidden repairs.
It sounds like a fair deal. I've decided to take this car to an inspection by an independent party (~$50) to facilitate further decisions. Hopefully, it happens tomorrow.
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Just a note: financing cars (i.e. getting a credit for them from a dealership or a bank) automatically means that I need an insurance coverage for my car (not only for other people's cars, as mandated by the law). The cost of full coverage for me is ~$270/month (I hold the PA driver's license only for 4 months), and I don't want to pay that much. Also, financing is often not available for cars over 100 thousand miles. So, I'll have to make a one-time payment.
P.S. Big thanks to Mike -- if I ever end up with a decent car, it will be due to the great service he rendered.
The end of the story -- Part 3.
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