Quick opinion on a car.....
 

OK....I'm looking at getting a third a car because my teenage daughter will be turning 16 soon. I have never purchased a car I wanted, and this next vehicle will be mine and the daughter can drive the minivan or the truck.

I want a convertible, and I've been looking at a few, but am mostly leaning toward a Mustang.

I found a new 2008 candy apple red Mustang convertible. MSRP is 28900. Dealer invoice is 22600. I've driven it, and i like it. I've been talking with their guy at the dealership for about 2 weeks, and their most recent offer is is 21650. I've offered 20600.

Negatives - two years depreciation as soon as I drive it off the lot rather than just one, only the V6, which was plenty powerful enough but certainly not a V8. Not the GT.

Positives - pretty, great sound system, really not a bad price being offered.

I think I'm going to email the guy and tell him that my final offer is 21000 and if he'll accept that then it's a go. If not, then if they haven't sold it in a few weeks maybe they will, as their 2010s are coming in soon.

Thoughts?

Well, today I got the 2010 Fusion. A lot of the accessories are the same as those in the Mustang. The guy I bought the car from said he had his eye on the Mustang, but got the Fusion because it drove better.

But you want a convertable. I got a sun roof, but that's not the same. My opinion is that they are hurting. They are trying to move cars as much as possible. My gut says they'll take your last offer. If not, I'd hold out a little longer.

Mine is a lease, I got the Fusion Sport. Real sweet, fully loaded. 3.5L V6, as much muscle as I'd ever need, and yet much better MPG than a V8.

I hope you get it, I love the Mustang. But I had the 2006 Fusion and loved it so much I had to get the 2010. Now I need to get an iPod so I can hook it up to my car and use the voice activated Sync system. I got the wicked 12 speaker sound system and Sirius radio.

Enjoy!

Send NirvanaMan a PM. He doesn't come to the board much and will probably miss this thread. He's looking into getting a car at the moment and is considering a Mustang.

Okay, this is just from driving a rental. I guess it was a 2008, as it was last year. Not a convertible and I can't say what size engine it had.

I had wanted to buy one, myself. I love the feel when you get it. It feels snug, it feels solid when you close that door. The power was awesome, features great.

My problem was that it seemed awkward getting in and out. Looking out the window to check to back up, always hit my head. The door is so long it was awkward, too. Hard for me to get in and out of.

So, being that I am someone who wears sneakers and jeans a lot, this car was too much for me. And that is hard for me to say as I LOVE Mustangs and if I could have a second car just for me, that would be one of my choices. {the mini cooper being another}.

I hope you get what you want because you should drive the car that YOU want to be driving. Just thought I'd put in my experience.

CP: Did I miss something? Didn't NM just get a porche?

Wet blanket alert:

When I was a teenager, practically no one in my group had his or her own car. We all walked or biked to high school and borrowed a parental car for weekend needs. It would have been absurd and irresponsible to drive to and from school.

Especially since half the time we'd end the day drunk at Euro's house.

Nobody's social life or status suffered for want of his or her own car. Since your kid goes to a Christian private school, I'm sure her friends are even more sensible than a bunch of old '70s Orange County liberals-in-the-making.

So, I say, unless you're really, really, really about to wind up on the evening news unless you get this convertible, keep that 20K in your pocket.

Every time Strangler Lewis posts, it's a wet blanket alert. I think the old man wants more applesauce. Dontcha, Grandpa? :evil:

Oh, and I think that scaeagles just wants a good excuse to buy a Mustang, which I totally dig. :snap:

He's now looking for a new daily driver as well and will then get rid of his Land Rover, supposedly.

Definitely looking for a way to justify it, no doubt. :)

I think I am going to tell the guy that when he hasn't sold it in a couple weeks and they really want to get rid of it to call me. Someone else may buy it, but if so, so be it.

Then maybe I'll have an excuse to get the GT. :D

I'm not even thinking of her driving to school. I'm thinking of the advantages of not having to chauffer her everywhere - sports practices, this event, that event.....

And most of the kids at this school drive nicer cars than the teachers. And high schoolers are high schoolers....I'd like to pretend a Christian school means more common sense, but.....not that I've seen. There are advantages, but common sense isn't one of them.

Totally.

And I think "Me want! Me want!" is a more legitimate justification for spending the money than the ones he's advanced so far.

I was going to try the argument "I really want to do my part to help the economy" but didn't think that would fly.

I would definitely look into using the 2 years depreciation as a talking point to getting the price down - it's what I did with my 2008 Mazdaspeed 3. After the 2 miles back to my apartment, it was worth more the price I paid. For a brief moment, I considered turning around and selling it for a small profit. But, I'd already bonded with the car, and that wasn't going to happen.

I say go for it and keep holding out until you get the price you want. They'll have to crack at some point.

Oh, and hopefully NM will come in here soon.

Yeah, I'm going to hold on. I'm in no rush whatsoever. Daughter isn't 16 for several months (and again, this is in no way for her....this would be my car, no doubt), and so I'm looking to take advantage of the buyers market, which require patience. I've got LOTS of time.

I also have driven other vehicles I like as well, so if the guy gets back to me with some lame counter offer, I'll tell him I'm not even sure I want it anymore and may even lower my offer. That'll teach 'em not to accept what I said first!

You may want to look at the new Honda Insight. They've turned it into a sedan, so it's no longer the 60-80 mpg wonder, but the mileage is still almost as good as the Civic Hybrid for about 3 or 4K less.

Instead of getting a convertible, you could just get any car plus a bumper sticker that says, "Attention: Midlife Crisis In Progress." ;)

I do not deny that is in part what's happening, but it isn't my fault that as I get older I am able to afford something fun. :)

You stole that one from Eliot Spitzer.

Just FYI, Mustangs are weighted a little differently than most cars and will perform slightly different in a car accident. Not a huge factor, but worth noting.

Hey Dude,

Ignore all the naysayers and resist temptation to get a boring-mobile. The Mustang convertible is a great choice. I will say that the V6 in this car is not the best powerplant out there. It's not even the best V6 Ford has to offer. I highly recommend the GT.

The Camaro (just released) is stunningly beautiful and has a killer V6 that has nearly as much HP as the Mustang GT's V8!

Also something to note, the 2010 Mustang is significantly improved. The interior quality is dramatically better and the SYNCH system and navigation is probably the best in the entire auto industry. The suspension has also been revised significantly and now offers some of the best steering and handling in the class. The powerplants have only been revised slightly though and are substantially behind their competitors. That is until the new 5.0 comes out next year.

That said, because the new revised 2010 Mustang is out, you can get excellent deals on the old ones, especially an '08. Having driven both, I highly recommend the 2010 but if you are hunting for a deal, the '08 can work. I would recommend driving both and seeing what you think. Either way, the aural nirvana resonating from the exhaust on the V8 is pure sex. You gotta love it.

Don't believe a word NM says about cars: he doesn't know what he is talking about

Obviously! But when he said "pure sex" it caught my attention.

And if I said ham?

Hio probably would have wet himself

I would like a Lexus Convertible, dark blue with tan leather please.

We'll probably just end up with another Civic Hybrid. Though now that we've cut our driving back to about 400 (about a tenth of what we used to do) miles a month, the one we have now may last forever.

My next car will be a GS460

Is that the one I want? You can't copy me!

Doesn't look like it's going to happen. I told the guy he had my final offer on Sat, haven't heard back.

If they still have it in a couple weeks, I bet I do hear from him....but my offer will be lower.

This is fine. I don't need another car yet. Just looking for a bargain.

Though I do really want a convertible mustang.

Why don't you get an original?

I don't believe that the GS is available as a convertible - it is a larger sedan. I think what you are looking for is an SC. These are coupes and I know they are available as convertibles.

As much as I love older cars (dream car is either a 32 Ford Coupe or a 34 Vicky), I have become too accustomed to modern accoutrements to want to regularly drive anything old.

Can you imagine living in AZ without AC? I sweat at the thought of it!

My best friend in HS had a 66 Mustang. At my 20th reunion I was devastated to find out his dad had sold it. It was....beyond description in its beauty.

You can always add AC, I agree it would be a must for AZ.

Just so long as it is done on the QT.

With doors and windows closed on a 110 degree day in summer the interior temp gets up to 160 or so. This is why on the last new vehilcle we purchased 3 years ago it has a remote starter. Come out of the store, start it while walking to it. It really helps.

That's funny - I've always left the concept of remote starters to heating up cars in the winter when you can't even crack your door open because it's so frosted/frozen.

I'm sure that's the common reason for having it. The only time that the heat in Phoenix gets to me is when I'm getting into my car after it's been sitting in the sun. The couple minutes of letting the AC blow before you get in makes a tremendous difference.

I used to call on customer in Arizona. Many a time I would go to the parking lot, start the car and turn on the AC, get back out of the car for a minute or two. It was better to be out in the sun than sitting in the car.

HA! I knew it. Sales guy got back to me today. I think he was just waiting to see if I got antsy in not hearing from him for 4 days after my last offer.

He said he'll revisit the price if they still have it after next weekend. I responded and told him that my offer might not be the same when he gets back to me. If he comes back and accepts my offer, I may tell him that was the offer of two weeks ago and now it's down 400 or 500, and tell him that offer might only be good for a couple of days.

I hate being jacked with. I think he's jackin' with me.

Well... you are jacking with him

Not really. I made a sincere offer that he didn't accept. If he had accepted it, I'd have bought it. He is basically saying he's holding out for me to agree to his higher price and hoping someone will agree to pay more than I've offered over the next couple of weeks. From my perspective, it's supply and demand. There's no demand for the car, so the price gets lower the longer it sits there.

He made a sincere offer that you didn't accept. If you'd accepted it, he would have sold it. You're basically saying you're holding out for him to agree to your lower price hoping no one will agree to pay more than you've offered over the next couple of weeks. From his perspective, it's supply and demand, there might be demand for the car, so he doesn't want to lower the price if he doesn't have to.

So how is he "jerking you" and more than you're "jerking him?" There's nothing wrong with your strategy, and unless he's lying to you about something there's nothing wrong with his.

And, ya know, there's nothing wrong with you jerking each other. Just let it happen, and enjoy. It's ok.;)

Well, I haven't been posting everything that he's written obviously. To summarize with approzimate figures - Twice he's come back and said "well, this is the lowest I can go". This process started at dealer invoice + 850. A couple days later it was at dealer invoice. A couple days later it was at dealer invoice - 650. Each time it's the lowest he can go.

So of course he's playing the game. I am too, no doubt, but my offer hasn't changed (was at dealer invoice - 1400) except to offer splitting the difference between his last offer and my original. Which I found odd that he didn't accept, really, as that wasn't much of a difference.

If this thread makes it onto a third page you will need to change it's title...

I had a dream that the Volvo dealer offer to buy my car and sell me a C30 with payments of $99 a month. I woke up before I could take them up on the offer.

If you're going to muck around in car dealing, please don't pretend you aren't wheeling and dealing yourself. :rolleyes:

ummm, cp, I'm not pretending anything of the sort....


That's from my post #46 in this thread.

I am going to play along now. But I've only made one offer.

Is there only one dealership in your area? We saved over $1,000 on our last car by shopping around to different dealers.

And someone is coming to look at my car this weekend for a test drive. Fingers crossed! :)

Sorry to hijack, I hope your car negotiations go well, Leo.

Hijack smijack - threads go wherever they go.

I've looked at many a dealer in the area - I'm pursuing this one because it is the only 2008 red convertible in the metro Phoenix area. There are lots of 2008s that are not convertible, but....blech.

If this doesn't go and I end up with a 2009 or 2010 in a few months, I'll definitely be looking at more than one dealer.

tear em up scaegles! last time I bought a new ride from a dealer, I remember my then wife telling me "wow...youre a real prick. nice goin!"

:evil:

Nothing says mid-life crisis like a red Mustang convertible. :p :p ;) ;)

I don't see any denial of that on my part anywhere in this thread. :)