Small new car – I can’t believe I’m considering it

[michael]

Previous vehicles
-1998 Chevy K1500 – Parked and undriveable for paperwork issues and intake gasket problem and needs new cats
-1989 Ford E150 – Head gasket failed, gone
-1996 GMC Yukon – Rear end failed and took tranny with it, gone

Current vehicle:
-1983 Chevy Truck C20

Considering:
-2014 Chevy Cruze Automatic 1.4L Turbo with 28K Miles
http://www.novatochevrolet.com/VehicleDetails/certified-2014-Chevrolet-Cruze-Sedan_1LT_%28Automatic%29-Novato-CA/2499739513

I’d need to have a family member cosign on the loan since I have poor/no credit. My down payment would be selling the 1983 C20 (~$2K).

I want to transition from working my part time job 5 city miles away to doing my own website design and development in the near future, and I want to visit my office (about 60 miles round trip from home to office) several days a week to do this. Clearly the old truck is not reliable enough for putting this kind of miles on it, and the fuel bill for this would be the same or more as the new car payment – and I’m not even including maintenance and the fact that something different goes wrong on this truck ever time I drive it. Besides, I’d have a warranty in case anything were to go wrong, and though you can’t beat the laws of physicals (full size truck or SUV vs small compact car will always be won by the truck) technology over the last 30+ years has improved so overall the new vehicle is a safer choice.

My biggest problem is less the car payment – it’s more that I’d need comprehensive insurance which for me would be like $300/mo :'( Currently I pay $120/mo for minimum liability insurance which is a high rate but a lot less than $300. Insurance for a 20 year old male is not cheap. I still think I could afford it as long as I made sure to do at least one more website a month which I am confident I could do if I could actually go meet clients and show up in a presentable vehicle 🙂 I’ll also be saving on gas just commuting back and forth to my part time job because most of that is idling in heavy traffic which the carbureted V8 doesn’t like.

I’ve compared many different vehicles and spent several days doing research online, watching reviews, checking Consumer Reports, etc. I’ve compared the Chevy Cruze, Nissan Versa, Mazda 3, Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, and Kia Forte.

While the Chevy does not stand out spectacularly in terms of value, fuel economy, or reliability, it also doesn’t seem to be a bad car – unlike past GM cars (Chevy Cavalier and Cobalt, for example). I like how it looks more than the other ones, I’d like to buy American (though the logo on the front is not my priority but just a plus), I like GM (mainly for their trucks, but I like to vote with my wallet so to speak), and it seems to be a little bit more substantial of a vehicle than say the Nissan Versa.

I know I shouldn’t base my decision on how it looks, but I like the styling of the Cruze. It looks mature, unlike many new cars on the road. I hate all this curvy crap and the Cruze has just the right amount. Sure, I think a Silverado looks better, but I can’t afford it and it’s really not practical.

I feel this forum is not very biased because it’s not specific to Chevy, Ford, Toyota, etc. So I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on the Chevy Cruze. Thank you!

Topic

[Jesse]

[quote=”mstk415″ post=137920]Previous vehicles
-1998 Chevy K1500 – Parked and undriveable for paperwork issues and intake gasket problem and needs new cats
-1989 Ford E150 – Head gasket failed, gone
-1996 GMC Yukon – Rear end failed and took tranny with it, gone

Current vehicle:
-1983 Chevy Truck C20

Considering:
-2014 Chevy Cruze Automatic 1.4L Turbo with 28K Miles
http://www.novatochevrolet.com/VehicleDetails/certified-2014-Chevrolet-Cruze-Sedan_1LT_%28Automatic%29-Novato-CA/2499739513

I’d need to have a family member cosign on the loan since I have poor/no credit. My down payment would be selling the 1983 C20 (~$2K).

I want to transition from working my part time job 5 city miles away to doing my own website design and development in the near future, and I want to visit my office (about 60 miles round trip from home to office) several days a week to do this. Clearly the old truck is not reliable enough for putting this kind of miles on it, and the fuel bill for this would be the same or more as the new car payment – and I’m not even including maintenance and the fact that something different goes wrong on this truck ever time I drive it. Besides, I’d have a warranty in case anything were to go wrong, and though you can’t beat the laws of physicals (full size truck or SUV vs small compact car will always be won by the truck) technology over the last 30+ years has improved so overall the new vehicle is a safer choice.

My biggest problem is less the car payment – it’s more that I’d need comprehensive insurance which for me would be like $300/mo :'( Currently I pay $120/mo for minimum liability insurance which is a high rate but a lot less than $300. Insurance for a 20 year old male is not cheap. I still think I could afford it as long as I made sure to do at least one more website a month which I am confident I could do if I could actually go meet clients and show up in a presentable vehicle 🙂 I’ll also be saving on gas just commuting back and forth to my part time job because most of that is idling in heavy traffic which the carbureted V8 doesn’t like.

I’ve compared many different vehicles and spent several days doing research online, watching reviews, checking Consumer Reports, etc. I’ve compared the Chevy Cruze, Nissan Versa, Mazda 3, Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, and Kia Forte.

While the Chevy does not stand out spectacularly in terms of value, fuel economy, or reliability, it also doesn’t seem to be a bad car – unlike past GM cars (Chevy Cavalier and Cobalt, for example). I like how it looks more than the other ones, I’d like to buy American (though the logo on the front is not my priority but just a plus), I like GM (mainly for their trucks, but I like to vote with my wallet so to speak), and it seems to be a little bit more substantial of a vehicle than say the Nissan Versa.

I know I shouldn’t base my decision on how it looks, but I like the styling of the Cruze. It looks mature, unlike many new cars on the road. I hate all this curvy crap and the Cruze has just the right amount. Sure, I think a Silverado looks better, but I can’t afford it and it’s really not practical.

I feel this forum is not very biased because it’s not specific to Chevy, Ford, Toyota, etc. So I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on the Chevy Cruze. Thank you![/quote]
I talk to a lot of technicians at the Chevy dealership right next to the dealership I work at all of the time, and sometimes they pop in to get their oil changed. Let me just tell you NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. The build quality on these vehicles is piss poor, and I’ve heard many horror stories from the technicians at the Chevy dealership. I’ve even had one that had come in with a nasty grinding sound and it only had 30,000 miles on it. I would stay far away from the Cruze, there are better options.

If I were you I would stay away from a new car period, especially if you are starting a new business. If we go by the sticker price, minus 2000 dollars, not including tax you are going to be paying around 270 dollars per month over 4 years. When we add in the comprehensive insurance policy we are talking about 570 dollars per month. I’m also not including interest, which will be higher given the fact that you have no credit history. I think 570 dollars per month is a realistic number when you include insurance. If you add another 40 dollars in gas for the month the price to operate you car goes up to 610 dollars per month. Then you need to factor in maintenance items such as brakes, filters, fluids, and oil changes (given your usage probably once every 3 months or more for oil). It is also worth noting that the estimates on gas mileage are almost always off in real world situations.

Can you afford 610 dollars a month? You mentioned that you are working part time, and you are griping about your truck sucking gas down. Filters are also expensive, it cost my customers around 50 dollars to replace a cabin air filter. So around once, or twice a year you’re probably going to have an 80 dollar service done, that adds an extra 160 dollars over the course of a year. Aggressive on your brakes? That is not covered under warranty, that is around 300-400 bucks if you get a full service. It’s also worth mentioning that you will probably NOT get 2000 dollars for your truck if you trade it in.

You do not need to buy a new car to get a reliable vehicle, you just need to make a sensible choice. Hell, I’ve been driving a 25 year old Buick LeSabre around for 5 years and I bought it for 500 dollars(only pay 50 a month in insurance), which is less than your monthly payment by the way. I’ve put a good 65,000 miles on it, and the only thing that I’ve needed to replace is my ECU. I got a new one for around 30 dollars at a junkyard. Never once has it left me stranded, never once has it had to visit a shop. I’ve only needed to take a wrench on it once in the many years that I have owned it.

For you maybe an older Toyota Camry might be in order. Paying 610+ dollars a month just to drive your car is not good at your stage of life, especially if you’re going to quit your job to start a businesses. That means you have no guaranteed income, and that is something that they will look at as well, your income when deciding whether or not they want to loan you the money, and at what interest rate.

[twiggy]

The Carfax report indicates it was a rental vehicle which personally would make me nervous as a lot of people are not nice to rentals when driving them. I think you can find something cheaper just as reliable.

[michael]

Uh, bummer. I didn’t realize that. I can get one $3-4K cheaper if I don’t mind it being a rental car.
https://www.hertzcarsales.com/vehicle/details/14273389

[michael]

Well, I guess I should update everybody. The only way this was going to work was to go for something a bit older. I ended up with an 07 Colorado. It’s certainly different having an underpowered 4-cylinder instead of a big V8 but it gets much better gas mileage and I’m hoping it’s going to be reliable moving forward!

[Author]

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