Advice for car purchase?

itssookay

Hi guys! I know this has nothing to do with golf but I wanted to reach out to you wiser folken for some advice...

I've been looking to trade in my family's 2011 Chrysler T&C and buy a sedan (my dad's was discharged from the hospital after a long year and now requires a lower car to transport him around town...). I figure AWD would be nice since we live in central NJ and we get our share of rain/snow, but FWD should be okay as well.

I was looking to purchase a wallet-friendly luxury sedan (if that's even a thing? haha) and recently looked at the 2020 Acura TLX base model... Long story short, the dealership offered me $26,880.00, which is a whopping 21% off MSRP! As of right now I haven't even sat down to negotiate with the dealer, but that's the quoted price I was given straight off the bat.

As this will be my first "big boy" purchase - any tips and advice to reduce the out-of-door price and avoid costly mistakes would be appreciated!

Thanks everyone,
SJ

Noyes26

Great time to buy with interest rates where they are. When it comes to buying a new car there’s really not going to be the back and forth negotiations like it sounds like you are looking for. It’s not too hard to look up what they actually own the car for. You may be able to ask for a few free oil changes or something small like that to close a deal. My recommendation is unless you get 0% or even 0.9%, put down as much as you are comfortable to do. Im
not a huge fan of anything more then 60 mos but again if the rate is 0% and you gotta go 72 mos it’s hard to pass up “free money”.

Good luck. Get what you want. You’re the one that has to drive it for a while. Also don’t just jump at gap insurance. If you are getting a nice deal you really should not need it.

itssookay

Noyes26 Thank you for the tips! I actually haggled my sister's car Escape Titanium down from 38k to 30k out the door last year (fees and tax incl.) so I figured there might be some room for negotiation... Considering the price offered as it is I was wondering if it was even worth it to try and sit down to get a better deal haha

I realize it's a buyer's market so I'm definitely looking to pull the trigger before year end - I just started test driving some cars and so far I really like the Lexus ES and the Acura TLX (definitely leaning towards the TLX because... $$$$$)... I don't need anything super powerful as I'm mostly looking for a weekend cruiser that'll last me a while, and will leave my spare keys with my mom to take dad around town as needed during the week.

Would you say AWD is actually worth it in the rain / snow? I live in a fairly affected area but honestly am thinking snow tires should do the trick in the winter... 🤔

ckay

As far as rain goes when you hydroplane AWD won’t save you. Just drive safely according to the conditions. Snow tires will be sufficient. AWD is nice to have but you’re offsetting fuel efficiency.

huntingchris0000

We are an Acura family. I have an A spec TLX and my wife drives a TLX. That price seems like a really good deal. The last 5 cars I have owned have been Acura’s. We have had really good luck with them over the years.

itssookay

huntingchris0000

I just realized that they're trying to get rid of the 2020s as 2021 TLXs will be rolling out in a few months!!!

Hot damn that new design language looks nice but I'm not sure I can afford a 35k car as of right now haha

Is the 26.5k offer worth it for a base FWD model? Should I just go get a Honda Accord at that price point?

Thanks!!!
SJ

huntingchris0000

itssookay the Honda Accord will be the same car with out all the extras. If you are trying to get best price the accord will be a great option