Car Advice

Arketebel said:

I get a few internet quotes from places a few hours away. Then I take the best one, knock of a few hundred and ask a dealer a little closer if they can meet the price. By the time I get to the closest dealership, I usually know the lowest anyone will go. If my local dealer won't match, but is still within the ballpark of the best price, I will buy there. It makes it easier for warranty/recall service, and they often provide a loaner for the day or more when necessary.

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What do you normally find you can knock the price down by? $500? $1,000? More?

MSRP $37k
Internet Price: $31.5
Reasonable price to expect to pay... ??

Phills14 said:

What do you normally find you can knock the price down by? $500? $1,000? More?

MSRP $37k
Internet Price: $31.5
Reasonable price to expect to pay... ??

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If one of the quotes is from a big city dealer that moves a lot of units, it may be $500 or $0. They often quote their best price, or very close, to move volume. By the time I get to a closer dealer, probably $500-$1000 less than some other quotes.

For new Wranglers, I believe invoice is usually about 4-6% less than MSRP. Holdback (money the manufacturer uses to ensure dealer profit) is usually around another 3-4 %, so any price less than invoice is cutting into dealer profit. The max you would likely get discounted for a new model is 10%.

Your difference between Internet price and MSRP is 15%, which leads me to believe it is a previous year model, so probably a 2019? They discount them beyond holdback to get them off the lot and keep them from eating away at floor/lot space for new models/used cars.

Also, the internet price and/or MSRP may not include destination ($1500) or document fees ($300 max.)

On the surface it looks like you have a good price that will be hard to bargain with. You can look at fair prices here buy creating your specific build:

King Stannis said:

I am looking at a new (not new, but new to me) car in 6-8 months.

Not a SUV as I have no need for one here.

2-4 doors, luxury sedan. I want power and grace. Don't want to spend more than $25K give or take a couple grand.

So far I am leaning toward the 2016-2018 Jaguar XF-S, or the 2015 XFR and its 510 HP engine, but I dislike its outdated electronics. The XF is both powerful, nimble and not everyone has one here. I had an Evoque so I am very familiar with Jaguar/Land Rover family.

I am also considering the Jaguar XE-S (smaller mid-sized), the 2015-217 BMW 550i, 2015-2017 BMW 650i.

Any other options I am overlooking? We already have an Audi, and they did facelifts past 2018, so no dice there. Not big into Mercedes.

I did look into the Teslas, KI, but too much for either the S and 3.

Any others?

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Audi S4? S6?...huge fan of audis personally, but to each their own.

King Stannis said:

I am looking at a new (not new, but new to me) car in 6-8 months.

Not a SUV as I have no need for one here.

2-4 doors, luxury sedan. I want power and grace. Don't want to spend more than $25K give or take a couple grand.

So far I am leaning toward the 2016-2018 Jaguar XF-S, or the 2015 XFR and its 510 HP engine, but I dislike its outdated electronics. The XF is both powerful, nimble and not everyone has one here. I had an Evoque so I am very familiar with Jaguar/Land Rover family.

I am also considering the Jaguar XE-S (smaller mid-sized), the 2015-217 BMW 550i, 2015-2017 BMW 650i.

Any other options I am overlooking? We already have an Audi, and they did facelifts past 2018, so no dice there. Not big into Mercedes.

I did look into the Teslas, KI, but too much for either the S and 3.

Any others?

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Yes, Teslas hold their value better than any other car brand, because they are going to last a lot longer than any used car and they keep getting updated to match the current mode, and people generally don't want to drive anything else once they have one. All of this makes it hard to find a good price on a used one. Slight chance you can find a deal over the next 6-8 months as a non trivial number of people will replace their model 3 with a model y.

Man Called X said:

On the lower end luxury, I've never heard a complaint about Acura's. You'll never hear me suggesting a Jaguar or a BMW, and while an aspect of that is I'm too poor to think about owning one, the other aspect is difficulty in getting repairs. Perhaps that aspect is negated being in California as opposed to Ohio.

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I have friends with Acuras, I have always respected the Japanese brands.

You're right about the repair costs... though, oddly enough, I took my Rover in exactly zero times. Zero issues over three years.

GOMD said:

Hyundai Genesis G80 5.0? 420 hp v8. Other than that, I think you have most of your choices in front of you.

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Yeah, I've been wondering about those. Any experience with them?

Love the HP number.

I have been partial to the 2015 Jaguar XFR with its 510 HP but too dated electronics. Maybe I will get one a few years down the line as a classic Sunday car.

And, I found that most of the EU companies have ditched the big V8s since 2016. Only the 750i, M6, 650i, and the pre-2015 550is have the big V8s, and they are costly.

The newer Jag XF-S has the best possible V6 with 380 HP. But from what I have read and watched the Jag is far more nimble than those BMWs which are large and heavy.

So, looking for a 400+ option as nimble as the Jag, though the Jag is not surpassed by any on its exterior lines.

Lee said:

Audi S4? S6?...huge fan of audis personally, but to each their own.

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S4.

I like them, but their facelift and interior MMI upgrades only came in the 2018 models, so they are about $10K out of the range for what I want to pay.

I also need to get a SUV when we move back to Seattle. So I am not willing to go above a certain limit knowing I have to spend $40K+ in three years.

King Stannis said:

I have friends with Acuras, I have always respected the Japanese brands.

You're right about the repair costs... though, oddly enough, I took my Rover in exactly zero times. Zero issues over three years.

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My family has had a couple Lexus's and a couple Acuras. The build quality of a Lexus is alot better. We never kept the Acuras for that long but the Lexus's were kept for a very long time. The people I know with a Lexus tend to keep them for longer and will just pass them down to someone else in the family.

They just don't get as many of those little problems that make you hate a car over time. We have owned a couple Audi's and I've always tell my friends to stay away unless you are just going to keep it under warranty or you are ready to work on the car yourself. They seem to need constant attention to keep them running well. I love Quattro and they make some real good engines but things just wear out or fail too often.

Phills14 said:

What do you normally find you can knock the price down by? $500? $1,000? More?

MSRP $37k
Internet Price: $31.5
Reasonable price to expect to pay... ??

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It helps to find out how long a car has been sitting on the lot too.

They'll budge more. 5% not unheard of.

King Stannis said:

S4.

I like them, but their facelift and interior MMI upgrades only came in the 2018 models, so they are about $10K out of the range for what I want to pay.

I also need to get a SUV when we move back to Seattle. So I am not willing to go above a certain limit knowing I have to spend $40K+ in three years.

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What year S4 do you have? I have a B5 S4. I've been thinking about getting newer B8 S4 or a S5. Did you test drive a S5 before you got the S4?

inliner311 said:

My family has had a couple Lexus's and a couple Acuras. The build quality of a Lexus is alot better. We never kept the Acuras for that long but the Lexus's were kept for a very long time. The people I know with a Lexus tend to keep them for longer and will just pass them down to someone else in the family.

They just don't get as many of those little problems that make you hate a car over time. We have owned a couple Audi's and I've always tell my friends to stay away unless you are just going to keep it under warranty or you are ready to work on the car yourself. They seem to need constant attention to keep them running well. I love Quattro and they make some real good engines but things just wear out or fail too often.

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We got ours certified so it was covered. I always get certified, or otherwise under some sort of warranty.

The cars I am looking at now, 2016 year models are still certified. Jaguar in particular has move to a 7/100,000 mile certified warranty.

So generally 3-4 years on warranty if buying cars coming off leases.

inliner311 said:

What year S4 do you have? I have a B5 S4. I've been thinking about getting newer B8 S4 or a S5. Did you test drive a S5 before you got the S4?

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I am not sure of the B series. It is my partner's car.

We got it in 2017, it is a 2014.

He isn't really into cars like I am, so it was something of a tug of war to convince him that a higher end car might be better. He had a strict limit of what he wanted to spend.

I love the S5, had a friend with one he bought after we got home from Iraq in 2010. The power and lines are great.

But, they are very pricey and for the new gen MMI, they only started in 2018, so those cars are still priced at the $35K-$40K level.

Audis keep their value longer than BMW and Jaguar I have noticed.

inliner311 said:

What year S4 do you have? I have a B5 S4. I've been thinking about getting newer B8 S4 or a S5. Did you test drive a S5 before you got the S4?

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I don't think he has one, he is saying he likes the S4, but want a 2018 or newer because of the new body style and that is out of his price range.

If he goes S5, he can get the 2017 body style, maybe make it in price range?

Lee said:

I don't think he has one, he is saying he likes the S4, but want a 2018 or newer because of the new body style and that is out of his price range.

If he goes S5, he can get the 2017 body style, maybe make it in price range?

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Yeah I looked at 2017. Still a bit pricey, electronics are too old.

Like I said, we have a 2014 model and it has a real issue pairing with my iPhone, like it won't pause, it never remembers tracks, it sometimes doesn't work.

The Audi interfaces were dated in 2014, but they kept them until 2018.

That is the major ding with them, in my opinion.

My RR Evoque was a 2012 model and far superior interface than the Audi, and even then the Rover electronics were considered sub-par. The Audis were worse....

King Stannis said:

Yeah I looked at 2017. Still a bit pricey, electronics are too old.

Like I said, we have a 2014 model and it has a real issue pairing with my iPhone, like it won't pause, it never remembers tracks, it sometimes doesn't work.

The Audi interfaces were dated in 2014, but they kept them until 2018.

That is the major ding with them, in my opinion.

My RR Evoque was a 2012 model and far superior interface than the Audi, and even then the Rover electronics were considered sub-par. The Audis were worse....

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I have a 2018 Hyundai Tucson and love it, electronics are great, good fuel for small suv, soccer mom vibe, zero power, and yet I still get laid, not sure how though so I am going to bow out, I think I gave my cool car giving advice rights when I went the soccer mom car route, lol. I thought about getting the Alfa Rameo and glad i didn't spend the extra money for a problem child suv.

King Stannis said:

We got ours certified so it was covered. I always get certified, or otherwise under some sort of warranty.

The cars I am looking at now, 2016 year models are still certified. Jaguar in particular has move to a 7/100,000 mile certified warranty.

So generally 3-4 years on warranty if buying cars coming off leases.

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I would check out a Lexus GS or RC. The GS is a nice blend of sporty and luxury. It also feels like it's in that same class as the European cars instead of feeling like an upgraded version of the parent company brand like alot of Acuras and infiniti's