My Resolution to buying used luxury cars (and how to find a good deal)

So as most of you know, we have ended up with an ’05 Infiniti G35x.  So far, I have been very happy with it.  From this researching and buying experience, my new resolution is that we buy slightly used cars from now on.  Slightly used luxury cars to be in fact.  However, here’s what I put in as minimum requirements.

  • Less than 4 years old
  • Less than 50,000 miles (usually luxury cars have about 4 year/50,000 mile warranty)

Here’s why… when it comes to luxury cars, they depreciate the most in their first TWO years!  It’s ridiculous when you find out that even cars like a ’05 BMW 525i can be had for $24,000!  You can see for yourself here!  InternetAutoguide.com has a decent layout of it.  The only luxury car brand that I’ve seen that held up value is Lexus.  All the rest pretty much loses easily a third to half of their value within 2 years!  How crazy is that?!  I am guessing that most who buy a luxury car don’t hold onto it for too long and upgrade after few years.  So the market is overloaded with slightly used luxury cars and hence the fall of their value.  My recommended procedure:

1. Determine the size of the car you are looking for and start researching on their used values using sites like Edmunds.com, NADA.com, and Kelly’s Blue Book.  I personally prefer Edmunds.com as their value estimate seems to be more reasonable.  Once you find out the levels of values (retail, private sale, and trade-in), try to shoot for the trade-in value of the car.

2. Next, start searching and here are some suggestions.

3. As you search for the car, sign up for a one-month unlimited account on Carfax (about $40) and be sure to do basic background check on the car using VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) number!  You want a car that wasn’t involved in an accident, totaled, salvaged, and/or was in a flooded area!  And shoot for a single-owner vehicle!

4. For cars you are looking at that is out of driving range to go and see it in person (thru sites like Autotrader or eBay), be SURE to check all the pictures and descriptions!

5. Special tip for eBay:

  • Avoid auctions with reserves on them.  They suck.
  • Always underbid at least few thousands below the trade-in value!  Yes, you read that right!  Since you weren’t be able to confirm anything, you want to figure in possible costs of fixer uppers.
  • Be sure to buy from established dealers!  Be sure to check that the seller has lots of good feedback as a seller!
  • Increase your search range (this is a nice feature on eBay and sites like cars.com and autotrader.com) once you start as local to your area as possible.

I will be sure to add more stuff if I remember anything else…

Craigslist Reader: An Awesome Free Tool

This reminds me of the news group days… for those deal seekers out there, you all know about Craigslist, which is a free classified listing service.  You can find practically anything, including jobs!  However, it is practically daunting to try to find something sometimes because you couldn’t search by multiple locations and/or categories.  Well, your worry days in deal-finding days are over!  Thanks to Motion Technologies’ free software, Craigslist Reader, you can now just do that!   You can search by multiple locations and categories!!  Go get it and start looking for deals … or jobs!!  It’s rather easy to use and awesome at what it does!!

Hyundai’s Assurance Program

I know I already spoke of Hyundai yesterday with the possible US-release of Equus, but I just had to mention/bring this up.  Hyundai has been one of the 3 car companies that have had positive sales in these tough times.  How?

It’s what Hyundai calls “Assurance Program.”  It’s rather ingenious in that it provides the buyer with an option to return the car within 1 year of the purchase date if he/she gets laid off and can’t make the payments.  Now, that’s a creative way to sell cars.

The bigger question is, how come other car makers (hint hint, GM, Ford, and Chrysler) don’t try something as creative and just ask us for more money?!!  Ah ha… yup.  That’s what I thought…

Fighting high luxury with Hyundai?!

Courtesy of Autoblog
Courtesy of Autoblog

This new auto year of ’09, Hyundai released a car into luxury segment with its Genesis.  It starts at $33k and if you opt for V8 and other amenities, you can easily go over $40k.  Now, that’s a Hyundai you probably didn’t think of ever seeing!

Well, the shock may not be over yet.  Pending on how well the Genesis goes, Hyundai may opt to add another luxury fighter: Equus.  While Genesis is geared to fight against the likes of BMW 5 series  and Benz E series along with Lexus’ ES and GS series, it is no match against the likes of any of their flagships like Lexus LS series, BMW 7 series and Benz S-class sedans.  Equus is geared to fight against the likes of those cars!  That’s a lot to live for…

Currently, Equus is only released in South Korea at “measley” price of close to $100k!  😮  Yikes.  Granted that cars cost a lot more in Korea, even at half of that, I am unsure how well it would be received.  I guess only time will tell…  It’s definitely a gutsy move though… Stay tuned.

Father to Son Bonding Time Ritual

As some of you know, my wife is a leader at Bible Study Fellowship and once a month, they have a fellowship time.  This means I have to pick up our son and spend the time with him.  Well, somehow, we have made it into a bonding ritual of sorts.

You see, he knows AND expects me to take him to THE best pho place in town (quite possibly in the US!), Pho Binh.  We drive there and I get the large pho tai with extra noodles and meat and JJ gets a large with noodles only!  Let me tell you, we both enjoy it!  Immensely!  I now realize that he really looks forward to just the two of us (yeah, go ahead and sing that song from the Austin Powers) spending the time together.  When you have more than one child, I think it becomes very important to have one-on-one time with each child.

Sure it’s become a repetitive ritual but it’s a good kind of ritual.  He knows that I will be with him and we both get to enjoy our favorite meal!  Together!  Now, that means I need to make time to go to Anna’s lunch hour at her school and spend the time with her.

Here’s to more great rituals in the family!

I’m a Believer in Neti pot

If you’ve known me for at least a few years, you know that I suffer yearly.  In a major way, I might add.  Twice a year, I am tempted to swear my head off thanks to the pollen allergies.  Each year seemed to get worse and I felt like just putting myself out of my own misery!  🙁  I first learned about the Neti pot last year.

However, I tried it too late when my sinus was already so inflamed that even Burger King wanted to make their flame-broiled burger on it!  >.<  So I let it rest but this year, I wanted to give it one more try.  You see, if you suffer from something for so long (in my case, 21 years) from something, and the pain just only gets worse, you practically will try anything!  I say ‘practically’ ’cause there’s one thing I kept refusing to:  needles.  Gives me the creeps to the nth degree!

This time, it seemed that I should try the Neti pot more than once a day.  So I started using it twice a day.  Let me tell you … that using Neti pot is like drowning yourself.  You fill your sinus cavity with salt water… it flows through one nostril though the sinus, around the eyes, and out the other nostril.  The only way to breathe while this goes on is by breathing through your mouth.  In short, it ain’t pleasant.  And if your nose is stuffed up, it is rather painful!

It was a tough week trying it out but I stuck to it this time around.  My nose and eyes were still inflamed.  However, the difference is that the sinus wasn’t.  Today, after 6 days of Neti pot, other than minor nose irritation, the day actually went fine.  I was rather busy at work even and usually, I am almost hands tied and can’t do anything work-wise.  Not today.  I was coherent and got through the day without much pain.  After 21 freakin’ years!!  Hallelujah!  😀  If the Neti pot holds up, I might even stop taking Allegra!  Let me just tell you, I am a believer.  If you have sinus pains, you need to check it out.