Ben's Car-Buying Ramblings
...and comments on my '96 Acura Integra SE...
Some time ago, a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to help him. He needed a car, and I had just bought one, and I really love dispensing advice. This is the email I wrote him. A couple of other people since then have asked for the same thing, so I decided to HTMLise it (Don't worry, I would never send HTML email) so anyone could access it easily. It was written with one person in mind, just off the top of my head, without proof-reading or structure. It's not a piece of writing to be proud of, but it definitely contains some advice that I wish I'd had earlier. I've changed a little bit here and there as people send me comments and new thoughts occur to me, but here it is in almost unedited form:DON'T GET A 2-DOOR!!!!!
Ok, now that I have that off my chest... I got a '96 Acura Integra 2-door. It has "back seats", but they are small, and the roof slopes down in back so that tall people (over about 165 cm) really have to kink their necks most awkwardly to fit. But the back seats fold down, and it's a hatchback, so the thing turns into a pickup truck on demand. That's really nice, and figured quite prominently in my decision. Sometimes I love my car, and it's usually for this. Still, it's nothing to what a station wagon can do. If you must have a two-door, sit in back and make really sure that you are comfy. If you're small, bring a bigger friend.
Acceleration is good, though not really great: there is not really much torque 'til the engine gets well over 3000 rpm (4000 is a good start). I think that this is characteristic of most Japanese 4-cylinders. I hear that even the really cheap BMW (which costs only a tiny bit more) has much better handling and more torque at lower rpms. The Acura handles well, though the ride is a little bumpy. Cornering is smooth and accurate.
I like to ski. I wish I'd gotten a 4wd car. This does bad things for mileage, though. My brother saw the Audi A4. Audis used to have reliability problems, but they are much better now. Same comment applies to BM'ers. Apparently the A4 has some really flimsy parts, but it is cheap [Update - this is old information. The new A4s are much better, but they aren't cheap anymore. Test one anyway!] The Acura has some flimsy parts too.
I really love my sunroof. A sunroof will appear on any car I ever buy. They let in the air without making as much noise as open windows. And the Integra happens to have very noisy windows. Of course, I did live in California for four years. One summer I left my sunroof open for about two months, until I got tired of finding spiders behind the sunshades.
You probably want a rear windshield wiper. You probably want 4-wheel disk brakes. Get ABS (my current car, a 1990 Audi 200 wagon, has a switch to disable ABS. This is because in 1990, ABS systems sucked. I'm told that they're much better now, and this switch isn't necessary anymore). I hear Corvettes have a nice traction control system, though even less of a back seat than my Integra...
I have long legs, so I have to drive with the seat all the way back. There is really no room in the seat behind me. The right back seat has room for a small person (ie female). Tight parking places would be easier with shorter doors, such as are found on 4-door cars.
If you have any plans to upgrade the sound system, make sure you check on the size of the speaker cutouts before you get a car. The Acuras (and probably? most everything except some American cars) are blessed with DIN-standard mount for the head unit. The Acura also has 6.5" speaker cutouts all around. But you may not care. It's probably worth investing a little (but not much) in a better sound system (like a CD player) if you don't live in a crime area, though they do tend to get stolen. If you want more comments about this, tell me...
Make sure you get all the little things you want, like cruise control, cup holders, or whatever you prefer. I think that it's really best to get all the factory-installed options you think you might possibly want, because then you'll have a car that you don't miss anything on. It really sucks to have a great car with things like air conditioning or cruise control missing: you know that if you'd spent just a couple of weeks' salary more, you could have all those things, and you can't get them aftermarket.
Don't even think about getting factory-installed stereo upgrades, or dealer-installed anything. You can do better through carefully-selected third-party dealer/installers. But you do have to be careful...
When you are about to sign everything, they'll ask you if you want Scotch-gard stainproofing and stuff... just say no, unless you're sure before going to the dealer that you want such. Do, however, get factory carpets if you can get them at a decent price (shop some car-accessory stores to find out what a good price is). You might want wheel-locks. The dealer may give you a good price on them, or he may not; last I checked that means about $40 or $50 for the set. They're not hard to install if you can borrow a torque wrench (ask your favorite mechanic or friend-with-tools if you can borrow one for 5 minutes).
Long, sexy-looking, slopey windshield and rear window collect sunlight, and make the car hot. More vertical windshields will keep the car cooler. Dark paint jobs will make a car hot. Rear spoilers stabilise you at speeds over 100 miles per hour or so, and impede rear visibility at all speeds. Real bumpers (not those damned plastic things) give you some real protection, if you don't know how to park, or you live in a city like Boston where driving is everyone's favourite full-contact sport.
I have a kind-of-performance car. I had never really driven one before. It is fun to drive, but now I've done that, and I want a more useful car. Not so "useful" that it's hard to park, mind you, but real back seats, and a good-sized trunk (actually, I do have a good trunk). Having a performance car was fun for about 4 months. Now I'd gladly trade it for a more functional one.
I should qualify that heavily by saying that I really don't enjoy driving for its own sake. Sure, it's fun, but on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, with the wind lightly ruffling the trees, I don't think "Boy, what a day to go for a nice drive!". You may think differently. Then you may want a more sporty car, and maybe to hell with the back seat. Maybe get a convertible. Not in Boston.
Manual trannies are fun, fast, more efficient, more versatile, and safer than automatics. Automatics let you eat in the car without steering with your knees (one hand free) and are easier in rush-hour traffic (which I try to avoid). I'll always get a manual. Electric cars don't need transmissions at all, which is really cool. Honda has a continuously-variable automatic which would appear to compensate for some of the problems of normal ones. Get a loan that you can pay back faster than you thought you would. Some dealers will give you loans in which you pay the interest in full, no matter how fast you pay. Avoid. Go to a credit union or real bank or something. My loan was at 8.25% (1996 - the rest of this paragraph may be obsolete). I guess the most important thing is to shop around a lot. Go drive some cars that you would not dream of buying. Like aforementioned BWM 318it or ti or whatever it is. I hear VW has a 4wd station wagon coming out in '98... you could get a cheap old volvo for now, and then get a new car later... maybe not cost-effective. I think that Subaru is making some really nice vehicles, but the 4-wheel drive system in the manual-transmission version sucks (this may change). When you have your heart set on something, call me and tell me why, and don't get it for at least a week. Sounds obvious, but it's not always that easy.
There's a service I used... it's at, um... http://www.autobytel.com and you might find it useful. Don't trust the people they tell you about, but it's a start, at least. They're supposed to offer you the car you want at a fixed price. The first dealer they pointed me to asked me what the best price I had so far was; they were obviously completely abusing their agreement with autobytel. The second one sold me a 1996 model in September of 1996 (I wasn't very educated, and he took advantage of that). No-one said that they had to be forthcoming with information, and they won't be. They are car dealers, and they will definitely try every trick to take your money.
Also look at http://www.edmunds.com. Lots of good info there.
Whew! :)
Jay ended up with the 2-door BMW 318ti... :) He test-drove a low-end Mustang, and kicked himself later. It was out of his price and usefulness range, so he thinks that he really should have tried the maxed-out 'vette. Can't do any harm.
I want to emphasise again: drive LOTS of cars before you decide on one. It will really help you.
A friend of mine with a Geo Metro wrote
I saw your car-buying page. I agree with the 2-door comment. One would think that with a Metro, one could easily park it, but the doors are so long...I basically agree that gadgets have an annoying propensity for breaking, but they were invented for a reason. I wish I could get a car with both electric and manual controls on the windows. But that's just not going to happen (note: my current car, a 1990 Audi 200 Quattro wagon, has an electric sunroof with a manual override). Not that it would be very hard to do, but if you put manual controls on, people would ask "why are there manual controls, when there are electric ones too?" and the dealer will say "in case the electric ones break" and the people will say "but that car over there doesn't have manual controls. So its electric ones are less likely to break, right?" and the dealer will give up and quit his job and go into cow farming, and, lord knows, there is already too much cow manure.Two guys here have A4s. They seem a little too nice....very quiet, extremely peppy. (compared to a geo metro, EVERYTHING is peppy--it is the only car I know of where you have to redline it 3 times to get on a freeway without getting killed--it doesn't come with a tach, however :-( ). Lots of silly electric gadgets to break. Personally, I stay away from cruise control, electric windows, rear wipers, etc. The reason is that they break, and cost a fortune to repair. So instead of lacking them, you have the cicada-shell of former car-greatness. Plus, when your power windows die, you have NO opening windows. What is worse is when they half-die...
As for the other gadgets, well, I like them. Air conditioning is very important in cold weather: it works by dehumidifying the air, and that means that it's by far the fastest way to defrost your windows. As for rear wipers, it's true that they break, but front ones also break, and I want front ones so I can see, and I damned well want to be able to see behind me too. Cruise control is just for lazy people. I'm lazy.
I would love to incorporate more comments on your experiences here, but remember that I'm lazy. And if your comments do make it through the laziness threshold, remember that whatever you say, I can put it up here, but then I get the last word! ;)