Buying a new car

[whodatninja]

here's something you guys might be able to help me with. I'm buying a car for my fiancee, and it's likely that it'll be the Toyota Matrix 2008 or 2009.
a few questions:
-will the 2008 matrix price drop significantly when the 2009 comes out on Feb 15th?
-is 0.9% financing hard to qualify for?
-how much haggling room do i have with the dealers?
-is all wheel drive a necessity in Vancouver? (she'll be driving to hospital rounds ranging from Burnaby clinic, Surrey, Delta, etc)
-is it still worth driving to the States from Canada and buying there? (will this void the warranty, can i still finance the vehicle?)
-if i am the paper owner of the vehicle, do i have to be insured on it or can i simply be the owner and not be insured on it? (i don't have my license, how sad)

thanks for all the help

[spideyman]

not sure about all those questions but all i know is that it's a buyers market. with all the shit that is going on now you can get a new car at a good deal. dealers are having a hard time selling cars. not a whole lot of people have the money to buy new. i would just keep shopping around till you get a deal you like.

[.Free.]

yeah i doubt you'll be getting 0.9% unless u have really good credit score and are pretty old.

[Running Uppercut]

-will the 2008 matrix price drop significantly when the 2009 comes out on Feb 15th?
-is 0.9% financing hard to qualify for?
-how much haggling room do i have with the dealers?


Do your homework before you buy a cars, lots of it. If you look around, you will realize the Matrix has pretty common defects, and don't have a great consumer rating currently. Edmunds.com, kbb.com are a few places to start.
If you want a hatchback, make sure you look at the Mazda 3.

0.9% financing is going to be a short term rate, usually 3 years of less. Unless you can afford to make this type of payment, you will be looking at ~5% as your best APR depending on the lender. (The auto makers are offering special 3 & 5 year rates that were beating Bank/Credit Union rates when I was looking earlier this month).

Your haggling room is an art that only you can dictate. Don't buy a car at the first dealership you walk in to. Hell, don't buy at the 5th. Learn the game, learn the signs. Learn to beat them at their game, and win the war. The same web sites listed above have good resources on how to successfully buy a can without getting your ass handed to you.

[NeREMIXED]

Do your homework before you buy a cars, lots of it. If you look around, you will realize the Matrix has pretty common defects, and don't have a great consumer rating currently. Edmunds.com, kbb.com are a few places to start.
If you want a hatchback, make sure you look at the Mazda 3.



the 3's have their problems too. most of the ones i've heard of relate to the ford parts that they have in em.

look for forums on the car you want. they should have all the info you need.

[whodatninja]

thanks for the input guys. i went today to an 'auto mall' (a shit load of dealers in one plaza) and got no respect cuz i'm young i think. meanwhile i'm waiting to buy one of pretty much 3 different cars and nobody will give me the time of day *sigh*.

[King9999]

Make sure you talk to someone (friend, family member, etc.) who knows something about cars. It would also help if you went shopping with said person as well.

[AcEtUrNeDjOkEr]

Remember, the dealership and the sales rep ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND! Treat them accordingly; cause to them your a big ass $, and to you they are pieces of shit. They will not remember you the second you leave nor should you remember them either (to put it nicely)

[Running Uppercut]

the 3's have their problems too. most of the ones i've heard of relate to the ford parts that they have in em.

look for forums on the car you want. they should have all the info you need.

Depends on which trim of 3 you buy. My S Sport has 0 Ford parts in it, and all Mazda hatchbacks are S Sport and higher trim level (and will be safely void of Ford's shitty parts).

[ninja sentinel]

All 2007 cars are usually on sale. For example in Montreal, Mazda has like a 6k+ rebate on their 2007 mazda6 models. You can go to the following website and click on "click here" for all their rebates:
http://www.albimazda.com/en/index.spy
Ask a Toyota dealer for their Matrix 2007 rebates.

Something you should consider as well is the rebate you can get from our Canadian government: http://www.tc.gc.ca/programs/environment/ecotransport/2008ecoautoeligibility.htm

Now the best option would be getting a car from the states. There is still a gab between Canadian and US MSRP, especially if you want a luxury car. Check out this website for a detailed explanation: http://drivingtv.ca/ (click on "buying a car from the US").