Author Topic: recommendations on car - New car?  (Read 2458 times)

spaniard999

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recommendations on car - New car?
« on: July 13, 2017, 09:23:58 AM »
Hi fellow mustachians,

So last year (Aug 2016) I bought a 2014 Ford Fiesta as a Certified Pre-Owned with 12K miles or 12 month all covered warranty.
At that time I was not aware of the issues this car has. It seems like there is a lawsuit right now against Ford for this issue (http://fordpowershiftlawsuit.com/)
The story of the car is as follows:
 - When I bought the car they told me the car had an issue with the transmisison but it was replaced so I thought: "Nothing to worry, it has been replaced".
 - 2 days after, I was leaving work and the car wont start. Called the tow and they started the car. Then I tried to put it in gear (D mode) and the car displays a message: Transmission not working. Call the tow again...Tow the car to the dealer.
They do: Replaced TCM, updated modules, perform adaptive learning strategy, and replace battery (car didnt start after those fixes)
- Thanksgiving: take in the car again because the clutch was making a weird noise. Clutch is replaced, transmission liquid added.
- 7/13/2017: Made an appointment next week to take the car in again. Clutch is acting up and jerking when accelerating or decelerating by changing gears when it should not.

Reached this point I search for issues related with this car...SURPRISE! This is a very common issue in double clutch cars like mine, it affects a lot of models and there is a lawsuit against Ford about this.

I sent my information to a lemon law lawyer in order to make a claim to Ford so they pay me for this since a repurchase is not doable with CPO cars.
I will opt out of the lawsuit against Ford because that lawsuit will just pay pennies on dollars.

This way I can get some money from Ford (2K maybe).

Now here comes the dilemma: what should I do?
- Keep the car and have this issue again and again?
- Sell the car asap after I get the money from the claim/suit to Ford.
     o Buy a new car. I just want something reliable. What options do I have?
     o Buy a used car. Which cars are recommended? I just do a 20 mile round commute and dont care about the car. I prefer pay low insurance and
        low gas. (of course I am inclined on this option)

Your opinion on the best approach and financial decision would be appreciated.
I'm also looking for specific car model/years that have a good mileage (30/40).

Thank you for your input.

ketchup

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Re: recommendations on car - New car?
« Reply #1 on: July 13, 2017, 09:45:45 AM »
Wow.  I'd definitely get rid of that car.  Of course try to get as much money back as you can.

One mistake made here was not utilizing one of the giant upsides to buying used vs new:  You can see which models have problems ahead of time (not foolproof by any means, but a lot more data points out there about a 2014 car than a 2017).

It's hard to go wrong with any of the usual suggestions (Corolla/Camry/Fit/Civic/Accent/Sentra/etc), but whatever you buy, make sure you do your homework this time and see if there are major known issues with that particular make/model/year (every car has issues, but you'd rather have the one where people complain about windshield wipers wearing out too quickly than the one where the engine block cracks at 10k miles).

Khaetra

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Re: recommendations on car - New car?
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2017, 09:46:27 AM »
I hav to say I love my Honda Fit.  It fits (no pun intended) both your gas and reliability requirement.  I bought mine brand new, but like almost all of my cars I plan on keeping it for a very long time.  Could you trade your car in?

spaniard999

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Re: recommendations on car - New car?
« Reply #3 on: July 13, 2017, 09:57:53 AM »
I might but I wonder what amount of money would they give me for trading in this CRAP.

I just did a search for Honda Fit around my area.
There is a 2009 Honda Fit (https://chicago.craigslist.org/nwc/cto/6213572074.html) that looks really nice. It's manual but I have no problem with that.
They ask $7300, so maybe I can get it for $6,5k? The car looks in very good condition. 84K miles.
Got the CARFAX for free and seems like it's been up to date and fixed the recall in the airbags. No issues what so ever.
VIN is JHMGE87659S062907
How does it look?

Khaetra

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Re: recommendations on car - New car?
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2017, 10:13:53 AM »
Grab it.  The best part is it's from Japan (the J is first in the VIN) and not Mexico (would be 3 first), which means it's a better build.

spaniard999

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Re: recommendations on car - New car?
« Reply #5 on: July 14, 2017, 08:46:58 AM »
I'm going to take a look at it today and drive it and get a feeling on the sellers. Since it is manual maybe I can bring down the price to 6K.
What would be the highest price you (any of you) would do?

Khaetra

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Re: recommendations on car - New car?
« Reply #6 on: July 14, 2017, 01:04:58 PM »
After doing a search on Cars.com for Fits in the Chicago area (there's a bunch of 'em!) for that year it looks like the average price is exactly what they're asking.  I doubt you could drop it to $6K because it's manual, since there's a number of those going for a higher price.  I'd try $7K flat, but I wouldn't go lower than that and that'd be my number.