Car Buying Advice Bizarro World

As car people, I'm sure many of you are asked from time to time by a non-car person which car they should buy. And if you are like me, that advice is usually ignored or completely flipped around by the time a car is bought.

So what "I told you to buy X but you bought Y instead" story do you have? I'll start.

I was working on a dying GM W-body at Mechanic's Ministry. We informed the owner that repairs were prohibitive and that they would more than likely buy another car for what it would cost us in parts alone to fix the dying car. We gave her a list of cars that are dependable and cheap, and possibly we could find her a donated car if she could wait a month. We patched her dying car up and told her to come back next month and we should have something for her by then. Ideally a Cavalier or a Corolla, or a Civic if we were lucky.

Next month rolls around and she's back...with her new car...a high mileage second gen Acura Legend in need of every service possible, including the timing belt which from what we could tell had never been changed.

That happens more often than you think

I have found that regardless of the advice I am giving (medical, mechanical, whatever) that people generally heed my advice the second or third time around.

Too many to count. As a Brit car aficionado who worked on them part time, lots of people would ask me which one to buy and my response would be 'are you going to drive it daily?'. If the answer was 'yes' I would say then buy a Honda, Nissan, Toyota etc. I'd get a blank look, I would then explain that an MG etc was not what they needed to buy as a daily unless they could work on it themselves. A surprising number would show up a week or two later with a worn out Midget etc agitated as hell because they no longer had a way to work.

My brother called me, wanted to know if he should buy a Mercedes 500SL 'vert and I said not just no but HELL no. Guess what he's driving? I get a call about once every other month: 'Hey bro, (insert dramatic fail here) and (insert astronomical cost here), any idea how I can do it cheaper?' Last time was the blower motor. It needs top cylinders too. For those not in the know: there's a guy who rebuilds the cylinders IF the rods are not scratched. If they are (very common), figure around $7k in parts.

Does my wife count?

Let's see, we had just had kid #1, and were getting a "family" car. I suggested a Mazda5 - that was "too minivanny". So we got a Tiguan.

Kid #2 shows up a year later, and now the Tiguan is "too small" (they really have a lot less room inside than it looks from the outside!), so we get a minivan (and take a bath on the equity we had bought into the Tiguan with). She wants to shop American, so we get a Grand Caravan (made in Canada). It ends up being a lemon, that finally gets fixed right before we were going to have the lawyer put the lawsuit in.

3 years later, and the GC is "too big", and once it's paid off, maybe we should look at something like a ... Mazda5 (which her Bro/Sis in law had bought, partly on my recommendation).

I love her, but damn... I think I'm just going to surprise her with her next car.

I did the opposite. I wanted a truck. My wife told me to get an F150. So I bought a Toyota pickup with the 3.0. After replacing the engine and learning just how slow it was even without piston chunks in the oil pan, I sold it and bought a Tundra. Much better, but it was working awfully hard when towing. So I finally listened and bought a Dodge with a Cummins. MUCH better.

davidjs wrote: I love her, but damn... I think I'm just going to surprise her with her next car.

My Dad did that once. And just once. For some reason the brand new dark blue Granada in the driveway didn't make my mother swoon. My grandmother drove it for years though while Mom's '78 Thunderbird soldiered on.

I was researching and looking at a lot of trucks without much success; my wife had had it. She finally told me to just hurry up and buy something.

The rest is here: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/build-thread-for-the-72-gmc-finally-thanks-john/59103/page29/

I get those questions a lot, especially here at work. At this point, my typical canned response is "Well, if the car is going to make you happy and you can manage it financially, go for it". Anything else is often wasted breath.

davidjs wrote: Does my wife count? I love her, but damn... I think I'm just going to surprise her with her next car.

Better still, just give her a blank check and let her buy her own car. I have learned that it is not a good idea to influence my wife's car buying decision in any way whatsoever. And it worked out okay--she's in a 2013 Accord V6 and enjoys it.

In reply to davidjs:

No surprise there, SWMBO can count the number of times I've been "right" on 2 fingers.

Fortunately I made it to 2, guess what finger she used to count with.

I suggested my dad buy a mazda 5 but bought a massive new Quest minivan instead. Partly for long road trips to New Hampshire, but then he ended up flying...

The only person who usually listens to my car advice is my mother.

This is why I don't answer their questions.

When a non car person asks me what car to buy, I normally ask them a bunch of questions until they are either confused by my questioning or totally bored with the conversation. I then leave the conversation there, with me giving them no information. They might as well ask me what color of car they should buy.

Ian F wrote: The only person who usually listens to my car advice is my mother.

My Mom asked me for car advice when she moved to SC.

It has to be a convertible, newer than 2000, less than $10k, and it has to be red.

I suggested a Mustang or a Miata, she sensibly bought an Eclipse.

A salesman I work with asks me if I know anything about Audi TTs, specifically a 2010 type S. Great cars, I say, when they run. Which isn't as often as it should be given their 'german engineering' quality and price. And speaking of price, Audis have one of the highest maintenance cost around. Be sure you check out the issues and costs people run into before you buy it. It will probably bite you in the ass. HE says, wow, really? Yup.

Next day he shows up driving his new TT.

2 weeks later I asked how he was liking it - and it was at the dealer in Atlanta having the ENTIRE rear diff system replaced because it LOCKED UP and left him stranded.

heh. heh. heh.

RossD wrote: This is why I don't answer their questions. When a non car person asks me what car to buy, I normally ask them a bunch of questions until they are either confused by my questioning or totally bored with the conversation. I then leave the conversation there, with me giving them no information. They might as well ask me what color of car they should buy.

I just ask them what their favorite color is now.

Inlaws did this. They needed a second car. I suggested the usual suspects at the time, Accent, Rio, Spectra, Elantra etc. M-I-L decides to buy a Scion xA. For $18,000. then paid another $350 for window tint, $150 for a radio and $250 for floormats. 6 months later she called asking me why the paint was all chipped and scratched and looking like hell. She didn't like my comment, which IIRC was something along the lines of "you ignored my advice and paid $18k for a car worth $15k at best WITH your addons." She believed the salesman when he told her "it will get 50mpg in the city!". Obviously she was shocked when she gets mid-high 20's.

The F-I-L hates that car. So when he had to replace his wrecked 2000 Civic he took my advice and at least LOOKED at the Korean cars. He fell in love with the Spectra5 (2008) and has loved it since.

I'm amazed at how many people don't understand that I'm right all the time

Guy at work has a new Kia Optima. Nice car, really. Styled like the big beemers and the interior doesn't suck. When he bought it, the dealer tried to add on $500 for nitrogen in the tires. Yeah, FIVE BILLS to put nitrogen in the tires and green valve caps on. Probably just the green valve caps. He said no and threatened to walk and they took it off.

When we bought the Oddity, I told my wife that the transmission was garbage, the power doors were prone to breakage, and that they are in no way worth what the price says Honda thinks they're worth.

So, we drove home the Oddity.

This time around, when the piece of junk transmission went out for the second time, she let me lead her to what I thought she would like. This time we came home with the Mazda 5.

They can be taught?

I had a friend ask me about small cars. I gave her some suggestions. then she asked about used Mini's. I told her what I knew of their quirks. I told it was cost more to maintain than the '95 Civic she was driving. I suggested she have any car checked out by an independent BMW shop I trusted. She bought a Mini. She seems to be happy with it

I don't take it personally when people ask for advise and don't take it. I know I am competing with multimillion dollar marketing campaigns. Like the Audi TT example above, I just try to make sure they have some idea what they are getting into.

logdog wrote: I'm amazed at how many people don't understand that I'm right all the time

+1. That means we must think alike most of the time.

My mom wanted to replace her Astro van with something smaller and with AWD. I suggested going to look at Ford Escapes. She did, and ended up with an Expedition.
She just spend $7k getting it fixed after my brother killed the engine when an injector failed open. It still ran so he kept driving it despite the check engine light. He even called me when he was doing it and I told him to stop right now. He didn't want to ruin his shopping trip with his wife, so he ruined the motor instead.
They all call me for advice, then ignore me.

My sister has asked me for some advice here and there and has kind of followed it, but she is the type who is never, ever satisfied and wants to change cars every three years, so I expect to hear grumbles after the honeymoon period of any car purchase wears off.

Other than that, my wife and I picked out her car together. I went out and drove a large number of new and used cars and eliminated lots of them right off the bat. Then we went and looked at 8 or so cars I considered "good" that met her requirements as a team and we're both quite satisfied with the one she picked in the end.