Used 2006 Sonata LX

There are other considerations too. Financing on a used car is, in most cases, not as good as available on a new car. Consider any rebates and low interest in the final decision. What price can you get on a new car? List is about $23000. If you think the car is good for a total of 140,000 miles, the '06 is already 10% used up. If the new model can be had at a final price of say, $21k, it would have to be another 10% lower just to be even, or about $18.9. Based on that over simplified analogy, at $15.7 it is probably a decent buy. You can buy some repairs with the price difference. Put that money in the bank, just in case. (yeah, right)

What is the likelihood of you keeping the car past the 60k mile mark? Does it have the equipment and color you really want? Some factors in the car buying decision are pure emotional. I turned down a good buy on a demo car with 900 miles because I did not like the color. I have to look at it for years to come, so that was a factor.

One year old car, it's probably a rental as many one year old Sonata's are, 14K miles on a rental = 100K miles on a normal car. A carfax will tell you if it is rental, or just look for scratches around ignition key, that's a sure fire hint it was a rental.

Gee, I don't know about that 14k rental equals 100k?? Personally, I've bought two former rentals from Enterprise. One I drove 225 thousands miles before selling it in good running condition. The other I've put about 35k on top of their 22k miles....zero problems and is also a keeper. When I rent a car I don't drive 80 mph in second gear or haul cinder blocks in the trunk. Most rentals are probably driven "normally". MHO YMMV

I think 14k miles is not much. My 50 week old LX has 34000 miles with zero problems.....Whether the car you are looking at is a good deal, I can't comment. Ed P makes sense with his reply I think.

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I'm with you. My first Chrysler minivan, a 96 Grand Voyager, was a dealer mule that had accumulated 33,000 miles in one year hauling parts and running errands. The only real cosmetic issue was that the bumper cover was all scratched up from removing and replacing the rear seat and dragging other stuff across the top of the bumper.

The van had 178,000 on it when it was totaled.

My current minvan, an 03 Grand Caravan, was a rental from Chicago with

29,000 on the clock after one year. It has 75,000 and is running strong. I got great deals on both of them. I think I paid $12,500 for the 03 as a one-year old vehicle in 04. New ones were nearly $20,000 similarly equipped (this is a low-end model as it is a kid hauler). I figured a 40% discount and lower insurance more than offset the 30,000 miles as I know these vehicles will go 200K easily. So I get 84% of the useful life of the vehicle for 63% of the price, and that is worst case assuming no resale value at all. I got nearly $4,000 for my 96 with 178,000 miles on it from the insurance company of the drunk that hit me. Factor that in, and the deal is even better.

Matt

Interesting thought. What is it that makes you believe this? I've owned a few rentals over the years and have found no such thing to be true of them. Being one of those guys who likes to de-bunk things like this just for the hell of it, I've done things like check the oil in my rental while having it. I've never found a rental with dirty oil or any other indicator of poor maintenance. I travel a lot and rent a lot of cars. I wonder - how much do you rent cars? Have you ever owned a rental? Perhaps you have and had a bad experience - I'm not suggesting that you haven't, but I do dispute your claim above.

That's an interesting thought as well. Clearly you've never seen one of my wife's cars...

Dirty oil is the least of my worries, it's the only thing the rental car companies can control, it's all the other stuff they can't control that concerns me

I travel a lot and rent a lot of cars. I wonder - how much do

I rented for 426 days last year, I was working offsite and had various rentals all year long, sometimes I would have two rentals when I traveled to other sites (one at the airport parking lot), sometimes three rentals at once (two sitting at the airport parking lots).

No. I always buy used and can spot a rental 10 miles away at the dealership. Without even considering the potential mechanical issues, the cosmetics of the exterior and interior turn me off immediately (with all the rough luggage induced dings/dents/scratches) as not to even consider buying it.....

this is just my opinion, I'm just someone who has vast experience with various rentals, buying used is always a crapshoot, but why start in a hole to begin with

So, what are these other things that you are concerned for? I gather from your points below that body dings are something you feel are common and bother you. They would bother me as well, but I don't see them as often as you do. I do a lot of body work and so I tend to look for and notice these things.

Good - at least we have a good common ground to talk on. How many bad experiences have you had with rentals? Like you, I rent a lot and I can count on one hand the number of problems I've had. The most of those were not related to the car being a rental, but were characteristic problems of a particular model.

I've gone both ways - buying used and buying rentals. My experiences have been very good. I would say with a certainty that the rentals I've bought had no more body dings than cars that were privately owned. Private owners who turn in cars frequently take pitiful care of their cars since they know they'll be turning them over in a short time.

You know what they say about opinions... but that's all I'm spouting at the same time, is my opinion. Mine are based on some actual experiences owning rentals so maybe they will offer a bit of additional insight, but beyond the factual nature of my experiences, my thoughts on buying rentals is just my opinion as well.

Not a rental...Ran a experian car check on the vin and everything turned out right. So again, I am looking at 15,500 for a used Sonata LX versus what ever the 2007 model is going for. The used one was first registered in Sep of 05 so it is currently 14 months old.

Pat

Abuse I can't see, I treat rentals like I treat my own cars because, I guess, I'm older, but I know many people who don't, it seems to be a 20 something age thing, at that age they seem obligated to shift in reverse at 60 MPH, leave it in 2 second gear at highway speeds, go over speed bumps as fast as possible, continuous redline while fully loaded and climbing mountains, all things I personally witness while in the passenger seat....

Well first off, I have a plantium Hertz card and rent for long periods, so I usually request and get a brand new car if I am at a large airport, like LAX, (that way I can keep it as long as possible before returning it for maintenance), so I have very little problems with these cars.

For the short trips I'll take whatever they have, and notice huge differences in these cars even though they have less then 10K on them, they feel old and worn out, worse then one of my cars at home that has

100k on it (hence the origin of my original post). You know, adjusting the rear view mirror and it falls off, stinky insides, interiors that look like it was a training camp for al qaeda. Specific mechanical problems were brakes mostly (on camry's and accords) and suspensions (nissans). But it's long term effects from the above abuses I'm more concern about, stuff that will show up later.

That's true, but it's even worse for rentals since they know they will be turning it in in a very short period of time. I've never seen a nice rental, I like to buy from private owners mostly,if the car looks nice at first glance I'll start evaluating the previous owner more then the car...

Like you, I'm older and I treat the rentals as if they were my own. The things you suggest above are not possible though. You can't redline a car these days. The computer will prevent you from doing that. As well, the notion of shifting into reverse at 60mph is more fantasy than reality. I guess if you say you've witnessed these things I won't say you're lieing, but I'd like to see it myself. Go out to your car and try to hold the throttle so that the engine over revs continuously. You'll notice the computer take control and cause the engine to "misfire" so as to keep it under redline conditions.

All I can say is that I've not encountered the things you describe. But - owning or purchasing a car is a very subjective experience, so you have to go with what suits you.

Thanks for the reply. I really dont know if it will fit or not...I am in Korea and the Car is in the US. I will return to the states in early January. I will need a car immediately upon arrival. The seller said he would hold it until I arrived for a 750 deposit. I am sure I will like it. To me it all boils down to 15,500 for used with 14k miles, or 21000 for a new 2007 model. The average retail on the 2006 LX is 17-18k. So

15,500 is not a bad deal. I am going to take a chance and buy the used. The current owner will give me the car on the day I arrive, and it is one less thing I will have to deal with when I get to the states. The 5K savings over new will be able to help me with moving expenses and settling in to the new house.

Pat

snip So

one less thing to deal with...priceless. Boy, I hate stress. I like your thinking.

You can get a brand new 2007 Sonata GLS (4 cylinder)for $15,691 from carsdirect.com

Pat,

I bought the same model (also took delivery in 09/05, mine now has 21K on the clock). Bottom line is that if I had a need for another, I would buy that model at that price assuming everything checked out. Is there someone that you know/trust who could check it out for you prior to purchase? You can buy a base 07 GLS 4cyl for roughly the same $, but having owned the other, I'd personally rather have the LX with the bells & whistles. I'm averaging 27.5 mpg these days and am happy enough with that (65%hwy 35% other)

KW

Such as?

Wow, you rented 426 days out of a 365 day year! How DID you do that? :-)

Interestinting, both of my used minivans were in pretty good shape cosmetically and mechanically (except for the aforementioned scrubbed up bumper cover). Given that both were meant to haul kid around, I actually wanted something with some damage at the outset so I didn't have to worry about that first scratch or ding! :-)

Matt

I haven't tried it to very this personally, but I've been told by auto engineers that the new electronically controlled transmissions will not let reverse engage if you are moving forward at a speed that would damage the transmission. Likewise, downshift your new automatic (new being anything less than about 10 years old) into 1 or L at say 70 MPH and see what happens? Hint: it won't shift into low. It will shift into 3rd or maybe 2nd and not into low until you have slowed to a safe speed. It is much harder to abuse modern cars than it was in the 60s and 70s.

Matt

I think you'll be happy with it. If you had asked me last August if I'd buy Hyundai, I'd have laughed at you, since I recall the first models from the late '80's. In September I bought on. 6000 miles and I think it is a great car.

I was in Las Vegas last week and drove a Grand Marquis rental for a few days. Heading out to Death Valley, I was wishing I was driving a Sonata. It took two hand on the steering wheel to keep that soft sprung sofa between the lines on a curvy road at the speed limit, let alone at the real driving speed. Sonata would have just cruised right along.

How do you make it into a V-6 LX though?