car shopping friends

[regfootball]

this falls under another episode of your friends car shopping and asking your advice but never really wanting to hear what you say. and again, no big deal.

so, my buddy who has a honda pilot and a chevy malibu (work fleet car given to him, he sold his passat) is looking to replace their pilot after extending the lease several times. the two vehicles they have settled on....another Pilot (UGH!) or a Hyundai Santa Fe.

I have him talked out of a Santa Fe. THANKFULLY.

The Pilot they want because they like the way Honda has treated them. I understand that. Problem is, the new lease terms for essentially the same vehicle are WAYYYY more now in the new economy. Higher interest rate, lower residual, less incentives. About a 150-200 a mo more payment. for a lease.

Since he likes his Malibu, and his mom just got an HHR, I said have you looked at the Traverse? He said actually they do like the Traverse and his wife likes it even (A true import lover, she likes the traverse). He said they had not shopped one yet. I think I have encouraged him enough to go out and price shop but here is the thing. The Traverses are just as pricey or more so than the Pilots depending on config. And its much harder to determine the real price of the Traverse.....many chevy dealers still are not one price (he wants the one price up front to keep things fast and simple).

The problem with Traverse at least in base trim is no alum wheels, no power seat. AWD he says is not needed but if he is buying i think in this area I would recommend it. (winter) for resale.

So I am hoping they at least go Traverse shopping. He's had a hell of a time shopping all the Honda dealers in his area and they do not get to their best deal right away. I also said to look at MDX lease to compare vs. Pilot. Who knows, it might be better right now.

They hate the CX9 by the way.

ANother buddy, making good coin. His wife is finally letting him ditch the mid nineties saturn coupe. He asked me about mid size cars like the Altima and Accord and slightly used lux cars like the Infiniti G. I tried to steer him into a Fusion, Regal if he could wait, Malibu, A CC, A legacy, and 2011 Sonata. Ultimately I knew that he wanted a luxury brand car to keep up with his corporate joneses and got a used G35. Not really a bad choice. I told him about my Altima rental and after he looked at one and a couple other mid sizers that he really wanted the reward car....or mid life crisis car as he put it.

I think I could have got him in a Regal if he had time to wait, but oh well. Clearly he wanted something to flaunt his new position in the world. I guess I would too after suffering through that saturn for like 15 years.

Let's just hope the first buddy goes Traverse. Any other way I can swing him? I told him the new Pilot is SOOOOO ugly! He doesn't seem to think so. TRAVERSE!

[ocnblu]

Just tell him the Pilot has a face like Bubbles, from Trailer Park Boys. He'll be at the Chevy Dealer soon enough. EDIT: All apologies to anyone I offend with this post, it IS NSFW -

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[caddycruiser]

Lots of Traverse's all over at every dealer, and from my experience, do a little searching for combo's that fit and email the dealers. Avoid giving a phone #, just email for a quote and of those that do respond--many still end up getting you 3+ automated emails but then never get back--get the best price and go from there. If they're a struggle online, they're usually a struggle in person. Sometimes.

That avoids the whole go see the dealer, wait for an hour, etc. thing and cuts right to the choice. What kind of combo are they looking for most likely?

Highly, highly recommend a Traverse as well...right now I think they could even lease decently, as GM seems to be running some decent ones on those & a few others, but it depends. LS, 1LT, 2LT, LTZ...FWD, AWD...sunroofs, DVD, Nav, cloth, leather...mmm...stickers anywhere from $30k to mid $40k's, then figure...well...all over the map real transaction prices, yeah

[regfootball]

well, the first buddy, they are re-leasing on the Honda Pilot. a new 2010 Pilot EX AWD. just as i thought, his wife didn't want to be seen in a chevy.

re-leasing the honda works for them since they already had one too. she likes that the pilot you can put your purse in the bin between the seats and that the shifter is out of the way to allow you a place for your purse.