I tried to find the old topic that I think Bless had started quite a while back but I got tired of searching.

What steps do you take to buy a car in an organized and well-thought out manner? We're in the process of buying another car and it's incredibly time-consuming, frustrating and a bit overwhelming even for someone as obsessively organized and computer literate as I am.

DH has a large, newer, very un-fuel-efficient truck and he has to drive it at least 50 miles a day. On a good day, it probably gets 15 miles to the gallon. The gas costs are killing us.

He just sold his old, bum around for fun jeep so that we'd have some additional cash to put down. We are now looking for a small car for him to drive back and forth to work which will also serve as something our daughter can drive when she turns 16 in 13 months.

There are an overwhelming amount of choices out there! Over 30mpg is a must. DH and I have VERY different ideas of what we're willing to drive. That being said, it is his car for the most part so I'm trying to be more flexible. My first choice was a Prius but he won't have anything to do with them whatsoever.

We've gone through darn near every type of car out there and what mpg they get and think we have it narrowed down

I have worked my pencil down to a nub calculating the $$ in gas savings and how much it will save us per month and how much of an offset we'll have towards a car loan.

Then we had to organize finances which took another whole level of aggravation. Our local credit union works off of a base rate and gives a variety of discounts for fuel efficiency, amount of down payment, etc.

When it really comes down to it, we'll probably end up paying off the car loan years early simply because I can't stand having any debt payments but in the meantime, I need to calculate all the variables. UGH.

Buying a car is hard work plus it's a depreciating asset. For most of us it's the 2nd most expensive item after house. We used edmundsdotcom and lemonaiddotcom as starting points. Friends have used Carfax. Have you DH and DD worked out 'must haves' and deal breakers? DH and I agreed long ago to never buy a new car as depreciation for years 1 & 2 are too much for our value system. We also agreed we would not buy 1st model line cars.

I helps to have criteria. For example we drive our cars for many years and when DH was commuting [1 hr hwy.] safety & reliability were emphasized. When we bought a house we planned to remodel, a Honda CRV was chosen. We have a list of 'must have' features and non traditional color is a deal breaker because it's a headache when it's time to sell.

My nephew prefers new cars and faxed all dealers within reasonable [4hr] distance asking for all-in, on the road price for a year/make/model, with list of 'must have' features. While he pre-arranged financing, he got a better deal from the dealership linked bank. I like after-care like coupons for free oil changes. [they are marketing tools as they use each visit to up-sell or attempt to scare me]

As far as car brand. I have a friend who recently bought a Ford Fusion and LOVES it. It is smaller, still a 4 door though and pretty good gas millage...just food for thought. It is a very nice car...and for us it is important to also buy American Made

Thanks Vicki, we're buying a Honda Civic - they're made in Indiana.

That's right, I had asked about buying a car, a couple of years ago, perhaps? I haven't bought one, yet. Still coddling my 11+ year old Honda Accord along.

I've owned 3 cars so far: A Pontiac Phoenix, a Toyota Camry, and a Honda Accord. The first 2 cars were driven for 10+ years and then sold. I am still driving the 3rd car. But it needs to be replaced, probably sometime this year.

Good gas mileage will be a consideration; I drive over 60 miles per day.

I've been considering a Honda Civic or a Toyota Corolla. But someone suggested a Hyundai Sonata, as well. So, I am still deciding.

I understand the Honda purchases. Over the many many years I have been driving, I have owned an early prelude, a crx, a civic hatchback and currently am driving a Fit, and am loving it.

I average about 30mpg, more city than highway or it would be higher. The other thing is that it has been a Consumer Reports best buy/recommended since I got it 6 years ago. The other thing that continues to make me love it is the design. It has split rear seats that fold into the floor(no big lumps to figure storage out for) or if vertical storage is needed, the bottoms of those same seats fold UP against the seatbacks. The other thing is it is fun to drive and friends who own other vehicles have all commented on how peppy it is, and I agree. And lets face it, there is always a certain amount of likeability in the vehicle we choose.

Recently I have gotten the new car bug, but at 6 years old with 120k miles, there is no reason to shop, I will just continue to dream.

Kim, as far as what I look for, I read the well respected reports then do the calculations as well. I too initially looked at the calculations on the Prius, when I was paying around a dollar a gallon for gas, and even figuring gas at $3 per gallon, it would have taken 8 years to recoup the difference in price. I also didn't feel the electric assist engine, with the expensive batteries had been proven enough yet for me since at the time I was a very high mileage driver.

Funny now that I am back in Detroit, and am going back into real estate, I do need to review what I am driving.So when its time for the next purchase, the studying will start again.

We made our car purchase yesterday and we're thrilled. We did something we normally don't do and that's we ended up getting a car with less fancy features than we planned! We usually go out looking at something and buy something better. :-)

We were looking at Honda Civic EX's with all the bells and whistles, most notably the sunroof but ended up buying an LX without the sunroof and all the little extra features.

There was an EX and an LX both the same price. Both 2010 cars. The differences were the EX with the sunroof and all the extras had 40600 miles and was a bit beat up (a few small scratches and slight wear inside, just didn't look brand new) and the LX looked BRAND NEW and had 12000 miles on it.

Bottom line was the LX felt like a better car. It had much less mileage, more zip and felt more solid. The other car had obviously been driven hard. Also, we liked the dark grey metallic color of the LX better than the bronze metallic of the EX.

I left the choice up to DH since he's the one who will drive it every day and I'm glad to say he made the better choice.

I want to emphasize how important being organized was in this whole process. I did extensive research on cars and the pricing before I went to the dealer. They had 7 Civics on the lot and I was able to narrow it down to 2 in a matter of minutes. (I had also looked at many other dealer's inventory online.)

I had my financing in place and had all of the credit union information, phone numbers etc with me which we needed because the dealership came up with a higher number than the credit union when they tried to process it through the CU database. We were able to call the branch manager directly who authorized the correct interest rate.

First thing this morning, I made a file for all of the paperwork (which I will eventually scan and shred but will keep for a month or so), I called the insurance company and added the policy and have reviewed the manual.

Congratulations on the new car! It absolutely looks like a new one. Having fewer "bells and whistles" is not a bad thing as it means that there are fewer expensive things to go wrong. The main thing is that you have a good solid vehicle that you can be proud of. All your organizing and research paid off.

Great looking car! I think I need to ask you if you'll go with me to do my car shopping!

Bless, Happy to! We had originally thought we'd use the Costco Buyers Program. It's supposed to get you the best price on the certified used cars. The Costco price was more than the sticker price! Then of course, I gave them MY number which was quite a bit below the sticker price, fully expecting them to counter-offer and they accepted it flat out. I was quite pleased with myself. :-)It's BELOW low blue-book value!