Car for new immigrant
Mar 10th 2018, 3:55 am
#46
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 417
Re: Car for new immigrant
$15000 + ($397*36=$14292) + tax = >$30,000 for a Nissan Rogue S
A quick look at Kelly blue book for Idaho suggests a fair price of $24,500 for a 2017 brand new Nissan rogue S incl. tax.
https://www.kbb.com/nissan/rogue/201...ptions=#survey
When you get to the USA use edmunds.com and trucar.com and choose Honda CRV, Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Rogue.
3 dealers for each model will send you a quote to buy the car. You choose the lowest bid and go to the dealer. I suspect you'll be offered someting for under $24,000 incl. tax.
Figure out if they can give you some financing. A loan will help you build credit in the USA. If you are only financing $9000 then the rate is not too much of an issue, especially if you can pay it off quickly.
Used Japanese cars are actually pretty expensive because those cars last forever...
Mar 10th 2018, 1:55 pm
#47
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 112
Re: Car for new immigrant
I plan to drive on forest roads in the mountains around, to access hiking trails etc. not specifically for off-road driving and nothing too extreme, so I am looking for an AWD/4WD vehicle with reasonable ground clearance.
Mar 10th 2018, 6:34 pm
#48
BE Commentator
Joined: Feb 2010
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 8,427
Mar 10th 2018, 6:38 pm
#49
BE Commentator
Joined: Feb 2010
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 8,427
Re: Car for new immigrant
Subaru of Spokane has some Forresters in it's inventory. All Subie's are AWD.
Mar 10th 2018, 6:40 pm
#50
Account Closed
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2
Re: Car for new immigrant
Biggest problem I see is crap tyres, I very rarely have to put my Truck into 4WD but was difggng out someone with new ish rental whose tyres were spinning, looked them up as I could not see what the problem was, had a good all season rating but not for snow or ice.
Mar 11th 2018, 1:45 pm
#51
Democracy advocate
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 12,460
Re: Car for new immigrant
I suggest you consider a car-loan type of thing that allows the development of a credit history.
Mar 11th 2018, 1:58 pm
#52
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 112
Re: Car for new immigrant
I'm sure most of the old lags here will know better than me, but when i moved to the US I bought a car for cash and rented a flat - neither of which generated a credit history which can be quite problematic later.
I suggest you consider a car-loan type of thing that allows the development of a credit history.
I suggest you consider a car-loan type of thing that allows the development of a credit history.
Mar 11th 2018, 3:04 pm
#53
Democracy advocate
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 12,460
Re: Car for new immigrant
Do a search or two on "credit history" on this forum and take a view - it takes a few years of considered choices to build - if you ever want a decent credit card or a mortgage in the future you need to start planning early - at least that was the case a few years ago. A car loan seemed to be one of the early ways of building it.
Mar 11th 2018, 4:41 pm
#54
BE Enthusiast
Joined: May 2012
Location: Nebraska by the Sea
Posts: 987
Re: Car for new immigrant
According to "Consumer Reports" they note that use of winter tires is more important than AWD. AWD does not improve handling or stopping, just getting moving from a dead stop.
There is a price premim for AWD and then there is a hit from increased fuel consumption.
BTW, if you go the used car route, look for the more upscale models. We purchased a 2013 Toyota RAV4 a year back via the Toyota Certification program. Our car is the "limited" rather than the SE or LE. For not much more we got power seat (important for two drivers) and lane change monitor.
Also consider Mazda CX-5 or CX-9. Younger daughter bought a certified 2015 CX-5 last fall.
The lane change monitor compensates for the blind spots.
There is a price premim for AWD and then there is a hit from increased fuel consumption.
BTW, if you go the used car route, look for the more upscale models. We purchased a 2013 Toyota RAV4 a year back via the Toyota Certification program. Our car is the "limited" rather than the SE or LE. For not much more we got power seat (important for two drivers) and lane change monitor.
Also consider Mazda CX-5 or CX-9. Younger daughter bought a certified 2015 CX-5 last fall.
The lane change monitor compensates for the blind spots.
AWD is gimmicky at best but the dealers know it and sell it all day and every day especially in CA where the chances of ever needing it are slim to none. My Michigan friends who really know snow have driven 40K miles per year (job requires) using Ford Fiesta and Ford Fusion, changing tires to winter tires when needed. No issues.
As I said to the last salesman who tired to sell me AWD on a Ford Expedition which weighs in at about 5500 lbs - if I need AWD in that tank I have more problems than I can deal with.
Last edited by vikingsail; Mar 11th 2018 at 4:43 pm.
Mar 11th 2018, 6:11 pm
#55
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 112
Re: Car for new immigrant
Endorse the CX-5 its a great car with good clearance and excellent gas mileage.
AWD is gimmicky at best but the dealers know it and sell it all day and every day especially in CA where the chances of ever needing it are slim to none. My Michigan friends who really know snow have driven 40K miles per year (job requires) using Ford Fiesta and Ford Fusion, changing tires to winter tires when needed. No issues.
As I said to the last salesman who tired to sell me AWD on a Ford Expedition which weighs in at about 5500 lbs - if I need AWD in that tank I have more problems than I can deal with.
AWD is gimmicky at best but the dealers know it and sell it all day and every day especially in CA where the chances of ever needing it are slim to none. My Michigan friends who really know snow have driven 40K miles per year (job requires) using Ford Fiesta and Ford Fusion, changing tires to winter tires when needed. No issues.
As I said to the last salesman who tired to sell me AWD on a Ford Expedition which weighs in at about 5500 lbs - if I need AWD in that tank I have more problems than I can deal with.
Then many people keep using all-season tyres all year round, rather than changing to proper winter tyres...
Mar 11th 2018, 8:34 pm
#56
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2015
Location: NC, USA (ex Yorkshire)
Posts: 4,375
Mar 11th 2018, 9:04 pm
#58
Democracy advocate
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 12,460
Re: Car for new immigrant
Here's a link to the BE wiki on developing a credit score in the US.
Fatbrit's Guide to Credit and Finance : British Expat Wiki
Fatbrit's Guide to Credit and Finance : British Expat Wiki
We need a nice spread of credit accounts on our report and the next one to head for is the car (US: auto) loan. Hopefully, you've been saving your money. Get rid of that banger you bought when you first arrived and move up to something half-way decent around the $10k to $15k mark. Why anybody would want to spend any more than this on a depreciating asset is beyond me since we're only a year in and shouldn't have caught the American disease yet! This is going to require some homework. First of all, get yourself over to the best advice possible at Car Buying Tips and learn how it all works over here.
Mar 12th 2018, 5:55 pm
#59
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2015
Location: NC, USA (ex Yorkshire)
Posts: 4,375
Re: Car for new immigrant
