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Just a little rant about buying a car out of town. In 2011 I got a great deal on a Mitsubishi. I mean really, really good. So good I thought it was worth buying it even though the nearest Mitsu dealer was 65 miles from my home. Well, it was pretty reliable for the ten years I had it. Had it in for a warranty repair just once (AC compressor) and a couple of recall items (defroster fan, serpentine belt). Still, it was a pain have to drive it down to that city and then sit around the dealership all day for the AC fix. For the recalls they had to do more disassembly and I ended up having to rent a car, drive home and then drive back the next day. The car was out of warranty by then so Mitsubishi wasn't going to give me a loaner.
I bought a 2021 Subaru after that from a dealer in a city 25 miles from my home. Its had several warranty issues since then and luckily Subaru would give me a loaner, although they're is such demand I had to book the appointment a month in advance to get one. Still, its an hour round trip to the dealer.
Basically, I've learned a hard lesson. The town I live in has just Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford dealerships. In the future I will only buy from those three. Its just not worth it to get a car from a dealer even 30 minutes drive from my home. Such a pain when if I'd bought in town they could just give me a ride home in a few minutes while I wait for a repair. May have to compromise on the model I get a little, but it'll be much less hassle in the long run.
Heh, it could always be worse OP. I lived in a remote town in AK with no road access to anywhere else. If your car needed anything more complicated than a routine "tune up" some local boat mechanic could manage, you loaded it on a marine landing craft/barge and shipped it over 80 miles away. At the time, that little convenience added around $600 to your repair bill. They're spoiled now...they have irregular ferry service, but some even whine about that. The fare is a whopping $118 !
Last edited by Parnassia; 03-18-2023 at 01:35 PM..
In the age of Internet advertising, big car lots have all the edge over smaller auto sellers.
Sometimes a decent deal can be had from an independent lot. These are usually "exotic" autos that the lot doesn't want to sink too much money into to move it off the lot.
Caveat emptor, but don't feel pressured into buying more auto than you can realistically afford.
Especially young people on a tight budget don't factor in all the extra expenses of maintaining a brand new vehicle.
For the recalls they had to do more disassembly and I ended up having to rent a car, drive home and then drive back the next day. The car was out of warranty by then so Mitsubishi wasn't going to give me a loaner.
I would absolutely expect a loaner/rental for a recall fix if it was a several hour job. I don't care how far out of warranty it was.
I agree that proximity of a dealership to your home is a consideration. For me though, 30 miles is good enough. Just depending on what it is, I might need to wait some time there, but it's rare that it's more than 3 hours. Working in research IT, I can work from the dealer lounge just as well as I can from home or the office - they'll have desks, coffee and WiFi at a minimum.
Just a little rant about buying a car out of town. In 2011 I got a great deal on a Mitsubishi. I mean really, really good. So good I thought it was worth buying it even though the nearest Mitsu dealer was 65 miles from my home. Well, it was pretty reliable for the ten years I had it. Had it in for a warranty repair just once (AC compressor) and a couple of recall items (defroster fan, serpentine belt). Still, it was a pain have to drive it down to that city and then sit around the dealership all day for the AC fix. For the recalls they had to do more disassembly and I ended up having to rent a car, drive home and then drive back the next day. The car was out of warranty by then so Mitsubishi wasn't going to give me a loaner.
I bought a 2021 Subaru after that from a dealer in a city 25 miles from my home. Its had several warranty issues since then and luckily Subaru would give me a loaner, although they're is such demand I had to book the appointment a month in advance to get one. Still, its an hour round trip to the dealer.
Basically, I've learned a hard lesson. The town I live in has just Chevrolet, Toyota and Ford dealerships. In the future I will only buy from those three. Its just not worth it to get a car from a dealer even 30 minutes drive from my home. Such a pain when if I'd bought in town they could just give me a ride home in a few minutes while I wait for a repair. May have to compromise on the model I get a little, but it'll be much less hassle in the long run.
Well, you have choices! (GM/F/Toy.)
Toyota is utilitarian but boring as heck.
Ford only has the Mustang (for crowd plowing, I guess.)
GM has Corvette (Order your Z06 now, and you'll get your car in 3 years (maybe.)
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