Buying a car in AZ (Phoenix: sales, home, DMV)

[mrsmc]

Hi everyone,
So, my family and I will be moving from PA and we are driving the moving truck. We were planning on getting rid of our car and getting a bigger one but not sure if we should buy here or just wait and buy out there? Any thoughts?

[DewDropInn]

AZ. You'll be able to get nice, dark, factory-installed, street-legal window tint. You're going to need it.

When I bought my first car in AZ I also asked if the cooling system (and engine in general) was meant for AZ temperatures. They said "yes". Don't know if it's atually true, but my engine handles the extreme heat just fine. Also, one look at what the roads were like after a bad monsoon (I'm not in the city) and I went for 4 WD. Very happy I waited until I was here a few weeks and could make an informed choice based on needs specific to this area.

[Zippyman]

We have smog testing - it can sometimes be a problem if you don't have it there. Also, we have a peculiar license plate-fee system that penalizes those that bring in cars from out of state - plates for a car cost less the longer a car is in Az. If your current ride is only a few years old, you'll pay license plate fees like it's brand new in Az, and the fee is based on the original MSRP, not what you paid.

The cooling-system isn't as much of a factor as you might expect - lots of cars do fine here with itty-bitty radiators. I bought a car at the city of Phoenix auction that was very well maintained except for the 20+ year-old radiator hoses... With the heat like it is here, I'd only expect them to last a couple of years, but evidently they can last much longer...

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by mrsmc

Hi everyone,
So, my family and I will be moving from PA and we are driving the moving truck. We were planning on getting rid of our car and getting a bigger one but not sure if we should buy here or just wait and buy out there? Any thoughts?

Interesting question, mrsmc.

Are you planning on buying new or previously owned?

If previously owned . . . definitely buy here in Arizona. As a rule, the dry climate means no body rust or rot which is a major problem for vehicles from colder climates with humidity and road salt. Also, due to a large "retired" population, well maintained, low mileage vehicles are readily available if you take the time to shop around.

WELCOME and Good Luck.

[azriverfan.]

Don't buy in AZ. Go to Edmunds.com and cars.com and do a search nationally. The fee to ship a car is not bad, it's usually around $800-$900 yet you will save far more than that by shopping nationally. I saved $4,000 doing this. These dealerships will also outsource the tag, title and licensing to a third party company that will handle all of this for you so that you don't have to go the DMV. They will mail you everything. In the age of the internet, there is simply no advantage to shopping locally unless you personally know a dealer or a dealer is hungry enough to match any offer you get nationally but in Arizona, I often find that isn't the case. I feel like most dealers in Arizona charge about $3,000 more than what you could pay for the same car out-of-state. The only people I know that have success buying locally is if a friend(s) used one dealer and kept giving him referrals to the point that he or she was willing to sell $500 under invoice just to sell a car.

[Beware_of_Dog]

To each his own, but Arizona is the best place to buy cars in the whole country. No, never buy from a dealer. Here in AZ you have to pay tax if you do. Here is what I do, and I have sold new hondas and toyotas in the past at a couple of the major dealers in town.

Do your search for the kinds of cars you want on Autotrader and Cars.com. I narrow my search to private sales only, then do the price and mileage (usually under 30,000 miles depending on the kind of car). I personally prefer one owner, nonsmoking, cars, with clean carfax of course.

As I search each day or two I have a window open to Kelly Blue book to check what the owner is asking to suggested value, and another window open to Autos.msn.com. I use the latter to see what years certain upgrades or style changes were made to the cars I am searching for. Sometimes I will change the year criteria in my search based on a model being changed or upgraded at certain times over the years of that model run.

I have had good luck with doing my homework. It isn't work to me, I love cars and like researching them. I have a different car every couple years and usually sell my own for as much or more than I bought it for. I buy only mint used cars with low miles and take perfect car of my cars. I sell them either before I put too many miles on them so they are still low mileage cars, or in some cases before the warranty runs out if there was still one on the car I bought.

Doing it my way I avoid sales tax, get a like new car with lower than average miles to enjoy for half the price of new, enjoy it for a couple years, sell it while it still has low miles for its year, recoup my investment, and then buy something else to enjoy without ever getting bored driving the same thing always. I am in my convertible phase right now, but am selling it soon for what I paid for it 2 yrs ago - a 2000 model year with only 40,000 miles on it.

If everyone would do what I did, they could buy twice as much home than they do, which of course is a better investment. The worst investment one can ever make is buying a new car. People can never get ahead doing that.