[condor27596]

Ironic. I needed to get another car myself. I ended up getting a 2013 Mazda 3 hatch itouring CPo with an 8 year bumper to bumper warranty. Automatic 40 mpg. Legal window tint and an I dash DVD from crutchfield completes the package. ( I had speakers amp and sub from other car)

[Tako Kichi]

And here's where things get interesting - my uncle is a senior dealer at Honda in Miami and when I approached him for advice, I was offered family discount. Now, the obvious answer is go with the civic and call it a day, but here's my issue. I have to be in North Carolina - that is my final destination. I will be in Georgia. I was not planning on visiting the family this summer (we live just outside Orlando). So, the option then is

1. Buy a car in Georgia/NC (preferably GA), and drive it to NC
2. Fly down to Miami, and drive it all the way up to NC.
   • I'm really against this option because, in my mind, the family discount (20% at the most? I didn't ask what it was because that would have been rude and I'm in fact extremely grateful of the offer) is negated by the 800 miles (1280km) of driving, both in unnecessary wear and tear but fuel costs as well. Not to mention that driving 10-12 hours doesn't top my list of funtivities..

Here's a thought, if your uncle is 'in the trade' could he:



A) arrange for you to get the Honda of your choice from a local dealer (i.e. local to where you need the car) with his 'family discount' applied to it


or


B) deal with all the paperwork but arrange to have the car delivered to a dealership near you rather than to his dealership.


Knowing how things work up here I would have thought either of those were viable options in the States. Dealerships do deals like this all the time up here especially if they have a customer who wants a particular spec on the car and they don't have it but they know a dealership in the database has one just like it.

[Steinback]

For Ford of Canada, the family discount was (possibly still is) a code that your relative gives you and which you then take to the dealership of your choice. There are a couple of different tiers of discounts depending on the employee's position in the company and their relationship to you. We used one for my father's Escape, walked into the local dealership, and essentially chose the car we wanted and got it for about $2k under sticker with no negotiation on the price.

As for Mazda 3s I have been happily driving a second hand, manual transmission, base model 2008 Mazda 3 hatchback with AC as the only option for several years now. My mother has the mid spec model from 2009.

The only major issue was that the dealer washed the engine on mine without my knowledge, which causes water to pool in the deeply recessed #1 plug hole with no way out. In the winter the water froze and lifted the wire off of the plug, throwing an error code on the engine and cutting power. The moral of the story is, don't let anyone wash your engine, and if they do pull the engine cover and use a towel and a hair drier or something equivalent to pull the 3 inches of water out of the recess the spark plug sits in.

[mee]

Ensure you sit straight in the seat in the car you plan to buy.. not one like it but THE one.

You seem like a tall dude, I'm fairly tall too. The thing that I didn't think about when buying a car was headroom. I slouch so I didn't realize I didn't actually fit in my car when sitting straight. The issue is complex but basically down to the sunroof eating a good 1-2" of headroom vs the same make/model without the sunroof. So make sure you consider this and sit down in the car thoughtfully before buying.

Also, my 'cheap' GM-made sedan is 7 years old. I bought it when the car was 2 at a hefty discount (I'd recommend you pay cash if you have the means, you will potentially have a stronger hand to bargain price). So far the only issues I've had with it have been a dead battery, a false service code that disabled cruise control and automatic door locks temporarily (got ahold of an ODB reader and cleared it, which brought back the door locks and CC instantly), and a turn signal switch that stopped resetting the signal when turning the wheel (was a 22 dollar part on amazon and I replaced it easily in minutes).

The point being, I think most cars these days are pretty reliable as long as you don't pick from the very bottom of the barrel, keep up with oil changes, and don't thrash it.