Car for my mom
 

My mom said she wants a new hybrid to replace her Hyundai Sonata.

Majority of her driving is a few miles to the gym so was trying to talk her into a plug-in hybrid but she doesnt want to plug anything in:rolleyes:

She is not a fan of the Prius, told her the new one actually looks pretty good.

So thinking RAV4 or CR-V hybrids. Need to look at local inventory since not sure if Honda is still difficult to get. Any other suggestions?

Hyundai SUV's are seemingly good these days. Perhaps the Tucson deserves a look if you are in that category?

Also: https://www.edmunds.com/hybrid/#hybrid-cars

I have not car shopped since Covid, what is the best process nowadays? Still haggle directly with dealer or maybe costco? Expect MSRP as good deal?

TIA

Lots of deals under MSRP depending on model and region. Have heard good things about the RAV4 hybrid for normal car ppl.

1) Hyundai / Kia means dealing with people breaking windows to try to steal them. They are also often difficult to insure as a result. At a minimum, make sure to pull a quote before buying one.

2) The GDI engines are stunningly garbage. Not in a "I don't like them because they're tedious econobox units" way, but in a "they have a catastrophic design flaw that causes them to sludge up, starve, and throw a rod out" way.

Agree- a RAV4 hybrid is probably the way to go for your mom. Solid, reliable, fuel efficient and not too big or small.

Thanks for the replies, surprised you guys are suggesting RAV4 over CR-V. I searched the local inventory and both dealers have about a dozen according to their website. I plan to get her to test drive them next.

FC, she has a Hyundai now(and my son now has ones too) but I am not a fan of them (8/10 cars) so will steer her away from them :D:eeps:

The cr-v sport hybrid is what a neighbor is getting. Touring trim. They researched this to death, so :dunno:?

Hey, I am not a Korean car fan, so you are not hurting my feelings. :D

I've heard from non-car people that they really like them, so... :dunno:

It's hard to go wrong telling a non-car person to get a toyota.

My sister bought a Hyundai Tucson just about 2 years ago (right during the supply chain shortages -- her prior car was totaled after being rear-ended pretty badly).

She likes it. Can't remember if she got the hybrid or not -- she basically found the only one that was avail within a couple hundred miles (shortly after the current gen came out)...

This was going to be my suggestion. The Savagegeese guys (Jack & Mark) gave their 2023 SUV award to the Honda Pilot, but said the CRV Sport hybrid would be their next choice. I have seriously considered purchasing a LX or EX ICE CRV as a daily beater, but I am going to hang tight for the time being or at least attempt to until late Spring.

Hang tight for a 6MT 4Runner?

That is sort of on my radar but it is nice have a beater 4runner nowadays. I would probably get a LC250 if I was buying a new SUV though.

I appreciate that there is *something* that I will be able to buy new if I need to replace the E53. I know that it wouldn't be spectacular, but it beats the other options and would presumably be cheap to run.

I loved my ‘07 4th Gen T4R SR5 and absolutely hated my ‘14 5th Gen T4R Limited. Anyways… I am done with 4Runners. I like the new Lexus GX that is coming. Lexus has recently added it to the configurator and I do not like the price.

What about the 2024 Land Cruiser (prado) that’s coming to the US (same car as the new GX)?


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In SoCal, the RAV4 Prime PHEV was going for like $10,000 over. All day and all week.

That was a year ago.

Have they gotten more accessible now?

According to Edmund’s they have - looks like the target selling price is just under sticker now


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Finally got time to take my mom for some test drives today.

1. Toyota RAV-4 Hybrid AWD XLE
-Interior was very appliance like but I guess not surprising for a Toyota. I thought toyota had improved this but maybe not for the rav-4. Did not check the grand highlander.
-driving wise nothing remarkable either good or bad. Again like an appliance
-driver side had a interior vibration, pretty bad for a brand new car. I would not buy that car for that reason. My mom didnt notice it though.

2. Honda CR-V Sport Hybrid L
-interior design is very nice. Quality does not match the looks, hard plastics and quality, but it is not a luxury car so acceptable.
-Very black interior including headliner which I prefer but some people might think cave like.
-the dash seemed lower then the RAV-4 which my mom and I much preferred. My mom actually went back to Toyota and sat in the RAV-4 to confirm.
-Engine was noisy and noticeable while the engine was cold but disappeared after it warmed up.
-Ride and handling seemed better than rav-4

3. Lexus RX-350
My mom wouldn't even consider because of the spindle grill. Tried to get her to sit inside but got a hard no.

So both of us preferred the CR-V so she is going to move forward. Both dealers were pulling ADM shenanigans with Hoehn( lemming:)) the worse with 2k markup along with stealth markup. I am getting lazy in my old age so just going to check with Costco instead of battling with the salesmen. Been awhile since I have been to a dealer to car shop, just the same as before covid, bad.

Solid choice. And Honda has always been especially terrible for dealer antics. Good luck!

Wow, ADM’s still? I thought those were a thing of the past by now.

Deals are coming back for many brands, but Hondas and Toyotas are still in very tight supply

Hondas are getting expensive but they make great cars and I really like their new SUV designs … happy for your Mom and you are a great son enjoying the new buying process with her !!

Talked to the local costco dealer and came to an agreeable price. Hopefully close the deal on a cr-v sport L hybrid in red on Wednesday for her.

heading to the honda dealer in an hour, wish me luck:D

Good luck!

Good luck. A friend is trying to buy the same car here in NJ (plus Touring, I guess that gets leather/sunroof etc, I tried to talk them out; no go)... most dealers were msrp. He did find one that took $1.5 or 2k off for a color he didn't like, still hunting (hoping market softens).

Dealers suck, they did the bait and switch. Ended up getting the car but with it leaving a bad dirty taste in my mouth, super lame.

Ugh, Yeah. My experience buying two Hondas was really the worst of my car-buying career. But, glad your mom has her wheels.

Smile was before the bait and switch:lol:

So what happened ?

I did the Costco route and the initially quote was super good with no dealer add-ons which surprised me. It was without tax and registration so I asked him for the out the door price thinking he might add the dealer add-ons but he did not. My mistake was not to confirm that but I was texting him while hiking in the mountains with my older son:D

So we get in there but the sorry there is a mistake… the $2k of dealer add on’s were mistakenly missed:mad2: did the back and forth crap but eventually agreed to something.

Ended up being about $1k under MSRP not including the dealer installed crap so ok in the big picture. Just lame that I had to haggle, do the dance, and get misled with my mom.

With that said, I would not want to be a cars salesman. Tough job, was appreciating the Tesla model

So frustrating when you think you did everything right and they still find a way to pull this crap :mad2:

At least it still sounds like in the end you did well.

Yeah that is very frustrating. I remember something similar happen years ago when I was helping my brother buy a CRV!


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“Oops the salesman is a dumbass and forgot some mandatory charge that we add to all deals” seems to be a new trope at dealerships. The Porsche dealer did that to me, too, after I’d already agreed on a price. They also were willing to negotiate but it was a frustrating tactic.

Not sure there’s a way to avoid it other than being exceptionally clear that you want them to verify that there are no other “mandatory” charges that will be part of the deal. Even then, the Steve Martin “I forgot” ploy is still available to them.

Yep. A variation on this is some sort of math "mistake" that works in their favor - especially when it comes to lease calcs. Fortunately, those are easier to call out and actually get resolved.

Car for my mom
 

Agree, super frustrating. It all comes down to who is holding the position of strength in the negotiation. I’m sure in case of your car, if you had stood firm and said “I’m not paying any of this” - they would have been happy to counter with “ok, great - let me refund your deposit” so they could turn around and sell for more with ADM to someone else off the showroom floor. They also know in case of a custom order for a car like a Porsche, you’re likely emotionally invested at that point and unlikely to walk away.

Evil.