The good old days of late summer 2009.
It was a great time to buy a new car. Monthly new car sales in North America had plummeted to under 10 million units. Access to financing seemed to be near impossible for a lot of consumers. Brands were orphaned. Leasing collapsed. Banks were picky. The future was uncertain and… raw materials were cheap.
It was a good time to buy new at a deep, deep discount. Has that time passed?
In my fawning review of the Kia Rio 5-door, I noted that the six-speed manual transmission was only available with the base model. When the B&B complained, I commented that
Kia’s about to try to prove me wrong.
Rodrigo writes:
Hello Sajeev,
I’m being offered a 2005 BMW 545i with 78,000 miles on the clock. Well-equipped with the sport package and manual transmission, it’s being offered at $18,000 (negotiable) by a co-worker’s family member who “wants to get rid of it quick so he can replace it with a new truck.” I’m told it’s been babied, but I’ll definitely be asking for service records and a chance to have it inspected by a German car indy mechanic that’s 3 blocks from my apartment. (Read More…)
Recent Comments
Preludacris - Oh yes, drifting in the snow is a smooth, sweet feeling! If I had ever been stupid at any point in my past, I might be able to relate a story about riding in the bed of a...
indi500fan - In the old days, before 6 yr old karters and “driver development” programs, a lot of future racers from the Great Lakes area learned to drive in torquey V8 stick...
Freddie - My 99 Contour V6 MT was so much fun to drive – when it ran – that I put WAY too much time and money into keeping it...
philadlj - IIRC The Bible refers to them as “asses.” (the donkeys, not the people who mourned their loss)
ajla - Yea, but this isn’t the AJ30. It’s listed as a 90-degree V6.
juicy sushi - Ottawa, wishing I could be back in Toronto.
carguy - The Jaguar AJ30 engine is a modified Ford Duratec.
Jellodyne - I had the same experience with English in Texas.
carguy - That was in an era when cars weighed a lot less. The 4,000+ lbs cars of today need significantly more power to provide the effortless propulsion that is...
danio3834 - “The overall feeling from the passenger seat was not one of jerky, violent motion like I had imagined when I had first seen the photos in Kazu’s magazines but was instead...