Car buying question

Dealer told me price for loaner 2014 Infiniti Q50 with 16,000 miles on it was $35,000. Would you buy a loaner car? What do you think is a realistic counteroffer for the car? Thanks.

Counter question: Why are you buying an Infiniti Q50?

Figure it is time to upgrade my old Altima and seems like as good a choice as any. Want somehing nice but not too flashy. Don’t really know anything about cars.

Use Kelley Blue Book or TrueCar.com. You can estimate a fair price given the condition and use of the vehicle then use that to make the counter offer if you disagree with the valuation.

No, I wouldn’t buy a loaner. Or a lease return. Or a fleet car. I’d only consider used car if it belonged to a private party. People treat loaners like disposable items, which is what they are.

^dont know that I agree.

Sure, customers may treat the cars like crap, but the car rental place treats it like an asset. And they probably take better care of it than a lot of people.

this is a good point

People i’ve known that have bought loaners have had good success, due to the maintenance aspect. At 16k miles, it seems like even if you tried to abuse it all else equal, you’d want well maintain vs abused. Try to get a recourse agreement ha ha

yea used cars are tough. esp loaners. some are indeed tortured beyond belief and would probably cause you massive headaches in a year or two

I think I would buy a lease return but not a rental for sure. Lease return would depend on the price.

Most loaner cars are probably in fine condition. People tend to be cautious when driving cars that they are not familiar with. Q50 is designed to be a Chinese chauffeur car; I don’t think it is the kind of vehicle that will motivate temporary drivers to push the car hard.

Some rental cars might have been driven hard, but on average, they are probably treated the same as most privately owned cars. Some individuals drive like assholes with their own cars too, and many skimp on maintenance to save money.

Why the hate on the Q50? I personally love infinitis… jk (but I do own one :()

PS: $35K for a used Q50? You should be able to a get a brand one for like $37K. Bargain harder!

looks like a chinese copy of a C250 merc?

16k miles seems high for a loaner car. I would confirm that it was actually a loaner and not used by the owner’s MIL or something like that. Price also seems high regardless. If you tried to trade in a car a month after you bought it and had only driven it 20 miles, the dealer would tell you it depreciated 20% the second you drove it off the lot.

Personally, I’ve never liked infinity’s. My brother has one and a couple of my friends have. They all say the same thing, that they never really had a strong driver connection with the car, ie they didn’t really “love” it. I do like the Acura TLX or me personally, if I didn’t live in such a wintery climate, I’d buy a 2007-2011 M3. But I also love v8’s.

That being said, I think people take care of their lease cars. It’s still their car and they don’t want to be dinged at the end of the lease for excessive damages. If you get a good deal (which I have no idea what a good price is for that car) then by all means go for it. Plus dealer certified used cars typically have nice warrenties. Personally I’d always opt for buying a better model used car in good condition over a brand new lower model car. To me that makes no sense.

The Q50 is overall a nice car. It has more interior space than a 3 series BMW and has AWD as an option available as well. I would review autotrader to see what other used Q50s are listed for at the mileage as a start point.

You could also use unhaggle.com which is for new cars. Here you can see the dealer invoice cost and the MSRP. You will need to provide your contact information and a dealer will call you to disucss further. You could probably get a good deal on a new car versus purchasing a loaner.

Actually, that comment is accurate in some ways. Infiniti used to be a US-focused BMW clone. However, Infiniti used older technology, so their cars were cheaper and more reliable than BMW. The G35/G37 was just a big low tech V6 on a RWD platform. It was a fun product for people who like sporty cars, even if most luxury car buyers found it to be rough and unrefined.

Anyway, in 2012, Infiniti headquarters moved to Hong Kong, and the company started making softer cars for the Chinese market. The Q50 is not a sports car like the G37; it’s a luxury cruiser that focuses on driver assistance technology. You have probably heard of the controversial electric steering system in the Q50. There is also a long wheelbase version of the Q50 now - again, this is for the comfort of chauffeur driven customers in the back seat.

Which German company is traditionally known for cushy chauffeur driven cars? Mercedes of course. Of course nowadays, BMW is also starting to focus on this, as is evident in the continuing softening of BMW cars.

Edit: This comment is for onlysimon.

^I thought that Lexus:Toyota, Acura:Honda, Infiniti:Nissan. (You youngsters who took the new SAT might not understand.)

Agree that price seems a tad high.

What are the warranty specs? Already mentioned above, but often the certified pre-owned warranties are better (more mileage) than the warranties on brand new cars.

That was my understanding as well.

Also, Lincoln:Ford::Cadillac:Chevy::(Greenie’s list)

Is that no longer true? And what are the luxury brands corresponding to Mazda and Chrysler? (Please, not Fiat :))