Comments | sink_or_swim: Dominique's Guide to Purchasing an Automobile...Volume Twenty.

sink_or_swim

Dominique's Guide to Purchasing an Automobile...Volume Twenty.

Feb 26, 2009 16:33

Okay, I've actually been thinking about doing this for a while now, between my parents being ridiculous and it seems like lots of people are going to either be buying a car soon or in the future or whatever.

Presenting...The Dominique Brooks Guide to Car Buying and Pancake Making*

The individual parts will be placed behind cuts.

( Firstly, figure out what you need. Not what you want. )

work work work, dommi: answer to a question nobody asked

Comments 22

lilinthra February 26 2009, 21:50:24 UTC

Boo to the "no guide for pancakes".

Helpful read, and a lot to bear in mind.

sink_or_swim February 26 2009, 21:56:34 UTC

Well I figured the post was long enough. I can make a pancake guide later. XD

No problem! I like helping, even if I don't necessarily get the sale. <3

lord_darkseid February 26 2009, 22:14:42 UTC

Just have to say for the record.... that icon is awesome.

lord_darkseid February 26 2009, 22:13:35 UTC

*bookmarks*

Though... I'd also like to see the Dommi Guide to Pancakes... :)

sink_or_swim February 27 2009, 00:09:10 UTC

I'll do pancakes another day. My wrists hurt from this.

Glad I could be helpful!

tdei February 26 2009, 22:19:20 UTC

:O I'm a complete car n00b, so this is extremely helpful. Thanks a lot for writing up such a detailed guide. :) ::just skimmed but will be re-reading thoroughly later::

sink_or_swim February 27 2009, 00:08:43 UTC

No problem! I'm glad I can help!

neurallycloned February 26 2009, 22:27:56 UTC

Great write up. And time-sensitive too, seeing how I'm looking on getting a new car towards the end of the year.

sink_or_swim February 27 2009, 00:08:19 UTC

I'm glad I could help and that it was understandable. If you have any questions as it gets closer to you moving forward, don't hesitate to email or call me. As I said on Twitter, I'm a resource that not enough people utilize. :D

kalidor February 26 2009, 22:52:01 UTC

I'd add about the stick, depends on the car, and your ability with stick shift. I'd say that the first two or three years of driving a particular car with stick you are gonna get worse mileage till you can find the optimum shift-points for fuel savings. ( These are also not the same as in the manual or the optimum racing shift-points :P )

Also most people are horrible with taking care of transmissions auto and manual alike. If you end up damaging an automatic its usually a 3-4 grand repair. A manual rebuild can go for 700 bucks plus parts which you can get good prices on if you shop around or have a buddy that knows where to go.

sink_or_swim February 27 2009, 00:03:32 UTC

I'm really not going into detail about how hypermiling in a stick or an automatic works, because the point is think if it's for you in the first place. A lot of people I deal with don't really want a stick but think they'll get this amazing gas mileage...I'm trying to kill that misconception so people I know don't make the same errors.

kalidor February 27 2009, 00:19:12 UTC

Well .. I wasn't even thinking hypermiling ... just learning your car. And with modern cars and consistent driving styles, the cars learning you.

But point well taken.

As for the automatics, I know too many people who have made the mistake on not flushing the transmission until it was too late and ended up with a situation where a new car was easier to deal with than replacing the slagged tranny.