Has anyone recently bought a new vehicle? I am thinking of buying a new vehicle, however, since my husband no longer has a valid license, cannot sign his name (I do have POA) & really won't understand the whole business of buying vehicles I don't know what I should do. I know he will want to go along. Has anyone else went through this process since loved one became ill?
I bought a truck about 3 months ago. My husband cannot sign his name anymore or even read the contract. I signed all the paperwork with my DPOA. I took him along and they watched him for me while I did the test drive. You shouldn't have any problem.
Do you plan to pay the full amount or finance? There are some banks (USAA being one--very service oriented,) which will--if you're financing through them--make all the contacts and deal in advance. IOW, you tell them what you want, they contact a dealer near you, negotiate a fair price, and you just go in and sign.
I don't finance stuff, so here's what I did for the last new car I bought--a Subaru Forester: First I researched a little on line to determine what features I wanted and how much it SHOULD cost. www.kbb.com (kelley blue-book site) is a good place to make this determination. Once you have that number you can call or visit a local dealer and tell them what you want and how much you're willing to pay for it. They will either say ok or not. If they seem slimey or tell you stuff that seems fishy or you're not sure about, go somewhere else. Generally, you just have to make it clear that you're doing the choosing and buying, you have the money control. I have not had a problem.
Kadee, Go to www.carbuyingtips.com. This is a website provided by Consumer Reports and gives you tips on how to negotiate and how to spot scams. Read it first before you start your search. Also do your research on-line re: type of car etc. then travel to a dealer and sit in the car(s). Don't answer questions if the sales person startes to ask them, don't tell them if you want to use your old car as a trade-in. Don't buy on that day...just doing research.
I researched my car for over 6 months, knew what I wanted and then kept going on-line looking for it. I ended up buying a dealer demo for $10,000 less, still had a full warranty and had only 3,000 miles on it AND they delivered it to nearest dealership (and were glad to do it). I certainly would NOT put into DH name! Then you have insurance issues etc. You might use this as the beginning time to wean him from driving but if you put into his name...it might be harder. Good luck!
I bought a new car a year ago. I hadn't ever done that before ... speaking of stress! My husband offered tips, and yes, he went with me for all of it, including the test drive. He enjoyed it thoroughly. We never explained anything, never even told them his relationship to me. Made them nervous, since they didn't know why he was there or who would REALLY be making the decision. That was good ... keep 'em on their toes!
Mostly, though, to get ready to go face-to-face with the dealers, I used
www.car.com
You can get all sorts of information on any type of car you might be interested in, do searches for cars that fit your specifications (gas mileage, size, price range, whatever), etc. They have oodles of tips on what to look for in a car, in a seller, how to negotiate, what's reasonable and what isn't, tricks you should watch out for, tips on buying vs financing vs leasing, on and on and on. You can get competitive quotes over the internet, if you want. (Mostly what happens is the dealers promptly call you to try to get you to come in for a test drive, so they can sweet-talk you... ! If you want to deal by email or phone rather than in person right away, be firm. Also, some will try to tell you they've got a great deal, but only right now because it's the end of the month or some other hogwash. You can rest assured the great deal will be there when you're ready to buy ... or maybe even a better deal.) I also found that when I told them I was CEO of my company and too busy to wander around, they'd offer to bring the car to me to test drive. :-)
Car in my name only.
USAA is not only very service oriented, but also tends to have the best rates. Financed my car through them, car insurance through them, homeowners insurance through them, and my husband's Medigap insurance and Medicare Part D through them. Some of their services are restricted to veterans/members of the armed forces, some are not.
Oh, and you know what else can be good -- buying from car rental agencies. They have to keep updating their fleet every year. You can sometimes get really good deals that way.
And MissB is right, one of the main tips is you never discuss trade-ins at the beginning. Be vague about whether you'll do a trade-in, if you deign to mention the subject at all. You negotiate price and THEN the trade-in. Do your blue-book research so you know what your trade-in is worth. My husband and I agreed on what I should ask for my old (as in, 20 years old!) car. When we got into negotiations, the dealer tried to tell me they had to offer me rock-bottom because they couldn't resell the car, would have to put it up for auction, wouldn't ever get their money back, yadda yadda. The sales rep brought in the guy in charge of used car sales, he told me they could NOT go above a certain price. I looked at my husband, he looked at me, and we both stood up.
They go CRAZY if you stand up.
They asked me to please talk a little more. I told them there was only one of me to drive, so I could only drive one car. I could drive the new car off the lot, or my old car. I told them there were three other dealers offering me the same price or better on a new car. They said surely the cars weren't actually already on the lot. Why, yes they were, one dealer even had three, two in silver and one in red, and that red one was awful purty.
I got my price for my tradein. Which was, quite possibly, not worth what they gave me. It had some transmission problems that weren't obvious right away, but were the reason I needed a new car. I'd been afraid my old car wouldn't last long enough to get me to the dealer's...
When you get around to dealing time, practice, practice, practice what you'll say and do before you ever get there.
Kadee: Everyone's advice is great so far, so here's some more. I bought a car last November, and when it was time to pay, took my DPOA (because made downpayment out of checking account that I'm POA on), but put car ONLY in my name, and didn't have any trouble. I did explain the general situation to the persons assisting me, and if anything, they went out of their way to make it easy on me. My trade in car was already only in my name, so that wasn't an issue. I also notified my banker ahead of time, and gave the dealership my banker's card if they had any questions (they never called him). My husband did not go with me at all, but knew that I was looking, and at the last moment he asked who was paying for it, and I told him we were making a down payment and financing the rest, and it was his birthday present to me (my birthday being in November) and he seemed very pleased with himself and told several of his friends that he had bought me a cute new car! When I brought it home, I made a big deal out of taking him for a drive in it, and thanking him for it! Also, I decided to look at used cars, and got a great deal on a loaner car (the ones the dealership sometimes loans out to customers when their car is under warranty and in the shop). The car was an 2006 (I bought it in Nov. 07) and only had 12,0000 miles on it , AND because the car was still in the dealership's name, the car is under FULL warranty and the financing was new car financing, which I understand is usually better than used car financing. FYI, it's about the 3rd or 4th "loaner" or "test car" my husband and I have bought during our marriage,and we've always been very pleased. You get a good discount off the original price, and the kinks have probably been worked out. Also, and I know this isn't always possible, but I've always tried to get a referral of a specific person to call at the dealership before hand, that is, I don't walk in cold off the street. Usually, I get names from friends who have had good experiences at a particular dealership. In this case, a client of mine referred me to the specific saleman at the used car part of the dealership (I guess it's called "preowned"), and he couldn't have been nicer. I called ahead, told him what I was interested in, and made an appointment. He had three cars ready for me to drive when a got there, including the loaner I ended up buying. Also, my father, an engineer who carefully researches everything including cars, LOVES buying cars from rental car places like someone already mentioned! He has also used AAA, the automobile association, a few times because I think they have prenegotiated car prices with certain companies. Good luck and enjoy.....
I took a male neighbor with me. He loves buying cars and helped me negotiate the deal. Before we went we knew what the Blue Book value was on the cars I was trading in. The one small snag I hit was the fact that my husband's name was on the title of his car. I brought my POA and the agency remembered how nasty my husband was when we bought our last car there. All they really wanted to do was sell me my car. When it was all over I was very proud of myself. I kept the keys where my husband could not get his hands on them.
Kaydee, this is something you need to pay attention to, also:
There may come a time when you need to put him in the NH. For that you pay roughly $70,000/year. If you go to an elderlaw attorney, they will tell you that what happens (it differs in each state, but some things hold true) is that if you can't comfortably pay that for very long, your countable assets (we're talking an investment account, CDs, 529s for grandkids, and bank accounts - yours and his) are divided down the middle. So if you have, between you, say, $200,000 (excluding income), $100,000 would go to him to pay for his NH care, and you'd be left with the $100,000. If it were more than 200,000 or I think it's more than about $214,000 at this time, you get to keep $107,000; the rest goes to care for him. If you don't have enough income coming in to take care of you, you may get some of his. In my state you get to keep YOUR IRAs and your INCOME. In some states you don't, and I don't know what happens if you're bringing in a salary. The house, and STUFF in the house don't count.
In any event, once that division is made, certain things can be bought from the money the NH spouse is entitled to, and A NEW CAR is one of those things. Certain household repairs can be done too. And a certain kind of annuity can be bought for you. The car has to be your ONLY car.
SO keep this in mind - if your husband's fairly far along it may be worth it to wait until you can do this; if he's not, it may be ten years before he's ready for a NH and your current car can't wait that long.
And there's no problem just buying the car in your name... no reason to have him on it! The gals have given you good advice above here.
Any suggestions about type/kind of car would be easier for a disabled person to get in and out of. The car I have not is a Lesabre with leather bucket seats which I definetly want again along with all the bells and whistles. I have been thinking a crossover like a Toyota would sit up higher and might be easier to get in and out of. I don't want a van.
He has trouble getting in and out of our car and he also has trouble getting in and out of our Coronada 4 x 4 with cloth seats. I talked to a van conversion place and they can only do the swivyl seats in a full-size van. lmohr
I dont think you can insure a car that is in the other spouses name ONLY and have the insurance policy in your name only. i sold insurance and from my knowledge you CANT exclude the titled owner/owners off the car insurance. you would have to buy what is called a 'nonowners policy' which covers you while you drive any car; if your spouse is the only one on the title and has AD you need to go to title company and get it into your name using poa. then you can do as you like with the vehicle and insur policy. i think it could lead to all kind of 'issues' if you were to have an accident the the named owner was not on the insurance coverage -it could give the insur agency a way out of paying if they werent told. plus if you were getting sued an atty would find all kind of loopholes if owner of vehicle had no coverages-if you want to drive your spouses vehicle you either have to do your own insurance or have insurance together on the car, if he has no license its a catch 22 and you have to tell the insur agy he is not driving and redo the pollicy and get the car in your name. i always had to ask who is the titled owner of the vehicle before writing a policy. i bought my vehicle in my name alone and insur in my name too. excluded DH off the policy. you cant exclude them if the are owners. i may need to buy a new one next summr. and i too use the internet to find best deals then find who the sales person is and deal with them in person. divvi
My SIL leased cars for years and leased lots of cars to companies through what they call a fleet plan. This means that the company leases lots of cars. My SIN told me when I was ready to buy a car to call the dealership and ask for the fleet manager of any major auto dealership and ask them what the price would be over the INVOICE price ....NOT sticker price. Also, tell them you will want to see the invoice. Then tell them that you can get it for $100 over invoice at another place and they will usually give it to you for that price. I have bought 2 new cars like that and it was so easy. No problem at all. The fleet manager works on commission for the number of cars he moves out of the dealership and not the price so he will deal the best. My daughter bought a truck like this just last March and her husband bought one in Oct. We all knew it we had good prices because my SIL would have gotten these cars for us if we couldn't make good deal.
I own a new PT Cruiser. It is my second one. The old one was 8 years old and I wanted to replace it.
When I was using a walker I could get into and out of the front seat in that car with no problem. Ditto when I needed a cane. I've sat in the back of the older car but only after I was at the cane stage, not at the walker stage. Everyone who has ever sat in the back seat has commented at how comfortable the back seat it.
It is easily the easiest car I've even gotten into or out of.
By the way, that car is in my name only. At the time we bought it my husband was still driving so he had something to say about what we bought, but I basically made the decision.
I bought myself a Honda Element. Funny looking little car. I bought it for the ease of loading heavy stuff. The cargo area between the front and back seats is gigantic and hip high-no bending or straining with loading or unloading. I'm a little person but with this car can tackle most anything. People laugh at me when I load up at Sam's because I have to jump to get the back hatch down. Love the macho little car. It's so cute I laugh at myself whenever I drive it.
I think it rides fine, but everyone's idea about that is different. It is a small car, and rides like a small car. The gas mileage isn't great for a car of its size, but the getting into and out of it was very important for me. It has the advantage of being a hatchback. You can put the back seats down and with the older car we did haul some big things in it.
I still haven't purchased a new vehicle. However, have been looking on Sunday's when everything is closed. I had to chuckle to myself this morning while looking, I tried to engage my husband to look also & maybe comment on something he liked. Well he commented "He liked the cup holders" This is from a man who loved cars, especially fast ones.
When we bought the car my husband was still driving. He HAD to have cruise control. We put it in after market. It will never get used. But basically I chose the car (the same kind I'd had before) and made the decisions. It was very strange.
Today I paid for next year's registration. For some unknown reason it is coming up in October, possibly because that is when the last car that had those plates was registered. For the first time I had to go and get the odometer reading. Another first I could have done without.
I bought my car in the spring of 2006. I am fortunate in that my son went with me to see various cars and helped with the paperwork. I put the car in my name only...I researched various makes of cars and used the Consumeers Guide for help in decision making of which car was best all around. Since it might be the last car I buy (age and I have Parkinsons) I looked for various options in the car that were for safety measures.--- I have a camera that shows the area behind my car as I am concerned about possibly hitting something I can't normally see, if my car strays into the yellow lanes it signals with a bell, I have guided cruise control in which the car stays a car length away from the car in front automatically, an automatic brake assist system, a telephone sytem that works with my cell phone so I can drive hands free and by voice command. I feel much more comfortable having these helps(some I haven't mentioned) and I also researched the reliability of the car I bought. The relability is one of the best and my last car was the same reliability so I am comfortable in the knowledge that maintenance will be minimal.
Mary, I have owned two cars that I have bought myself....the first was an Infiniti, made by Nissan, Q45 and I bought it from a dealer and it had been on their leased car program for a year. It was a 1997 and I bought it in 1999. I had it until 2006 and I sold it to a friend. It never had to have anything done to it except ordinary maintenance and she still has it, never having to do anything to it. I wanted the new car which had the safety features the other car did not have. My car now is an M35X which has all wheel drive and four wheel drive both. The voice mechanism is really nice once a person catches on to it. The car has voice controls located on the steering wheel and on the dashboard. If you wish, look it up in the Consumer Guide reports for cars and they have given it an excellent rating for safety and other aspects. I don't trade in cars often if I can drive them without repairs and this one is rated very high in reliability.
Carewife, thank you! I have a 2000 Buick LeSabre that I bought new and it has served me well and looks new still. It will be another year before I buy a new car, but yours sounds great! I'll check it out. Maybe by then it will be able to park itself, Sunshyne!