I live in Atlanta and have been waiting on the TAVT revision to go through. I’m 8 months pregnant with my first and was hoping to keep my 2010 Mazda 6 until June and lease an XC90 (for personal use). My backup leased vehicle is a CX-9 Signature. I’m so overwhelmed and I’m afraid once the baby comes I’m not going to be able to properly handle the situation. I am super frugal and will be crushed if I waste money. I usually buy my cars outright. I’m planning on trading in the Mazda 6. I haven’t dealt with car negotiations since I was a college-aged teenager in 2010. I know last time I had the advantage of the recession and secured an amazing deal. This time it won’t be as easy. Are lease brokers worth their weight? How early should I start negotiating with the dealerships? How much negotiation can be reasonably done via email? Should I bring the baby to negotiate? Should I bring my husband or just go myself with the baby and apply pressure? Any tips would be appreciated.
Personally, I would reach out to a broker like @Benedetto. The cost will be worth its weight in gold with the amount of time you save. More time to prepare for the baby and relax. I would also consider the Infiniti QX60. Considering that it is your first, have you considered the Mazda CX-5? There will be plenty of space and it can be equipped with many of the same features as the CX-9
Thank you for the broker recommendation. Yes I’ve considered the CX-5 but I really want the extra room because we are done with flying and would rather take the car with the dog, baby and our crap. Also my husband wants a lot of backseat space to work while I drive. I’ve loved my Mazda 6. It’s been a trusty little car but I’m sad that they have skimped on the autonomous features. The Mazda will have to be significantly cheaper than the XC90 to make it worthwhile.
The XC90 is great but if you can’t make it fit your budget take a look at the GMC Acadia Denali, it has loads of room in the back and there are some great deals on it right now.
Also, good luck with the pregnancy and what comes next.
I hate to be this guy… but we have a minivan and love it. I bet with some help from a broker you could get a Pacifica for under $350 month zero down out of pocket. And that’s with leather.
Vans are the best for families. I wish we had gotten a van with our first child but instead got a Touareg and gas was up to $4.75 for premium.
when we had our first kid, we had a civic and it was great. it fit a stroller and a diaper bag, so civics are best for families too. Now we have two kids and civic obviously would be too small, so we upgraded to Acura TSX, and later to kia optima. Keep crap at home and don’t let your kid get obese and you won’t need a minivan.
First, there are a few brokers on here that have really good reputations, they would without a doubt get you a good deal. Not every deal they do is a blockbuster deal of the century but they will get you a good deal I’d think. But if you spent the time and effort you could probably replicate or beat their deal but again that is time and effort on your part.
I have a 2 and 4 year old and remember scrambling getting a suv before my first was born and we ended up getting an infiniti QX60 2 weeks before he was born. So I’ll share this, I don’t think you will need an suv right when the baby is born. Your Mazda will work, it has good space and 4 doors so you can get the car seat in and out fairly easily. Not sure your situation but more than likely you’re not going on any road trips and will just be going to the doctor, friends and grocery store for the first month or so (I could be wrong but that was us).
Right now the deals on the XC90 aren’t that great. If you can/want to wait a few months deals historically start to come back end of the quarter. If you so wait you might have have some down time and during this time you can email and negotiate with a dealer. I negotiated both my Volvo’s over email with 1 phone call. I had everything done, just showed up, signed the papers, took delivery and drove off, it was one of the simplest 45/60 min at a car dealership I’ve had.
I wouldn’t bring the baby, it could go against you. I’m sure you’re thinking “hey she’s got a baby we should give her a good deal”, I could very easily seeing a dealership thinking the opposite “she just had a baby and needs to get an SUV we can charge her more”.
If you decide to get it on your own I would reach out to some folks here. I believe @cheapdad00 spoke to a few dealers on your area and might be able to help you get things going with some contacts and which dealerships were willing to work a deal and which weren’t.
No right answer here so I’d suggest just doing whichever you’re most comfortable with.
I found that once the kids get older and you don’t have to shove a rear car seat in and out, sedans work much better for them. This summer four of us plus the dog went on a 300 mile trip and we were fine. Initially my thought was buying a car that was good on gas and a pleasure to drive, and rent a larger vehicle for our annual trips, however, in 10 years this never became necessary.
@Eallen2844 I second this. While the baby is still tiny, you won’t have any trouble getting the carseat out of a sedan. Once they’re a little chunkier, though, a taller car is a big back saver. Plus, when your baby is still fresh out of the oven, all they’ll want to do is sleep, so you’ll have plenty of time to peruse LH for deal tips. No rush. Once 8-9 months hits, though, good luck finding time to blink!
Btw, why the XC90, specifically? It’s a very nice car, but the CX-9 looks like it’ll lease significantly better right now, and is a surprisingly nice car for the money. QX60 is big, but very outdated on the inside. RX350 is modern and comfy, with very spacious 2nd row seating, but at the sacrifice of trunk space. You can easily get these 3 options under $400. XC90 wouldn’t be as easy.
Thank you for this, it was very helpful. Ordinarily I would keep my Mazda until the wheels fell off but I’m worried about saftey. Our interstate 285 is one of the nation’s deadliest and I don’t feel great about my car’s safety rating… especially when we start traveling again.
I’m glad to hear you were able to do everything virtually. This is a huge relief. Hopefully our dealerships will be equally as accommodating.
I’ll start putting feelers out at the end of the first quarter and if I get scared off I’ll go with a broker. This way I can avoid shoving my dirty diaper baby in their faces.
We want the XC90 because of the saftey ratings and autonomous features. Above all it has had zero road fatalities for the past two generations. The CX-9 has the same saftey record but much less self driving features. So it would have to be a lot cheaper for it to be worthwhile. Safety is my number one priority and in my opinion that goes hand and hand with autonomous features. A Model X would be ideal but I can’t stomach a $1,000 a month lease payment. Especially when the XC90 offers a similar autopilot.
Why not transfer into a lease for ~~ 10-12 months until you find something better. Won’t be a Volvo or Mazda, but maybe a Mercedes GLE. There is this transfer for 422 a month (you’ll have to buy some miles though)
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the “autopilot” that you’re referring to is not a true autopilot, in that it can’t stop at red lights and make 90 degree turns and drive you home by itself. It’s a combination of lane keep assist and adaptive cruise control, both of which are available in the RX as well as the CX-9 (and so is the HUD, pre-collision braking, rear cross traffic braking, etc.). I believe the QX60 also has those options, minus the HUD.
Perhaps it works better in the Volvo than in my RX, but I’m able to cruise around on freeways with just a finger on the wheel (so that it doesn’t beep at me) and don’t use my feet at all. The dependability of it definitely hinges on road/weather/visibility conditions, though. It’s not super reliable sometimes, so I suggest you try it out first!
That’s always a good idea except don’t plan on driving many miles with this lease.
About your comments on the Volvo’s autonomous drive features I definitely enjoy them they work well, a little quirky at times but don’t think for a moment they rival tesla’s. The Volvo system is to “assist” you not take control over the car and drive it like tesla. I’m not in anyway pushing you away from the XC90, it’s a great car, I do feel good having the kids in it. If that’s the car you will feel safe in and instills confidence then go with it.
It definitely took me awhile to get completely comfortable having the baby in it and there is no denying it is a very safe car. On top of that I think it really stands out from all the Lexus RX350’s out there.
I had a Sienna with 2 little kids. Worked perfectly. Moved to a house where there are a lot of back roads and twisters and the FWD Sienna sucked. Felt horrible. We then got an XC90. Honestly, it’s a fantastic car.
But, I should have gotten the AWD Sienna instead. Nothing beats the seating arrangement and capacity of the minivan. Nothing.
