Okay everyone I'm at an impass here and I'm hoping I can get some opinions here. My wife and I are looking at starting a family soon and as many of you know, the tC and strollers/carseats don't mix very well. Yes, you can get a carseat back there, but man is it a pain in the butt! SO! We've been brainstorming what we would like as far as a family car. We've looked at xB's quite a bit, older and newer, as well as the xD among other cars (Rav4, matrix, mazda 3 & 6, etc...)

We were at the local dealership today and they had a couple xB's that are quite nice that should fill our needs, but I want to make sure the offer is a good deal and maybe get some insight as to whether or not they will fit our needs?

Option 1:
2006 xB RS 4.0, 11,000 miles Automatic Trans
This is a stock (as an RS gets) RS 4 in great condition. The dealer wants 18k for it and will give me 14.2k for my car. It would add an extra year to my loan (have 2 years left now) at the same price. I love the paint on the RS 4! However, it is a lot of money...

Option 2:
2006 white xB, 7000 miles Manual Trans
This was the dealership's show car. It's dressed to the T's. A brief list of the main mods:
Sunroof (electric)
Full tint
Heated leather seats (including headrest monitors)
19" TRD wheels
Lowered on (I think) TRD springs
Alpine nav system
Full infinity speaker system
JBL subs in the back with JBL amps built into the side walls (where that cubby is)
14" flip-down monitor built into the hatch, connected to an Xbox 360 mounted in the trunk
Rockblocker on the front
Plus a bunch of other smaller mods (sport pedals, etc...)

This one is very clean and extremely nice! The dealer wants 19,777 for it and will only give me 13k for my car if I trade in for this one. The price is a steal, I know, but the main problems I have here are A) the trade-in for my tC and B) the trunk space is used up by the Xbox and subs. I'm sure I could remove those when I need to easily enough, and replace for show, but I'm not sure if I want to worry about it. Plus this is even more money.

Option 3:
Sell the tC private party and buy a used xB, also private party. I could actually kill most of my loan if I went this route, most likely.

Here's a look at my car:
2006 FM tC, 21k miles, manual, and a few mods:
Full tint
Full illumination change (gauges, hvac, everything is blue)
Megan headers, TRD axleback, and custom exhaust in between (with a big resonator)
Rockford Fosgate deck, full infinity speakers
JL W6v2 with a Phoenixgold 900.1 amp... this thing hits HARD
Full paint and interior fabric sealing and protectant

My car is in top shape, no scratches except a little bit of curb rash on the wheels. IMO the tC is worth more than they're willing to give me in trade, but if I wait too long those 2 will be gone...

What do you guys think?

 

All I gotta say is, those prices are outrageous... for both of em.

Also, I don't think 19" wheels would be an ideal ride for a baby... it can get pretty choppy.

I'd go private party, you'll have much better luck.

Oh yea, and if that one's got subs, good luck finding somewhere to put a stroller.

 

Too much money---look for a stock xB--you should be able to find well under 14,000. They have plenty of room for carseats..........

 

you could probably even find a stock xb cheap enough that would permit keeping the tc, let the wife have the b and you drive the c, just make sure that when the kid is born, whatever car you get everything is covered in plastic, cause no offense to those with kids, those little monsters are disgusting! once you've cleaned a few cars where kids are involved, and had to remove dirty diapers and worse, you'll never, ever want kids

 

Haha too true... I do have the cloth sealed on the tC. It's great, liquids just bead up on the seats.

 

those prices for the xb's are nutz...negotiate or go private party

 

EFF the dealer, seriously. And the way the economy is headed, you'll want to get rid of as much debt as possible.

For comparison: Last month I bought my '06 xB with *4,500* miles (NOT A TYPO) for $13.5k from a private seller. Came with stock and aftermarket wheels, stock and aftermarket headlights, stock and aftermarket taillights, stock and Strup muffler, Tein S-tech springs, CF engine cover, etc.

Go private, carfax whatever you're looking at. Look here, at clubxb.com, autotrader.com, ebay.com and carmax.com (carmax is expensive, but still not as bad as a $tealership).

 

that was a deal

 

Thanks guys! I really appreciate the input. I think right now after sleeping on it I've decided against both xB's for now. The reason we were steering toward the older xB's was for room and mileage. I work as an insurance agent and I drive a LOT! So the better gas mileage would be nice.

Surprisingly, the ride in the show xB was pretty decent, as well as the road noise, but IMO it's just more than I want to spend. I would have no problem with the mods as long as I could speak to the installer. Most of the stuff they did was mods I could do myself, but don't have the time to do really. I'm leaning toward trading for something closer to the trade-in value of my tC now. We want to get rid of the auto debt asap.

We did test out the xD and really liked the ride and noise, even though it is quite small (we love small, though!). Also, I think the new xB is starting to grow on Abbi (don't know about myself, however...) and man do they have lots of trunk space!!

 

Safety first. Go for the ratings/airbags.

 

Good choice passing on those two xBs... as everybody else said already, too high of an asking price. I have a one year-old daughter and drive an '06 xB. Whether the car seat is rear, or forward facing, there is still tons of leg room for the front passenger. When we had the seat facing rearward in my wife's SUV ('06 Hyundai Tucson) my knees were in the dash... and I'm only 5'10". As far as strollers go, we have a pretty big stroller and it fits OK in the back. Best of luck with the family and the car hunt!

 

Well the reason why used xBs are so much is because the value doesn't go down as much when they were sold as new. Keep this in mind, 1st gen xBs are reliable(I haven't had one problem so far). So whatever you decide, good luck!