I was on Anaprox for many years. It helped a bit. Hormonal birth control helped a bunch more. Basically, with anaprox I could curl up and rock for a day or two, with hbc I could go to work and have an advil and be mildly unhappy for a day. This could also be thanks to getting older.
Anaprox caused heavy nausea for me, which led to an aversion to milk because for some reason my mom made me take it with milk (did Anaprox do something to calcium absorption? was her mom just diagnosed with osteoporosis?).
What is the savvy way to buy a used car? Buy certified from a dealership? Buy from an online service (has anyone used Carvana?) and use the 7-day refund period to get it checked out? Use a broker? If it’s a regular used car (i.e. not certified, not with a return window), what are the logistics of getting it inspected before purchasing?
I like to keep cars foreverrrrrr, so reliability is most important to me. I want to minimize surprise repairs, especially the hassle of them. I want to get a good value, but that’s secondary to reliability.
We have a trusted mechanic in the neighborhood, but are only minimally car-competent ourselves. And haven’t bought a car in 12 years so out of touch with today’s options.
Carvana was going to be like a $500 delivery fee, non refundable. So we didn’t want to risk that. This last car we opted to go with Toyotas certified preowned program. They do a lot of really rigorous testing and only certain cars qualify, so I really like that added security. When we bought our used VW though, we went through a private sale (from CL) and that also worked out really well.
I read that certified pre-owned cars are not worth the price premium. They do tend to be only a few (up to 3?) years old.
I used a lot of websites to check safety ratings, read reviews of models of interest from places that test drive cars (when new), I didn’t think of checking for recalls (but I should have), and used Car Gurus to check prices.
I got a non-certified used Toyota from the dealership, Car Gurus had classified the price as a good deal. You also have some negotiating room you can use. Think anout what you might want.
I have found dealerships (either ones that do both new and used or ones that only do used) easier to deal with than private party. If there’s a car you like, you can usually make it conditional on having a mechanic inspect it as long as that happens promptly.
That said, the cars my wife and I like tend to have such a flat depreciation curve that total cost of ownership is actually cheaper buying new
Yeah, it also depends on how much you drive. When we were pricing out replacing our commuter, we ended up going new. Because the depreciation curve on the lowest trim Jetta we were looking at was such that was how much we expected my husband to drive, it would make the most sense to start new. I definitely don’t regret that decision. Plus we had some really good leverage since we had just gone through the buyback and had our check from having turned in our previous VW to the company. So we got a really good deal through that.
Not opposed to new if the value math works out, but the two cars I’m looking at are both discontinued (not an SUV, easy to park in short urban spaces, even more storage space inside than our magical Honda Fit, manual transmission ==> Golf Sportwagen/Alltrack or Mazda5) so used is our only option. I’m an anachronism?
Oh that’s right! I actually zipcar’d the Crosstrek for our camping trip last weekend to see how it would fare. It’s a really nice option, it does come in manual, and they have the same cargo capacity. We just liked the stretch Golfs slightly more for relatively mild reasons (lower rear gate for dog to jump into as he gets old, easier physical buttons on console).
My mazda5 was the bomb. I could fit SO much in there, I slept fully stretched out a bunch of times when I was too lazy to set up my tent in road trips, I got 35 mpg average. Road trip with three adults three bikes a dog and all our gear with a mini fridge. Loved it. (Gave it to my kids and went car free until transit shut down due to Covid)
I got one as a rental over a decade ago and remembered it being so roomy inside. Apparently they’re so great that noone is selling theirs! Inventory is super low.
Ohhhh, for real? I’m open to other suggestions! I want to celebrate my (lucky 13!) anniversary on a pretty beach that’s on the east coast. I just want a big pretty hotel with a hot tub and beach access. I really liked Miami when I went a few years ago but if there are better spots lmk for sure!
My friend LOVES going to Miami, but her cheap hotel was $300/night and then after that she started going to the 5-600/night hotel across the road. And food isn’t even included! I’d rather stay somewhere sticky . And the restaurants looked good.
She has amazing travel stories. Dubai winter 2020.
Personally I’m impressed when I spring 30 for the fancy hostel, but I think we need hostels with family rooms now. Or hotels, at which point I can’t handle thinking of the price
. And the restaurants looked good.