That was my first time on beepi.com. I find the site compelling. Unlike CarMax, for the delivery price, they deliver it to your door. They also give you the warranty and money back guarantee. That takes the "buying a car sight unseen" nervousness out of the equation a bit because you can take it to a mechanic in that 10 day window and ensure you got a good one. However, there isn't a very large inventory of cars since it is a new program. I found just the one HET, and there wasn't one Vibe that someone was trying to sell through beepi.
As for having a car sit: no, it is never a good idea. Most people have their friend start the car at a minimum every third day or so. Ideally, you want it driven around for a few miles as well so water vapor doesn't just deposit in the muffler and rot it out from the inside. Second, a car that sits unused allows every bit of oil to drain to the bottom of the engine, where it (for a second or two) cannot properly lubricate the valves and upper engine components. And third, you will begin to develop flat spots underneath each tire. These flat spots tend to deform the tire just a bit making for a lousy ride thereafter. That is why you will see people put their motorcycle or car up on blocks/jack stands so the tires don't get "ruined."
Despite my fully believing there are better cars than the Fit given the right driving scenario, again, the Fit is in a league of its own when it comes to piece of mind driving. If that is most important to you, then you have three generations of Fits to choose from and lots of them for sale as a result of the current generation being out on the market. That fact alone puts you in the driver's seat when attempting to find one. The Vibe was crashing in price until Consumer Reports put the picture in their magazine two years running. Now owners who used to stupidly say: I've got to get rid of this thing......Pontiac doesn't exist anymore, are now saying, I can get a premium for my Vibe thanks to CR. Us Vibe owners have always known that we were driving a car that was nearly 100% Denso/Toyota with a GM designed outer body. Parts for my Vibe will be available for as long as Corollas are made.

 

Ouch. Not being able to store the car without risking substantial problems throws a big monkey wrench into my plan. Just curious...is there a way to 'winterize' a car like tou would do for a boat that sits in a lot? Or maybe I could get it worked on and cleaned out after I get back from a contract? I did find this article: http://www.edmunds.com/car-care/how-to-prep-your-car-for-long-term-storage.html

Maybe if I follow those tips I'd be okay.
My family is pretty busy and I wouldn't want to add another task to their schedule and unfortunately I've lost touch with my friends here doing contract work overseas, besides which they'd probably be busy to and wouldn't want to babysit it.. I may have to wait on getting the car which is a bummer. You've been incredibly helpful and I've learned a lot from your advice and experience so thanks again for your time. If I pull the trigger for whatever reason I'll be asking for more advice so it's good to know people like you are active on this forum.

 

The 2012 and 2013 model years were identical mechanically and in terms of equipment. I think there may have been one different paint color choice, but I'm not positive about that. Both the base and sport models in these years have VSA and keyless entry and cruise control.

I'm going to disagree with letting a car sit for a few months being particularly problematic. A little bit of preparation is all that is needed. Starting the car and running it for a couple minutes, not giving it sufficient time to warm up, is much much harder on the engine than sitting for a long time not in use. (Virtually all of the wear in a car engine happens within the first several minutes after a cold start.)

One very real concern is the battery. Modern cars have a number of parasitic loads on the battery even when they're off, and over the winter these will discharge the battery. A lead-acid battery that sits discharged for any great length of time will be ruined. Furthermore, batteries even with no load attached do self-discharge at some rate that is quite dependent on their temperature--much more when warm than when cold.

If the car is stored in an unheated place for the winter, and it's a relatively cold part of the country, simply making sure the battery is fully charged (which would generally need the use of an external charger) and then disconnecting the negative lead so there are no loads on it will keep it okay for the winter. In a warmer environment, it should be put on a maintainer or a float charger of some sort. If you have sunlight, a little solar battery maintainer might work out well; something around 5W would probably be sufficient. If you have electricity, a little maintenance charger would be the way to go.

One other concern is the gas in the tank. Putting some fuel stabilizer like Sta-bil in the tank before the final fill is a very good idea, and it should be left full of gas. (If the tank is full of gas, there's no room for air; and if there's no room for air, there's no way for moisture to condense out of the air and contaminate the gas or rust the tank.)

I leave my motorhome sitting next to my house every winter. Many farmers leave their tractors unused all winter. Many homeowners leave their riding lawn mowers unused all winter. A car isn't that much different than these other machines in terms of storage.

 

yep, we'll have to disagree on that one. Plus you just provided two more reasons why a vehicle sitting unused can be problematic. Most farmers, as with us law mowers, winterize their engines before storing them away. I don't think the OP should be confused into thinking that turning the key and firing a modern engine after it has sat for a few months is not a big deal. Residual oil coats the upper engine components for the next days start, whether you take off immediately or not. After potentially a few months sitting idle, as the OP is pondering, such a dry start would be a great way for internal engine friction to shorten the lifespan of his investment.

 

Thanks for your thoughts on car storage. This is definitely something I am going to have to figure out if I want to keep working contracts for my employer and have a car. I need to figure out if this is a surmountable problem before I continue with my plans to purchase a car at this time. I've been reading about steps to take to store a car indoors and it seems manageable and not too big of a deal. Sounds like I would have to be more worried if storing it for 6 months or beyond - max would be 4 months. I'm concerned about some of the things BurntZ has mentioned about the reduction of the life of the engine. I've been reading about car storage units and possibly even services that will have employees start your car and maybe drive it a bit regularly to keep everything in working order. Maybe this is a possible solution? Would be more costly which would stress my budget, but it may be the only solution unless someone has a better suggestion (outside of the obvious-my family and friends are too busy to babysit my car and I don't want to burden them with that chore).

 

Would it make some sense to instead rent a car when you needed one? You'd sidestep many of your concerns and it might be cheaper than buying, maintaining, insuring and suffering depreciation on a car. Just food for thought.

 

Yes, thank you for your suggestion. I am in the process of re-thinking my whole plan now after conversations with other owners and people on this forum have helped me think things through more thoroughly. What I am thinking is to abandon the idea of a long term use car and get a reliable, higher mileage (as now I realize the wear on the car could be less substantial with mostly highway driving) and much cheaper car, so I wouldn't have as much invested in it. But for now I'm holding off on it all until I get a better idea of my life situation for next year (deciding whether to move, etc.). Man it would be nice to have a ride though. The problem is it isn't totally necessary at this time, so I should probably just save the money. I know I'll need a car eventually. I'm just trying to figure out the most frugal and financially conservative way of getting one.

 

I like the way you think. Unhurried analysis brings the best results.