Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

stickguy

tjc78 said:

It is crazy @stickguy and I haven’t gotten together considering the proximity.

Nice loop around the dealers yesterday. I know what your wife didn’t like about the Volvo. In normal mode even with start/stop disabled there is a delay from the time you take your foot off the brake and press the gas. It must uncouple the trans from gear and re-apply when you press the car. If you switch to Dynamic mode this doesn’t happen. It took me a while to get used to it.

You can’t go wrong with the RDX and that color combo sounds like a winner.

@jmonroe i cooked ribs last night and they were pretty darn good.

it wasn't from a stop. It was when she was driving on local streets, where you take your foot off the gas then push down again. it just felt "softer" to her. Part of that is I have always found the RDX to have a very touchy gas pedal. you tap it and bam, take off. She is definitely used to that. But, she still liked the car. I don't think she would have a problem at all with getting used to it.

part of the problem was that she drove 5 cars in 3 hours, all of which were very nice, so tough competition. If we had just gone to see any one of them to make sure she liked it and to make a deal, she would have been happy.

I must have done a fine job putting the short list together, since she said that she thought yesterday's visits would make it easier, but in fact, might have made it harder to decide!

stickguy

Thanks @benjaminh. I plan to go in Monday and start looking at numbers. No clue where that actually ends up. Nothing in the email from them with the price indicates can't get the financing, or loyalty, but we shall see what they try to spring on me. Worst case, the numbers trend seriously in the wrong direction, and I leave. They have something like 71 of that model between their 2 stores so must have incentive to get a deal done if we are close.

I also did a lot of research last night to confirm one thing the salesman said. The RDX is actually fine with regular gas. That will help with covering the new payment!

I will also get a lease quote for the heck of it. Could do that, flip the old one to Carvana, and invest the $$ in the depressed market, and hopefully have enough to buy something nice for cash when the lease runs out!

tjc78

Gotcha. T5 or 6?

You really can’t go wrong with any of them. All fantastic choices. For me I would be torn between the Volvo and Acura.

I still think we need the Enclave sized SUV for the next one otherwise I would have pretty much the same short list.

Still up on the air what I’m doing with the Enclave anyway. Had a great interview for a 50/50 WFH and travel position but it sounds like more flying than driving so if this one pans out may still be able to lease both and swap out with the wife as necessary to balance miles.

Also made it to the next step with another company that would only be a 17 mile each way commute right over the bridge so that’s promising as well.

We open the campground first week of April. Fingers crossed I have an offer by then.

benjaminh

On using regular gas in an Acura, I found this post at the site Acurazine....

https://acurazine.com/forums/third-generation-rdx-2019-454/request-those-put-regular-gas-your-rdx-gasp-976228/

"01-08-2019, 02:44 PM #5 zroger73

1. The only Acura that currently requires premium gasoline is the NSX. It is recommended in all others.

2. In order to achieve the peak advertised horsepower and torque ratings, you must use premium gasoline.

3. The peak horsepower and torque ratings are achieved only at wide-open throttle.

Turbocharged Honda engines use a torque-based engine control system. This means that pressing the accelerator pedal requests a specific amount of torque from the engine. The ECU determines the best way to produce the desired amount of torque in real time using valve lift and timing, ignition timing, fuel flow, throttle blade opening, and turbocharger boost. If pressing the accelerator pedal halfway requests 150 lb-ft of torque, the engine will do what it needs to do to produce this amount of torque whether you're using regular or premium gasoline. Using regular gasoline will simply limits the maximum amount of torque the engine can produce. In short, there won't be any difference in performance in "normal" driving, but the maximum amount of torque will be reduced by a relatively small amount. Very few drivers regularly push their accelerator pedals to the floor.

Because of the adjustments the engine must make to operate on regular instead of premium, fuel economy will decrease a bit which will offset some of the savings of using regular gasoline instead of premium. Also, premium gasoline tends to contain even more detergents than what is required by law or to meet Top Tier standards which can help keep your fuel system cleaner.

The vast majority of RDX drivers won't notice a difference between regular and premium gasoline. In fact, about the only time you may notice is if you take two identical RDX's to the drag strip - one filled with regular gasoline and one filled with premium gasoline. The race will be close, but the one running premium will win.

With that said, when I spend the money for a "premium" vehicle that recommends premium gasoline, I run premium gasoline. I DO use wide-open throttle regularly and want the best possible performance under this condition."



Premium is more "needed" in the TLX 2.4, because once in a while you need every one of the 2.4's 206 horses on premium for this 3,500 lb car. Losing 20 hp without the premium will sacrifice performance sometimes.

But since the RDX has some extra power with the R-type engine (Alex on Autos timed the RDX at less than 6 seconds 0-60, which is about as fast as a standard BMW 3-series), using regular gas should still leave plenty of power left, and will no doubt save money. Going from 272 horsepower to c. 252 horsepower still leaves enough horses and torque.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX-17khwcYs&t=1096s

sda

stickguy said:

next stop was Acura. Drove a white over espresso (gorgeous color combo) RDX tech AWD. Lovely car. wife said it "felt like home". Which was odd, because there were features of my TLX in it, but nothing that vaguely resembled her RDX!

Espresso interior is the color on my SIL’s RDX. It is really a nice color, Not too dark, rich looking, very comfortable. She has the medium silver exterior. My wife finds the silver/espresso combination awkward, can’t go wrong with the pearl white.

benjaminh

There are complaints over at Acurazine about low mpg with the new RDX. But when you put a sports car engine in a 4000+ pound SUV that's what happens. Even with regular gas and low gas prices an average person is going to save at least $600 a year on gas with a CR-V hybrid compared with an RDX.

ab348

Silver paint doesn't go with much in the way of interior colors these days which is why 99% of them around here are coal-mine black inside. Grey can work but that is not so commonly available these days. In ye olden days red or blue interiors were often matched with it.

tjc78

Silver over blue was always a nice combo. I also liked if it was a vinyl top car to do that in blue as well.

explorerx4

Reading that thread about the RDX fuels requirements, it seems the engine is the same the Accord 2.0.
Same HP rating with RUG.
Ford does this too, among others I'm sure.
My truck is rated at 375 HP and 470 Torque on RUG.
A top of the line Expedition with the same engine, rated with PUG is listed at 400/480.

stickguy

the RDX does not get great MPG, but it is fast! Overall it likely gets about the same as our current RDX. We don't put a ton of miles on it so not a huge hit. at least running RUG makes up for some of it. That thread had a lot of good posts from knowledgeable people, and links to other studies. Considering it is highly unlikely we would ever be at the top of the rev range where you would not see the extra power, we won't notice the difference.

it is the same engine pretty much as the Accord. I researched this with our current RDX. same engine code as the Pilot (or odyssey, one of them) and exactly the same specs (compression ratio included). There was absolutely nothing to explain why the Acura would need PUG. I think that basically the Pilot could get a little bump from PUG, but is designed for RUG, and in the Acura they admit it!

tjc78

Lexus and Toyota were the same way. The 2GR V6 used in many of their vehicles was Premium recommend for enhanced performance in the Lexus models.

sda

SIL’s ‘19 RDX is getting 22-23mpg in her daily driving, 27-30, typically 27-28mpg on trips. She only uses top tier gas and is known to press the pedal and ‘put it in the wind.’ Overall she is fine with the mpg and performance.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

the RDX does not get great MPG, but it is fast! Overall it likely gets about the same as our current RDX. We don't put a ton of miles on it so not a huge hit. at least running RUG makes up for some of it. That thread had a lot of good posts from knowledgeable people, and links to other studies. Considering it is highly unlikely we would ever be at the top of the rev range where you would not see the extra power, we won't notice the difference.

it is the same engine pretty much as the Accord. I researched this with our current RDX. same engine code as the Pilot (or odyssey, one of them) and exactly the same specs (compression ratio included). There was absolutely nothing to explain why the Acura would need PUG. I think that basically the Pilot could get a little bump from PUG, but is designed for RUG, and in the Acura they admit it!

Yes but could you stand to be in a stoplight drag race and lose to some guy running premium gas?

stickguy

OF, yes I could. But would make sure not to drag race another RDX.

reminds me, I just read the latest issue of Road and Track this week. Had a great article about the fallacy of 0-60. Basically explained why the magazine #s are bogus, in terms of you would never be able to clock them, and why it is also somewhat meaningless to compare.

nickle version, they all factor in 1' of rollout so in effect car has a running start. and of course, the abuse the snot out of them. Author said that the best "street" test comparison is actually the 5-60 one that C&D started doing a while back. That takes the abuse aspect out of play, and approximates how a car performs in real world driving. they had examples where stuff like an Odyssey would dust a WRX STi. Largely due to turbo lag and delays getting spooled up in some cars. Gearing, how quick the trans responds, stuff like that all came into play.

he said that the 5-60 is roughly what you get if you start the clock after the rollout. Not quite sure I followed that, but it is how they calculate. In any case, more important to me since I am never going to brake torque or clutch dump my own car. Let it get moving off the line, then floor it is more likely.

stickguy

sda said:

SIL’s ‘19 RDX is getting 22-23mpg in her daily driving, 27-30, typically 27-28mpg on trips. She only uses top tier gas and is known to press the pedal and ‘put it in the wind.’ Overall she is fine with the mpg and performance.

that would be great for me. basically what the wife's RDX gets based on the TC. I can live with it for the performance you get.

corvette

I think I’ve read that about all of the Ford Ecoboost engines in general - they perform slightly better on premium, all the way down to the 1.6 liter.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

Thanks @benjaminh. I plan to go in Monday and start looking at numbers. No clue where that actually ends up. Nothing in the email from them with the price indicates can't get the financing, or loyalty, but we shall see what they try to spring on me. Worst case, the numbers trend seriously in the wrong direction, and I leave. They have something like 71 of that model between their 2 stores so must have incentive to get a deal done if we are close.

I also did a lot of research last night to confirm one thing the salesman said. The RDX is actually fine with regular gas. That will help with covering the new payment!

I will also get a lease quote for the heck of it. Could do that, flip the old one to Carvana, and invest the $$ in the depressed market, and hopefully have enough to buy something nice for cash when the lease runs out!

The dealer gets $1500 if you take "Standard" rate financing, rather than the 0.90% APR

Cash or third party finance is zero incentive, just like the 0.90% APR

stickguy

still better off taking $1,500 off and financing elsewhere and paying off quicker.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

still better off taking $1,500 off and financing elsewhere and paying off quicker.

You have to take AFS financing for the dealer to get the $1500. But, yes, you could then re-finance elsewhere.

kyfdx

If anyone here has any mechanical/repair ability, we have an "unanswered questions" category:
https://forums.edmunds.com/discussions/unanswered

WAGs not really helpful..

roadburner

I think we're holding at one CUV for the foreseeable future. The X1 is nice to drive, but I much prefer a car or a true off-roader like the Wrangler- but to each his/her own.

tjc78

I am sure I have said it before but I’m just not a huge SUV fan. The only SUV’s I truly like are the truck based models. I would get a Tahoe/Yukon/Expedition but for one they lease like crap and 2 I don’t need anywhere near their capabilities.

The size and utility of the Enclave is what we need as a family vehicle (especially now with the campground home) but I’m just not a fan of driving it.

Michaell

tjc78 said:

The size and utility of the Enclave is what we need as a family vehicle (especially now with the campground home) but I’m just not a fan of driving it.

Substitute Outback for Enclave and that's how I feel. It's comfortable, it's competent, but just not a lot of joy. Would love something a bit more sporty, but no real reason to get a 2nd car.

cdnpinhead

Maybe it's time to revive "I Don't Like SUVs -- Why Do You" or whatever it was called. It was definitely bleachers and popcorn time back then, but I'm sure there's a victim class in there somewhere that would make it incorrect these days.

explorerx4

@cdnpinhead,
How about "I Don't Like Sedans - Why Do You ?"

jmonroe

kyfdx said:

If anyone here has any mechanical/repair ability, we have an "unanswered questions" category:
https://forums.edmunds.com/discussions/unanswered

WAGs not really helpful..

FWIW, I just provided an answer (about the water leak on the Dakota) and it wasn't a WAG.

jmonroe

Michaell

jmonroe said:

kyfdx said:

If anyone here has any mechanical/repair ability, we have an "unanswered questions" category:
https://forums.edmunds.com/discussions/unanswered

WAGs not really helpful..

FWIW, I just provided an answer (about the water leak on the Dakota) and it wasn't a WAG.

jmonroe

Saw that ... thanks!

pensfan83

Out of storage and fun as ever.

28firefighter

pensfan83 said:

Out of storage and fun as ever.

Jealous of the ZHP?

corvette

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:

The size and utility of the Enclave is what we need as a family vehicle (especially now with the campground home) but I’m just not a fan of driving it.

Substitute Outback for Enclave and that's how I feel. It's comfortable, it's competent, but just not a lot of joy. Would love something a bit more sporty, but no real reason to get a 2nd car.

The Murano I had was an excellent vehicle, just prefer a "real" truck to most CUVs. My parents' Audi Q5 is extremely nice but doesn't do much for me. I really liked the first generation BMW X5 that I drove, but haven't driven the more recent ones.

stickguy

I like red. it would match my TLX.

I'll give you $2,000 for it.

stickguy

I like having a boxy utility vehicle in the family. The wife prefers the higher seating position. I mostly want it for the capacity because we have a few times a year where we go away and need the cargo capacity. I just want something like the RDX that has a measure of actual performance and driving involvement too. I would never drive an actually truck based one.

roadburner

I sent an email to Sweeney Kia and asked whether they could get a Ceramic Silver/Red leather GT1 in RWD, but I don’t hold out much hope as US drivers have been brainwashed into thinking that RWD drive cars are only marginally less lethal than vaping crystal meth.

28firefighter

Speaking of vaping, saw someone in a WRX vaping while I was on my cruise this afternoon in the ZHP. Two thoughts - 1) way to perpetuate the stereotype about WRX drivers, and 2) nothing like damaging your lungs in the midst of a respiratory virus outbreak. Darwin at its finest.

pensfan83

28firefighter said:

Jealous of the ZHP?

Ha. ZHP took my rented space for now. I need easy access to it to take it for showings. Both red cars got a workout this weekend though. It was beautiful out.

ronsteve

corvette said:

I think I’ve read that about all of the Ford Ecoboost engines in general - they perform slightly better on premium, all the way down to the 1.6 liter.

I did read somewhere that the EcoBoost hp/tq numbers, and maybe MPG as well, were done with premium, though it's a "regular unleaded" engine per the owners' manual.

mjfloyd1

roadburner said:

I sent an email to Sweeney Kia and asked whether they could get a Ceramic Silver/Red leather GT1 in RWD, but I don’t hold out much hope as US drivers have been brainwashed into thinking that RWD drive cars are only marginally less lethal than vaping crystal meth.

When I look on Kia’s website, it shows the GT1 as RWD and AWD is a $2200 option

pensfan83

stickguy said:

I like having a boxy utility vehicle in the family. The wife prefers the higher seating position. I mostly want it for the capacity because we have a few times a year where we go away and need the cargo capacity. I just want something like the RDX that has a measure of actual performance and driving involvement too. I would never drive an actually truck based one.

As long as I have a car like the ZHP or Prelude in the fold I don't mind much if my daily driver is an SUV. For all intents and purposes my daily is the truck and I'm perfectly fine with it. And odds are better than 50/50 we replace the TLX with an SUV of some kind.

sda

pensfan83 said:

stickguy said:

I like having a boxy utility vehicle in the family. The wife prefers the higher seating position. I mostly want it for the capacity because we have a few times a year where we go away and need the cargo capacity. I just want something like the RDX that has a measure of actual performance and driving involvement too. I would never drive an actually truck based one.

As long as I have a car like the ZHP or Prelude in the fold I don't mind much if my daily driver is an SUV. For all intents and purposes my daily is the truck and I'm perfectly fine with it. And odds are better than 50/50 we replace the TLX with an SUV of some kind.

Do you plan to keep the Prelude and ZHP?

stickguy

one reason to upgrade the wife to something fancy like the new RDX is that when my lease is up, I pretty much have carte blanche to get anything I want. Including something like the ZHP. Assuming I haven't changed jobs to something with a commute, and just need spare wheels, won't matter what it is. Though probably best to make sure that it is something the wife is OK driving on occasion!

corvette

roadburner said:

...I don’t hold out much hope as US drivers have been brainwashed into thinking that RWD drive cars are only marginally less lethal than vaping crystal meth.

Now that I have a car with lane departure warning (and find it to be quite reliable), and having observed the average drivers in the US for many years, I'm becoming convinced that this feature should be mandatory and non-defeatable. And if you regularly activate the warning more than a couple of times per hour, in addition to the beeping, you get a mild electric shock.

stickguy

there needs to be a NJ or Philly roads override, to account for the ridiculous amount of potholes. Sometimes you need to weave around to avoid the tire shredders!

fintail

I was gonna say, I think vape pens were standard equipment on those. Did it also have window vent deflectors and a bunch of stickers? Extra points for "stance".

28firefighter said:

Speaking of vaping, saw someone in a WRX vaping while I was on my cruise this afternoon in the ZHP. Two thoughts - 1) way to perpetuate the stereotype about WRX drivers, and 2) nothing like damaging your lungs in the midst of a respiratory virus outbreak. Darwin at its finest.

jmonroe

corvette said:

roadburner said:

...I don’t hold out much hope as US drivers have been brainwashed into thinking that RWD drive cars are only marginally less lethal than vaping crystal meth.

Now that I have a car with lane departure warning (and find it to be quite reliable), and having observed the average drivers in the US for many years, I'm becoming convinced that this feature should be mandatory and non-defeatable. And if you regularly activate the warning more than a couple of times per hour, in addition to the beeping, you get a mild electric shock.

Better yet, maybe the designers should implement an eject button. It got 007 out of a jam once.

jmonroe

tjc78

Lane departure is great but at times it can get annoying when you are steering around an obstacle.

In some ways I prefer the alert (with no steering assist) in the Buick to the full on corrective action the Volvo takes.

nyccarguy

fintail said:

I was gonna say, I think vape pens were standard equipment on those. Did it also have window vent deflectors and a bunch of stickers? Extra points for "stance".

28firefighter said:

Speaking of vaping, saw someone in a WRX vaping while I was on my cruise this afternoon in the ZHP. Two thoughts - 1) way to perpetuate the stereotype about WRX drivers, and 2) nothing like damaging your lungs in the midst of a respiratory virus outbreak. Darwin at its finest.

Don't forget the mandatory Instagram sticker on the side window.

kyfdx

My wife’s car has the warning, but it doesn’t take corrective action. I’m not fond of it.

I do like blind spot warnings, though. I also have that on the GTI.

tjc78

Blind spot should be made a required feature IMO.

pensfan83

sda said:

pensfan83 said:

stickguy said:

I like having a boxy utility vehicle in the family. The wife prefers the higher seating position. I mostly want it for the capacity because we have a few times a year where we go away and need the cargo capacity. I just want something like the RDX that has a measure of actual performance and driving involvement too. I would never drive an actually truck based one.

As long as I have a car like the ZHP or Prelude in the fold I don't mind much if my daily driver is an SUV. For all intents and purposes my daily is the truck and I'm perfectly fine with it. And odds are better than 50/50 we replace the TLX with an SUV of some kind.

Do you plan to keep the Prelude and ZHP?

I wish I could but the Prelude is going up for sale.

suydam

Lane departure is very annoying if you live in the country where narrow 2 lane roads have been re-striped many times. It’s as if the car signal can’t pick up the actual boundary. I agree about blind spot, won’t buy a car without it.