Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

explorerx4

@oldfarmer50,
Just go to fordparts.com. You can find the list price for just about any part.

driver100

According to Cost Helper, the cost for a single-coat synthetic enamel paint job ranges from $300 to $900, with an average of $566. A mid-level paint job with a higher-quality paint and additional prep work like removing rust and dents can range from $1,000 to $3,500 with an average of $1,316

driver100

It is a simple little article but this guy makes the case for buying a new car over a used car if you are keeping it for the long term...8 to 10 years. Not rocket science, but, he confirms my reasoning, and if the new car does cost more it won't be by much, but a used car has a much greater chance of becoming a money pit....or as stick says, you may have to buy 2 over the time period.
Should I buy a New Car or Used from I Will teach You To Be Rich.
*If you read the article don't ask for more information, just read and back out.

henryn

oldfarmer50 said:

henryn said:

oldfarmer50 said:

I think the first thing to do in a private sale would be to check the person’s license against the title. If they match that clears 50% of the chance of getting scammed. If you meet at the sellers home address which matches the other documents you can be pretty sure that it’s a legit sale.

Then you only have to evaluate the actual condition of the car...which is a whole other story.

When I am car shopping on Craigslist, and call anyone who represents themselves as a private owner rather than a dealer, my first question is, "Do you have a clear title with your name on it?" You wouldn't believe how much hemming and hawing that question can bring about.

On the cost of painting, I can offer one concrete example. When the hood was stolen from my 2015 Ford F150, I had it repaired at the dealers bodyshop. The itemized bill clearly showed that the hood itself (brand new from FoMoCo) cost less than painting the new but unpainted hood.

Wow, my Ford body shop told me a replacement hood would cost $2000. I wonder if that included paint?

I don't have the paperwork any more, as I no longer own that truck. But the breakdown was something like $700 for the hood and $800 to paint it, totaling about $1,500. This was for a new aluminum hood on an F150, on a nearly new 2015 F150.

I would expect the hood for your Mustang to cost more, so $2k sounds about right. The hood would come with primer, and the body shop would then paint to match your car.

suydam

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe1 said:

Here is my distracted driver story. I held off making this until the story would be complete.

A little over two weeks ago as Mrs. j was backing out of the driveway on her way to her swimming aerobics class, when the young college student (she goes to Pitt) across the street was running late to her class and was calling her classmate to let her know she would be a little late picking her up. Mrs. j notices she is almost flying out of her driveway, directly across the street and she is on her phone. Mrs. j quickly throws the shifter into drive to pull back into our driveway but she was too late. BAM, the young student nails her new Subie. LOTS of damage. When I got home I could see that not only was the bumper destroyed the trunk was even popped up at the rear window area thereby if it rained the trunk would flood. Since it was a nice day I decided to get an estimate right then and there. I took it to the same independent shop that fixed the damage done to my Genny this past Winter. The guy does his estimate and it is just penny's shy of 4 grand but he tells me that when he "gets in there" he knows the price will go up. I go home and call my insurance agent to tell him what happened and what the preliminary cost would be. I also told him Mrs. j was actually in drive when she got hit but that would be impossible to prove so I was prepared for our insurance company to pay all of the costs. My agent said, "not necessarily" but we will have to sort this out after we talk to the young lady. I said, "you know she isn't going to admit she was on the phone like Mrs. j saw and she even admitted to that when they talked after the collision". He said, "let's wait before we jump to conclusions".

He then told me I have a couple of choices, (1) pay my $500 deductible and get the car fixed immediately or (2) wait until the insurance companies battle it out to see who is going to pay. He even said it could be a shared responsibility type of accident. I chose to get her car fixed immediately. I picked it up last week and the final bill was $5,246.73 and a good chunk of that was for painting.

My agent just called to tell me they will be sending me a reimbursement check for my $500 deductible because, believe it or not, the student admitted she was on the phone and was over the midpoint of the street.

I guess now all I'll have to live with is diminished value at trade in time.

jmonroe

That’s a shame. Admirable that the young woman took responsibility in an era where people’s first instinct is to lie. Just out of curiosity, did you get a police report from an on scene officer? If not, why?

No accident was reported to the police.

Buy the time Mrs. j called me both cars had been moved, hers in the garage and the student went off to her class. Other than maybe a cop hearing that she was on her phone, not sure what a report could have done. Which is probably why a report wouldn't be a bad idea.

jmonroe

I would always get a police report. Not everyone is honest. What would happen if the coed had accused your wife of hitting her? We once had a woman run a stop sign and broadside a school bus. She swore up and down that the bus had run the stop sign. She continued the lie even in the face of the 25 student witnesses on the bus. Never would admit fault even after the cop gave her a ticket.

The police aren’t interested in parking lot or private driveway incidents. I did call them once, and the officer told me they would not assign blame in non-injury accidents on private property. That’s for the insurance companies. For one thing both parties generally have to move their cars right away.

stickguy

Driver, I agree that buying something not overly expensive for a good deal new, and keeping it 10 years while doing OCD maintenance, is the way to go.

tjc78

stickguy said:

Driver, I agree that buying something not overly expensive for a good deal new, and keeping it 10 years while doing OCD maintenance, is the way to go.

Yeah but what’s the fun of that? 

andres3

oldfarmer50 said:

Here’s a story with a happy (I hope) ending.

Ford has had a history of paint problems on their aluminum hoods. My 15’ Mustang was no exception. In summer of 2017 @ 9000 miles I noticed some bubbling on the center leading edge. Took it to the dealer and they got Ford to approve a repaint under warranty.

Fast forward to this spring. I take the car out for the first time and notice similar a problem on the outboard edge of the hood. Disappointed since the car still only has about 12k miles. But it’s out of warranty now.

Went through the same procedure at the dealer except this time Ford denies the claim. Seems I’m SOL. Same day I get an email from the dealer with one of the routine “how was your visit?” questions. I decide to vent a bit and tell them how disappointed I was with Ford’s decision especially since the car had such low mileage. Didn’t expect anything to come of it.

Today I get an email from the owner saying the dealership will do the second repaint on their own to insure my satisfaction. I was pretty impressed that they would do this. The car goes in next week.

Great dealership, but still keeps me away from Ford for I'd like decent paint with my car, or my car with decent paint please.

andres3

stickguy said:

Well, the best wannabe example is actually Lexus, when they launched with the LS. that turned out OK!

I think the Cressida for its time was a much better wannabe than the Azera ever was.

andres3

jmonroe1 said:

henryn said:

I would be more likely to buy a used Genesis than a used BMW or Mercedes. No way I would buy any car like that new, just too rich for my blood.

Careful, I can see you being accused of being a cheap wannabe seeker. It's bad enough just buying one new. Maybe you should reconsider what you said.

For a minute there I thought you were going to say you wouldn't want to own a German car that's out of warranty and that would have caused sparks to fly.

jmonroe

There are people that don't want to own a German car out of warranty?

Well, there are also people that don't want to own an American car in warranty, unless it comes with a concierge pickup and drop off service to handle all the warranty claims, complete with a loaner program that has cars that actually run.

andres3

ab348 said:

stickguy said:

Well, the best wannabe example is actually Lexus, when they launched with the LS. that turned out OK!

The difference there is that Toyota was already renowned for building quality vehicles and then took it to another level with the early Lexus models. Hyundai is known more for building good-value (some would say cheap) vehicles with plenty of gingerbread, not so much for legendary quality. Maybe they can achieve that with Genesis but they are starting from a different point.

EXACTLY! On this, we can agree 100%!

Hence, why I pointed out the Cressida vs. Azera comparison.

cdnpinhead

tjc78 said:

Ha ha ...I live in Jersey if you hesitate for more than a second on a left hand turn arrow you get honked at 

Left-hand turn arrow? What happened to the jug handles?

andres3

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

explorerx4 said:

MY guess is, since the manufacturer already paid to have it fixed once, they said it's on the dealership this time, since it wasn't done right the first time.

Funny thing, Ford has known about this problem since at least 2005 but didn’t fix It until 2016. Other car companies keep selling engines that blow up or trannys that fail early for years knowing that it will drive away buyers. Is it so difficult for them to change direction or is it a bean counter decision?

Companies don't care any more. Cut costs. Make it through this quarter and save our jobs for another 3 months. Money going out doesn't help the bottom line. Who cares if you buy another Ford in 3 years....the CEO will be gone by then or he may preserve his job by not paying out for a repair.....and instead will try and find a new customer.

And the taxpayer will ALWAYS be there for you when your company fails from the above policies, so why not lose customers! What have you got to lose?

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

@oldfarmer50,
Just go to fordparts.com. You can find the list price for just about any part.

I know aftermarket carbon fiber hoods go for about $1700

andres3

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:

The Florida State Legislature (both Houses) just passed a new bill regarding “Texting While Operating A Motor Vehicle” (includes trucks, buses and motor homes)!  The penalty is a PRIMARY OFFENSE with big dollar fines and points on your driver’s license.  Governor DiSantos is expected to sign the bill into law this week.

Police are allowed to pull a driver over and ticket him/her if observed texting while operating the vehicle.  This has been needed for a long time.  So, I would advise anyone who is in Florida (residents or those on business or vacation) to heed this very carefully.  Out of State license holders will have their home State DMV’s notified of the offense.  Out of State drivers (licensed by another State) might have to appear in court from my understanding.

Warnings (written) will be given out until January 1st, 2020.  After that, the law will be enforced with fines and points on your license.  1st offense is not too expensive but becomes more expensive with succeeding infractions.

NY has had similar laws for years. Doesn’t make a bit of difference. Tonight on the news they reported a fatal accident where a car crossed over and hit an oncoming driver head on. Guaranteed that someone was texting.

Also guaranteed that if that texter was going 46 MPH where the 85th percentile is 51 but the speed limit is under posted at 45MPH, you'll have the accident blamed on speeding, even if they never touched their brakes.

andres3

oldfarmer50 said:

explorerx4 said:

@oldfarmer50,
Just go to fordparts.com. You can find the list price for just about any part.

I know aftermarket carbon fiber hoods go for about $1700

I got mine for about a third of that, but it wasn't the greatest quality, and that was like 8-9 years ago probably.

andres3

driver100 said:

suydam said:

driver100 said:

abacomike said:

The Florida State Legislature (both Houses) just passed a new bill regarding “Texting While Operating A Motor Vehicle” (includes trucks, buses and motor homes)!  The penalty is a PRIMARY OFFENSE with big dollar fines and points on your driver’s license. &nbsp

It's about time. More accidents are caused by distracted drivers than anything else these days, and the problem is getting worse. Of course in Florida, there is a big lobby group against allowing driving while texting to be a primary offense.... gives cops more power to pull drivers over. This law helps protect the innocent who could be hit by a selfish moron who isn't paying attention to what he is doing.

Not really enforceable in practice though. People just put down their phones. Hopefully it could become like seat belt laws, also difficult to enforce but just the threat resulted in greater compliance.

They can check phone records. The police here ride in tow trucks and even buses, and they look down into cars to see if the driver is on his phone. People still do it, but, using phones while driving has dropped off a lot.

Better than raising the insurance rates, I would sign up for a discount if offered for signing away the right to a claim if it is found that you were at fault in part because you were on your phone. I'd sign for that discount. They shouldn't have to pay the claim if you were negligent in that manner. Lower rates for the wise will ensue.

tjc78

cdnpinhead said:

tjc78 said:

Ha ha ...I live in Jersey if you hesitate for more than a second on a left hand turn arrow you get honked at 

Left-hand turn arrow? What happened to the jug handles?

Plenty of those too!

explorerx4

Jug handle = Michigan left?

abacomike

Just off topic for a quickie:

This current Jeopardy Champ (James) who has won 20 consecutive Jeopardy games has now won $1,558,000.  Quite frankly, I have never witnessed anyone respond correctly as often as he has to such a wide variety of topics.

He is a professional gambler who lives in Las Vegas - where else would he live.  He is an unbelievable trivia marvel and unassuming to boot.

explorerx4

@driver100,
1 X3 with 200k on it doesn't mean it's reliable. Do you know the repair history?
Everyone I know that has had the same brand has had an expensive failure, not to mention maintenance.
Those cars are gone soon after, but many time replaced with another BMW, so they must like them.

explorerx4

@jmonroe1,
That girl knew better than to mess with Mrs. Jmonroe.
Sorry about the unfortunate incident with her new car, but at least she didn't convince you she needed a Tesla.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/the-thing-about-owning-a-tesla-no-one-talks-about-—-nightmarish-repair-delays/ar-AAAJmmj?li=BBnbfcL

tjc78

explorerx4 said:

Jug handle = Michigan left?

Had to Google that one. Same concept but a jug handle, goes soft right, left, left ( typically)

imidazol97

andres3 said:

Well, there are also people that don't want to own an American car in warranty, unless it comes with a concierge pickup and drop off service to handle all the warranty claims, complete with a loaner program that has cars that actually run.

I call foul. This has crossed the line on stereotyping. Gimme a break.

stickguy

it's not 1975 any more! At least I don't think it is.

tjc78

imidazol97 said:

andres3 said:

Well, there are also people that don't want to own an American car in warranty, unless it comes with a concierge pickup and drop off service to handle all the warranty claims, complete with a loaner program that has cars that actually run.

I call foul. This has crossed the line on stereotyping. Gimme a break.

If I had to own a domestic out of warranty or a German car, I’d chose the domestic every time. Even if they had the same failures the domestic would generally be cheaper to repair.

FWIW, my last four American cars (3- GM, 1 Ford) were all really good to me. Both my Enclaves have not needed a warranty repair other than warped rotors. The rotors are probably my heavy foot than a fault of the car.

I’ll admit to eyeing up some BMW 3 series, but not ready to jump in with anything but a lease.

roadburner

explorerx4 said:

@driver100,
1 X3 with 200k on it doesn't mean it's reliable. Do you know the repair history?
Everyone I know that has had the same brand has had an expensive failure, not to mention maintenance.
Those cars are gone soon after, but many time replaced with another BMW, so they must like them.

The X3 I sold to a friend now has over 200k and he loves it. All it has needed is new front pads. The only truly expensive repair was when the TC went south- about $3,000. That's the same vehicle I bought as a CPO and owned for 12 years. Rolling in depreciation, maintenance and repairs it cost $32,000 less to run than if I'd kept a perpetual car loan/lease payment of $550 over the same period.

tjc78

No doubt owning any car for over 10 years will always be cheaper than consistently buying/leasing new.

driver100

abacomike said:

Just off topic for a quickie:

This current Jeopardy Champ (James) who has won 20 consecutive Jeopardy games has now won $1,558,000.  Quite frankly, I have never witnessed anyone respond correctly as often as he has to such a wide variety of topics.

He is a professional gambler who lives in Las Vegas - where else would he live.  He is an unbelievable trivia marvel and unassuming to boot.

I never get Jeopardy questions correct. I don't want to fill up my brain with useless information.

jmonroe1

explorerx4 said:

@jmonroe1,
That girl knew better than to mess with Mrs. Jmonroe.
Sorry about the unfortunate incident with her new car, but at least she didn't convince you she needed a Tesla.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/the-thing-about-owning-a-tesla-no-one-talks-about-—-nightmarish-repair-delays/ar-AAAJmmj?li=BBnbfcL

You know, I never thought of that but you might be right.

As for the delays in getting a Tesla repaired, you have to be a devout tree hugger to put up with that.

jmonroe

roadburner

I'll buy a new car if it's something I really want and it isn't available used, such as my Club Sport and my MS3- and I might take that route again in the near future. However, I've had very goodluck with CPO cars. As an example, my wife's CPO X1 cost about the same or less than a mid-range CR-V, Escape, or Equinox; for me that was an incredibly easy call to make. As far as amenities it has nav, decent audio, parking sensors, rear view camera, Xenons, and heated seats. Best of all, it has an AWD system with a default 40/60 front to rear torque split. I know Im in the minority, but I even prefer it to the current X1, which is more Mini than BMW. That's not a bad thing, but if it's a Mini under the skin I'm just inclined to get a Mini.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

@driver100,
1 X3 with 200k on it doesn't mean it's reliable. Do you know the repair history?
Everyone I know that has had the same brand has had an expensive failure, not to mention maintenance.
Those cars are gone soon after, but many time replaced with another BMW, so they must like them.

Yes, in answer to the first question, roadrunner says he has only replaced a few minor items.
Of course people like German brands....they have something other brands don't have, and it depends how important it is to you whether you want to pay for it. And, since the cars are more complex they tend to breakdown more often, and repairs are going to be more costly.

It's a fact of life, you either live with it and accept it, trade when the warranty is up, or, if it bothers you buy a Toyota.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

@jmonroe1,
That girl knew better than to mess with Mrs. Jmonroe.
Sorry about the unfortunate incident with her new car, but at least she didn't convince you she needed a Tesla.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/the-thing-about-owning-a-tesla-no-one-talks-about-—-nightmarish-repair-delays/ar-AAAJmmj?li=BBnbfcL

Interesting problem that no one does talk about......trying to get a Tesla repaired.

driver100

tjc78 said:

No doubt owning any car for over 10 years will always be cheaper than consistently buying/leasing new.

It probably will, but will it always start when you have an important job interview, will it breakdown on the way to your daughters wedding, will the transmission fall out on the way to a friends funeral, will it stall out on the highway on a 300 mile trip?

Reliability is worth a lot too. You could still end up paying more if you lose your job because your car won't start in the morning several times. Plus down time in the garage. A new car allows you many years of trouble free driving, and you have a good start at maintaining it properly.

abacomike

driver100 said:

Just off topic for a quickie:

This current Jeopardy Champ (James) who has won 20 consecutive Jeopardy games has now won $1,558,000.  Quite frankly, I have never witnessed anyone respond correctly as often as he has to such a wide variety of topics.

He is a professional gambler who lives in Las Vegas - where else would he live.  He is an unbelievable trivia marvel and unassuming to boot.

I never get Jeopardy questions correct. I don't want to fill up my brain with useless information.

Too late for that driver!  

cdnpinhead

tjc78 said:

No doubt owning any car for over 10 years will always be cheaper than consistently buying/leasing new.

BINGO! This is how I deal with cars, and it's worked very well for me. I realize such thinking is sacrilegious around here, but there you are.

What I like to do is drive/go places. The car is the means to that end.

WMMV

stickguy

I don't think there is anything wrong with buying new (though of course some cars are better bets), but mostly if you do want to keep it a long time (say 6+ years). Much less so if you are not likely to keep in more than 3 years or so. Some cars though (Volvo for sure, and probably BMW) are much smarter as a loaner or lightly used.

plus brand new cars are nice! if you can afford it, go for it.

explorerx4

@driver100,
We know you can't keep a clutch in a new Audi, but lots of others have no problems keeping a vehicle for many years.
Just because you have a new car doesn't mean you can always have it to drive(i.e. unfortunate Tesla examples).
We've had cars for 12 plus years that never failed to go when they needed to, although some repairs were needed at times.
You are a very risk averse person and it works for you. Many others are less so, and there is nothing wrong with that.

jmonroe1

driver100 said:

abacomike said:

Just off topic for a quickie:

This current Jeopardy Champ (James) who has won 20 consecutive Jeopardy games has now won $1,558,000.  Quite frankly, I have never witnessed anyone respond correctly as often as he has to such a wide variety of topics.

He is a professional gambler who lives in Las Vegas - where else would he live.  He is an unbelievable trivia marvel and unassuming to boot.

I never get Jeopardy questions correct. I don't want to fill up my brain with useless information.

You could have fooled me !!!

jmonroe

suydam

driver100 said:

abacomike said:

Just off topic for a quickie:

This current Jeopardy Champ (James) who has won 20 consecutive Jeopardy games has now won $1,558,000.  Quite frankly, I have never witnessed anyone respond correctly as often as he has to such a wide variety of topics.

He is a professional gambler who lives in Las Vegas - where else would he live.  He is an unbelievable trivia marvel and unassuming to boot.

I never get Jeopardy questions correct. I don't want to fill up my brain with useless information.

Too late for that!

driver100

explorer....I agree 100%.
I am risk averse but even more important I am at a point in life where I don't want complications. I just want to play tennis or pickleball, watch some Netflix/Prime and read a good book, read the newspaper.

I don't want to spend money unnecessarily, but, whatever I buy it isn't my money...it is kid's inheritance money, so I don't worry about it too much.

I have owned a lot of used cars over the years, some were good, some not so good. Some of my new cars I kept for many miles. Our Florida car is a CPO used car......it is fine for what we use it for - no complaints except wish it had a backup camera and blind spot monitoring...but, I can live without them just fine.

Prefer new, but, if used suits you for whatever reason then go with it......that is why they have new and used and various makes....there is no right or wrong in this case - it is what suits!

venture

stickguy said:

I see texting more at stoplights. No danger in that, but real annoying since they never notice the light changing.

My Legacy will beep and display a message "vehicle in front has moved" (or something similar).

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

It is a simple little article but this guy makes the case for buying a new car over a used car if you are keeping it for the long term...8 to 10 years. Not rocket science, but, he confirms my reasoning, and if the new car does cost more it won't be by much, but a used car has a much greater chance of becoming a money pit....or as stick says, you may have to buy 2 over the time period.
Should I buy a New Car or Used from I Will teach You To Be Rich.
*If you read the article don't ask for more information, just read and back out.

I tried clicking that link and "cant find link" comes up. I really have to question the much greater risk of it becoming a money pit, if a year or two old low mileage car is going to be a money pit odds are buying the same car brand new would result in the same thing. Yes I know a car could have been in an accident or such but a good inspection and getting a carfax report does reduce that risk.

snakeweasel

andres3 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Here’s a story with a happy (I hope) ending.

Ford has had a history of paint problems on their aluminum hoods. My 15’ Mustang was no exception. In summer of 2017 @ 9000 miles I noticed some bubbling on the center leading edge. Took it to the dealer and they got Ford to approve a repaint under warranty.

Fast forward to this spring. I take the car out for the first time and notice similar a problem on the outboard edge of the hood. Disappointed since the car still only has about 12k miles. But it’s out of warranty now.

Went through the same procedure at the dealer except this time Ford denies the claim. Seems I’m SOL. Same day I get an email from the dealer with one of the routine “how was your visit?” questions. I decide to vent a bit and tell them how disappointed I was with Ford’s decision especially since the car had such low mileage. Didn’t expect anything to come of it.

Today I get an email from the owner saying the dealership will do the second repaint on their own to insure my satisfaction. I was pretty impressed that they would do this. The car goes in next week.

Great dealership, but still keeps me away from Ford for I'd like decent paint with my car, or my car with decent paint please.

Well if one person on the internet posting about their cars paint issue keeps you away from a manufacturer then you better learn to like walking everywhere.

snakeweasel

andres3 said:

jmonroe1 said:

henryn said:

I would be more likely to buy a used Genesis than a used BMW or Mercedes. No way I would buy any car like that new, just too rich for my blood.

Careful, I can see you being accused of being a cheap wannabe seeker. It's bad enough just buying one new. Maybe you should reconsider what you said.

For a minute there I thought you were going to say you wouldn't want to own a German car that's out of warranty and that would have caused sparks to fly.

jmonroe

There are people that don't want to own a German car out of warranty?

Well, there are also people that don't want to own an American car in warranty, unless it comes with a concierge pickup and drop off service to handle all the warranty claims, complete with a loaner program that has cars that actually run.

Not owning a [high end] German car out of warranty has been expressed on this forum before. Not owning a American car out of warranty, to the best of my recollection, has not. My guess is that the number of people that will not own a BMW, MB or Audi out of warranty far, far exceeds those who would not own a run of the mill American car out of warranty.

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

tjc78 said:

No doubt owning any car for over 10 years will always be cheaper than consistently buying/leasing new.

It probably will, but will it always start when you have an important job interview, will it breakdown on the way to your daughters wedding, will the transmission fall out on the way to a friends funeral, will it stall out on the highway on a 300 mile trip?

Reliability is worth a lot too. You could still end up paying more if you lose your job because your car won't start in the morning several times. Plus down time in the garage. A new car allows you many years of trouble free driving, and you have a good start at maintaining it properly.

I consistently take cars to ten years and never had any of those issues. Unless you're driving 20k or more miles a year 10 years of driving isn't a lot of miles for modern cars. Any decent car can do it and do it reliably.

driver100

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

abacomike said:

Just off topic for a quickie:

This current Jeopardy Champ (James) who has won 20 consecutive Jeopardy games has now won $1,558,000.  Quite frankly, I have never witnessed anyone respond correctly as often as he has to such a wide variety of topics.

He is a professional gambler who lives in Las Vegas - where else would he live.  He is an unbelievable trivia marvel and unassuming to boot.

I never get Jeopardy questions correct. I don't want to fill up my brain with useless information.

You could have fooled me !!!

jmonroe

True, my brain is filling up from some of your long posts

driver100

venture said:

stickguy said:

I see texting more at stoplights. No danger in that, but real annoying since they never notice the light changing.

My Legacy will beep and display a message "vehicle in front has moved" (or something similar).

Every texter should buy a Legacy then.

driver100

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

It is a simple little article but this guy makes the case for buying a new car over a used car if you are keeping it for the long term...8 to 10 years. Not rocket science, but, he confirms my reasoning, and if the new car does cost more it won't be by much, but a used car has a much greater chance of becoming a money pit....or as stick says, you may have to buy 2 over the time period.
Should I buy a New Car or Used from I Will teach You To Be Rich.
*If you read the article don't ask for more information, just read and back out.

I tried clicking that link and "cant find link" comes up. I really have to question the much greater risk of it becoming a money pit, if a year or two old low mileage car is going to be a money pit odds are buying the same car brand new would result in the same thing. Yes I know a car could have been in an accident or such but a good inspection and getting a carfax report does reduce that risk.

Here is the link in real life:
https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/cost-vs-value-should-you-buy-a-new-car-or-used-car/
He talks about if you are keeping a car for a long time, then buy a brand that usually lasts...he bought a Honda though he considered a Mercedes, but he got practical. You could probably save a bit buying a one year or two year old good reliable make, but, the difference in savings over 10 years will be minimal if you calculate cost per year. If you do high mileage, then the new car has a greater chance of making it to 10 years with fewer repairs etc.
There is a bit of chance involved with a used car....a new car with full warranty, latest technology, brand new is slightly less likely to be a problem car. For example, your convertible roof would have lasted another few years if the car was bought new...your car would be worth more right now.

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Is this really happening? Is the tech to do this readily available? Opinions?

https://youtu.be/dkHFf4_oAKs

Worthwhile watching.....thanks for posting OF. Confirms my thoughts about CL and the newspaper these days.
I believe they have those devices, and I wouldn't buy a car from CL. There are too many things that can go wrong, and too many scammers trying to make a quick buck. Pay a bit more, and buy from a dealer who has a good reputation and a warranty. The only other way to buy is from someone you know, directly or indirectly.

What makes you think some dealers don’t do the same thing?

Also your discussion about the cost of body repair made me think of a few videos I've seen where many insurance company “preferred” body shops have been caught doing shoddy work leaving cars to rot out from the inside or become unsafe. One Honda I saw was supposed to have 23 welds on a certain panel but the shop only did 11. In a crash the car would have folded up like an accordion.

You take precautions and do the best you can do to protect yourself;
*Dealers could could turn back mileage or sell salvaged cars....but, highly unlikely a new car dealer or a very highly rated reputable independent is going to sell garbage....they make their money by selling good quality cars and doing repeat business.

*Body shops similar. A body shop could cut corners but eventually the insurance company will cut them off. Often they belong to organizations which accredit them as trustworthy.....we have garages and repair shops that belong to Car Stars.

The 2014 C Class we bought 2 years ago was a CPO car, they do 120 point inspection. Do you know how nice it is to know all the light bulbs are going to work, all the controls are working, the brakes are safe etc, and if not they will guaranty it for....in this case, 2 years. Might pay a few $1000 more, but, it is better than throwing away $25000!

But how do you know they did the inspection?