Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

driver100

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Oh no! Scotty’s goring my ox now!

Once again, Scotty's comments are questionable. The RAV4 gets a 7.7 rating from Edmunds, KIA Sportage gets a 7. Pretty close. KIA price starts at about $2000 less than a RAV4, but upper limit price is similar. Why he is saying all this and showing you a really old Sportage I don't get....if he is talking about buying a new model he should be showing us a new model.

I think the RAV4 is probably worth the extra $2000 because it looks better, probably slightly more reliable, gets a higher score from Edmunds, probably depreciates less....and it looks sharper.
KIA

RAV4

They look pretty much the same to me. The biggest difference is the color. OK, I noticed the roof rack too.

jmonroe

You aren't very observant. One has square wheel wells, the other one round wheel wells

driver100

About red lights! I notice people going through red lights more than ever. It is worse in Florida than it is here. I notice there is a longer time when traffic is stopped before the crossing traffic gets a green light. I have gone through a yellow light that I had to go through....feel a little guilty, then look in my rear view mirror to see 6 more cars go through, about 10 car lengths behind me.

On the other side, you know what annoys me, and it happens too. Cars are moving along and some moron comes out of a side road cutting me off, then drives slower than the traffic I was in. Then, when we get to the next traffic light the moron gets through and I get a red light. Not only did he cut in front forcing me to slow down, but he also caused me to miss the light! :@

jmonroe1

driver100 said:

Good to hear Jip. By the time your done, you could get a part time job fixing Fords....or, make videos like Scotty

Jippy?

Kinda reminds me of the old saying about Ford...Fix Or Repair Daily.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Oh no! Scotty’s goring my ox now!

Once again, Scotty's comments are questionable. The RAV4 gets a 7.7 rating from Edmunds, KIA Sportage gets a 7. Pretty close. KIA price starts at about $2000 less than a RAV4, but upper limit price is similar. Why he is saying all this and showing you a really old Sportage I don't get....if he is talking about buying a new model he should be showing us a new model.

I think the RAV4 is probably worth the extra $2000 because it looks better, probably slightly more reliable, gets a higher score from Edmunds, probably depreciates less....and it looks sharper.
KIA

RAV4

They look pretty much the same to me. The biggest difference is the color. OK, I noticed the roof rack too.

jmonroe

You aren't very observant. One has square wheel wells, the other one round wheel wells

Well, on my phone, the definition between the wheels and the wheel well aint all that good on the black car. :@

jmonroe

ab348

driver100 said:

About red lights! I notice people going through red lights more than ever.

I am just back from an errand-running trip to several locations around town. Here it seems that BMW drivers must get a "free to run red lights" card when they register their vehicles because you can virtually guarantee seeing that happen when the car in front of them clears the intersection on the last wisps of a yellow signal. :@

cdnpinhead

I heard it fix or replace, since fix and repair are the same thing.

jmonroe1

cdnpinhead said:

I heard it fix or replace, since fix and repair are the same thing.

Yeah, that works too but I know what I heard. :@

jmonroe

Davercee

"After a very unpleasant set of exchanges with State Farm agents following a whopping increase in my auto insurance rates, I just switched to AAA. Even with the cost of becoming members again it’s a HUGE savings. I was reading some of the ear,over exchanges about State Farm and thinking to myself, “Uh oh. I wonder what’s going to happen with my upcoming renewal?” Well, now I know."

Well, that's what I would usually call as the inconvenient truth.

cdnpinhead

Yeah, that works too but I know what I heard.

What you heard was what was being pumped out (otherwise known as promgalated) by those who don't use the language particularly well.

They are legion.

suydam

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Oh no! Scotty’s goring my ox now!

Once again, Scotty's comments are questionable. The RAV4 gets a 7.7 rating from Edmunds, KIA Sportage gets a 7. Pretty close. KIA price starts at about $2000 less than a RAV4, but upper limit price is similar. Why he is saying all this and showing you a really old Sportage I don't get....if he is talking about buying a new model he should be showing us a new model.

I think the RAV4 is probably worth the extra $2000 because it looks better, probably slightly more reliable, gets a higher score from Edmunds, probably depreciates less....and it looks sharper.
KIA

RAV4

They look pretty much the same to me. The biggest difference is the color. OK, I noticed the roof rack too.

jmonroe

You aren't very observant. One has square wheel wells, the other one round wheel wells

Well, on my phone, the definition between the wheels and the wheel well aint all that good on the black car. :@

jmonroe

I think you need a better phone.

ab348

suydam said:

I think you need a better phone.

In fairness, these don't offer the best resolution.

kyfdx

Nice! I miss my flip phone...

28firefighter

A day does not go by that I don't miss my old BlackBerry.

driver100

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Oh no! Scotty’s goring my ox now!

Once again, Scotty's comments are questionable. The RAV4 gets a 7.7 rating from Edmunds, KIA Sportage gets a 7. Pretty close. KIA price starts at about $2000 less than a RAV4, but upper limit price is similar. Why he is saying all this and showing you a really old Sportage I don't get....if he is talking about buying a new model he should be showing us a new model.

I think the RAV4 is probably worth the extra $2000 because it looks better, probably slightly more reliable, gets a higher score from Edmunds, probably depreciates less....and it looks sharper.
KIA

RAV4

They look pretty much the same to me. The biggest difference is the color. OK, I noticed the roof rack too.

jmonroe

You aren't very observant. One has square wheel wells, the other one round wheel wells

Well, on my phone, the definition between the wheels and the wheel well aint all that good on the black car. :@

jmonroe

You bought a wannabe phone too!

driver100

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

About red lights! I notice people going through red lights more than ever.

I am just back from an errand-running trip to several locations around town. Here it seems that BMW drivers must get a "free to run red lights" card when they register their vehicles because you can virtually guarantee seeing that happen when the car in front of them clears the intersection on the last wisps of a yellow signal. :@

Well, if the Cadillac drivers didn't go so slow the BMW guys would make it through the light on green

driver100

cdnpinhead said:

Yeah, that works too but I know what I heard.

What you heard was what was being pumped out (otherwise known as promgalated) by those who don't use the language particularly well.

They are legion.

That will be our new word for the day....never heard it before (spelling has to be corrected though):
promote or make widely known (an idea or cause).
"these objectives have to be promulgated within the organization"
synonyms: make known, make public, publicize, spread, communicate, propagate, disseminate, circulate, broadcast, promote, announce, proclaim; literarybruit about
"ideas which Ruskin had been the first to promulgate"
put (a law or decree) into effect by official proclamation.
"in January 1852 the new Constitution was promulgated"
synonyms: put into effect, enact, implement, enforce, pass
"the new law was promulgated on December 19"

imidazol97

ab348 said:

suydam said:

I think you need a better phone.

In fairness, these don't offer the best resolution.

Steve Forbes is happy with his. I saw it on Fox Business a couple days ago.

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

@oldfarmer50,
Here in CT once you register a vehicle for 2 years, the state don't doesn't refund anything if you cancel reg early.

In NY you get a partial refund if you apply it to a new registration but only up to the end of the first year.

oldfarmer50

jipster said:

Put a new throttle body on the 2010 Mercury Milan today. Prior owner had already installed a new T.B under Ford's program, but Ford only does the free install once. The part from Ford dealership was only $78. About the same price as aftermarket. Guessing dealership would have charged around $350 or more. Did the relearn procedure for the cars computer. Drove it for about 40 minutes. Drove fine.

So if that fixed your drivability issues maybe you can forget the timing problem. I’m still not clear what they say the problem is exactly. Is the timing chain jumping on the gear? Are teeth missing? Is the timing off spec when the car is running,

On my 1995 Lincoln with a similar twin timing chain the belt guides wore out resulting in a rattle on start up. Estimate back then to fix was $1500. I said no and rolled the dice. Never caused any problem in 40k miles.

The guy I sold it to 2 years ago is still driving it.

OTOH, my 1985 F-150 had a worn out timing chain that was jumping on the gear and it caused serious drivability problems. Had to twist the distributor with my hand to get back close to correct time.

That I replaced.

oldfarmer50

PF_Flyer said:

Is it this way everywhere? Red lights around here seem more and more like "suggestions". And I'm not talking about trying to make a light and it turns red before they get through. I'm talking DEAD RED. In an 8 mile trip this morning, I watched 3 drivers go through red lights. Two of them were travelling in front of me as we approached a light that had been red for at least 10 seconds. They didn't speed up, just drove straight through. The third one was coming from a cross street.

This has been getting worse and worse over the last year or so, and it's puzzling.

I think all the safety additions to cars plays a part in this. Heck, you don't need to watch the road, your car will stop for you. Why bother to make the effort to drive when you can spend more time on your phone???

I blame texting.

jipster

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:

Put a new throttle body on the 2010 Mercury Milan today. Prior owner had already installed a new T.B under Ford's program, but Ford only does the free install once. The part from Ford dealership was only $78. About the same price as aftermarket. Guessing dealership would have charged around $350 or more. Did the relearn procedure for the cars computer. Drove it for about 40 minutes. Drove fine.

So if that fixed your drivability issues maybe you can forget the timing problem. I’m still not clear what they say the problem is exactly. Is the timing chain jumping on the gear? Are teeth missing? Is the timing off spec when the car is running,

On my 1995 Lincoln with a similar twin timing chain the belt guides wore out resulting in a rattle on start up. Estimate back then to fix was $1500. I said no and rolled the dice. Never caused any problem in 40k miles.

The guy I sold it to 2 years ago is still driving it.

OTOH, my 1985 F-150 had a worn out timing chain that was jumping on the gear and it caused serious drivability problems. Had to twist the distributor with my hand to get back close to correct time.

That I replaced.

New throttle body did the trick for driveability issues. Drove the car quite a bit today, ran good, idled good, no noticeable timing issues. The problem really wasn't explained to me that well. Basically service advisor says engine has bad "timing issues". Said timing belt may be stretched. Car had 5 stored codes (VCT solenoid issue code,.PCM detected a problem with the camshaft sensor, code for camshaft position sensor, and engine control.module low voltage from battery). So advisor was saying to find out what exactly was going on, they'd need to tear the engine down...7 hours of labor. Thought a used.or remanufactured engine would be the best course of action. Invoice stated "May need new cylinder heads, may only need VCT solenoid, may need another engine. No matter what repair it will need a new throttle body. "

Advisor said the tech ran "2 or 3 hours of diagnostics." I didn't get anything to show this. When I asked what all tech did to diagnose the problem, I really didn't get a straight answer. All it looks to me is they ran codes on the car. Dealership charged me for 1 hour. $89.95. There is some.clicking, ticking...some kind of noise coming from the back of the engine you can hear with hood up.

I've been waiting a week for an estimate on that solenoid. The advisor said the tech has said "it will be a risk to spend money on that solenoid . " Advisor has stopped responding to my inquiries for some reason. In looking at my cars engine, if what I'm looking at is the VCT solenoid, it is easily accessible and shouldn't cost that much to replace. $50 part aftermarket. I think it would be worth a chance to replace that solenoid if only a couple hundred bucks..

jipster

I'd be happy to get two of these years out of the car. As of this moment, I'm inclined to roll those dice.

driver100

jipster said:

I'd be happy to get two of these years out of the car. As of this moment, I'm inclined to roll those dice.

I know there are financial considerations but, this is how I look at these situations;
Used car cost $5000, 2 years use costs $2500 a year plus repairs, conservatively $500 a year repairs = $3000 a yr.
New Toyota Corolla $22000, will last 10 years and still be worth something as a trade in....cost just over $2000 a year for 10 years, not much more for 3 years.........can do repairs as they come up after 3 years.
Could use $5000 to lease it for 3 years, then buy it for about $12000.
That is just my crazy thinking.

oldfarmer50

jipster said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:

Put a new throttle body on the 2010 Mercury Milan today. Prior owner had already installed a new T.B under Ford's program, but Ford only does the free install once. The part from Ford dealership was only $78. About the same price as aftermarket. Guessing dealership would have charged around $350 or more. Did the relearn procedure for the cars computer. Drove it for about 40 minutes. Drove fine.

So if that fixed your drivability issues maybe you can forget the timing problem. I’m still not clear what they say the problem is exactly. Is the timing chain jumping on the gear? Are teeth missing? Is the timing off spec when the car is running,

On my 1995 Lincoln with a similar twin timing chain the belt guides wore out resulting in a rattle on start up. Estimate back then to fix was $1500. I said no and rolled the dice. Never caused any problem in 40k miles.

The guy I sold it to 2 years ago is still driving it.

OTOH, my 1985 F-150 had a worn out timing chain that was jumping on the gear and it caused serious drivability problems. Had to twist the distributor with my hand to get back close to correct time.

That I replaced.

New throttle body did the trick for driveability issues. Drove the car quite a bit today, ran good, idled good, no noticeable timing issues. The problem really wasn't explained to me that well. Basically service advisor says engine has bad "timing issues". Said timing belt may be stretched. Car had 5 stored codes (VCT solenoid issue code,.PCM detected a problem with the camshaft sensor, code for camshaft position sensor, and engine control.module low voltage from battery). So advisor was saying to find out what exactly was going on, they'd need to tear the engine down...7 hours of labor. Thought a used.or remanufactured engine would be the best course of action. Invoice stated "May need new cylinder heads, may only need VCT solenoid, may need another engine. No matter what repair it will need a new throttle body. "

Advisor said the tech ran "2 or 3 hours of diagnostics." I didn't get anything to show this. When I asked what all tech did to diagnose the problem, I really didn't get a straight answer. All it looks to me is they ran codes on the car. Dealership charged me for 1 hour. $89.95. There is some.clicking, ticking...some kind of noise coming from the back of the engine you can hear with hood up.

I've been waiting a week for an estimate on that solenoid. The advisor said the tech has said "it will be a risk to spend money on that solenoid . " Advisor has stopped responding to my inquiries for some reason. In looking at my cars engine, if what I'm looking at is the VCT solenoid, it is easily accessible and shouldn't cost that much to replace. $50 part aftermarket. I think it would be worth a chance to replace that solenoid if only a couple hundred bucks..

Boy, that’s awful nebulous to justify engine swaps or other expensive repairs. With all their dealer technology the best they can offer is 7 hours of tear down?

When I took the son’s 3.0L Duratec to the dealer I also got the “needs new engine” or thousands in repairs story.

Ask the indie guy.

stickguy

driver, quite often, that analysis does support buying new (or nearly new) and keeping a long time, as opposed to buying multiple hoopties and paying to keep them on the road.

The problem is, a lot of people aren't in a financial position to get the more expensive car in the first place.

Remember the old saying: "It's expensive to be poor"

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

driver, quite often, that analysis does support buying new (or nearly new) and keeping a long time, as opposed to buying multiple hoopties and paying to keep them on the road.

The problem is, a lot of people aren't in a financial position to get the more expensive car in the first place.

Remember the old saying: "It's expensive to be poor"

I think what driver100 is trying to say is let Jipster eat cake.

abacomike

driver100 said:

jipster said:

I'd be happy to get two of these years out of the car. As of this moment, I'm inclined to roll those dice.

I know there are financial considerations but, this is how I look at these situations;
Used car cost $5000, 2 years use costs $2500 a year plus repairs, conservatively $500 a year repairs = $3000 a yr.
New Toyota Corolla $22000, will last 10 years and still be worth something as a trade in....cost just over $2000 a year for 10 years, not much more for 3 years.........can do repairs as they come up after 3 years.
Could use $5000 to lease it for 3 years, then buy it for about $12000.
That is just my crazy thinking.

Driver, there is absolutely no fun buying cars using your (or any) logic! Using logic to break down the advantages and disadvantages of used vs. new by cost per minute or day and figuring repairs and maintenance is mind boggling and takes the excitement one experiences when buying a car on impulse.

Buying a car is one of the more exhilarating experiences a guy has in his lifetime. Being given a deal on a car in a showroom that you can’t refuse is or can be a once-in-a-lifetime buying experience.

We all have learned here on Edmunds to do some research before going in to buy a car - but breaking down a purchase into tiny bits of data and agonizing over the decision because of the decoding process of all that data is “UNFUN”! A guy goes hunting for the pleasure and excitement of the “kill” - like hunting for a car and getting a “killer” of a deal on one.

My life over these past two years has been filled with pride over the fact that I have kept my car for 2 years - but one aspect of my life over those two years has been dismal - I haven’t been having as much fun as I used to have when I bought cars in abandonment.

If I used your logic in buying my next car, I would not be enjoying the hunt for my next “kill”! 🤪😜😗😁

driver100

Between Stick, OF and Mike there is a tale of 3 cities car buying scenarios.
I have spent a lot of time buying cars that gave me a lot of trouble, spent many hours waiting for my car to be fixed. One day, I got a job and I had to commute 50 miles each way....I bought a new car 73 Maverick 302 V8.
I worried about how I would make payments, but I did and the car got me to work and I got a promotion...it all worked out. After that experience I didn't want to go back to the uncertainty of an older used car....if I was mechanically inclined I might chance it.
I know what it is like if you can't buy new, but if it is at all possible it is the safest choice.
I have a friend whose old Chevy was rear ended. The car was a wreck. He was starting a new business and he is a minimalist. I said take the $4000 the insurance company gave you and lease a car. He chose a Honda Fit. The $4000 covered him for a year and a half until he could make enough to make payments. After 3 years he bought it for $11000. That car could last him for 20 years.....he is happy to have a reliable car with an a/c which he didn't have before. He is much better off than buying and fixing used cars.

Mikes situation is different, he can afford new luxury cars and he can buy on impulse....doesn't have to try and balance a budget.

One thing about not having money early in life...it builds character, and you learn a lot about how money works.

stickguy

Mike, a great case of what you can do if you can afford it!

My daughter's BF bought a used (2015) Silverado last year (maybe 1.5 years ago now). Off and on, and frequently recently, it has given him problems with the 4WD system (error messages, and getting stuck in 4WD when it was never selected). A few trips to the dealer led to frustration. Might be software related, but it tends to eventually reboot itself, generally by the time he gets it in to have dealer look at it.

Did it again last night, and he is so frustrated with it he is just "done" with the truck. His mother was suggesting it should just make a one way trip there, but as he pointed out, having just purchased a house and working on fixing it up, he has no money to be buying a new car. So, like most cash strapped people, you deal with the problems. Thankfully it is being covered under the powertrain warranty.

It is going back in, and he will refuse to take it back until they actually figure out the problem and fix it. Then most likely he checks to see how much equity he has in it, and what he can trade it for using that equity to not get a higher payment!

jipster

driver100 said:

jipster said:

I'd be happy to get two of these years out of the car. As of this moment, I'm inclined to roll those dice.

I know there are financial considerations but, this is how I look at these situations;
Used car cost $5000, 2 years use costs $2500 a year plus repairs, conservatively $500 a year repairs = $3000 a yr.
New Toyota Corolla $22000, will last 10 years and still be worth something as a trade in....cost just over $2000 a year for 10 years, not much more for 3 years.........can do repairs as they come up after 3 years.
Could use $5000 to lease it for 3 years, then buy it for about $12000.
That is just my crazy thinking.

When I leased a new 2012 Civic, thought I'd end up buying when the lease was up. Just.didn't care for that small car.ride. Maybe the new Corolla is better. Could certainly use a car that gets better than 22mpg.combined.

jipster

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:

Put a new throttle body on the 2010 Mercury Milan today. Prior owner had already installed a new T.B under Ford's program, but Ford only does the free install once. The part from Ford dealership was only $78. About the same price as aftermarket. Guessing dealership would have charged around $350 or more. Did the relearn procedure for the cars computer. Drove it for about 40 minutes. Drove fine.

So if that fixed your drivability issues maybe you can forget the timing problem. I’m still not clear what they say the problem is exactly. Is the timing chain jumping on the gear? Are teeth missing? Is the timing off spec when the car is running,

On my 1995 Lincoln with a similar twin timing chain the belt guides wore out resulting in a rattle on start up. Estimate back then to fix was $1500. I said no and rolled the dice. Never caused any problem in 40k miles.

The guy I sold it to 2 years ago is still driving it.

OTOH, my 1985 F-150 had a worn out timing chain that was jumping on the gear and it caused serious drivability problems. Had to twist the distributor with my hand to get back close to correct time.

That I replaced.

New throttle body did the trick for driveability issues. Drove the car quite a bit today, ran good, idled good, no noticeable timing issues. The problem really wasn't explained to me that well. Basically service advisor says engine has bad "timing issues". Said timing belt may be stretched. Car had 5 stored codes (VCT solenoid issue code,.PCM detected a problem with the camshaft sensor, code for camshaft position sensor, and engine control.module low voltage from battery). So advisor was saying to find out what exactly was going on, they'd need to tear the engine down...7 hours of labor. Thought a used.or remanufactured engine would be the best course of action. Invoice stated "May need new cylinder heads, may only need VCT solenoid, may need another engine. No matter what repair it will need a new throttle body. "

Advisor said the tech ran "2 or 3 hours of diagnostics." I didn't get anything to show this. When I asked what all tech did to diagnose the problem, I really didn't get a straight answer. All it looks to me is they ran codes on the car. Dealership charged me for 1 hour. $89.95. There is some.clicking, ticking...some kind of noise coming from the back of the engine you can hear with hood up.

I've been waiting a week for an estimate on that solenoid. The advisor said the tech has said "it will be a risk to spend money on that solenoid . " Advisor has stopped responding to my inquiries for some reason. In looking at my cars engine, if what I'm looking at is the VCT solenoid, it is easily accessible and shouldn't cost that much to replace. $50 part aftermarket. I think it would be worth a chance to replace that solenoid if only a couple hundred bucks..

Boy, that’s awful nebulous to justify engine swaps or other expensive repairs. With all their dealer technology the best they can offer is 7 hours of tear down?

When I took the son’s 3.0L Duratec to the dealer I also got the “needs new engine” or thousands in repairs story.

Ask the indie guy.

I don't know enough about cars to know if dealership did their due diligence in diagnostics. Could the VCT solenoid be tested? Camshaft sensors? Compression check? That Bill Collins Ford dealership is humongous and is always extremely busy. Maybe they thought they'd just be wasting their time ($$$) if they spent too much time on the car.

Don't know if my indie guy has the diagnostic tools and equipment to tackle such a job. I'll check in with him when I take the wife's car in to replace the oil pan gasket in the Veracruz.

houdini2

kyfdx said:

From my "I'm not really a lawyer" education. It's not really theft. The trailer was provided, in exchange for future payments, which the acquirer has now stopped paying. The trailer was not actually sold, as it was encumbered by a lien.

Seems purely to be a civil matter, because it is strictly about money. The bank doesn't care that this person stopped paying, because that is not their issue (and, may actually violate the loan contract). The police don't evict people for non-payment, unless there is a judicial order of eviction (and, that might not apply to this trailer, in any case).
Repossession by the owner might be a problem, because they don't have a lien on the property, where they can show non-payment. (like the bank could).

Which, as we've already discovered, "selling" an item for which you don't have clear title is not a good idea. Unless, you plan on doing the repossession yourself (which may not be legal, either).

Legally, I believe there is such a thing as theft by deceit or trickery.

qbrozen

Update:

Stopped at station this morn. Officer listened with disbelief. After some discussion, he asked if I had the guy’s number. I did. He goes back to his office and within a few mins comes back to tell me I can pick it up. Hearing from the cops obviously scared him straight. Officer said if I have any problems to give him a call.

I’m currently sitting at RV dealer waiting to talk to someone about pick up and potential sale.

houdini2

You figured out the best approach. Kudos to your local police !! Don't forget, the guy still owes you for those back payments and any damage done to trailer. I would remind him of that while his phone visit from police is still fresh in his mind.

jipster

qbrozen said:

Update:

Stopped at station this morn. Officer listened with disbelief. After some discussion, he asked if I had the guy’s number. I did. He goes back to his office and within a few mins comes back to tell me I can pick it up. Hearing from the cops obviously scared him straight. Officer said if I have any problems to give him a call.

I’m currently sitting at RV dealer waiting to talk to someone about pick up and potential sale.

Hey....that's great! Buy that cop some doughnuts and coffee. :-)

kyfdx

Very cool..

oldfarmer50

jipster said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:

Put a new throttle body on the 2010 Mercury Milan today. Prior owner had already installed a new T.B under Ford's program, but Ford only does the free install once. The part from Ford dealership was only $78. About the same price as aftermarket. Guessing dealership would have charged around $350 or more. Did the relearn procedure for the cars computer. Drove it for about 40 minutes. Drove fine.

So if that fixed your drivability issues maybe you can forget the timing problem. I’m still not clear what they say the problem is exactly. Is the timing chain jumping on the gear? Are teeth missing? Is the timing off spec when the car is running,

On my 1995 Lincoln with a similar twin timing chain the belt guides wore out resulting in a rattle on start up. Estimate back then to fix was $1500. I said no and rolled the dice. Never caused any problem in 40k miles.

The guy I sold it to 2 years ago is still driving it.

OTOH, my 1985 F-150 had a worn out timing chain that was jumping on the gear and it caused serious drivability problems. Had to twist the distributor with my hand to get back close to correct time.

That I replaced.

New throttle body did the trick for driveability issues. Drove the car quite a bit today, ran good, idled good, no noticeable timing issues. The problem really wasn't explained to me that well. Basically service advisor says engine has bad "timing issues". Said timing belt may be stretched. Car had 5 stored codes (VCT solenoid issue code,.PCM detected a problem with the camshaft sensor, code for camshaft position sensor, and engine control.module low voltage from battery). So advisor was saying to find out what exactly was going on, they'd need to tear the engine down...7 hours of labor. Thought a used.or remanufactured engine would be the best course of action. Invoice stated "May need new cylinder heads, may only need VCT solenoid, may need another engine. No matter what repair it will need a new throttle body. "

Advisor said the tech ran "2 or 3 hours of diagnostics." I didn't get anything to show this. When I asked what all tech did to diagnose the problem, I really didn't get a straight answer. All it looks to me is they ran codes on the car. Dealership charged me for 1 hour. $89.95. There is some.clicking, ticking...some kind of noise coming from the back of the engine you can hear with hood up.

I've been waiting a week for an estimate on that solenoid. The advisor said the tech has said "it will be a risk to spend money on that solenoid . " Advisor has stopped responding to my inquiries for some reason. In looking at my cars engine, if what I'm looking at is the VCT solenoid, it is easily accessible and shouldn't cost that much to replace. $50 part aftermarket. I think it would be worth a chance to replace that solenoid if only a couple hundred bucks..

Boy, that’s awful nebulous to justify engine swaps or other expensive repairs. With all their dealer technology the best they can offer is 7 hours of tear down?

When I took the son’s 3.0L Duratec to the dealer I also got the “needs new engine” or thousands in repairs story.

Ask the indie guy.

I don't know enough about cars to know if dealership did their due diligence in diagnostics. Could the VCT solenoid be tested? Camshaft sensors? Compression check? That Bill Collins Ford dealership is humongous and is always extremely busy. Maybe they thought they'd just be wasting their time ($$$) if they spent too much time on the car.

Don't know if my indie guy has the diagnostic tools and equipment to tackle such a job. I'll check in with him when I take the wife's car in to replace the oil pan gasket in the Veracruz.

Sometimes those dang sensors can drive you crazy. My old Chevy van had transmission problems that to me indicated impending failure such as slipping out of gear. Turned out to be a faulty solenoid making the computer controlled shifter default to neutral. $100 fix. Sometimes a loose wire can give these fancy diagnostic machines bad information. An old seat of the pants mechanic has saved me big bucks many times.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

Update:

Stopped at station this morn. Officer listened with disbelief. After some discussion, he asked if I had the guy’s number. I did. He goes back to his office and within a few mins comes back to tell me I can pick it up. Hearing from the cops obviously scared him straight. Officer said if I have any problems to give him a call.

I’m currently sitting at RV dealer waiting to talk to someone about pick up and potential sale.

That’s great News!

driver100

Really good news QB. I would take the trailer and move on, that deadbeat will be a waste of time and too frustrating to deal with. Consider yourself fortunate to get this out of the way.

driver100

jipster said:

driver100 said:

jipster said:

I'd be happy to get two of these years out of the car. As of this moment, I'm inclined to roll those dice.

I know there are financial considerations but, this is how I look at these situations;
Used car cost $5000, 2 years use costs $2500 a year plus repairs, conservatively $500 a year repairs = $3000 a yr.
New Toyota Corolla $22000, will last 10 years and still be worth something as a trade in....cost just over $2000 a year for 10 years, not much more for 3 years.........can do repairs as they come up after 3 years.
Could use $5000 to lease it for 3 years, then buy it for about $12000.
That is just my crazy thinking.

When I leased a new 2012 Civic, thought I'd end up buying when the lease was up. Just.didn't care for that small car.ride. Maybe the new Corolla is better. Could certainly use a car that gets better than 22mpg.combined.

If buying or leasing you have to buy something you can live with. If you keep a car for 5 years you want to enjoy it. I would rather buy a 2 or 3 year old low mileage car, than a new one I don't really like.

28firefighter

That sounds like justice, old school Jersey style, @qbrozen.

ab348

qbrozen said:

Update:

Stopped at station this morn. Officer listened with disbelief. After some discussion, he asked if I had the guy’s number. I did. He goes back to his office and within a few mins comes back to tell me I can pick it up. Hearing from the cops obviously scared him straight. Officer said if I have any problems to give him a call.

I’m currently sitting at RV dealer waiting to talk to someone about pick up and potential sale.

Awesome!

https://youtu.be/DtKicA7tpK8

roadburner

The Club Sport is at the dealer for its annual service, and my service advisor gave me an M340i xDrive for a loaner.
First impressions:
It’s maybe a tick faster than my 2 Series, but the xDrive filters the fun too much for my tastes. I scared a friend quite a bit accelerating through a corner flat out when he thought I was going to lift and brake.
I like the interior a lot- including the glass cockpit.
I like the latest generation of iDrive, but it’s considerably different from what I’m used to.
The voice recognition works quickly and accurately.
The base sound system is surprisingly good. I’d still want to audition the H-K upgrade, but the standard system is no slouch.
It’s still too big for my tastes, but the car masks its bulk to an impressive degree.
An M240i with the M340i cockpit, 382 hp motor, and M Sport diff would be just about perfect for me.

ronsteve

driver100 said:

jipster said:

I'd be happy to get two of these years out of the car. As of this moment, I'm inclined to roll those dice.

I know there are financial considerations but, this is how I look at these situations;
Used car cost $5000, 2 years use costs $2500 a year plus repairs, conservatively $500 a year repairs = $3000 a yr.
New Toyota Corolla $22000, will last 10 years and still be worth something as a trade in....cost just over $2000 a year for 10 years, not much more for 3 years.........can do repairs as they come up after 3 years.
Could use $5000 to lease it for 3 years, then buy it for about $12000.
That is just my crazy thinking.

Are those "repair" figures above and beyond scheduled maintenance? Remember even on a bulletproof appliance like a Corolla, the scheduled maintenance starts to cost more after 100K. Or would 10 years not get you to 100K?

Not sure how you would lease it that cheap for 3 years... in my part of the world the lease offer on a Corolla LE is $169/mo for 36 months with 2999 at signing. That pencils out right around $9000, which is in line with your 3K a year figure. It becomes a known quantity as the repair costs will be zero under warranty, and you don't know how much shop time you'll rack up with that $5000 used car. Then again you're not only locked in, not a good situation for a CCB, but you're locked into a COROLLA!

jmonroe1

suydam said:

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Oh no! Scotty’s goring my ox now!

Once again, Scotty's comments are questionable. The RAV4 gets a 7.7 rating from Edmunds, KIA Sportage gets a 7. Pretty close. KIA price starts at about $2000 less than a RAV4, but upper limit price is similar. Why he is saying all this and showing you a really old Sportage I don't get....if he is talking about buying a new model he should be showing us a new model.

I think the RAV4 is probably worth the extra $2000 because it looks better, probably slightly more reliable, gets a higher score from Edmunds, probably depreciates less....and it looks sharper.
KIA

RAV4

They look pretty much the same to me. The biggest difference is the color. OK, I noticed the roof rack too.

jmonroe

You aren't very observant. One has square wheel wells, the other one round wheel wells

Well, on my phone, the definition between the wheels and the wheel well aint all that good on the black car. :@

jmonroe

I think you need a better phone.

C'mon man, do you really think it's time for me to replace my Samsung Galaxy S3 already? Do you think I'm made out of money or what? :@

jmonroe

explorerx4

@Q,
Glad some 'Blue Persuasion' worked out for you.
Did the guy move his stuff out before you picked the trailer up?
He might have figured that intervention by the police would put him in a worse position divorce-wise than he is already in.

qbrozen

Haven’t gotten it yet. Didn’t exactly have a truck standing by. As it is, its looking like next weekend.

pensfan83

That's fantastic. Until it's actually out of the guys possession I'm sure you're wary but it sounds promising.

explorerx4

@Q,
My bad, didn't read close enough that you were at the RV dealer to see about picking it up.
Thought you had it there to sell.

driver100

ronsteve said:

driver100 said:

jipster said:

I'd be happy to get two of these years out of the car. As of this moment, I'm inclined to roll those dice.

I know there are financial considerations but, this is how I look at these situations;
Used car cost $5000, 2 years use costs $2500 a year plus repairs, conservatively $500 a year repairs = $3000 a yr.
New Toyota Corolla $22000, will last 10 years and still be worth something as a trade in....cost just over $2000 a year for 10 years, not much more for 3 years.........can do repairs as they come up after 3 years.
Could use $5000 to lease it for 3 years, then buy it for about $12000.
That is just my crazy thinking.

Are those "repair" figures above and beyond scheduled maintenance? Remember even on a bulletproof appliance like a Corolla, the scheduled maintenance starts to cost more after 100K. Or would 10 years not get you to 100K?

Not sure how you would lease it that cheap for 3 years... in my part of the world the lease offer on a Corolla LE is $169/mo for 36 months with 2999 at signing. That pencils out right around $9000, which is in line with your 3K a year figure. It becomes a known quantity as the repair costs will be zero under warranty, and you don't know how much shop time you'll rack up with that $5000 used car. Then again you're not only locked in, not a good situation for a CCB, but you're locked into a COROLLA!

I never do exact figures.....I am not an accountant or bookkeeper. I work in round figures. I assumed both cars will need normal maintenance, the older car will need more in repairs. If you are on a strict budget a lease may be a good thing....keeps you in a car for a longer time - not so easy to trade -what is it, Mikes 2nd anniversary with the same car.

Basically, buying a $5000 car is a bit of a gamble, the car may last and be trouble free, or it could be a money pit and your $5k and more could disappear. The new car could be covered, if you take the $5k you spent on a used car...use that to pay 18 months of leasing....save some money for the second 18 months, then loan the money to buy a 3 year old car you know is good.

One more thing, if you push a bit to own the new car, you can get to work on time, and you feel better about life in general....motivating you to pay the car off and work harder.