Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

nyccarguy

Looks great @jipster! Congrats again!

28firefighter

Agree - look great, @jipster!

I admire your perseverance during the buying process. I probably would have caved at 28,5 or even 28,8.

explorerx4

@jipster,
There difference of the feel of the vehicles on the test drives could have been due to the tire pressures.

carnaught

jipster said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:

Well guys....good news....they accepted my offer of $28,300!!
Told you guys the ole jipster wouldn't let you down.

I strategized that saying let's "split the difference" may be too cliche . So, I went all in to get the deal done. Barring some unforeseen tricky sneaky stuff at the dealership, should have my new Accord EX-L home and in my driveway in a couple of hours. Bad news is I have to clean out the garage.

Last time I saw the figures they were at $28,800 and rejected your $28,300 because it was stealing. Did they call you back and accept your $28,300 or did you bring a gun to the store? How did you go all in?

We need clarification, we’ve got a lot invested emotionally here.

The dealership was originally at $28,850/OTD. I was at $27,500. I countered with $28,000. They came back at $28,500. I said no to $28,500 and walked. Basically I called this morning and raised my offer $300, to $28,300. Mentally I was "all in". Wouldn't go any higher. They accepted $28,300.

I got the all weather floor mats and trunk mat included. So, no need for a plastic Glad bag in the trunk when we go to Florida.

Hope this restores your emotional clarity. ;-)

Recall that I advised a counter offer of $200 higher for the car, lol. You went $300 and voila! As for the extended warranty, I wouldn’t personally. They offer something like that because it’s a money maker for them.

Enjoy the car!

imidazol97

Congratulations on your successful purchase. I thought the night you didn't close the deal that you'd go back and make a followup.

I worried you'd find the car had been sold--what the poster who sold Hondas said about people pausing on deals and finding the car was sold when they went back.

I personally have had good experience with the cost benefit of car brand extended warranties on my cars. Three now. There's a convenience factor--just fix it.

But many say Hondas never need anything, so there's that.

driver100

jipster said:

Beautiful.....looks like you got your first parking ticket!

driver100

I wonder what Scotty would say about using synthetic oil?
Probably says it's a waste of money....I am afraid to check

dino001

Extended warranty is for me a classic example of an insurance that is too expensive because it covers manageable losses that are somewhat likely to occur. Now I only buy insurance against catastrophic losses. If it just stings (unpleasant), it's not worth coverage for me. I only insure myself against things that would take years to recover, not couple of paychecks.

When I made less money, I used to buy extended warranties for some things, now and then (car, some appliances, plasma tv). After several years I made a tally of payouts vs. premiums. Wasn't even close. Yes, there were some payouts, like a transmission repair, engine blow gasket, etc. Still not even close altogether, so I stopped buying them for anything. I have enough money to pay for things over multiple times, even large ones that are very unlikely to happen. I would still look at a proposed premium for an extended warranty, if it looks attractive, I may take it, but most of the time it does not, sometimes it's kind of close, but remembering that I can actually afford repairs makes me pass on it, anyway.

In general, low deductible insurance policies sound attractive to people with cashflow issues, as they would eliminate pain of possibly having to borrow money at high interest to cover a substantial expense, but they often in aggregate put people on a financial treadmill. I see this even more pronounced in health insurance, when some employers offer both high and low deductible plans and some people just can't bear a thought of having to pay a doctor couple of hundred dollars on high-deductible policy, so they buy the other one and pay literally thousands of dollars per year upfront just to avoid that unpleasant bill. Because the money comes out before they can even see it in form of a paycheck premium, they end up pretending they're not paying it and enjoy low doctor copay. The math rarely supports low deductible plans, but I see panic in peoples' eyes when they hear they'd have to pay doctor $150 not $20.

stickguy

Sharp car Jip. Now need to dump the mariner!

driver100

dino001
Extended warranty is for me a classic example of an insurance that is too expensive because it covers manageable losses that are somewhat likely to occur. Now I only buy insurance against catastrophic losses. If it just stings (unpleasant), it's not worth coverage for me. I only insure myself against things that would take years to recover, not couple of paychecks.

Good point Dino....expensive insurance. When the 2015 E was totaled it had full replacement cost insurance on it. That saved me about $20000 in depreciation cost....the insurance cost me $60.
This was $1600 (I think) for how much....maybe $5000 at most in repairs? And that's a long shot!

jipster

Thanks guys. Yeah, Explorer, may have been the tire pressure.

Carnaut- yeah, initially upset i wasnt able to make a deal with Honda World. Rethought, after reading opinions here, helped..$200 may have gotten it done. $300 Just to be sure. Otherwise I was out for good.

Imizidal. Yes, my biggest worry would be that the car would sell. I really wasn't fully relaxed until I got in the car to drive it home. ;-)

Good point dino on the extended warranty.

Driver...it does look like a ticket. :lol
And that is weird and funny we both are in that "$200 club" jmonroe was talking about. Though we know better.

Well guys, safe to say ,"The Jipst Method of New Car Buying ", is still alive and well?

fintail

I had that issue with the HUD and LED gauges in the Escalade I had as a rental last year. Oddly, the LED gauges in the MB aren't impacted by polarized sunglasses.

snakeweasel said:

I just bought a new set of sunglasses, they were polarized, they filter out the HUD. :@

fintail

I've had it on a few of my leases - when the maintenance is rolled into the total price of the car, it ends up being around half price for the lease. Just be sure you keep the car long enough to use them, as at one time they were use it or lose it here, too. I noticed the prepaid costs increased sharply on the last car, but still cheaper than buying them at the time of service (service B is a doozie).

driver100 said:

About prepaid maintenance on the Mercedes. I paid $1200 for it on the 2015 E, but only used one, when the car was totaled.
When I ordered the 2017 I asked if the next 2 service appointments could be carried over to the new car.
Mercedes of Canada said no, they were only good for the 2015.
Fortunately, my dealer saw my point, and they paid for my 3 service appts on the 2017 as a courtesy.
It was nice of them, though they got to sell me another car....they actually came out the best on the whole thing

graphicguy

Again, congrats @jipster ....pretty car. I like it...a lot!

houdini1

You jipped 'em good jip. It's a beaut !!

roadburner

snakeweasel said:

jmonroe1 said:

abacomike said:

graphicguy said:

Hey Mike...just looking in your general area, there's a Black/Black one in Palm Beach. Tons of silver and white S450s if you're willing to take a different color....even more at other, nearby dealerships.

https://www.mercedespalmbeach.com/new/Mercedes-Benz/2020-Mercedes-Benz-S-Class-West-Palm-Beach-FL-33409-eb98403e0a0e0a6b3f275e53a98c9f50.htm

Not going back to Palm Beach - not very nice people up there - they wouldn't even discuss my offer. The other dealerships don't have exactly what I am looking for in terms of options. I want a heads-up display and wood/leather steering wheel - most don't have that equipment.

Thanks for the heads up.

Huh, 109 grand plus for a car and it doesn't have HUD? My wannabe has that. Is there a category below wannabe?

jmonroe

I just bought a new set of sunglasses, they were polarized, they filter out the HUD. :@

Use the tilt adjustment on the HUD; that will help.

jwm40517

Is the $1600 extended warranty real Honda Care or some 3rd party plan? The last time I looked at Honda Care 8 years and 120,000 miles was the max coverage.

imidazol97

jipster said:

Imizidal. Yes, my biggest worry would be that the car would sell. I really wasn't fully relaxed until I got in the car to drive it home. ;-)

I'm glad I wasn't alone in worrying for you. I also was concerned they would say they had reconsidered and couldn't go lower and another 500$ up.

I recall Isoldhondas telling about giving a price that was good for that day and the people wanted to leave and think it over. Next day, price wasn't good when they came back. I think I'm not having a Joe moment and remembering wrong, but it must have been a clearly good deal he/the store offered them.

imidazol97

fintail said:

I had that issue with the HUD and LED gauges in the Escalade I had as a rental last year. Oddly, the LED gauges in the MB aren't impacted by polarized sunglasses.

snakeweasel said:

I just bought a new set of sunglasses, they were polarized, they filter out the HUD. :@

I'd have to find out why the LED on the Escalade gauges would be affected, but the heads up display in my lowly leSabre reflected the light from the display off the inside layer of the windshield. It had a special coating to be reflective. That left the light being mostly the horizontally polarized portion, much as sunlight reflecting off pavement as I drive into the setting sun is bouncing off the horizontal surface and is mostly the horizontal component. Then the sunglasses block the horizontally polarized light. So the HUD display disappeared unless I twisted my head sideways many degrees.

suydam

Nice car, @jipster — silver looks sharp!

imidazol97

I am sharing a laugh from reading the local story writer in the paper/TV media locally.

The headline on Fakebook was "BREAKING: Police were searching for the suspected shooter, who left in a purple Lincoln."

A purple Lincoln. Should be known to police in that part of the urban area... Not many purple Lincolns around.

But the text of the article says" Police were searching for a tan or light blue older model Ford Crown Victoria or Lincoln Grand Marquis with a cloth top on Thursday night that was involved in a shooting in the city.
Crown Vic? Grand Marquis? Or a Lincoln?

fintail

The center area was especially illegible, along with the nav screen. Must be a display issue. The MB has a hard shiny surface screen, where the Caddy has a matte surface.

My brother once had a 90s GP with HUD. GM was way ahead of the curve there. I like the feature, other than GM, BMW has ran with it most. In my experience, the HUD is very sensitive to angle, but once it is set right, it works fine, just not with glasses. Oh well, as MB makes it a rarely chosen option on almost everything in this market, I probably won't see it soon in my car.

imidazol97 said:

I'd have to find out why the LED on the Escalade gauges would be affected, but the heads up display in my lowly leSabre reflected the light from the display off the inside layer of the windshield. It had a special coating to be reflective. That left the light being mostly the horizontally polarized portion, much as sunlight reflecting off pavement as I drive into the setting sun is bouncing off the horizontal surface and is mostly the horizontal component. Then the sunglasses block the horizontally polarized light. So the HUD display disappeared unless I twisted my head sideways many degrees.

fintail

I am always leery of media/police car descriptions, I've seen too many errors to count.

Purple Lincoln will probably end up being a magenta Infiniti. Crown Vic will be a Buick Roadmaster.

imidazol97 said:

I am sharing a laugh from reading the local story writer in the paper/TV media locally.

The headline on Fakebook was "BREAKING: Police were searching for the suspected shooter, who left in a purple Lincoln."

A purple Lincoln. Should be know to police in that part of the urban area...

But the text of the article says" Police were searching for a tan or light blue older model Ford Crown Victoria or Lincoln Grand Marquis with a cloth top on Thursday night that was involved in a shooting in the city.
Crown Vic? Grand Marquis? Or a Lincoln?

tjc78

The media always get the Panther cars wrong. Movies too.

Just last night we watched an old Bruce Willis movie from 93.

“Suspect is driving an 89 Ford”. Vehicle was clearly an 85-87.

tjc78

Funny thing about that movie. All the villains were driving Ford/Lincoln’s the cops were all in Caprices or other GMs

stickguy

imidazol97 said:

jipster said:

Imizidal. Yes, my biggest worry would be that the car would sell. I really wasn't fully relaxed until I got in the car to drive it home. ;-)

I'm glad I wasn't alone in worrying for you. I also was concerned they would say they had reconsidered and couldn't go lower and another 500$ up.

I recall Isoldhondas telling about giving a price that was good for that day and the people wanted to leave and think it over. Next day, price wasn't good when they came back. I think I'm not having a Joe moment and remembering wrong, but it must have been a clearly good deal he/the store offered them.

It was a mistake by the dealer. Someone tagged a sale price wrong (put the LX price tag in the EXL, something like that. So it was an obscene buy. Buyer sees it, says we want it for that price. Dealer people figure out what happened, and Craig says we will honor it right now, but once you leave we are changing the tags. And instead of locking it up, the greedy pigs leave to think about it, and later call asking for more off. Of course get told no, and IIRC agree to take it anyway, only to go ballistic when told the price is now many $1,000s higher, just like he told them!

snakeweasel

qbrozen said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Jip...I think the Accord is the car to buy in that segment....best combination of style, performance, practicality but still fun to drive.
Warranties..........I seldom come out ahead. It is a gamble. It is kind of like expensive insurance, you pay quite a bit for repairs which probably never come close to the cost of the insurance. And, things change before you get there, you need a different car, you don't drive as much, an accident......etc.
You only win if you have a few major repairs....and if that happens, you would probably want to get rid of the car.
So, IMO.....I wouldn't buy it, but, it is really a gamble whether it will be worth it.

Happy motoring, enjoy the new ride.........the Accord hits the sweet spot in that market.

My view on warranties is that the warranty company has overhead to pay along with warranty payouts. That tells me that the average vehicle will have less in warranty covered work than the warranty costs. When we got the BMW we calculated what the warranty would have added to the payment and we are putting that away in a separate bank account to cover any issues.

For 3rd party, yes, but factory backed warranties can be different, IMHO. Repairs cost them less than they would you or a 3rd-party, for one thing. Additionally, they and the dealers realize more benefit in that you are tied to them for longer, as most people with factory warranty are bringing their cars to the dealer for services, thereby providing the traffic in the shop and the showroom. It also of course can increase customer satisfaction and keep you in the fold. In Jip's case, one big repair in the next 150k miles can pay for the warranty. I'd be willing to be SOMETHING will go wrong in such a long time. I've yet to experience an AC system lasting that long, personally, for instance.

Yes repairs on a factory backed warranty might be lower than a third party warranty because the factory negotiating cheaper repair fees. But the 3rd party warranty companies can also negotiate lower prices. These negotiated lowers costs is an incentive to reject warranty claims, then you have to get the warranty company involved.

My other issue with extended warranties, is the time frame it covers. Breakdowns will occur for a few reasons, first due to faulty parts and/or workmanship, secondly due to wear and tear and thirdly due to misuse and/or abuse. The first would happen early on and would be covered under the standard warranty, the second would likely happen late in the life of the product and would likely be after the extended warranty expires, the 3rd wouldn't be covered under warranty. In short you are buying a warranty to cover the car during what is most likely the most reliable time frame of the car.

As for HVAC I've taken more than my share of cars way over 150k miles and the only issue I had with a HVAC system was to replace a blower which took me a half hour to do.

imidazol97

stickguy said:

imidazol97 said:

jipster said:

Imizidal. Yes, my biggest worry would be that the car would sell. I really wasn't fully relaxed until I got in the car to drive it home. ;-)

I'm glad I wasn't alone in worrying for you. I also was concerned they would say they had reconsidered and couldn't go lower and another 500$ up.

I recall Isoldhondas telling about giving a price that was good for that day and the people wanted to leave and think it over. Next day, price wasn't good when they came back. I think I'm not having a Joe moment and remembering wrong, but it must have been a clearly good deal he/the store offered them.

It was a mistake by the dealer. Someone tagged a sale price wrong (put the LX price tag in the EXL, something like that. So it was an obscene buy. Buyer sees it, says we want it for that price. Dealer people figure out what happened, and Craig says we will honor it right now, but once you leave we are changing the tags. And instead of locking it up, the greedy pigs leave to think about it, and later call asking for more off. Of course get told no, and IIRC agree to take it anyway, only to go ballistic when told the price is now many $1,000s higher, just like he told them!

Good memory. I recall that now, with a little help from my friends...

imidazol97

I took the extended warranty on the Cruze and Malibu because I was of a certain age where I might not around and my wife or my son would be handling the vehicle. With the extended warranty, all they had to do was take it to the trusted GM dealer and it would be repaired. Without a warranty there would be more pressure to buy a replacement with a factory warranty for 3 or 4 years.

With the Cobalt I don't know if it was just it was so cheap I felt it was worth it since my son would have the car after 5 years with a degree and would out on his own. Also it was prorata refundable if car was traded or wrecked.

pensfan83

tjc78 said:

Funny thing about that movie. All the villains were driving Ford/Lincoln’s the cops were all in Caprices or other GMs

Striking Distance?

tjc78

pensfan83 said:

tjc78 said:

Funny thing about that movie. All the villains were driving Ford/Lincoln’s the cops were all in Caprices or other GMs

Striking Distance?

Yep! Amazingly we both had never seen it. Not an amazing film, but certainly watchable.

tjc78

Screenshot of said scene. IMCDB says it's an 86 but there is no way to tell an 86 from 87 unless you can see under the hood for the 86 specific heater hoses.

driver100

tjc78 said:

Funny thing about that movie. All the villains were driving Ford/Lincoln’s the cops were all in Caprices or other GMs

I guess GM paid more for product placements.

nyccarguy

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DzBGUXD5j3E

Another great chase by the OSP

driver100

Jipster: And that is weird and funny we both are in that "$200 club" jmonroe was talking about. Though we know better

lol.......Yeh, crazy JM......if he had tried to get that extra $200 off on your car or on mine they would have tossed him out the door and he would have lost out!

28firefighter

tjc78 said:

pensfan83 said:

tjc78 said:

Funny thing about that movie. All the villains were driving Ford/Lincoln’s the cops were all in Caprices or other GMs

Striking Distance?

Yep! Amazingly we both had never seen it. Not an amazing film, but certainly watchable.

Go up 'dere.

pensfan83

tjc78 said:

pensfan83 said:

tjc78 said:

Funny thing about that movie. All the villains were driving Ford/Lincoln’s the cops were all in Caprices or other GMs

Striking Distance?

Yep! Amazingly we both had never seen it. Not an amazing film, but certainly watchable.

I've seen it a handful times, I always liked the car chase scene. The tunnels where the explosion occurred are less than 1/2 mile from my office and I'm always amazed by what the city looked like almost 30 years ago compared to now.

28firefighter

Striking Distance is in my top 10 guilty pleasure movies and my buddy and I from school tend to watch it at the same time and text back and forth nonstop. Our respective wives hate it.

snakeweasel

imidazol97 said:

I am sharing a laugh from reading the local story writer in the paper/TV media locally.

The headline on Fakebook was "BREAKING: Police were searching for the suspected shooter, who left in a purple Lincoln."

A purple Lincoln. Should be known to police in that part of the urban area... Not many purple Lincolns around.

But the text of the article says" Police were searching for a tan or light blue older model Ford Crown Victoria or Lincoln Grand Marquis with a cloth top on Thursday night that was involved in a shooting in the city.
Crown Vic? Grand Marquis? Or a Lincoln?

Reminds me of the movie "Johnny Dangerously" when they are trying to elude the police in a car covered in several layers of shelf paper each a different color. Everytime they heard on the radio their cars description they removed a layer to reveal a new color.

jipster

Thanks g.g.
Houdini, I jipped em , but at least this one put up a good fight ;-)
Suydam Thx. Silver is one of my favorite color. Trimmed in black looks good.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Jip...I think the Accord is the car to buy in that segment....best combination of style, performance, practicality but still fun to drive.
Warranties..........I seldom come out ahead. It is a gamble. It is kind of like expensive insurance, you pay quite a bit for repairs which probably never come close to the cost of the insurance. And, things change before you get there, you need a different car, you don't drive as much, an accident......etc.
You only win if you have a few major repairs....and if that happens, you would probably want to get rid of the car.
So, IMO.....I wouldn't buy it, but, it is really a gamble whether it will be worth it.

Happy motoring, enjoy the new ride.........the Accord hits the sweet spot in that market.

My view on warranties is that the warranty company has overhead to pay along with warranty payouts. That tells me that the average vehicle will have less in warranty covered work than the warranty costs. When we got the BMW we calculated what the warranty would have added to the payment and we are putting that away in a separate bank account to cover any issues.

For 3rd party, yes, but factory backed warranties can be different, IMHO. Repairs cost them less than they would you or a 3rd-party, for one thing. Additionally, they and the dealers realize more benefit in that you are tied to them for longer, as most people with factory warranty are bringing their cars to the dealer for services, thereby providing the traffic in the shop and the showroom. It also of course can increase customer satisfaction and keep you in the fold. In Jip's case, one big repair in the next 150k miles can pay for the warranty. I'd be willing to be SOMETHING will go wrong in such a long time. I've yet to experience an AC system lasting that long, personally, for instance.

I’ve never bought a Mfg. backed warranty and I would NEVER buy a 3rd party warranty. Unless you ask the dealer won’t tell you. On my PT Cruiser I had to really dig before the guy would admit it was 3rd party. I asked for a copy of the contract and he only gave me one page out of maybe 5.... and not the exclusion list. I called him on this and he got all huffy so I walked out on him.

The Kia dealer also was using third party but I was already out the door with keys in hand before they remembered they hadn’t tried to sell me so I just hopped in the car and drove away.

Strangely, the Ford dealer never even mentioned extended warranties.

jipster

jwm40517 said:

Is the $1600 extended warranty real Honda Care or some 3rd party plan? The last time I looked at Honda Care 8 years and 120,000 miles was the max coverage.

Yes, its a Honda Care extended warranty. The finance officer said it was "new" that Honda offered such an extended warranty. 9 years/150,000 miles bumper to bumper.

explorerx4

One time when I bought a car, and got the extended warranty, the salesman had the factory brochure at his desk and the finance guy gave me a copy of it.
Only later, did I discover I had actually bought a 3rd party warranty.
The price was too good to be true. :@

jipster

imidazol97 said:

jipster said:

Imizidal. Yes, my biggest worry would be that the car would sell. I really wasn't fully relaxed until I got in the car to drive it home. ;-)

I'm glad I wasn't alone in worrying for you. I also was concerned they would say they had reconsidered and couldn't go lower and another 500$ up.

I recall Isoldhondas telling about giving a price that was good for that day and the people wanted to leave and think it over. Next day, price wasn't good when they came back. I think I'm not having a Joe moment and remembering wrong, but it must have been a clearly good deal he/the store offered them.

Sales Manager said the price would probably go up after" today ", meaning buy now or pound sound .

What ever happened to isellhyundais?
We blood brothers now.

oldfarmer50

jipster said:

Honda World is pretty much the only game in town here in Louisville. And they are expanding their service and showrooms Jeff Wyler Honda looks to be a pit. Neil Huffman Honda is across the river. So not sure if Honda World does, or would need to do, service specials.

I couldn't find that maintenance plan the finance guy said he would include. Probably best to do full synthetic oil changes, which can be expensive. So, I'd at least like to look at the numbers. But, pretty sure I won't buy the maintenance plan.

Took the Accord out for a joyride this morning. Hairpin turns that would have thrown me out the window in my Mercury Mariner, the Accord handled fairly well. Looking forward to figuring out all the tech features. Want that hardcopy owners manual though.

Yeah, but now that you know the Mercury wasn’t as busted as you thought you now have too many cars.

oldfarmer50

jipster said:

Very nice.I love those wheels.

jmonroe1

I am not a fan of extended warranties for the reasons that have already been given but for the right price I'd buy it. Here's what happened when I bought my '15 Genny in June of 2015 in Fairfax VA:

While in the F&I office the pleasant girl says, "I can sell you an additional 5 year bumper to bumper and an additional 50K miles on top of the standard Hyundai warranty for only $1700. The regular price for this is well over $3000, so you can see this is a very good deal". I said, "no thanks". She says she thinks she can get me a better price and goes to her boss. Comes back and says, "good news, we can sell it for $1400". I refuse again. She then asks what I would be willing to pay. I spout off a WAG saying $800. She makes a face gets up and says, "I doubt we can do $800 but let me see what he can do". She comes back and says, "$1100, thats the very best we can do". I refuse again. She seems pretty much disappointed but we finish the paper work and leave.

The next day I get a call from someone in their business dept. The guy wanted to know how the trip home went then says, "I see where we couldn't come to terms on an extended warranty and before I called you I checked with our GM and he's willing to sell the extended warranty for $1000 even". I refuse once again. This guy can't believe I'm willing to pass up this offer. We say goodbye and I never heard from them again. I'm guessing that to go any lower than $1000, it just wasn't worth it to them. How much does it actually cost them I don't know but below $1000 was to low for them. To me it's like trying to find out how much trunk money exists but when they let you walk you found their bottom line.

jmonroe

jipster

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:

Honda World is pretty much the only game in town here in Louisville. And they are expanding their service and showrooms Jeff Wyler Honda looks to be a pit. Neil Huffman Honda is across the river. So not sure if Honda World does, or would need to do, service specials.

I couldn't find that maintenance plan the finance guy said he would include. Probably best to do full synthetic oil changes, which can be expensive. So, I'd at least like to look at the numbers. But, pretty sure I won't buy the maintenance plan.

Took the Accord out for a joyride this morning. Hairpin turns that would have thrown me out the window in my Mercury Mariner, the Accord handled fairly well. Looking forward to figuring out all the tech features. Want that hardcopy owners manual though.

Yeah, but now that you know the Mercury wasn’t as busted as you thought you now have too many cars.

True. I have a fleet of 5 vehicles under my command/wallet now. Probably worth having a spare as the other 3 are getting up there in age.

roadburner

stickguy said:

It was a mistake by the dealer. Someone tagged a sale price wrong (put the LX price tag in the EXL, something like that. So it was an obscene buy. Buyer sees it, says we want it for that price. Dealer people figure out what happened, and Craig says we will honor it right now, but once you leave we are changing the tags. And instead of locking it up, the greedy pigs leave to think about it, and later call asking for more off. Of course get told no, and IIRC agree to take it anyway, only to go ballistic when told the price is now many $1,000s higher, just like he told them!

I still laugh about the story one of the other salespeople told about the guy who negotiated with a green pea on a hot selling car (a Mazdaspeed Protege, if memory serves). The green pea didn't know that the car was not to be sold below MSRP and inked a deal that was over $1000 less than the going market price for that model. The sales manager was going to honor the deal but the next day prior to delivery the customer calls up and tells the SM that he's talked with some "expert" friends and he's decided that the dealer is screwing him over-he wants an even better price or the deal is off. Needless to say, the SM gladly agreed to ashcan the sales contract. After shopping the price a bit the shrewd buyer returned expecting the SM to honor the original deal- and became extremely irate when the SM refused. Poetic justice.

oldfarmer50

dino001 said:

Extended warranty is for me a classic example of an insurance that is too expensive because it covers manageable losses that are somewhat likely to occur. Now I only buy insurance against catastrophic losses. If it just stings (unpleasant), it's not worth coverage for me. I only insure myself against things that would take years to recover, not couple of paychecks.

When I made less money, I used to buy extended warranties for some things, now and then (car, some appliances, plasma tv). After several years I made a tally of payouts vs. premiums. Wasn't even close. Yes, there were some payouts, like a transmission repair, engine blow gasket, etc. Still not even close altogether, so I stopped buying them for anything. I have enough money to pay for things over multiple times, even large ones that are very unlikely to happen. I would still look at a proposed premium for an extended warranty, if it looks attractive, I may take it, but most of the time it does not, sometimes it's kind of close, but remembering that I can actually afford repairs makes me pass on it, anyway.

In general, low deductible insurance policies sound attractive to people with cashflow issues, as they would eliminate pain of possibly having to borrow money at high interest to cover a substantial expense, but they often in aggregate put people on a financial treadmill. I see this even more pronounced in health insurance, when some employers offer both high and low deductible plans and some people just can't bear a thought of having to pay a doctor couple of hundred dollars on high-deductible policy, so they buy the other one and pay literally thousands of dollars per year upfront just to avoid that unpleasant bill. Because the money comes out before they can even see it in form of a paycheck premium, they end up pretending they're not paying it and enjoy low doctor copay. The math rarely supports low deductible plans, but I see panic in peoples' eyes when they hear they'd have to pay doctor $150 not $20.

You said that much more eloquently than I could have. Absolutely right.

I also wonder if having that “security” would make a car owner less diligent in the care of their car. After all, why check the oil if they’ll get you a new engine? Who cares what that tapping noise is? They’ll fix it if the tranny falls out.