Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

driver100

bwia said:

bwia said:

Why didn't you do an electronic deposit on your smartphone. At least you would have earned a few cents in the interim. 

Oops, *driver I posted that before reading your subsequent post that the check is payable to both you and the dealer. 

Understood!

One thing I did think of though, if we weren't going to Florida. Invest the $80,000 until we pick up the car in about 6 weeks, and hope the market goes up 10%

stickguy

he might want to send a bill to Hyundai too, for the Sonata.

nyccarguy

dino001 said:

nyccarguy said:

I love those letters. They'll get me into a new car for less than I'm currently paying for my 2011 Honda Pilot (which they will give me $19,785 for). I paid the Pilot off in June. My current monthly payment is zero.

2 payments from the final payoff? Good job!

If I had purchased my E90 instead of leasing, it would have 90 K miles on it & I'd still have 5 payments left.

The thing is, I'm not a payment buyer at the first place, so none of those $X less per month would impress me, regardless how many payments I have left. But with two payments left, it's just funny. My plan is to buy something next Spring or Summer, 430 or 440 Grand Coupe, enjoy some payment-less period for the time being, unless they come up with something great, which I doubt, judging by the quality of the current set of offers they're sending.

I know you aren't a payment buyer. Unfortunately, so many people are.

stever

roadburner said:

In other news, I had an older(70s) couple come in to look at a %er and a 7er. I helped the salesperson with some demos. The husband told us that it was refreshing to meet people who knew about the cars they were selling.

I looked at a Volt last week - the best that the salesperson could come up with was that it had nitrogen in the tires.

fintail

I remember ages ago when I bought my W126 (original owner trade in at a MB dealer), the salesman said something along the lines that I knew much more about the car than he did, and just to ask him if I had any questions or wanted to drive the car. I appreciated that, no funny stories to hold my self back from calling out. The MB salesmen I have encountered are generally up on the new models, but if they are new to the brand, don't know anything beyond a couple years old very well. I've halfway considered a job like that, but I am not into selling, I just like cars. Maybe a gig like roadburner's would be good in the future.

28firefighter

fintail said:

I remember ages ago when I bought my W126 (original owner trade in at a MB dealer), the salesman said something along the lines that I knew much more about the car than he did, and just to ask him if I had any questions or wanted to drive the car. I appreciated that, no funny stories to hold my self back from calling out. The MB salesmen I have encountered are generally up on the new models, but if they are new to the brand, don't know anything beyond a couple years old very well. I've halfway considered a job like that, but I am not into selling, I just like cars. Maybe a gig like roadburner's would be good in the future.

If I could figure how to make money in the automotive business without having to sell, I'd quit my current job in nanosecond. But like you, I just like cars. 

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

That Cobra is between $9k-$10k at the block. With winter fast upon us, I would think $11k-$11.5k.

He can race GG.

driver100

stever said:

roadburner said:

In other news, I had an older(70s) couple come in to look at a %er and a 7er. I helped the salesperson with some demos. The husband told us that it was refreshing to meet people who knew about the cars they were selling.

I looked at a Volt last week - the best that the salesperson could come up with was that it had nitrogen in the tires.

My neighbor bought an i3 about a year ago. When he went in to pick up and pay for the car he saw a charge of $40 for nitrogen. He said take it out....I am not paying for it.

And he is a car guy, works at Carmax that makes a lot of the parts for many cars.

graphicguy

oldfarmer50 said:

qbrozen said:

That Cobra is between $9k-$10k at the block. With winter fast upon us, I would think $11k-$11.5k.

He can race GG.

Which reminds me, I'm going to have to "winterize" the Cobra. Will probably try to drive it when it's dry, but cold outside. Which means, drive maybe once/month? Is there anything anyone thinks I should do given that's the little amount of driving it will have over the next 5 months?

imidazol97

oldfarmer50 said:

In other news:

Found out the rear window defroster (electric) in the Merc Sable I bought for my son doesn't work. My mechanic said it's in the glass so that means rear window replacement. Guess you can't even trust grandma when it comes to buying a used car.

Anybody know what I can expect to pay Safelite for a fix? This is a new one on me.

I used the repair kit on my Cobalt. The thin lines of conductor can be scratched when cleaning the window with grit on the towel, which breaks the continuity. I used a small flashlight and ran it along each wire to find the break. Just watch for the light through the conductor foil while someone else moves the flashlight along the wires. Then apply tape along both sides of the wire and bridge the gap with the liquid in the repair kit.

Lots cheaper than replacing the glass.

venture

explorerx4 said:

Close but not exactly the same.

Here's mine (I hope. I tried posting this picture last week when my wheels kept showing up.)

ab348

stickguy said:

he might want to send a bill to Hyundai too, for the Sonata.

Yeas, when I saw the original post I immediately thought of posting "That is Hyundai-quality mimicry". But you made the point.

suydam

stever said:

roadburner said:

In other news, I had an older(70s) couple come in to look at a %er and a 7er. I helped the salesperson with some demos. The husband told us that it was refreshing to meet people who knew about the cars they were selling.

I looked at a Volt last week - the best that the salesperson could come up with was that it had nitrogen in the tires.

That surprises me. The sales folks here are pretty excited about theirs. No mention of nitrogen.

graphicguy

Q....need your input. Neighbor has a 2012 Scion xB. 56K miles and manual trans. I need it like I need a hole in the head, but thought it might not be a bad winter airport runner. He's asking $11K. I'm thinking $8K. I told him with it being a manual trans, it's practically unsaleable. Of course, he thinks that makes it the perfect car for someone looking for a sports car.

What say you?

qbrozen

xB=sports car? Are you sure this guy is stable? ;b

He has 2 problems. Manual trans and a dead brand.

Anyhoo... $6k-$6500 is the auction number. Probably $5k-$5500 on a trade. $8k is more than enough. That's about fair retail.

28firefighter

Come on, GG! You don't need a Scion xB...besides, I'm pretty sure you can walk to the airport faster than it'll get you there.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

@driver100,
Considering Ford owned A-M at that time, they already paid.

So they took the grill from the Aston Martin parts bin.

Anyone who says Audi has VW parts has to remember this!

Mr_Shiftright

"He also mentioned that they looked at Maseratis and the sales guy and service manager both said that the Masers had rock-solid reliability."

That's not a lie. Many Maseratis are very good at imitating rocks.

driver100

graphicguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

qbrozen said:

That Cobra is between $9k-$10k at the block. With winter fast upon us, I would think $11k-$11.5k.

He can race GG.

Which reminds me, I'm going to have to "winterize" the Cobra. Will probably try to drive it when it's dry, but cold outside. Which means, drive maybe once/month? Is there anything anyone thinks I should do given that's the little amount of driving it will have over the next 5 months?

GG, when we summarize the Passat in Florida, we add Stabil to the gas, we make sure the tires are at proper pressure - some people do extra, and we use a trickle charger. I doubt if you will need those, but, if you are driving just once a month you might use the Stabil as the gas could get stale.

One guy who has a car in Florida adds steel wool to the exhaust to keep out mice....if that is a problem. I think it is a good idea, so I am going to start doing that too.....they can be destructive.

Newer cars could need a trickle charger if car isn't used for 4 to 6 weeks, if battery runs out the car will lose all it's settings, expensive to repair.

graphicguy

Thanks, Driver! Good advice!

Thanks, Q! I don't need another vehicle. But, I thought maybe the Scion would make a good beater that wouldn't cost much to maintain and probably be as realible....as....well, a Toyota!

You're right that it's a dead brand. I forgot about that.

I think the seller is a bit "out there" in general. On every street, there's always that one guy who is so frugal it borders on a psychological disorder.

I always feel guilty parading my wheels past him when he's outside. Here he is driving a car (his only car, which he and his wife share) that costs 25%-30% less than my car. I feel wasteful. Then again, he's never really happy. He's the very definition of crumudgeon who always wants to know what I paid for everything. Someone I don't associate with much.

He knows I like cars and stopped me to ask if I would be interested in the Scion. I told him "I don't know". Now, I can tell him flat out "no".

BTW...he has bought a new car to replace the xB (which was a "stripped" model to begin with).

Ready? He bought a new Fiat 500, base model. He's going from reliable to the opposite end of the spectrum. He should probably keep the Scion, he's going to need it (not that I'd tell him that).

suydam

I never saw Fiats back in Ohio but they are all over the place here in SoCal.

Mr_Shiftright

graphicguy said:

Q....need your input. Neighbor has a 2012 Scion xB. 56K miles and manual trans. I need it like I need a hole in the head, but thought it might not be a bad winter airport runner. He's asking $11K. I'm thinking $8K. I told him with it being a manual trans, it's practically unsaleable. Of course, he thinks that makes it the perfect car for someone looking for a sports car.

What say you?

I think you have to be at least 70 years old to drive an xB.

jmonroe

roadburner said:

In other news, I had an older(70s) couple come in to look at a 5er and a 7er. I helped the salesperson with some demos. The husband told us that it was refreshing to meet people who knew about the cars they were selling. They had just come from a Hyundai dealer to look at a new Genesis sedan and he said that the sales guys there were just hopeless. He also mentioned that they looked at Maseratis and the sales guy and service manager both said that the Masers had rock-solid reliability. The customer said he scratched that dealer off his list for lying outright.

I'm sure you're right about Hyundai dealers not knowing about what they are selling and if there is ever going to be a brand that falls into this category, it will be a Hyundai dealership. However, the dealer in VA where I got my '15 Genny in May of 2015 was not the typical Hyundai store. They had a guy similar to what you do as a BMW Genius that showed me more about the car than I wanted to know. In fact I had to stop him and tell him if I wanted to know more than what he just told me or what I could get from the manual, I'd call him. He said he HAD to go over what Hyundai hired him to do. I said, "OK but I can tell you right now I don't care about all the gizmos that this car has". He was very surprised and said, "people that buy this car love this stuff, that's one of the reasons why they buy it". I told him the reason I bought it was because I wanted something a little more than a grocery getter and I did like some creature comforts and more HP but that's it.

In his office after wasting more than 45 minutes of my time he said he was now going to set me up for some kind of a Hyundai link that was complementary for 6 months. This thing was for a smart phone app so that I could get access to a myriad of Hyundai stuff. One of which he thought was the cat's meow. This was remote start from my phone from just about anywhere not just a few hundred feet away. I told him I'd never use it so don't bother. Again he said he HAD to get me set up and if I didn't like it I didn't have to renew when the free subscription ran out. To do this he HAD to get my CC number otherwise this feature could not be activated. I knew this was going to be trouble and I should have stopped this thing right there but I said OK, in part because Mrs. j said, "let him set it up you don't have to use it. Don't be so difficult to get along with". We are just about done in the office when Son #1, who went with us, walks in wanting to know what is taking so long. This Guru tells him and my Son says, "now that's something that I would like but that is just a waste of time for him because he isn't going to use it". The guy says, "are you sure about that? Once he sees the benefits of it he'll love it". My Son just smiled and said, "wanna bet". The guy didn't take him up on his offer.

Fast forward to the end of the trial period and I get an email from Hyundai that my CC has just been hit for almost $200 to continue this 'life can't exist without this feature thingy'. I called Hyundai to tell them I didn't want it and I wanted the charge removed from my CC. The guy asked me why and I told him I never had the need for it so I never used it, not once. This guy is floored about that and now offers to leave it activated for a full year free of charge so that I could at least try it out. I told him again that I didn't want it and to just credit my credit card. He said OK. About 2 months later I get a call from Hyundai wanting to know how I liked this "feature". I told them that it was cancelled and my CC was already credited, so as far as I'm concerned it was taken care of. This new caller said, "OK, but we'll leave it activated for a while longer so that you can try it out". That ended the phone call. For all I know it's still activated but at least I have not gotten anymore calls or emails.

I'm still surprised that a real luxo buyer of BMW's or Maserati's would even venture into a Hyundai dealership. Those types of buyers (more than likely flakes) are just going to ruin the image of what owning a Hyundai or should I say Genesis is all about.

Then again, maybe I'm not a true Genesis buyer.

jmonroe

stever

suydam said:

stever said:

roadburner said:

In other news, I had an older(70s) couple come in to look at a %er and a 7er. I helped the salesperson with some demos. The husband told us that it was refreshing to meet people who knew about the cars they were selling.

I looked at a Volt last week - the best that the salesperson could come up with was that it had nitrogen in the tires.

That surprises me. The sales folks here are pretty excited about theirs. No mention of nitrogen.

Maybe it's because of the times we pick to hit dealers. This morning we tested a Civic hatch. Nice guy, not exactly a green pea, but it was his second day at the dealer, having previously sold Kias in Georgia. So he hadn't been trained on the car at all.

stickguy

I don't care if they know anything. as long as they don't have B.O. and can get the keys for a test drive, I am good.

suydam

Well, the Volt has a lot of technology I'm not familiar with, like the self parking system. So I want someone knowledgable. And every Bluetooth pairing system is different.

driver100

JM, your instincts were right the first time....I hate free trial offers IF, it is something I am pretty sure I don't need, and if I have to give them my credit card number.

I am sure the new E400 will have free Sirius, and I will take it because I want it, as long as I can get it for about $100 for the year, but most other things are not worth all the work you have to go through to cancel it.

driver100

suydam said:

Well, the Volt has a lot of technology I'm not familiar with, like the self parking system. So I want someone knowledgable. And every Bluetooth pairing system is different.

Best way to learn is look it up on youtube. Someone probably demonstrates it there....easy to follow that way. But, I used self parking twice in almost 2 years....more trouble than it is worth. Besides, if you can't parallel park, I think that is telling you something. I wonder if you can use it on a driver's test.

henryn

jmonroe said:

In his office after wasting more than 45 minutes of my time he said he was now going to set me up for some kind of a Hyundai link that was complementary for 6 months. This thing was for a smart phone app so that I could get access to a myriad of Hyundai stuff. One of which he thought was the cat's meow. This was remote start from my phone from just about anywhere not just a few hundred feet away. I told him I'd never use it so don't bother. Again he said he HAD to get me set up and if I didn't like it I didn't have to renew when the free subscription ran out. To do this he HAD to get my CC number otherwise this feature could not be activated. I knew this was going to be trouble and I should have stopped this thing right there

jmonroe

Back in 2011, I purchased a new Chevrolet Silverado. The salesman wanted to turn on the free OnStar trial, and I told him no. He honored my request, and he got a good review.

In 2013, I bought another new Chevrolet Silverado. This time the salesman was insistent, he had to turn on the free OnStar trial, it was required. I told him no about 3 times, he didn’t listen. Finally, he pushes the overhead button, the voice comes over the speakers, and the salesman gets out of the truck.

I also got out of the truck, walked back inside, and asked for the general manager. Told him to give me back the keys to my old truck, I was going home. After quite a bit of back and forth, including some nasty language on my part, I did go home with the new truck. But that dealership got the worst possible rating that I could give.

ab348

More quality troubles for Ford:

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/10/ford-tries-douse-mustang-fireball-problem/

I knew the GT350 was a hot car, but this is a bit much.

Luckily for Ford, not a huge number of cars involved.

houdini1

graphicguy said:

Driver....Yay! I'm sure you're relieved this whole thing is over. It's really a shame that insurance companies make what is tragic to begin with more difficult and frustating to add to your misery. I despise insurance companies, but they're a necessary evil.

Maybe we'll get the equivalent of "Obama care" for cars sometime soon. "Obama car".

sda

Last weekend my wife and I were having lunch. We were seated at a window that overlooked the street, and could people watch and watch cars go up and down the road. A middle age woman tried time and again to parallel park her Corolla and finally gave up. As soon as she drove away a man in an old Town Car snapped up the spot and parallel parked it in one try!

PF_Flyer

sda said:

Last weekend my wife and I were having lunch. We were seated at a window that overlooked the street, and could people watch and watch cars go up and down the road. A middle age woman tried time and again to parallel park her Corolla and finally gave up. As soon as she drove away a man in an old Town Car snapped up the spot and parallel parked it in one try!

Haven't you heard? You don't need to even know how to drive anymore. Just sing away, daydream, whatever... your car will protect you 100%. I see it on TV every day so it MUST be true!

Uh huh

ab348

PF_Flyer said:

Haven't you heard? You don't need to even know how to drive anymore. Just sing away, daydream, whatever... your car will protect you 100%. I see it on TV every day!

Uh huh

Sounds like a pitch for government-controlled cars.

explorerx4

@venture,
Is that color 'Magnetic'? It looks the same as what I am getting.
How is your car treating you?
I had a 2013 Titanium and it was a nice car.
It had some first year problems, but the big one was that other people kept damaging it.
I felt it had bad C(k)arma.

jmonroe

@driver100,

I was not aware of the problem that you could have with the check being sent to your Florida address since you are a Canadian citizen. That does complicate your situation alright and with that info I guess I would have punted.

Since I also have replacement coverage on both of our cars, just to be sure how it worked I called my insurance agent today.

To make a long story short I was told that if the car is totaled, a check would be sent to the person whose name is on the title not the insurance policy. It just so happens that even though Mrs. j's Subie is her car it is titled only in my name because I didn't have the F&I guy set it up for both of us and to re-title it would be a little complicated. So, after learning this hard lesson I made sure that the Genny is titled in both our names.

I asked the insurance agent if the check would also have the dealers name on it and he said, "NO". He was surprised by my question and asked why I brought that up. I told him about your story and he said maybe that is how they do it in Canada but with my insurance company the check is sent to the owner as I mentioned above. He also said that the check was for the replacement of lost property and if I wanted to, I could use it for anything. Like going on a vacation, buying furniture for the house and even to buy a less expensive car and put the difference in the bank.

He said that if I was not the one at fault (like your case) if the responsible insurance company didn't settle the claim in a reasonable time period, which he felt yours did not, my company would pay me the replacement cost and go after the other company which he said is not all that uncommon.

So there you have it for how I was told how my insurance company does it. Although I don't want to find out first hand if it actually does work like I have mentioned but I have no reason to believe otherwise.

jmonroe

snakeweasel

qbrozen said:

xB=sports car? Are you sure this guy is stable? ;b

He has 2 problems. Manual trans and a dead brand.

Anyhoo... $6k-$6500 is the auction number. Probably $5k-$5500 on a trade. $8k is more than enough. That's about fair retail.

I don't know, around here there are enough young kids here that will take just about anything small with a manual transmission, add a bunch of "performance parts" (which in reality don't do much but tell the world you are a poser) and "race" them around. It could sell, however I think $8K is the limit for it.

Mr_Shiftright

They are actually pretty good cars, and useful. You'll probably run 0-60 in about 9 seconds, so bring a magazine to read on highway on ramps.

snakeweasel

suydam said:

I never saw Fiats back in Ohio but they are all over the place here in SoCal.

I see many Fiats around here, more than I would have thought.

PF_Flyer

snakeweasel said:

suydam said:

I never saw Fiats back in Ohio but they are all over the place here in SoCal.

I see many Fiats around here, more than I would have thought.

The Fiat 500 got popular around here for a while and you saw a lot of them, but it was the same group that bought Hummers, PT Cruisers, or the New Beetle, or whatever the latest "gotta be seen in it" car has been. I think we have a large group of Fad drivers around here. Those Fiats have pretty much vanished from our roads.

Fad Motors ... enjoy it now, because you won't be special for too long

Mr_Shiftright

I see quite a few on used car lots around town. More than on the roads actually.

I do like that little Abarth, though. Jay Leno has one.

jmonroe

Mr_Shiftright said:

I see quite a few on used car lots around town. More than on the roads actually.

I do like that little Abarth, though. Jay Leno has one.

Jay probably uses it as a parts getter for the real cars in his garage and I doubt that it is even allowed to take up space in that garage.

jmonroe

stickguy

my daughter had a heck of a time getting the hang of parallel parking for her drivers test (almost wore out the poor Volvo practicing, and that was a super easy car to do it in), and even botched it the first time she took the test. But she now considers herself a pro, and looks for opportunities to do it. Then texts me or sends pictures when she does it right in 1 try.

my wife, I think she would drive around for an hour or just go home before she would try. For some reason, she doesn't even think backing into a parking spot is doable.

Michaell

XM update - the trial period for the Jetta expires next month; got the renewal notice & special in the mail.

I can get 6 months for $34 - and, they'll mail me a bill. Not sure if they will tack on the extra $2 for non-CC order processing.

So, 6 months from now, I know what I'll be asking for in terms of the next renewal price.

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

In other news:

Found out the rear window defroster (electric) in the Merc Sable I bought for my son doesn't work. My mechanic said it's in the glass so that means rear window replacement. Guess you can't even trust grandma when it comes to buying a used car.

Anybody know what I can expect to pay Safelite for a fix? This is a new one on me.

I used the repair kit on my Cobalt. The thin lines of conductor can be scratched when cleaning the window with grit on the towel, which breaks the continuity. I used a small flashlight and ran it along each wire to find the break. Just watch for the light through the conductor foil while someone else moves the flashlight along the wires. Then apply tape along both sides of the wire and bridge the gap with the liquid in the repair kit.

Lots cheaper than replacing the glass.

I check out the glass today and it looked like about half of the wiring was scraped off. Much to much to repair. I guess it's a trip to the auto glass store. Must have been that Florida sun.

In more positive news, I sold my son's old 1998 LaSabre tonight to some people down the street. I listed it for $900, dropped the price to $800 when my son reminded me the horn didn't work and settled for $725. Probably a fair price considering that it was kind of banged up and rusty with 118k miles. It'll serve them well as a beater which is what they needed.



After two weeks on Craigslist got one flake who promised to show but didn't and two others who saw it driving by. The buyer was a drive-by.

stickguy

what the heck do people expect for less than a grand?

oldfarmer50

Mr_Shiftright said:

I see quite a few on used car lots around town. More than on the roads actually.

I do like that little Abarth, though. Jay Leno has one.

I bet they are parked right next to the Smart Cars. I see a few of both on the roads around here. Why anyone outside of a congested city would buy one is a puzzle.

explorerx4

@oldfarmer,
Can you register a car that doesn't have a working horn?
When I moved to CT, I had a VW with a horn that didn't work sometimes.
Of course during the inspection, it didn't work.
I went to lunch, went back and it worked.
The inspector gave me some stink eye, but there was nothing he could do.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

what the heck do people expect for less than a grand?

I think it's the human need for a bargain. When I sold my other son's 93 Caddy with a rusted sub frame for $500 the buyer tried to get it for $400. That's parts car territory so I held firm. On the Buick i wasn't sure what gremlins might be lurking and I just wanted it out of the driveway before winter.

suydam

My son sold his '98 for $600 but it really looks like the beater it is.