Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

driver100

stever said:

Rethinking sedans...

I just got a 55 gallon plastic garbage can in the back of our friend's Cruze.

(yeah, it was full)

Is that a bag of carrots in the back corner there? Try to see how many mini carrots a Cruze can hold.

imidazol97

snakeweasel said:

One thing I got was the wireless charger which I really like, just lay the phone on a small disk and that's all.

I'd like to hear how the wireless charging works for you. My son switched to an S6 around his birthday. I asked if he wanted a wireless charger but as I read reviews on Amazon, some said overnight charging doesn't work well. They claimed it charges until 100% and then turns off for the rest of the night. Meanwhile the phone is using power from e.g.,12 am until 7 and already has part of the power for the next day's use drained. I infer that the wired charger keeps charging a trickle charge replacing what the phone uses for updates, usw.

driver100

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

The car looks great....we just need a picture of you in it with a horizontal striped shirt.

I don't do horizontal stripes. Plaid flannel shirts are more my style.

OK, we'll take that.

I need a new laugh after seeing @driver100 in his horizontal stripes trying to hide behind his CPO C 250 that he paid 200 bucks to much for.

jmonroe

Best $200 I ever spent!

I don't want to pry but did you have to pay the full, around $600 doc fee or maybe even more, when you bought your CPO Benz?

I have heard so much about how it is a snake pit buying a car in Southern Florida I just have to ask if it is all true.

jmonroe

It's true, $699 to be exact. If you want to play you gotta pay!

So considering that every dealer is going to hit you with that charge do buyers in a FL figure out the value of the car and then deduct $700 when making an offer or do Valuation tools like Edmunds take those fees into consideration.

I would think dealers are deluding themselves if they think customers aren't offering less to make up for the fees.

In Southern Florida you are a captive audience, so to speak, so dealers down there can get away with charging these excessive DOC fees. However, and I don't know this for a fact, but just for talking purposes lets say dealers in Jacksonville, who are not to far from the Georgia line, probably can't get away with the fees like

jmonroe

A friend was looking at an RV mobile home (think that is the term) at the largest dealer in Florida. If he bought the trailer in Florida, they would actually sell it to him from their Georgia location, he could pick it up on his way home north, and pay a lot less taxes...they do it all the time.

imidazol97

stever said:

Rethinking sedans...I just got a 55 gallon plastic garbage can in the back of our friend's Cruze.
(yeah, it was full)

Might have been easier to put it in the backseat? I do think the opening to that Generation Cruze's truck and th rear window have been optimized to give max trunk access vs aerodynamic shaping for style with a higher slope to the rear window. It's a little better than the Cobalts".

driver100

Quite a few dealer in the Tampa area have a policy, no DOC fees. But, I am sure you will pay them one way or the other. They aren't going to give that fee up....that is probably a bulk of their profit these days.

You can walk out the door and refuse to pay it, or try to get a $700 reduction, but, if you want that car I think you have to pay it, because if you don't pay it, someone will. Did you ever get that muffler ad, You can pay me now or you can pay me more later? That's what will probably happen.

driver100

suydam said:

stever said:

Rethinking sedans...

I just got a 55 gallon plastic garbage can in the back of our friend's Cruze.

(yeah, it was full)

It will fit in the Encore too.
What do you think of the Cruze? I'm thinking of checking out the hatchback, but the loaner Cruze I had a year ago seemed very cheap to me.

My review. Solid, nice suspension, pretty good handling for the price, but uncomfortable, minimal, basic. If you want a solid inexpensive car it fills the bill, if you want a bit of luxury and comfort, look elsewhere.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

My review. Solid, nice suspension, pretty good handling for the price, but uncomfortable, minimal, basic. If you want a solid inexpensive car it fills the bill, if you want a bit of luxury and comfort, look elsewhere.

Which Gen Cruze did you have?

stickguy

the 2017 Cruze is a full redesign (pretty good reviews from what I recall). So all the experience with them (like Steve's) are with the old one, so not really relevant.

snakeweasel

imidazol97 said:

snakeweasel said:

One thing I got was the wireless charger which I really like, just lay the phone on a small disk and that's all.

I'd like to hear how the wireless charging works for you. My son switched to an S6 around his birthday. I asked if he wanted a wireless charger but as I read reviews on Amazon, some said overnight charging doesn't work well. They claimed it charges until 100% and then turns off for the rest of the night. Meanwhile the phone is using power from e.g.,12 am until 7 and already has part of the power for the next day's use drained. I infer that the wired charger keeps charging a trickle charge replacing what the phone uses for updates, usw.

It worked pretty well last night woke up this morning and it was at 100% this morning. My understanding is that it does turn off when the phone hits 100% but if it drops while it is still on the charger it turns on again to top it off. I'll keep you informed as I use it more.

driver100

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

My review. Solid, nice suspension, pretty good handling for the price, but uncomfortable, minimal, basic. If you want a solid inexpensive car it fills the bill, if you want a bit of luxury and comfort, look elsewhere.

Which Gen Cruze did you have?

I had the 2nd one pictured, a 2016 model. That was one of the rental cars I had when the Fusion stalled out suddenly, then after I had the Chrysler 300 that had the steering that wanted to veer to the right for no reason...about every 5 miles The Fusion had about 12k miles on it, the Chryco about 6000. I have never had that kind of problem in any of my German cars.

That garbage can btw....it doesn't look like the trunk lid will actually close. And how often do you carry around a garbage can?

driver100

Back home they arrested 70 people for DUIs this weekend, that is way more than usual.

This driver had one of the best excuses:

Another incident occurred on Friday night, as an impaired driver crashed his car into the Ontario Provincial Police parking lot in Port Credit, Mississauga, and then told police, "I was just following my GPS,".

stever

I really like the Cruze. I think it's a 2014. The cloth seats are nicely bolstered and I like the knit cloth inserts on the dash. Drives well and it feels very sporty after the minivan. The cruise holds the mileage setting well and the mpg is good. I like the ergonomics a lot and the steering wheel controls are intuitive. And there's plenty of knee room when I slay my legs out; the console doesn't cramp the interior like they do in some cars. I've had quite a bit of seat time in it over the last year or so, including a solo drive down from Taos, about 5 hours or so.

The trunk lid closed nicely with the garbage can in the trunk. Didn't try the backseat because I wanted to avoid any smells in the cabin.

We don't have to pay for garbage service out here in the county so I just dump it our friend's container. We hit the recycling center about once a week but the garbage only gets taken out about once every 5 or 6 weeks.

Those aren't carrots in the trunk btw, just a bunch of reusable grocery bags and I think that's a photo of carrots on one of them.

I want to check out the Cruze hatch but my wife isn't as enthused about the Cruze as I am so I haven't pressed it.

And speaking of my wife, she noticed a '17 Encore, loaded, blue, in stock locally. We'll probably go take a look at it tomorrow or the next day.

stever

@suydam, this is the Encore in stock. Nice eh?

Michaell

stever said:

@suydam, this is the Encore in stock. Nice eh?

Holy cow, $35K for an Encore?

I knew they could break $30K, but, wow.

I like the color, however. And, it's got all the goodies both you and the wife are looking for.

What kind of price you think you could get it for?

jipster

Format is all messed up again. On the cabin air filters being checked during oil changes
, my Mercury Mariner previously belonged to my mother in law, who had chronic c.o.p.d. She passed away over a year ago. Can't help but think that a cabin air filter would have helped her. Always seemed after long trips her condition would be worse. Of course it could have been because the trip itself was exhausting. There is a checklist at the Ford dealership,where I took her car for oil changes, they marked it was checked.It never was. So likely many items not checked.

jipster

On Blues Brothers, just watched a few days ago. Most of those cop cars looked as if they were stripped of engines and other parts. They sort of slid over one another as if they were empty beer cans...P.B.R perhaps. Great movie.

jipster

My 1999 Buick Regal had that 3800 engine. Gaskets were weeping bit when I sold it about 9 years after I bought in 2004. Wish I had that engine in my puny Honda Civic. 

venture

Broke a tire last night. I took my grandson to a friends house. I was never there before and it was dark. As I was pulling into the driveway I hit a curb and slit the sidewall on the right front tire. The low tire pressure light lit up immediately. I don't think I hurt the wheel, but that remains to be seen once the sun comes up.

I dropped him off thinking I might be able to make it home before it was totally flat, but that didn't work. After about a quarter mile I pulled into a church parking lot and put on the doughnut.

Now the fun begins. Low profile tires, as you all know, are expensive and not as available as other sizes in a semi-boondocky area. 235/40-19.

cdnpinhead

houdini1 said:

Ah, the 'ol Indian Head tablets.

Remember 'em well, even though we're talking 1954.

driver100

stever said:

@suydam, this is the Encore in stock. Nice eh?

Isn't the Encore really built on the same platform as the Cruze. $35k sounds like a lot of money for a little SUV. For $25k you get a 2014 C250, and over $10k cash left over but you may need a new system for getting the garbage to the dump - maybe a roof rack..

btw....I liked that material on the dash of the Cruze and the seats were done in a nice way too.

driver100

venture said:

Broke a tire last night. I took my grandson to a friends house. I was never there before and it was dark. As I was pulling into the driveway I hit a curb and slit the sidewall on the right front tire. The low tire pressure light lit up immediately. I don't think I hurt the wheel, but that remains to be seen once the sun comes up.

I dropped him off thinking I might be able to make it home before it was totally flat, but that didn't work. After about a quarter mile I pulled into a church parking lot and put on the doughnut.

Now the fun begins. Low profile tires, as you all know, are expensive and not as available as other sizes in a semi-boondocky area. 235/40-19.

Which car were you using.......2014 Fusion, 2015 Crosstrek, 2015 Forester?

If it is the Forester you may need 4 of those rare hard to find tires.

driver100

Had to look it up to find out what it was. You can order them today for $4.95 at amazon; Are these politically correct any more?

venture

driver100 said:

venture said:

Broke a tire last night. I took my grandson to a friends house. I was never there before and it was dark. As I was pulling into the driveway I hit a curb and slit the sidewall on the right front tire. The low tire pressure light lit up immediately. I don't think I hurt the wheel, but that remains to be seen once the sun comes up.

I dropped him off thinking I might be able to make it home before it was totally flat, but that didn't work. After about a quarter mile I pulled into a church parking lot and put on the doughnut.

Now the fun begins. Low profile tires, as you all know, are expensive and not as available as other sizes in a semi-boondocky area. 235/40-19.

Which car were you using.......2014 Fusion, 2015 Crosstrek, 2015 Forester?

If it is the Forester you may need 4 of those rare hard to find tires.

It was the Fusion. I was researching new tires anyway even though they only have 25,000 miles on them. This just hurried me up a little. It's going to snow eventually. I used to put dedicated winter tires on our cars, but gave up that hassle a few years ago. The Subarus don't really need them if you drive sanely, and I just am extra careful with the Fusion even though it's AWD too.

Although the Fusion is AWD, it's probably not as sensitive as the Subarus as far as replacing all four, but four tires are ordered. They will be here tomorrow, but they don't know when. It is deer hunting season and it all depends on whether the driver hunts or not. Man!

I was going to put Continentals back on, but decided to go with Michelin this time.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

Isn't the Encore really built on the same platform as the Cruze.
btw....I liked that material on the dash of the Cruze and the seats were done in a nice way too.

They both are German heritage. The Cruze Gen 1 was Delta II and the Gen II is D2XX platform. Both have Opel models using the same or variation of the adaptable base platform.

Let's be clear, there were 2 '16 Cruze models: the Limited and the new Gen II version.

I have sat in the Gen II several times but have never driven one. The interior feels much better than even the '15 Cruze my son owns now. The 15 Cruze with the higher option wheels (LT2) and Conticontact Pro tires have a nice ride that's not as taunt as my Malibu. I wouldn't hesitate to take the Cruze Gen 1 to Pigeon Forge. It's a great car to drive.

The 17 hatchback models seem to fly out of the dealer lots. One dealer had 2 and they both were gone; my second store has never had one that was on the ground when I checked their stock online. I suspect they sold any they had in advance or as soon as they landed.

imidazol97

@stever

Probably before your time? This is like seeing clips of the Dinah Shore Show with her singing "See the
USA in Your Chevrolet."

Apparently a home copy of 16 mm film: Linda November
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oizl5KF0e2E

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

My review. Solid, nice suspension, pretty good handling for the price, but uncomfortable, minimal, basic. If you want a solid inexpensive car it fills the bill, if you want a bit of luxury and comfort, look elsewhere.

Which Gen Cruze did you have?

I had the 2nd one pictured, a 2016 model. That was one of the rental cars I had when the Fusion stalled out suddenly, then after I had the Chrysler 300 that had the steering that wanted to veer to the right for no reason...about every 5 miles The Fusion had about 12k miles on it, the Chryco about 6000. I have never had that kind of problem in any of my German cars.

That garbage can btw....it doesn't look like the trunk lid will actually close. And how often do you carry around a garbage can?

You never had rental car problems with your German cars because you didn't drive them like rentals. The stuff people pull with rentals is criminal. A friend moonlights as a transporter for Hertz and he says that in their main storage lot the back fence is lined with wrecks that people abused to the point of no returned. There was even one that needed extensive repairs because one customer topped the tank with water instead of gas so he could avoid the extra charge.

PF_Flyer

driver100 said:

PF_Flyer said:

My sister held a family reunion on Saturday. Lots of car images came up. I don't recall ever seeing many red Corvairs

Your sister had great taste.......in colors! Cars....it's debatable! We had the same Corvair in white, we really liked it, my father never believed Nader's findings.

Pic is from my confirmation, my cousin was my sponsor, and it was his Corvair. He told me that another cousin bought the car from him, cut it up and made it into a dune buggy

PF_Flyer

Here's another image from Memory Lane. The slide projector wasn't functioning, but I ran across this slide from spring of 1946. That's my Dad on his honeymoon. He borrowed a friend's car for the trip and it broke down, so Dad took apart the engine to make the repair. Such a romantic

stever

I wrecked a rental car one time. My fault - I parked it in my sister's driveway.

I don't want a C250 whatever (or a Volvo, BMW, MINI, Audi or Acura). If I can't get it worked on under warranty here without driving it (or towing it) to El Paso, I'd rather forgo it.

I could probably buy that Encore today for $36,400. MSRP plus the wonderful Desert Protection Package. Throw in 3.5% tax for an OTD number.

$35k MSRP doesn't sound bad. I can build a Soul for around $30k.

@imidazol97, I turned 64 this month so I remember the Buick catchphrase. The singer, nope. My dad had a '53 Buick Special up until around 1966 and my mom had a couple of Buick wagons back in that era.

qbrozen

stever said:

@suydam, this is the Encore in stock. Nice eh?

$35k AND only FWD. wow.

stever

Here's 58 crossovers and hatches from $25k to $45k. Feel free to suggest alternatives.

We've looked at VWs, Hondas, the Tucson, the Elantra GT, the Prii, the Focus (sort of), the CX-5, and the Volt. The Soul and the Encore are our first choices still.

suydam

stever said:

I wrecked a rental car one time. My fault - I parked it in my sister's driveway.

I don't want a C250 whatever (or a Volvo, BMW, MINI, Audi or Acura). If I can't get it worked on under warranty here without driving it (or towing it) to El Paso, I'd rather forgo it.

I could probably buy that Encore today for $36,400. MSRP plus the wonderful Desert Protection Package. Throw in 3.5% tax for an OTD number.

$35k MSRP doesn't sound bad. I can build a Soul for around $30k.

@imidazol97, I turned 64 this month so I remember the Buick catchphrase. The singer, nope. My dad had a '53 Buick Special up until around 1966 and my mom had a couple of Buick wagons back in that era.

It is nice. That seems like a pretty steep price however. I can get the Chevy Volt Premier or the Lexus CT200h for less -- in Southern California. I will say the Encore has more cargo flexibility than either of those vehicles. I love my Encore but I also love its relatively low price. I would expect a heft discount. I think my Encore was similarly marked up but they were quick to offer it for much less. Especially in Dec with less people shopping for cars (unless your name is breid ). It is a very sweet ride and I'm constantly surprised at its versatility. A lot in a small package.

stever

Forgot about shopping Lexus. No Lexus dealer here.

Remember it's me y'all are talking to. $35,000 is only $3,500 a year for me, $292 a month (probably less...). 15% off MSRP would put the selling price around $29,750.

One of the Chevy dealers in San Diego did call us the other day about a Volt Premier that just came in.

stickguy

Venture, if you had run flats or a "mobility kit" you would not have made it home. Just onto a rollback and dropped outside a (closed) tire store!

Mr_Shiftright

stever said:

Rethinking sedans...

I just got a 55 gallon plastic garbage can in the back of our friend's Cruze.

(yeah, it was full)

How convenient. You can drop both off at the dump at the same time.

Mr_Shiftright

jipster said:

On Blues Brothers, just watched a few days ago. Most of those cop cars looked as if they were stripped of engines and other parts. They sort of slid over one another as if they were empty beer cans...P.B.R perhaps. Great movie.

"it's got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks."

stickguy

A full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, its dark and we are wearing sunglasses.

Hit it!

jmonroe

driver100 said:

Had to look it up to find out what it was. You can order them today for $4.95 at amazon; Are these politically correct any more?

That price is waaay more than they used to be back in the politically incorrect days.

I think our country has gone waaay overboard with all this PC stuff in my opinion. The cost of those tablets is probably because they have to ship them in double wrapped plain brown packaging so as to avoid all the PC patrols running around out there with copious tears dripping from their eyes making our roads wet (that was to keep it car related).

jmonroe

jmonroe

venture said:

driver100 said:

venture said:

Broke a tire last night. I took my grandson to a friends house. I was never there before and it was dark. As I was pulling into the driveway I hit a curb and slit the sidewall on the right front tire. The low tire pressure light lit up immediately. I don't think I hurt the wheel, but that remains to be seen once the sun comes up.

I dropped him off thinking I might be able to make it home before it was totally flat, but that didn't work. After about a quarter mile I pulled into a church parking lot and put on the doughnut.

Now the fun begins. Low profile tires, as you all know, are expensive and not as available as other sizes in a semi-boondocky area. 235/40-19.

Which car were you using.......2014 Fusion, 2015 Crosstrek, 2015 Forester?

If it is the Forester you may need 4 of those rare hard to find tires.

It was the Fusion. I was researching new tires anyway even though they only have 25,000 miles on them. This just hurried me up a little. It's going to snow eventually. I used to put dedicated winter tires on our cars, but gave up that hassle a few years ago. The Subarus don't really need them if you drive sanely, and I just am extra careful with the Fusion even though it's AWD too.

Although the Fusion is AWD, it's probably not as sensitive as the Subarus as far as replacing all four, but four tires are ordered. They will be here tomorrow, but they don't know when. It is deer hunting season and it all depends on whether the driver hunts or not. Man!

I was going to put Continentals back on, but decided to go with Michelin this time.

That's a bummer having to replace 4 tires because one got damaged.

To stay on topic, I just picked up Mrs. j's Subie from Firestone about an hour ago. 4 new top of the line Bridgestone Serenity tires to start off the Winter. I should be able to climb a mountain with those beauties when the snow falls.

But damn, somehow I can't get all excited about that and I'm sure you know what I mean.

jmonroe

berri

A lot of new cars have pretty crappy oem tires, so replacing at 25K may not be all that premature sadly.

js06gv

@stever What's interesting about that Encore is when I pulled up the MSRP from the dealer website it was listed as $1,995 less, which would suggest $1,995 of mop and glow and other worthless add ons. Is that common at this dealer?

stever

Heh, last time I stopped in at that dealer the mop & glow was only $1,495.

I still wonder why I want to shop with them - if they rip you that badly buying, think of how bad you'll get creamed for an oil change. They call it the Desert Protection Package and it's kind of common. And yet you still get snake bit.

imidazol97

berri said:

A lot of new cars have pretty crappy oem tires, so replacing at 25K may not be all that premature sadly.

It's been my anecdotal opinion that the higher series of cars have better quality tires. The extra costs of the higher models allows for better tires to be put on since the company is not competing with other brands where folks compare the pricing for the cheapest models as a way of deciding they get the most for their money. The exception is the models that add on higher rim sizes and lower cross-sections.

That's been true on the Chevrolets: my Bu 2LT2 has Goodyear Eagle RSA2, while the cheaper models had smaller rims and what I believe are lesser quality tires. Same for the Gen 1 '15 Cruze wheels which are 17's instead of 16's on the base models.

driver100

js06gv said:

@stever What's interesting about that Encore is when I pulled up the MSRP from the dealer website it was listed as $1,995 less, which would suggest $1,995 of mop and glow and other worthless add ons. Is that common at this dealer?

I see them on Edmunds site from $25300 to low $30s. Reviews seem pretty good, if space and speed aren't important, not sure the garbage can would fit....better take it with for when you test the car out.. Lots of other similar small SUVs worth checking, including the Escape and RAV4. But, maybe you prefer something a little different....Mitsu Outlander?

explorerx4

@stever,
Found you a van, if you don't mind travelling to CT to pick it up.
http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/5895807498.html

houdini1

driver100 said:

Had to look it up to find out what it was. You can order them today for $4.95 at amazon; Are these politically correct any more?

Yep, that's it.

suydam

stever said:

Heh, last time I stopped in at that dealer the mop & glow was only $1,495.

I still wonder why I want to shop with them - if they rip you that badly buying, think of how bad you'll get creamed for an oil change. They call it the Desert Protection Package and it's kind of common. And yet you still get snake bit.

Two years free regular maintenance on Buicks. They can't screw that up!

suydam

And you'd be amazed what fits in that space. We've managed a 55" TV and a power washer, among other things. Definitely more lux than the Escape and RAV4. It's all in what's important to you.

houdini1

PF_Flyer said:

Here's another image from Memory Lane. The slide projector wasn't functioning, but I ran across this slide from spring of 1946. That's my Dad on his honeymoon. He borrowed a friend's car for the trip and it broke down, so Dad took apart the engine to make the repair. Such a romantic

Enjoyed that pic pff. People used to know how to actually do stuff.

stever

Another detail I wasn't aware of. Thanks @suydam.

We have a van. Or will have when it's out of the shop in about a month. Those Eurovans were kind of scary on the reliability front.

There is a Mitsu dealer here, but not much of a dealer network for our road trips.