Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

sda

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

sda said:

driver100 said:

sda said:

Ok while those of you in the northeast are sipping hot chocolate and playing in the snow I had to mow the grass. Is that fair?

It is a nice house but it looks like you have speed bumps on your lawn. Is that so the mower doesn't go too fast and get airborne? .

The yard doesn't look as nice as I would like. We had a dry and hot summer and am trying to recover from that. The cars are clean, however!

Our lawn has more weeds than grass....so, I should not be criticizing......but then, when did that ever stop me. The good thing about the weeds is;

1) at least they look green from a distance, and

2) my neighbor who I haven't talked to for over 3 years keeps his law meticulous, so my weeds must make him go crazy

Especially if you have clover - it spreads quickly and takes over the healthy lawn quickly.  That's the way you get even with him driver!!!  

Lawn grass mixtures use to include clover because it's nitrogen fixing ability reduces the need for fertilizer. Now the elites would rather pollute the environment than wash the clover "grass stains" out of their kid's clothes. SDA's grass looks like a southern blend which isn't as carpet-like as bluegrass but takes the heat and drought better.

When I lived in SC we had a house built so I had have a lawn put in. For the included house price I had my choice of a lawn. I could choose either Centipede or Myers Zoysia grass. When I talked to the builder's landscaper he showed me Emerald Zoysia. It was like it's name implied, a very deep green color not the standard green color of grass. The catch was it cost about 5 cents more per square foot than the others I just mentioned.

Since I was already in pretty deep with the house I said, "what the hell, yeah, go for it". I didn't realize I was the talk of the neighborhood until one day about a year later when I bumped into a guy around the circle from me. He wanted to know what house I lived in and I described the house which was different from the standard colonials in that development. He stops me while I'm into my description and says, "oh, you're the guy with the nice green grass. Everybody knows that house". I said something like, "aren't all the lawns around here green"? He said, "not like yours they aren't, I bet that grass cost you a fortune". When I told him it was an extra 5 cents per square foot, his jaw dropped and he said, "my builder (his was different than mine) never offered that to me". I didn't know what he wanted me to say but he seemed very disappointed.

Like I said, famous and I didn't even know it. That was the best bang for an extra nickel I ever got.

Since @sda lives in SC maybe he has a show off neighbor that has Emerald Zoysia.

jmonroe

My inlaws who live in Simpsonville, near Greenville, SC had Zoysia in their yard. It was thick as a carpet. They have since moved to a townhouse community. I have the typical tall fescue in our yard. It is what the builder put down through out the neighborhood. It can be difficult to keep, and requires constant seeding and soil aeration to promote growth. Because of the intense sun there are areas of the yard that tends to burn out during the summer. It is a vicious cycle.

I hope everyone is doing well and has dug out of the snow. Brrrr

stickguy

Outside of a 529 arrangement, no different really than saving for general retirement for an older person, given the long term horizon. Pick a low fee investment place (vanguard type), and once you pick a fund set (and they have target date funds for this) the key is to just set up auto deductions every pay, and let it compound and accumulate. And don't look at the statements every month.

If you aren't in a tax advantage plan it's just more of your overall savings. And the more of that the better. 20 years out, your home equity is also a great source of college funding, depending on interest rates and tax code at the time. Heck, riecently, you can use a HELOC and finance it all at 3-4%, and write the interest off your taxes.

28firefighter

stickguy said:

Heck, riecently, you can use a HELOC and finance it all at 3-4%, and write the interest off your taxes.

I actually really like this idea, but for one wrench. The house we are in is decidedly a starter home - granted it has appreciated in value considerably (on the order of 35% in two years), I'm thinking when we want to get something bigger I'm going to have to use all of that equity just to get us in the door for a new home - I'm saving for that eventuality, too, but still frustrating that the COL in Seattle has gone up so quickly. In fact, I'm pretty sure we are priced out of our current top neighborhoods.

andres3

You know, the City wouldn't have to pay anything back if they hadn't stolen from drivers in the first place. Also, they knowingly and willfully violated the Constitution in implementing these scameras, there is no excuse for these programs to still existing in the last 5 years.

suydam

It's more important for you to save for retirement than for college. This sounds weird but often you'll get a better college financial package if there ISNT a college savings set up. Retirement savings can't be touched. I would talk to your financial advisor. It's good to set money aside if you can. But make your retirement your priority.

PF_Flyer

jmonroe said:

PF_Flyer said:

venture said:

stickguy said:

I love the sube dog commercials. They are the best. But as you can tell, I love labs!

I like the one where the dog picks his wife (I guess) up at the hair salon.

The farther I go along, the less I find myself paying attention to ANY ads, but that one is OK

Me too. I think I have myself fully programmed that when a commercial comes on I tune out. A few times Mrs. j has said, "what was that commercial trying to get across"? I usually say, "what commercial". She says, THE ONE THAT WAS JUST ON. YOU WERE WATCHING IT". My only defense is, "that doesn't me I was paying attention to it". I get one of those looks and she says, "probably like when I talk". That comment I don't reply to.

jmonroe

It's why I don't stress out about online ads. I've worked online almost exclusively since 1994, and I couldn't tell you what ads I went past on this page to post this. My biometric IGNORE feature is pretty effective

28firefighter

suydam said:

It's more important for you to save for retirement than for college. This sounds weird but often you'll get a better college financial package if there ISNT a college savings set up. Retirement savings can't be touched. I would talk to your financial advisor. It's good to set money aside if you can. But make your retirement your priority.

Yup - we have done that and are basically maxed out on retirement contributions across the board, both taxed and tax deferred. In fact, we may need to scale back to avoid IRS limits if our income increases further...

jmonroe

28firefighter said:

I could use a little advice here from those far brighter and wiser than I am. In case the last two weeks have not been eventful enough at home, I just received a huge promotion at work. I could use some saving advice.

We already have 6 months of expenses set aside in an emergency fund, already have purchased a house and have no other outstanding debts aside from my student loans which are relatively low interest and the cars. I'm maxing out my retirement contribution and have money set to go into a savings account each month on top of that.

It seems that one of the next logical steps now that Sam is here is to start saving for college. Washington no longer has their tuition program due to legislative changes, though will supposedly be announcing a 529 Plan in August. We don't have any state income tax so there is no real tax benefits to waiting and using that. Several folks have told me to look at a New York or California 529 and start contributing now, others have told me to invest in DRIP stocks (?). My goal is to be able to cover at least two years of room and board for him right off the bat. I'm expecting him to work and cover his fair share, which is why I'm not setting it at 4 years.

Any suggestions for savings vehicles to that end?

Congrats on your promotion.

As for saving for Sam's tuition, I don't have anything specific to say but you seem to be aware of the costs so going to a financial person that the family has had success with should be high on your list.

I don't know now what I paid for my 2 Sons at Penn State and I don't want to be reminded of it today but they still had college loans but not too bad IIRC. However, that was back when tuition was not what it is today or what it will be many days from now.

I don't want to scare you but when Son #1 had his first son, he was thinking like you and brought up the college thingy to his financial advisor. His advisor said something like, "unless you get fabulous raises from now until he graduates high school or become the CEO of your company, you will probably not have enough to cover all of his college tuition. The costs are going up so fast no one knows what will be needed in 18 years. Just save as much as you can while still living and enjoying his childhood along the way".

My Son now has 3 sons and he knows he can't cover all of that for all of them. Tuition loans for some of the costs are a certainty for them and he has accepted that.

Just save what you can and enjoy the ride. It goes by faster than the sports car you have always wanted.

Good luck.

jmonroe

qbrozen

stickguy said:

If you aren't in a tax advantage plan it's just more of your overall savings. And the more of that the better. 20 years out, your home equity is also a great source of college funding, depending on interest rates and tax code at the time. Heck, riecently, you can use a HELOC and finance it all at 3-4%, and write the interest off your taxes.

Don't you have to use home equity funds to improve the home in order for it to be tax deductible?

qbrozen

28firefighter said:

Yup - we have done that and are basically maxed out on retirement contributions across the board, both taxed and tax deferred. In fact, we may need to scale back to avoid IRS limits if our income increases further...

Good god, you make me feel guilty. I am awful at saving.

PF_Flyer

We went the home equity line route for helping with college costs. Saved as much as we could, used what we had and supplemented by drawing on the line of credit. Both girls through college, we didn't have to borrow much on the first one and she paid off her loans in 3 years. Second one went to a school where tuition was $45K/year. She graduated just under 3 years ago. We have our share paid down to under $4K and she's down to her last $15K on her loans. She owns her car, so she basically has a car payment that she's dealing with

laurasdada

Congrats on the promotion, 28ff.

Stick and Suydam expressed my thoughts, too (notably, low cost Vanguard Index or Target funds. 529 if you can find one that suits you. The ex and I are using the Fidelity MA 529 to pay for our two kids. I can't believe we've saved enough to fund college, buy homes, cars and likely retire OK. Especially since the ex often and loudly noted what a cheap b@st@rd I was!). It's a long way away, but be careful when using HEL or HELOC; something goes wrong there and the collateral is your home!

driver100

ab, commission fees for mutual funds are much higher in Canada than in the USA, for some reason.

The best way is just to buy an index fund...it will outperform most managed mutual funds at a fraction of the cost....the end results could be much more saved at the end.

28firefighter

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Much appreciated.

I know there is some concern about having too much in a college fund and it impacting financial aid awards. I think the reality is that unless something dramatically changes between now and 2035 when he is ready to go to college, odds are that our income is going to be the limiting factor in receiving need-based financial aid rather than a college fund. Hopefully he'll be able to get some merit based!

I'll let you know what our financial planner says!

stickguy

PF_Flyer said:

We went the home equity line route for helping with college costs. Saved as much as we could, used what we had and supplemented by drawing on the line of credit. Both girls through college, we didn't have to borrow much on the first one and she paid off her loans in 3 years. Second one went to a school where tuition was $45K/year. She graduated just under 3 years ago. We have our share paid down to under $4K and she's down to her last $15K on her loans. She owns her car, so she basically has a car payment that she's dealing with

That's largely what we are do. Saved along the way, and largely pay as we go, using the equity line for cash flow needs. 2 more payments then first priority is paying that down. She will have loans but not a huge amount. Her brother had similar amount (a little less probably) and paid them off in 2 years. Advantage to being an engineer I guess!

stickguy

State schools are wonderful for rich folk. If you are poor, college MSRP is irrelevant anyway. Heck, if you are low income enough, Princeton is free.

28firefighter

stickguy said:

State schools are wonderful for rich folk. If you are poor, college MSRP is irrelevant anyway. Heck, if you are low income enough, Princeton is free.

I remember you saying that before re: the Ivy schools - that the hardest part is getting in, not paying.

driver100

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

SDA, I like your house. That is the style I want next time.

I like it too but I'd live in a cardboard box if it was located out of the snow zone.

I thought you and @driver100 had a deal on this all worked out.

You get the couch but no breakfast or maid service. Did he renege on this already? :@

jmonroe

I am opening a B NO B just for you guys.

That's bed, $250 a night....and NO Breakfast, you can make your own and while your at it rassle up something for me.

I should have known. You are just trying to recoup, many times over, that 200 bucks you over paid for the C 250. And then you'll throw it in our face how you out snookered the car guys in here.

Well, it's not going to work. We heard that one before and I think @oldfarmer50 even fell for that before.

jmonroe

You overpaid by $300!

driver100

PF_Flyer said:

We went the home equity line route for helping with college costs. Saved as much as we could, used what we had and supplemented by drawing on the line of credit. Both girls through college, we didn't have to borrow much on the first one and she paid off her loans in 3 years. Second one went to a school where tuition was $45K/year. She graduated just under 3 years ago. We have our share paid down to under $4K and she's down to her last $15K on her loans. She owns her car, so she basically has a car payment that she's dealing with

You guys who pay off homes and pay for kid's educations are an admirable lot, I really give you a lot of credit. We did it too, but, it wasn't easy. Nice to see the kids paying off loans and living responsible lives too. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I have heard of and know of many people who are either still supporting their kids into their 30s, or whose children will never be totally self sufficient.

I really like hearing that people take responsibility for their lives, and plan for the future.

stickguy

both kids were told up front that bank of Old Folks only covered 4 years. If they want to screw around, anything beyond that is on them. Thankfully did not become an issue. Also that if they could get into a top school, we would make it work, but if they did not take the cheaper option, they would be getting some loans too.

If they decide to stay temporarily after graduation (but while working a real job) that is fine, but expect a rent bill! Our son was here for about a year working a transitional job, but moved out when he landed a career position (made easy decision based on the job being 4 hours away!).

Will likely be different with the baby. We will probably move to be by her when she lands a job (since we were planning to downsize anyway). That will be interesting logistically, but if we pull it off, we would have a new house by the time she starts, and would live with us at first anyway.

uplanderguy

I'm with suydam. My financial advisor, a retired college professor of all things, told us, too, that retirement savings shouldn't suffer for college planning. We've been lucky in that I've been able to max out my 401-K each year so far, and we've paid for one kid entirely through Miami Univ. (Ohio) and kid no. 2 is halfways through Miami U. and paid for.

Before our first kid was ready to go to college in 2012, our financial guy said, "If you have any big purchases, do it before the end of 2011 as that's when colleges will look at what you have in the bank". We bought a new Malibu and put a new deck on our house, but it didn't much matter, as we got no financial aid for that kid, anyway.

suydam

Worked a little different for us. Our kids could go tuition-free (or mostly so) at a number of colleges affiliated with ours. So we told them go to one of those for the BA or BS, and if you need a grad degree we will be willing to help out. Two of them did. Middle son decided to go into the Navy so he funded himself after that. All 3 are very responsible and self-sufficient, which is a blessing in these times.

graphicguy

uplanderguy said:

I'm with suydam. My financial advisor, a retired college professor of all things, told us, too, that retirement savings shouldn't suffer for college planning. We've been lucky in that I've been able to max out my 401-K each year so far, and we've paid for one kid entirely through Miami Univ. (Ohio) and kid no. 2 is halfways through Miami U. and paid for.

Before our first kid was ready to go to college in 2012, our financial guy said, "If you have any big purchases, do it before the end of 2011 as that's when colleges will look at what you have in the bank". We bought a new Malibu and put a new deck on our house, but it didn't much matter, as we got no financial aid for that kid, anyway.

Miami....my alma mater. Great school!

sda

graphicguy said:

uplanderguy said:

I'm with suydam. My financial advisor, a retired college professor of all things, told us, too, that retirement savings shouldn't suffer for college planning. We've been lucky in that I've been able to max out my 401-K each year so far, and we've paid for one kid entirely through Miami Univ. (Ohio) and kid no. 2 is halfways through Miami U. and paid for.

Before our first kid was ready to go to college in 2012, our financial guy said, "If you have any big purchases, do it before the end of 2011 as that's when colleges will look at what you have in the bank". We bought a new Malibu and put a new deck on our house, but it didn't much matter, as we got no financial aid for that kid, anyway.

Miami....my alma mater. Great school!

graphicguy said:

uplanderguy said:

I'm with suydam. My financial advisor, a retired college professor of all things, told us, too, that retirement savings shouldn't suffer for college planning. We've been lucky in that I've been able to max out my 401-K each year so far, and we've paid for one kid entirely through Miami Univ. (Ohio) and kid no. 2 is halfways through Miami U. and paid for.

Before our first kid was ready to go to college in 2012, our financial guy said, "If you have any big purchases, do it before the end of 2011 as that's when colleges will look at what you have in the bank". We bought a new Malibu and put a new deck on our house, but it didn't much matter, as we got no financial aid for that kid, anyway.

Miami....my alma mater. Great school!

I had the pleasure of visiting Miami, beautiful campus. The fraternity that I belong to was founded and has its headquarters there.

uplanderguy

It is a beautiful small college town, although the 'small' part sometimes frustrates our daughter.

To me, when you see a movie or TV show about a college town, it looks like Oxford (where Miami is located).

A friend and longtime coworker, now retired, graduated there in 1969. He talked about when the Lemon Pipers were students there--they had the #1 hit, "Green Tambourine", which is still heard on oldies radio.

uplanderguy

Another FWIW, your server Susan, just like a lot car salesmen, is probably not there anymore.

Actually, per Facebook, she is.

My one coworker always gave her grief about "what's it take to get a cup of coffee around here?" and she'd give it right back to him. When we'd get back only once or twice a year, we'd always ask for her and she'd give us a hug and could actually remember the orders the three of us typically got!

I haven't been there in at least a year, but the three of us still pitch in money and put it in a Christmas card and mail it to her there.

I do think generally, Bob Evans restaurants have slid in the past few years--the one nearest me has. I'd gladly take Cracker Barrel over them most of the time.

andres3

houdini1 said:

venture said:

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:

@cdnpinhead

Hey, pinhead, I really enjoyed your recap of your Subaru buying experience. It was obvious the dealership and your sales associate were honest/up-front with you throughout the entire process - a true rarity in the car business.

I noted that the F&I process was ill-equipped to handle you in a timely manner. I guess they only had one employee that handled F&I at the dealership, but that is not out of the ordinary. At least while you waited, you were able to accomplish quite a bit which made the time fly by more effortlessly.

There remains one process that invariably drives me nuts when I buy a new car (which means I've been driven to lunacy at least once a year for the past 10 or so years) - and that is F&I (Finance and Insurance). The process not only is quite time consuming, but there never seems to be a quick in-and-out of that office. I realize the deal has to be loaded into the F&I software by the sales manager and then the F&I employee has to continue data entry into her F&I system. In most dealerships, the sales data system is not compatible with the F&I data system. Additionally, when forms are printed, they still are required to use dot-matrix printers to make sure everything lines up properly.

If the car sales industry could come up with a more expedited system of getting car buyers in and out of that office in under 15-20 minutes, it sure would make the car buying process less taxing.

I've already extended my best wishes to you for complete enjoyment of your new Subaru, but I am going to repeat those wishes to make sure "it takes" if you know what I mean. Have fun, pinhead!!!

When I bought the Mustang the F&I didn't even mention extended warranties or even mop&glow. They came up with a lower financing rate than my credit union. A nice experience.

I always tell them, when I sit down at the F&I desk, that I don't want anything extra. Usually they thank me so they don't have to do their spiel. Occasionally they think I am trying to steal their kids food.

The thing that still bugs me is when they say you have to sign a paper stating that you didn't want the extras. Silly. As someone in here said once - that's like buying a quart of milk at a grocery store and having to sign a paper saying you don't want a turkey.

I believe that disclaimer started in the insurance industry. People would have some type of loss that could have been covered if they had purchased some type of rider, or extra coverage that was available. The person filing the claim would sue and say he/she did not know this coverage was available and no one explained it to them....thus the signed disclaimer.... and more paper work.

Sounds like a weak case though. I couldn't even get an insurance company to pony up for a claim that fell under coverage I had asked for, thought I was paying for, told I was getting, is offered no matter what under CA law, but somehow it didn't make it onto the paperwork and the declarations page, and the agent apparently made a computer entry error. I had it in writing with confirmation of receipt I had wanted the coverage in question, but they wouldn't budge.

houdini1

fintail said:

It's not just you. The Subaru ads definitely deserve a little mocking, as they so shamelessly pander to the snowflake and flamboyant outdoorsy set. And the funniest thing is that it works - funny because I assume that demographic is fairly cynical about advertising. It's definitely a lifestyle brand, at least in Seattle, Portland, Boulder, etc, where the brand must sell the most per capita (along with NH/VT and AK, I suppose). The cars have plenty of merit, but emotional stuff is the direction. These along with Prius are also the cars that seem most likely to be plastered with bumper stickers - probably a big choice among vegans and crossfit devotees who always have to tell everyone what is on their mind.

Also amusing in the impressions it can make. A co-worker of mine complained that she was cut-off by a Subaru, and said "isn't Subaru supposed to be about love"? Nope, I told her, it's a profit driven multinational corporation like all automakers. Subaru just knows the image that some buyers want to present to the world.

cdnpinhead said:

Is it just me, or is the current Kia TV commercial campaign (rhinos and whales and whatnot) a slap in the face of the Subaru kumbaya touchy-feely commercials? If so, I'm all for it. While I obviously love the Subaru vehicles, I detest their advertising. There is no mention of the positive features of the cars, only, well, snowflake stuff.

Must work.

I think Subaru is working on the premise that car buying is based more on emotion than logic. They could be right.

dino001

houdini1 said:

fintail said:

It's not just you. The Subaru ads definitely deserve a little mocking, as they so shamelessly pander to the snowflake and flamboyant outdoorsy set. And the funniest thing is that it works - funny because I assume that demographic is fairly cynical about advertising. It's definitely a lifestyle brand, at least in Seattle, Portland, Boulder, etc, where the brand must sell the most per capita (along with NH/VT and AK, I suppose). The cars have plenty of merit, but emotional stuff is the direction. These along with Prius are also the cars that seem most likely to be plastered with bumper stickers - probably a big choice among vegans and crossfit devotees who always have to tell everyone what is on their mind.

Also amusing in the impressions it can make. A co-worker of mine complained that she was cut-off by a Subaru, and said "isn't Subaru supposed to be about love"? Nope, I told her, it's a profit driven multinational corporation like all automakers. Subaru just knows the image that some buyers want to present to the world.

cdnpinhead said:

Is it just me, or is the current Kia TV commercial campaign (rhinos and whales and whatnot) a slap in the face of the Subaru kumbaya touchy-feely commercials? If so, I'm all for it. While I obviously love the Subaru vehicles, I detest their advertising. There is no mention of the positive features of the cars, only, well, snowflake stuff.

Must work.

I think Subaru is working on the premise that car buying is based more on emotion than logic. They could be right.

I don't know - their advertising is based on three pilars:

1. Safety (they lived)
2. Longevity (pass old Subaru to your kid, don't worry about the safety, see Item 1)
3. Practicality (dog approved)

You don't love it in the commercials because touchy-feely stuff. You love it because it saved your life, lasts long and is super practical, including accommodations for your dog. I think it's a great message. BTW, those claims are not based on some flaky stuff, they are actual data-supported, like essentially on-going IIHS recommendation for all models every year last 10 years, 95% of 10 years old Subarus are still on the road, etc.

houdini1

28firefighter said:

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Much appreciated.

I know there is some concern about having too much in a college fund and it impacting financial aid awards. I think the reality is that unless something dramatically changes between now and 2035 when he is ready to go to college, odds are that our income is going to be the limiting factor in receiving need-based financial aid rather than a college fund. Hopefully he'll be able to get some merit based!

I'll let you know what our financial planner says!

One other thing. Just make sure Sam sets good study habits and is able to score a big scholastic scholarship, then you can spend all that savings on a NEW CAR !!

explorerx4

@28firefighter,
Having a plan is good, but don't feel like you have to figure it all out now.
My wife and I just saved up bunch of money, that was our college plan.
Some day you will probably have to deal with this thing known as FAFSA.
It's the main way financial need is calculated for colleges.
One of the things it calculates is EFC(Expected Family Contribution).
The first time I got the results, the number was 4 times the amount it was going to cost for TR&B.
A small world thing is that my oldest is a grad of the school mentioned in some of the previous posts.
We are from CT and the school is in Ohio.
Anyone been to Bagel & Deli lately?

uplanderguy

I've been to Bagel and Deli once!

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

cdnpinhead said:

Is it just me, or is the current Kia TV commercial campaign (rhinos and whales and whatnot) a slap in the face of the Subaru kumbaya touchy-feely commercials? If so, I'm all for it. While I obviously love the Subaru vehicles, I detest their advertising. There is no mention of the positive features of the cars, only, well, snowflake stuff.

Must work.

I have read articles that say advertising really has little affect on swaying your car buying decision. If you want to buy a particular brand all the ads in the world probably won't convince you to change. The article said the ads mostly confirm to the buyers of a particular brand that they made the right choice...and confirms to them they made a wise decision and will buy the brand again.

I think the dogs differentiate Suburu from the other makes, more eco friendly, happy, healthy, image etc. Kia is trying to touch similar nerves in a different way.

What I wonder about is does Suburu's ads turn off people who don't love animals or dogs...and what about cat lovers...do they get turned off?

How many people have bought a car because of a TV ad? There are times when you may want a car with special features, you see the ad, and that causes you to investigate that brand....that happens, but it is rare.

Subie has been brilliant in making it's cars a lifestyle choice and maybe that's why I don't like them (the ads not the cars) It's a little too manipulative for me.

suydam

I don't know about manipulation. You gotta make the safe practical car first. The ads are just to get people to the dealership. If they don't like what they see they aren't buying. Case in point : the Chrysler 200, "imported from Detroit".

uplanderguy

I don't think I've liked a car ad since "See the USA...."

oldfarmer50

uplanderguy said:

The new site, well, s***s. When I go to the website, I don't see a place to log in now. I only got here right now by sending an email to edmunds.com and I was provided a link that got me where I needed to be.

Why is the need to fix something unbroken always so overwhelming?

I haven't been able to get into this site for years now unless I google edmunds C&C and come in through an old post.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

SDA, I like your house. That is the style I want next time.

I like it too but I'd live in a cardboard box if it was located out of the snow zone.

I thought you and @driver100 had a deal on this all worked out.

You get the couch but no breakfast or maid service. Did he renege on this already? :@

jmonroe

Once he told me I had to share the couch with one or more other Edmunds posters I nixed the deal. I'll just use him to buy and store some low milage Florida hoopties until I can get down there.

explorerx4

There are lots of Subaru's in CT. Some Nyccarguy even has one.
VW has a commercial here that for their lifted Jetta.
Kind of a parody of Subaru.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=vw+alltrack+2017+commercial&view=detail&mid=753F5C43FA1FA6B65CD4753F5C43FA1FA6B65CD4&FORM=VIRE

oldfarmer50

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

sda said:

driver100 said:

sda said:

Ok while those of you in the northeast are sipping hot chocolate and playing in the snow I had to mow the grass. Is that fair?

It is a nice house but it looks like you have speed bumps on your lawn. Is that so the mower doesn't go too fast and get airborne? .

The yard doesn't look as nice as I would like. We had a dry and hot summer and am trying to recover from that. The cars are clean, however!

Our lawn has more weeds than grass....so, I should not be criticizing......but then, when did that ever stop me. The good thing about the weeds is;

1) at least they look green from a distance, and

2) my neighbor who I haven't talked to for over 3 years keeps his law meticulous, so my weeds must make him go crazy

Especially if you have clover - it spreads quickly and takes over the healthy lawn quickly.  That's the way you get even with him driver!!!  

Lawn grass mixtures use to include clover because it's nitrogen fixing ability reduces the need for fertilizer. Now the elites would rather pollute the environment than wash the clover "grass stains" out of their kid's clothes. SDA's grass looks like a southern blend which isn't as carpet-like as bluegrass but takes the heat and drought better.

When I lived in SC we had a house built so I had have a lawn put in. For the included house price I had my choice of a lawn. I could choose either Centipede or Myers Zoysia grass. When I talked to the builder's landscaper he showed me Emerald Zoysia. It was like it's name implied, a very deep green color not the standard green color of grass. The catch was it cost about 5 cents more per square foot than the others I just mentioned.

Since I was already in pretty deep with the house I said, "what the hell, yeah, go for it". I didn't realize I was the talk of the neighborhood until one day about a year later when I bumped into a guy around the circle from me. He wanted to know what house I lived in and I described the house which was different from the standard colonials in that development. He stops me while I'm into my description and says, "oh, you're the guy with the nice green grass. Everybody knows that house". I said something like, "aren't all the lawns around here green"? He said, "not like yours they aren't, I bet that grass cost you a fortune". When I told him it was an extra 5 cents per square foot, his jaw dropped and he said, "my builder (his was different than mine) never offered that to me". I didn't know what he wanted me to say but he seemed very disappointed.

Like I said, famous and I didn't even know it. That was the best bang for an extra nickel I ever got.

Since @sda lives in SC maybe he has a show off neighbor that has Emerald Zoysia.

jmonroe

Zoysia is a tough southern grass that takes a lot of abuse. It's only drawback is it turns dead brown at the first frost. Up here in the north it looks great until October then it's terrible until almost June. It was marketed heavily in magazines years ago and you can still tell who got suckered into planting it in May when they have huge swaths of dead looking grass while everyone else has nice green lawns.

andres3

suydam said:

I don't know about manipulation. You gotta make the safe practical car first. The ads are just to get people to the dealership. If they don't like what they see they aren't buying. Case in point : the Chrysler 200, "imported from Detroit".

Never liked that slogan.

Imports weren't bought because they were imports. Detroit is supposed to be a good thing?

oldfarmer50

28firefighter said:

I could use a little advice here from those far brighter and wiser than I am. In case the last two weeks have not been eventful enough at home, I just received a huge promotion at work. I could use some saving advice.

We already have 6 months of expenses set aside in an emergency fund, already have purchased a house and have no other outstanding debts aside from my student loans which are relatively low interest and the cars. I'm maxing out my retirement contribution and have money set to go into a savings account each month on top of that.

It seems that one of the next logical steps now that Sam is here is to start saving for college. Washington no longer has their tuition program due to legislative changes, though will supposedly be announcing a 529 Plan in August. We don't have any state income tax so there is no real tax benefits to waiting and using that. Several folks have told me to look at a New York or California 529 and start contributing now, others have told me to invest in DRIP stocks (?). My goal is to be able to cover at least two years of room and board for him right off the bat. I'm expecting him to work and cover his fair share, which is why I'm not setting it at 4 years.

Any suggestions for savings vehicles to that end?

As a dumb as a box of rocks investor I feel very qualified to tell you what NOT to do from personal experience. The biggest mistake I made was investing retirement funds in individual stocks. There are experts who aren't any better than throwing darts at the financial page to pick stocks. Regular folks like us don't stand a chance.

Second, I reccommend avoiding a broker accociated with your bank. I did that and he always told me any stock I asked about was "a screaming buy" just before it dropped 25%. In fact almost all the stocks I picked did well while all the one they reccommended went down. After 7 years I just broke even especially after outragous broker fees that canceled out any gains. These people are basically salesmen who come and go like the seasons leaving you with a fee for switching to the next guy. At the very end I was told "your portfolio is just too small for us to care about". They make buy here pay here car salesmen sound compassionate.

I finally decided that stock picking wasn't for me so I went with a no commission, low fee mutual fund. I choose Vanguard because the fees were low.

I'd reccommend a broad market index fund like Vandguard's S&P500 Index or their Total Market Index. Index funds are generally good for novice investors. If you DRIP (reinvest your dividends) you almost can't help but make out in the long term.

What you have going for you is the time span available. In 18 years you can build an incredible nest egg for your son.

This is all just my opinion so do your own research. Good luck.

oldfarmer50

laurasdada said:

Congrats on the promotion, 28ff.

Stick and Suydam expressed my thoughts, too (notably, low cost Vanguard Index or Target funds. 529 if you can find one that suits you. The ex and I are using the Fidelity MA 529 to pay for our two kids. I can't believe we've saved enough to fund college, buy homes, cars and likely retire OK. Especially since the ex often and loudly noted what a cheap b@st@rd I was!). It's a long way away, but be careful when using HEL or HELOC; something goes wrong there and the collateral is your home!

I'm not expert in 529s because my wife managed to save a pile of cash for the kids by stealing $20 at a time from my meger paycheck. But I thought I read that if your kid doesn't end up going to college you lose a lot of the 529's benefits.

Anybody know anything about that?

driver100

dino001 said:

houdini1 said:

fintail said:

It's not just you. The Subaru ads definitely deserve a little mocking, as they so shamelessly pander to the snowflake and flamboyant outdoorsy set. And the funniest thing is that it works - funny because I assume that demographic is fairly cynical about advertising. It's definitely a lifestyle brand, at least in Seattle, Portland, Boulder, etc, where the brand must sell the most per capita (along with NH/VT and AK, I suppose). The cars have plenty of merit, but emotional stuff is the direction. These along with Prius are also the cars that seem most likely to be plastered with bumper stickers - probably a big choice among vegans and crossfit devotees who always have to tell everyone what is on their mind.

Also amusing in the impressions it can make. A co-worker of mine complained that she was cut-off by a Subaru, and said "isn't Subaru supposed to be about love"? Nope, I told her, it's a profit driven multinational corporation like all automakers. Subaru just knows the image that some buyers want to present to the world.

cdnpinhead said:

Is it just me, or is the current Kia TV commercial campaign (rhinos and whales and whatnot) a slap in the face of the Subaru kumbaya touchy-feely commercials? If so, I'm all for it. While I obviously love the Subaru vehicles, I detest their advertising. There is no mention of the positive features of the cars, only, well, snowflake stuff.

Must work.

I think Subaru is working on the premise that car buying is based more on emotion than logic. They could be right.

I don't know - their advertising is based on three pilars:

1. Safety (they lived)
2. Longevity (pass old Subaru to your kid, don't worry about the safety, see Item 1)
3. Practicality (dog approved)

You don't love it in the commercials because touchy-feely stuff. You love it because it saved your life, lasts long and is super practical, including accommodations for your dog. I think it's a great message. BTW, those claims are not based on some flaky stuff, they are actual data-supported, like essentially on-going IIHS recommendation for all models every year last 10 years, 95% of 10 years old Subarus are still on the road, etc.

One other thing....most car ads we don't even remember, but those Suburu commercials seem to have made an impression on a lot of people.....even here.

It is just getting models like Legacy's and Foresters mixed up that is the hard part. :@

oldfarmer50

suydam said:

I don't know about manipulation. You gotta make the safe practical car first. The ads are just to get people to the dealership. If they don't like what they see they aren't buying. Case in point : the Chrysler 200, "imported from Detroit".

Well there's manipulative and then there's just plain crazy.

But on the other hand, the latest 200 was really a Fiat so maybe there was some truth to it.

andres3

The last time I washed my TTS it was for a Cars and Coffee meet in San Diego. How'd I do?





You have to be a car buff when one of your favorite features is the power manually (or automatically) operated rear spoiler. In the picture it is in the "UP" position.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

There are lots of Subaru's in CT. Some Nyccarguy even has one.
VW has a commercial here that for their lifted Jetta.
Kind of a parody of Subaru.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=vw+alltrack+2017+commercial&view=detail&mid=753F5C43FA1FA6B65CD4753F5C43FA1FA6B65CD4&FORM=VIRE

The ad is only 30 seconds long and they did a good satire on the Suburu ads. Their are so many car ads that I think something different stands out.

The Buick ad where she buys a new baby cake for "Taylor" and then finds out she bought a girls cake when "Taylor" was a boy kind of makes me wonder how bright the young lady is. IMHO, I am not sure how the ad convinces you to buy a Buick....it almost has the opposite affect on me = doesn't everyone know Taylor could be a boy or a girl? . But, you do remember it.

imidazol97

uplanderguy said:

It is a beautiful small college town, although the 'small' part sometimes frustrates our daughter.

To me, when you see a movie or TV show about a college town, it looks like Oxford (where Miami is located).
.

After two years there, I think you have that backwards: it should be "Miami University (where Oxford is located)." LOL


When I was there, it was really apparent how small the town was. My car was hit from behind by a guy I had watched drinking a Budweiser from the can when I slowed to make a right turn at the deli on the corner of High and Tallawanda. He didn't bother stopping. When I got to the police station with the license number and description of the accident, the cop on duty knew him by name!!!

andres3

I like Green and Red cars. S3 is Viper Green, Convertible is Bottle Green (my fave).

driver100

Oldfarmer, I have read several articles that say for smaller investors, if you don't have the knowledge or expertise to buy stocks or choose mutual funds, just buy an index fund. The commission rate is low because there is no picking or choosing, so that makes a big difference in the final outcome, AND the market generally goes up over time. Most mutual funds that are managed won't do as well as the broad index.

What you ended up doing was perfect.

I spoke to an old school mate who became a stock broker in California....I said you must be doing really well. He said, Right, as we say, wealthy people trust me to invest their great amounts of money, and I get on a bus in the morning to get to work. Makes you think.

*I forget who wanted to share our couch with you....but, the deal is off, actually never got off the ground

explorerx4

@imidazol97,
Oxford(OxVegas as it is otherwise known) is probably the only place having a street named after Weeb Ewbank.
NY Jets fans will appreciate it.