Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

graphicguy

fintail....cool car. Congrats!

Michaell

sandman_6472 said:

Fin, great vehicle.
Mike, I drive 58 miles roundtrip 3 days a week and I hate it but no openings in the office where I live, maybe 5 miles or so. Am getting about 28 hours/week in those three days so I am happy. Don't want full time and working those 28 and my pension is what I was making when I was a full time letter carrier so am pleased. Once I'm out, I want to stay all day because of the distance and the expenses to get there.
Figuring on working till the end of 2018 at this point and then re-retire as I'm sure by then, my body will be more than ready. Speaking of work...the expressway is calling my name! Later.

The Sandman

Sandy, thanks for the feedback.

It's been 8 years since I've had a regular commute, so regardless of its length, it's something I'll have to get used to again. I met a friend for breakfast last week on the other side of Denver, so I did most of the drive that day, although it was around 9:30 in the morning, not during rush hour.

I'll have to look closer at the toll route - while longer, there is certainly less traffic and the speed limit is 75.

cdnpinhead

Beautiful MB diesel -- enjoy! I very much like diesels, so it's good to see that they aren't entirely dead, despite VW's best efforts.

sda

Awesome MB, fintail! I look forward to reading your impressions of it. Enjoy!

sda

Michaell said:

I'm still planning on a punch later this year ... I think.

Things are progressing on the job front .. starting to talk to some HR folks, and have had a couple of calls with The choice du jour is the Scion iA. Lots to be found around $15K, and it comes pretty well loaded. And, 40+ MPG on the highway. Thinking I might go with a stick this time; everything I've read about the transmission tells me it's a good one, as you'd expect from Mazda.

Good luck with your job search. I know it can be a challenge. My search continues as well.

I have seen a fair number of late model VW Jettas with good equipment, 1.8t, some CPO listed for around $12K to purchase. That would put it in the $200 range. They drive nicely, get good mpg and have good power. Perhaps that might work for you and you wouldn't have to worry about going over the mileage limit.

ab348

Congrats, @fintail - I guess you weren't quite ready to leap into the new E-class and pay that upcharge they are hoping to get for a 6-cylinder. Understandable.

Are you planning to change your Edmunds handle to DoktorDiesel?

stever

@fintail has been down this road - this will be his second diesel that I know of.

(Congrats Fin!)

Michaell

sda said:

Michaell said:

I'm still planning on a punch later this year ... I think.

Things are progressing on the job front .. starting to talk to some HR folks, and have had a couple of calls with The choice du jour is the Scion iA. Lots to be found around $15K, and it comes pretty well loaded. And, 40+ MPG on the highway. Thinking I might go with a stick this time; everything I've read about the transmission tells me it's a good one, as you'd expect from Mazda.

Good luck with your job search. I know it can be a challenge. My search continues as well.

I have seen a fair number of late model VW Jettas with good equipment, 1.8t, some CPO listed for around $12K to purchase. That would put it in the $200 range. They drive nicely, get good mpg and have good power. Perhaps that might work for you and you wouldn't have to worry about going over the mileage limit.

Thanks for the tip! I'm certainly not against going used, if the price and equipment are right.

fintail

Funny thing, the day after I take delivery, W212 is no longer on the MBUSA site, and the W213 has replaced it

The interior on the new model is exceptional (wonderful seats. real mini S-class experience), but I don't know if I have warmed up to the 4:3 scale C-class exterior styling. 4 cyl only at this point, no mention of a 6, although it is coming. No mention of diesel either, with the damage done by Dieselgate (C class diesel has apparently been postponed indefinitely, sales manager told me builds were canceled), we might never get a diesel variant either.

I'm still happy, pleasant short commute (I know not the best for diesels, but saves mileage for road trips_ this morning, I am enjoying the diesel noise and smooth performance. I was going to have to re-up or buy a car anyway, this might have worked out for the best.

fintail

120K for a Tesla or a Targa, decisions decisions.

nyccarguy said:

@fintail - I feel that way about a 911. Every time I see an awesome car in the 90 - 120K price range, I look at it and say: "this thing is awesome, but if I ever have the money for it i will not be detoured from the Porsche dealership."

stickguy

From my browsing, slightly used (like service loaner) Jetta SEs are really cheap.

tjc78

@fintail Congrats! Looks nice!

@stickguy I did that drive for two years... NEVER EVER AGAIN!!!!

nyccarguy

fintail said:

120K for a Tesla or a Targa, decisions decisions.

nyccarguy said:

@fintail - I feel that way about a 911. Every time I see an awesome car in the 90 - 120K price range, I look at it and say: "this thing is awesome, but if I ever have the money for it i will not be detoured from the Porsche dealership."

I saw a black Targa 4 GTS a few weeks ago. Oh wow is all I can say.

sda

nyccarguy---was this you?

laurasdada

nyccarguy said:

Is that an X-Type, with a Leaper, to the left of the Audi? Egads!

$120k, Targa in a heartbeat. Or, in the GT realm, MB S Class Coupe, CPO or slightly used. 2015s around here are in the $100k-115 range.

nyccarguy

@sda - ha! I do back into spots all the time, but not that far! My car also currently has a dented & scraped front right 1/4 panel & bumper from a parking lot incident with an econoline van.

stickguy

tjc78 said:

@stickguy I did that drive for two years... NEVER EVER AGAIN!!!!

Overall, it did not bother me as much as I expected, but there was a lot going on at that time. Helps that I avoided doing it in the summer too!

I would be happy to go back to the job, but if I had stayed on back then, or went back now, I would be selling and moving out of Jersey to Chester county someplace. Traffic and the roads I think have gotten even worse.

iluvmysephia1

Michaell - it sounds like you're making progress on the job search. Keep up the good work, and, as far as car choices for you, the Scion iA is loaded for $15,000, and I would choose the 6-speed for transmission choices. 

We're at 66,999 on our '11 Kia Soul base 5-speed on clear white. Actually content with this car and the 2015-16 Nissan Versa S 5-speed sedan idea is cooling off. Enjoying driving this tiger, Kia has done a fine job with it. I wish you the best on your job search, Michaell.

stever

fintail said:

I was going to have to re-up or buy a car anyway, this might have worked out for the best.

Wasn't this "pull-forward" seven months instead of the usual five month time period?

I'd say you are well qualified to carry your CCBA card.

corvette

Yeah, I was wondering how they handled the pull-forward, if it's more than what MB allows. 

Michaell, would it make sense to buy the Elantra at the end of the lease? It seems like "more car" than an iA. 

stickguy

can see them doing early lease pulls if they are sitting with a bunch of unsold 2016s that need to be moved. plus get some extra low mile CPOs in the pipeline, so a win win for them.

iluvmysephia1

Yeah, not really more car, in my view. And, with the iA's "gaping maw" up front and in all of your all's faces, Michaell would really stand out amongst the average Denver-ite.

fintail

Yep, it is normally 5 months (I think it was 3 months in the past), but like stickguy said, they were willing to bump that up a little to move some stock. I suspect there will be even better deals on 16s as the year moves on, with the 17s just now arriving, and being a completely different car. Of course, stocks will diminish too,

It'll be a longer period for this current one, and this might be the most likely one to be purchased at the end, depending on how it holds up and the state of things at the time.

stever said:

fintail said:

I was going to have to re-up or buy a car anyway, this might have worked out for the best.

Wasn't this "pull-forward" seven months instead of the usual five month time period?

I'd say you are well qualified to carry your CCBA card.

Michaell

corvette said:

Yeah, I was wondering how they handled the pull-forward, if it's more than what MB allows. 

Michaell, would it make sense to buy the Elantra at the end of the lease? It seems like "more car" than an iA. 

If by "more car" you mean larger, then yes.

The iA is actually better equipped - push button start and rear view camera are two standard features my E-GT doesn't have.

I think the buy out is around $11-12K, but it's only worth $8K wholesale last time I checked.

Trying not to get ahead of myself. I've got some other irons in the fire, one of which is a 100% work from home position.

stickguy

I can't decide at this point if I want to go back into an office or place of business of some kind, or just stay permanent WFH. Partly depends on how busy I am. If I do find a different job, seems like it would be easier to get involved if was there in person. Though at this point, I just want to keep getting paid without anyone bothering me, long enough to get to retirement time!

stickguy

I always thought the pull ahead was more like 3 months, max. My lease goes to November, so would not surprise me to be getting solicitations around labor day. Which only matters if I want to lease again at Hyundai. or can that be rolled into a purchase? I'm not even sure.

When I went looking at Audis with my son (for him) we asked if they would do one on a VW. The salesdude I think was newer, so really had no idea. if they do, and he decides to lease instead of buy, I could see a new A3 in his Christmas stocking (his lease is up mid February)

kyfdx

@stickguy I just want to keep getting paid without anyone bothering me, long enough to get to retirement time!

This ^^

nyccarguy

In the past week, I've gotten solicitations in the mail to "buy" my Pilot from 2 different Honda dealers & a BMW dealer. I'm going to pick it up from a fresh alignment in a few minutes.

berri

Those long city commutes, I think maybe the best way to live with them is to listen to the radio, stereo music or books on tapes. Something that makes the commute time your own personal downtime. I know, easier said than done with 18 wheelers running up your rear.

stickguy

I actually enjoyed the quiet time in the car. Just that the drive was about as high stress as you can get for the most part.

fintail

Regarding pull ahead, I know for MB traditionally, it was also 3 months. I think there's some unsold stock sitting around at this time of the year, that likely combined with leftover W212s might have made them go to 5. But pull forward doesn't work on all models - I was told it doesn't apply to the new W213.

berri

Well Stick, I'm thinking the Surekill can make most anyone a bit tense!

stickguy

the bottom part especially. though many days, that was actually not the worst part of the drive (even if it was the slowest).

berri

Fin, maybe the current tarnish on diesels played into as well. But the market always seems to overreact to stuff, so you probably made a smart move.

fintail

I suspect that's right, Dieselgate didn't help. Better deal for me, I won't complain.

I checked Autotrader this morning, which most dealers use, and compared the stock of remaining 16 E250s. Mine is optioned higher than any of them, literally the highest optioned car listed. It'll be tough sorting through used ones as there are so many listing errors, but it's definitely still up there, quite rare. There is a fairly high optioned luxury trim car listed that might be rarer. I enjoyed my relatively short commute today.

stickguy

so, this popped up at my local guy. I am oddly attracted to it, even with the base motor. But not black over black. not doing that. Price not horrible I guess.

http://www.royaleasing.com/detail-2013-cadillac-ats-4dr_sedan_2_5l_rwd-used-15179116.html

Or for the more adventurous, this is incoming:

http://www.royaleasing.com/detail-2007-jaguar-xj-4dr_sedan_xj8-used-15179101.html

breld

@fintail - congrats on the punch! I really like the sound and feel of the diesel in the X5. That is indeed what I drove out to Omaha, and it made for a real nice drive over the 7-8 hours. Nice range of over 500 miles was nice.

sb55

@fintail
Congratulations on the E250. I was looking for a CPO E350 4-matic for about 2 months. Crazy as it sounds, after having so many cars with black interiors, one criteria for us as anything but black interior, but with black carpets. Rare in a MB. We live on a dirt road and have a gravel drive, so the floor sees some "stuff". When my local dealer had one worth looking at, we test drove it back to back with a BMW 525 x-drive. My wife and I both liked the BMW better, so the search was on for a 5 series. We bought a CPO 535d last month. Pretty loaded with "cinnamon brown" leather and black carpets. Oh, and white exterior. Back in the 80's we had a MB 300cd. I am expecting the diesel experience to be better this time around. So far it's been a great car.

kyfdx

The diesel thing seems to come and go, along with gas prices. When gas prices are high, diesel is popular, and when they aren't, not so much.

Back in 2011, I was offered an E-Class diesel for $450/mo. on a 24 month lease. Not bad for a $58K MSRP.

jpp75

nyccarguy said:

@jpp5862 - I was thinking of you today. I saw a black on beige Touregs parked at the beach. It's a nice SUV. Don't see them all that often.

You really don't, I think the last figures I saw show they move about 700 of them a month? I couldn't be happier with it though. I'm in DC for work this week and drove it up, quite the nice highway ride. I've just hit 6,500 miles and can't believe I only have 2 1/2 years left with it.

fintail

Thanks. I too prefer something other than a black interior - with the often grey weather here, it just gets kind of dreary, although the seats stay clean easier, almost impossible to see dye transfer from clothing. My prior car had a light grey interior with similar carpets - it brightened things up, but required some maintenance - I can't imagine how it would be with kids. My new car has a brown interior with black carpets too, uncommon color in a MB, and I like it, unique, blue on brown works. I'll post some proper pics of it this weekend when I have time for a quick photo shoot.

sb55 said:

@fintail
Congratulations on the E250. I was looking for a CPO E350 4-matic for about 2 months. Crazy as it sounds, after having so many cars with black interiors, one criteria for us as anything but black interior, but with black carpets. Rare in a MB. We live on a dirt road and have a gravel drive, so the floor sees some "stuff". When my local dealer had one worth looking at, we test drove it back to back with a BMW 525 x-drive. My wife and I both liked the BMW better, so the search was on for a 5 series. We bought a CPO 535d last month. Pretty loaded with "cinnamon brown" leather and black carpets. Oh, and white exterior. Back in the 80's we had a MB 300cd. I am expecting the diesel experience to be better this time around. So far it's been a great car.

fintail

The sound and feel is fun, I realized I missed it, and maybe enjoyed my X5 diesel rental in Europe more than I wanted to admit. The MB has a theoretical highway range of over 800 miles, pretty crazy. Even in the city it should hit 500.

breld said:

@fintail - congrats on the punch! I really like the sound and feel of the diesel in the X5. That is indeed what I drove out to Omaha, and it made for a real nice drive over the 7-8 hours. Nice range of over 500 miles was nice.

tjc78

berri said:

Well Stick, I'm thinking the Surekill can make most anyone a bit tense!

I was rear ended three times in two years on that road. Two of those times I wasn't even moving... It is the worst road in the Philly/South Jersey area hands down.

breld

I am drawn to this - yes, it's almost 10 years old, but not a bad thing to go back to the naturally aspirated 6 cyl and miles are good. 5-er wagon with the sports package is pretty rare. Lots of car for $15k.

530xi wagon

stickguy

Interesting car. Not sure what qualifies as sport package though. Don't like the interior. And seems pricey still..

So make it cheaper, put in gray leather, and make it a stick, and I can live with it.

nyccarguy

breld said:

I am drawn to this - yes, it's almost 10 years old, but not a bad thing to go back to the naturally aspirated 6 cyl and miles are good. 5-er wagon with the sports package is pretty rare. Lots of car for $15k.

530xi wagon

It doesn't appear to have the BMW "sport seats" of the E60 with adjustable thigh support. Those seats don't look like they are in the best of shape. What kind of crummy tires did they put on that car? 2007 seems to be part of the "lifetime fill" transmission fluid. I'm certain it has never been changed.

Mr_Shiftright

Huh...4 owners already?

nyccarguy

A customer of mine just pulled up in this 2016 Mustang EcoBoost Drop Top. Black with a Black Top. Red Sport Seats over Black interior. Surprisingly supple ride with the 20" rubber wrapped around those handsome wheels. Nice car.

stickguy

Nice car. Can't wait to test drive one. It is on the list!

breld

Mr_Shiftright said:

Huh...4 owners already?

Yeah, the 4 owners caught my eye too. From the carfax, it seems that may actually be overstated.

This is basically pretty much a clone to my 2007 530xi, except for the wagon body style. The sports package has nothing to do with suspension components - it includes the multi-contour seats, the sports steering wheel, black trim, and upgraded wheels.