Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

breld

Awesome, awesome!

stickguy

yup. Up the old car budget in a few months.

stickguy

just started getting Automobile magazine again. let it lapse, and finally got a deal offer good enough to re-up. so read the July issue today (got 2 for some reason, July and August, together),

anyway, they did a recap of their 4 season test on the wrx (a premium stick shift). Perked my ears up. Need to try one of those out too. Not sure how the wife will like it, so probably best to just leave her home.

next year at the car show, we are going to be there a long, long time to see everything. She is gonna love that.

Michaell

fintail said:

Congrats, sounds like a little extra money for cars

stickguy said:

yup. Up the old car budget in a few months.

Perhaps. Lots of variables that will take a few months to sort out. So, I'll hang on to the Elantra until the end of the lease, and go from there.

Speaking of which, an "end of lease" kit showed up. Has a card to measure dents and scratches, and explains my options.

Though the more I think about it, I'd really like a sporty stick shift next time - used GLI GTI or Civic Si are at the top of the list today.

breld

Yea! I see shopping trips in our future!

stickguy

too bad the screaming deal I passed on last year on the Si isn't likely to happen again. I would probably take that next time.

tifighter

Thumbs up @Michaell !

rayainsw

Congrats Michaell - good job.
[ Get that - double meaning ? ]
- Ray
I am very pleased for ya !

au1994

Michaell said:

So, a conclusion to the job search is in sight.

I received a phone call today from the recruiter, telling me all the approvals for my offer letter are in place.

Showed up in my inbox a couple hours later. I haven't yet e-signed it - I want to sleep on it, though I doubt very much it will change my mind.

Title - Manager, Education Operations

Salary - 105% of what I was making at IBM

Start date - July 18th

And, it looks like my contribution to the health / vision / dental benefit premiums will be about $135/mo less than what I was paying at IBM. Haven't done a compare of the two programs, though I had an EPO through IBM and a PPO through the new company.

Glad this is almost over, and excited to get started.

Congrats! That's a stressful process and it looks like it turned out well!

jpp75

Congrats @Michaell!

nyccarguy

I got passed by a Black Volvo V70 yesterday afternoon on my way home from work. He was traveling at a rapid rate of speed with Vehicle Manufacturer Plates from NJ. It said 3.0R on the back and I saw the Blue Badge. Was that a Polestar or an R-Design? Either way, it was awesome!

kyfdx

@michaell Congrats! Must be nice to have skills and be wanted!

ab348

nyccarguy said:

Yes! Way to go @Michaell

Seconded! Well done and a bit more cash in your pocket too. All worked out for the best.

cdnpinhead

Excellent news on the job front -- congrats!

stever

Congrats @Michaell!

henryn

stever said:

Congrats @Michaell!

+1

tifighter

nyccarguy said:

I got passed by a Black Volvo V70 yesterday afternoon on my way home from work. He was traveling at a rapid rate of speed with Vehicle Manufacturer Plates from NJ. It said 3.0R on the back and I saw the Blue Badge. Was that a Polestar or an R-Design? Either way, it was awesome!

I do see the occasional V60 Polestar out and about, and those get me a little excited, I can't lie.

A V70 would be the R-design. Don't know what's up with the 3.0R though; that's not corporate Volvospeak for a powertrain. Maybe he stole it from one of your Subaru buddies.

nyccarguy

@breld - I have a customer with a 2010 Jetta TDI Cup Edition. DSG. 95K miles. He bought the car new.

What do you think his buyout will be?

Mr_Shiftright

tifighter said:

nyccarguy said:

I got passed by a Black Volvo V70 yesterday afternoon on my way home from work. He was traveling at a rapid rate of speed with Vehicle Manufacturer Plates from NJ. It said 3.0R on the back and I saw the Blue Badge. Was that a Polestar or an R-Design? Either way, it was awesome!

I do see the occasional V60 Polestar out and about, and those get me a little excited, I can't lie.

A V70 would be the R-design. Don't know what's up with the 3.0R though; that's not corporate Volvospeak for a powertrain. Maybe he stole it from one of your Subaru buddies.

Polestar is pricey isn't it? Like $62K?

andres3

sandman_6472 said:

Yes, stopped by the indie shop right near my house and was impressed with the store. Bet it would be more expensive at the dealer also. Since I do like 90% highway, might be nice to get it a bit more stable. Tire/wheel package is what the engineers came up with so not gonna mess with that so the rear sway bar is the next thing to try. Think it'll just add to my driving enjoyment to be honest!

The Sandman

I do find the tire/wheel package selected by the manufacturer's engineers to be a good way to tell how "serious" a performance car they intend the vehicle to be.

A Mazda 3 with skinny 205's... blah. A VW Golf with 225/45/17's, oh yeah!

the Volvo's have pretty skinny wheels and tires even on their performance models.

tifighter

Mr_Shiftright said:

Polestar is pricey isn't it? Like $62K?

Yeah, spendy. It is weird because the dealers say forget it, they are all sold out, and then Volvo lists rebates on them. Must be a regional thing; they don't seem to stick around here. I'd like to drive one.

breld

nyccarguy said:

@breld - I have a customer with a 2010 Jetta TDI Cup Edition. DSG. 95K miles. He bought the car new.

What do you think his buyout will be?

That's a nice and rare model - sort of a shame to have to sell it back!

Buyback is $15,947 - add $540 for sunroof, $570 for navigation. Subtract $360 or $630 for mileage ($360 for 80,001-85,000 adjusted mileage and $630 for 85,001-90,000 - it'll be right between those two).

IF they come up with a fix and he wants that, he'd get the fix and $5,147, subject to the same adjustments above.

Michaell

And I just found this, locally in Denver:

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/672936185/overview/

Could there be a profit here?

stickguy

Forget the buyback I would like that for myself!

xwesx

Congrats, @Michaell ! What is this new mystery company, anyway? "Education Operations" piqued my interest.

Michaell

xwesx said:

Congrats, @Michaell ! What is this new mystery company, anyway? "Education Operations" piqued my interest.

It's a software company. I'll be managing all the back office operations - driving revenue, tightening processes, making things consistent. Lots of work, but I'm ready for the challenge.

Michaell

stickguy said:

Forget the buyback I would like that for myself!

According to @breld, the buyback value is just over $16k.

breld

Revised - I "sharpened" my spreadsheet. So it's still about $15.5k on that Jetta.

breld

After I showed EchoPark the comps and online values on that 2014 Sportwagen? Price was reduced by $1k last night. I'm shocked they haven't called yet, but I think the salesperson has Thursdays off.

Won't deny I'll have a little satisfaction in telling them I moved on to a better deal.

breld

Forgetting the TDIs for a moment, this seems like a nice deal @Michaell.

CPO GLI

Wait - it may not be CPO. Still intriguing though.

Michaell

breld said:

Forgetting the TDIs for a moment, this seems like a nice deal @Michaell.

CPO GLI

Wait - it may not be CPO. Still intriguing though.

I saw that. Been looking closely at the GLI inventory. Actually stopped by a Chrysler dealer that supposedly had a red one. Nope - looks like it had been sold.

There are a few black ones around town. Were they available in white?

stickguy

Black, white, red and gray that I know of.

breld

Yup - white was definitely available. I think it is/was basically black, red, white and gray.

I've test driven a couple of them - for always living in the shadow of the GTI, I really like the GLIs. I think it's a sharp looking sedan that's a blast to drive. Some of the things they decontented out of the Jetta initially came back in with the GLI, like improved interior materials and the independent suspension (I think I have that right).

andres3

Mr_Shiftright said:

cdnpinhead said:

Yeah, but much less fun. I enjoy driving more than I do owning or looking at the car, but that's just me. I find non-Interstate roads when I have the time and take much pleasure in seeing part of the country I haven't before (though that's become difficult) at my own pace while avoiding the traffic.

I find that the people who collect cars or treat them as art objects look at things entirely differently than I do.

Yeah I get it but there are parts of the country that aren't much fun to drive through-----well, I guess it depends on how you do it and what you run into. Every place is, I suppose, interesting to the curious mind. But I still recall how the plains of Nebraska seemed as endless as the Russian steppes on the road to Stalingrad.

Might be way more fun in a very old car taking two lanes roads and a whole lotta time to do it.

Or in a Bugatti with cruise control set at 200 MPH.

andres3

breld said:

If you have a loan on an eligible VW, as part of the buyback program, VW will pay off your loan even if you're upside down, up to 130% of the entitled value of the car.

Is that crazy or what?

That is nuts; seems to go in-line with the bigger failure you are, the bigger bailout you deserve moral hazard that some in the US seem to like.

au1994

Big fan of the GLI too. Sharp looking sedan that's fun to toss around. Easy on the wallet. What's not to like?

houdini1

Michaell said:

xwesx said:

Congrats, @Michaell ! What is this new mystery company, anyway? "Education Operations" piqued my interest.

It's a software company. I'll be managing all the back office operations - driving revenue, tightening processes, making things consistent. Lots of work, but I'm ready for the challenge.

Congrats Michael. Now hurry and get to work so the gov. doesn't run out of money for my SS.

corvette

stickguy said:

Black, white, red and gray that I know of.

I think they also offered silver.

xwesx

Michaell said:

xwesx said:

Congrats, @Michaell ! What is this new mystery company, anyway? "Education Operations" piqued my interest.

It's a software company. I'll be managing all the back office operations - driving revenue, tightening processes, making things consistent. Lots of work, but I'm ready for the challenge.

Yep, that sounds like a fun challenge, indeed! It should make for a steep learning curve that will have you diving in head-first. Perhaps more impressive is that you will be doing this from Colorado; I can definitely see why you will need to spend time in CA periodically.

ab348

I dunno if this article was posted here previously about some of the specifics of the VW settlement, but I found it very interesting:

http://jalopnik.com/heres-what-will-happen-to-the-thousands-of-diesels-volk-1782815084

stevedebi

Michaell said:

So, a conclusion to the job search is in sight.

I received a phone call today from the recruiter, telling me all the approvals for my offer letter are in place.

Showed up in my inbox a couple hours later. I haven't yet e-signed it - I want to sleep on it, though I doubt very much it will change my mind.

Title - Manager, Education Operations

Salary - 105% of what I was making at IBM

Start date - July 18th

And, it looks like my contribution to the health / vision / dental benefit premiums will be about $135/mo less than what I was paying at IBM. Haven't done a compare of the two programs, though I had an EPO through IBM and a PPO through the new company.

Glad this is almost over, and excited to get started.

Congrats! I've just started my job search. Got laid off when the contract ended. Not too unhappy, I was working the same project for 26 years!

nyccarguy

Hey @stevedebi - good luck on your job search. Do you still have your Passat TDI? Are you going to take the buyback?

stevedebi

nyccarguy said:

Hey @stevedebi - good luck on your job search. Do you still have your Passat TDI? Are you going to take the buyback?

We are discussing it, for several reasons. For one thing, we could get out from under the loan and lease something cheaper for my wife. For another, we are upset at VW for lying to us. The other thing is that we don't want a dog of a diesel - the fix results are unknown.

My wife loves the car she has, but we are seriously thinking of selling it back. It is being bought through VW credit.

houdini1

ab348 said:

I dunno if this article was posted here previously about some of the specifics of the VW settlement, but I found it very interesting:

http://jalopnik.com/heres-what-will-happen-to-the-thousands-of-diesels-volk-1782815084

It would be a real shame to see them scrap all these cars. For goodness sake, just send them to Cuba. I'm sure they would pollute less than what they are driving there. Good upgrade. If I was Castro, I would be on the phone.

Mr_Shiftright

I don't think VW would want that kind of PR---shipping dirty cars to poor countries.

kyfdx

What is it about seeing a car for sale in your neighborhood with a For Sale sign? Now, I'm looking at an '08 GTI. Sheesh...

Michaell

So this is what I'm renting in CA this weekend.

Kia Rio with only 2500 miles on it. Oddly equipped - power windows and mirrors, USB port and satellite radio, but no cruise control.

And, I couldn't get my phone to pair via Bluetooth.

By the time I got to my moms house - 60 miles but 1 hour 45 minutes (have I mentioned that I don't miss, and absolutely abhor, LA traffic?) - my right leg was killing me. I moved the seat up and back to try and find a better angle, but no luck.

Not looking forward to the drive back on Monday.

That's my sons Accent parked in the driveway with it.

Took my moms '03 Sonata to lunch. Only has 35,xxx miles on it.

henryn

Michaell said:

So this is what I'm renting in CA this weekend.

Kia Rio with only 2500 miles on it. Oddly equipped - power windows and mirrors, USB port and satellite radio, but no cruise control.

And, I couldn't get my phone to pair via Bluetooth.

By the time I got to my moms house - 60 miles but 1 hour 45 minutes (have I mentioned that I don't miss, and absolutely abhor, LA traffic?) - my right leg was killing me. I moved the seat up and back to try and find a better angle, but no luck.

Not looking forward to the drive back on Monday.

That's my sons Accent parked in the driveway with it.

Took my moms '03 Sonata to lunch. Only has 35,xxx miles on it.

I have had that problem before. The right leg, and sometimes the hip, really hurts. Usually caused by a large, high center console, forcing my right leg into an upright position. But sometimes the seat just doesn't fit, no matter what I do my leg is uncomfortable. Sounds like a big part of your problem was traffic, on and off the throttle and brakes? Imagine doing that, day in and day out, with a standard transmission and a clutch.

If and when I retire, and move back to the country with no traffic jams, ever, then I just might consider owning another standard transmission. That is, if anyone still makes such a beast by then.

houdini1

Mr_Shiftright said:

I don't think VW would want that kind of PR---shipping dirty cars to poor countries.

You may be right from a "politically correct" standpoint, but I wouldn't describe these relatively clean diesels as "dirty cars". After all, the U.S. is allowing many of them to be driven here. Do you really think that these diesels would pollute more than the thousands of 50 and 60 year old cars that they drive now?

If handled correctly I think VW could get some good PR by doing this.

nelsonf

I was wondering about that. I mean they're not puffing out black smoke or anything. I wonder if they meet any pollution standards, even standards from a few years ago, or are they really that bad?