Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

Mr_Shiftright

Solsticii I think, or Solstici in Italian.

fintail

I always found it interesting that the Saturn (the gentle, kind brand) received the more angular aggressive styling (to my eyes) while the "sporty" Pontiac received the more gentle (to my eyes) styling.

greg128

My son's former girlfriend at one time had a Solstice and I drove it home from my job after my son borrowed my truck. At the time I had a Crossfire SRT-6 so naturally I compared the two. The Solstice had the 2.4L 4 which I found a bit buzzy and not particularly responsive. Of course the SRT had a silky supercharged 330HP AMG V-6. Both cars rode low to the ground and neither could be considered to have a smooth ride.

I would think the 2.0 Turbo would be much more responsive and refined. My wife has a new Malibu with the
newer version of this motor and I am truly amazed at the low end torque and how smooth it is both at idle and under load. I think peak torque is made at 1700-4000 RPM. My experience with 4 cyl cars in the past...VW's, Hondas and Domestics always included the noticeable vibration at idle which always turned me off. There is no buzz in this engine, or maybe with noise cancellation and sound deadening it is just masked well. Either way after getting 40.7 MPG on a 50 mile leg of a recent trip, and despite the recommendation of premium fuel, and although I would still prefer a V-6, This turbo 4 does not disappoint. Of course long term durability is another matter.

Yes I agree the Sky is a great looking car...much better looking than the Pontiac. The details were done well.

Sandman6472

Have the 1.8T engine in my '15 Golf and it's a great engine and since getting the recent recall done, the gas gauge goes down a bit slower than before, am quite pleased. Sometimes when taking off, I feel a slight turbo lag so I've been giving it a bit more gas now and have been chirping the tires each time it seems. My wife's Audi A3 has the same engine but don't feel this lag hardly but guessing her engine is tuned a bit differently. Hers calls for 93 octane while mine says 87, I know that she's been using 87 lately with no noticeable differences. Drove a Tiguan with the 2.0T engine the other day and felt zero turbo lag no matter how I accelerated and have been tossing around the idea of swapping my Golf for a Tiguan eventually. Plus, I prefer the higher seating position.

The Sandman

tjc78

So, I needed the wife's Enclave this morning to pick up a new grill at Wally World ($200 grill clearanced for $99). That left her to take the new Elantra to my Son's class. We met up later at the mall and tells me how much she likes it. I'm happy to say the least, as that was one of the reasons for getting it. She hated the Grand Marquis and basically wouldn't drive it.

Out and about shopping for Christmas, sales everywhere. We say every year we want to be done by Thanksgiving... um not gonna happen.

corvette

Rode in my neighbor's new F-150 XLT extended cab this morning. It's nice (and big), but I think I was spoiled by the air suspension in the Denali. I thought the ride was unsettled over bumpy pavement. Maybe a Ram with the rear coil suspension would ride better.

28firefighter

Had some wheel time in my wife's Escape. Man does that thing rattle. Sounds like the dash is going to fall apart with one good bump. Not promising for fit and finish on a car that is 18 months old. Also, I cannot stand the cap-less fuel filling system. 

Wife and I looked at a BMW X1 today - we loved it. If leases hold up as they are, it's the likely contender to replace the Escape. 

stickguy

I loved the X1 I drove a few months back at the BMW drive event. Perfect size and utility for me, and drove nice. plenty quick with the 2.0. Only issue, is that pesky detail of paying for it!

28firefighter

stickguy said:

I loved the X1 I drove a few months back at the BMW drive event. Perfect size and utility for me, and drove nice. plenty quick with the 2.0. Only issue, is that pesky detail of paying for it!

My buddy just leased a 2016 executive demo for his wife. Has every option except M sport package, MSRP around $45k and his lease was 0 down and $375/month after PA taxes.  That's pretty competitive IMHO. Only has 6500 miles on it. 

Michaell

28firefighter said:

stickguy said:

I loved the X1 I drove a few months back at the BMW drive event. Perfect size and utility for me, and drove nice. plenty quick with the 2.0. Only issue, is that pesky detail of paying for it!

My buddy just leased a 2016 executive demo for his wife. Has every option except M sport package, MSRP around $45k and his lease was 0 down and $375/month after PA taxes.  That's pretty competitive IMHO. Only has 6500 miles on it. 


Yep, I've been seeing a lot of BMW loaners get leased. Great discounts from sticker and very competitive lease payments.

stickguy

yeah, I would have signed up for that on a S&D lease. No question. especially on a lease, a few miles don't bother me. Not like it's actually my car!

Mr_Shiftright

28firefighter said:

Had some wheel time in my wife's Escape. Man does that thing rattle. Sounds like the dash is going to fall apart with one good bump. Not promising for fit and finish on a car that is 18 months old. Also, I cannot stand the cap-less fuel filling system. 

Wife and I looked at a BMW X1 today - we loved it. If leases hold up as they are, it's the likely contender to replace the Escape. 

What's your beef with the capless fueling exactly?

roadburner

28firefighter said:

Had some wheel time in my wife's Escape. Man does that thing rattle. Sounds like the dash is going to fall apart with one good bump. Not promising for fit and finish on a car that is 18 months old. Also, I cannot stand the cap-less fuel filling system. 

Wife and I looked at a BMW X1 today - we loved it. If leases hold up as they are, it's the likely contender to replace the Escape. 

We have an X1 for a few days(yours truly blew a tire on the i3 REAL good). I also love the X1. The loaner has every option but the M Sport Package- but it still has sport seats. Comfy ride, deceptively quick, and the H-K audio is outstanding.

stickguy

capless sounds good to me. Though I have no experience with it.

I also did not realize that BMW was leasing loaners like that. Good idea actually. Plus with a 4 year warranty, you are never paying on a lease out of it.

fintail

That's one thing that pleasantly surprised me about my 13K mile rental Chrysler 300 - no wayward rattles, no apparent visible fit and finish issues. There were some Beirut-quality surface streets in Atlanta that could set something off, but overall, build quality seemed fine.

roadburner

I also drove a 2014 M4 today; lots of fun, but I would still much rather have an M2. I wish BMW would ramp up production of the 2er. Our next open production slot has an ETA of 3rd quarter 2017.

28firefighter

The capless system seems to make it such that it won't stay in place and fuel continuously unless I hold pressure against the a nozzle.  If I let go, it shifts and stops fueling. Rather annoying. 

stickguy

WA lets you use one of those lock on gizmos. so you can take your hands off? I have never had one of those (that I know of) when I was forced to slum it, and pump my own.

28firefighter

stickguy said:

WA lets you use one of those lock on gizmos. so you can take your hands off? I have never had one of those (that I know of) when I was forced to slum it, and pump my own.

Yep. I had it back in PA, too. 

stickguy

well, I so infrequently have to pump my own gas, possible that some of the pumps do have the latch, but I just never realized it. Plus I wouldn't necessarily trust it (heck, I still don't get comfortable with the car on cruise control!)

I will look next time I am in a 3rd world state (NY, over Christmas).

xwesx

28firefighter said:

The capless system seems to make it such that it won't stay in place and fuel continuously unless I hold pressure against the a nozzle.  If I let go, it shifts and stops fueling. Rather annoying. 

My Fiesta had the capless system as well. It usually worked just fine, but sometimes it would not let the pump push fuel faster than a trickle without setting off the auto-stop. It took one time of that happening when it was -40 for me to have the car back at the Ford dealer demanding a fix. I felt it was literally putting my life at risk to try to fill the tank. I took close to twenty minutes for me to fill it that time, and I was about frozen (not joking!) by the time I finally decided there was enough in there (about nine gallons, if that gives you an idea of how slowly I had to pump it).

They ended up replacing the filler neck, and the car worked just fine for another year or more, then I started having some issues again the last winter I owned it. Honestly, I think that's one of the motivating factors for selling the car. I did mention the issue to the lady who bought it, and encouraged her to take it in while it was still under warranty. I'm not sure whether they would have covered it under the power train, but I would sure hope so given that the rest of the system doesn't work too well if you can't even put fuel in the darn thing.

toomanyfumes

I've had no problems with the capless fueling on both of my Fords.

graphicguy

roadburner said:

I also drove a 2014 M4 today; lots of fun, but I would still much rather have an M2. I wish BMW would ramp up production of the 2er. Our next open production slot has an ETA of 3rd quarter 2017.

BTW....Amazon Prime just released the new Grand Tour show. They GUSHED all over the M2.

Good to see all the guys back at it, and Amazon spared NO EXPENSE as the visuals are stunning (4K, too) on the show.

Will be worthwhile to watch it as they stream new episodes.

tjc78

Some cars just don't seem to fill well with the pump on full speed. Our Enclave more often than not we have to tell the attendant to pump at half speed otherwise it just clicks off constantly.

corvette

graphicguy said:

roadburner said:

I also drove a 2014 M4 today; lots of fun, but I would still much rather have an M2. I wish BMW would ramp up production of the 2er. Our next open production slot has an ETA of 3rd quarter 2017.

BTW....Amazon Prime just released the new Grand Tour show. They GUSHED all over the M2.

Good to see all the guys back at it, and Amazon spared NO EXPENSE as the visuals are stunning (4K, too) on the show.

Will be worthwhile to watch it as they stream new episodes.

I was about to say the same things about The Grand Tour. Clarkson loved the M2 more than the other M cars, even though it was slightly slower around their track.

I'm impressed with the show. Lots of subtle and not-so-subtle digs at the BBC and the Top Gear franchise. It does look like Amazon gave them a generous budget. The cinematography is still good, but doesn't seem quite as good as Top Gear. The music selection isn't as good, either. I'm not going to stop watching on account of that, though!

ab348

The Caddy XT5 I had as a loaner was capless. When I filled it up to return it I found I had to pull the filler nozzle back an inch or so to provide some air release space for the tank. That worked because the nozzle on the hose has a bit of a taper to it.

nyccarguy

That ///M2 is some car!

corvette

My Murano doesn't have the capless filler, but I've had the same type of issue at certain gas pumps. On my recent road trip, a pump kept cutting off. I got annoyed with it and hung the nozzle back up although I knew the tank wasn't completely full.

henryn

I have had two Ford F150's (2013 and now 2015) with the capless fuel filler. Nary a problem with either one. I rather like the no cap design. On my 2013, they provided an accessory / adapter thingy which would allow you to pour in gas from a gas can in case you were so thoughtless as to run out of gas. Not so on the 2015. Not sure what you would do if you were to run out of gas. I suppose AAA and other services now have such an adapter as a part of their standard arsenal.

stickguy

my Sonata seems to be touchy. Not sure if related to being hot, but sometimes it clicks off when I know it is not full, and that is confirmed by the gas gauge not going up all the way, or dropping off full quicker. Best as I can tell, it is not more than about one gallon, so I normally let it go (not much difference between 510 and 460 predicted DTE!). Around town, I get gas so infrequently it does not matter. I only say something about it if I am heading out on a long trip and want to get there without stopping to fill up.

my old Mystique was bad. That was super touchy, and would often click off almost immediately, and sometimes took a few tries of pulling the nozzle out and fiddling, plus having to do it manually to feather it in.

keep in mind I am in Jersey, so not doing this myself, and communicating with many of the attendants, is at times a challenge. Plus they are usually trying to do too many cars at once, just usually start the pump, latch it on, and run away!

fintail

My rental 300 was capless. No issues with it, but it does feel kind of weird.

28firefighter

I've had it into the dealer a couple times about it and the rattling. All was deemed "normal."  Suffice to say I will not be replacing this with another Escape when the lease is up. 

tjc78

I just tell them to "pump slow" and instead of latching the pump on, they wedge a small cap under the lever and fills it perfectly. It must be super common because any Wawa I go to does it the same way.

toomanyfumes

That's interesting, Henryn, that your 2015 F150 doesn't have the adapter funnel. Both of mine have them, I use them a lot because I dump the gas cans from the mower and snowblower every month or so - crappy reformulated gas doesn't last long. A co-worker has a new F150 and said he can't find a funnel-I figured there must be one, I guess I can tell him to stop looking.

stickguy

can't you just stick the spout from the gas can into the opening? Why is that different than using a hose?

28firefighter

Are any of you familiar with what the discount is that Audi offers for one-pay leases?  Asking for my father-in-law who is looking at a 17 A4 2.0T quattro Premium Plus. I know the MF is .00061 and residual is 58% for 36/10, but not sure what the one-pay shaves off the MF. 

stickguy

well, since the MF represents the interest payment, if you are paying the entire thing up front, isn't the MF effectively zero?

28firefighter

stickguy said:

well, since the MF represents the interest payment, if you are paying the entire thing up front, isn't the MF effectively zero?

I would expect that but that's not generally how it works. 

corvette

stickguy said:

well, since the MF represents the interest payment, if you are paying the entire thing up front, isn't the MF effectively zero?

IIRC, I think you have to pay interest on the entire value of the car for the term of the lease. A one pay would eliminate interest on the amount of the lease payments, but not the residual value, if that makes sense.

Michaell

28firefighter said:

Are any of you familiar with what the discount is that Audi offers for one-pay leases?  Asking for my father-in-law who is looking at a 17 A4 2.0T quattro Premium Plus. I know the MF is .00061 and residual is 58% for 36/10, but not sure what the one-pay shaves off the MF. 

The 36 month one pay discount is .00060, but Audi imposes a minimum MF of .00005, so that's what the MF would be.

The monthly lease payment is calculated using the reduced MF, then multiplied by the lease term to determine the one-pay amount.

stickguy

so that is ~0.12% (a tenth of a percent)? Close enough to no interest to me!

Michaell

stickguy said:

so that is ~0.12% (a tenth of a percent)? Close enough to no interest to me!

That is correct. Pretty close to free money. That is the MF used on my Jetta lease, BTW.

Lowest MF is .00001, or .024%.

stickguy

at that interest rate, no real incentive to pay it up front.

nyccarguy

Those of you who follow "cars & conversations" here on edmunds know that my sump pump burnt out sometime Tuesday night or Wednesday during the day and my basement was flooded. Clean up is still going on. Carpeting has been removed & industrial dehumifiers are sucking away a lot of moisture and money by way of my electric bill as we speak. We are fighting with the insurance company to cover damages & reconstruction. I took off from work on Sayurday to work on the organize & purge effort as well as meet with a basement company (Connecticut Basement Systems). My 7 year old had 8:00 AM hockey practice. I open the garage door & see my back left tire is pretty much flat (argh :@ . Ok, take the Pilot.

Hockey practice 8 - 9. Meet with the basement contractor at 10. Pump up the Legacy's tire & drive it back across town to a trusted Good Year shop by 11:30. Now I know it's not going to be ready for a while. Wife picks me up. She's got to go to a party with our daughter at 3:30 pm. My 10 year old has a hockey game at 5:25 (1/2 hour away and coach wants us there 45 minutes prior to game time, so you do the math). Wife took the Pilot, the Legacy is on the DL with a flat. Load up my 7 year old son, my 10 year old son, & his hockey bag into ye ole Prelude. We jump on 95. As I'm getting ready to row my way through the gears, with a setting sun directly in my face, I see a lot of brake lights. Crawling along for about 20 minutes, WAZE reroutes me off an exit, through a few turns & lights, and back on the highway right after the accident. Now we are running late. Blast on to the highway and go! We made it to the game on time.

At one point during the day, my wife expressed her displeasure for the Pilot's Bluetooth. I told her we could trade the Pilot in, get good money for it, and lease a much nicer, newer SUV with upgraded technology (better Bluetooth), a power liftgate, & most important, in blue.

She said for the amount she drives (mostly around town) that it doesn't make sense for her to get a new car, especially that I'm not thrilled with mine. Hmm! She's a keeper.

I heard an ad on the radio today offering a Ford C-Max Hybrid for a payment in the $1 something hundred per month including tax. I couldn't find anything on their website, but did see some Focus STs for $20K.

stickguy

I don't really miss the days of running all over to different activities like that. Did my time on that treadmill.

I float the idea of upgrading from the RDX when my car goes away, largely to access the equity in it. Wife so far is not that interested ("it is a good car"). Mostly I think she assumes I will somehow end up in the new, and she will get shafted. Of course, if I figured out how to get a blue MDX with Navi into her side of the garage, she would change her mind!

stickguy

I get to go shopping tomorrow! Not for me. Son is home this week (he took the whole week off) and since he needs a car by February, taking advantage of vacation time to do some power looking. Technically he considers himself still in the market, even though he has an allocation A3 "spoken for" because he has not bought it yet. so, will go look at a few other things.

not sure how much time, and may do more Tuesday, but plan to hit BMW (2 series), Volvo (S60), Infiniti (Q60 coupe), Acura (TLX V6 SH) and Audi (S3, probably a really bad idea on that one). Oh, and Jaguar to drive an XE!

I think that is everything. Short list, compared to mine! Maybe I can even get to drive a couple of them.

28firefighter

Thanks @michaell!

I agree about not paying upfront, but not my money. There is some tax benefit if you're trading in a car. 

Michaell

28firefighter said:

Thanks @michaell!

I agree about not paying upfront, but not my money. There is some tax benefit if you're trading in a car. 

As I understand it, there isn't risk associated with a pre-paid lease. If the lease terminates early (car is totaled, for example), you are refunded the payments that won't be necessary.

28firefighter

Michaell said:

Thanks @michaell!

I agree about not paying upfront, but not my money. There is some tax benefit if you're trading in a car. 

As I understand it, there isn't risk associated with a pre-paid lease. If the lease terminates early (car is totaled, for example), you are refunded the payments that won't be necessary.

Interesting. 

28firefighter

Seems like a safe alternative IF you can/want to front the cash as a tax advantage.