Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

nyccarguy

28firefighter said:

The TDI is gone!

Mazel-Tov!

breld

Thanks everyone for all the tire recommendations - it is very helpful. Given the floor seems to be around $150/tire for decent ones, stretching to $200 may be worth it.

iluvmysephia1

Hey, tjc78, on that Next Plan with AT&T, is their cell tower service pretty comprehensive? They keep offering us cell phone coverage, they've put different ads our way for new phones, etc. I already use them for DirectTV and U-Verse for the net, so...let me ask you a couple questions. Is that $25 a month part of a 12-month or 24-month contract? What kind of phone do you get? Did you say a new one every year? Price of the phone being how much? Perhaps I should listen carefully to your answers!

I have a feeling it's the price of the phone that causes me to look away from it.

tjc78

From my experience here in NJ AT&T is great and I have coverage everwhere. I was a Verizon customer for years but for whatever reason at my workplace their service is non existent so I switched.

They aren't cheap. All in for two IPhone 7 plus, with full insurance on both with 6 GB data it's 190/month.

Contracts aren't really the thing anymore. The next plan is basically 0% financing on the phone and they allow you to trade in your phone at the one year mark for a new one. If you cancel they bill you for the balance of your phone. If you don't trade in after 20 or 24 months (can't remember) you own the phone.

qbrozen

tjc78 said:

From my experience here in NJ AT&T is great and I have coverage everwhere. I was a Verizon customer for years but for whatever reason at my workplace their service is non existent so I switched. They aren't cheap. All in for two IPhone 7 plus, with full insurance on both with 6 GB data it's 190/month. Contracts aren't really the thing anymore. The next plan is basically 0% financing on the phone and they allow you to trade in your phone at the one year mark for a new one. If you cancel they bill you for the balance of your phone. If you don't trade in after 20 or 24 months (can't remember) you own the phone.

Mine is a bit cheaper for whatever reason. I'm at $160/mo. Can't quite recall what my data plan is, though, but with rollover, I have way more than I need/use.

As for the next plan, you have different options. I believe one is 12/18, which means it is financed for 18 mos but you can trade after 12. Another is 18/24, and so on. I am on the 18/24 while my wife has the 24/30 (maybe that is why I am paying less), I believe. I was eligible to trade a few months ago but my 6+ is great, so I'm holding off till March so I can keep it as backup.

tjc78

They recently changed the next installment terms, I know I'm on the 12 months trade in. Also check your data plan options. Along with the next changes they recently changed data and I went from 5 to 6 with no change in my bill.

laurasdada

Hi, Folks: Went to the New England International Auto Show yesterday, good turnout of brands. Notably missing: BMW and Jaguar/LR. Favorite car: Lincoln MKZ because I found a quarter on the seat.

What you all really want to know, Genesis had the prettiest product specialists! Spoke to a black haired beauty with big dark brown eyes; a Cowboys fan from Florida. She hoped that I win the trip to Hawaii; my guess is I'm the only guy she said that to. Also, not much SWAG, by participating in the audience of a "Cash Cab" game, I won a Hyundai flashlight, mp3 player and headphones. The mp3 player appears to be used, a bit nicked up! But, for the price... And, I actually new most of the quiz answers; Pony, 1986, Hyundai steel, Blue Link, Santa Fe...

Car-wise, no revelations, but some random observations:

Genesis Sedans are quite nice, the G90 is big and imposing if a bit of a nondescript amalgam of styling themes. G80 sleek styling, in the idiom of the past few years (e.g. Fusion, Avalon). Hyundai had a really good presence at the show.

Mercedes S-Class: What an interior, I might sell my condo, buy an S and live in it. There were a couple of C convertibles, really nice. But the tacked on dash IPad is so inelegant. New SL isn't as pretty as it should be, MB improved the front, but still a bit chunky in the trunk area. A bunch of SUVs and odd looking hunchback things.

Lexus LC: I like! Better looking in person, the interior of the model perched high on the look, but don't touch, elevated stand was gorgeous. In the saddle leather and Alcantara. (Attractive) spokeslady noted V8 debuts in spring @ ~$93k, the hybrid in the summer ~$96k. And, she noted, Lexus is going one price for all model as surveys show that folks prefer root canals to car negotiation. Well, come New Year's Eve 2017, let's see about that no haggle price! RWD, AWD to be offered later, although she didn't seem positive on that point.

Stark Contrast Award goes to Acura, as they had a roped off NSX directly behind that rarest of the rare, a RLX. As an Acura fan ('88 Integra, '05 TL) I remain offended and dumbfounded that the folks in charge ever let the RLX leave the factory. NSX, with delivery $158k to start. Handsome styling, but not sure it's a thing of beauty like an Aston Martin DB11 or Jag F-Type (or XF ).

Loved the Mazda Miata RF, the poor man's Porsche Targa! But, man, it is a long way down and up to get in and out of the car for an old man like me! Once settled in, fits like a glove. I think they'll sell a bunch of RFs, no price listed. I even like the Fiata 124, looks good in person and a big more luxurious inside than the Miata.

Alfa Giulia and 4C roped off. A pretty, yet uninterested looking spokeslady manning a table with brochures. Do I want a 4C Spider? Giulia interior in all black, like most cars, does not look inviting. Contrast red stitching helps some. My XF has a black interior, but accented and highlighted with wood and aluminum. I like wood in an interior.

Caddy SUV (XT5) spokesdude talked about how they are now getting away from Arts and Science styling theme, going a bit softer. CT6 is a big car, yet doesn't look big. Low with lots of glass, well done. Nice interior, but they have to do something about the piano black trim and controls, just fingerprint heaven. REst of Caddy models didn't seem to be generating a lot of traffic. A shame.

Lincoln has improved the interior of the MKZ, but the markings on the aluminum-look buttons are illegible. Perhaps they light up, but sans power, a huge ergonomic mistake. The Continental had a good crowd around it, but overall the exterior doesn't look right to me; forward of the B pillar too boxy and generic. Better aft of the B pillar better, with nice hips/haunches. Didn't get a chance to sit in, but didn't look overly luxurious from outside.

Volvo S90: Great interior! Beautiful center stack screen (a al Tesla in size and orientation), leather and wood accents. Handsome car.

Kia: Yes, they had hamsters working the floor! Bouncing, strutting and dancing around, pretty funny.

As time really flies at the auto show, I didn't spend a lot of time at the domestics, Toyota or HOnda. Although the Civic Hatchback is, uh, interesting looking... And, Mitsubishi was there! Not much to report...

There was also a special edition Ferrari 458 Italia Convertible for $750k, my boy said to buy it, it's an investment and will double in value in a few short years. Smart boy. So, if I empty his and his sister's 529 accounts, my 401k/IRA...darn, still a bit short.

That's it off the top of my limited memory head for now.

henryn

Overall, Verizon covers more places than anyone else. But that will vary, region by region, area by area. AT&T runs a close second, and then T-Mobile. But if T-Mobile covers where you are and where you go, then you can save a LOT of money with them. I pay $199 for 12 months of T-Mobile (via MintSim), and I get 2 gigs of data per month, which is more than I ever use.

I paid cash for my phone. There are some very good deals out there on last years top of the line phones, now down to about half price. Kind of like buying a left over model new car.

imidazol97

laurasdada said:

Favorite car: Lincoln MKZ because I found a quarter on the seat.

Ford's doing everything they can to get customers these days.

roadburner

Another vote for the Premiers; they perform great on my 2004 X3.

graphicguy

@laurasdada....thanks! Good synopsis. As an Acura fan, I concur with your conclusions. Not sure what happened with them. Personally, I would forgo a TLX SH AWD and get a Honda Accord Touring and save myself about $10K. Wouldn't miss the AWD at that delta. The last few gens of the RL have confounded me. It's almost like...."what, me worry?" when it comes to their obvious indifference about that model. I wonder how many RLs Cura sells in a year? Can't be many....not competitive at all at the price point.

Same goes for the ILX. Why buy an ILX when you can get a Civic for a lot less, yet give up nothing to the ILX.

Acura is turning into an SUV brand.

Mr_Shiftright

28firefighter said:

My favorite tires right now are either the Continental ExtremeContact DWS or the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires, if they're available. They aren't cheap, but you can get the Michelin's through Costco.

I've had Pirelli Cinturato all-seasons before and was not super impressed in the wet weather.

I bought the Continental Extreme Contact DWS for the Mini and it softened up the ride and cut down the noise, which I wanted---I did lose some handling, though--you can feel it. I tried the Kumho but they were too noisy and I swapped them out same day.

28firefighter

Mr_Shiftright said:

My favorite tires right now are either the Continental ExtremeContact DWS or the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires, if they're available. They aren't cheap, but you can get the Michelin's through Costco. I've had Pirelli Cinturato all-seasons before and was not super impressed in the wet weather.

I bought the Continental Extreme Contact DWS for the Mini and it softened up the ride and cut down the noise, which I wanted---I did lose some handling, though--you can feel it. I tried the Kumho but they were too noisy and I swapped them out same day.

Relative to the H-rated Bridgestone Potzenas that came on the GTI, the DWS feels like a performance tire. It's all relative I suppose. 

Mr_Shiftright

Oh the car sticks just great--the sidewall was just more compliant than my old tire---as you say, it's relative. The old tires were stiff and punishing but the car ran on rails.

I had Potenzas on my Porsche and it just ate them up for breakfast.

28firefighter

Mr_Shiftright said:

Oh the car sticks just great--the sidewall was just more compliant than my old tire---as you say, it's relative. The old tires were stiff and punishing but the car ran on rails. I had Potenzas on my Porsche and it just ate them up for breakfast.

I cannot understand who would put the H rated Potenza on a GTI. If I sneezed with my foot on the throttle, I would spin the front wheels. 

Mr_Shiftright

It's for a sport sedan tire, rated to 130 mph. Certainly good enough for your average commuter car. Mine were higher rated Potenzas RE950s.

ab348

laurasdada said:

There was also a special edition Ferrari 458 Italia Convertible for $750k, my boy said to buy it, it's an investment and will double in value in a few short years. Smart boy. So, if I empty his and his sister's 529 accounts, my 401k/IRA...darn, still a bit short.

I have a vague memory of an article from a few decades ago in one of the car magazines claiming that you could drive a Ferrari for surprisingly little out of pocket if you looked at it over a 3 or 4 year ownership period, because the resale was so good. I suspect that is no longer true at these new prices.

iluvmysephia1

tjc78 and gbrozen and henryn, thank all of you for your help on cell phones. I may call AT&T and talk to them a bit. I am thrifty, though, as some of you may know. I paid $79 for my moto e,  we paid $21 for my wife's. We like the phone's, but the only dislike is the lack of storage space on them. For instance, I can't receive any more e-mails on my phone. I get them at home on my desktop. I can find us a decent alternative without too much trouble.

Another thing, you can't add storage to the phone with an SD card, either. 

breld

Just got back from Discount Tire and ordered the Continental LX20 - at $164/tire they seemed like a nice compromise between the cheaper Goodyear Forteras ($150) and the Michelin Defender LTX ($198).

But...I have to say I'm considering going back and changing the order to those Michelins - they have a $70 rebate that cuts down on the difference between those and the Continentals, and just looking at the tread, it seems the Defenders may provide a bit more grip in slippery conditions.

And they may last longer. (Just kidding, that probably doesn't apply to me )

kyfdx

The new GTIs have gobs of torque. Even with a stick, I had a hard time regulating wheel spin, on my test drive. If I owned one, I could see doing a summer/winter tire swap, once the all-seasons wore out.

thebean

@laurasdada, great report from the NE Auto Show.  Thanks for posting.  

uplanderguy

I don't know if this is the place to post purchase pricing, but yesterday I took delivery of a new '17 Cruze LT, built in Lordstown, OH, one county east of me. The sticker was $22,325 and it was the only LT at the dealer with a Chevrolet "Red Tag" price of $17,395. Apparently Chevrolet allows one unit of each model to receive "Red Tag" pricing, and this was verified to the dealer's website--the only LT that was shown on the site for anywhere near this price. And it was recent inventory to boot--built in Dec. '16. It's a charcoal gray metallic color with polished aluminum wheels.

I had $3,000 in GM card earnings on top of this, and a $1,500 GM Goodwill cash letter I got for politely complaining about the fuel pump on my wife's Malibu a year ago. I also had another $1,000 Goodwill cash letter I received in response to a survey, where basically I complained about the same thing. I could only use one at a time, so used the $1,500 one (duh). On top of this, I got $1,000 for using GM financing, which actually saved me money long-term as even though the rate was higher than my bank, borrowing $1,000 less for the same period (two years) saved me money.

So basically, I got a $22K sticker (and I know it's reported that Cruzes sticker "too high"), for $17,395, less $3,000, less $1,500, less $1,000, equals $11,895.

I know I had stuff the average buyer doesn't have, but I am positively giddy about this car for that price. And I got $2,400 trade for my well-maintained, clean '08 Cobalt 4-door with 5-speed and crank windows and 106K miles.

suydam

Congratulations! I looked at the Cruze when shopping the Volt. They were priced pretty high so nice you could find one with that deal.
I had a similar experience when we bought the Encore. I think GM makes a mistake by up-pricing at first, then dropping way down. It means some folks won't even look at the product, thinking it's too expensive. The Volt also ended up priced thousands of dollars below MSRP.

28firefighter

kyfdx said:

The new GTIs have gobs of torque. Even with a stick, I had a hard time regulating wheel spin, on my test drive. If I owned one, I could see doing a summer/winter tire swap, once the all-seasons wore out.

It's true. I think my biggest complaint about them was they were only good when it was warm and dry out - which is not Seattle about 75% of the time. So far the DWS' have made all the difference in the world.

A summer/winter swap is possible - I just have a brain block about doing that in a city that gets virtually no measurable snow.  In your neck of the woods is a no brainer. 

ab348

uplanderguy said:

I know I had stuff the average buyer doesn't have, but I am positively giddy about this car for that price. And I got $2,400 trade for my well-maintained, clean '08 Cobalt 4-door with 5-speed and crank windows and 106K miles.

Heckuva deal there. I really like the current Cruze. Congrats!

fintail

Awesome deal, uplander. Congrats.

uplanderguy

Thanks, all.

stickguy

deal of the year for sure. Heck, you could drive it for a month, and trade it in for a profit!

stickguy

Someone mentioned the ILX vs. Civic. There are, IMO, some differences. Biggest being the engine, though the 1.5t probably offsets the 2.4. The biggest difference though is the interior (dash, seats) which IMO are much better in the Acura. Plus feature content (some stuff, including BLIS/rear cross path) are only on the Acura.

but, the Civic is a nice package. And at this point, I too would likely look at the Accord instead of the TLX!

28firefighter

That's a a lot of car for $11k!  Congrats!

tjc78

Wow, awesome deal! Just got a GM card invitation. If I knew for sure we were getting another GM it would probably be worth it to get one.

uplanderguy

I goof on CR for some of their mindset on some things, but they did rate the current Cruze second of 23 compact cars in testing, and the '16 is rated the most reliable compact per their owner survey, although of course that's not a whole lot of info to go on--but apparently enough responses for them to make a rating.

henryn

I have a punch to report.

http://www.greenwaymazda.com/used/Chrysler/2016-Chrysler-Town+&+Country-bce97afe0a0e0adf4ae7cb9108e1fac9.htm

2016 Chrysler Town and Country Touring, used, ex-rental, for $19,800 out the door. There are a lot of these T&C minivans out there, and nearly everyone is an ex rental vehicle. I spent the morning driving around, trying to find a clean example, and then spent the entire afternoon working on the deal. And yes, I really should have brought a sandwich, I did get hungry before all was said and done.

The advertised price of $18,977 was good, but I got about $700 below that when all was said and done.

I was really trying to find one with less mileage, but the only one I found with significantly less mileage (9k instead of 34k), they were asking $5k more. I think this will do nicely after I turn in the Passat TDI Tuesday afternoon.

tommister2

henryn said:

I have a punch to report. http://www.greenwaymazda.com/used/Chrysler/2016-Chrysler-Town+&+Country-bce97afe0a0e0adf4ae7cb9108e1fac9.htm 2016 Chrysler Town and Country Touring, used, ex-rental, for $19,800 out the door. There are a lot of these T&C minivans out there, and nearly everyone is an ex rental vehicle. I spent the morning driving around, trying to find a clean example, and then spent the entire afternoon working on the deal. And yes, I really should have brought a sandwich, I did get hungry before all was said and done. The advertised price of $18,977 was good, but I got about $700 below that when all was said and done. I was really trying to find one with less mileage, but the only one I found with significantly less mileage (9k instead of 34k), they were asking $5k more. I think this will do nicely after I turn in the Passat TDI Tuesday afternoon.

Congrats! Looks nice and clean. Seems like a great deal. 

suydam

Congrats! Hope it's a sound vehicle for you. Nice color!

28firefighter

Congrats, @henryn!

Mr_Shiftright

Good start this month buys. We have...what...3 punches for the New Year already? Where's our Tally-Man?

stickguy

I still get a chuckle out of getting something the size of a T&C because you need a smaller car! But looks nice and loaded. All that room must make the PU really redundant.

28firefighter

Some of you may remember, I ordered a Helix Soundbox subwoofer a few weeks ago for my GTI and prepaid installation upfront all courtesy of my BIL's TDI Goodwill card.

I took it in today for what should have been a 2 hour appointment. It turns out that VW did not pre-wire my car with the necessary harness, so the techs had had to run the cable all the way from the hatch to the head unit. Suffice to say it became an all-day ordeal despite VWs two hour labor claim. They still have it until Monday because the tech broke two clips trying to reassemble the car and they had to be ordered. 

Apparently there is no way to know which cars have the harness pre-wired and which don't.  The service director isn't going to charge me because of the added labor and plans to address it with VW since he just quoted and charged their book time for install.

They apologized profusely for the extra time and trouble and put me in a 2015 Jetta SE TSI with Lighting Package as a loaner for the day and now the rest of the weekend.  I'll give some thoughts on it in a bit - I've put about 200 miles on it so far.  I'm really pleasantly surprised. 

sda

I am very happy with the Defender LTX. They track well, are quiet do well in rain and absorb bumps well. No snow experience to report. The Pilot has 245/65/17 so that may make a difference in ride. I got the the $70 rebate plus $50 rebate by using the Discount Tire credit card, which I immediately paid off.

28firefighter

OK - so like I said earlier, I had an opportunity to get some time behind a 2015 VW Jetta SE with Lighting Package and Nav. With that came keyless start and a sunroof. It also had a whole bunch of driver assist nannies on it - blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic, adaptive cruise control etc.

I like this car a lot more an I expected to coming from my GTI. The powertrain is what makes it. The 1.8T generates about 170 hp and has a lot of low-end grunt to it. It has not yet once felt under powered and effortlessly got up to 70mph on I-405 today while I was running errands. The steering was tight but not uncomfortably so and it took corners reasonably well for a midsize sedan. The weak link, if there was one, was the 6 speed slushbox attached to it which was not nearly as eager to downshift as I would have liked. I'm used to that behavior in VW transmissions though, which are optimized for fuel economy. I believe this is the same engine and transmission that @sandman_6472 has in his Golf - I can see why he likes it.

The interior is plenty spacious and the trunk is downright cavernous. I have to say though, that the infotainment upgrades that came with the 2016 MY were much needed - this car has the RNS-310 NAV system and the much older MFI display between the gauges and it is seriously lacking. In fact, it was strikingly similar to the systems I had in my A3. Surprisingly, despite the amount of hard plastic on the dash and center console, the interior is dead silent which is more than I can say for my GTI. The safety gadgets, while nice, don't really have a clean implementation because they have been shoehorned into antiquated infotainment and information displays - but they do work quite well. I spent part of the drive home intentionally trying to get the car to yell at me, and each time it did, it was being reasonable at the point it kicked in.

Overall, my three biggest complaints about it are as follows:
(1) The seats are not all that well bolstered and I found my legs getting sore after extended periods of time behind the wheel.

(2) The technology was woefully outdated - but luckily this has been fixed in subsequent generations.

(3) The interior still has a ton of hard plastic in it, which just makes it feel cheap even though by all rights it is a very competent car and has an excellent foundation to it. My understanding is that this has also been improved upon for the 2016 and 2017 MYs. Maybe @Michaell can confirm?

Michaell

@28firefighter - my thoughts and such...

I thought the 2015 SE had the 1.4T engine, not the 1.8T.

I will agree with you on (1) - while I've not taken it on a road trip, I did experience the same fatigue in my legs on occasion.

I'm content with the level of tech in my car - Apple CarPlay and the rear view camera are all I need. The Outback has all the safety nannies I need.

Since I've not ever owned a luxury brand, I can't comment on the quality of the interior trim. Certainly not as soft as the Subaru.

28firefighter

Michaell said:

@28firefighter - my thoughts and such... I thought the 2015 SE had the 1.4T engine, not the 1.8T. I will agree with you on (1) - while I've not taken it on a road trip, I did experience the same fatigue in my legs on occasion. I'm content with the level of tech in my car - Apple CarPlay and the rear view camera are all I need. The Outback has all the safety nannies I need. Since I've not ever owned a luxury brand, I can't comment on the quality of the interior trim. Certainly not as soft as the Subaru.

I did a quick Google of the engine and the VW website came up as the 1.8. If it has the 1.4, that is damn impressive!

If this car had CarPlay it'd be perfectly fine. It's just that old Nav unit that kills it. 

Michaell

28firefighter said:

Michaell said:

@28firefighter - my thoughts and such...

I thought the 2015 SE had the 1.4T engine, not the 1.8T.

I will agree with you on (1) - while I've not taken it on a road trip, I did experience the same fatigue in my legs on occasion.

I'm content with the level of tech in my car - Apple CarPlay and the rear view camera are all I need. The Outback has all the safety nannies I need.

Since I've not ever owned a luxury brand, I can't comment on the quality of the interior trim. Certainly not as soft as the Subaru.

I did a quick Google of the engine and the VW website came up as the 1.8. If it has the 1.4, that is damn impressive!

If this car had CarPlay it'd be perfectly fine. It's just that old Nav unit that kills it. 

Huh. I had a 2015 as a rental last year and I'll agree with you on the tech. Didn't realize it had the 1.8T engine. Not that I got to exercise it in Bay Area traffic.

stickguy

I will chime in, since I now have our 2015 Jetta Sport sitting in the garage for the next 3 months (daughter just left for a college term abroad). I even drove it around a few days ago. Was finally able to adjust the mirrors and seat to me, without getting grief for messing up her positioning!

compared to my Sonata, it is much tighter and "sportier". I also have the 1.8t, and it is seriously quick, and more energetic than my similarly powered 4 (I think the Hyundai has more HP but less torque, but misses the low RPM punch). I don't notice much difference in the ATs. Both like the shift up quick. VW handles better, and still has a nice composed ride. the lower profile tires probably make things a bit firmer.

the Sport has different seats. I find them very comfy, even on longer drives. but YMMV.

I agree about the infotainment stuff. Radio interface is like an antique, and the Navi is weak. But better than nothing. Just seems decades behind the stuff in my Sonata (like when you look at a 2005 with Navi), Though my RDX seems like that too (no Navi, but a tiny little display screen, and inferior bluetooth for the phone).

I really like driving the Jetta. I can see why my daughter loves it. The trunk is huge, and back seat quite roomy. It is also just about the perfect size for what I want in my next car (noticeably smaller than my Sonata, without being at all cramped).

A nice bonus is great MPG. can push 40 on a trip, without babying it.

tbirdmarco

@henryn Congrads on the punch new car good luck with it. those are nice vans.

tbirdmarco

@28firefighter Nice will have to let us all no how it does sound when you get the car back this cumming up week.

tbirdmarco

@stickguy That is an nice car that is for shore. Questian did you ever change the colent on the rdx and other flewids. I no it has lo miles for the year but good to do every few years.

tbirdmarco

@laurasdada Nice glad you did injoy the car show thanks for the run down on all that was there.

tbirdmarco

@breld congrads on the new car nice s u v you got. good luck with it. also nice on the choice of the new tirs for it.