Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy

The accord sport does have a power drivers seat. Missing bound spit though, and no XM is just silly for the price.

tjc78

Thanks everyone, it has certainly been a life style change that's for sure!

@henryn
I agree with you that the Passat is a lot of car for the money. If I stretched the budget a bit a cheap lease on a R-line would have been something I was happy with over the Elantra.

andres3

stickguy said:

The accord sport does have a power drivers seat. Missing bound spit though, and no XM is just silly for the price.

No XM? LOL; the sound system is lackluster from what I remember anyway. The sillier thing is those 19" wheels for a NA 4-cylinder CVT equipped car! I mean come on; 18" were plenty.

For people that don't know what a 19" tire costs, it won't factor in to their buying decision; at least that's what Honda hopes.

stickguy

I'm pretty excited for December. Might just be shopping a cheap leases again depending on how things shake out.

sda

henryn said:

I have to say that this new Passat R-Line that I just bought compares (in my mind) very favorably with an Accord or Camry costing $4k to $5k more. A lot of this is going to be individual preferences, of course. I like the fake leather that Volkswagen uses, always have. Much preferable to cloth seats (in my mind), and truth be told, I would take it over leather, especially for the difference in price.

And the 1.8T turbocharged engine has more torque, down low where you need it in city driving. Very preferable to a NA 4 cylinder engine.

The Accord Sport, which sells for around the same amount, does not have Satellite Radio (a necessity for me), nor blind spot monitoring (which I am rapidly becoming very fond of). And no power seat, another necessity for me.

Now the resale value will hold up much better on the Honda or the Toyota, that is a given. And one would expect the cost of repairs and maintenance to be much lower if you kept it for 10 years and 120k miles, but I am not going to do that.

The current Passat, with the recent updates, is a very nice car and a solid value. I prefer the SE only because it has a sunroof, I'm only 5'8''. The R-Line has a sharp look to it, I guess a direct competitor to the Accord Sport. The 1.8t is a good engine, just too bad you can't get the 2.0t.

Mr_Shiftright

Guys, why don't we move the interesting fitness comments over to the Conversations topic? I'd like to see this stay "pure" car buying.

henryn

sda said:

henryn said:

I have to say that this new Passat R-Line that I just bought compares (in my mind) very favorably with an Accord or Camry costing $4k to $5k more. A lot of this is going to be individual preferences, of course. I like the fake leather that Volkswagen uses, always have. Much preferable to cloth seats (in my mind), and truth be told, I would take it over leather, especially for the difference in price.

And the 1.8T turbocharged engine has more torque, down low where you need it in city driving. Very preferable to a NA 4 cylinder engine.

The Accord Sport, which sells for around the same amount, does not have Satellite Radio (a necessity for me), nor blind spot monitoring (which I am rapidly becoming very fond of). And no power seat, another necessity for me.

Now the resale value will hold up much better on the Honda or the Toyota, that is a given. And one would expect the cost of repairs and maintenance to be much lower if you kept it for 10 years and 120k miles, but I am not going to do that.

The current Passat, with the recent updates, is a very nice car and a solid value. I prefer the SE only because it has a sunroof, I'm only 5'8''. The R-Line has a sharp look to it, I guess a direct competitor to the Accord Sport. The 1.8t is a good engine, just too bad you can't get the 2.0t.

We are definitely in agreement on that one! I would love to have the 2.0T engine in this Passat.

andres3 said:

stickguy said:

The accord sport does have a power drivers seat. Missing bound spit though, and no XM is just silly for the price.

No XM? LOL; the sound system is lackluster from what I remember anyway. The sillier thing is those 19" wheels for a NA 4-cylinder CVT equipped car! I mean come on; 18" were plenty.

For people that don't know what a 19" tire costs, it won't factor in to their buying decision; at least that's what Honda hopes.

The 19 inch wheels and tires on this Passat R-Line were a negative, in my opinion. But ... they're growing on me, I have received a number of compliments on them, they really are good looking wheels. And the ride, while slightly "harsher" than on the 2013 Passat with 17 inch wheels, is still not bad.

As to the cost of tires, what are the odds that I will own the car long enough to need new tires? Come on now, be serious, this is CCBA we're talking about here!!!

As to the stereo, I am well pleased with the sound. No room for complaints.

Now on the Town and Country -- man, the stereo on that thing sounds like you're inside a box. Probably because you are inside a box, right?

andres3

henryn said:

sda said:

henryn said:

I have to say that this new Passat R-Line that I just bought compares (in my mind) very favorably with an Accord or Camry costing $4k to $5k more. A lot of this is going to be individual preferences, of course. I like the fake leather that Volkswagen uses, always have. Much preferable to cloth seats (in my mind), and truth be told, I would take it over leather, especially for the difference in price.

And the 1.8T turbocharged engine has more torque, down low where you need it in city driving. Very preferable to a NA 4 cylinder engine.

The Accord Sport, which sells for around the same amount, does not have Satellite Radio (a necessity for me), nor blind spot monitoring (which I am rapidly becoming very fond of). And no power seat, another necessity for me.

Now the resale value will hold up much better on the Honda or the Toyota, that is a given. And one would expect the cost of repairs and maintenance to be much lower if you kept it for 10 years and 120k miles, but I am not going to do that.

The current Passat, with the recent updates, is a very nice car and a solid value. I prefer the SE only because it has a sunroof, I'm only 5'8''. The R-Line has a sharp look to it, I guess a direct competitor to the Accord Sport. The 1.8t is a good engine, just too bad you can't get the 2.0t.

We are definitely in agreement on that one! I would love to have the 2.0T engine in this Passat.

andres3 said:

stickguy said:

The accord sport does have a power drivers seat. Missing bound spit though, and no XM is just silly for the price.

No XM? LOL; the sound system is lackluster from what I remember anyway. The sillier thing is those 19" wheels for a NA 4-cylinder CVT equipped car! I mean come on; 18" were plenty.

For people that don't know what a 19" tire costs, it won't factor in to their buying decision; at least that's what Honda hopes.

The 19 inch wheels and tires on this Passat R-Line were a negative, in my opinion. But ... they're growing on me, I have received a number of compliments on them, they really are good looking wheels. And the ride, while slightly "harsher" than on the 2013 Passat with 17 inch wheels, is still not bad.

As to the cost of tires, what are the odds that I will own the car long enough to need new tires? Come on now, be serious, this is CCBA we're talking about here!!!

As to the stereo, I am well pleased with the sound. No room for complaints.

Now on the Town and Country -- man, the stereo on that thing sounds like you're inside a box. Probably because you are inside a box, right?

No FENDER audio in the R-Line I take it?

I will say VW's "base" audio system is better than most, if not at least all of the "base" sound systems I've personally heard lately in newer cars. Honda's was weak... at least back in '14 when I last checked.

As to 19's on the Passat, at least it is TURBOCHARGED. R-line probably has a sportier suspension setting too, making the 19's co-exist well (sporty, but not too sporty).

sda

andres3 said:

henryn said:

sda said:

henryn said:

I have to say that this new Passat R-Line that I just bought compares (in my mind) very favorably with an Accord or Camry costing $4k to $5k more. A lot of this is going to be individual preferences, of course. I like the fake leather that Volkswagen uses, always have. Much preferable to cloth seats (in my mind), and truth be told, I would take it over leather, especially for the difference in price.

And the 1.8T turbocharged engine has more torque, down low where you need it in city driving. Very preferable to a NA 4 cylinder engine.

The Accord Sport, which sells for around the same amount, does not have Satellite Radio (a necessity for me), nor blind spot monitoring (which I am rapidly becoming very fond of). And no power seat, another necessity for me.

Now the resale value will hold up much better on the Honda or the Toyota, that is a given. And one would expect the cost of repairs and maintenance to be much lower if you kept it for 10 years and 120k miles, but I am not going to do that.

The current Passat, with the recent updates, is a very nice car and a solid value. I prefer the SE only because it has a sunroof, I'm only 5'8''. The R-Line has a sharp look to it, I guess a direct competitor to the Accord Sport. The 1.8t is a good engine, just too bad you can't get the 2.0t.

We are definitely in agreement on that one! I would love to have the 2.0T engine in this Passat.

andres3 said:

stickguy said:

The accord sport does have a power drivers seat. Missing bound spit though, and no XM is just silly for the price.

No XM? LOL; the sound system is lackluster from what I remember anyway. The sillier thing is those 19" wheels for a NA 4-cylinder CVT equipped car! I mean come on; 18" were plenty.

For people that don't know what a 19" tire costs, it won't factor in to their buying decision; at least that's what Honda hopes.

The 19 inch wheels and tires on this Passat R-Line were a negative, in my opinion. But ... they're growing on me, I have received a number of compliments on them, they really are good looking wheels. And the ride, while slightly "harsher" than on the 2013 Passat with 17 inch wheels, is still not bad.

As to the cost of tires, what are the odds that I will own the car long enough to need new tires? Come on now, be serious, this is CCBA we're talking about here!!!

As to the stereo, I am well pleased with the sound. No room for complaints.

Now on the Town and Country -- man, the stereo on that thing sounds like you're inside a box. Probably because you are inside a box, right?

No FENDER audio in the R-Line I take it?

I will say VW's "base" audio system is better than most, if not at least all of the "base" sound systems I've personally heard lately in newer cars. Honda's was weak... at least back in '14 when I last checked.

As to 19's on the Passat, at least it is TURBOCHARGED. R-line probably has a sportier suspension setting too, making the 19's co-exist well (sporty, but not too sporty).

The base 4 speaker audio in the Accord LX and Sport isn't anything special. The EX benefits from the addition of two tweeters which gives a better sound stage and sounds reasonable, not even close to high end. And no satellite radio until you get into the EXL and above until 2016 when satellite was included in the EX and above.

xwesx

cdnpinhead said:

Premium w/ eyesight & a color that wasn't readily available. Buy--cash. I don't belong on this board since we only buy cars about every 6-8 years, but I chime in anyway. I love driving and seeing what's outside the windshield; the cars are secondary, especially now that maintainability has been kicked to the curb and all that one can hope to do is change filters and oil.

Different strokes. . .

If it makes you feel any better, we have owned our 2010 Forester for over 7.5 years now. So, you're not entirely alone here!

js06gv

No FENDER audio in the R-Line I take it?

I will say VW's "base" audio system is better than most, if not at least all of the "base" sound systems I've personally heard lately in newer cars. Honda's was weak... at least back in '14 when I last checked.

As to 19's on the Passat, at least it is TURBOCHARGED. R-line probably has a sportier suspension setting too, making the 19's co-exist well (sporty, but not too sporty).

How is the base stereo in your Optima? I'm not a stereo buff by any stretch, but to my ears the H-K system in my daughter's Optima is hands down the best I've ever had in a car. This comparison is to the Infinity in her 2014 Optima, Sony systems in my Fords, and Bose in my old Avalanche.

andres3

js06gv said:

No FENDER audio in the R-Line I take it?

I will say VW's "base" audio system is better than most, if not at least all of the "base" sound systems I've personally heard lately in newer cars. Honda's was weak... at least back in '14 when I last checked.

As to 19's on the Passat, at least it is TURBOCHARGED. R-line probably has a sportier suspension setting too, making the 19's co-exist well (sporty, but not too sporty).

How is the base stereo in your Optima? I'm not a stereo buff by any stretch, but to my ears the H-K system in my daughter's Optima is hands down the best I've ever had in a car. This comparison is to the Infinity in her 2014 Optima, Sony systems in my Fords, and Bose in my old Avalanche.


The base system in the Optima is rather lousy. Definitely no better than Honda's.

I'm spoiled right now because the Bang & Olufsen in the TTS is VERY GOOD.

28firefighter

The B & O stereo in Audi vehicles these days is, IMO, one of the best sounding OE systems available. 

tjc78

@henryn
Does your T&C have a premium audio setup?  Way back when at we had a 96 At work that had thg Infinity and it was rather impressive (better than the Bose in my 15 Enclave). 

@andres3
The base system in my Elantra is pretty weak too.  At the price point can't expect too much. 

henryn

tjc78 said:

@henryn
Does your T&C have a premium audio setup?  Way back when at we had a 96 At work that had thg Infinity and it was rather impressive (better than the Bose in my 15 Enclave). 

@andres3
The base system in my Elantra is pretty weak too.  At the price point can't expect too much. 

No, the Town & Country does not have the premium audio setup. It was a rental vehicle (Enterprise), and is strictly the Touring model with nothing added. The stereo is pretty decent, seems to have decent volume and a fairly balanced range. It's just that the acoustical environment ... how should I put it? "sucks", that's the word I won't. If it was a room, I would add carpets and drapes and other sound absorbing materials. The inside of this van is basically just a big, empty box, and the stereo sounds like you're in a box.

I went from a 2006 Cadillac DTS with Bose stereo (very nice sound), into the 2013 Passat SE TDI. The SE came with a pretty good stereo, I thought it compared very well with the Bose in the Cadillac. The R-Line being a lower cost model than the SE, I was expecting less in the way of stereo sound, but I was pleasantly surprised, it sounds good to my old ears. I mention "old ears" because, of course, my hearing is basically limited to maybe 11k at the top end. But it has a good, full sound, balanced, and pleases me, which is what counts.

The stereo in the 2015 Ford F150 was ... sub-optimal. I never cared for it.

qbrozen

The Bose system in my Infiniti is pretty good. About on par with my CTS, both of which were way better than the Jetta. 

sda

The Dynaudio system that I had in the '06 Passat 2.0T was awesome. As the volume increased the sound got fuller and fuller, and not harsh or scrhrill. It had great depth and warmth. I'm sure there are others out there that compare, but that Dynaudio spoiled me.

Sandman6472

Drove a base Tiguan yesterday and did like the 2.0t under the hood, more grunt than my current 1.8t setup in the Golf. Pulled away from a stop with authority and again, love the higher seating position. Looking back, should of bought one back in December 2013, an SE model, and been done with it. That red over beige 2015 at the local VW store sold, both did, which am not surprised. They do have a cpo 2016 R-Line model but just not ready to swap out of the Golf right now. Would think my car plus $9K might get the job done but the Golf is just so good that I hate to get out of it. Still getting compliments on the color and Jetta rims on it. Looks stunning when freshly detailed but think garaging it every night helps in that respect.

The Sandman

Sandman6472

That piece for my phone charger in the Golf came and it didn't work and fell apart basically in my hands. Garbage to be honest so let Amazon know that I'm sending it back and expect a full refund! I had a gift card and used that so want it back on that. They emailed me a return label so back it goes tomorrow. Did order a set of three different lightning charger lengths so I have a choice of charging cables, price was very reasonable after pricing them at Walgreens and Five Below. So since I am purchasing stuff, think Amazon will cooperate here. Hate when they sell pure garbage though!
Got the Tesla account at work where we have to supply a certain amount of nicer vehicles to their location to rent out as loaners. We drove over four CLA 250's and an Infiniti Q60 suv late this afternoon and go back with a few more in the morning. Not sure how it's all going to work logistically if they don't hire more drivers or give us more hours. My bet is that they'll give us more hours till we see how the agreement works and then they can try to hire more folks. But for 24 hours/week, we don't have many coming through our doors...it's just not enough hours for many folks especially starting at $8.05/hour. So we'll see how management does here because this could be a high revenue generator for Hertz if we don't blow it by under delivering what we promise. And in this business, you're only as good as what you did yesterday, today is a new day! And if we can't supply them with enough of the higher class vehicles that they require, they'll kick us to the curb in a heart beat. It's imperative that we get this one right!!!

The Sandman

Sandman6472

They had a nice selection of Tesla models at the dealership, very cool vehicles. Can see rich folks lining up for these but have no clue about how reliable they are. Interiors looked top notch, exteriors were plain gorgeous. But if they aren't mechanically as good as they look, that will be a major problem for the brand. For that kind of money, a lot more vehicles I'd rather have to be honest. But they are cool and look fantastic from any angle, so lets hope they do well. And hoping Hertz won't screw this one up like they did with our local BMW store!

The Sandman

cdnpinhead

stickguy said:

. . .of course standard AWD for the slice of the market that cares. . .

Standard AWD is a very big deal where it snows and an even bigger deal where it snows and it isn't flat. There's a bunch of us out here, and Colorado is probably where the highest percentage live. The skiers factor in, and there are other fringe groups (sorry) that consider AWD useful in areas that are otherwise benign (most of CA, for example). Either way, well-developed AWD sells well in quite a few places.

Mr_Shiftright

sandman_6472 said:

They had a nice selection of Tesla models at the dealership, very cool vehicles. Can see rich folks lining up for these but have no clue about how reliable they are. Interiors looked top notch, exteriors were plain gorgeous. But if they aren't mechanically as good as they look, that will be a major problem for the brand. For that kind of money, a lot more vehicles I'd rather have to be honest. But they are cool and look fantastic from any angle, so lets hope they do well. And hoping Hertz won't screw this one up like they did with our local BMW store!

The Sandman

Not so great on reliability.

corvette

sandman_6472 said:

Can see rich folks lining up for these but have no clue about how reliable they are.

The idea that they are out of Tesla loaners and having to rent luxury vehicles from a commercial rental agency to supplement their loaner fleet suggests to me they may not be very reliable. Gorgeous cars, though!

fintail

Hertz has had Tesla as "Dream Cars" (I think) for some time. I remember they had one in Atlanta when I was there a couple months ago, but the rates were so stupid high even on basic higher end cars, that I didn't ask.

Fun performers, but the interior barely fits a 50K car, not to mention one that can easily hit twice as much. I think I read they are working on that.

Mr_Shiftright

Nothing much about the interior impressed me except for the large data screen. It's certainly amusing to look at.

Handles well but you can tell it's a tank. Rear seats hard as a rock.

A nice second car IMO.

suydam

I have friends with one. Thought it was beautiful inside and out. It certainly makes a statement. I think most folks lease them so reliability isn't a huge concern.

qbrozen

Teslas are doing pretty damned good on the used market, too. Those 2014 off-lease cars are mid 40s at auction, so that's what? 65% or so residual?

suydam

I sure see a lot of them around my neighborhood. I'm annoyed when they show up at my free charging station though. Don't they have their own super chargers?

carnaught

Teslas: I see more of them around me here than Ford Taurus's. To me that makes this $100k car sort of ho-hum.

fintail

I think I see more of them than Taurus or new Impala etc too - very trendy thing with wannabe-with-it techies and greenies in Seattle, and the idiotic tax breaks don't hurt either.

suydam

If they weren't buying Teslas, they'd be buying Mercedes, not Tauruses or Impalas.

sda

The current Impala has received positive reviews from just about every source including CR, yet it is hard to overcome the rental car image that has been so firmly established in the past 10+ years. You can get an extremely good buy on a loaded one or two year old Impala because of the steep depreciation.

fintail

IMO keeping the old 2006 model in production as a fleet-only cheapo special "Impala" does grave damage to brand equity. Old GM thinking.

Mr_Shiftright

suydam said:

I have friends with one. Thought it was beautiful inside and out. It certainly makes a statement. I think most folks lease them so reliability isn't a huge concern.

I always think of them as a pretty, fast, entry level Lexus with a 9 gallon gas tank.

andres3

I personally think GM would be doing significantly better if they copied their financial arm, GMAC, and re-invented themselves with a new name, like Ally. Change all the car model names too; no remnants of the past. I think that would fool a good percentage of the market.

suydam

Mr_Shiftright said:

suydam said:

I have friends with one. Thought it was beautiful inside and out. It certainly makes a statement. I think most folks lease them so reliability isn't a huge concern.

I always think of them as a pretty, fast, entry level Lexus with a 9 gallon gas tank.

Except for the zero emissions part. I don't play in that upscale market, but they are pretty cool cars.

xwesx

suydam said:

Except for the zero emissions part.

If only that were true! It's far more efficient, though, to produce the energy en mass than in each car, so it does have that to its advantage.

andres3

PUNCH! Yesterday evening/night!

My wife wouldn't budge, and the GM drew a hard line in the sand, and wouldn't budge either. We were $300 apart after some negotiating and grinding and delay. So afternoon became evening, then it became night, but the deal got done, just barely. Squeezed them pretty good. I had pretty much left, and walked away, but didn't.

The GM said don't even call back asking for more off if I came back. Last day of the month deal so even there number only good last night (which makes sense since it was 1/31/17). He even added if you find a better deal buy it! In the end the beginner salesman that pretty much was out of the negotiations from the beginning decided to chip in the $300 from his commission into my down payment. Legit, the finance lady asked him for his money before writing the contract (GM had already left by that time; so they had to call him one last time where I guess he still didn't budge and lived up to his promise of not moving another dollar). She put it as an additional rebate to the 1,000 loyalty so contract shows $1,300 rebate. CA wins about $30 in taxes and fees from that! Oh well; they got their sale figure number in a way, and I came extremely close to my bottom line number; which is excellent.

2017 VW AllTrack SE 1.8 TSI 6-Speed DSG, 4-Motion AWD, Pure White Exterior, Black Leatherette Interior, sophisticated MQB chassis, dual clutch automated manual transmission, Fender Audio, Pano roof, keyless start, height adjustable seats (though only thing power is the tilt of the upper seat back; every other adjustment is manual).

Not sure why my wife and others like the color white so much lately, but I have to admit it looks good on the All-Track. Would have preferred beige interior myself, but wife likes white/black combo.

The SE saves you a ton of money compared to SEL but you give up fully "power" seats on both sides of the front, Nav, Beautiful bigger wider 18" Canyon Wheels & Tires, and "sportier more bolstered" front seats. Really the only thing that made us prefer the SEL was the wheels/tires. However, we can probably afford those for much less than the SEL price difference.

This was a no Frills model (very rare as VW always loads a bunch of fluff into a lot of the cars) so very low cost and sticker. A ton of car for under $30K out the door! $4,350 off sticker on their newest latest greatest model right now.

Pictures to follow....

nyccarguy

@andres3 - mazel-Tov on the new ALLTRACK! I'm looking forward to seeing pics and hearing about your driving experiences.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, yeah, but it's not zero emissions...it's "emissions in someone else's backyard".

This, by the way, is called the "long tailpipe argument" against zero emissions claims.

If you are charging an EV, the vast majority are either using coal or natural gas.

Some people get to use wind or thermal, some fewer even solar.

Current stats (national averages) are:

30 percent gas-powered, 37 percent coal-powered, 19 percent nuclear and 12 percent hydro and non-hydro renewable.

Here's an INTERESTING CHART that will tell you where your energy comes from in your zip code.

POWER PROFILER

In my zip, for instance, I see that I get more power from non-hydro renewables than much of the country, none from coal, but more than the national average from natural gas.

jpp75

Congrats @andres3

Look forward to hearing your impressions of the car.

xwesx

Congrats! Sounds like that game of hardball went well into extra innings! It's always a relief to come out on top after an epic showdown like that!

You always have to remember that if they could not sell you the car for that price, then they wouldn't even be talking with you in the first place.

Mr_Shiftright

The environmentally sensitive in Boulder, Colorado for instance, may be distressed (or not) to learn that their EVs are primarily powered by coal, about double the national average.

andres3

Mr_Shiftright said:

Yeah, yeah, but it's not zero emissions...it's "emissions in someone else's backyard".

This, by the way, is called the "long tailpipe argument" against zero emissions claims.

If you are charging an EV, the vast majority are either using coal or natural gas.

Some people get to use wind or thermal, some fewer even solar.

Current stats (national averages) are:

30 percent gas-powered, 37 percent coal-powered, 19 percent nuclear and 12 percent hydro and non-hydro renewable.

Here's an INTERESTING CHART that will tell you where your energy comes from in your zip code.

POWER PROFILER

In my zip, for instance, I see that I get more power from non-hydro renewables than much of the country, none from coal, but more than the national average from natural gas.

I think you are onto something here!

Here-forth, by the power vested in me, I issue an Executive Order requiring all charging stations to have an electrical generating bicycle next to them, that from here forth, the driver must get out of the Tesla, and pedal the bike to generate the power to recharge their own car!

Now that would be more "efficient." Since this is a new regulation, I have to get rid of two.

I shall delete the speed limit regulations, and I shall delete the emissions/smog check every 2 years regulation.

Make it so!

andres3

xwesx said:

Congrats! Sounds like that game of hardball went well into extra innings! It's always a relief to come out on top after an epic showdown like that!

You always have to remember that if they could not sell you the car for that price, then they wouldn't even be talking with you in the first place.

Yes, though after getting some rest (I was tired and wore out!), I realized when I had the GM in front of me (this was a sister dealership to where we bought the TDI Sportwagen with pre-paid maintenance at $200 for the 2nd and 3rd maintenance visits; 1st back then covered by VW automatically). So after the GM left, I asked if he was also the GM of the sister dealership down south, and they said "Yes."

Knowing that, I should have brought up that he owed me $200 for the pre-paid maintenance on the TDI since the TDI diesel debacle made it lose all of its value to me (20K and 30K mile services). Maybe I didn't remember or say it because $200 wasn't going to solve our $300 dilemma.

carnaught

Andres, congrats on the punch, sounds nice!

suydam

Congratulations on your new ride!

Michaell

@andres3 - congrats on the Alltrack. Sharp looking ride. Sucks that you had to go through so much pain to make a deal.

andres3

Here it is during sunlight pre-sale pre-detailing, and one after sale after detailing picture:

andres3

Michaell said:

@andres3 - congrats on the Alltrack. Sharp looking ride. Sucks that you had to go through so much pain to make a deal.

Yeah, that was partly my wife's fault, as she wasn't there so she was helping me negotiate by text. A lot easier for us as a team to have backbone when one person is in the comfort of their own home! Not easy for me though; I'd of at least caved $150 to save an hour.

Also, it helped we both liked the Outback a lot. To get it the way we wanted it exactly would have taken an order. 8 weeks isn't that long, but I was inclined not to wait that long. If only we had decided on the Outback 4 weeks ago or so.

Lots of what ifs.... Did I mention I was able to score a $500 Subaru Ambassador coupon? If maybe I'd had that when we went up to Irvine.....