Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy

Reasons make sense. Just odd to me that the dealer will go for it, since they have to sit on the Q40 for 3 weeks, and will be getting a trade in with more use on it.

xwesx

@Michaell - I don't know whether the DEF thing is a common complaint or not. I found it extremely annoying for a few reasons:

1. If it is going to tell me 1,500 miles to empty, then it should be fairly accurate. Telling me 1,500, but really meaning that I'm going to have to get more DEF before I need to get more fuel just burns me. The alarm would ding every ten or fifteen minutes as it counted down the distance.

2. I cannot find anything definitive that states how much the DEF tank holds. With the slowness it took the volume of the 2.5 gallon container, I would estimate about three gallons is what it holds. So, the manual says about 10,000 miles, yet mine seemed to be consuming it at a rate closer to a gallon per 1,500 miles; maybe even faster, truth be told.

3. The fill location is conveniently located adjacent to the fuel filler, but the "cap" is a tightly fitting hex head. The book says to use your vehicle's lug wrench to remove it. This is the same lug wrench that's buried under three layers of cargo (floor, tray, and strapped-in tire kit). So, have fun unloading the back of the car over and over....!

The good side, perhaps, is that the exhaust on this car seemed non-existent. Even on cold start-ups, it wasn't nearly as noxious (to the nose) as, say, our 2010 Forester, which is considered a "PZEV" vehicle. LOL

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

Reasons make sense. Just odd to me that the dealer will go for it, since they have to sit on the Q40 for 3 weeks, and will be getting a trade in with more use on it.

As long as I take delivery by the end of the month.

carnaught

@xwesx, thanks for the details, videos, pics., plus an interesting and entertaining description of your trip! Beautiful scenery. Your wife and family are troopers.

Mr_Shiftright

xwesx said:

qbrozen said:

@xwesx - sorry, but its the editor in me: you said 29.2 was your best mileage to date, but then later reported a 31 mpg fillup. Did you see 31? That is pretty amazing, IMHO.

LOL Okay, yeah. I wrote all that way too late in the day. It was an all-or-nothing deal.

We did the 29.2 tank just prior to the 31. IIRC, they were Bellingham to Prince George, then Prince George to Kitwanga, respectively. Somehow, the 29.2 seemed more significant to me at the time since it was a longer distance.

So, the writing was technically correct, yet also incorrect, since "to date" is easily interpreted to mean "as of now, this instant," rather than my intended meaning of "as of this point in the story."

Nice Pix! Brought back memories of my working days in Talkeetna!

cdnpinhead

xwesx said:

Wall of text complete!

Here's a couple videos (unedited) of the drive.

And a wonderful wall it was! Thanks so much. The best part of the videos (and I share your opinion of the Kluane Lake area) was the thing I love most about driving up north -- absolutely no traffic. I very much enjoyed revisiting in my mind all the place names you mentioned and the roads between them. When I went to AK I was planning to return via the Cassiar hwy, but it was closed by a landslide, so I had to return the way I came via Ft. Nelson.

Certainly a sad end to the journey, but I'm sure you'll let us know what went Tango Uniform. Wonder if it's related to the excessive use of the blue fluid? Anyway, home safe and sound after a truly epic journey. All my serious long distance driving has been done solo; you're a better man than I.

kyfdx

I have a similar story. Got on a plane, last Monday and flew non-stop to Phoenix. (Mesa, actually). Then, on Friday, I flew back.

The similar part? On the way back, screaming toddler for 20 minutes, eventually threw up all over his Mom. (two rows up).

Mr_Shiftright

Mother Nature makes all newborns of any species as cute as possible. That's so we don't kill them.

suydam

Was it your toddler? If not, similarity ends there!

tbirdmarco

@nyccarguy you mean you will have an 2015 q50 at the end of the munth. cant find any q40 on cars.com the lineup gos like this what I can find q50 q60 and q70 looking for my mom now. will be all set when the time comes. have bit over an year lol lol.

tbirdmarco

she wants an SUV next time around I think so qx30 or qx50 the rest are way to much money. if she does leese maby mor options. was looking at Hondas upscail brand to. maby she will want an crv we shal see lol to.

tbirdmarco

@nyccarguy thanks for giving us all of the information on the car nice nice. good luck with it.

tbirdmarco

@xwesx thanks for the long long account of everything that did happen.

fintail

Awesome report xwesx, that should be added to the road trip thread.

I've figured out your issue too - it was the vomit. I know if someone puked in my fintail, the car would stop running within a minute and probably not restart until I had it detailed. Maybe a good detail job will fix the problem

It looks pretty cool dirty, I have to say.

nyccarguy

Marcothecarguy1986 said:

@nyccarguy you mean you will have an 2015 q50 at the end of the munth. cant find any q40 on cars.com the lineup gos like this what I can find q50 q60 and q70 looking for my mom now. will be all set when the time comes. have bit over an year lol lol.

The Q40 is just a rebadged G37x.  Infiniti produced it in conjunction with the Q50 for MY 2015.

stickguy

parked next to an Estoril blue 328 GT today. I like the car. Would not mind one of those.

was discussing with the wife, and are both leaning toward some sort of CUV. Spent time this weekend riding in our son's A3, definitely very low, and with the smaller doors, not that much fun to get in and out. She thinks the same about our Jetta. My car is a bit low, but at least has roomy seats and big doors!

she also (unprompted) started talking about what she would want if had to replace her RDX, and said that unless we went luxo (BMW), probably the new CRV. She really wants a few goodies though (some sort of Navi, heated steering wheel, basically the goodies that my Sonata has).

will be interesting later in the year. I may need my own topic created for the daily updates ("as the stick turns"?)

corvette

xwesx said:

The flights were flawless: Both were on-time to leave and arrive, and we had no issues at all at any of the airports.

Based on the last (and only) time I was at SEATAC, Alaska Air was the only airline that had it together. Thanks for the trip report, it was entertaining. The DEF consumption does seem to be excessive. Is the Q7 under warranty? I also didn't get the year and mileage for the CCBA tally.

28firefighter

Delta out of SeaTac is now also quite good. That said, I use Alaska for all of my business travel whenever possible, followed by Delta when I need to go to smaller cities. 

I'm an MVP Gold on Alaska and a Gold Medallion on Delta. 

tbirdmarco

@nyccarguy sorry about that just did an bit of internet sirtching you are rite thanks for the clarification on that. rite used to be the g37 now q40 tuff to keep it all strate in my head all of these cars lol lol. totally forgot.

tbirdmarco

and lexis forget about it they have so menny cars most confuzing brand for me to keep strate in my head lol lol

fintail

I've flown from Seatac on Delta, Alaska, Jazz/Air Canada, Virgin, Lufthansa. Never really had an issue with any of them here.

corvette

fintail said:

I've flown from Seatac on Delta, Alaska, Jazz/Air Canada, Virgin, Lufthansa. Never really had an issue with any of them here.

Southwest was a complete cluster... Longest lines of any of the airlines I saw there. Security line was awful, too.

28firefighter

I fly southwest for personal travel because we have the companion pass. However we both have TSA PreCheck and I usually buy early bird so we don't have much trouble. Flying Southwest from anywhere is all about strategery. 

corvette

My better half and I are flying Southwest to San Francisco and back next month. Fingers crossed! Louisville is a smaller airport, so I don't expect many issues flying out.

suydam

I love Southwest! I like being able to rebook without a fee. I have generally had pretty good experiences with them.

Michaell

I've been using United for most business travel, and Southwest for personal stuff. The problem is that all airlines are funneled through two security checkpoints at DIA. City is negotiating a contract to remodel the main terminal to ease the security bottleneck.

I, too, have TSAPre, which has helped a little bit.

kyfdx

My wife has had PreCheck for a long time.. through her old job. But, I've never had it.

Last week, when I checked in, our boarding passes both showed PreCheck for the outbound flight. Bonus!
However, when we checked in for the return flight, neither of us had it.

Which seems typical for anything related to the TSA.

28firefighter

We have Global Entry and each have trusted traveler numbers. I enter it on every reservation so we get PreCheck on basically every flight. 

qbrozen

SIGH!
best laid plans...

I was getting SO CLOSE to putting a classic car in my garage. Had a list written out of 22 vehicles at the upcoming KC Mecum auction end of month, and I ordered the catalog for the Palm Beach BJ auction in early April. I've priced shipping, checked out the finance companies, had the numbers in hand, etc.

Well, wouldn't you know it? Wife's sister calls today looking for a place to live with her toddler daughter. We spent today clearing out one of the bedrooms. Supporting 2 more people is obviously going to put a kink in the family finances. Guess my plans are on hold AGAIN. 

tifighter

28firefighter said:

We have Global Entry and each have trusted traveler numbers. I enter it on every reservation so we get PreCheck on basically every flight. 

I'm GE and precheck as well, but now that precheck has been widened, I've decided to try Clear. Back to Zurich this week, so I'll give it the initial test.

tjc78

qbrozen said:

SIGH!
best laid plans...

I was getting SO CLOSE to putting a classic car in my garage. Had a list written out of 22 vehicles at the upcoming KC Mecum auction end of month, and I ordered the catalog for the Palm Beach BJ auction in early April. I've priced shipping, checked out the finance companies, had the numbers in hand, etc.

Well, wouldn't you know it? Wife's sister calls today looking for a place to live with her toddler daughter. We spent today clearing out one of the bedrooms. Supporting 2 more people is obviously going to put a kink in the family finances. Guess my plans are on hold AGAIN. 

I've been there Q, we've bailed out my sister in law quite a few times.  Best of luck with everything.  Hopefully it's a short stay and you are back to hunting a classic soon. 

graphicguy

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

We have Global Entry and each have trusted traveler numbers. I enter it on every reservation so we get PreCheck on basically every flight. 

I'm GE and precheck as well, but now that precheck has been widened, I've decided to try Clear. Back to Zurich this week, so I'll give it the initial test.

Have had GE/TSA pre for a while. Only used GE for Canada, Mexico and Caribbean. Going to Italy later this year. Be interested to hear how things go in Europe!

graphicguy

qbrozen said:

SIGH!
best laid plans...

I was getting SO CLOSE to putting a classic car in my garage. Had a list written out of 22 vehicles at the upcoming KC Mecum auction end of month, and I ordered the catalog for the Palm Beach BJ auction in early April. I've priced shipping, checked out the finance companies, had the numbers in hand, etc.

Well, wouldn't you know it? Wife's sister calls today looking for a place to live with her toddler daughter. We spent today clearing out one of the bedrooms. Supporting 2 more people is obviously going to put a kink in the family finances. Guess my plans are on hold AGAIN. 

You and your wife are good souls. Hopefully the situation is temporary and everyone is back on their feet in short order!

tifighter

In the past few days, I've auditioned four more cars for the "toy" opening here at Tifighter Co. The cars are interesting, but as we can all agree here, the hunt might be just as fun.

28firefighter

tifighter said:

We have Global Entry and each have trusted traveler numbers. I enter it on every reservation so we get PreCheck on basically every flight. 

I'm GE and precheck as well, but now that precheck has been widened, I've decided to try Clear. Back to Zurich this week, so I'll give it the initial test.

My coworker swears by it. I'm curious your thoughts. 

Michaell

This is tragic:

http://jalopnik.com/carjacker-kills-man-in-front-of-family-because-his-car-1793199481

iluvmysephia1

This one is still available at only $11,100. They're offering a 2011 Kia Soul in similar shape as mine for $10,995. It has 58,000 miles on it. I know they offer in trade less to buyers for their car than they offer the trade-in for sale, but, I think I've found the Kansas City Chevy dealer ta deal with who will actually deal. Nice. They look like they'll aggressivily work with you to come up with a deal both parties will be happy with.

Here's the 2017 Chevy Spark LS in Kalamata (metallic purple) that I have my eye on. It's not selling. Vantastic. I want many things the '17 Spark offers only one of them being Android Auto. Here's the exact car.

I am studying for the Big Medical Exam and take my test on Tuesday, March 21st. I first have to pass this test then I'll go car shopping. This will be a nice little car to drive - it has a tight 12' turning radius to quickly turn around in downtown KC when going to the Plaza. The corners of the car are stretched out over the earlier Spark's for optimum small car handling. I am enthused and interested!

I like this metallic purple color and I love the new Spark's body design. Gonna be a labor of love ta go after it.

Washing this car shouldn't take too long - the total square footage of this car's body is pretty
miniscule.

fintail

The last time I renewed my passport, there was a flyer in it for GE/pre/Nexus etc, and although I fly internationally yearly if lucky, and maybe go to Canada a few times a year, I went for it. Over a month later, still "pending". Going to Europe at the end of the year, hopefully it will be completed by then

Surprisingly, I had my new passport in my hands well in under 2 weeks from when I sent in the renewal forms.

tifighter

GE is sorta slow, then scheduling the interview takes more time. I'm in ZRH six times a year plus my own personal travel, so it was a no-brainer. But I must admit the kiosks they now have definitely sped up customs in general.

stickguy

I go to Europe for the first time in 4 weeks. Don't fly much so never did the pre check, so hopefully the line at Newark is not too bad. Worst comes to worst, I wait longer. Good thing I get there twice as early as they recommend!

My daughter flew out of there in January, and for some reason, she always gets flagged as prechecked (never applied for it). At that airport, that line is on a whole different floor. We walked her up, and she was through and sitting at the gate before we made it back to the car in the parking lot. Though the normal lines didn't look bad either. Getting there at 6-7 PM is probably going to help too (flight isn't until 10).

tbirdmarco

@qbrozen you and your wife are good soles. have bailed out family menny times my selfe. hope your plans will be back on track soon to get an old car.

tbirdmarco

Hope everyone had an good weekend!. have an good upcumming week everyone.

tbirdmarco

@iluvmysephia1 NIce go for it after when your test is over with. Good luck on your test.

stickguy

Iluv, has your wife ever sat in one of these? Even seen a picture to realize how small it is? I like compact, but tiny is a whole nother story!

xwesx

corvette said:

Based on the last (and only) time I was at SEATAC, Alaska Air was the only airline that had it together. Thanks for the trip report, it was entertaining. The DEF consumption does seem to be excessive. Is the Q7 under warranty? I also didn't get the year and mileage for the CCBA tally.

We flew Alaska through to Houston and were able to use mileage tickets, so total cost of the flights was about $22. That sure cleared out my miles in a hurry!

Q7 is a 2014 and had about 51,350 on it at purchase. Not under warranty.....

xwesx

@qbrozen - You're depositing a big ol' check into the emotional bank account! When the chips fall into place for your classic, it is going to be all that much more satisfying to sit behind the wheel.

qbrozen

Thanks for the encouragement, folks. 

ab348

qbrozen said:

Well, wouldn't you know it? Wife's sister calls today looking for a place to live with her toddler daughter. We spent today clearing out one of the bedrooms. Supporting 2 more people is obviously going to put a kink in the family finances. Guess my plans are on hold AGAIN. 

Tough break. Maybe you could buy a vintage motor home or Airstream and she could live in that.

graphicguy

Michaell said:

This is tragic:

http://jalopnik.com/carjacker-kills-man-in-front-of-family-because-his-car-1793199481

Unreal, and as you say, quite tragic!

graphicguy

Global Entry does take awhile. But, once it gets rolling (as in, paperwork and background check gets cleared), the interview portion is pretty simple. I actually went to O'Hare in Chicago for the interview as the Cincinnati office (where I live) was actually scheduling interviews 10 months out. I was able to get an interview in Chicago in a couple of weeks. Go figure!

I know I sat down with the Customs Agent for the interview, and he didn't ask me much. Just wanted to know why I was in Chicago for the interview instead of the Cincinnati office. I had explained to him I was in Chicago often for business and that they were quicker in setting up the interview. That was about it. He also told me how to use GE, but each airport was a little different, so his instructions weren't good for every airport.

Start to finish, from the time I put my application in until the GE card showed up was probably 4-5 weeks.