Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

pensfan83

Michaell said:

The Jetta sits in my driveway with exactly 4000 miles on the odometer.

According to my worksheet, I am allowed to have 8220 miles after 250 days.

At this rate, I'll have less than 18,000 miles on the car at the end of the lease - assuming I keep it that long.

As I noted yesterday, I'm having a blast driving this car. The grey paint makes it somewhat stealthy, and allows me to zip around town unnoticed.

Wonder if adding any suspension parts would firm up the handling?

Wow, and I thought I was on the low end with my A4. 22,000 miles now and I would be allowed up to 36,000. By the time the lease is up (September) I'll still only have 25,000-26,000 miles unless unplanned trips come up.

andres3

Michaell said:

stickguy said:

Michael, you can pretty much bolt a GTI underneath. So plenty of performance parts. But why bother on a lease?

My sonata has 6 months and 10 days left. I'm at about 15,400 miles. So pretty sure I end up below 36k!

The Jetta is going to hit 16k at 22 months, thanks to daughter road tripping to NC. Will get lots of miles this summer (she is doing a 10 week internship with a 90 mile daily RT commute) so that one will be pushing the limit at the end. Though I'll have her take my car at least once a week to spread out the miles and exercise!

Yeah, I know. I dropped some $$ on the exhaust tips already. To me, the car handles fine; just wondering if I could improve it.

Though, living in the 'burbs, with nothing but arterial roads, will I really get the chance to use it?

The things you think of late at night.

Well, the quickest and easiest way to spruce up your handling is to buy a lighter but slightly wider wheel, and a stickier/softer slightly wider tire. Guessing your Jetta has something like 205/55R17's, so go 225/45/17 on 17x7.5 or 225/40R18 on 18x7.5. If you go for the bigger wider 18" and it fits; you could use them on a future GTI or GLI leased car......

andres3

The Infinity salesman thought I'd be impressed when he mentioned that Infinity was building and supplying engines for MB and using the same engine on their car.

Unfortunately, I still remember that someone at MB thought it was a good idea to buy/merge with Chrysler, so that just doesn't' impress me at all.

I think he brought it up because I mentioned these new engines were new and unproven.

tifighter

I think this car has @roadburner written all over it.

Mr_Shiftright

No way that car is coming to California. Price seems optimistic to me. Back in 2007, they were asking $18,500 for it (same car) with a no sale and another showed up in 2013 with a $26,500 price tag on it.

Hard sell at that price. It is, after all, still a 528 4-door sedan. I don't see why the price should have more than doubled in 4 years.

This might be too radical even for roadburner. The number of non-existent parts of it would be daunting.

Well then the seller should put it up for auction and see what the world thinks. I really have no idea but my gut says mid/high $30Ks if he really wants to move it.

Michaell

andres3 said:

Michaell said:

stickguy said:

Michael, you can pretty much bolt a GTI underneath. So plenty of performance parts. But why bother on a lease?

My sonata has 6 months and 10 days left. I'm at about 15,400 miles. So pretty sure I end up below 36k!

The Jetta is going to hit 16k at 22 months, thanks to daughter road tripping to NC. Will get lots of miles this summer (she is doing a 10 week internship with a 90 mile daily RT commute) so that one will be pushing the limit at the end. Though I'll have her take my car at least once a week to spread out the miles and exercise!

Yeah, I know. I dropped some $$ on the exhaust tips already. To me, the car handles fine; just wondering if I could improve it.

Though, living in the 'burbs, with nothing but arterial roads, will I really get the chance to use it?

The things you think of late at night.

Well, the quickest and easiest way to spruce up your handling is to buy a lighter but slightly wider wheel, and a stickier/softer slightly wider tire. Guessing your Jetta has something like 205/55R17's, so go 225/45/17 on 17x7.5 or 225/40R18 on 18x7.5. If you go for the bigger wider 18" and it fits; you could use them on a future GTI or GLI leased car......

Actually, they are 205/55-16's - same as what I had on my Elantra.

Not sure how the wife would feel about $1000 or so of new wheels and tires on a leased car. But, I see your point.

FYI, there are no new GLI's within 250 miles of my zip code. Guess VW would rather push GTI's instead.

roadburner

The price is crazy; maybe if it was $20,000 less AND it was an E24 B7 or B9...

fintail

Funny how he wants it to stay in the country - it's a grey market import. I suspect it is worth more at home than here.

Funny thing, I remember when I was maybe 11 or 12, someone in the smallish town where I lived turned up in an Alpina, but I think it was an E28. I remember the somewhat garish stripes.

Mr_Shiftright

This is what we call a very VERY niche market. Basically with this type of car, if you are serious about selling it, when you get an offer from a serious buyer---take it. You may not see another for a long time.

imidazol97

andres3 said:

I think he brought it up because I mentioned these new engines were new and unproven.

Have you gotten the drivetrain part fixed on the TTS yet? I don't know if I missed a block of posts or not where you might have mentioned it.

andres3

imidazol97 said:

andres3 said:

I think he brought it up because I mentioned these new engines were new and unproven.

Have you gotten the drivetrain part fixed on the TTS yet? I don't know if I missed a block of posts or not where you might have mentioned it.

Last word came a couple week ago on April 12th or 13th that the part was due to come in May 12th. I took the car in on March 27th.

Audi is lucky I love the car and have had good experiences with them in the past, as my patience for this kind of thing wouldn't normally exist. However, I do feel like I should get all my lemon buy-back ducks in a row in case I get another phone call that significantly delays a repair in mid-May or if anything else breaks in the car in the next 5,000 miles (prior to 18,000 miles) so that I can quickly fire off steps 1, 2, and 3 in starting the lemon buyback process in the event it is necessary.

In other words, I'm on the fence, and at the end of my rope for patience with this car. Audi and the car need to perform perfectly until after the legal buyback period of 18 months or 18,000 miles or else!

Other than knowing it is a rare car model that came out relatively recently, I have really been given no good explanation for why a rear-differential is taking so long to obtain. Apparently, expediting parts for warranty claims isn't on luxury car-makers priority list. In fact, there is a fire-wall between Audi Customer Contact Support and Parts orders. You can't complain to Audi USA through normal channels.....they just tell you that isn't something they can help with; to contact your local dealer and parts dept. manager.

andres3

Oh, funny the salesman at Infinity introduced me to the GM, who he said also owned a TTS. He claimed it was a '16 TTS just like mine, that he had for nearly 18 months but with less miles than mine. He said he just came to Infinity recently. (mentioned he better check for a leak too, so obviously he hadn't had any issues yet).

Then he offered the obligatory "our car will trounce that TTS." line. I shook it off as I know he wouldn't have bought the TTS if he didn't like it. 400 HP should win, in a straight line.... if the Infinity is lucky

graphicguy

When I was still shopping, Infiniti had one of the mosh-mash Mercedes mated with Infiniti SUVs sitting in the showroom. Give them credit, it was a nice looking vehicle. But, they didn't do much work on the inside to make you think it was anything but a Mercedes with Infiniti badges.

tifighter

He may have overdone it on the Alpina kool-aid after this recent BAT auction for a completely different car.

jpp75

nyccarguy said:

Notice a few things about this picture.  1st is the beautiful, new hospital that employs my incredible wife.  Second is the iced coffee on the back of my wife's Pilot.  3rd is the fact that my wife parked in between a 6 cyl Jeep Liberty and a V8 Land Cruiser.  Al three are in the "LOW EMISSION, FUEL EFFICENT VEHICLE PARKING ONLY."  Now my wife parked there because it was literally the last spot available in the staff lot.  Compared to the Land cruiser and Liberty, her Pilot is low emissions & fuel efficient. 

Nice pic. Dunkin Donuts for the win!

jpp75

stickguy said:

next time I go (if just 2 of us instead of 4) will get an A class (Polo maybe, or a Fiesta, something that sized) and go crazy and get the manual trans, to see if shifting with my left hand is fun or not!

Great recap of your trip @stickguy. Glad you all had fun. When I drove in England for the first time years ago we had a stick shift (this was 2001 and I can't remember what it was, maybe a Citroen?) anyway I found that shifting manually actually helped me acclimate to driving on the left.

Mr_Shiftright

tifighter said:

He may have overdone it on the Alpina kool-aid after this recent BAT auction for a completely different car.

Seller claims some special and extraordinary rarity, that the car was built on an M5 chassis. That makes it nearly one of one. But still, the price has me shaking my head. I guess if it turned around and sold 2-3 more times at that price, I'd be a believer, but right now I'm calling it "outlier" until further notice.

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5YvY6yFJfhQ

tbirdmarco

@mjfloyd1 nice nice good luck with it.

tbirdmarco

@nyccarguy nice nice how the time flys. thanks for clarifying on with door lock you did replace on the Prayloode.

tbirdmarco

@pensfan83 welcome to the group!

Michaell

graphicguy said:

When I was still shopping, Infiniti had one of the mosh-mash Mercedes mated with Infiniti SUVs sitting in the showroom. Give them credit, it was a nice looking vehicle. But, they didn't do much work on the inside to make you think it was anything but a Mercedes with Infiniti badges.

The QX30 - my daughter wants that for her next car when she gets tired of the MINI.

mjfloyd1

graphicguy said:

mjfloyd1 said:

Loaded up on the trailer and heading home!

That is so cool!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks. Now I'm hoping for dry weather so I can re-learn to drive a 4 speed.

mjfloyd1

xwesx said:

graphicguy said:

That is so cool!!!!!!!!!!

That is about the most succinct way to put it.... ! Congrats on the purchase, @mjfloyd1 !

Thanks

mjfloyd1

js06gv said:

mjfloyd1 said:

Loaded up on the trailer and heading home!

That is a great looking car. Congrats. My father-in-law has a '67 convertible same color as yours with a blue interior. I think you had posted an interior pic awhile back and yours looks to be a shade or two darker; his is a lighter blue. His car has the optional headrests, that after some research he realized only a small percentage of Corvettes were so equipped (I want to say 5-10% but I'm guessing). My father-in-law is a hot rod, former drag racer, etc so he has put a different engine and transmission in. When he bought the car it wasn't numbers matching anyway so had some fun with it.

Thanks. A guy here in Bloomington restomods split window coupes. They sell at auction for $200-300k. Really great paint jobs. Any interior features that you want. Mine has the base 327 with a four speed. No power steering or brakes. No AC. My kids were shocked to see cranks for windows and knobs to twist to lock the doors.

mjfloyd1

Marcothecarguy1986 said:

@mjfloyd1 nice nice good luck with it.

Thanks. How is the TBird holding up?

breld

We were at a car dealership this afternoon to look at a used Mini (more in that later).  These were in the showroom - pretty cool I thought.  

fintail

That 80s one is pretty cool, not many nice ones left anymore. I see those here and there, but with patina.

stickguy

I had a Legacy wagon of that early 90s vintage (the round one). I think it was a 1991. 5 speed, of course. and FWD.

actually, I have owned 2 Subarus. Both of them being FWD versions.

graphicguy

mjfloyd1 said:

graphicguy said:

mjfloyd1 said:

Loaded up on the trailer and heading home!

That is so cool!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks. Now I'm hoping for dry weather so I can re-learn to drive a 4 speed.

Just do some left quad exercises. You'll need them. Sure It'll be like riding a bike.

Mr_Shiftright

If clutch is a bear, you can buy aftermarket kits to make that go away. Power steering install is also doable. Brakes are fine if you have the right linings and you don't fry them. A re-bush underneath for front suspension is well worth the effort. My friend has a '66 with these upgrades and the car is a real pleasure to drive. Also a 327/4-speed.

qbrozen

breld said:

We were at a car dealership this afternoon to look at a used Mini (more in that later).  These were in the showroom - pretty cool I thought.  

I always liked those 2nd gen wagons

28firefighter

Am I the only one wondering what @breld was doing at a car lot?

breld

What do you think I was doing?

The wife has been pining a bit for her departed Mini in the Ice Blue she loved. This came up in a search today so we took a little break from work to check it out.

2012 Mini

Basically a clone of her old one, albeit the "S" model.

28firefighter

You guys bought the clubman new, right?  That's going to hurt a bit, no?

Michaell

28firefighter said:

You guys bought the clubman new, right?  That's going to hurt a bit, no?

I'm guessing this would be an addition to the fleet, not a replacement for the Clubman.

stickguy

That is kind of cool. I might be able to live with one.

fintail

Too bad the dealer didn't have an XT6 or SVX in the showroom.

Speaking of older Legacy models, several years ago, my brother bought a very clean 93 Legacy sedan, the rare turbo/sport model. He was thrilled with it. Within a year, it was stolen, and found demolished. He was devastated, I think it had been his favorite car. Seldom see those for sale that aren't ruined by neglect or idiot prior owners.

roadburner

I remember almost buying a 1980 Subaru GL; they were very well equipped for their market segment and Subaru shamelessly cribbed the rear styling from he E21 3 Series.

breld

28firefighter said:

You guys bought the clubman new, right?  That's going to hurt a bit, no?

Yes and yes. What really hurts is that a local MINI dealer has several Clubman S All4 models for sale, lightly used. My guess is they were service loaners. There are two pretty much identical to the one we bought at a discount off what we paid of at least $5k. Lesson on patience.

Having said that, if my wife really wants this older hardtop, I'm very much encouraging her to just add it to the fleet and keep the Clubman. Unlike myself, she's not a fan of having two cars at her disposal - she likes just having one main car with all her stuff and with all her settings. My point is though that she shouldn't make that commitment right away - we can have the Clubman waiting on the sideline in the event the older hardtop gets...I don't know...more of a chore to drive compared to the comfy new Clubman.

roadburner

Update on the new(to us) Clubman...
The main issues on base Minis of that vintage primarily concern the engine- timing chains/guides/tensioners, oil filter housing gasket/oil pan gasket leaks, and thermostats. The timing chain assembly and the housing/pan gaskets were replaced 7,000 miles ago and the thermostat and oil were changed 700 miles ago(the only reason the car went up for sale is because the owner's grandfather turned in his OL and gave her his fairly new Subaru wagon).
So far it's averaging over 32 mpg and everything on it works perfectly. We probably won't put much over 2,500 miles per year on it so it should serve us well for at least 4-5 years.

breld

Thanks for the update @roadburner.

So given my wife may want the hardtop from that same vintage, any particular concerns or needs at 44k miles? I assume there are additional issues to be aware of with the "S" model.

roadburner

The timing chain assembly is the main issue-t happens sooner on some cars than others and it appears to be more of a problem with the "S" models. The sump only hold 4 quarts and if the oil level drops too much it will accelerate the chain guide wear considerably. Ditto for overly long oil change intervals. There is a 1/2 hour procedure to check for slack in the chain and if it's over 68 mm(IIRC) it means that replacement is called for. There's also a recall for a turbo heat shield. I'd also check for oil leaks.

graphicguy

fintail said:

Too bad the dealer didn't have an XT6 or SVX in the showroom.

Speaking of older Legacy models, several years ago, my brother bought a very clean 93 Legacy sedan, the rare turbo/sport model. He was thrilled with it. Within a year, it was stolen, and found demolished. He was devastated, I think it had been his favorite car. Seldom see those for sale that aren't ruined by neglect or idiot prior owners.

I remember looking at both of those cars. The XT6 was the wedge and the SVX had the little side window within a window. Dealer would not let me test drive the XT6 without a deposit first. Crossed both of my "of interest" list pretty quickly.

I had a girlfriend who had a Subaru Loyale (I think that's what it was called) wagon. Slow as a snail but she loved it. I remember it being pretty gruff, but don't remember her having any sort of issues with it. Spent many a mile taking that wagon on camping trips (given I couldn't afford a Motel 6 back then).

Michaell

Speaking of MINIs, my daughter informs me that hers is due for some sort of service. Had the oil changed last July, and she hasn't put many miles on it, so wondering what it could be.

roadburner

Could be brake fluid or a vehicle inspection. Our Mini is coming due for the brake fluid change and the only thing that the instrument cluster displays is "Service." You have to drill down through a couple of menus to find out what service is called for.

Michaell

roadburner said:

Could be brake fluid or a vehicle inspection. Our Mini is coming due for the brake fluid change and the only thing that the instrument cluster displays is "Service." You have to drill down through a couple of menus to find out what service is called for.

I think the brakes were done just a month or two ago.

No worries - I'll make the appointment and they'll tell me what the deal is. Still under warranty.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, you probably don't want an old SVX. Unobtanium parts, and pricey, and the car's a devil to work on. To give you an idea, the only indy Subaru specialist in Marin County won't work on them and the dealer of course would be clueless on something that old. It would be like owning a Citroen.

tifighter

The XT6 is a rare bird. I will still occasionally see a SVX here and there, but I can't remember seeing one XT6 on the road for a LONG time.

stickguy

I drove an SVX when brand new. My neighbor worked for subaru and had one before they came out. Hot stuff for 1990 or so. Especially compared to my Mazda 323