Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

kyfdx

They sell more $100K Teslas in the US than Fiats.

ab348

qbrozen said:

I think you have greatly overcomplicated stick's thinking. I believe he has 1 option on the table only ...something with 4 wheels and a propulsion system.

Agreed. I think a far shorter list would be one of all those vehicles NOT on stick's list. It could well be a blank page.

qbrozen

I really thought the 500x would do well, but I was wrong. The only thing that keeps me away from one is the awful 9-spd trans.

graphicguy

kyfdx said:

Pretty good seats

Been to Wrigley, Fenway, Candlestick, AT&T Park, Miller Park, "The Jake", Busch Stadium, and Comiskey. Still love Great American Ballpark. Great place to watch a baseball game. Too bad we're in the midst of a rebuild and not very good right now.

Brutal day for heat index, plus the team isn't very good (still love watching Votto and some of the younger up and comers). Team isn't going anywhere, and it was an afternoon game. Still, I thought the crowd would be better. Great seats!

Fact is, the entire division isn't very good. The Cubbies will rise to the top, eventually. But, the Reds, Cards, and Brewers are mediocre or worse.

graphicguy

stickguy said:

here's something different. Checks lots of boxes. small, top goes down (sorta), stick. Low price and low miles. Love the colors. Just not quite sure what my wife would do to me if I showed up at home with it.

http://www.eimports4less.com/detail-2012-fiat-500-certified_500c_pop_convertible-used-16630358.html

Only with an extended warranty. I bet those are expensive on this car, though.

benjaminh

Yes, Fiat like Mini seems known for poor reliability and expensive parts/repairs.

Michaell

graphicguy said:

kyfdx said:

Pretty good seats

Been to Wrigley, Fenway, Candlestick, AT&T Park, Miller Park, "The Jake", Busch Stadium, and Comiskey. Still love Great American Ballpark. Great place to watch a baseball game. Too bad we're in the midst of a rebuild and not very good right now.

Let's see, I've been to ...

Dodger Stadium
Coors Field
Mile High (before Coors Field opened)
Riverfront
Sky Dome in Toronto

Gee, I really thought the list would be longer.

graphicguy

Michaell said:

graphicguy said:

kyfdx said:

Pretty good seats

Been to Wrigley, Fenway, Candlestick, AT&T Park, Miller Park, "The Jake", Busch Stadium, and Comiskey. Still love Great American Ballpark. Great place to watch a baseball game. Too bad we're in the midst of a rebuild and not very good right now.

Let's see, I've been to ...

Dodger Stadium
Coors Field
Mile High (before Coors Field opened)
Riverfront
Sky Dome in Toronto

Gee, I really thought the list would be longer.

Know what? I forgot Riverfront Stadium....home to the 1981 Freezer Bowl Championship Game (Bengals) and arguably one of the best baseball teams of all time, the '75-'76 Big Red Machine!

I went there many times.

Michaell

graphicguy said:

Michaell said:

graphicguy said:

kyfdx said:

Pretty good seats

Been to Wrigley, Fenway, Candlestick, AT&T Park, Miller Park, "The Jake", Busch Stadium, and Comiskey. Still love Great American Ballpark. Great place to watch a baseball game. Too bad we're in the midst of a rebuild and not very good right now.

Let's see, I've been to ...

Dodger Stadium
Coors Field
Mile High (before Coors Field opened)
Riverfront
Sky Dome in Toronto

Gee, I really thought the list would be longer.

Know what? I forgot Riverfront Stadium....home to the 1981 Freezer Bowl Championship Game (Bengals) and arguably one of the best baseball teams of all time, the '75-'76 Big Red Machine!

I went there many times.

The one time I went, I got tickets behind home plate.

stickguy

Daughter and I cooked up a potential new plan. I can lease something nicer that she likes, but couldn't afford for a first car. She gets something really cheap. Then down the line, she can buy out my low miles cream puff off lease. Assuming the residual makes sense, and can get the timing to align!

Mr_Shiftright

stickguy said:

here's something different. Checks lots of boxes. small, top goes down (sorta), stick. Low price and low miles. Love the colors. Just not quite sure what my wife would do to me if I showed up at home with it.

http://www.eimports4less.com/detail-2012-fiat-500-certified_500c_pop_convertible-used-16630358.html

Cute! I wonder how many hundreds of miles it would last?

benjaminh

stickguy said:

Daughter and I cooked up a potential new plan. I can lease something nicer that she likes, but couldn't afford for a first car. She gets something really cheap. Then down the line, she can buy out my low miles cream puff off lease. Assuming the residual makes sense, and can get the timing to align!

It's none of my business, I know, but won't getting something "really cheap" for your daughter sacrifice both safety and reliability? Is there a way to get something that's "good" for both of you?

suydam

benjaminh said:

stickguy said:

Daughter and I cooked up a potential new plan. I can lease something nicer that she likes, but couldn't afford for a first car. She gets something really cheap. Then down the line, she can buy out my low miles cream puff off lease. Assuming the residual makes sense, and can get the timing to align!

It's none of my business, I know, but won't getting something "really cheap" for your daughter sacrifice both safety and reliability? Is there a way to get something that's "good" for both of you?

Not these days. There are a lot of great used cars out there with safety features galore.

andres3

suydam said:

benjaminh said:

stickguy said:

Daughter and I cooked up a potential new plan. I can lease something nicer that she likes, but couldn't afford for a first car. She gets something really cheap. Then down the line, she can buy out my low miles cream puff off lease. Assuming the residual makes sense, and can get the timing to align!

It's none of my business, I know, but won't getting something "really cheap" for your daughter sacrifice both safety and reliability? Is there a way to get something that's "good" for both of you?

Not these days. There are a lot of great used cars out there with safety features galore.

Yes, one of my father's criticisms from his perception of Korean car's on my Kia was that it probably wasn't a safe car. While I'd take my S4 in a head on collision 100 out of 100 times over the lightweight Optima, the car did score 5 stars across the board in every testing agency's rating method for safety.

benjaminh

It depends on what's meant by "really cheap." A c. 5 year old Optima, Sonata, Fusion, Camry etc., is a pretty safe car—although most of these even five years ago scored poorly on the iihs "small offset" crash test. But a 5 year old Optima probably costs maybe 10k or so? I wouldn't call that expensive, but probably not "really cheap." Really cheap to me these days would maybe be a used car that's only $3-5k. My guess is that most cars in that range aren't so hot in terms of being safe and reliable.

xwesx

benjaminh said:

It depends on what's meant by "really cheap." A c. 5 year old Optima, Sonata, Fusion, Camry etc., is a pretty safe car—although most of these even five years ago scored poorly on the iihs "small offset" crash test. But a 5 year old Optima probably costs maybe 10k or so? I wouldn't call that expensive, but probably not "really cheap." Really cheap to me these days would maybe be a used car that's only $3-5k. My guess is that most cars in that range aren't so hot in terms of being safe and reliable.

I managed to find one that fit that bill (cheap AND "safe" AND reliable), but I did have to sacrifice a bit on the aesthetics!

stickguy

well, key here is that it will be her car, on her dime. And (chip off the old block!) when it involves her wallet cracking open, she suddenly becomes much more frugal!

in this case, cheap likely means a basic car on a lease. elantra, Jetta, something that comes in around that $200/month price. Or a few year old car that could be financed in the same range (say, a 2015 model for $12,000 financed over 4 years). Not cheap like a 1991 Aries pouring out blue smoke.

Though while I agree that really cheap might add some reliability risk, not so much safety. Like that 150K mile 2009 Sonata I posted. Might not trust it to break, but it is certainly still modern enough to be safe.

stickguy

anyway, what the Princess will want is something like a TLX. What she wants to pay for is more like a Civic LX. Though if next spring the dealer is desperate to get rid of an ILX, she would be happy to make one of them work!

stickguy

the BMW dealer decided to troll me today. Sent out an email with some zero down lease deals on exec demo/CPO 17s, and some tasty blue with beige or oyster leather 330xis. Very pretty.

28firefighter

stickguy said:

the BMW dealer decided to troll me today. Sent out an email with some zero down lease deals on exec demo/CPO 17s, and some tasty blue with beige or oyster leather 330xis. Very pretty.

What were the monthly payments?  Since security deposits disappeared and they started adjusting the residual differently, they haven't been as attractive. 

kyfdx

Yeah.. local Land Rover dealer put an ad in with the Sunday paper (yes, I still get the paper) about all their Discovery Sport and Evoque loaner/demos. Naturally, the wife spotted it..

ab348

Michaell said:

Let's see, I've been to ...

Dodger Stadium
Coors Field
Mile High (before Coors Field opened)
Riverfront
Sky Dome in Toronto

Gee, I really thought the list would be longer.

I've been to:

Jarry Park
Fenway
Tiger Stadium
Comiskey Park
Riverfront Stadium

Missed out on both Milwaukee and Seattle when I was in town but both teams were on the road. For some reason never went to a Jays game despite several trips to Toronto.

kyfdx

Jarry Park. Going to be hard to beat that

pensfan83

Ballparks I've visited:

Minute Maid Park
Ballpark at Arlington (brutally hot day, don't recommend going to any day games in summer in Texas)
Progressive/Jacobs Field
PNC Park
Citizens Bank Park or Citizens Bank Bandbox as I call it.
Tropicana Field
Turner Field
Miller Park

Ballparks I would like to visit:
Great American
Fenway
Wrigley
Busch
AT&T Park
Dodger Stadium

kyfdx

I've been to:

Riverfront Stadium
Municipal Stadium (for a football game, though)
Great American Ball Park
Wrigley Field
Jacobs Field
PNC Park
Busch Stadium (the old one.. final season)
Petco Park

In another couple months, I'll add Safeco Field.

I had plans for Veterans Stadium in 2001, and Yankee Stadium in 2013, while in town each time, but regretfully didn't attend.

pensfan83

I should add Three Rivers Stadium to my list of past parks. I would have loved to get to old Yankee Stadium but unfortunately it didn't work out. My parents, along with another family, split a full season of 4 seats for close to 15 years. After 2003 when the Pirates were perpetually in the cellar and the novelty of the new ballpark wore off they were dropped. Last year we picked up a 20 game plan and went to all but 3 games I think. We didn't do that this year with traveling league on the schedule.

When my son is a year or two older I would love to plan a West Coast ballpark trip, coinciding with the Pirates if possible.

stickguy

BMW prices? A modestly equipped X1 for $389, and a few 330Xis for $399-$419. Looked like zero down, but 1st and fees (I assume acquisition fee in there), tax/tags, and 10K miles/year for 36 months. Cars had miles in the 4,500 range.

Michaell

stickguy said:

BMW prices? A modestly equipped X1 for $389, and a few 330Xis for $399-$419. Looked like zero down, but 1st and fees (I assume acquisition fee in there), tax/tags, and 10K miles/year for 36 months. Cars had miles in the 4,500 range.

You don't want to lease a loaner with over 5000 miles.

In addition to the .25/mile deduct on the residual, anything over 5K on the clock also has a 4% lower residual.

$400-450/mo on a 3-series is a pretty good price. Under $400 on the X1 is good, too.

stickguy

I don't care what the residual is. I'm not buying it at the end. Just what the payment is.

corvette

I mean, seriously, what kind of redneck thug redneckthug tints their windows this dark?

ab348

@corvette - That's not yours, is it?

corvette

ab348 said:

@corvette - That's not yours, is it?

Maybe.  

I may have also used a filter on the photo to make them look darker. 

benjaminh

stickguy said:

well, key here is that it will be her car, on her dime. And (chip off the old block!) when it involves her wallet cracking open, she suddenly becomes much more frugal!

in this case, cheap likely means a basic car on a lease. elantra, Jetta, something that comes in around that $200/month price. Or a few year old car that could be financed in the same range (say, a 2015 model for $12,000 financed over 4 years). Not cheap like a 1991 Aries pouring out blue smoke.

Though while I agree that really cheap might add some reliability risk, not so much safety. Like that 150K mile 2009 Sonata I posted. Might not trust it to break, but it is certainly still modern enough to be safe.

You can lease a new 2017 Civic now for $169 a month....


2017 Civic Sedan CVT LX Featured Special Lease
$169
Per month for 36 months.
$1,999 total due at signing.
Includes down payment with no security deposit. Excludes taxes, title and either dealer fees or documentary service fee. For well-qualified lessees.

With the $500 "college grad" rebate and Honda's 0.9 financing you could buy this same car for c. $270 a month with 2000 down and the typical discount of c. 2k that's pretty easy to get these days.

I'm sure a new VW Jetta or Elantra would be less expensive.

ab348

Got yet another glossy mailer today from Cadillac congratulating me on my purchase of a new ATS. Man, I'd love to know how the dealer managed to get this through.

Since I got my deposit back I don't really care but there seem to be some pretty big holes in their reporting of sales numbers.

Sandman6472

Drove a newish MB C300 and was pleasantly surprised by how well it drove. Acceleration was outstanding and never felt a shift, all pretty seemless. Liked it better than the CLA 250 I drove yesterday, was more airy and not so closed in for one thing. I can see why MB sells a lot of these because I really couldn't find any fault with it. Unfortunately, brand new would be totally out of my league so used would be the best way to get into one. Ditto with a BMW 320i or 328i, just too pricey new for my pocketbook but used would definitely work.
The more I read about Mini's unreliability, the less I want to pursue one but hoping this new generation Countryman will be much better in this respect. It's size is dead on perfect for me, well for as long as we stay in our current home. Looks to be fun to toss around on the highway to. But again, price could be a factor here. The LR Evoque was also outstanding to drive but again, super expensive to buy and probably to maintain. But not sure I want to settle next time around either!

The Sandman

Michaell

My buddy's Lemons car...

tbirdmarco

@benjaminh yes fiat is doomed they did try to make an cumback totle fail!

tbirdmarco

@ab348 wow yes sum big holes in sails reporting that is for shore!

tbirdmarco

@Michaell nice car your buddy has!

tbirdmarco

@corvette wow that is so dark evan I could see that in that nice nice clos up pick is that your truck?

tbirdmarco

@sandman_6472 would not settle! but the cars that intrest you are nice! just bit mor complex and higher caust to mantane! but get what you like! only live once!

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mPm6oeR5NUE

corvette

Marcothecarguy1986 said:

@corvette wow that is so dark evan I could see that in that nice nice clos up pick is that your truck?

Yeah, it is. I just told them to make the fronts match the factory tint on the rear. They made me pay in cash since it's tinted beyond the legal limits here. From the inside, the front windows actually look darker than the rears, but they look identical from the outside. First car I've ever paid to have tinted.

qbrozen

Michaell said:

My buddy's Lemons car...

What year and model? Seems a waste.

stickguy

this was a 3 series I liked. My daughter said to get it, and she would be happy to buy it from me in a few years.

https://www.bmwofturnersville.com/detail-2017-bmw-3_series-330i_xdrive-used-15972373.html

corvette

Gorgeous color combo! But $45k is out of my price range!

28firefighter

stickguy said:

this was a 3 series I liked. My daughter said to get it, and she would be happy to buy it from me in a few years. https://www.bmwofturnersville.com/detail-2017-bmw-3_series-330i_xdrive-used-15972373.html

Pretty car!

Michaell

qbrozen said:

Michaell said:

My buddy's Lemons car...

What year and model? Seems a waste.

'87 535is, I'm told

qbrozen

Michaell said:

Michaell said:

My buddy's Lemons car...

What year and model? Seems a waste.

'87 535is, I'm told

Ugh. DEFINITELY a waste!

corvette

Is it bad that I'm already looking for a "weekend" car to buy after I sell the Murano? I was thinking something like a (used) hardtop Vette or 370z. The SLK55 AMG interests me, also, but I'm scared of owning another European car in the age range I would be looking at. It doesn't have to be practical at all since I have the Tahoe as my daily, so no need for a back seat like a Mustang, Camaro, or Challenger would have. Any thoughts? I'd like to keep the budget between $10k-$20k.