Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

tbirdmarco

@corvette nice nice! I would to the same with the windo tints to! just like the ones on the back!

tbirdmarco

@corvette no not an bad thing you want an weekand toy after you do sell the marano! the cars you did menchian above sound good! love the yorepen cars but the mor complexity of them than most cars are already and how expencave the parts are would probably personally keep me away from them. would only leese an new one one under worintee! just my two sence! have an grate day man so nice outside to hot hear to go outside and do anything tho have no trees! hear alwas derect sun light hitting you!

tbirdmarco

@corvette Hyundai Jennises Honda S2000 like the 370z the 350z to love those when the first came out in the day remember going to the dealer and siting in one and this was back in 2003 was an kid than wanted one than!

tbirdmarco

@corvette Toyota Salara! vet does sound good to! so menny choices! have to think of mor!

kyfdx

corvette said:

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.

I like the idea of a C5 Corvette. (C6, but I don't think it will fit your budget)

qbrozen

corvette said:

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.

I am definitely partial to the 370z. Probably the most reliable choice and a good deal of bang for your buck. Your current list mirrors mine for a fun 2-seater. For a tad bit more practicality, maybe add a camaro SS

iluvmysephia1

Here you go, corvette. I wouldn't mind one of these.

ab348

corvette said:

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.

Now that the weather is good here I'm noticing a number of Pontiac Solistice and Saturn Sky convertibles running around town. Dunno if they would fit you but they are neat-looking little cars.

corvette

ab348 said:

Now that the weather is good here I'm noticing a number of Pontiac Solistice and Saturn Sky convertibles running around town. Dunno if they would fit you but they are neat-looking little cars.

I'd prefer the coupe, and the GXP or redline (supercharged) version, whatever it's called. Those are more rare.

Got to live vicariously a little today, as Mom and Dad came up and took me along for some of their dealer visits, as Mom is looking for an S80 replacement (they are supposed to sell it next week). She has not decided between a sedan and CUV, which muddies the waters quite a bit. They went to the Audi/Jag/Land Rover store before they picked me up, so I can't comment as to those, but here are my impressions of the cars we did see. We just sat in a bunch of cars so she could get a feel for what's available and didn't take any test drives.

Volvo XC60 - nice, but she felt it was a little small. I didn't get that impression. Paint was a beautiful color but had terrible orange peel.

Honda CR-V - we sat in an EX-L and the salesman gave an overview of the infotainment system and controls. It was okay, probably a good value at $30k-ish. Paint was nicer than the $45k Volvo. The interior really drove me nuts. Some parts were nice and had a "luxury" feel, others looked too rough for a farm truck. The surrounds around the power window switches and the areas of the center console that stick out where your knee might rub were particularly awful. Salesman knew it had memory seats but didn't know whether the mirror settings were also memorized. She hated the seats in the Accord and loved the ones in the Pilot (but felt the Pilot was too big for her).

BMW X3, X5 - the X3 felt too small (from the outside, it's always looked narrow to me) and the X5 was too big. There was a 440i GT M-sport in the showroom with a gorgeous color combo, but that's too low to the ground for her.

Infiniti QX30 - this one is the Mercedes clone. It resembles an Infiniti from the outside. The interior is a dead giveaway that it's a Benz. Stalks on the steering wheel, power window switches, seat controls, and even the keyfob are obviously from Mercedes. It's very nice but felt a little cramped inside, like my ex's Ford Escape.

Infiniti QX50 - this one felt "just right" to her in terms of size. Very nice interior, and a lot of things that remind me of the good qualities of my Murano, but appears to ride lower.

Acura RDX - "right sized," this one may also be in the running.

Acura TLX - she liked this one, as well.

Lexus NX200 - they had a base model with no sunroof on the floor. Other than the sparse equipment level, she liked the size and feel of this one. Driver aids appear to be optional and the salesman said it is rare to find one optioned that way, so it's probably less safe than the CR-V.

Lexus RX350 - she liked this also. The one on the showroom floor had running boards, which are completely unnecessary and made it harder to get into and out of. I think driver aids are standard on this model.

I told Mom I'd make her a good offer on my Murano, but she drove it and felt it was too big. I pointed out that it's the same length as the S80 and only two inches wider, but she was hearing none of it.

On another note, the Infiniti dealer gets a gold star for having a super-cute and super-friendly receptionist. "Excuse me, miss, can I get your business card? No, not our salesman's card..."

qbrozen

Odd that she thought the xc60 too small but qx50 was OK. Qx50 is the continuation of my ex35, right? That is WAY smaller than the XC60. Both were in the top 3 for me at that time (along with the Terrain).

corvette

I thought the QX50 looked and felt about the same size as my Murano.

She's all over the map. It's extremely frustrating because I'm more of a "science person" and she is basing all of her opinions on how large she perceives the vehicle to be when she sits in it and not the actual dimensions. But, if she feels like the vehicle is too large when she sits in it, she's not going to be happy with it, so I can't tell her to ignore her feelings there.

I think she'd be fine driving my Tahoe if the interior made it feel like a small or mid-sized car.

tifighter

ab348 said:

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.

Now that the weather is good here I'm noticing a number of Pontiac Solistice and Saturn Sky convertibles running around town. Dunno if they would fit you but they are neat-looking little cars.

I'm convertible shopping too. I always thought the Solstice was a nice looking car, but it has no storage at all. It makes the Miata look like a cargo van.

tbirdmarco

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/706171636/overview/

ab348

tifighter said:

I'm convertible shopping too. I always thought the Solstice was a nice looking car, but it has no storage at all. It makes the Miata look like a cargo van.

I actually liked the Sky a bit better but they are neat-looking little cars. You're right though about cargo. I looked in the trunk and I think you could get a box of spaghetti in there, but only if it was cooked first.

tbirdmarco

@corvette nice nice did injoy reading about you going with your parrants to do sum car looking with your mom. I no lots of choices! alwas have bin lol lol. would have your mom now test drive the few cars you did menchean above to see if after test driving them she still does like them! maby have her look at an new equnicks not shore if the new tarane is out yet any day now! also the Roge or maby let her try the current Marano have to think of others!. O Hyundai Santafy and KIa serento and HUndai tooson! and Kia sportage to! miny countryman fiat 500x jeep chericky and grand chericky also the jeep cumpas the new one is out now have not had an chance to look at it yet will take mom my selfe soon to look at one. she likes the picks of it! also jeep renegade! aunt has one bin in it an few times drives good with that 9 speed trans not as bad as you might think with all of those gears. that is an clone of the fiat 500x

tbirdmarco

@corvette o and forgot nice on the girl at the counter being super cute and friendly love that combo in an woman lol lol.

tbirdmarco

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/707601411/overview/

tbirdmarco

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/708002104/overview/

tbirdmarco

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/705832563/overview/

qbrozen

Not really feelin any of those. The first one needs a good bit of money to undo what has been done to it. I guess maybe someone would buy those wheels and offset some cost. Number 2 is a color that was called Brickyard, and I'm not sure why he doesn't know that since he seems to know it is fairly rare. No interior pics and the lousy tinted lights are red flags for me. #3 is an awful color combo, IMHO.

The Brickyard over white was a sharp color combo. I'm definitely partial to the Burnt Orange, though. Mine was the Diamond Graphite (dark silver...I think I got the official name right, IIRC) with Burnt Orange interior. That was quite a sharp combo.

Michaell

My buddy who is running the Lemons race in Chicago finished 8th after today's racing. Have some wheel bearing issues they hope to sort out before racing resumes tomorrow.

tbirdmarco

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/697841585/overview/

tbirdmarco

@Michaell hope he gets it all sorted out and finishes ferther down the list tomero! I would take 8th place any time! not bad at all!

tbirdmarco

@qbrozen I no hear you on all of those cars only the blue one did intrest me those others not so much lol. was not crazy about the moded one lol lol

qbrozen

 https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/707095147/overview?aff=share_other

corvette

Nic find, qb, I dig that Z06, other than the wheels. Seems like a lot of those have really low miles and fetch a premium price. I'm not sure of the specific concerns with those or Corvettes in general, but I seem to recall that the Z06 was designed to be uncomplicated mechanically and not difficult to maintain.  

roadburner

qbrozen said:

Michaell said:

qbrozen said:

Michaell said:

My buddy's Lemons car...

What year and model? Seems a waste.

'87 535is, I'm told

Ugh. DEFINITELY a waste!

Agreed, my 1987 535is was one of my favorite Bimmers. The first week I had it some doofus in a 1970 396 Chevelle wanted to challenge me at a Stoplight Grand Prix- I beat him by two car lengths. Must have been a 325 hp rat motor- and a sick one at that...

roadburner

Here's a shot of the 5er from 1990- next to a friend's E30 M3:

Michaell

roadburner said:

qbrozen said:

Michaell said:

qbrozen said:

Michaell said:

My buddy's Lemons car...

What year and model? Seems a waste.

'87 535is, I'm told

Ugh. DEFINITELY a waste!

Agreed, my 1987 535is was one of my favorite Bimmers. The first week I had it some doofus in a 1970 396 Chevelle wanted to challenge me at a Stoplight Grand Prix- I beat him by two car lengths. Must have been a 325 hp rat motor- and a sick one at that...

I'll try to find out the provenance of the BMW.

tbirdmarco

@qbrozen nice vet you posted above! how are things going with the Corenette? have you had any time to work on it an bit mor!

tbirdmarco

@roadburner nice beamers! found my selfe yesterday afternoon looking on cars.com looking at used 3searies a lot of lo mile cars on there 2017 2016 did not look mor than the first page must be an lot of loner cars with an few thousen miles only on them!

corvette

Hmm, considering the age of a lot of the Corvettes in that price range, you can get a much newer Mustang GT or Camaro SS. Those are more likely to have been used as a daily driver and otherwise beat up on, but still, similar performance for the money. There's also the image problem those cars have, but I can't really say much there since I've owned BMWs.

corvette

So, the 2011 and newer Mustang GTs (with the 5.0 engine) are capturing my attention. qb, didn't you own one? Any thoughts? 

28firefighter

My Dad had a 2012 in black over saddle with the Brembo package. His biggest complaint was the transmission (he had the stick) and that it was simply too big in corners. 

corvette

What didn't he like about the transmission? The reviews seem to like the manual and that's what I was gravitating towards. 

roadburner

Marcothecarguy1986 said:

@roadburner nice beamers! found my selfe yesterday afternoon looking on cars.com looking at used 3searies a lot of lo mile cars on there 2017 2016 did not look mor than the first page must be an lot of loner cars with an few thousen miles only on them!

We flip most of our loaners as Certified Pre- Owned Cars. I think we have around 60 cars in our loaner fleet at any one time.

roadburner

corvette said:

So, the 2011 and newer Mustang GTs (with the 5.0 engine) are capturing my attention. qb, didn't you own one? Any thoughts? 

I researched buying one; the MT is the weak spot.

roadburner

corvette said:

What didn't he like about the transmission? The reviews seem to like the manual and that's what I was gravitating towards. 

From Americanmuscle.com:

2011 brought the new 5.0L Coyote Mustang to the market, as well as a new 6-speed manual transmission, the Getrag MT-82. Unfortunately, response to the MT-82 was not all that great. Hard shifting, missed shifts, screws backing out, weird clutch feel – these are all problems that plagued the MT-82 upon first arrival. It got to the point where the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stepped in and opened an investigation into the matter (which they later dropped). It definitely was not the response from the public that Ford was after.

28firefighter

His biggest complaint was missed shifts as well. He said he constantly went from first to fourth because it felt like the car wouldn't let him into second. 

corvette

That is disappointing... I had planned on a manual since it wouldn't be a daily driver. Is the slushbox decent?

tifighter

On the Mustang forums, a lot of people prefer the automatic, surprisingly. I've driven a GT auto and it seemed fine to me. Don't expect paddle shifters though.

Michaell

tifighter said:

On the Mustang forums, a lot of people prefer the automatic, surprisingly. I've driven a GT auto and it seemed fine to me. Don't expect paddle shifters though.

I would think that with 400+ HP, the transmission choice isn't as important.

qbrozen

Mine was a 2014 with the manual. I never once missed a shift; however, the clutch felt like that from a truck and it once did a weird thing (which I have since seen other reports of) where the clutch pedal did not return to the up position until I let off the gas. This happened when leaving a toll booth and attempting to drop in 2nd while rolling at maybe 15-20 mph. 

IMHO, the Coyote lacks low end grunt typically found in burly American v8s. Sounds great, though.

corvette

This looks suspiciously cheap:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/697336593/overview/

kyfdx

corvette said:

This looks suspiciously cheap:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/697336593/overview/

Paducah is a long trip

corvette

kyfdx said:

corvette said:

This looks suspiciously cheap:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/697336593/overview/

Paducah is a long trip

Longer for you than for me!

ab348

corvette said:

This looks suspiciously cheap:
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/697336593/overview/

Cloth seats. I thought the Premium model had leather?

corvette

I think it's cheap, even for a base model.

corvette

Giving credit where credit is due, Mom did finally go and look up the specs of the models she looked at, and was surprised that the XC60 was actually slightly larger than the Q5. There are not many Q5s available. She said if she could have the XC60's really nice interior with the Audi's navy blue paint job, that would be perfect!

tbirdmarco

@corvette like that hole jenaration of Mustang from 2005 until 2014!