Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

qbrozen

I'm a bit surprised at an "is" without sport seats.

stickguy

I was too.

stickguy

Up here, great car to look at in November. RWD convertible in winter in the NE? Sale proof.

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

I was too.

Me 3

kyfdx

qbrozen said:

I'm a bit surprised at an "is" without sport seats.

Not an iS, that I can see. I know that's how they have it listed.

135i coupes are probably 90-95% M-Sport package cars. Not sure of the take rate on convertibles, but it's probably a little less.

andres3

tjc78 said:

It seems like every other release is good. 

95 - Good
98 - didn't support USB that well 
98SE - Good
ME - train wreck 
XP - so good people still use it 
Vista - Ugh
7 - Good
8 - no one "got it"
10 - Good 

So why'd they skip Windows 9?

stickguy

I don't even know why the stopped with names and just assigned numbers, to get started at 7.

andres3

28firefighter said:

corvette said:

28ff, you nailed it with your impression of the DSG. In addition to making it easier to kick down, VW/Audi's "sport" mode seems to almost always keep the transmission one gear lower than it would otherwise be in, which is too aggressive for everyday driving.

Ideally it would have a middle mode that makes it easier and faster to kick down (because we know it's capable) without holding a gear lower than necessary and without locking out 6th gear. 

I think you can get 6th/top gear in S mode, but you'll have to go over 100 MPH

"Too aggressive" when it comes to a transmission isn't in my vocabulary, but I agree it is a bit much for everyday driving. It really isn't a mode for daily driver, but for fun back country canyon roads and the track. I will agree that "D" mode has gotten too smooth (slippy) and lazy. They could take some of the docile-ness out of D, but leave my S mode alone (madman mode I've called it before!). 3 modes is a good idea; just like VW's adjustable suspension in the Golf R.

breld

Speaking of VWs, forgot that when my wife and I were browsing a couple weekends ago, a VW Alltrack caught her eye with a manual trannie. She made the comment that an AWD manual wagon may be a very attractive option for her in the future.

I'm impressed that VW offers it, and even more impressed that there was actually one existing on the lot. This was the "S" model, but I do believe they offer it in the "SE" model too.

andres3

breld said:

Speaking of VWs, forgot that when my wife and I were browsing a couple weekends ago, a VW Alltrack caught her eye with a manual trannie. She made the comment that an AWD manual wagon may be a very attractive option for her in the future.

I'm impressed that VW offers it, and even more impressed that there was actually one existing on the lot. This was the "S" model, but I do believe they offer it in the "SE" model too.

I was tempted by the manual tranny diesel TDI Sportwagon before the TDI scandal.

ab348

tjc78 said:

It seems like every other release is good. 

95 - Good
98 - didn't support USB that well 
98SE - Good
ME - train wreck 
XP - so good people still use it 
Vista - Ugh
7 - Good
8 - no one "got it"
10 - Good 

I had 95 on a bunch of machines back when when I was in charge of IT for my department. What a disaster that was early on. I remember getting a new laptop, trying to go through the setup of 95 that was preinstalled, and having it go into an endless loop of some sort that even prevented you from turning it off. I had to unplug it, then open it up and pop out the battery to get it to stop, then try again. That early version was the king of the reinstall & reboot.

I had a later version of 95 on a machine here at home that was usable for a while. Then I upgraded to one with Windows 2000 that was better but still pretty user-unfriendly. A later machine had XP which wasn't bad. Then I got one of the last Win7 machines that Dell was selling and that OS was great. Now I have 2 here with Win10 on them and I do not like it nearly as much as 7. It seems more complex for no real reason yet parts also seem very dumbed-down. The worst of both worlds.

Yesterday I got a notice that a major upgrade was due and that it "would take a while" with several reboots in the process, so they let me defer it until a time I picked. That was last night just before bedtime. It began and I watched it churn for an hour or so before I turned in, and it was at 30% complete. This morning I started it up and it still took another half-hour before it was ready to go. This is the "Creator's Edition" which from what I can see adds absolutely nothing useful for me.

If not for security and update concerns, I would be quite happy to use Windows 7 forever.

stickguy

At work we are still on win 7 enterprise. And only moved off something older(XP?) not long ago at the last possible time

kyfdx

When I retired, last year... we were still on Windows XP.

rayainsw

My IT experience, typically as Director - at several Companies
goes all the way back to MS-DOS.
- Ray
Really, really old...

corvette

We had XP when I started working here three years ago. They upgraded to Windows 8.1 machines and did the Windows 10 update. Much better now! 

corvette

Sync oddities I have noticed so far:
1. Every time you start the car and the phone pairs via BT, you get an audible warning that 911 Assist is turned off. You can turn off the audible warning, but your music still pauses and you get a visual warning on the radio display. 
2. Every time it connects to my phone, it changes the music playback setting from "repeat one song" to just "repeat." Easy to work around since there are track controls on the steering wheel, but annoying. I usually want to hear my favorite song several times in a row! 

xwesx

I thought XP was a great OS, and was hesitant about moving to Win 7. However, I never liked the XP interface, and always put my Start Menu to "classic" on those machines. Once I used Win7, I was glad to give XP the boot. It also had a much more intuitive Start Menu interface than XP, so it was not difficult for me to get used to it (after more than decade of using the classic interface).

Win 10 seems to work well enough, but I cannot say I like it better than 7.

ab348

xwesx said:

I thought XP was a great OS, and was hesitant about moving to Win 7. However, I never liked the XP interface, and always put my Start Menu to "classic" on those machines. Once I used Win7, I was glad to give XP the boot. It also had a much more intuitive Start Menu interface than XP, so it was not difficult for me to get used to it (after more than decade of using the classic interface).

Win 10 seems to work well enough, but I cannot say I like it better than 7.

The Win7 interface was so popular that when Win8 came out with its awful new interface, a third-party program that mimicked the Win7 look was very popular.

I can't remember now what the XP interface was like.

I'm like you in terms of Win10. It seems to mostly work but I don't like it very much.

cdnpinhead

I'll see your MS-DOS and raise you a FORTRAN IV. I still have a slide rule in my desk at work (not that I use it anymore).

Michaell

cdnpinhead said:

I'll see your MS-DOS and raise you a FORTRAN IV. I still have a slide rule in my desk at work (not that I use it anymore).

Somewhere I've got my old IBM flowchart templates:

thebean

cdnpinhead said:

I'll see your MS-DOS and raise you a FORTRAN IV. I still have a slide rule in my desk at work (not that I use it anymore).

If you even know how to use a slide rule, you're way ahead of me. I used one for about a month in college in the early 70's, but soon got a Bowmar Brain calculator and never looked back.

andres3

If you can get your hands on a Karma, (no longer Fisker-Karma) new vehicle, you'll be treated to a graphically depicted negative disapproving "finger wagging" when you go over 85 MPH. Now this might only be on the company "loaner" vehicle to Karma employees, but I thought that it was both funny and sad. Sort of like the Honda green leaf concept taken to another level.

ab348

I have both a slide rule and those flowchart templates. The latter were very coveted back in the early '80s.

When I was in university in the '70s we had to take some kind of computer science course in the business program, and it was a FORTRAN programming course. All that really taught me was that I was not cut out to be a programmer.

My first job, though, had me learn RPGII followed a few years later at job #2 by MAPPER. Hated them both.

breld

Couple updates on the Type R - nothing too interesting, but I am buzzing with anticipation, so figured I'd share.

Funds were wired today to the dealership and I noticed the listing was taken off, so that makes me happy.

Just arranged for shipping of the vehicle - hopefully they can pick it up on Friday when it's supposed to be ready (they need to install a few accessories). I went with the enclosed option for an extra $250.

Took the GTI to Carmax (cross post from RWTIV) and was very pleased with their offer, which is a first after a handful of quotes from them on other cars. They quoted $22,000, though @kyfdx has right of first refusal.

So, a 12% loss from buying brand new about four months ago. I've done a lot worse.

Here's what I don't get - Carmax must think they can sell the car for around $25k, maybe a bit higher, to make that offer, right? But unless the market has changed significantly since I bought it, one can walk into a VW dealership and buy a brand new one for $25k:

2017 VW GTI Sport

Now, this dealership is notorious for not being transparent and having fees and other add-ons, but the fact of the matter is I paid $25k for mine, with a little bit of negotiation.

Here's the only thing I can think of - there are enough uneducated buyers out there who see the $29k MSRP on the vehicle, and assume the $25k from Carmax for a slightly used one is a good deal.

Michaell

breld said:

Couple updates on the Type R - nothing too interesting, but I am buzzing with anticipation, so figured I'd share.

Funds were wired today to the dealership and I noticed the listing was taken off, so that makes me happy.

Just arranged for shipping of the vehicle - hopefully they can pick it up on Friday when it's supposed to be ready (they need to install a few accessories). I went with the enclosed option for an extra $250.

Took the GTI to Carmax (cross post from RWTIV) and was very pleased with their offer, which is a first after a handful of quotes from them on other cars. They quoted $22,000, though @kyfdx has right of first refusal.

So, a 12% loss from buying brand new about four months ago. I've done a lot worse.

Here's what I don't get - Carmax must think they can sell the car for around $25k, maybe a bit higher, to make that offer, right? But unless the market has changed significantly since I bought it, one can walk into a VW dealership and buy a brand new one for $25k:

2017 VW GTI Sport

Now, this dealership is notorious for not being transparent and having fees and other add-ons, but the fact of the matter is I paid $25k for mine, with a little bit of negotiation.

Here's the only thing I can think of - there are enough uneducated buyers out there who see the $29k MSRP on the vehicle, and assume the $25k from Carmax for a slightly used one is a good deal.

I think that last statement is it, in a nutshell. GTI's, while coveted, are not all that rare, so getting a dealer to come off of MSRP ought not to be too hard.

Be interesting to see where they price it.

28firefighter

Man. I need to take mine to CarMax. One year older, 7800 miles, otherwise great shape and similar options.

tifighter

28firefighter said:

Man. I need to take mine to CarMax. One year older, 7800 miles, otherwise great shape and similar options.

Lynnwood and Puyallup are nice this time of year...

tifighter

So a friend of mine just sent me a photo of his new ride - a 2010 Bentley GT Convertible. Light blue with a dark blue top. W12 motor. Makes my nerves over a 996 seem pretty overblown...

stickguy

Breld, the sport is the model with some decent goodies on it, but cloth seats and no moonroof? I like the cloth seat parts. $22K sounds like a pretty good deal to buy it, if you want one like that. Ky should be buying his Frontier airlines ticket right now.

rayainsw

Fortran IV:
I learned to program in Fortran, and that was my job for a few years -
on a CDC Mainframe.
- Ray
My first 'personal computer' ...

tbirdmarco

@graphicguy glad the mustang whent to an new good home! wow sumone took the embalams after the guy got it! crazy

tbirdmarco

@breld to punches! this munth perhaps! tell the wife to go for it!!

tbirdmarco

@graphicguy glad the mustang whent to an new good home! wow sumone took the embalams after the guy got it! crazy

tbirdmarco

breld nice so you should have the new car next week nice nice vw is gon!

tjc78

One for the BMW fans 
https://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/d/2002-bmw-525-e39-dinan-sport/6264498775.html

stickguy

kinda like the car. hate the wheels. Would not touch it off this ad though. V6, but at least new Breaks.

28firefighter

@kyfdx is suspiciously quiet. 

Sandman6472

"Breaks"!! What can I add here? "Breaks"!!!

The Sandman

stickguy

his bluff got called. He went into the bunker.

tbirdmarco

@tjc78 nice beamer posted above would I tuch it no miles to high!

Michaell

I think @kyfdx and @breld are negotiating off line.

Either a deal will be struck, or not. We'll know eventually.

stickguy

maybe I should try harder to convince the wife to upgrade her car instead of mine. We are taking the princess back to college this week, so all the junk for her is now piling up in the living room. I think we have the RDX stuffed to the roof, and the jetta pretty well maxed out too. and that does not even take into account all the odds and ends my wife will insist on pulling out to take also.

should have gotten the towing equipment, because she needs furniture too, so have to get that down in NC, renting a Uhaul Friday to run around and pick stuff up.

corvette

It's funny. People wax nostalgic about when they were young enough that they could fit everything they owned (or everything important they owned) in their car. I'm not a packrat, but I don't think I've ever been able to to do that!

roadburner

tjc78 said:

One for the BMW fans 
https://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/d/2002-bmw-525-e39-dinan-sport/6264498775.html

I would never buy a car from a brain-dead moron who can't spell AND thinks his BMW has a V6.
Imbecile.

28firefighter

corvette said:

It's funny. People wax nostalgic about when they were young enough that they could fit everything they owned (or everything important they owned) in their car. I'm not a packrat, but I don't think I've ever been able to to do that!

Me either. Maybe my freshman year of college when my Dad pulled up to the curb in front of the Towers on Pitt's campus and I came out with my stuff in 5 trash bags and one duffel bag. 

kyfdx

I haven't been hiding.

We didn't have any issues with agreeing to a price. The timing is just not right, having leased the Tacoma in June. Still trying to dump the M3, and before the Tacoma, my E46 would have gone to my son... but, now he has the Tacoma, so that would be two old BMWs to try to sell.

Plus, I got a dose of reality, once I realized that my wife is putting 16K-18K/yr on her 2011 X3. That needs replacing soon, and she isn't going to drive a RAV4, I don't think.

Strangely enough, I got ZERO pushback from her on getting the GTI. The other thing that hit home. I really love my current car. Even though it has 109K miles, I'm only driving it 500 miles/month. Another two years is not out of the question. Seriously, if this had been June 15th, instead of August 15th, I'd probably have my plane ticket booked. Found out Delta has a non-stop with better times for just $113 one-way.

It's good news that @breld got a big offer from CarMax, though. That's an easy transaction.

kyfdx

Of course, I feel terrible about not adding another punch. But, I did one already this year, and one last year, as well...

corvette

kyfdx said:

Found out Delta has a non-stop with better times for just $113 one-way.

Dang, that is a lot cheaper than flying out of SDF. I will have to keep that in mind when I decide to go to Denver / Colorado Springs again!

suydam

If you're just limited to what you can fit in a car you will find a way. I managed it and all my kids did too.

breld

Yeah - it was a pleasure chatting it up with @kyfdx a bit. It's a good decision - I would have been happy selling him the GTI for the same offer from Carmax, but with the timing not quite right, it's not such a great deal over a new one.

And keeping the ZHP as long as you still enjoy it is definitely a good decision. There will always be GTIs out there - certainly not the case with the ZHP.

I did kindly suggest the ZHP could be partial payment toward the GTI.