Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

sda

fintail said:

My grandpa bought a Newport new in 65. My uncle still mentions about how good of a car it was - red, with a 383. He ended up falling for the fuselage design, and traded it on a green Newport HT, which he had for several years, but wasn't as good. I've posted some pics of it in the past, but can't locate them here.

ab348 said:

I am of the belief that the '65/'66 big Chryslers were that company's high-water mark in terms of engineering and quality (not that Chrysler was ever really known for the latter). They are built like tanks and good-looking inside and out. If I had the space to keep one I'd likely own one.

I liked the '65s as most had neat glass covers over the headlights. For a while some of the New Yorkers had clear covers over the tail lights as well. It was a unique look.

tjc78

ab348 said:

It's due back March 1st.   I'm not upset, it was more of an exercise than anything.  In all reality it's probably a mixed blessing... I've never bought back to back same cars and why start now!  

Well actually I did, but it was a total redesign (03 to 06 Avalon).  

Isn't there supposed to be an all-new Enclave out by then?

This fall... wife loves the current model so I thought if the dealer would play ball I'd be in.  

fintail

Here we go, my grandpa, the avid fisherman, with the Newport. The boat on the roof was a frequent sight:

cdnpinhead

Good times -- nice to see pictures like this.

carnaught

I like that salmon color

breld

So, picked up the GLC earlier this afternoon.  Everything went fine, from flying down to Dallas, Ubering to the dealership, and then driving it about halfway home (in Amarillo now).  

The car did have 1,200 more miles than what was listed - apparently the sales manager liked it quite a bit.  Mildly annoying, but shame on me for not confirming the miles before the purchase (not that it would have changed anything).  

The GLC is really impressive.  The engine is comparable to the ones offered by BMW and Audi, and the 9 speed auto is super smooth.  

From the drivers perspective, it really feels like a wagon (which I know it more or less is) - just doesn't feel that upright like an SUV.  And that's a compliment.  The proportions from the outside are very handsome.  

That sound system is pretty awesome.  I wouldn't consider myself an audiophile, but I do recognize good clean sound.  

Another 400 miles to go tomorrow.  More impressions to come.  

cdnpinhead

Yay -- a road trip. Enjoy!

breld

My doubles partner (tennis) has an old Galaxy convertible - '68 I think he said.  

Not the prettiest thing, but he's had it since he was 16, handed down to him from his Dad.  Now his kids have fun being driven around in it.

 That's pretty cool.  

fintail

Cool to see that you like the GLC, breld. If I had to choose a relatively reasonably priced MB CUV/SUV, that would be the one. I can just imagine it with that 9-speed and the 2.1 turbodiesel too, that would be most ideal. It has the most pleasant car-like styling, and seems to be a reasonable size.

I saw a young woman driving a 68 Galaxie convertible in my area the other day. Looked like a decent survivor, sans hubcaps.

breld

I happened to wake up really early in my hotel in Amarillo, so I figured, why not get an early start?  

So, left the hotel a bit after 4:00 am  which actually made that first half really easy, and I was back at my house a little after 9:00 am.  Plenty of time to wash all the nasty bugs off the car.  

IMG_4113.JPG

breld

Apparently, gray is our new color of choice!

breld

Happened to have woken up really early this morning in Amarillo, so figured may as well get on the road.  Left around 4:15 am and got home in Denver a bit after 9:00.  Made the first stretch through Texas really easy with no traffic.  And tested out the LED lighting in the GLC, which were amazing - thanks @fintail for pointing out that option.  They lit up those Texas highways nicely!  

And...was able to wash all those nasty bugs off the Mercedes. 

28firefighter

All hail @breld!  Congrats!

nyccarguy

Welcome home @breld!  Glad the trip went smooth!  The GLC is sharp looking.  MBs with the lighting package look proper.  Enjoy!

fintail

Looking sharp. You won't regret the lighting package, it is one of those rare things that looks cool, is fun, and is also functional. Always a necessity when I am looking at cars. If I am buying a premium car, I want toys.

breld said:

Happened to have woken up really early this morning in Amarillo, so figured may as well get on the road.  Left around 4:15 am and got home in Denver a bit after 9:00.  Made the first stretch through Texas really easy with no traffic.  And tested out the LED lighting in the GLC, which were amazing - thanks @fintail for pointing out that option.  They lit up those Texas highways nicely!  

And...was able to wash all those nasty bugs off the Mercedes. 

stickguy

Maybe I should just spend this range of money, and get something like this? Gotta have lots of life yet. Not much financial downside.

http://www.royaleasing.com/detail-2012-toyota-camry-4dr_sedan_i4_automatic_se-used-16591488.html

tjc78

If that was a V6 I'd almost say not a bad idea... my mom had an 09 SE 4cyl... looked the part but so slow.   

ab348

stickguy said:

Maybe I should just spend this range of money, and get something like this? Gotta have lots of life yet. Not much financial downside.

http://www.royaleasing.com/detail-2012-toyota-camry-4dr_sedan_i4_automatic_se-used-16591488.html

I did something similar here the other day, looking at a large used-car site locally to see what I could get for under $20K. The site I visited must have a lot of rental car returns as they had a slew of Camrys, Altimas and the like, all 2016 or 2017 models, all of them with 12000 to 20000 miles. Pretty much the only difference was paint color. Unfortunately they were all equipped like you would expect in a rental car with none having any extra toys and all of them with base-level powerplants.

tjc78

@breld
Looking good.  I'm growing very fond of Charcoal grey cars lately too.

suydam

Try to find one in a parking lot.

benjaminh

stickguy said:

Maybe I should just spend this range of money, and get something like this? Gotta have lots of life yet. Not much financial downside.

http://www.royaleasing.com/detail-2012-toyota-camry-4dr_sedan_i4_automatic_se-used-16591488.html

Yikes. A used Camry with 86,000 miles. I hope you can do better than that....It probably does have a lot of life in it, which just means you have to live with it that much longer. Seems like a big step down from your Sonata Limited, although clearly you could save a lot of money going for something like this, and I can see the benefit in that.

Sandman6472

Loved those Chryslers but probably in the blood. One grandpa bought a new Imperial almost every year from 1957 thru 1967 while the other grandpa owned a Dodge store in the late 50's/early 60's in Peekskill New York. My mom drove a 1955 Chrysler Windsor station wagon which I still remember getting my fingers closed in the front door! Grandpa with the Dodge place had an early 60's model with the push button auto tranny. Great memories,

The Sandman

Sandman6472

Showed the wife a Mini Cooper parked at a neighbors house last night and she hated it, too small. But it was one of the older generation. For the next hour or two heard nonsense about me keeping what I've got, yada yada yada! Got very annoying and have decided to not talk about new cars anymore. When I'm ready, just gonna do it. Seems she's now unhappy that I don't get her input anymore but pointed out that this was all her idea years ago and was just following her lead. Of course that went over like a lead balloon...she sulked for the next few hours. Need a wife like Breld's who see's our vehicles as more than an appliance as she called her car last night. Tried to convince her that we all look at it differently without much success.
Still liking the new Countryman and will have to go give it a look see once we get back from the wedding and life settles down.

The Sandman

suydam

stickguy said:

Maybe I should just spend this range of money, and get something like this? Gotta have lots of life yet. Not much financial downside.

http://www.royaleasing.com/detail-2012-toyota-camry-4dr_sedan_i4_automatic_se-used-16591488.html

It's an SE so does have a lot of features like power driver's seat and moonroof. Depends on how well taken care of it was. Looks like a good buy. I bought a used Camry for my college daughter around that price and mileage and it ran well for years.

Michaell

sandman_6472 said:

Loved those Chryslers but probably in the blood. One grandpa bought a new Imperial almost every year from 1957 thru 1967 while the other grandpa owned a Dodge store in the late 50's/early 60's in Peekskill New York. My mom drove a 1955 Chrysler Windsor station wagon which I still remember getting my fingers closed in the front door! Grandpa with the Dodge place had an early 60's model with the push button auto tranny. Great memories,

The Sandman

My dad was born and raised in Peekskill. However, my grandparents never drove or owned a car (so far as I know), so unlikely that they interacted with your grandparents. By the late 50's, my dad had moved to CA.

sda

Hard to believe that as of Tuesday 9/5 the Accord will be 4! That's the longest I've owned a car in recent memory. The longest I've ever owned a car was just under 6 years, and that was during my college years and a little after until I could afford something newer. Today the Accord hit 70k. Other than regular oil changes, tire rotation, filters, trans fluid service, the only needs have been a battery, tires and alignment at 61k. The brakes are still in good shape! Birthday pictures taken today. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Michaell

sda said:

Hard to believe that as of Tuesday 9/5 the Accord will be 4! That's the longest I've owned a car in recent memory. The longest I've ever owned a car was just under 6 years, and that was during my college years and a little after until I could afford something newer. Today the Accord hit 70k. Other than regular oil changes, tire rotation, filters, trans fluid service, the only needs have been a battery, tires and alignment at 61k. The brakes are still in good shape! Birthday pictures taken today. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

That does not look like a car with 70K on the odometer. Very sharp, especially in that color.

carnaught

@sda, if that's a recent picture of your Accord, it looks to be in excellent condition.

corvette

Shout out to Byerly Ford here in Louisville. They did the airbag recall on the Mustang and changed the coolant. I walked outside the building to the parts department (it has a separate entrance) to get touch-up paint. Guy at the parts counter says it's out of stock, but there's a dealer that has it in stock in Southern Indiana. I told him to just order one and I'd pick it up when it came in. He asked why I was there on a rainy Saturday morning and I told him I was having my car serviced.

Probably 45 minutes later, he comes to the service department waiting area and gave me the touch-up paint (I had prepaid for it). I don't know if a delivery came in or they had to get a part from the dealer that had one in stock and picked it up. Either way, excellent customer service, not only for being very upfront that a different dealer that had it in stock, but also for remembering I was still in the building. They saved me a return trip!

sda

carnaught said:

@sda, if that's a recent picture of your Accord, it looks to be in excellent condition.

Thanks! Picture was taken today. It is garage kept and I wax it at least twice a year. It has been a pleasure to own.

ab348

sandman_6472 said:

Showed the wife a Mini Cooper parked at a neighbors house last night and she hated it, too small. But it was one of the older generation. For the next hour or two heard nonsense about me keeping what I've got, yada yada yada! Got very annoying and have decided to not talk about new cars anymore. When I'm ready, just gonna do it. Seems she's now unhappy that I don't get her input anymore but pointed out that this was all her idea years ago and was just following her lead. Of course that went over like a lead balloon...she sulked for the next few hours. Need a wife like Breld's who see's our vehicles as more than an appliance as she called her car last night. Tried to convince her that we all look at it differently without much success.

Uhhhh, how long have you two been married, again? Seems strange that she hasn't figured out yet that you like swapping cars more than her. I don't know if I could put up with that sort of reaction over the long term.

ab348

Spent a few hours today visiting closed car dealers and I'm more up in the air than ever.

I ran into a fellow doing the same thing as me at the other Caddy dealer in town, driving a 2013 ATS with the V6 that is about to come off lease. We had a chat and he suggested I do something I hadn't considered because I wasn't sure it was possible: extend the lease another year or so. He said he is thinking of doing the same thing himself because he likes his car and sees no reason to dump it. I may call GM Financial next week and get the lowdown on that.

Oddly enough, though I saw lots of late-model BMWs (including a bunch of 2017 models), none of them really did much for me. They all seemed to be white with black interiors and I suppose because of the way they were equipped they seemed kind of cheap-looking. Several 2015-2017 M-B C300s were more appealing but considerably more expensive. There was a 2015 C400, black with red leather, that was just gorgeous but overpriced. Oddly (to me), one of the cars that appealed to me the most was a 2017 Fusion SE Ecoboost at the local Kia dealer, low miles, black on black leather, looked good to me at $24K Cdn. I was never really a fan of the Fusion but that one just sort of stuck with me.

I found a few ATS models that I was mildly or strongly interested in. A 2016 on a Ford dealer's used lot with low miles, but silver on black, not really my fave, and badly overpriced. A new 2017 "Executive Demo" at the aforementioned Caddy dealer, white metallic with black leather, no price shown but big letters stuck to the side proclaiming "SAVE $10,250".

Two others jumped out at me enough to take a couple of pics. The first was at the used lot of the place I got mine from, a 2017 with 12000 miles, just a bit more than mine, but a higher-level model with lots more stuff. It is in gray metallic with black leather, and the color combo looked good, as did the price. Amazingly, it was unlocked.






I would want to know where it came from, service history, etc. It made me wonder if it was an ex-rental or fleet car from elsewhere because it had a front license plate mount which our local cars usually do not have. Seemed very nice though.

Down the road at their new car lot, there was this new one that is probably heavily incentivized. I suspect the color would not appeal to many but I rather like this paint shade. Reminds me of M-B's Diamond Silver, really a silver blue. Also black inside.




I need to figure out what the heck I want to do.

carnaught

If it were me, that dealer sticker above the ATS badge would have to go before i signed on the dotted line.

suydam

I really like that color. Would be stunning with a light gray interior

qbrozen

ab348 said:

What is that red car?

corvette

Looks like a second-gen Scion TC to me. 

cdnpinhead

ab348 said:

I need to figure out what the heck I want to do.

I've followed the story of your ATS, as well as a couple of other Cadillacs over the past ten years or so; Cadillac seems to have actually followed through on the journey that Lincoln started with the LS, then let die on the vine.

Either way, one of the CTS engines was very troublesome, and I followed that carefully. OTOH, I never heard much about the ATS, positive or negative, either because there weren't many issues or (more likely) because anyone who got an ATS had no interest in posting on Edmunds.

As badly as I was burned by the LS, I actually considered one of the new Cadillacs. That was some years ago; not gonna happen, but I'm wishing you luck. I've rented lots of GM stuff, and it's gotten better and better.

qbrozen

corvette said:

Looks like a second-gen Scion TC to me. 

ah, yes. it was familiar, I just couldn't pin it down off the top of my head.

corvette

Clearly, you need to add one to your fleet! 

qbrozen

Always liked the looks, but the performance was never there, sadly.

ab348

corvette said:

Looks like a second-gen Scion TC to me. 

That's what it was. Odd-looking car.

ab348

suydam said:

I really like that color. Would be stunning with a light gray interior

That's what I thought too. Unfortunately this dealer orders virtually nothing but black interiors on cars for stock. Looks OK with that paint though.

fintail

My friend gave me a short term summary of the new MKZ: dash still needs examination, auto-up drivers side window doesn't auto up, intermittent wind whistle from passenger door. Otherwise, all is fine. Prior car had no similar quirks. I hope these are easy to remedy, goes back in next week.

fintail

I like that diamond silver color, if I was custom building a MB, that's what I would choose, with a beige or brown interior (if blue interior still existed on non-bespoke cars, I might go that route), or maybe the very light grey as on my prior E350. It was a maintenance chore though, blue jeans dye would rub off on the Tex, I haven't noticed similar on the leather on the E250. Maybe the harder material caused it.

ab348

Something I forgot to post about my dealer visits today: the Toyota dealer had up front on his used car lot a 2016 Camry XSE, black on black, with a sign in the windshield:

"NEW VEHICLE
2016 Camry XSE
Orig: $30,xxx
NOW $26,xxx
(plus sales tax and ETCH FEE)"

This is a dealer that does "security etching" of VIN (or a unique code #, I forget) on the glass in all new vehicles and then pads the price with it. I think the fee is $200.

I am astounded that (a) they couldn't move a 2016 Camry given the volume they sell (b) that they have only discounted a 2 model year old vehicle $4000 and (c) they still have the gall to add that etching fee to the price.

stickguy

Sandy, I went in to mini dealer to look at a clubman, and ended up liking the 4 door hardtop instead. Nearly as roomy inside, but much lighter and way cheaper. My wife loved it.

stickguy

Ab, I might do that on my sonata. I can go month to month for 6 months if you want to.

Sandman6472

I'd either see about getting that blue one or, keep yours another year until you feel better if they will just keep the same terms. You already know the vehicle and the added time will be worth it. That's only unless that blue one checks all your boxes and could be had for a dynamite price. With that scenario, I'd jump on it and never look back. Either way, probably time to make a move and settle things already. Hopefully, this should be your worst problem for the rest of your life!

The Sandman

(P.S. I'm about at the end of my rope here. Discussed my retiring again the end of 2018, and said I want to do a few things and see some places while my chronic pain is somewhat manageable. I do not want to wait till she decides to retire which is looking to be around 2021 or so. Not sure I'll live that long or be up to doing much. But if life were perfect, I'd retire again this December 31st!)

Sandman6472

The Clubman is not something I'd ever consider. Prefer the Countryman S but we'll see. Let me know how they drive because I'm a bit busy right now and will be through the end of October with the wedding and all. Anyways, not looking to buy for another year or two...unless something stellar comes along that I gotta have!

The Sandman

(P.S. Taxes finally were finished today, we pay quarterly since the wife is self employed. Damn, we pay a lot to Uncle Sam! Even she agreed, it's time for her to be someone else's employee which I wholehardedly agreed with. Damn!)

benjaminh

Just make sure you're under warranty with a Mini....

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/04/cars-you-d-be-foolish-to-buy/index.htm

"Worst used car: Mini Cooper
When it comes to choosing a used car, you can put the odds on your side by choosing a model that performed well when new and has a great reliability track record. Of course, reliability hiccups can happen with any used car, but the Mini Cooper S has the worst history among all cars we have tracked over the past decade. Sure, the car is cute and delightfully entertaining, but year after year, the likelihood of having a problem that requires a repair is heartbreaking. And among the 17 trouble spots we track, engine major, engine minor, engine cooling, fuel system, body integrity, and body hardware have issues at an alarming rate. Although Consumer Reports often recommends skipping an extended warranty, the Mini Cooper S is a case where the investment would be a good hedge against potential problems. Joining the Mini Cooper S as among the worst used cars are the Chevrolet Cruze 1.4T and Ford Fiesta—although these models have fewer model years to anchor their position among the worst of the worst."