Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

28firefighter

Michaell said:

I used to fly in for the Philly auto show to go with my Dad. Just hasn’t worked out recently, especially now that baby is on board. 

May I make a suggestion? Start up again, next year. You'll have a lifetime to make memories with your son, but you don't know how many more years you'll have with your dad. My dad has been gone now almost two years, and I really wish I'd spent more time with him, even though I was 1000 miles away.

It’s well taken and you’re right - especially because I almost left both of them behind last summer. Reality is none of us are a sure thing. 

Its not something I have shared here, but I have not been out of Seattle’s metro area since last summer when everything happened. It started as medical necessity to stay nearby but it’s also become some low-level anxiety. I picked up the infection I had while traveling and as illogical as it sounds, I still connect the two. 

I am starting slowly with a trip to Vancouver in a few weeks and then we are going as a family to Philly at the end of March to see my folks.  I’m hoping that the slow roll breaks me out of this travel funk I’m in. Hard to believe that 12 months ago I had just wrapped up a year of 125k miles of flying....

The good news is that Sam turns 1 on Thursday and both my Mom and Dad will be out in Seattle for a long weekend. Can’t wait to take my Dad out in Hans (that’s what I’ve named the MB). 

tjc78

Michaell said:

28firefighter said:

I used to fly in for the Philly auto show to go with my Dad. Just hasn’t worked out recently, especially now that baby is on board. 

May I make a suggestion? Start up again, next year.

You'll have a lifetime to make memories with your son, but you don't know how many more years you'll have with your dad.

My dad has been gone now almost two years, and I really wish I'd spent more time with him, even though I was 1000 miles away.

I’m trying to make it a tradition with my son. Last year he had an absolute blast at nearly 3 years old. I asked him if he wants to go this year and he said yes!

We went last year on a Saturday. This year we are going to leave work a little early one day and try a week night. It’s usually a little less crowded.

I’m not really shopping anything this year but always try and hit all the manufacturers.

tbirdmarco

 Sandy with the new job hope that it works out one that you applied for last week have an awesome day 

tbirdmarco

 Yes I agree with everyone above tomorrow’s not guaranteed enjoy every day because traditions with our parents and kids but I don’t have any kids it’s he addition since 2000 for me and my dad and husband go to the New York auto show cookie form to it again this year 

tbirdmarco

 Sorry everyone I can send this voice dictation sometimes were seeing me my dad and cousin have had a tradition since 2004 to go to the New York auto show looking forward to it like always think it’s in early April this year have to look enjoy the day everyone love this board and Edmonds community pool a cool bunch of people 

tbirdmarco

 West were you affected by the tsunami in Alaska I woke up hearing that on the news this morning and I thought of you could check in here 

tbirdmarco

 Sandy nice on the cars you drove yesterday at work not my thing but listen if you like it down the road you see what you wanna do it comes to a new car go for it different strokes for different folks like the sea 

rayainsw

jpp5862 - congrats & enjoy !
- Ray
Never owned a brown vehicle ...

graphicguy

@jpp5862 ...sounds really nice. Congrats!

stickguy

tjc78 said:

Michaell said:

28firefighter said:

I used to fly in for the Philly auto show to go with my Dad. Just hasn’t worked out recently, especially now that baby is on board. 

May I make a suggestion? Start up again, next year.

You'll have a lifetime to make memories with your son, but you don't know how many more years you'll have with your dad.

My dad has been gone now almost two years, and I really wish I'd spent more time with him, even though I was 1000 miles away.

I’m trying to make it a tradition with my son. Last year he had an absolute blast at nearly 3 years old. I asked him if he wants to go this year and he said yes!

We went last year on a Saturday. This year we are going to leave work a little early one day and try a week night. It’s usually a little less crowded.

I’m not really shopping anything this year but always try and hit all the manufacturers.

My son went every year up until he was away at college. I remember his first year, at 7-8 months, he spent the whole time wide eyed, pulling himself forward on the bar of the stroller to see better. and reaching out to touch tires. After that, he was hooked! I still remember one year it was so nasty out, I had to carry him from the parking garage zipped up inside my coat. The cheesesteaks and beer after the show is a more recent add-on.

kyfdx

My son and I go every year. He turns 24 on Sunday.
Our show is in about a month.

stickguy

mine is 26. He lives 4 hours away but comes home for it every year.

fintail

You can go to Seattle in November, or Vancouver at the end of March. I go to the latter every year as an excuse for a long weekend. Both shows are relatively small, but it's all we have locally.

28firefighter said:

I used to fly in for the Philly auto show to go with my Dad. Just hasn’t worked out recently, especially now that baby is on board. 

jpp75

Thanks for the well wishes everyone, I'm really glad with how this worked out. I hope to pick it up tonight before I leave town for work, I'll post some pics when I can.

@ab348 You can always get out of a lease early, just like a loan it has a buyout number that decreases as you make payments. A lease is essentially financing a set amount of depreciation over a given time, so wherever you are on that schedule determines what you could buy the vehicle for during the lease.

In this case I would be essentially selling the current Touareg to a dealer, since I don't own it and haven't paid taxes on it there isn't a trade credit for the sales tax (thanks to @breld for pointing that out). So I shopped around, most dealers were at $29.5 and Carmax and Echo Park (an AutoNation alternative to Carmax) offered $30k and $500 is $500 so it will be going there today.

I did leave that part out, but in posting my novella yesterday I learned Edmunds has a character limit on posts so I had to edit some stuff.

jpp75

Looking forward to the Denver Auto Show with @michaell and the Brelds in a few weeks!

28firefighter

My GTI has been put up for sale - listed at just under $20k. Seems fair to me, but maybe I'm biased.

jpp75

@28firefighter congrats on the C class! That's a great deal on a great car and I like the name Hans.

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

My GTI has been put up for sale - listed at just under $20k. Seems fair to me, but maybe I'm biased.

You'll find out, one way or the other, pretty soon.

ab348

jpp5862 said:

Thanks for the well wishes everyone, I'm really glad with how this worked out. I hope to pick it up tonight before I leave town for work, I'll post some pics when I can.

@ab348 You can always get out of a lease early, just like a loan it has a buyout number that decreases as you make payments. A lease is essentially financing a set amount of depreciation over a given time, so wherever you are on that schedule determines what you could buy the vehicle for during the lease.

In this case I would be essentially selling the current Touareg to a dealer, since I don't own it and haven't paid taxes on it there isn't a trade credit for the sales tax (thanks to @breld for pointing that out). So I shopped around, most dealers were at $29.5 and Carmax and Echo Park (an AutoNation alternative to Carmax) offered $30k and $500 is $500 so it will be going there today.

I did leave that part out, but in posting my novella yesterday I learned Edmunds has a character limit on posts so I had to edit some stuff.

OK, so you're the one buying out the lease, not the dealer you're buying the TDI from? How did the Carmax offer compare to what your remaining obligation on the lease was, if I may ask? In my experience most leases have inflated residuals and thus are not worth buying out in most cases. Is the TDI a purchase or another lease?

breld

Doesn't happen too often, but once in awhile, I wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time getting back to sleep. That happened last night, so what better way of using the awake time than browsing cars.

No doubt inspired by @jpp5862's transaction, I was eying this Q7 TDI:

2013 Q7 TDI

Nice low miles, but it does strike me as a lot of money for a 2013 out of warranty. But I do like the color inside and out.

Then did a nationwide search for new TDI's (again, like what @jpp5862 is doing with the Touareg) - not too many out there, but there are some Audi dealerships, mostly on the east coast, that are looking to sell their brand new 2015 Q7 TDI's at about 20% off. That's still about $50k. For a little more, I can find a lightly used current gen Q7 - no TDI, but the 3.0T doesn't have a power deficit.

jpp75

ab348 said:

OK, so you're the one buying out the lease, not the dealer you're buying the TDI from? How did the Carmax offer compare to what your remaining obligation on the lease was, if I may ask? In my experience most leases have inflated residuals and thus are not worth buying out in most cases. Is the TDI a purchase or another lease?

Actually Carmax will pay off the lease and take possession of the vehicle, I don't have to buy it first. I had about $2k in negative equity, which I'm not a fan of but when you consider it needed tires soon which is about $1,200 and then factor in I skip a payment I was able to justify it.

The new TDI is a purchase, hopefully one I keep for the long haul. Eventually I'd like to get a second "fun" car but that will be a little bit down the road.

breld

Where I landed (at about 3:30 am) was I should try to project when the "right" time is to rid myself of the Durango, and then pick up a "properly used" XC90 or Q7 (maybe a Discovery). On the new one, I figured the sweet spot will be when 3 year leases start getting returned - find one where the previous owner put low miles on it and then turned it back in.

On the Durango - I'm driving it a lot. It's a 2017, about 15 months old and has almost 25k miles (it was about 4-5 months and 5k miles old when I bought it). So...at what point does something like this really start taking a hit on depreciation? 50k miles? 70k miles?

28firefighter

breld said:

On the Durango - I'm driving it a lot. It's a 2017, about 15 months old and has almost 25k miles (it was about 4-5 months and 5k miles old when I bought it). So...at what point does something like this really start taking a hit on depreciation? 50k miles? 70k miles?

Probably the day it was driven off the lot new...

tifighter

rayainsw said:

jpp5862 - congrats & enjoy !
- Ray
Never owned a brown vehicle ...

Dear @rayainsw -

DOOOOO IIIIIITTTTTTTT.

Sincerely,
Brown Vehicle Owners Society
"What can't Brown do for you?"

rayainsw

LOL.
- Ray
Did have a brown Bonneville - as a rental once ...

au1994

breld said:

Where I landed (at about 3:30 am) was I should try to project when the "right" time is to rid myself of the Durango, and then pick up a "properly used" XC90 or Q7 (maybe a Discovery). On the new one, I figured the sweet spot will be when 3 year leases start getting returned - find one where the previous owner put low miles on it and then turned it back in. On the Durango - I'm driving it a lot. It's a 2017, about 15 months old and has almost 25k miles (it was about 4-5 months and 5k miles old when I bought it). So...at what point does something like this really start taking a hit on depreciation? 50k miles? 70k miles?

Actually I would think that by the 50-70k mile range the big hit in depreciation is over. At that point the curve is not as steep and being a domestic SUV might actually help vs a similar year and mile Audi or BMW.

au1994

Congratulations to @28firefighter and @jpp5862 on the punches.  Two very nice vehicles!

imidazol97

jpp5862 said:

Looking forward to the Denver Auto Show with @michaell and the Brelds in a few weeks!

@jpp5862 Well done write up on your path to purchase. Enjoyed. Congrats on the new Touareg (Edit: I had the wrong name earlier--at least it started with a "T").

xwesx

breld said:

Doesn't happen too often, but once in awhile, I wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time getting back to sleep. That happened last night, so what better way of using the awake time than browsing cars.

No doubt inspired by @jpp5862's transaction, I was eying this Q7 TDI:

2013 Q7 TDI

Nice low miles, but it does strike me as a lot of money for a 2013 out of warranty. But I do like the color inside and out.

Then did a nationwide search for new TDI's (again, like what @jpp5862 is doing with the Touareg) - not too many out there, but there are some Audi dealerships, mostly on the east coast, that are looking to sell their brand new 2015 Q7 TDI's at about 20% off. That's still about $50k. For a little more, I can find a lightly used current gen Q7 - no TDI, but the 3.0T doesn't have a power deficit.

Price does seem a tiny bit steep. You also have to consider that, with the modification, it has a substantial warranty on, basically, the powertrain and the full emissions system. I can't recall how much of a warranty right now, but it is far more than you'll ever have to worry about!

If it has not had the fix applied (which I seriously doubt), then you're looking at about $9,500 compensation for a Prestige. (or half of that if another owner already claimed part of it). I received a little over $8,300 for mine, with the payment arriving the day after the mod was complete.

xwesx

imidazol97 said:

jpp5862 said:

Looking forward to the Denver Auto Show with @michaell and the Brelds in a few weeks!

@jpp5862 Well done write up on your path to purchase. Enjoyed. Congrats on the new Tiguan.

Hehehe. Tiguan. How insulting!

Mr_Shiftright

andres3 said:

4.4 on a type R already? That's the condition rating right? 4.4 on a car with under 4 or 7 thousand miles? hmmmm.....

I think the bloom is coming off the rose on the Type R. Looks like it's not going to be a smash hit. I suspect Honda fanboys are a little disappointed. It's not as fast as it should be, and the exhaust note is pretty docile. As for styling, it is polarizing---good for some, not so much for others.

xwesx

tbirdmarco said:

 West were you affected by the tsunami in Alaska I woke up hearing that on the news this morning and I thought of you could check in here 

Marco, that was a wee baby shaker. Not really, but way out in the Gulf of Alaska, so no worries here in the interior. I hear folks could feel it in Kodiak and southcentral (Anchorage, etc.), but this was nothing that was going to wake me from my sleep!

It was not, apparently, of the type that would generate a tsunami, though it did cause a minor disruption of the tidal cycle.

28firefighter

Hey @michaell and @kyfdx -

You should suggest to the powers that be at Edmunds that they should create some CCBA schwag - maybe a decal or similar?

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

Hey @michaell and @kyfdx -

You should suggest to the powers that be at Edmunds that they should create some CCBA schwag - maybe a decal or similar?

They might ask me to fund it.

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, yes! The "Golden Lugnut" Award--presented on a handsome walnut plaque.

28firefighter

Mr_Shiftright said:

Ah, yes! The "Golden Lugnut" Award--presented on a handsome walnut plaque.

If its an award, it goes to @breld...

Mr_Shiftright

Depends if it is based on number of vehicles, total money spent, or vehicles-over-time. We could have different categories, you know.

ab348

breld said:

Doesn't happen too often, but once in awhile, I wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time getting back to sleep. That happened last night, so what better way of using the awake time than browsing cars.

No doubt inspired by @jpp5862's transaction, I was eying this Q7 TDI:

2013 Q7 TDI

Nice low miles, but it does strike me as a lot of money for a 2013 out of warranty. But I do like the color inside and out.

Then did a nationwide search for new TDI's (again, like what @jpp5862 is doing with the Touareg) - not too many out there, but there are some Audi dealerships, mostly on the east coast, that are looking to sell their brand new 2015 Q7 TDI's at about 20% off. That's still about $50k. For a little more, I can find a lightly used current gen Q7 - no TDI, but the 3.0T doesn't have a power deficit.

Well, @xwesx has been driving a 2014 Q7 TDI for a while now so perhaps he can weigh in.

pensfan83

Back before a wife and kids my father and myself went to the North American International Auto Show and Woodward Dream Cruise, both in Detroit every year from 2005-2010 and we had an incredible time. We met up with some folks from another board I have belonged to for almost 18 years now and though my father was skeptical over meeting people from the Internet in a city 300+ miles from home, those weekends and weeks could not have been more entertaining and fun. Things are different now but with the boys getting older I'd like to rekindle at least one of those annual trips.

kyfdx

@pensfan83 My son and I attended that show in 2007 or 2008, I think. It was fun, other than it being 3F, that weekend.

tifighter

Mr_Shiftright said:

Depends if it is based on number of vehicles, total money spent, or vehicles-over-time. We could have different categories, you know.

Oh yeah. Most purchased over all, the "Mr. Regular" award for those that buy every year, the "Spectator" award for those that hang out but never actually go full Breld, etc.

Or we could just do the bumper sticker.

pensfan83

kyfdx said:

@pensfan83 My son and I attended that show in 2007 or 2008, I think. It was fun, other than it being 3F, that weekend.

We always had fun as well. I can't remember if it was 2008 or 2009 where the show had a decidedly more sparse look and feel due to all the turmoil surrounding the bailouts and the economy in general. I'm guessing it was 2009 but I remember it being much more somber and restrained than prior years.

suydam

28firefighter said:

Michaell said:

28firefighter said:

I used to fly in for the Philly auto show to go with my Dad. Just hasn’t worked out recently, especially now that baby is on board. 

May I make a suggestion? Start up again, next year.

You'll have a lifetime to make memories with your son, but you don't know how many more years you'll have with your dad.

My dad has been gone now almost two years, and I really wish I'd spent more time with him, even though I was 1000 miles away.

It’s well taken and you’re right - especially because I almost left both of them behind last summer. Reality is none of us are a sure thing. 

Its not something I have shared here, but I have not been out of Seattle’s metro area since last summer when everything happened. It started as medical necessity to stay nearby but it’s also become some low-level anxiety. I picked up the infection I had while traveling and as illogical as it sounds, I still connect the two. 

I am starting slowly with a trip to Vancouver in a few weeks and then we are going as a family to Philly at the end of March to see my folks.  I’m hoping that the slow roll breaks me out of this travel funk I’m in. Hard to believe that 12 months ago I had just wrapped up a year of 125k miles of flying....

The good news is that Sam turns 1 on Thursday and both my Mom and Dad will be out in Seattle for a long weekend. Can’t wait to take my Dad out in Hans (that’s what I’ve named the MB). 

I know how you feel. I’m a transplant recipient and have had 2 serious infections away from home since then. It made me feel leery of traveling overseas, even though I’m in very good health and didn’t acquire either infection while traveling — I probably took them with me on the trip. It was a big decision for me to go to Prague last year and I’m really glad I did. Nothing happened, and if it did, well, they have good hospitals there too. We are planning a trip to Dublin and Bristol this summer. I’m sure I’ll get anxious before the trip, and I’m pretty sure it will be fine.

breld

xwesx said:

breld said:

Doesn't happen too often, but once in awhile, I wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time getting back to sleep. That happened last night, so what better way of using the awake time than browsing cars.

No doubt inspired by @jpp5862's transaction, I was eying this Q7 TDI:

2013 Q7 TDI

Nice low miles, but it does strike me as a lot of money for a 2013 out of warranty. But I do like the color inside and out.

Then did a nationwide search for new TDI's (again, like what @jpp5862 is doing with the Touareg) - not too many out there, but there are some Audi dealerships, mostly on the east coast, that are looking to sell their brand new 2015 Q7 TDI's at about 20% off. That's still about $50k. For a little more, I can find a lightly used current gen Q7 - no TDI, but the 3.0T doesn't have a power deficit.

Price does seem a tiny bit steep. You also have to consider that, with the modification, it has a substantial warranty on, basically, the powertrain and the full emissions system. I can't recall how much of a warranty right now, but it is far more than you'll ever have to worry about!

If it has not had the fix applied (which I seriously doubt), then you're looking at about $9,500 compensation for a Prestige. (or half of that if another owner already claimed part of it). I received a little over $8,300 for mine, with the payment arriving the day after the mod was complete.

I'm certainly assuming the fix has been completed on this one - I see a generic "service completed" on the Carfax around the time I would have expected it to be done.

Thanks for the feedback on the warranty - I figured there was some sort of extension, but wasn't sure what it actually covers.

breld

Mr_Shiftright said:

andres3 said:

4.4 on a type R already? That's the condition rating right? 4.4 on a car with under 4 or 7 thousand miles? hmmmm.....

I think the bloom is coming off the rose on the Type R. Looks like it's not going to be a smash hit. I suspect Honda fanboys are a little disappointed. It's not as fast as it should be, and the exhaust note is pretty docile. As for styling, it is polarizing---good for some, not so much for others.

Not as fast as it should be? Hadn't heard that one yet.

But yes, I imagine the bloom is wearing off a bit - if nothing else, it's just not the newest, shiniest thing anymore and isn't on the cover of every car mag. A revised 2018 Golf R (and GTI) will get some attention, as well as the upcoming WRX revision (I just assume it has to be coming soon).

Having said that, I still don't get the sense that these are even close to accumulating on Honda's lots yet. Those auction values are strong - at least for those of us who didn't pay exorbitant mark-ups.

tbirdmarco

 West I’m glad they weren’t affected by the tsunami warnings and stuff earlier today 

breld

By the way, @andres3 - thanks for the feedback on the TTS.

So overall, you think it's a higher level of quality and workmanship than the Golf R...what about the S3?

I assume most of the reason folks go with the TT is simply the beautiful, exotic look of the car. That's certainly the primary impetus for my interest.

breld

For what it's worth, a national search of pre-owned 2016+ TTS's indicates the most predominant color to be...Vegas Yellow!

I actually love the color, but am undecided whether I'd actually own one.

tbirdmarco

 Pencil Vania man 83 that sounds like an awesome show at Woodward the other show you attended in Detroit never went to those who actually want to go to also wanna attend one of those Barrett Jackson classic car auctions to get on it soon ha ha Ha 

qbrozen

breld said:

By the way, @andres3 - thanks for the feedback on the TTS. So overall, you think it's a higher level of quality and workmanship than the Golf R...what about the S3? I assume most of the reason folks go with the TT is simply the beautiful, exotic look of the car. That's certainly the primary impetus for my interest.

From what I have read about the RS3, I want one.