Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy

That seems to happen pretty often when someone buys something "off the grid" like that. I have done it a couple of times (the Scion tC comes to mind, and my Miata). Fun, unique, etc. but enough quirks of issues that you get tired of it fairly soon.

nyccarguy

@tifighter - I love the way it looks with the rag top up.  Love how that back slopes.  Very sexy.

Michaell

ab348 said:

Wow, @tifighter , I love that E350 Cabrio. Congrats!

The bloom went off the 86 pretty quickly.

A page taken right from the @breld playbook.

Nice car! Love the colors. And the depreciation.

Someday .....

corvette

Nice Merc! Convertibles aren’t for me, but that one’s a beaut! 

kyfdx

suydam said:

Gorgeous! Looks really large! Is it?

I think that model E-Class convertible was built on the C-Class platform. So, not that big. (unless I’m wrong )

andres3

breld said:

So, that 435i my wife and I looked at a couple weeks ago was at an independent broker/dealer shop. I ended up chatting quite a bit with the owner, who used to be a salesperson/manager for a BMW shop and wanted to try out his own thing.

My wife and I shared our propensity to switch out cars, and he said he could definitely help us out in finding cars at auction. I exchanged some e-mails with him to let him know that I'm zeroing in on the m235i as my next fun car and asked him how that might work if I give him the parameters I'm targeting as far as color and options.

He responded saying that we would agree on a margin over the auction price - he suggested $500 plus a $300 dealer handling.

Now, at auction price plus $800, I'm all giddy with excitement over the possibilities.

But has anyone else gone through such a process to purchase a car? I always thought it'd be great to have someone willing to search auctions for the car I want and then add a fair profit over that. The $800 seems a bit too good to be true to be honest - what's the potential catch or challenges in going such a route?

shill bidders to drive up the auction price on the cars you want would be my only worry.

andres3

Speaking of convertibles, what about this Blue Jag?

andres3

The problem with the Golf R is you have to explain it isn't just a GTI:

tifighter

Thanks guys. I am a happy camper. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it. At least until I don’t...

tbirdmarco

 You are welcome convertibles are not my thing either 

tbirdmarco

 Nice pictures on the little bit I could see Ha ha ha 

tbirdmarco

 Andres three nice jagged posted above broiled time for you to make a punch now ha ha Ha 

graphicguy

@tifighter ....dang.....that is beautiful. Looks brand new. Congrats.

graphicguy

andres3 said:

Speaking of convertibles, what about this Blue Jag?

I’m certain the car is fine. But, anytime I see a luxury car parked near a fence with barbed wire attached, I think it’s tied up doing something illegal. That’s just me, though.

jpp75

Congrats @tifighter that's a great looking car!

xwesx

@tifighter I love that interior! So sharp!

kyfdx

xwesx said:

@tifighter I love that interior! So sharp!

I agree.... light interiors with contrasting dark carpet is a good look.

tifighter

I also drove a 15 A3 cabriolet 2.0t quattro, and a 12 S5 cabriolet with the supercharged V6. I could get into the weeds about the test drives, but ultimately they weren't for me. The S5 looked nice in red, but had noticeable cowl shake, and the interior trim bits weren't aging so well on this example, with 39k miles. The A3 was likable, although the one I drove was missing some equipment. Biggest problem was they came out to the US in 2015, so the value wasn't there yet compared to other options on the market. Plus, the E350 drives really nicely. So there's that.

tbirdmarco

 Very nice glad you settled on the car that you did 

tbirdmarco

 Haven’t seen a comment from world in a couple of days maybe I am missing reading over some comments did you buy another car we’re gonna find out about it later ha ha 

tbirdmarco

 Maybe he sold his type bar or something ha ha Ha 

breld

Nope - no new car here for me (yet)!

I did go ahead and purchase a Level 2 charger for our garage though. For our normal work week, we have yet to get a full charge overnight, so each morning we're faced without the full range of the i3, which means we use it all up, which means we don't have enough time for a full charge, and so it goes.

I think being able to obtain a full charge in 4-6 hours will help tremendously for our use of the vehicle.

And...we were browsing Chevy Bolts online last night.

suydam

I wonder why it won’t fully charge overnight. My Volt has a 50 mile charge range and easily charges fully overnight just plugging it into the garage wall socket. As long as I make sure it’s set to 12 amps (for some reason the Volt default is 8 amps, which would take forever).

breld

I'm not sure - I did check the setting on the i3 this morning for Level 1 charging, and it was set to "max."

I think I read somewhere that it was indeed a 20 hour timeframe for a full charge. We plug it in when we get home around 6:00, maybe 7:00, generally, and we're out of the house around 7:00 in the morning, so there's a good 12 hours or so. It gets to around 3/4 full, so around 60 mile range.

We're enjoying the electric vehicle concept enough that we felt okay making the investment in the Level 2 Charger. I decided on a nicer one than probably needed, but the difference in pricing wasn't all that much from the cheapest one to the nicest one. And we have a contractor doing some tile work in our house this week who can also install the 240v outlet in the garage. With the breaker box just being on the other side of the garage wall, I don't expect the install to be terribly expensive.

nyccarguy

I saw 2 SRT-8 GCs last night. Man, that 6.4L HEMI has a NASTY crackle to it.

tifighter

Once you have a L2 charger, you'll wonder why you waited so long. Opens up so many more options when you boost the charging rate that much.

laurasdada

Congrats,Ti. Very sharp.

And I certainly thing that Jag XK vert is a beauty.

suydam

I’m sure that’s true. The Volt takes 12 hours on a Level 1. Unfortunately I’m in a condo so it’s a shared garage/common electric setup. Fortunately the plug is on my side! If I want to charge it in 4hours rather than 12, there’s a free public charging station less than a mile from me.

28firefighter

The C is off to the dealer for service today.

I think I mentioned this when I leased the C, but there were a few IOU items that needed to be dealt with. The service department had lost the second key to the car (which is apparently common for them), so they had to order me a second one from the motherland - that has to be a relatively expensive screw up to keep making. There were also a few nicks on the body that they agreed to clean up for me.

Lastly, I'm having them take a look at the brakes for me. They seem to be grinding/pulsing a bit, which seems a bit unusual for a car with 6000 miles (I've only driven 400 miles in the 3.5 weeks I've had it). I'm not sure if its just the personality of the larger AMG Sport brakes that are on it, but the loaner C300 I have definitely has a different brake feel to it without any pulsing/grinding. They suspect a warped rotor.

Hoping to get it back before Friday, but not sure how long the body shop needs with it.

tifighter

Update - dealer has listed the 86 I traded at $21988. Given the 20k trade allowance, it seems like a pretty skinny deal. Car needed no reconditioning, but I’m still a little surprised.

28firefighter

tifighter said:

Update - dealer has listed the 86 I traded at $21988. Given the 20k trade allowance, it seems like a pretty skinny deal. Car needed no reconditioning, but I’m still a little surprised.

Probably hoping for a quick turn.

kyfdx

tifighter said:

Update - dealer has listed the 86 I traded at $21988. Given the 20k trade allowance, it seems like a pretty skinny deal. Car needed no reconditioning, but I’m still a little surprised.

Maybe, they made so much on the Mercedes, they can afford to let the 86 go for break even?
(come on, you know you were thinking it... )

28firefighter

kyfdx said:

tifighter said:

Update - dealer has listed the 86 I traded at $21988. Given the 20k trade allowance, it seems like a pretty skinny deal. Car needed no reconditioning, but I’m still a little surprised.

Maybe, they made so much on the Mercedes, they can afford to let the 86 go for break even?
(come on, you know you were thinking it... )

Cruel.

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

kyfdx said:

tifighter said:

Update - dealer has listed the 86 I traded at $21988. Given the 20k trade allowance, it seems like a pretty skinny deal. Car needed no reconditioning, but I’m still a little surprised.

Maybe, they made so much on the Mercedes, they can afford to let the 86 go for break even?
(come on, you know you were thinking it... )

Cruel.

Come on, man..

kyfdx

@28firefighter Swing by the dealership, and see if they are closed for vacation...

tifighter

kyfdx said:

Update - dealer has listed the 86 I traded at $21988. Given the 20k trade allowance, it seems like a pretty skinny deal. Car needed no reconditioning, but I’m still a little surprised.

Maybe, they made so much on the Mercedes, they can afford to let the 86 go for break even? (come on, you know you were thinking it... )

Maybe that’s why they were delivering that boat to the sales manager...

tifighter

But really, I don’t think they made a ton in the Merc either; I never saw any Cabs here in the NW under $30k last summer. Who knows, I’m happy, and they did the deal so it must make sense somehow.

kyfdx

tifighter said:

kyfdx said:

tifighter said:

Update - dealer has listed the 86 I traded at $21988. Given the 20k trade allowance, it seems like a pretty skinny deal. Car needed no reconditioning, but I’m still a little surprised.

Maybe, they made so much on the Mercedes, they can afford to let the 86 go for break even?
(come on, you know you were thinking it... )

Maybe that’s why they were delivering that boat to the sales manager...

kyfdx

tifighter said:

But really, I don’t think they made a ton in the Merc either; I never saw any Cabs here in the NW under $30k last summer. Who knows, I’m happy, and they did the deal so it must make sense somehow.

It’s an awesome car... am I right about it being C-Class based? Seems smaller, relative to the sedan (that’s a good thing)

Sandman6472

That school shooting is in the next town over. Chaotic scene on t v as I watch the news. Still have no clue on how many were killed or injured. So frickin' sad that this kind of nonsense is still going on!! G-d bless them all!!!

The Sandman

tifighter

I seem to recall that it is a mix of C and E. I haven’t looked it up yet; Fin can probably educate us. One of the primary metrics in convertible shopping was car length: this thing is 185” long, which JUST fits comfortably in my garage. Move up to Mustang/Camaro size, and forget it.

fintail

C207 shares a platform with the W204 C-class, but shares many interior components with a W212 E-class, along with many mechanical components, and styling themes.

The new E coupe (C238, not sure how they pick these numbers) is based on the W213 E.

tbirdmarco

 New York car I love those SRT Durango‘s and Cherokees would be cool to own one one day ha ha Ha they are sick 

tbirdmarco

 Not yet bro on a Nother punch I know maybe next weekend presidents day you’ll get a Chevy bolt like you were looking at with the wife online last night if not next weekend Presidents weekend before the summer something will leave the fleet and something new will come in to it what not sure yet 

tbirdmarco

 20 fire fighter glad you finally got to bring your new ride back in to the dealer to have them fix the few issues that it has yes hopefully you get it back before the weekend 

breld

This was an interesting read for me, being a Durango owner.

Motor Trend "Large SUV" comparison

As the article concludes, and I agree, Dodge has done a good job keeping the Durango relevant and competitive in spite of its age. Having it be included in this comparison highlights one of the reasons I like it - particularly with the V8, it has a lot of the character and feel of the full-size SUVs, but in a package more the size of the Pilot/Highlander crowd.

All in all, Motor Trend picked the Durango a close second to the all-new Expedition.

Mr_Shiftright

Nice video review of the Type R from the CNET geeks. They focused on daily driving.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/auto/2018-honda-civic-type-r/review/?ftag=CAD13782fc&bhid=23296987479610025145942368791510

ab348

breld said:

This was an interesting read for me, being a Durango owner.

Motor Trend "Large SUV" comparison

As the article concludes, and I agree, Dodge has done a good job keeping the Durango relevant and competitive in spite of its age. Having it be included in this comparison highlights one of the reasons I like it - particularly with the V8, it has a lot of the character and feel of the full-size SUVs, but in a package more the size of the Pilot/Highlander crowd.

All in all, Motor Trend picked the Durango a close second to the all-new Expedition.

The Expedition is the newest and shiniest but I find it hard to justify the price premium over the Durango. And I would rather have the hemi V-8 than the turbo V6. The MT total cost of ownership chart seems to ignore their own fuel economy findings as well.

breld

Mr_Shiftright said:

Nice video review of the Type R from the CNET geeks. They focused on daily driving.

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/auto/2018-honda-civic-type-r/review/?ftag=CAD13782fc&bhid=23296987479610025145942368791510

I liked that video review - it was humorous and practical.

If I used the Type R as a true daily driver, I'd probably switch out the 20" wheels for 19"s. The ride itself is surprisingly composed, but with such little rubber between the wheel and the road, it'd only take one bad pothole to ruin the expensive OEM wheel.

Mr_Shiftright

I was thinking of that very thing when I watch the profile shots of it rolling. I was trying to decide how I could make this fun car a little different, so I could live with it (to each his own, of course). I decided that maybe taking off the wing and painting it a dark color would tone it down considerably.

Which of course, negates the very reason Honda designed it!