Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

Mr_Shiftright

mjfloyd1 said:

I’m of the “never own a European car out of warranty” thought

I'm a Mini survivor! We meet regionally and get grief counseling.

Actually we hit a milestone yesterday. I'm already in touch with Guinness Book of Records

pensfan83

I emailed him again the day I found it was lowered but it sold that day after sitting for roughly a month. Believe me I've kicked myself for not just biting the bullet and getting it at $4K. At this point the budget needs to double if I'm going to stay focused on Preludes and Integras. Or I look at something else...perhaps a Mazda 3 hatch, sedan,or Mazdaspeed3.

stickguy

Lots of interesting options. I would try budgetvfriendly first.

What about a protege5? Probs will not afford the speed turbo version though.

roadburner

pensfan83 said:

I emailed him again the day I found it was lowered but it sold that day after sitting for roughly a month. Believe me I've kicked myself for not just biting the bullet and getting it at $4K. At this point the budget needs to double if I'm going to stay focused on Preludes and Integras. Or I look at something else...perhaps a Mazda 3 hatch, sedan,or Mazdaspeed3.

My 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 had some teething issues; after that it was extremely reliable- although I did replace the stuts/shocks with Koni FSDs and also replaced a few bushings and links. It was still running strong at 158k when I flipped it for the 2 Series.

benjaminh

stickguy said:

a reasonable plan. You certainly get your value out of buying a new car that way, and never really are driving an "old" one. And if you buy the right car, still has decent value at that point.

pay 30K, sell it for 5K, so $25k over 8+ years is about $3,000/year of $250/month.

Back in 2008 I paid c.$26k (before TTL) for my Accord EXL Navi. When I finally traded it in 2016 they gave me 8k, which means I got 8.5 years out of it for 18k. So that's about $2118 a year, or $177 a month. Still a heck of a lot of money gone, but I feel like I got my money's worth out of it. Might try to keep the TLX the full ten years....

stickguy

This is a nice looking one. I always liked these. Not sure why I never bought one, but it was on the list at one point! Great seats. Very practical. This might be a bit overpriced for the miles. Some nicer looking others, but as always, most are ATs.

though per carfax, the engine was replaced 30K miles ago. The question is, with what?

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/743735493/overview/

Blue is nice. Lower miles. Out your midwestern way.

http://www.progressivechevrolet.com/inventory/2003-mazda-protege5-base-fwd-4d-wagon-jm1bj245231111042

28firefighter

For the right price, I'm sure my wife will sell the Viggen. I come with the car though and my running costs are much much much higher than the Saab's!

kyfdx

thebean said:

Hmmm, interesting. Thanks for clarifying.

Audi accomplishes the same thing by raising the residual by 1%, if you purchase AudiCare

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

For the right price, I'm sure my wife will sell the Viggen. I come with the car though and my running costs are much much much higher than the Saab's!

If you are willing to switch to drinking Keystone Light, we may be able to swing a deal..

28firefighter

I don't drink at all, so problem solved!

tifighter

It is funny that we are all a bunch of car nuts, and our significant others probably could all care less. Breld excepted. I sure hope my wife likes the car I'm picking out for her, because I will.  

stickguy

my wife just figures if what you have works you just keep it. She likes new ones, but not enough to actually try to buy one. But she is picky about it if we are shopping.

Michaell

My wife cared about what she drove, for a while. But, she wasn't a big fan of hitting up multiple dealerships. The last time we did that was for the Focus in 2005, to try to find a car that had both a stick shift and ABS.

On the Outback, she only cared about the color (Wilderness Green) and the engine (3.6, no 2.5 for her).

She likes the Eyesight system and the Nav, though.

kyfdx

Pictures from my local suspension/alignment shop

xwesx

Wow; quite a variety! And, they must do rather brisk business to have that many bays in an alignment shop! I don't remember the roads being that bad around your area!

roadburner

My wife picks out what she wants to drive; luckily she hates soul-killing appliances as much as I do.

nyccarguy

roadburner said:

My wife picks out what she wants to drive; luckily she hates soul-killing appliances as much as I do.

It’s funny.  My wife says she doesn’t care about cars, but when I leave the Infiniti at home (and her other choice is the Pilot), she’ll gladly take it.  She’ll comment here and there about my Q40’s power or how she likes driving a “regular” car as opposed to the SUV.  

I went out and made deliveries again in our box truck today.  Quite a difference getting out of the truck, then back into The Prelude this afternoon.

Traffic was pretty light for the most part:

xwesx

nyccarguy said:

Traffic was pretty light for the most part:

Oh, light! Yes, looks like it....

kyfdx

xwesx said:

Wow; quite a variety! And, they must do rather brisk business to have that many bays in an alignment shop! I don't remember the roads being that bad around your area!

That’s a new location for him. Used to be a 2-man shop, in about 1/4 of the space. Now, four people. They get a lot of business from people who track their cars. (ergo, Viper)

andres3

stickguy said:

a reasonable plan. You certainly get your value out of buying a new car that way, and never really are driving an "old" one. And if you buy the right car, still has decent value at that point.

pay 30K, sell it for 5K, so $25k over 8+ years is about $3,000/year of $250/month.

My '06 A3, bought new for $30K out the door including tax, title, licensing, and fees, was kept for about 7.75 years, driven 106K miles, and sold for $8K.

xwesx

andres3 said:

My '06 A3, bought new for $30K out the door including tax, title, licensing, and fees, was kept for about 7.75 years, driven 106K miles, and sold for $8K.

That's not bad; what, about $280/mo. Just don't average that with the cars you owned since then!

andres3

I told my wife I was surprised she hadn't complained about the Kia since we traded my Kia for her VW Alltrack. I now commute the Alltrack, and she the Kia Optima.

She did mention how the Kia "makes a lot of noise, but little GO!" The 1.6T from Kia is just very unrefined, coarse, and thrashy in my opinion. More noise than go power.

The 1.8T in the VW is not only more powerful, but very refined and quietly smooth! Just not in the same league. The Fender audio system is also wonderful, and probably one of the best audio systems out there in non-luxury branded cars.

I'm thinking a wheel upgrade (keeping it at 17" so it can be a light-duty off-roader still), but going with 225/50R17 and lighter weight wheels at 7.5 or 8" wide will make this a complete, true, and utter GTI clone with off-road capability. I think the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ would be perfect.

The repairs for the parking lot snafu are going to be about $1,000; which is of course my deductible.

Will look as good as new though. Would prefer the beige interior to the current black, but the Pure White exterior paint is growing on me. Thinking an APR tune to the 1.8T would make this a GTI killer too.

nyccarguy

@andres3

I read on the APR site that they now have a tune that doesn’t void the VW warranty.  Have you seen this?

pensfan83

nyccarguy said: It’s funny.  My wife says she doesn’t care about cars, but when I leave the Infiniti at home (and her other choice is the Pilot), she’ll gladly take it.  She’ll comment here and there about my Q40’s power or how she likes driving a “regular” car as opposed to the SUV. 

My wife acts the same way.  She'll take my car to work or shopping on occasion and acts totally nonchalantly about doing it but she's commented a few times how my car is smoother and more comfortable than hers and has been driving it more frequently as of late.

stickguy

My wife mentioned yesterday (we were shopping and pulling back into our empty garage) it was odd having one car. I said it seemed doable so far, and she just no it isn’t. At least I know I won’t be getting my personal wheels taken away. She doesn’t like to share (well, sharing is OK but she never wants to be opinconvenienced!)

nyccarguy

@Mr_Shiftright - it isn’t an “S,” it is a convertible, a 5-Speed and priced right in your wheel house.  You can pm either @breld, @Michaell, or @jpp5862 to have them pick you up at the airport.

https://denver.craigslist.org/cto/d/2006-porsche-boxster-lots-of/6657502989.html

stickguy

Nice looking car. But needs a top up picture. And a list of the amazing upgrades.

roadburner

My wife has said that she thinks my 2 Series is the nicest car she's ever driven, but that she really prefers a true SUV or something smaller like the Clubman.

28firefighter

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2004-bmw-330i-zhp-15/

I really want this. Well, not this exact car, but one like it.

Mr_Shiftright

xwesx said:

nyccarguy said:

Traffic was pretty light for the most part:

Oh, light! Yes, looks like it....

Whoa! 15 mph! Hang on!

Mr_Shiftright

28firefighter said:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2004-bmw-330i-zhp-15/

I really want this. Well, not this exact car, but one like it.

Alas, that would never pass California smog testing.

Why do people mess with cars like this? Ok, ok, I know...because they CAN.

stickguy

roadburner said:

My wife has said that she thinks my 2 Series is the nicest car she's ever driven, but that she really prefers a true SUV or something smaller like the Clubman.

My wife is so used to sitting up higher she really doesn’t like driving a low sedan now. 25 years of minivans then an RDX did that to her I guess.

I like something around X1 size and height now. Or for cheap car, Hyundai Kona. Both basically slightly taller hatchbacks.

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2004-bmw-330i-zhp-15/

I really want this. Well, not this exact car, but one like it.

Definitely not a garage queen.

We had an E46 in Silver-Gray. (330 convertible). It's not an inspiring color, in person. Not nearly as nice as the earlier Steel Gray.

You can meet me in Denver, when I pickup the Golf R, and I'll let you have mine. It's a coupe, though. With leather, not alcantara.

28firefighter

Assuming I don't snipe the Golf R before you!

stickguy

Hey. I thought the R was heading for New Jersey soon?

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

Assuming I don't snipe the Golf R before you!

Wrong..

stickguy said:

Hey. I thought the R was heading for New Jersey soon?

And.... wrong..

Michaell

kyfdx said:

28firefighter said:

Assuming I don't snipe the Golf R before you!

Wrong..

stickguy said:

Hey. I thought the R was heading for New Jersey soon?

And.... wrong..

Geez, guys, at least let @breld get plates put on the Golf R.

It's like y'all are hovering over the bed of an elderly, wealthy relative .... :laughing:

tifighter

As long as they're all talking about the R and not the Polestar, I'm happy.

Michaell

tifighter said:

As long as they're all talking about the R and not the Polestar, I'm happy.

Oh, @jpp5862 and I are trying to figure out how to obtain and timeshare the Polestar, when the time comes.

Mr_Shiftright

Do your wives know that there is no power seat on the passenger side of a Golf R?

qbrozen

Michaell said:

Geez, guys, at least let @breld get plates put on the Golf R.

You are kidding, right? Pretty sure he trades them with temp plates on them.

Mr_Shiftright

I heard his plates have Velcro on them--is that true?

tifighter

Some say he has never actually heard of the words "license" and "plate" used together...

28firefighter

I'm supposed to keep a car long enough for my wife to be a passenger in it?

tifighter

I'm supposed to keep a wife long enough for my car to have a passenger in it?

Alternative facts...

au1994

roadburner said:

benjaminh said:

Yikes. Thanks for sharing that story. Perhaps a reason to buy or lease new? But your Pilot seems to have worked out fine for you....

A CPO car is only as good as the dealer who certifies it; I've bought four CPO cars and have been very pleased with all of them- although I never used the CPO warranty on one of them- even though I ran it up to 100k miles. I probably won't need it on my 2er either.

My 335i convertible was a CPO. It ate a water pump at 3x,xxx miles so I used warranty coverage there. I am not too certain on how thoroughly they inspected the car. Obviously could not have detected a potential water pump failure but I also picked up a nail one time and the previous owner had lost/kept the lug nut lock. That cost me a trip to the dealer and is something I would have expected be caught in an inspection.

au1994

28firefighter said:

I'm supposed to keep a car long enough for my wife to be a passenger in it?

How’s the Viggen doing these days? Back from the trip to the mechanic I presume?

nyccarguy

Michaell said:

tifighter said:

As long as they're all talking about the R and not the Polestar, I'm happy.

Oh, @jpp5862 and I are trying to figure out how to obtain and timeshare the Polestar, when the time comes.

Too late. They are working on a deal to replace that as we speak.

breld

You all are too funny!

Of course, it wouldn't be funny if there wasn't some level of truth in all you're saying!

Gee...no one was clamoring over taking over the Civic Type R earlier this year.

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

28firefighter said:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2004-bmw-330i-zhp-15/

I really want this. Well, not this exact car, but one like it.

Alas, that would never pass California smog testing.

Why do people mess with cars like this? Ok, ok, I know...because they CAN.

As long as the exhaust didn't drone the modifications wouldn't bother me at all. A Dinan tune and intake would probably be something I would have added anyway.