Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

au1994

stickguy said:

should be an exciting morning. Waiting on 2 dealers to get back to me with a number (2 different brands) so I can make a final decision and go someplace today to finalize a deal. Hoping to have it done today, though the wife and I both have tomorrow off and will be running around doing final holiday errands so could mix in some car shopping. I am sure she would love that! And by love, I mean just go off on her own after giving me the evil eye.

would be nice if I could surprise her by having a new car in the garage when she gets home from work tonight. One of the options I am waiting on numbers for is on the lot (the other they have one, but I was hoping for a different color combo so might be a locate or waiting for something in transit).

Good Luck! The suspense is killing me!

stickguy

killing me too. I am getting too old for this.

tbirdmarco

 I know Andries three, yes could be your next user name on here ha ha Ha. Stick guy looking forward to reading more later this afternoon so whatever to touch choices your choosing? Hopefully you have something done I check back in later. Have a good day whole 

tbirdmarco

 Guy, we will want to know your final options that you’re choosing from. 

tbirdmarco

stick guy that is in the comment. Above lol lol lol lolType your comment

carnaught

@stickguy, queing your new car in your driveway tonight with a large red bow on top, snow flurries and snow music...

kyfdx

corvette said:

28firefighter said:

It’s amazing how quickly the AC installers work when you install in winter. 

Not to jinx it, but I'm very redundant at this point, with two completely separate systems for the upstairs and downstairs. The downstairs has a newer furnace and air handler, but the A/C is pushing 30 years old, and at this point, I'm comfortable riding it out until it dies of natural causes. My utility bills are reasonable and I can always just sleep upstairs if the A/C dies and it takes a while before they can replace it.

I have a fairly modern house (built 1998), but the 1st/2nd floor balance on the A/C has always been a problem. I should have done something before I finished the basement in 2008, but I didn't, and now all of the ceilings are enclosed down there.

Only 500 sq feet on the 2nd floor, but the cost of adding a system for that area is staggering. I only need it for A/C, but the estimates are $9K!! That doesn't include the electrical work to get another 220 volt line over to that side of the house. (opposite from the electric panel). My wife has nixed a mini-split, due to aesthetic reasons.

corvette

kyfdx said:

It’s amazing how quickly the AC installers work when you install in winter. 

Not to jinx it, but I'm very redundant at this point, with two completely separate systems for the upstairs and downstairs. The downstairs has a newer furnace and air handler, but the A/C is pushing 30 years old, and at this point, I'm comfortable riding it out until it dies of natural causes. My utility bills are reasonable and I can always just sleep upstairs if the A/C dies and it takes a while before they can replace it.

I have a fairly modern house (built 1998), but the 1st/2nd floor balance on the A/C has always been a problem. I should have done something before I finished the basement in 2008, but I didn't, and now all of the ceilings are enclosed down there. Only 500 sq feet on the 2nd floor, but the cost of adding a system for that area is staggering. I only need it for A/C, but the estimates are $9K!! That doesn't include the electrical work to get another 220 volt line over to that side of the house. (opposite from the electric panel). My wife has nixed a mini-split, due to aesthetic reasons.

That sounds about right. They did offer me the option of running a duct to the upstairs through one of the first floor closets. Closet space is very limited, so I declined, but I’m sure it would’ve been a lot cheaper. They do have ceiling cassette mini splits, as well as floor mounts. I went with the floor mount and it kind of resembles the shape of a small radiator. I don’t think it looks bad at all. I plan to paint the conduit on the outside of the house. 

corvette

Here are a couple of pics:

fintail

Got another "lease is ending soon, think about it!" letter - although maybe because of the time of the year, I don't want to be bothered. Not going to get into it until well into the new year, I don't have the same itch I had a couple months ago.

ab348

Just to muddy the waters even more, @stickguy Look at these deals on new Buick Tourx wagons!

https://jalopnik.com/you-can-finally-score-an-awesome-deal-on-the-buick-tour-1831012041

tifighter

Congrats to Q for the punch. Sounds like a nice deal.

I’m currently in Taipei, and every car here is available in 3 colors- white, black and silver. But silver must be special order, as black, then white noticeably dominate the streets. But they are all secondary to the mighty scooter. All hail the mighty scooter!

kyfdx

corvette said:

kyfdx said:

corvette said:

28firefighter said:

It’s amazing how quickly the AC installers work when you install in winter. 

Not to jinx it, but I'm very redundant at this point, with two completely separate systems for the upstairs and downstairs. The downstairs has a newer furnace and air handler, but the A/C is pushing 30 years old, and at this point, I'm comfortable riding it out until it dies of natural causes. My utility bills are reasonable and I can always just sleep upstairs if the A/C dies and it takes a while before they can replace it.

I have a fairly modern house (built 1998), but the 1st/2nd floor balance on the A/C has always been a problem. I should have done something before I finished the basement in 2008, but I didn't, and now all of the ceilings are enclosed down there.

Only 500 sq feet on the 2nd floor, but the cost of adding a system for that area is staggering. I only need it for A/C, but the estimates are $9K!! That doesn't include the electrical work to get another 220 volt line over to that side of the house. (opposite from the electric panel). My wife has nixed a mini-split, due to aesthetic reasons.

That sounds about right. They did offer time the option of running a duct to the upstairs through one of the first floor closets. Closet space is very limited, so I declined, but I’m sure it would’ve been a lot cheaper. They do have ceiling cassette mini splits, as well as floor mounts. I went with the floor mount and it kind of resembles the shape of a small radiator. I don’t think it looks bad at all. I plan to paint the conduit on the outside of the house. 

Nice pics. That would look out of place in our house.

I like the high velocity units, and I have a place to mount an air handler in the ceiling over the garage.. But, those start around $15K, installed...

I have plenty of cooling power with our current unit (all new 2016 for $6800), just imbalance in cooling between floors. Once the first floor gets to target temp (say, 75 F), and the unit shuts down, the upstairs is still 80+ F

28firefighter

My friend has a newer build, 3 story home (ground floor is garage and some entertainment space). They had a forced air furnace but no A/C. The concern when they went to add AC is that central air would have sufficed for the the ground and main floor, but likely have not had enough impact.

Ended up doing a really crazy Mitsubishi hybrid system which consisted of a heat-pump (combined heat and A/C) to cover the ground floor and main floor, and then a branch mini-split system to the third floor. To make things even crazier, the mini-split system uses an attic blower that feeds the existing vents, so no one even knows it's there. The whole thing is controlled via a regular NEST thermostat. As you can imagine, just in hardware alone, $$$$.

breld

tifighter said:

Congrats to Q for the punch. Sounds like a nice deal.

I’m currently in Taipei, and every car here is available in 3 colors- white, black and silver. But silver must be special order, as black, then white noticeably dominate the streets. But they are all secondary to the mighty scooter. All hail the mighty scooter!

Believe it or not, Taipei is my birthplace! My father was stationed there in the Air Force where he met my mother.

I haven't been back since I was a child, but always think it'd be a nice thing to do with the family if I could convince my mom to go with us a show us around.

corvette

Yeah, Mitsubishi has a ducted mini-split available now, with air handlers up to three tons, I think. I would have preferred that for my upstairs since it would be hidden behind the knee wall, but when you talk about installing new ducting, it gets expensive. It would have cost almost twice as much as what I did. 

breld

carnaught said:

@stickguy, queing your new car in your driveway tonight with a large red bow on top, snow flurries and snow music...

So @stickguy is getting a Lexus?

breld

We took the Macan in for its 20k mile service yesterday - that introduced me to the "privilege" of Porsche ownership.

In contrast, I'm taking the Q7 in this afternoon for its 20k mile service, which is covered by the prepaid maintenance I bought, which covers the 20k, 30k, 40k and 50k services....which cost about half of the 20k mile service on the Macan.

28firefighter

breld said:

We took the Macan in for its 20k mile service yesterday - that introduced me to the "privilege" of Porsche ownership.

In contrast, I'm taking the Q7 in this afternoon for its 20k mile service, which is covered by the prepaid maintenance I bought, which covers the 20k, 30k, 40k and 50k services....which cost about half of the 20k mile service on the Macan.

My Dad told me he got a warning in the Cayenne that service was due in 2000 miles. Then said "oh, that isn't the mileage until service, just the cost of the service."

28firefighter

corvette said:

Yeah, Mitsubishi has a ducted mini-split available now, with air handlers up to three tons, I think. I would have preferred that for my upstairs since it would be hidden behind the knee wall, but when you talk about installing new ducting, it gets expensive. It would have cost almost twice as much as what I did. 

Yes - I should clarify, they already had existing ducting upstairs that they could use. Otherwise it would have been even more in labor.

It really is a neat system, but you'll fall off your chair when I tell you what it cost - $28k installed.

au1994

breld said:

carnaught said:

@stickguy, queing your new car in your driveway tonight with a large red bow on top, snow flurries and snow music...

So @stickguy is getting a Lexus?

Ah yes, its not the holidays without the ‘December to remeber’ ads!

au1994

28firefighter said:

corvette said:

Yeah, Mitsubishi has a ducted mini-split available now, with air handlers up to three tons, I think. I would have preferred that for my upstairs since it would be hidden behind the knee wall, but when you talk about installing new ducting, it gets expensive. It would have cost almost twice as much as what I did. 

Yes - I should clarify, they already had existing ducting upstairs that they could use. Otherwise it would have been even more in labor.

It really is a neat system, but you'll fall off your chair when I tell you what it cost - $28k installed.

Holy...If I wasn’t standing at my desk I definitely would have fallen out of my chair!!

corvette

Yeah, the guy didn’t actually put together a complete estimate on the ducted one, he said he stopped when he saw it was going to be over $9k. 

tjc78

28K!!!  BS on that.  Window unit here I come 

28firefighter

Also, I have no issues at all with the mini-split units and their appearance. I have a much bigger issue with window box units hanging out the window than I do having a mini-split head in my bedroom.

Drivingfool

Happy B-Day Marco, have been off line for a couple days due to a bad pain episode. Talked with wife about retiring and am looking at mid June at this point, and if not then, if a hurricane points our way. My first s s check arrived yesterday, pitifully small thanks to the republicans and Reagan, but that's another story!!
Did get both vehicles cleaned with a new kind of stuff that's supposed to last 6 months, so we'll see. They do look like they just came out of the factory though, sparkling! Paid a bit more than I wanted but now they're done and I'm going to wait awhile.

jpp75

xwesx said:

The mapping of the transmission on the "fix" is just horrible. It definitely stole the off-the-line punch that the engine itself can provide, and the faster you want it to move out, the more pronounced this is. I think it must have been a way for them to minimize the changes' impact on fuel economy (they were required to keep it within 5% of origional, if I recall correctly, which means they could lose 1 mpg on the ratings.... which they did).

I'll be curious to see if the remapping helps you out. I have to say I don't miss the Touareg, for many reasons it was a bad decision, but you live and learn.

stickguy

Drivingfool said:

Happy B-Day Marco, have been off line for a couple days due to a bad pain episode. Talked with wife about retiring and am looking at mid June at this point, and if not then, if a hurricane points our way. My first s s check arrived yesterday, pitifully small thanks to the republicans and Reagan, but that's another story!!
Did get both vehicles cleaned with a new kind of stuff that's supposed to last 6 months, so we'll see. They do look like they just came out of the factory though, sparkling! Paid a bit more than I wanted but now they're done and I'm going to wait awhile.

Sorry to hear about your flare up. At this point, given you physical issues, and with SS now coming in, not even sure why she has a say in the matter. Besides, you were already retired once before getting your PT job for SS credits, so mission accomplished.

jpp75

xwesx said:

stickguy said:

and all this debate in our house about a black car, shocking to me, the wife saw a couple of lighter reds she liked. She never liked red before.

must be related to her obsession about not getting an "old people's car"

Buick has a beautiful red you should consider.....

Speaking of yesterday I saw the first Regal wagon in the wild at Costco up near work. I also saw a regular Regal, the sportback I think they call it? Looked to be a rental, Florida plates, driven young people and covered in salt.

nyccarguy

breld said:

We took the Macan in for its 20k mile service yesterday - that introduced me to the "privilege" of Porsche ownership.

In contrast, I'm taking the Q7 in this afternoon for its 20k mile service, which is covered by the prepaid maintenance I bought, which covers the 20k, 30k, 40k and 50k services....which cost about half of the 20k mile service on the Macan.

After spending a decent amount of money on maintenance for their 2011 V6 Cayenne, my parents opted to buy the pre-paid maintenance package (50K miles) for their 2016 V6 Cayenne. It wasn't cheap, but it paid for itself after the 40K service which requires the spark plugs to be changed (among other things). Yes, brakes (pads & rotors) are expensive, but they last at least 2x as long as on a "regular car." When you get it back, the vehicle stops like the day you drove it off the lot. They send someone to pick up my Mom's Cayenne and drop off a loaner (Macan or Cayenne).

To contrast that, my Dad's Yukon which i think has a higher MSRP than Mom's Cayenne gets a coupon to change the oil for $39.99.

xwesx

jpp5862 said:

xwesx said:

stickguy said:

and all this debate in our house about a black car, shocking to me, the wife saw a couple of lighter reds she liked. She never liked red before.

must be related to her obsession about not getting an "old people's car"

Buick has a beautiful red you should consider.....

Speaking of yesterday I saw the first Regal wagon in the wild at Costco up near work. I also saw a regular Regal, the sportback I think they call it? Looked to be a rental, Florida plates, driven young people and covered in salt.

Mmm.... lovely! If they drive it up north, they might be able to get some caribou to come over and lick it.

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

corvette said:

Yeah, Mitsubishi has a ducted mini-split available now, with air handlers up to three tons, I think. I would have preferred that for my upstairs since it would be hidden behind the knee wall, but when you talk about installing new ducting, it gets expensive. It would have cost almost twice as much as what I did. 

Yes - I should clarify, they already had existing ducting upstairs that they could use. Otherwise it would have been even more in labor.

It really is a neat system, but you'll fall off your chair when I tell you what it cost - $28k installed.

Friends built a house, last year. 2 acre lot. Geothermal heat pump. Big dollars, but their utility bills are ridiculously small.

kyfdx

One drawback from my car detailing:

Central lock and emergency flasher button are next to each other on the console. Now, neither is working. Suspecting water infiltration that maybe blew a fuse?

Central locks still work off key or key fob.... It's just the button that doesn't work.

(might be time for a new car?)

Michaell

I've just been reviewing our utility costs - the new house is costing us $30-40/mo less for electricity + natural gas than our old place.

Mr_Shiftright

kyfdx said:

One drawback from my car detailing:

Central lock and emergency flasher button are next to each other on the console. Now, neither is working. Suspecting water infiltration that maybe blew a fuse?

Central locks still work off key or key fob.... It's just the button that doesn't work.


(might be time for a new car?)

Best trick here is to score a wiring diagram, or less good, check the fuse diagram. If both functions are on the same circuit, a fuse would be a prime suspect--although seems to me there would be other functions on that fuse.

You might be able to score a diagram from http://www.bbbind.com/

Sometimes popping out the switches isn't a big deal if you're careful.

kyfdx

Sometimes popping out the switches isn't a big deal if you're careful.

I almost always break a clip that can't be fixed..

28firefighter

I'm sure you could take it to the BMW dealer...lol

kyfdx

It's going there for a $79 oil change special in January. You never know.

kyfdx

Of course, I bought new hood struts that are just rolling around in the trunk, too.

28firefighter

And, for @kyfdx's next trick, how to turn a $79 bill into a $1000 bill.

Mr_Shiftright

kyfdx said:

It's going there for a $79 oil change special in January. You never know.

Just don't give them a blank check or they're gonna run with it to the goal line.

And don't forget to register your new switch with the Bavarian authorities.

ab348

Mr_Shiftright said:

And don't forget to register your new switch with the Bavarian authorities.

I can see the techs interrogating the switch: "Papers, pleeze!"

Drivingfool

Had to install a new 3.5 ton unit in July and after rebates it came to $3885 but it really cools this old house quickly! We went with a York unit and must say, I like it!! The wife says it's too cold but when I asked them to adjust it took keep her quiet, they just laughed and said they can't do that. So we just keep it at 79 and she's somewhat happy! Told her that's the last big expense I'm putting into this place as I plan to be gone by early 2020.

graphicguy

kyfdx said:

28firefighter said:

corvette said:

Yeah, Mitsubishi has a ducted mini-split available now, with air handlers up to three tons, I think. I would have preferred that for my upstairs since it would be hidden behind the knee wall, but when you talk about installing new ducting, it gets expensive. It would have cost almost twice as much as what I did. 

Yes - I should clarify, they already had existing ducting upstairs that they could use. Otherwise it would have been even more in labor.

It really is a neat system, but you'll fall off your chair when I tell you what it cost - $28k installed.

Friends built a house, last year. 2 acre lot. Geothermal heat pump. Big dollars, but their utility bills are ridiculously small.

Since we're in the same geographic region (different states), I had a heat pump put into the house I had before my current one. I think it was around 1985, or so. Couldn't keep the 1,500 sq/ft house warm. Did get smaller utility bills, though.

My current house, which is about 2X the size of that one, has a conventional high efficiency HVAC system that's been installed within the last 5 years. Not sure about the cost of energy vs what it cost in the '80s, but my bill is about the same. On even billing, about $150/mo for gas/electric.

Drivingfool

Should've bought the 40K, 50K & 60K services up front like I did the earlier ones as I've still got the Golf and plan to keep it. At about 47.6K already and forsee it hanging around till at least the 65K mark if all things keep working properly. Funny how hind site is always perfect. Still have no clue what I want to replace it, none at all though here is a short list. Just not ready to commit and to spend a ton of cash right now. But probably should sooner or later before something does go wrong that gets expensive. But now that it's all shiny and new looking, hate to do anything at all!

fintail

I live in a shoebox, my power bill (all electric) averages maybe $30/month.

Regarding servicing, in my anecdotal experience, the prepaid offers can be a good deal, major services on German cars can be quite dear.

Drivingfool

We have the choice to do even billing but during the winter (hahaha) down here, we can sometimes go about 3 weeks without any a/c usage with the dryer being the next biggest user. Since I had the dryer vent cleaned out in October, one cycle now to dry everything including the towels. Also, we're back to being empty nesters since the oldest moved into her new place. And as of Monday, wife's Turbo Tax gig started, so she'll be home most weekdays so we'll see how it affects the power bills going forward.
And yes, since I'm now getting my s s check plus my pension, Stick's right that I can leave whenever I want. Want to try until mid June and possibly do it then. Since most folks move before school begins, hoping I can convince the wife to put it on the market just to see what kind of offers we get. Also got a mailing today from a company that buys houses folks just want out of. I need to get some kind of numbers to show her where we're out on a selling price. Show me $390K, and I'll be outta here within six weeks!

stickguy

Just have a local real estate agent that’s familiar with your neighborhood in to give you a quick appraisal. That could be an eye opener. In a good way

stickguy

Got excited for a unit today, deal was good, so took a drive. Turns out, didn’t really care for it like I expected. That’s always a bummer. So decided to pass. I know the wife would not have been a big fan.

28firefighter

Suspense is killing me!