Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy

Don't worry. When the book comes out, it will be epic.

jpp75

28firefighter said:

Suspense is killing me!

Me too.

nyccarguy

28firefighter said:

Suspense is killing me!

He's getting good at it too

jpp75

I bet this is what he's looking at:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-amc-javelin-3/

stickguy

no, but I love it. Ditch the side pipes and put in a 3 spoke wood steering wheel and be good to go!

sadly, it would be my 3rd 3 speed manual AMC. And 4th overall, counting my Duster too. I was the master of that shift pattern back in the day!

henryn

I did know the "3 on the knee" pretty well in my younger days. Back around 1979 I bought an older Peugeot 504, which had a 4 speed shifter on the steering column. Now that was interesting. People who rode with me were always amazed when I shifted through 4 gears.

tbirdmarco

 driving fool, thank you for the birthday wishes my friend, hope the pain subsides I know that’s always going to be an ongoing thing, how are you feeling today? Glad you got the cars cleaned up hopefully this new stuff that they used for you last six months like they claim he shall see. How’s work been? Hopefully you’re able to retire in June like you want maybe sooner. Enjoy yourself and eventually down the road when you’re ready get a new ride.  How’s your daughters and son and family?. 

tbirdmarco

 Stick guy the suspense is also killing me it has been for the past number of days. What car is it the one to look at today that once you saw it in person was a no go. What are the remaining candidates, maybe you’ll have a car in the driveway tomorrow or Saturday. Want to see one of those wagon’s and a lift back in person if I can get to a dealer soon. 

tbirdmarco

 Stick guy, I also can’t wait to hear well read the book you’re going to right here on this process is all over and done with. 

sda

A friend’s dad had a dark blue 504 GL with light blue cloth interior. I remember how soft and comfortable the seats were and how well the car rode. Dad’s Renault 16 TL which was a direct competitor was not nearly as nice, however when dad’s company replaced the 16 with a Renault 30 V6, that car was extremely comfortable and decently quick. We were living just outside of Paris. Dad was working for a Texas based company supporting a project with Elf oil.

xwesx

fintail said:

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.

Well, you may pay out the nose for housing, but at least you get a break on utilities.

qbrozen

jpp5862 said:

I bet this is what he's looking at: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-amc-javelin-3/

That's pretty badass. Wish it had the 360, though.

xwesx

qbrozen said:

That's pretty badass. Wish it had the 360, though.

I like the current bid: $1,972.

The car looks really nice, especially for an early '70s car.

stickguy

added another dealer to the small list of ones I have no desire to deal with any longer tonight. Last thing I need is a salesguy with an attitude giving me crap.

ab348

That is not my favourite year for Javelin design but that one is indeed in very nice condition. Two things jump out at me with those: first, the huge expanse of plastiwood slathered across the dash with no particular purpose, along with a very odd dash design overall; second, the steering wheel, which was identical except for the center badge to the one in Dad’s ‘75 Hornet Sportabout, and which was an awful wheel, too large because I guess it was designed for use with manual steering. AMC should have used a smaller diameter wheel with those.

tifighter

breld 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.

I’d recommend it. Maybe not in mid-December. But it’s a fun place to explore.

Funny side note from Taipei- I was walking past the presidential palace yesterday, and one of the security guys along the perimeter says to me, unprompted, “Would you like to see a tour of the inside?” To which I said um, okay. Sends me to the corner of the lot, where there’s a gate, the security takes down passport info, go through a metal detector and meet a different guy on the other side that proceeds to take me inside.  Walks me inside to another woman who gives me a tour in English. The inside is clearly set up for this, but I couldn’t believe the security guys were out hawking tours. Imagine that at the White House...

mjfloyd1

henryn said:

I did know the "3 on the knee" pretty well in my younger days. Back around 1979 I bought an older Peugeot 504, which had a 4 speed shifter on the steering column. Now that was interesting. People who rode with me were always amazed when I shifted through 4 gears.

I thought it was “three on the tree”

qbrozen

stickguy said:

added another dealer to the small list of ones I have no desire to deal with any longer tonight. Last thing I need is a salesguy with an attitude giving me crap.

Which one?

stickguy

Not the one you bought from. They were very nice.

stickguy

got brave (wife might say crazy) but pushed the "purchase now" button on Honcker tonight. Interesting process. A bit odd going through the submit process. It seemed to insist on me uploading my existing lease contract, so I took a picture of some notes. Took that!

now waiting for dealer to accept me and contact back about scheduling delivery. Hopefully at some point I find out where the dealer is, so I can actually talk to them about my trade in! Should know in the AM, and plan to chat with a Honcker person on-line.

I am still skeptical that this goes through, but it is a great deal. Plus, as a bonus, it is a fancier trim level of a car I was trying for, and after researching the package has a few things I really want!

More to come... Though might not be a good idea to go through with trying to nail down a deal with my other choice in person. Though after today, I may never set foot in a dealer again unless just browsing/test driving. If I go to plan B, it will just be via text negotiations.

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

got brave (wife might say crazy) but pushed the "purchase now" button on Honcker tonight. Interesting process. A bit odd going through the submit process. It seemed to insist on me uploading my existing lease contract, so I took a picture of some notes. Took that! now waiting for dealer to accept me and contact back about scheduling delivery. Hopefully at some point I find out where the dealer is, so I can actually talk to them about my trade in! Should know in the AM, and plan to chat with a Honcker person on-line. I am still skeptical that this goes through, but it is a great deal. Plus, as a bonus, it is a fancier trim level of a car I was trying for, and after researching the package has a few things I really want! More to come... Though might not be a good idea to go through with trying to nail down a deal with my other choice in person. Though after today, I may never set foot in a dealer again unless just browsing/test driving. If I go to plan B, it will just be via text negotiations.

Wow!  I’m impressed!  Can you give us at least a couple of hints once the deal is cemented?

nyccarguy

@Michaell & @kyfdx must have some idea.  I’m sure @stickguy has been visiting a few “lease price threads” here on Edmunds.  Kudos to you for not “outing” what you think he’s going for.

If it is a used or CPO punch, we all know because we all follow @qbrozen on Real World Trade In Values.

I’m going with the easy guess and say he’s going for a TLX SH-AWD w/ Tech Pkg.

28firefighter

stickguy said:

got brave (wife might say crazy) but pushed the "purchase now" button on Honcker tonight. Interesting process. A bit odd going through the submit process. It seemed to insist on me uploading my existing lease contract, so I took a picture of some notes. Took that! now waiting for dealer to accept me and contact back about scheduling delivery. Hopefully at some point I find out where the dealer is, so I can actually talk to them about my trade in! Should know in the AM, and plan to chat with a Honcker person on-line. I am still skeptical that this goes through, but it is a great deal. Plus, as a bonus, it is a fancier trim level of a car I was trying for, and after researching the package has a few things I really want! More to come... Though might not be a good idea to go through with trying to nail down a deal with my other choice in person. Though after today, I may never set foot in a dealer again unless just browsing/test driving. If I go to plan B, it will just be via text negotiations.

Been telling you all along not to go in to negotiate. 

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

@Michaell & @kyfdx must have some idea.  I’m sure @stickguy has been visiting a few “lease price threads” here on Edmunds.  Kudos to you for not “outing” what you think he’s going for.

If it is a used or CPO punch, we all know because we all follow @qbrozen on Real World Trade In Values.

I’m going with the easy guess and say he’s going for a TLX SH-AWD w/ Tech Pkg.

Bzzzzzztt!

But, thanks for playing. Your consolation prize of Rice-o-Roni is in the mail. 

I, too, don’t know exactly what he’s planning to do. But, as you’ve alluded to, he has been making some inquiries outside the boards. 

tjc78

Honcker must have sales reps or delivery teams. I saw a Ford little van (Cmax?) with a Honcker wrap all over it the other day.

@stickguy it was on 72 near LBI. I was coming back from a site. FYI that town is deader than anything right now. Nothing open for lunch. I’m used to WW or OC showing some life in winter.

qbrozen

Stickguy and I chatted a bit through email, so I'm disqualified. But I'm pretty sure the choices were not narrowed down to just one vehicle, so I still have no idea what the final verdict will be.

stickguy

New, not CPO. And you will all find out soon enough if the deal goes through. I did it after hours last night (something popped up in deals of the day) but the upload your info section was a bit odd. I got as far as inputting the required personal info, and waiting for the dealer to approve me, at which point (assuming it happens) I get asked to verify insurance, then finally get to schedule pickup/delivery.

I assume at that point, since I asked to pickup, they will finally tell me where the heck the car is! Plus, there was no place in the process to indicate you had a trade (put it did keep asking me to upload a copy of my existing lease contract). So I sent a picture of some notes I had, which it took. The dealer must get all this in their inbox and then they just process as any normal deal that came in off the floor.

I am still skeptical that all this gets sorted out, and some dealer does get to me this morning about setting up delivery at the terms presented. But, it would be nice, and hopefully if it happens they are reasonably local to make it easy to swap cars. And we can agree to a trade figure before I show up.

But, if not going to happen, I want to know early because I had a few other things to look at and wanted to get deal done today.

The only reason I went in was because I am looking to trade in my old car. I am about at the point of eating some money and selling it to Carvana instead, but that seems silly.

ab348

Michaell said:

I, too, don’t know exactly what he’s planning to do.

That's OK. Neither does he.

tbirdmarco

Nice nice stick guy  hoping  all works out for you today! Happy Friday. All!

stickguy

It ain't over until something is cooling off in the garage!

Did just get an email from Honcker that my car is reserved, and info sent off to lender for approval. So, that seems to be a good sign!

cdnpinhead

tifighter said:

I’d recommend it. Maybe not in mid-December. But it’s a fun place to explore.

I made 22 trips to Taiwan between 1986 and 1993, some as long as three weeks -- really grew to enjoy the place and got to the point to could read a few of the signs (only learned about 50 symbols, but it helped). We had access to leased cars, and after the first few visits I learned enough about what was expected when driving to take the plunge. I've driven all the way around the island and 2-3 times on the cross-island highway. The East coast is really pretty and much much less crowded than the West. I haven't been back in 25 years and have heard that there have been many changes since then.

Either way, I've seen parts of Taiwan that not too many other visitors see -- probably my favorite was the Sun-Moon lake area extending up over the mountain pass to the cross-island highway.

Good times.

sda

stickguy: I'm confused, I thought you bought the Elantra. 'asking me to upload a copy of my existing lease contract ' Is this the lease agreement to the new vehicle that you are pursuing?

graphicguy

jpp5862 said:

I bet this is what he's looking at:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-amc-javelin-3/

That’s a very cool car. Yeah, it would be nice if it had the 390, but it’s still got the small block V8. Looks in great condition and appears to be all original. Everything works according to the video. And, it’s somewhere near where @kyfdx and I could get to. When he tunes the radio, that’s a local AM station that comes on.

Not sure what it’s worth. But, it’s current bid seems very reasonable.

I like it!

kyfdx

graphicguy said:

jpp5862 said:

I bet this is what he's looking at:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-amc-javelin-3/

That’s a very cool car. Yeah, it would be nice if it had the 390, but it’s still got the small block V8. Looks in great condition and appears to be all original. Everything works according to the video. And, it’s somewhere near where @kyfdx and I could get to. When he tunes the radio, that’s a local AM station that comes on.

Not sure what it’s worth. But, it’s current bid seems very reasonable.

I like it!

Looks like they have auctions on BAT, every month.

I've never heard of them.

Website is here:
http://www.cincyclassiccars.com/

28firefighter

I'm going to guess @stickguy's new whip is an Accord EX-L 2.0.

ab348

28firefighter said:

I'm going to guess @stickguy's new whip is an Accord EX-L 2.0.

Didn't he say he didn't like the seats in the Accord? I just can't keep track.

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

I'm going to guess @stickguy's new whip is an Accord EX-L 2.0.

Is that really a guess, or do you know something?

He doesn't seem to like Accords, and thought it was too big, I think.

28firefighter

Really a guess. And you could be right - but the Accord is very similar in size to the Sonata.

suydam

I’m guessing CX5. Or did he rule that out?

kyfdx

Wait.. did he decide not to lease? That will change things. But, he was looking on Honcker. Isn't that lease only?

Mr_Shiftright

graphicguy said:

jpp5862 said:

I bet this is what he's looking at:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-amc-javelin-3/

That’s a very cool car. Yeah, it would be nice if it had the 390, but it’s still got the small block V8. Looks in great condition and appears to be all original. Everything works according to the video. And, it’s somewhere near where @kyfdx and I could get to. When he tunes the radio, that’s a local AM station that comes on.

Not sure what it’s worth. But, it’s current bid seems very reasonable.

I like it!

It's not worth a lot. It's a later Javelin, so that's a deduct, it's a 3-speed manual, so that's a deduct, and IMO the side pipes look silly. Seems to be it decent shape, though, and for a "cheap and cheerful" ride of a decent-looking 70s coupe, the bids so far seem reasonable. Certainly not worth more than $10K and that's a stretch.

On the other hand, you could add value to the car by installing a 4-speed, getting rid of the pipes and making a respectable resto-mod out of it.

qbrozen

kyfdx said:

Wait.. did he decide not to lease? That will change things. But, he was looking on Honcker. Isn't that lease only?

Yes.

And I'd love to know because I have not seen many good deals on honcker lately.

au1994

suydam said:

I’m guessing CX5. Or did he rule that out?

I’m going to guess a Grand Cherokee.

28firefighter

For some reason, I just don't think it is going to be a CUV.

Maybe a Mazda6...

kyfdx

I’m thinking a QX50 on a sub-$400 lease

28firefighter

I thought QX50 was ruled out. I'd be shocked (and impressed) if he picked up a sub-$400 lease on a QX50 this month. My understanding is that inventory caught up with demand after the blowouts some dealers did last month.

au1994

28firefighter said:

I thought QX50 was ruled out. I'd be shocked (and impressed) if he picked up a sub-$400 lease on a QX50 this month. My understanding is that inventory caught up with demand after the blowouts some dealers did last month.

I thought it was eliminated as well. The Mazda6 is a good guess.

tbirdmarco

RDX

tbirdmarco

Updated stick guy we are all wondering!

au1994

tbirdmarco said:

Updated stick guy we are all wondering!

This is like waiting to find out “who shot JR?” And yes I am dating myself with that statement!