Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

au1994

What’s our punch total for the year? Looks like @breld will add one more before year end.

nyccarguy

@au1994 - Mazel Tov & Congrats! I like the color!

stickguy

stickguy

another red punch. delivery uneventful. didn't get a chance to really exercise it (traffic was heavy) but it is very quiet and comfy on the highway, and the stereo is a beast. It does fit in the garage, just a little less room to spare compared to the Elantra. But, it is in the same spot the Sonata lived in, so no worries that it would fit.

Many buttons, gadgets and menus. Going to need a serious pass through the owners manual to figure it all out. But I got the climate on, XM playing, heated seats baking. So the rest is gravy.

nyccarguy

Mazel-Tov @stickguy! Your New TLX looks great! LOVE the red!

stickguy

thanks. Very sharp in person. Going to take some getting used to (color, and scale of the car since I had gotten used to the small car) but I am sure I will handle it.

au1994

Nice! I’m craving a chili pepper now!

au1994

graphicguy

stickguy said:

Beeyooooooteeeful! Love it. Congrats, again!

Give it a week or so. You'll figure it out. I find the D/A converter to be superb when playing full resolution songs I put on a memory stick. Sounds great. iPhone music through the lightning cable hook up sound great, too.

Bluetooth audio is really good. Just not as good as the other formats.

graphicguy

au1994 said:

I like it. Congrats, again!

28firefighter

Loving the punches guys - congrats, @stickguy.

What was the word on accessories and such as far as residual?

breld

Well, this is a banner day for the CCBA clan.  

Congrats @stickguy and @au1994!

28firefighter

Looks beautiful, @Breld. Congrats to Mrs. Breld!

3 punches in a day. Has got to be approaching a record.

anonymousposts1

28firefighter said:

Loving the punches guys - congrats, @stickguy. What was the word on accessories and such as far as residual?

It depends on the finance company. When we leased the 18 Highlander, my other half wanted to add about $1500 worth of accessories. It would’ve increased the payment by $40 a month or so because Toyota doesn’t residualize and you pay interest on it. Ended up being way cheaper to lease the Highlander without the accessories and the sales manager directed the parts/service department to sell/install them at cost. 

stickguy

I only tried XM so far. will play something off itunes tomorrow.

as predicted, only permanently attached stuff like foglights and running boards could be residualized. Though the salesguy did point out an advantage to putting it in the payments. He is real big on the 6 month pull ahead, so the last 6 months of payments just disappear.

so figure on this car going back for an RDX summer, 2021!

I did discover what I paid for it. MSRP was $40,135, sale price was $34,600, then a $2,000 rebate off of that. I'll take that on a 2019.

residual on $21,400, in case I want to keep it around long term.

kyfdx

Nice job on all three!!

Now, I'm going back to find all the posts where @stickguy complains about 17" tires...

stickguy

yes it has 19"s. but not as low profile. I caved on that for the power thigh extension driver's seat.

28firefighter

Very good, @stickguy. Congrats again.

nyccarguy

@breld - Congrats! Beautiful A5 Sportback!

xwesx

Congrats, everyone! Quite an active day. @breld wins the gorgeous award, though it might be that lighting was just a tiny bit superior to @stickguy!

It's funny that the Crosstrek already has a cargo rack mounted. If you can pull that except for when you need it, you'll save a good 3-4mpg daily. I think the cross bars work the same as on my Forester, so just leave the bars attached to the cargo rack, and use the removal tool to loosen the cross bars directly. Take it off, hang it on the wall, and any time you need it you will be about 90 seconds from ready.

tifighter

Wow, what a week! Congrats guys. Three purchases in my office this week too. I must have missed the memo...

sda

Wow, just wow all! Congratulations! I look forward to reviews on all three.

au1994

Beautiful @breld . I’m sure everyone will be happy with that choice.

It’s a red letter day here in CCBA land!

jpp75

Congrats @au1994! I really do like the Crosstrek.

@stickguy the TLX looks great, you'll love it!

I already congratulated @breld over text but ditto!

tjc78

Excellent news three punches in one day! Congrats all !

xwesx

breld said:

Whew; that thing looks so long in that photo... you'll need to register it in two zip codes!

corvette

Okay, I think I'm caught up. Looks like 43 punches so far this year, which is slightly lower than the 46 we had last year, but if you guys keep up the recent pace, we'll be there in no time!

breld, is the A5 a lease? And it's a 2018? How many miles?

suydam

Christmas came early! Congrats to all of you!

breld

xwesx said:

Whew; that thing looks so long in that photo... you'll need to register it in two zip codes!

The picture angle is exaggerating it a bit, but you’re right...it has a very long profile.  

To set my wifes mind more at ease, I did some comparisons and it’s within an inch of the length of the Macan.  So she’s comfortable.  

breld

corvette said:

Okay, I think I'm caught up. Looks like 43 punches so far this year, which is slightly lower than the 46 we had last year, but if you guys keep up the recent pace, we'll be there in no time! breld, is the A5 a lease? And it's a 2018? How many miles?

The A5 is a purchase.  It was a service loaner with about 5,800 miles.  2018 model year.  

qbrozen

corvette said:

Okay, I think I'm caught up. Looks like 43 punches so far this year, which is slightly lower than the 46 we had last year, but if you guys keep up the recent pace, we'll be there in no time!

breld, is the A5 a lease? And it's a 2018? How many miles?

Surely you jest! A lease would be WAY TOO LONG of a commitment for the breld clan.

nyccarguy

corvette said:

Okay, I think I'm caught up. Looks like 43 punches so far this year, which is slightly lower than the 46 we had last year, but if you guys keep up the recent pace, we'll be there in no time! breld, is the A5 a lease? And it's a 2018? How many miles?

The group NEVER fails to disappoint and continues to impress!

stickguy

the lighting on my picture was terrible. if we ever have nice weather again I will get some natural light pictures.

Breld, pretty A5. good job.

it is going to take me some time getting used to driving a "barge" again. The Elantra was a nice tidy size for maneuvering. But I am sure I will adjust.

stickguy

so, looks like I made it about 4 hours until I did not have the newest car here, and I found an alternative.

I probably should delete Honcker from my phone.

but I saw in the deals that Infiniti is dumping stock again. A nice Mocha over Parchment (gorgeous combo) Q50 Luxe 3.t, with driver assist package (BLIS, etc.) and essential package (Navi, heated stuff, etc.). MSRP 46K. 39/10, for $396 DAS and $384/month. Now that is a deal.

fintail

Nice cars, all. Remove the dealer sticker from the Audi now!

qbrozen

stickguy said:

so, looks like I made it about 4 hours until I did not have the newest car here, and I found an alternative. I probably should delete Honcker from my phone. but I saw in the deals that Infiniti is dumping stock again. A nice Mocha over Parchment (gorgeous combo) Q50 Luxe 3.t, with driver assist package (BLIS, etc.) and essential package (Navi, heated stuff, etc.). MSRP 46K. 39/10, for $396 DAS and $384/month. Now that is a deal.

Saw a broker in FL with Q50 3.0Ts for under $300 all in on 39/12. RWD of course though. Still... about 0.7% payment vs MSRP for sign and drive 12k is a heck of a bargain. I'd be tempted, but still can't push myself into 39 mos.

stickguy

the Infiniti dealer I was talking to made a good point. If you want to renew your lease, they waive the last 3, so a 39 can be done in 36 for a lower payment.

ab348

stickguy said:

so, looks like I made it about 4 hours until I did not have the newest car here, and I found an alternative.

I probably should delete Honcker from my phone.

but I saw in the deals that Infiniti is dumping stock again. A nice Mocha over Parchment (gorgeous combo) Q50 Luxe 3.t, with driver assist package (BLIS, etc.) and essential package (Navi, heated stuff, etc.). MSRP 46K. 39/10, for $396 DAS and $384/month. Now that is a deal.

I didn’t even get a chance to congratulate you yet! Talk about a wandering eye...

28firefighter

I’d drive the TL over the Q50 any day. 

tbirdmarco

Wow all congrads all a lot going on in hear  today

qbrozen

stickguy said:

the Infiniti dealer I was talking to made a good point. If you want to renew your lease, they waive the last 3, so a 39 can be done in 36 for a lower payment.

Hahahah. Oh, well now I'm in! Lol.

but you made me look. Damn a maroon over tan, 39/12k, Luxe AWD with Essential... came up $400/mo, but then I updated my account with our bmw lease and it dropped to $374. I'd also get VPP for another $45 or so. Geesh! $330? On $44k MSRP? That is right about equal with my Alfa (0.75% vs 0.74% Alfa). Again, though, the Alfa is only 24 mos. 20 months remaining.

corvette

28firefighter said:

I’d drive the TL over the Q50 any day. 

Ouch. Sounds like Infiniti really blew it with the Q50... The G37's space in my garage looks safe for a while!

qbrozen

28firefighter said:

I’d drive the TL over the Q50 any day. 

Even a FWD 4-cyl TL? Really?

corvette

I forgot... Since we keep a separate count for our grand poobah, breld, he's at ten punches for 2018, so far! He only had eight punches in 2017, so he's up 25% for 2018. He had seven in 2016 and five in 2015, 2014, and 2013, and only four in 2012.

Will he have achieved automotive nirvana and trade less frequently in 2019? Or will he set a new record? Stay tuned to As the CCBA Turns...

benjaminh

stickguy said:

.... He is real big on the 6 month pull ahead, so the last 6 months of payments just disappear.

so figure on this car going back for an RDX summer, 2021!....

?

I thought a 36 month lease was a 36 month lease, which would mean your lease ends in Dec. of 2021. Would you explain this to me?

Michaell

Over the Christmas break, I'm hoping to get a group photo of the grey A5, the grey Tacoma @jpp5862 picked up, and my grey Jetta.

stickguy

benjaminh said:

stickguy said:

.... He is real big on the 6 month pull ahead, so the last 6 months of payments just disappear.

so figure on this car going back for an RDX summer, 2021!....

?

I thought a 36 month lease was a 36 month lease, which would mean your lease ends in Dec. of 2021. Would you explain this to me?

most ever manufacturer has some sort of "pull ahead" program. Basically a set number of months before the lease is over (commonly 3) they offer to waive the remaining payments if you get into a new lease. According to my sales dude, Acura usually does it 5 or 6 months early, so if you know you just want to lease a replacement, you can essentially swap the payments over to a new car instead. So in the end, it comes out to be like having a 30-33 month lease.

stickguy

just finished reading the owners manual. It was surprisingly thin. For whatever reason, Acura gave just basics. But, enough to get you into the right menu, so you can just follow the questions.

Need to go through all the settings menus sitting in the car, and have the manual out to check the safety nanny stuff to see what is on and off.

28firefighter

corvette said:

I’d drive the TL over the Q50 any day. 

Ouch. Sounds like Infiniti really blew it with the Q50... The G37's space in my garage looks safe for a while!

The G37/Q40 was a much better car than the Q50. Muuuuuch better. 

28firefighter

qbrozen said:

28firefighter said:

I’d drive the TL over the Q50 any day. 

Even a FWD 4-cyl TL? Really?

At Sub-$300 a month, the Q50 is competitive and something I’d entertain. Otherwise, yes.

I’ve had enough Q50s as rentals when traveling to dislike it.