Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

andres3

Mr_Shiftright said:

Maserati brand was part of a WarrantyDirect survey. Score? 36th place out of.........36!

The various Maserati boards are rather fascinating to read. Owners seem to be really in a love/hate thing with them.

One guy said his 2009 has been "dead reliable" and then proceeded to list about 11 things that went wrong with it.

Another post was classic: "NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER in the last 3 months, 3000 miles".

Check back with that guy after another month and 1,000 miles. 4 mo. and 4,000 miles would impress me more.

qbrozen

So my dad mentioned a desire to trade his Legacy for something "more fun."
I guess getting a top-of-the-line Subaru is not a good way to go because the value is not where I thought it would be. It is a 2015 with just 9k miles, 3.6R limited. He's looking at a $17k trade value.

Being that he is quite up there in years, I'd hate for him to NOT do what he wants to. Anyway, I was showing him the Charger R/T, Fusion Sport, Q50, and I'll see if I can find an EX37 to show him. Something that is the same age as his, or newer, and fewer than 35k miles. FWD need not apply, and a coupe would not work for them. I figure if I could get him to about $4k cash plus his car, MAYBE he'd go for it. Any other suggestions?

stickguy

S60?

rayainsw

I'd vote for the Charger R/T.
I might be biased.
I am old.
- Ray
Had a 2015 Charger R/T - liked it, a lot ...

xwesx

It is a bad time for sedans (value wise).

Michaell

28firefighter said:

The XT moniker is making a return to Subaru:
https://jalopnik.com/the-2020-subaru-legacy-gets-turbo-power-back-1832427718

I saw that .. I'm intrigued.

Michaell

28firefighter said:

And the return of the GLI - with a manual!

https://jalopnik.com/the-2019-volkswagen-jetta-gli-gets-much-better-1832429288

And, this one too.

Glad to hear that the reports of the demise of the sedan are greatly exaggerated.

Michaell

xwesx said:

It is a bad time for sedans (value wise).

I've just submitted our Outback (also 2015 with 3.6 engine) to Vroom. Curious as to what the trade value is, compared to the Legacy.

marcogallo1986

 So glad to hear from you Ray, glad everything’s going OK with you and the family. 

marcogallo1986

 Sand man, agree with others in here to the transmission drain and fill, for the time being even though she’s gonna trade it in. Would not do the rest of the work though. That’s good when you go and see your daughter in a few weeks you guys can start doing some car looking together which is good for the both of you. Type your comment

marcogallo1986

 I love all else posted in here above since I was in here on Tuesday. 

stickguy

Michael, just as check, or really thinking about doing something?

Michaell

stickguy said:

Michael, just as check, or really thinking about doing something?

Just as a check. Wife may be getting some inheritance money soon and is considering paying off the Outback to free up some room in our budget.

Will be 4 years old at the end of the month and has a tick over 30,000 miles on it. We are hoping to keep it for 10 years, unless she gets bored with it.

Michaell

And' the Vroom offer just came in. Any guesses?

stickguy

$17,000

aren't you paying something like .09% on it? If so, not worth paying off.

xwesx

Michaell said:

And' the Vroom offer just came in. Any guesses?

Four years old, 30,000 miles. I'm going to say about 65%

qbrozen

I plugged my dad’s car into carvana and started an account for him. Their offer is $18.2k, which is very solid. And given the tax advantage, I started shopping on the site. Found him a number of vehicles. 3 Q50s, a CTS4 3.6, a pair of Chryco 300s with 3.6 and AWD, and a 328xi GT. Oh, and he tells me he wants AWD, so don’t see a v8 Charger in his future.

Michaell

xwesx said:

Michaell said:

And' the Vroom offer just came in. Any guesses?

Four years old, 30,000 miles. I'm going to say about 65%

65% of what?

Michaell

stickguy said:

$17,000

aren't you paying something like .09% on it? If so, not worth paying off.

You made me pull out the paperwork and look.

1.9% loan on the Outback.

Yes, a very competitive rate, but it's more about cash flow at the moment, as the wife's salary is likely to take a major hit when the new business opens up.

qbrozen

I’ll guess $21,250 on the outback.

nyccarguy

Michaell said:

stickguy said:

$17,000

aren't you paying something like .09% on it? If so, not worth paying off.

You made me pull out the paperwork and look.

1.9% loan on the Outback.

Yes, a very competitive rate, but it's more about cash flow at the moment, as the wife's salary is likely to take a major hit when the new business opens up.

What new business is this?

nyccarguy

qbrozen said:

I’ll guess $21,250 on the outback.

You can't guess! You KNOW!

qbrozen

nyccarguy said:

qbrozen said:

I’ll guess $21,250 on the outback.

You can't guess! You KNOW!

Hey, I waited to give you guys a shot. LOL.
Besides, it is still a guessing game as to how far over auction value they'll go.

Michaell

I suppose there aren't going to be any more guesses coming in.

Vroom is willing to purchase the Outback for $22,000

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

Michaell said:

stickguy said:

$17,000

aren't you paying something like .09% on it? If so, not worth paying off.

You made me pull out the paperwork and look.

1.9% loan on the Outback.

Yes, a very competitive rate, but it's more about cash flow at the moment, as the wife's salary is likely to take a major hit when the new business opens up.

What new business is this?

The wife and daughter will be opening up a kids cooking studio franchise. The company is based in NC, and ours will be the first one west of the Mississippi. If all goes well, it should be open in a couple of months.

nyccarguy

Michaell said:

I suppose there aren't going to be any more guesses coming in.

Vroom is willing to purchase the Outback for $22,000

@qbrozen - you're slipping

corvette

Michaell, that’s exciting! Best of luck with the new venture. 

Michaell

corvette said:

Michaell, that’s exciting! Best of luck with the new venture. 

Thanks! The process is going really slow. We identified this company last summer and we are just now hoping to sign a lease for the space this week. Figure 8 weeks for demo and construction, and we hope to be open in time for summer break.

I have learned so much about what it takes to open a business - and the costs involved.

qbrozen

That's especially crazy. I went $750 over auction. So they are offering you $1500 over. Wow. That is private party retail.

Michaell

qbrozen said:

That's especially crazy. I went $750 over auction. So they are offering you $1500 over. Wow. That is private party retail.

Wife shot it down, even though it represents almost $6k of positive equity.

Can't say I blame her

au1994

Geez, 6k in positive equity? That’s impressive.

Couldn’t you pocket that and then lease something else and write it off through the business?

Michaell

au1994 said:

Geez, 6k in positive equity? That’s impressive.

Couldn’t you pocket that and then lease something else and write it off through the business?

And, that's with over $3K of negative equity rolled into the loan.

We are trying to keep the business expenses as low as possible, for now.

The Jetta will likely go back in August, and I'll drive the Outback for a while.

Could there be a business vehicle, down the road? Certainly. But, we'll cross that bridge when the business is off the ground and profitable.

au1994

Michaell said:

au1994 said:

Geez, 6k in positive equity? That’s impressive.

Couldn’t you pocket that and then lease something else and write it off through the business?

And, that's with over $3K of negative equity rolled into the loan.

We are trying to keep the business expenses as low as possible, for now.

The Jetta will likely go back in August, and I'll drive the Outback for a while.

Could there be a business vehicle, down the road? Certainly. But, we'll cross that bridge when the business is off the ground and profitable.

Gotcha. Best of luck on the business. I kicked around the franchise idea a couple of years ago but quite frankly just didn’t have the guts to take the plunge.

andres3

Has CR ranking the Alltrack over the beloved Outback caused the Alltrack's resale values to skyrocket?

andres3

qbrozen said:

So my dad mentioned a desire to trade his Legacy for something "more fun."
I guess getting a top-of-the-line Subaru is not a good way to go because the value is not where I thought it would be. It is a 2015 with just 9k miles, 3.6R limited. He's looking at a $17k trade value.

Being that he is quite up there in years, I'd hate for him to NOT do what he wants to. Anyway, I was showing him the Charger R/T, Fusion Sport, Q50, and I'll see if I can find an EX37 to show him. Something that is the same age as his, or newer, and fewer than 35k miles. FWD need not apply, and a coupe would not work for them. I figure if I could get him to about $4k cash plus his car, MAYBE he'd go for it. Any other suggestions?

I'd give up reliability, go higher mileage to get something truly fun at that budget.

henryn

andres3 said:

I'd give up reliability, go higher mileage to get something truly fun at that budget.

I don't know so much about that. Like everything else in life, it's a tradeoff. But ... The older I get, the less I want to deal with being broken down by the side of the road.

corvette

The new battery seems to have fixed the slow cranking on the Tahoe, but not the issue where the engine stumbles and almost dies right after it turns over. Did some googling, and it looks like it's a known issue with the way the truck guesstimates the ethanol content of the fuel tank. Specifically, the truck goes into some sort of ethanol relearn algorithm whenever it detects that three or more gallons of fuel have been added. If the engine isn't completely warmed up when you fill up, or if you don't drive at least seven miles after you fill up, the ethanol relearn can go awry and cause the issue I'm experiencing, or other symptoms like a CEL or black smoke from the exhaust on startup. Unfortunately for me, I almost always fill up at the gas station near my house and drive half a mile home, then let the truck sit overnight. 

I have an almost full tank right now, so I'm going to try to get it low enough so that I can add well over three gallons and try to force an ethanol relearn.

Michaell

au1994 said:

Michaell said:

au1994 said:

Geez, 6k in positive equity? That’s impressive.

Couldn’t you pocket that and then lease something else and write it off through the business?

And, that's with over $3K of negative equity rolled into the loan.

We are trying to keep the business expenses as low as possible, for now.

The Jetta will likely go back in August, and I'll drive the Outback for a while.

Could there be a business vehicle, down the road? Certainly. But, we'll cross that bridge when the business is off the ground and profitable.

Gotcha. Best of luck on the business. I kicked around the franchise idea a couple of years ago but quite frankly just didn’t have the guts to take the plunge.

Wife found this on a franchise website. Low cost of entry, and a field where both of them have plenty of experience.

So far, the journey has been pretty good. A stumble here and there, but nothing that has caused us to rethink our decisions.

andres3

henryn said:

andres3 said:

I'd give up reliability, go higher mileage to get something truly fun at that budget.

I don't know so much about that. Like everything else in life, it's a tradeoff. But ... The older I get, the less I want to deal with being broken down by the side of the road.

Hmmm... I was thinking at that age you're retired and don't have anywhere to be At least, you are not commuting being retired. You need a dependable car for work. Maybe for sanity too, but at least not for work when retired.

qbrozen

Michaell said:

$17,000 aren't you paying something like .09% on it? If so, not worth paying off.

You made me pull out the paperwork and look. 1.9% loan on the Outback. Yes, a very competitive rate, but it's more about cash flow at the moment, as the wife's salary is likely to take a major hit when the new business opens up.

What new business is this?

The wife and daughter will be opening up a kids cooking studio franchise. The company is based in NC, and ours will be the first one west of the Mississippi. If all goes well, it should be open in a couple of months.

Is that the one that hosts kids’ bday parties and the guests make their own mini pizzas and cupcakes or whatever?

28firefighter

Just watched a Subaru Crosstrek go down our street sideways (snow started about an hour or so ago). Still had temp tags.

Michaell

qbrozen said:

Michaell said:

nyccarguy said:

Michaell said:

stickguy said:

$17,000

aren't you paying something like .09% on it? If so, not worth paying off.

You made me pull out the paperwork and look.

1.9% loan on the Outback.

Yes, a very competitive rate, but it's more about cash flow at the moment, as the wife's salary is likely to take a major hit when the new business opens up.

What new business is this?

The wife and daughter will be opening up a kids cooking studio franchise. The company is based in NC, and ours will be the first one west of the Mississippi. If all goes well, it should be open in a couple of months.

Is that the one that hosts kids’ bday parties and the guests make their own mini pizzas and cupcakes or whatever?

That would be a good description of what happens. During the summer, they hold week-long themed camps. Pre-school through early teenage years.

fintail

That kind of thing seems like a good idea in an affluent area with lots of bloggermoms who coddle their kids. I think there's a baking-themed one somewhere near me. There's also a kid-themed haircut place - at $38 for a kids cut and shampoo, seems like one could maybe run in the black.

qbrozen

Michaell said:

Michaell said:

$17,000 aren't you paying something like .09% on it? If so, not worth paying off.

You made me pull out the paperwork and look. 1.9% loan on the Outback. Yes, a very competitive rate, but it's more about cash flow at the moment, as the wife's salary is likely to take a major hit when the new business opens up.

What new business is this?

The wife and daughter will be opening up a kids cooking studio franchise. The company is based in NC, and ours will be the first one west of the Mississippi. If all goes well, it should be open in a couple of months.

Is that the one that hosts kids’ bday parties and the guests make their own mini pizzas and cupcakes or whatever?

That would be a good description of what happens. During the summer, they hold week-long themed camps. Pre-school through early teenage years.

Yes, that, too. Wonder if its the same chain. I can’t remember the name

Michaell

fintail said:

That kind of thing seems like a good idea in an affluent area with lots of bloggermoms who coddle their kids. I think there's a baking-themed one somewhere near me. There's also a kid-themed haircut place - at $38 for a kids cut and shampoo, seems like one could maybe run in the black.

Which exactly describes the area where the studio will be located. We are hoping to tap into that endless desire to spend on the kids.

And, one of those kiddie haircut places will be next door to our studio.

cdnpinhead

The end is near.

xwesx

Michaell said:

xwesx said:

Michaell said:

And' the Vroom offer just came in. Any guesses?

Four years old, 30,000 miles. I'm going to say about 65%

65% of what?

Oh, sorry; I was thinking of it as 65% of what you paid new.

xwesx

28firefighter said:

Just watched a Subaru Crosstrek go down our street sideways (snow started about an hour or so ago). Still had temp tags.

That's what they get for thinking AWD equals more traction. They probably left the crap OEM tires on it and figured they were good to go!

Silly Seattle's inability to handle snow caused our flights to be cancelled in advance, so looks like we'll be starting our little two-week "vacation" two days late (assuming the airlines don't cancel on us again).

corvette

xwesx said:

They probably left the crap OEM tires on it and figured they were good to go!

What are they using on those now? Potenza RE92s, Goodyear Eagles, or Dunlop Grandtreks? I think those are all bottom of the barrel OEM tires for AWD vehicles.

xwesx

corvette said:

xwesx said:

They probably left the crap OEM tires on it and figured they were good to go!

What are they using on those now? Potenza RE92s, Goodyear Eagles, or Dunlop Grandtreks? I think those are all bottom of the barrel OEM tires for AWD vehicles.

I am honestly not sure. I haven't looked at anything newer than about 2014, and they had Yokos on them at that point. I have a neighbor that purchased a 2017 Outback, IIRC, and that one had Continentals on it. An okay warm weather tire, but not something I would use on snow or ice.