Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy

the dealers by me that I use, that don't offer loaners, at least have shuttles that will take you home or to work, and pick you up later if you ask them to. No charge.

not an issue now with the 2 Acuras, since the dealers I use both have loaners. Though I only bother to get one if the car is getting something more involved than a normal oil change service. easier to just wait and window shop during that.

nyccarguy

tifighter said:

Jeez, Q. You win the panel count contest by a country mile...

+1 on that!  You produced almost 80 kWh yesterday?  That’s almost double mine.  Your house is a lot bigger, you probably get more sunlight, and you probably use more electricity than me.  Impressive!

coldinohio

congrats on Tesla's, tifighter

qbrozen

nyccarguy said:

tifighter said:

Jeez, Q. You win the panel count contest by a country mile...

+1 on that!  You produced almost 80 kWh yesterday?  That’s almost double mine.  Your house is a lot bigger, you probably get more sunlight, and you probably use more electricity than me.  Impressive!

Wish I knew what my use is. Right now, it should be very low. Once the AC and pool
kick in, though...

Yes, I get full all day. And 3 sides of my roof are paneled as a result. 

qbrozen

Here was my first full year in this house with the system.

kyfdx

That is amazing.

Residential solar roof panels are virtually non-existent, in our area.

nyccarguy

@qbrozen

my 1st full year (2018), I produced 7,116.4 kWh

Last month, I produced 721.9 kWh. I only have to pay the power company $9.21, Tesla gets $104 for leasing me the solar panels, & just because I LOVE fossil fuels I had 100 Gallons of #2 pumped into my oil tank ($250 ish).

graphicguy

@tifighter ....big congrats. I’m wondering if you’re the only 2 Tesla family in the country?

fintail

I am certain there are several others in the Seattle metro alone - some people are really into it here. I think the brand is some kind of membership badge at certain tech companies.

graphicguy

Kind of surprised your Honda dealers don’t at least offer shuttles to and from the dealership. When my ex had her Accord, I think the dealership told her she could use their shuttle to and from the school she taught at (which was about 22 miles one way from the dealership). She had to drop off the car early in the a.m. and had to ride with others on the shuttle, but it was easy to do, and she didn’t have to have me come pick her up or drop her off (and have both of us miss work time).

Acura always has a loaner ready for me at no charge. But, my visits to the dealership have been few and far between.

rayainsw

The Tesla story reminds my of my IBM mainframe days.
To 'upgrade' a 3090 involved a technician & about 10 minutes -
presto!
- Ray
That was in the 1980s . . .

au1994

rayainsw said:

The Tesla story reminds my of my IBM mainframe days.
To 'upgrade' a 3090 involved a technician & about 10 minutes -
presto!
- Ray
That was in the 1980s . . .

I worked for Nokia during the heyday of the mobile phone boom. On one of the very popular models the chipset was the same on the low end and high end version of the phone. Just a simple s/w flash was the difference.

28firefighter

I seem to remember that Nokia had a line of phones - I want to say the 5100/6100/7100/8100/9100 that all had different features (and differing appearances), but were basically the same underlying with the same connectors. For years that was all my parents would buy because they had invested in the Nokia car kit installation for our cars.

au1994

Yep. Those are the ones. That connector lived through several, several models. That car kit was an expensive item back in the day so I'm sure they wanted to recoup the investment.

28firefighter

au1994 said:

Yep. Those are the ones. That connector lived through several, several models. That car kit was an expensive item back in the day so I'm sure they wanted to recoup the investment.

Yep - not just that, but it also happened to be one of the best car kits on the market at the time.

Mr_Shiftright

tifighter said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

That's $3 bucks earned in California!

With the right equipment and timing, that's over $12 in Washington.

How can that be? What does a kW cost there?

pensfan83

Since we have some Ohioans here.

https://jalopnik.com/you-will-soon-no-longer-need-a-front-license-plate-in-o-1834254595

Mr_Shiftright

xwesx said:

tifighter said:

From the Tesla forums, I had heard of people having the Ludicrous mode removed at purchase (it's software), this would raise the 0-60 from 2.8sec to 3.5sec. Still seemed adequate So I contacted a sales advisor, and they agreed to it. This was a $20K line item, so it mattered.

Wow! What a fleecing by Tesla on that one! I'm not sure whether this is true, but I have also heard that battery capacity on these cars is software controlled rather than physical, so the lower range models don't actually cost anything different to build... you just have to pay more to "unlock" the true battery capacity. I guess if people are willing to pay for it.... :@

Tesla has some business practices that I personally feel are not very fair trade practices--they really hate anyone fixing their own Teslas, and might punish you for trying---also they won't give out prior service info on used cars, nor will they sell you parts on a salvaged Tesla. There's more, but I don't want to be shouting "get off my lawn" because I admire the car --- but not so much the company.

corvette

28firefighter said:

I seem to remember that Nokia had a line of phones - I want to say the 5100/6100/7100/8100/9100 that all had different features (and differing appearances), but were basically the same underlying with the same connectors. For years that was all my parents would buy because they had invested in the Nokia car kit installation for our cars.

I didn’t have the car kit, but I did have a Panavise bracket and the official Nokia holder. Unlike the generic phone holders of today, the Nokia holders had arms that would snap into small indentations on the Nokia phones. I was in college at the time, and everyone who rode in my car thought it was the coolest thing. 

Those holders wouldn’t accommodate a case, but those phones were indestructible, so it didn’t matter. 

breld

In the event I decide to trade the Miata for the Clubman, I got another Carvana bid on the Mazda. I thought the springtime would provide an improvement to the value, but whereas there as an upward adjustment to KBB for "local market adjustment" months ago, there was actually a downward adjustment this time.

All of which just got me thinking - why would Carvana have a local market adjustment anyway? First, I think KBB takes into account the region. But more than that, if Carvana has a nationwide market, why would they adjust for where it's coming from?

Which makes me just believe that they start with KBB values to give the owner some comfort, but then they simply adjust to whatever they think the value should be and call it a "local market adjustment."

corvette

They would incur transport costs in moving cars to different locations. I’m sure it’s not cheap. 

breld

Agreed. But, at least in my case in CO since there's no Carvana location, they're transporting it either way. Maybe that's taken into consideration too.

In any case, I think their values are at least fair, but that adjustment just got me thinking. Especially when they adjusted upwards in the middle of winter for the Miata, but are now adjusting downward.

breld

For kicks, I got a quote from Carvana on the MINI I'm interested in too (as if I were selling it to them). The buy quotes for the Miata and MINI are about $4,800 apart - so that's what I'm basing my thoughts on regarding what trade difference I'd be comfortable with. I.e., if I get $3,000 back on the deal, I'm effectively losing $1,800 for the transaction...which wouldn't be too bad.

breld

Having said all that, I am really having fun driving the Miata around in this nice Spring weather!

au1994

I'd have a hard time parting with a convertible right now.

stickguy

a convertible stick shift sports car, for an AT like mini-wagon. I just can't get my head around that swap.

tifighter

Mr_Shiftright said:

tifighter said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

That's $3 bucks earned in California!

With the right equipment and timing, that's over $12 in Washington.

How can that be? What does a kW cost there?

It would take a long post to explain this, but generally, WA had a pretty interesting incentive program for solar when we did our system in 2016. What you get paid for production depends on what equipment you are using - the higher the WA-built hardware in the system, the higher the buy rate. There's a base rate with all out of state equipment, a tier higher with a WA-made inverter, another tier higher with WA-made panels, and a final peak tier with WA panels and inverter. These rates end 30 June 2020.

Of course, the locally made stuff costs more to buy than equipment from China, but the payback from net metering still happens faster with WA equipment. And it creates jobs in state for clean energy. Utilities win because instead of building a $1+billion power plant of some kind, with the associated regulatory headaches and 10 year studies and assessments, they can just get energy from people who have fronted the cost for the infrastructure instead of the utilities themselves. The state creates a new industry for the local economy. And I win as I now have a solar system that will offset our usage for 20+ years, while receiving incentives for a limited period to help offset the initial cost. I'm leaving out most of the details, but you get the idea.

tifighter

graphicguy said:

@tifighter ....big congrats. I’m wondering if you’re the only 2 Tesla family in the country?

Not even close. Three car families are not uncommon on the Tesla forums. Some even have more.

breld

stickguy said:

a convertible stick shift sports car, for an AT like mini-wagon. I just can't get my head around that swap.

The Clubman is a manual. So there is that. An S All4 at that.

I'm also the one who traded my 2011 535i xdrive on a Mazda3 manual. And you can't get your head around this swap?

stickguy

that goofy blue with a red top one you posted? That is an AT. or are you back at that lower option one (white maybe?)

tifighter

breld said:

stickguy said:

a convertible stick shift sports car, for an AT like mini-wagon. I just can't get my head around that swap.

The Clubman is a manual. So there is that. An S All4 at that.

I'm also the one who traded my 2011 535i xdrive on a Mazda3 manual. And you can't get your head around this swap?

Didn't/Don't the All4 Countryman manuals have clutch issues? I seem to recall this was a thing for the AWD models; don't know if it affects the Clubman or not.

au1994

I was more referring to the time of year.

corvette

@kyfdx I think the reason we see so few solar installations here is that the numbers don’t work, as we have some of the cheapest electric rates in the country. There’s less allure to making it “free” if your electric bill is only $60 a month to begin with. 

breld

stickguy said:

that goofy blue with a red top one you posted? That is an AT. or are you back at that lower option one (white maybe?)

Yeah, that lower optioned Clubman continues to be top of my list. But it's at a no haggle shop, so I've just been patient as they've dropped the price. At $19,587, it's starting to get more interesting.

https://www.schompmini.com/inventory/certified-used-2017-mini-clubman-cooper-s-awd-station-wagon-wmwlu5c53h2c45851

kyfdx

corvette said:

@kyfdx I think the reason we see so few solar installations here is that the numbers don’t work, as we have some of the cheapest electric rates in the country. There’s less allure to making it “free” if your electric bill is only $60 a month to begin with. 

Yeah, $124 last month for gas and electric, combined.

ab348

rayainsw said:

The Tesla story reminds my of my IBM mainframe days.
To 'upgrade' a 3090 involved a technician & about 10 minutes -
presto!
- Ray
That was in the 1980s . . .

Going through some pictures from decades ago over the weekend, I found a few shots from 1982 taken on my last day at my first job. One of them was of the IBM System/34 I worked on there. I remember we bought a memory upgrade for it, from 128K to the max of 256K. It was $50K Cdn and took months to arrive. When we finally got the call from IBM that they had it and were ready to do the install, we were excited. Imagine our surprise when the tech arrived with a little box in his pocket with a memory module that looked like a small chocolate bar.

breld

tifighter said:

breld said:

stickguy said:

a convertible stick shift sports car, for an AT like mini-wagon. I just can't get my head around that swap.

The Clubman is a manual. So there is that. An S All4 at that.

I'm also the one who traded my 2011 535i xdrive on a Mazda3 manual. And you can't get your head around this swap?

Didn't/Don't the All4 Countryman manuals have clutch issues? I seem to recall this was a thing for the AWD models; don't know if it affects the Clubman or not.

After a search, it seems there were common issues with premature clutch wear/failure on Countrymans from 2012 and earlier.

Seems the issue was addressed in recent years, but it certainly gives me pause. Especially since the transmission is so great in the Mazda.

I love myself a manual transmission, but not unconditionally - there's nothing worse than a "bad" manual. If the clutch sticks, or the throws are long and not precise, or if it's overly challenging to engage a gear...I'd just as soon take the automatic.

The Civic Type R was absolutely the best. The Golf R was annoying (and I think there may have been something wrong with the one we had). And all the Mazdas I've had have been great.

xwesx

qbrozen said:

Here was my first full year in this house with the system.

Yes, that is truly impressive! If I lived in a climate more conducive to solar generation, I would definitely consider it. There's just no upside here (at least not within my lifetime). What is the light blue versus dark blue in the stacked bars?

Also, if you compare your electric usage and can demonstrate the net gain (which I would be shocked if there wasn't a net gain), I would think that to be a very strong argument to the government drones that they should rethink their policies regarding net usage.

tjc78

tifighter said:

graphicguy said:

@tifighter ....big congrats. I’m wondering if you’re the only 2 Tesla family in the country?

Not even close. Three car families are not uncommon on the Tesla forums. Some even have more.

My kids go to school with a two Tesla family. At first it was only the husband, recently I noticed the wife's Expedition is gone for the X

stickguy

I wouldn’t give the clubman more than 3 months, tops.

tjc78

Rode in a V6 TLX A-spec today. I certainly see why the owners here really like them.

Very nice car. A colleague of mine has a base V6 that I have also ridden in (this was his loaner) but the A-spec with the red interior is really slick

qbrozen

xwesx said:

What is the light blue versus dark blue in the stacked bars?

I have dual inverters.

xwesx said:

Also, if you compare your electric usage and can demonstrate the net gain (which I would be shocked if there wasn't a net gain), I would think that to be a very strong argument to the government drones that they should rethink their policies regarding net usage.

Not totally sure what you mean, but my meter is a 2-way meter, so the net is reflected in my bill. Believe it or not, it doesn't quite cover my usage. Last month, my bill was $2.83.

Even with the pool and AC units in the middle of summer, I believe my biggest bill was under $120. But, in a month like that, I produce nearly 1800 kWH, which then equates to about $380 in SREC value when I sell them on the open market. SOOO... I get $380, pay the electric company $120, and pay about $350 on the solar loan. So that's a net of $90 out of my pocket for August. Not bad at all. And, after the loan is paid, the system can be EARNING me money.

breld

stickguy said:

I wouldn’t give the clubman more than 3 months, tops.

First, is that really going out on a limb with any car I buy?

And two, why?

marcogallo1986

Breld so when will the punch  be! Lol

xwesx

kyfdx said:

corvette said:

@kyfdx I think the reason we see so few solar installations here is that the numbers don’t work, as we have some of the cheapest electric rates in the country. There’s less allure to making it “free” if your electric bill is only $60 a month to begin with. 

Yeah, $124 last month for gas and electric, combined.

Wow. Just.... wow. My electric was something like $230 last month, and that's a lot lower than it gets during the heart of winter (when other things, like vehicle block heaters and additional lighting, are in the mix). Heating fuel is another $1,800 or so annually.

breld

marcogallo1986 said:

Breld so when will the punch  be! Lol

We'll see Marco - the main contender to the Clubman is the Miata I already own! It may be too hard to let that go prematurely.

xwesx

qbrozen said:

xwesx said:

What is the light blue versus dark blue in the stacked bars?

I have dual inverters.

xwesx said:

Also, if you compare your electric usage and can demonstrate the net gain (which I would be shocked if there wasn't a net gain), I would think that to be a very strong argument to the government drones that they should rethink their policies regarding net usage.

Not totally sure what you mean, but my meter is a 2-way meter, so the net is reflected in my bill. Believe it or not, it doesn't quite cover my usage. Last month, my bill was $2.83.

Even with the pool and AC units in the middle of summer, I believe my biggest bill was under $120. But, in a month like that, I produce nearly 1800 kWH, which then equates to about $380 in SREC value when I sell them on the open market. SOOO... I get $380, pay the electric company $120, and pay about $350 on the solar loan. So that's a net of $90 out of my pocket for August. Not bad at all. And, after the loan is paid, the system can be EARNING me money.

Oh, I thought that Bradd mentioned that he cannot sell back any surplus (e.g., the lowest his electric bill can be is zero), so I thought that applied to you as well.

Still, yes, pretty sweet deal that you can pay a net of $90 in a single month. Shocking how much usage you have, but I think that just goes with the territory (e.g., high demand electric devices and overall space).

nyccarguy

I don't understand sometimes, but I'll believe it when I see the numbers later. 2 years ago my Brother-In-Law died very suddenly at 41 years old. 3 weeks after he died, my sister went out and leased an MB GLE 350 4Matic. She was working for a company that had a corporate partnership with MB which allowed her to get a significant discount off sticker. Fast forward to last night. The phone rings.

"They called me from Mercedes. The guy wants to take my car back and get me into a new one."

Me: "It is a come on. They are most likely going to try and roll your last 12 payments into a new lease and make it seem like they are doing you a favor. Do me a favor and stick with the GLE that you have until the lease is up."

Fast Forward to this afternoon. My phone rings. "I'm on my way to the Mercedes Dealership with the girls."

Me: "OK. When you sit down with the guy, I want to know certain numbers so I can tell you if it is worth your while."

TO BE CONTINUED

tifighter

We will probably produce about 7400 kWh this year, which would have covered about 86% of our usage last year. Clearly, this year the usage number will rise.

fintail

One benefit of living in a modern shoebox - my power bill was almost $29 even last month. It can be a bit lower in the summer even with AC.

Of course, now that is offset by my gasoline bill for a 4300lb 362hp car.

Regarding that GLE lease, maybe they are doing a super duper pull-ahead to clear out remaining 2018 models?