Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

xwesx

Wow; all the way over there! I think our AK plates make us minor celebrities when we are in the east. People nearly always stop and chat with us when we are at rest areas, roadside stands, etc.

xwesx

I'm at 250 miles on the new FLX bicycle. Wonderful investment (so far) - it does exactly what I was hoping it would in terms of my ability to commute on it day after day.

I'm not entirely sold on the quality, though. It may be "aging" a little faster than I would like to see. We'll see how it holds up, I suppose.

tifighter

xwesx said:

corvette said:

Can’t tell a difference with 10 bags of mulch in the Tahoe. Towing a 1,000 pound trailer, you can definitely feel. 

I cheat a bit on my vehicles. I have the HD suspension on my Forester, so it will actually haul some impressive loads without much "feel" to it. Example: I brought home sixteen 60# sand bags for the back of my plow truck one night. That's what, close to a half ton? Threw them all in the back (all seats were up) with my family in tow, and a casual observer from the outside of the car likely would not have known we had that type of weight inside.

It sure rode smoothly, though!

@xwesx Okay, so what is this HD suspension on the Forester? I haven't heard of this one yet.

henryn

xwesx said:

henryn said:

I don't recall ever doing much with mulch, I had to go look that up. Average dry weight is 20 lbs. So 10 bags of mulch == 200 pounds, one average size passenger. NBD.

Now the 1,000 lbs of flagstones in the T&C, yes, that would be a serious load. There are people on Craigslist who will pick that up, deliver, and stack neatly in your driveway for around $50 or $60. Much easier on your back, too.

Sure, but the next week you end up with missing hoods and other assorted parts. :P

Hey! I resemble that remark!!!

xwesx

tifighter said:

@xwesx Okay, so what is this HD suspension on the Forester? I haven't heard of this one yet.

King springs.

Wonderful addition that I made back in 2014 on our 2010 Forester, then pulled and installed on the 2013 after the 2010's demise two years ago. I should have bought them sooner!

For some reason, my rear wheels on the 2013 have a bit too much camber with them installed (wasn't an issue on the 2010....?), so my tires tend to wear too quickly on the outer edges. I'm going to install a set of adjustable arms this summer to account for that, and I should be sitting pretty afterward.

xwesx

My son took some neat photos when we originally installed in 2014.... The last two photos really tell the story in terms of robustness/load-carrying:

Side by side:


Stock rear spring:


King spring:

cdnpinhead

xwesx said:

Wow; all the way over there! I think our AK plates make us minor celebrities when we are in the east. People nearly always stop and chat with us when we are at rest areas, roadside stands, etc.

As far as I know, AK has only one color scheme for their plates. AZ has seen fit to have about 50 different plates so that every possible (well, not really) support group is represented. Money changes hands to make this possible.

Given my geezer tendencies, I used to enjoy being able to see a license plate at 50 yards and know what state the vehicle hailed from -- that was back when there was a single color scheme for each state or province.

That was then, and this is now.

Even so, it's still possible to pick out FL and several other states these days, so all is not lost.

stickguy

Vermont is easy.

andres3

So I peeked in on a red 2019 Golf R in red by work today. It has the 7-speed DSG I'd want. Looks great in red I say.

I'm being forced to consider possibly trading in the TTS instead of the Alltrack because insurance companies are about 10 standard deviations OFF on insuring the TTS now. I figured out the problem with auto insurance in CA and it is clearly my TTS. Aparently, one or two owners had a huge claim, and since there's only like 10 of us nationwide , it really threw off the actuarials at these bone-headed insurance companies.

Literally over $500 of my premium every 6-months is just to insure the car (still had liability and the car on the lower quote; just no collision or comprehensive). For a car that's worth 30K these days (roughly and optimistically given the mileage), 1,000/year doesn't make sense to me financially, nor do I feel likely to total the car every 30 years. As I said, they are about 10 Standard deviations away from the truth.

$500 may not sound like much over 6 months, but keep in mind I have a 3-vehicle 2 driver policy household. And I don't have to drop liability on it to save that much!!! And I drive it the least amount of miles nowadays too!

henryn

Insurance is expensive. I pay $217 a month for full coverage on my Ford F150 and Chrysler minivan. Nothing exotic or special.

stickguy

if I find something interesting (and a deal too hard to pass up) at least insurance will be cheaper. When we recently had 3 for just the 2 of us (I bought the Elantra before the Sonata went back, but the daughter was already off the policy) the incremental cost was really low.

breld

I wouldn’t be surprised if that 328 wagon gets to low $20k’s.  If it were an M Sport, I would say it’d be more likely, but having the sport package is still attractive. 

It was a year or two ago that the owner of my wife’s M Sport wagon sold it in BaT for around $17k, with over 100k miles.  

breld

Speaking of AWD manual wagons, my wife wanted me to get an impression of the VW Alltrack with a manual.

@Michaell and I went out this past Saturday to do just that. Overall, I was impressed.  The Alltrack, naturally, has all the goodness of any Golf - great interior and driving dynamics.  

It’s certainly no GTI though.  Acceleration was leisurely at start off and you’d need to do a little planning for passing maneuvers.  But it was far from slow and engaging to drive. 

If my wife wants back into a manual, it’d be a nice choice.  I commend VW for offering it on all trim levels.  

breld

One more thing - my garage at work had a scheduled cleaning this past weekend, so I parked my Miata outside at the office.

As luck would have it, a hail storm passed through that area on Saturday and the poor Miata got pelted pretty good. 

So...will be getting some PDR done on the little fun car whenever I find a shop that can fit me in.  

Sandman6472

Got my new MacBook Air and love it. My daughter did all the transferring of data on Saturday late afternoon and on Sunday am, I was already surfing on it. Most of it was done automatically which is very cool! Got a Bluetooth mouse from Amazon and returned the USB-C to USB dongle to Best Buy on Tuesday after the new wireless mouse came. Followed the directions and within 5 minutes, it was up and running. Not exactly sure what I did, but got it to work and am enjoying the whole set-up. A lot faster too! I like this new smaller Air...a lot!! Now, need to clean out my old Pro and dispose of it. Think the oldest is gonna take it and trade it in on something which is fine by me. Just not sure how I go about wiping all my info out of the old laptop!
On the Golf situation, it finally locked us out after dinner on Saturday night. My wife finally saw what I was talking about. Got that pesky cover off the front door handle and can now open it up using the key when needed. Canceled the appointment to repair it and will deal with it at a later date. The wife's convinced that I'm going to rush out and buy something but the plan is to wait till the 2020 models come out, as there are a few new models I really like. I have the time so will just wait and see what I like enough to swap out the Golf on. Am sure there will be one that also puts that perpetual grin on my face but no hurry!

qbrozen

breld said:

Speaking of AWD manual wagons, my wife wanted me to get an impression of the VW Alltrack with a manual.

What will it replace next week?

marcogallo1986

 Broiled agree with the above, so this is the next punch for you you’re going to get rid of the Miata once it’s fixed? 

marcogallo1986

 Sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident with the Miata stings the one time. 

marcogallo1986

Wzest  was wondering the same thing with the heavy duty suspension on your four stars, but read your above comment that’s awesome, was thinking maybe with some factory option that’s rare I never knew about. Ha ha ha that’s awesome. For all the others above but seeing license plates are not far away doesn’t matter to me, can’t see him anyway maybe the collar when it’s in my face literally ha ha Ha. You know I had to throw in a joke here can’t resist.   Lol 

marcogallo1986

 Sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident with the Miata stings the one time. 

kyfdx

henryn said:

Insurance is expensive. I pay $217 a month for full coverage on my Ford F150 and Chrysler minivan. Nothing exotic or special.

So hard to judge between areas, but do you have one driver, or two?

That would be high for my area, with two drivers.. but, if it is just you, that is

marcogallo1986

 Andries 3, sorry to hear you have to sell your favorite color in the sleep, and I’m sure you don’t even drive it much, she and the insurance companies like to play these games not cool at all. 

marcogallo1986

 You should buy an older neon to be nostalgic  Lol lol

stickguy

Must be the 'hood Henry lives in. NJ is notoriously high for car insurance (well, everything pretty much!), and for 2 cars, 2 drivers, both full coverage we only pay about $1,300/year.

stickguy

Sandy, you seem to like cancelling appointments. why not just take the darned thing in and get it diagnosed/fixed? And if they can document it was related to the accident, you can go after the repair shop to cover it. But either way, at least you get the problem taken care of!

tjc78

stickguy said:

Must be the 'hood Henry lives in. NJ is notoriously high for car insurance (well, everything pretty much!), and for 2 cars, 2 drivers, both full coverage we only pay about $1,300/year.

That's what I was thinking.... I'm around 2100 (175/month) for the same. $1300 is really good in our area.

kyfdx

$1525 for two BMWs, for two drivers

My wife's 2017 is less than my 2006, though..

ab348

stickguy said:

Sandy, you seem to like cancelling appointments. why not just take the darned thing in and get it diagnosed/fixed? And if they can document it was related to the accident, you can go after the repair shop to cover it. But either way, at least you get the problem taken care of!

I agree. I don't understand the reluctance to deal with it.

nyccarguy

@roadburner
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1995-bmw-318ti-9/

I wonder what this will go for?
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2008-acura-tl-5/

nyccarguy

@28firefighter
Looking for a Saab for "The Mrs.?"

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2002-saab-9-3/

28firefighter

nyccarguy said:

@28firefighter
Looking for a Saab for "The Mrs.?"

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2002-saab-9-3/

HA. Nope. One is more than enough. Not starting a Saab dealer over here.

breld

qbrozen said:

breld said:

Speaking of AWD manual wagons, my wife wanted me to get an impression of the VW Alltrack with a manual.

What will it replace next week?

No, no - not next week.

We have to close on the new house first.  

breld

marcogallo1986 said:

 Sorry to hear about the unfortunate incident with the Miata stings the one time. 

Thanks Marco!

kyfdx

breld said:

qbrozen said:

breld said:

Speaking of AWD manual wagons, my wife wanted me to get an impression of the VW Alltrack with a manual.

What will it replace next week?

No, no - not next week.

We have to close on the new house first.  

Did you sell the current house?

breld

kyfdx said:

qbrozen said:

breld said:

Speaking of AWD manual wagons, my wife wanted me to get an impression of the VW Alltrack with a manual.

What will it replace next week?

No, no - not next week.

We have to close on the new house first.  

Did you sell the current house?

Nope.  

We’ll float it for awhile with renting it as an option but last resort.  Interest has ticked up since school graduations, so we’re hopeful.  

henryn

kyfdx said:

henryn said:

Insurance is expensive. I pay $217 a month for full coverage on my Ford F150 and Chrysler minivan. Nothing exotic or special.

So hard to judge between areas, but do you have one driver, or two?

That would be high for my area, with two drivers.. but, if it is just you, that is

I live inside the loop, Houston, and drive to work, everyday, in the very middle of downtown. When I lived out in the sticks and drove in only to the far west suburbs, my insurance cost less than half of what it costs now. (per car)

Now: one driver, two cars.

Then: two drivers, three cars

ON EDIT: and my homeowners insurance is also a lot more expensive, despite the fact this house is only worth about half as much as the place we had in the country.

28firefighter

Uhhh - holy bidding.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1996-saab-9000-cse/

corvette

Insane. 

pensfan83

nyccarguy said:

@roadburner
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1995-bmw-318ti-9/

I wonder what this will go for?
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2008-acura-tl-5/

I'm betting around $13,500, there will be some last minute bidding. Clean car.

Like the ti too.

28firefighter

That TL will bring $15k - a similar one in Gray from Jersey pulled in nearly 16k with slightly higher mileage not a couple months ago.

Michaell

28firefighter said:

That TL will bring $15k - a similar one in Gray from Jersey pulled in nearly 16k with slightly higher mileage not a couple months ago.

Are those 6-speed TL's really worth it? I've thought about finding a clean one with not too many miles as something I could use for the 5-8K per year that I drive.

28firefighter

I think the regular TL 6-speed is fun to drive but a little more common; the Type S in a 6-speed that isn't thrashed is pretty desirable and fun.

Sandman6472

Sheer laziness and I'm also been having some more spinal issues which make me want to stay home on my n/s days. I know I've got to get it done and am hoping to get it done by mid July if not before. This constant pain is just getting to me at this point. And this going back and forth in my mind about stopping work. I do like the job and the extra income is nice but the getting up early is making it difficult. But now that school is out for the summer, I can leave a little later.
I've gotten to be a procrastinator as I age for some reason, a bad way to become but think if I were feeling better, it would help the situation.

au1994

28firefighter said:

Uhhh - holy bidding.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1996-saab-9000-cse/

Jeez. That's not even close to my favorite Saab model. I can see a nice low mile convertible to Viggen getting to this territory but not a CSE.

breld

Michaell said:

28firefighter said:

That TL will bring $15k - a similar one in Gray from Jersey pulled in nearly 16k with slightly higher mileage not a couple months ago.

Are those 6-speed TL's really worth it? I've thought about finding a clean one with not too many miles as something I could use for the 5-8K per year that I drive.

I do prefer the look of that gen of TL, but a 6-speed manual “beak-nosed” TL with SH-AWD could be pretty fun.

henryn

au1994 said:

Jeez. That's not even close to my favorite Saab model.

That sounds almost like a disease. Or at least a condition. They probably have a pill for that these days!

xwesx

cdnpinhead said:

xwesx said:

Wow; all the way over there! I think our AK plates make us minor celebrities when we are in the east. People nearly always stop and chat with us when we are at rest areas, roadside stands, etc.

As far as I know, AK has only one color scheme for their plates. AZ has seen fit to have about 50 different plates so that every possible (well, not really) support group is represented. Money changes hands to make this possible.

Given my geezer tendencies, I used to enjoy being able to see a license plate at 50 yards and know what state the vehicle hailed from -- that was back when there was a single color scheme for each state or province.

That was then, and this is now.

Even so, it's still possible to pick out FL and several other states these days, so all is not lost.

The standard plates are of two possible appearances, but there are about a dozen different backgrounds one can choose if they decide to go with personalized plates. Most people get the "grizzly" plates (I call them the prairie dog plates), but my preference is standard blue over gold.

http://doa.alaska.gov/dmv/plates/index.htm

qbrozen

WTH?? Something is horribly wrong when a '96 Saab is outbidding a restored 2002tii.
Am I missing something??

stickguy

SAAB seems nuts. I really like the Ti Though. The Acura, seems pricey already but looks nice. I remember driving a manual when they first came out, followed by an automatic, and thinking it worked better with the slush box. The TSX, that was much better with the stick.

pensfan83

Michaell said:

28firefighter said:

That TL will bring $15k - a similar one in Gray from Jersey pulled in nearly 16k with slightly higher mileage not a couple months ago.

Are those 6-speed TL's really worth it? I've thought about finding a clean one with not too many miles as something I could use for the 5-8K per year that I drive.

If you didn't want to step back as far as the 4G TL you could still get a manual in the TL until 2013.