Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

marcogallo1986

 At Sandman, sorry to hear about your past experience with Ford, but like anything it’s man-made it happens. 

nyccarguy

Glad to know I'm not the only one who does a solid 20K miles per year. Looks to be well maintained.

https://yonkershonda.com/vehicle-details/used-2017-honda-ridgeline-rtl-e-5FPYK3F73HB003918

andres3

nyccarguy said:

andres3 said:

nyccarguy said:

andres3 said:

I found another 4-year old S4 with lower miles in red. It's listed significantly cheaper than Carmax, but is in the East Bay Area of CA. Now I know why Carmax's model works so well!!!! For little money, you can take little risk ($300 to ship to SD).

Are there people for hire that'll go look at a car for a few bucks? You really have to do an "Italian" tune up and hoon the Audi to make sure it works right.

There's a blue S4 in Henderson, but more miles on that one.

There is also an Audi Dealer who posts on Lease Hackr that's in Southern California. Maybe you can get in touch with him and he'll keep an eye out for anything incoming (new or off lease).

My problem is I insist on an appropriate colored S4 (or any car for that matter). That means my next car will not be white, black, or any shade of gray/silver. That pretty much means I need to find a needle in a haystack when looking at Audi's.

My insistence and inflexibility on color might be a good reason to pay the Carmax premium. Their model is good for people like me, and they come with a 30-day warranty. Trust me, I'll make sure if something's going to break, it'll break in those 30 days of hard life for the S4, and the bonus is I'll have a lot of fun trying to break it like I stole it!

How much more is the CarMax car?  How much is their famed Doug DeMuro warranty?

Carmax San Jose '15 28K miles, 2 owners, no accidents on report $31K non-negotiable until they lower it... maybe soon....
Audi S4 '15 34K miles, Richmond, CA 1 owner, 2 accidents on report, $26,500 asking
Blue Audi S4 '15 43K miles in Henderson NV - off the list, CarFax on Edmnunds App shows "structural damage" from 1 accident. I asked saleslady at Henderson Audi, WhY ISN't it a CPO, and she said "to price it competitively since CPO costs $3-4K!" I think I was lied to. The Richmond salesman was honest; I looked at the reports now (although that one was Autocheck). One of the two said rear collision/ or rear damage.... the other was less certain....

breld

nyccarguy said:

Glad to know I'm not the only one who does a solid 20K miles per year. Looks to be well maintained.

https://yonkershonda.com/vehicle-details/used-2017-honda-ridgeline-rtl-e-5FPYK3F73HB003918

I'll pass the one year mark with the Q7 next month - it now has about 34k miles. It had about 5k miles when I bought it.

breld

@andres3 - don't blame you for trying to track down another S4. I always thought mine was quite the perfect car, being such a great combination of luxury and sport. I know you're fond of the DSG, but the 6-speed manual in mine was sublime.

And I'm with you on being particular about the colors, though I would extend that to interior as well. Not a fan of the two-tone leather interiors that were available in those S4s. Mine was all black, which I thought was sharp. Also had the layered wood trim which was beautiful. Looked like a nice pin-stripe suit!

And I'm a sucker for the black optic package.

But of course, you put all that together, and you're quickly narrowing your search to unicorn levels.

marcogallo1986

@ entrées three, next steps would be to get thorough inspection for you and a mechanic you trust. If it’s far from home for some services to go and look at it for you. I think the one I heard of his SGS Corp. inspectors. I’m sure there’s plenty more out there. Good luck, keep us updated on everything in your search. But ultimately I hope you do keep the Audi TT since you love that one so much 

nyccarguy

breld said:

nyccarguy said:

Glad to know I'm not the only one who does a solid 20K miles per year. Looks to be well maintained.

https://yonkershonda.com/vehicle-details/used-2017-honda-ridgeline-rtl-e-5FPYK3F73HB003918

I'll pass the one year mark with the Q7 next month - it now has about 34k miles. It had about 5k miles when I bought it.

"I'll pass the one year mark with the Q7 next month"

Hosts! I think @breld's account has been hijacked by Russian hackers!

marcogallo1986

@ Breld, wow you put on 31,000 miles a year you do a lot of driving just like my dad does trying to get them to start going car looking, his Senada he’s had since new, as I think 180 something thousand miles on it, I’ll ask him later when I see him. Still seems to drive OK considering. And he’s not thorough thorough on the maintenance but he should be except for the oriole is on top of that. But the other fluids he neglects a bit, I think he change the transmission fluid ones at 50,000 miles   But he hasn’t done it sense, from time to time I would Yellit him about that. But what can you do can only suggest, how to get on my brother soon with his 2013 Ultima in changing the coolant in transmission fluid, he’s had that car for three years now ready, think he still has under 50,000 have to ask him later too. And probably next year will get on my sister to do that with her jeep to as well I think it has around 30,000 miles on it now, maybe a little less. But she’s better when it comes to car meetings compared to   Everyone else in this family. Top of the oil changes that’s for sure. That’s my rant for now everyone a little bit of a topic. 

marcogallo1986

 Anyone going to do any car looking this weekend? It’s been quiet here for sometime. Someone make a punch please. Ha ha Ha  Lol

nyccarguy

andres3 said:

nyccarguy said:

andres3 said:

nyccarguy said:

andres3 said:

I found another 4-year old S4 with lower miles in red. It's listed significantly cheaper than Carmax, but is in the East Bay Area of CA. Now I know why Carmax's model works so well!!!! For little money, you can take little risk ($300 to ship to SD).

Are there people for hire that'll go look at a car for a few bucks? You really have to do an "Italian" tune up and hoon the Audi to make sure it works right.

There's a blue S4 in Henderson, but more miles on that one.

There is also an Audi Dealer who posts on Lease Hackr that's in Southern California. Maybe you can get in touch with him and he'll keep an eye out for anything incoming (new or off lease).

My problem is I insist on an appropriate colored S4 (or any car for that matter). That means my next car will not be white, black, or any shade of gray/silver. That pretty much means I need to find a needle in a haystack when looking at Audi's.

My insistence and inflexibility on color might be a good reason to pay the Carmax premium. Their model is good for people like me, and they come with a 30-day warranty. Trust me, I'll make sure if something's going to break, it'll break in those 30 days of hard life for the S4, and the bonus is I'll have a lot of fun trying to break it like I stole it!

How much more is the CarMax car?  How much is their famed Doug DeMuro warranty?

Carmax San Jose '15 28K miles, 2 owners, no accidents on report $31K non-negotiable until they lower it... maybe soon....
Audi S4 '15 34K miles, Richmond, CA 1 owner, 2 accidents on report, $26,500 asking
Blue Audi S4 '15 43K miles in Henderson NV - off the list, CarFax on Edmnunds App shows "structural damage" from 1 accident. I asked saleslady at Henderson Audi, WhY ISN't it a CPO, and she said "to price it competitively since CPO costs $3-4K!" I think I was lied to. The Richmond salesman was honest; I looked at the reports now (although that one was Autocheck). One of the two said rear collision/ or rear damage.... the other was less certain....

So what is an S4 specd out how you like it new? $58 - $60K? Even if the lease program stinks (which it probably does) and the residual after 3 years 15K is 50%, then You'll be spending about $30K over the next 3 years for a brand new S4 with no stories & completely under warranty.

marcogallo1986

@ entrées three, I’m glad I’m not the only one who supposed to getting white black silver or gray which makes nearly every car brand and possible to find alternative colors ha ha Ha. I’m sure many of us in here also put agree. 

PF_Flyer

In preparation for, and to give you a heads up on the upcoming comment box changes, I've posted a guide to the new comment box. I've covered everything, where you can find it, how to use it, and what it does. Any questions you might have can be posted here in this thread. Shouldn't be too big of an adjustment. It is simply a settings change on the comment box, NOT a change in the forums software. How you navigate, sign in, and all the rest remains the same. This will get us past the issues some users have had with the links for attaching images and the like. Check it out. Wanted to try and make sure that everyone, especially you folks that make a lot of posts, will be prepared and not surprised when we implement this.

Coming Attractions - Changes to the Comment Box

stickguy

Seems easy enough. I just feel bad for the more technologically challenged folks!

28firefighter

Wow, @breld - that is some serious driving on the Q7.

Michaell

Boy, do I wish I were in the market.

I'm having a mid-life crisis attack - got it in my head that a nice coupe would be good to have.

Search on cars.com, and I get a whole bunch of Challengers, Camaros, Mustangs and Civics.

However, I did find a 2014 A5 in a nice burgundy over grey. 50,000 miles for $18,500.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/769816600/overview/

au1994

That's a good looking Audi. I test drove one of that vintage and really liked it but 1) it didn't lease as well as the 3 series 2) I drove the F30 3 series with the turbo I6 first and couldn't pass up that power.

pensfan83

Michaell said:

Boy, do I wish I were in the market.

I'm having a mid-life crisis attack - got it in my head that a nice coupe would be good to have.

Search on cars.com, and I get a whole bunch of Challengers, Camaros, Mustangs and Civics.

However, I did find a 2014 A5 in a nice burgundy over grey. 50,000 miles for $18,500.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/769816600/overview/

Ha, I am in the same mindset except I am smitten with RWD V8 options, specifically a Charger.

28firefighter

I have the bug. There is a 440i xDrive GC for sale (former loaner) that is equipped exactly how I would order it not too far from me. I qualify for 7750 in lease incentives...20% off and 7750 in lease incentives would go a loooong way.

henryn

So are you going to dump the Stelvio?

xwesx

nyccarguy said:

I just crossed the 50K mile barrier last week.

Oh, okay. Not that many, then. I thought perhaps you were getting some strut wear that might be reducing their rebound rate when hitting rough edges like that. I wouldn't think it would be that noticeable at only 50,000 miles.

xwesx

Michaell said:

Boy, do I wish I were in the market.

I'm having a mid-life crisis attack - got it in my head that a nice coupe would be good to have.

Search on cars.com, and I get a whole bunch of Challengers, Camaros, Mustangs and Civics.

However, I did find a 2014 A5 in a nice burgundy over grey. 50,000 miles for $18,500.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/769816600/overview/

For as much as you drive, why not?

nyccarguy

xwesx said:

nyccarguy said:

I just crossed the 50K mile barrier last week.

Oh, okay. Not that many, then. I thought perhaps you were getting some strut wear that might be reducing their rebound rate when hitting rough edges like that. I wouldn't think it would be that noticeable at only 50,000 miles.

No. The struts still have lots of life left in them. I noticed these tendencies from day 1. My Prelude does an incredible job at lane transition and nothing upsets it mid corner. My E90 328Xi was unflappable in this regard as well. Once I added the upgraded rear sway bar to my Legacy, its high speed handling improved as well.

au1994

28firefighter said:

I have the bug. There is a 440i xDrive GC for sale (former loaner) that is equipped exactly how I would order it not too far from me. I qualify for 7750 in lease incentives...20% off and 7750 in lease incentives would go a loooong way.

If I was in the sedan market, I'd have a hard time passing on that too.

stickguy

pretty colors on the Audi. But I would have a hard time laying out close to $20K fora 6 YO Audi pushing 50,000 miles. without some of the key modern features I would want.

28firefighter

No - likely will not make a move. The X1 goes back soonish and I think the 4 series deals are only going to get better as we get closer to the release of the 2020.

I have a call into BMW Customer relations about this recall stuff and how it has locked down my ability to do anything with the car - playing phone tag with them at the moment.

breld

A co-worker friend just hit me up for an opinion on a value for his truck. He's looking to sell it to his brother as a first vehicle for his nephew.

2001 Tundra Limited with...88k miles.

That's not a "KBB" car. He wants to make a friendly family deal for his brother, but also wants to get an appropriate value for it - not the $3,200 that KBB hits it at.

Honestly, I think a listing on craigslist for $10k would have it sold in hours.

PF_Flyer

PF_Flyer said:

In preparation for, and to give you a heads up on the upcoming comment box changes, I've posted a guide to the new comment box. I've covered everything, where you can find it, how to use it, and what it does. Any questions you might have can be posted here in this thread. Shouldn't be too big of an adjustment. It is simply a settings change on the comment box, NOT a change in the forums software. How you navigate, sign in, and all the rest remains the same. This will get us past the issues some users have had with the links for attaching images and the like. Check it out. Wanted to try and make sure that everyone, especially you folks that make a lot of posts, will be prepared and not surprised when we implement this.

Coming Attractions - Changes to the Comment Box

An addition to the announcement... we're planning on flipping the switch to the new comment box on Friday. Just so you're not surprised!

marcogallo1986

@ PF flyer no no no, why do you have to do this to me, this site already gives me enough trouble the way it is at times, you know I’m just busting your chops I will get used to it and figure it out with my screen reading software. Or mainly what I use now the phone with the voice over, and the voice dictation that I’m writing these messages with. 

marcogallo1986

@ Breld, if your brother doesn’t sell the truck to your nephew, you can usually put it on craigslist for $10,000, my brother bought one of those a number of years ago but it was a 2004 thank you was 10,000 except for a bunch of years open till couple of years back and sold it with 200 and something thousand miles on it still running, think the bust was getting worse though, and had a few transmission leaks but it was good. Oh I think he change store. 

marcogallo1986

 Go for it Michael you know we will support you in here, I get those urges every day, but I can’t drive get one particular car or truck in my head and I’m always looking online even at the new ones just cause I can I don’t get it can’t drive and I am car crazy hey it is what it is, that’s why am in here. 

marcogallo1986

@ at 20 firefighter you know will support you go for it, can’t wait to start hearing about what’s going to replace the X one soon. 

marcogallo1986

 And anyone else in here, I might’ve left out if you want car go for it tell us the story and here we will enjoy reading it and giving our advice and opinions. 

PF_Flyer

marcogallo1986 said:

@ PF flyer no no no, why do you have to do this to me, this site already gives me enough trouble the way it is at times, you know I’m just busting your chops I will get used to it and figure it out with my screen reading software. Or mainly what I use now the phone with the voice over, and the voice dictation that I’m writing these messages with. 

For a simple basic post, pretty much no change. Get in the post box, type (or if you voice dictate to type) your text, click Post Comment. Just like we do now. It's just that the other stuff (bold, italics, add image, etc) moved around a bit, so I wanted to give a preview of where to find them.

You're allowed to bust my chops

henryn

breld said:

A co-worker friend just hit me up for an opinion on a value for his truck. He's looking to sell it to his brother as a first vehicle for his nephew.

2001 Tundra Limited with...88k miles.

That's not a "KBB" car. He wants to make a friendly family deal for his brother, but also wants to get an appropriate value for it - not the $3,200 that KBB hits it at.

Honestly, I think a listing on craigslist for $10k would have it sold in hours.

Assuming the truck is clean, in good condition, I would agree with you that the $3,200 is completely unrealistic. I also think $10k is probably too high. A lot is going to depend on condition and appearance.

pensfan83

I sold my granfather's truck several months ago, 2005 F-150 King Ranch w/30K on it for $10,500. I think $10K would be a stretch on an 18 y/o truck too but assuming it's 4x4 and in Colorado someone might pay up. Toyota trucks and Wranglers fetch crazy prices on the used market.

PF_Flyer

Any CCBAers have some thoughts that could help this truck shopper??

Does anyone make a short, stout truck (see details)

Just not sure that anything exists for what he wants

kyfdx

Michaell said:

Boy, do I wish I were in the market.

I'm having a mid-life crisis attack - got it in my head that a nice coupe would be good to have.

Search on cars.com, and I get a whole bunch of Challengers, Camaros, Mustangs and Civics.

However, I did find a 2014 A5 in a nice burgundy over grey. 50,000 miles for $18,500.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/769816600/overview/

Does your wife know?

Michaell

kyfdx said:

Michaell said:

Boy, do I wish I were in the market.

I'm having a mid-life crisis attack - got it in my head that a nice coupe would be good to have.

Search on cars.com, and I get a whole bunch of Challengers, Camaros, Mustangs and Civics.

However, I did find a 2014 A5 in a nice burgundy over grey. 50,000 miles for $18,500.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/769816600/overview/

Does your wife know?

About the car, or the crisis?

stickguy

They always smell the crisis on you. The particular car, that could be a surprise.

stickguy

PF_Flyer said:

Any CCBAers have some thoughts that could help this truck shopper??

Does anyone make a short, stout truck (see details)

Just not sure that anything exists for what he wants

I saw that, and had the same opinion. Not sure any smaller truck comes in a short cab. And the 1/2 tons are still barges.

actually, he seems to want a little teapot.

My Mother loved to sing the song: "I'm a little teapot, short and stout. Here is my handle, there is my spout..."

nyccarguy

Porsche Problems:

So last week my Mom tells me that passenger side front carpeting on her 2016 Cayenne was soaked. She thought maybe a bottle of water spilled, but then felt water spraying on her while she was driving. I told her that her A/C drains were most likely clogged and would need to be drained out. She took the car to Porsche the next day, they gave her a 2018 Macan to drive as a loaner, and confirmed my suspicions. Drains are clogged and the carpeting has to be removed so the vehicle can dry out properly.

The next day they call and tell us they found the low speed grinding noise she's been complaining about for quite some time. Transfer case is shot and needs to be replaced. $2,500. Whoa! Hold on there pal! Wasn't that replaced under warranty not that long ago? "I'll get back to you."

Guy calls me back the next day and said they replaced the transfer case at 55,000 miles out of warranty as a "Goodwill Gesture." Since it was replaced out of warranty as a Goodwill Gesture, it is not covered under their 2 year unlimited mile "parts warranty." He spoke to Porsche Corporate and they said the transfer case shouldn't have gone bad again at 72,500 miles (less than a year). Porsche has offered to pay for 1/2 @ $1,250. I hang up from the dealer and call Porsche corporate myself. They open a case for me and say they'll get back to me in 2-3 business days.

I don't hear from Corporate, so I call them myself this afternoon. They tell me that they are willing to offer additional assistance, but I (I called as my Dad) will still be responsible for $876.74 plus tax. Case closed.

SO I put a call into the service manager to talk to him to tell him to go ahead with the repair. Meanwhile, my Mom has put close to 1,000 miles on the loaner Macan since last Thursday.

With the 80K service lurking on the horizon, they will most likely ditch the Cayenne. I'm going to look into leasing for them.

stickguy

maybe look into something other than a Porsche too!

qbrozen

Few more car pics to share.
1. Another Peugeot looker.
2. A 1-series 5-door diesel
3. A Skoda... just because it is the only one I have spotted.

stickguy

I like that 1 series hatch. We need more of those over here!

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

I like that 1 series hatch. We need more of those over here!

+1

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

maybe look into something other than a Porsche too!

I agree, but that's not my call. She's going to have to test drive to see what she likes.

28firefighter

What about a Range Rover from the Boston area? :-)

28firefighter

Miles are high, but a nicely maintained 1-owner example: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2004-bmw-330i-zhp-25/

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

Miles are high, but a nicely maintained 1-owner example: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2004-bmw-330i-zhp-25/

Nice, but silver-gray is not a great E46 color. We had an '05 330 convertible in that color (not a ZHP). A serious drop-off from the steel gray that preceded it.

andres3

nyccarguy said:

andres3 said:

nyccarguy said:

andres3 said:

nyccarguy said:

andres3 said:

I found another 4-year old S4 with lower miles in red. It's listed significantly cheaper than Carmax, but is in the East Bay Area of CA. Now I know why Carmax's model works so well!!!! For little money, you can take little risk ($300 to ship to SD).

Are there people for hire that'll go look at a car for a few bucks? You really have to do an "Italian" tune up and hoon the Audi to make sure it works right.

There's a blue S4 in Henderson, but more miles on that one.

There is also an Audi Dealer who posts on Lease Hackr that's in Southern California. Maybe you can get in touch with him and he'll keep an eye out for anything incoming (new or off lease).

My problem is I insist on an appropriate colored S4 (or any car for that matter). That means my next car will not be white, black, or any shade of gray/silver. That pretty much means I need to find a needle in a haystack when looking at Audi's.

My insistence and inflexibility on color might be a good reason to pay the Carmax premium. Their model is good for people like me, and they come with a 30-day warranty. Trust me, I'll make sure if something's going to break, it'll break in those 30 days of hard life for the S4, and the bonus is I'll have a lot of fun trying to break it like I stole it!

How much more is the CarMax car?  How much is their famed Doug DeMuro warranty?

Carmax San Jose '15 28K miles, 2 owners, no accidents on report $31K non-negotiable until they lower it... maybe soon....
Audi S4 '15 34K miles, Richmond, CA 1 owner, 2 accidents on report, $26,500 asking
Blue Audi S4 '15 43K miles in Henderson NV - off the list, CarFax on Edmnunds App shows "structural damage" from 1 accident. I asked saleslady at Henderson Audi, WhY ISN't it a CPO, and she said "to price it competitively since CPO costs $3-4K!" I think I was lied to. The Richmond salesman was honest; I looked at the reports now (although that one was Autocheck). One of the two said rear collision/ or rear damage.... the other was less certain....

So what is an S4 specd out how you like it new? $58 - $60K? Even if the lease program stinks (which it probably does) and the residual after 3 years 15K is 50%, then You'll be spending about $30K over the next 3 years for a brand new S4 with no stories & completely under warranty.

I think the math works better my way than with a new car. Remember, my old S4, when you take out the wreck caused by the errant and negligent Lexus driver, was just about flawless. For 48,000 miles I'd value that warranty at about $100-$200; not worth much, and I expect more of the same. Granted, that's from 0 to 48,000, and now I'm talking 30K-80K miles. Still, pretty damn low miles for a lot less money. Lastly, a new S4 isn't that exciting to me. I like the old supercharged format on the drivetrain, and I far prefer the interior materials, layout, design, and aesthetics of the B8/8.5 to the B9 by quite a margin! At 80K miles, it'll still be worth something, whereas with the lease, I'll have nothing but a disposition fee to pay.

The B9 was supposed to be close to 300 pounds lighter, but after all the safety nannies had their way, it's only like 50 pounds lighter. I'm also not a fan of all the new safety nannies, except for maybe rear cross traffic alerts. I think B8's are the way to go!