Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)
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- 1) Recommend new tires first and foremost. Current tires are dry-rotted; not passing CPO muster. Someone missed point 1 in the 300 point CPO inspection at Fletcher Jones Audi. I saw the cracking/weathering on the outside shoulder, but didn't look closely to see how bad it might be. Fletcher Jones needs to pay for new tires.
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- 2) Recommend a recharge and dye test on the AC system. If the dye test reveals a leak, that's covered by CPO warranty. However, Fletcher Jones needs to pay for the recharge.
Called the sales manager at Fletcher Jones Audi to let him know the problems, and he still stuck to his story that I'd be well taken care of, not a problem; no issue.He just needs to communicate the promise to Audi Escondido as they'll want to be compensated directly!
In the meantime I have a loaner Q3, not my favorite Audi, not by a long shot.
Lastly, I'm starting to remember why I like hassle-free problem-free new cars. Used cars just have too many variables, and you can't catch them all. It seems only the factories can do good quality control; haven't seen that from any used car dealers in the USA yet.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited Velvet Red over Wicker Beige
2024 Audi Q5 Premium Plus Daytona Gray over Beige
2017 BMW X1 Jet Black over Mocha
A new bumper alone on my Infiniti was over $1,000.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
Edit: looks like all RAV4 Hybrids have AWD.
Man, was I ever wrong.
jmonroe
'18 Legacy Limited with 3.6R (Mrs. j's)
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
As for used cars.... they always have some sorting to do up front. You went the right route on this, and you are likely to incur little cost in the sorting. Just bear with it and keep in mind the motivation for going this route.
Oh and thanks for the laugh.... Ancient. Hah!
Subaru has long been about efficiency and scalability in their manufacturing.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
As to the CPO Audi, I think your right, and this is exactly why I went CPO. Free loaners and have things taken care of (that should have already been taken care of). It sounds like the work was authorized and Fletcher Jones Audi from up North is doing right by me!
I told them don't buy the Pirelli P7's as a replacement tire. The fact they were dry rotted is just another bad review for an OEM tire known for bad reviews. I suggested Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+'s, like my Alltrack had (which by the way, those wheels and tires from the Alltrack in my garage should fit the A4... but I don't know about reducing handling by going from 245/40R18 to 225/50R17, but diameter wise, a very close match. Still, if the tires are "free" I can't complain too much I suppose.
GTI, GLI, other.
https://www.motortrend.com/news/vw-cuts-2-years-off-warranty-adds-2-years-free-maintenance/
- Ray
Odd move...
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
Giving what amounts to a couple free oil changes and tire rotations is pretty skimpy in exchange for reducing the B2B warranty by two years.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
This change is more value to the (new car) consumer and less risk to the company.
Low conversion rate for sales combined with an annoyed channel is not a recipe for success.
A lot of dealers seem to be making money by tailoring extended warranties to leases. My best friend just leased his wife a Grand Cherokee High Atitude. 36 months/15K miles per year. Dealer offered him an extension of the Jeep 3 year/36K warranty to run to 45K miles for around $300. He took it.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
Possessing a vehicle and treating it as an art object leads one in an entirely different direction from actually driving the thing to go places over a long period of time.
For $300 I would have too.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
My '15 RDX is a NA V6 and it's got nice acceleration but being a Honda sometimes I wish there was a little more grunt around 2000 rpm, for things like getting up long Interstate hills or trying to change lanes into a small gap. Finding myself a bit liberal with the paddles at times, and still judging it against the 2.5T in my old Volvo. I think the next move, whenever that happens, might be back to low-boost DI turbo for good. Though these automatics with too many gears might be even more shift-happy.
https://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/57284/bmw/x/need-help-with-choices#latest
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/779020856/overview/
But if you love your current car and there's nothing significant wrong with it why not keep it? A Lexus is built to last, and maybe it has 300k miles in it? Another used car to consider might be a used Acura RLX, which is about the same size as an LS400.
If you'd consider leasing or buying a new car, the Avalon is like the Lexus of Toyotas. The front styling is weird, but there are big incentives on the Avalon that make buying or leasing it pretty attractive. I test drove an Avalon before getting my Acura and I liked it. And, although it's smaller than the LS 400, the Acura TLX V-6 has some great lease incentives and has performance and handling that might be somewhat similar to an LS400.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
And before you mention GM, remember that Obama and the Government explicitly "backed" that unbacked warranty.