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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Our first Civic (a hand-me-down) didn't have AC, a radio, or even a passenger side mirror. It was $9995 in 1993. It replaced an Isuzu Impulse XS that also lacked AC. When we inherited the '93 Accord EX to go with the '96 Contour SE, we thought we were living the high life as it was the first time both of our vehicles had AC. The sunroofs and power packages were a bonus.
Some people want that--others drive around for years cursing why they didn't just pay the extra $1000-$1500 to get a normally equipped car....
The loss leaters are often marked down below the discount of the other models. The $9995 Civic DX went to a 12750 Civic LX. An extra $65-76/mo just isn't in the budget for college students and recent college grads. If I were buying a vehicle, I would've bought a used vehicle that was better equipped, but that is just me.
No, it's no stereo at all. I will say that with the Civic stereo (and most Toyota stereos) you are much better off going to the Best Buy and putting something in for $199. I believe the DX does have wiring for a stereo. So you need a good head unit and four speakers, plus installation. Maybe $400 at the Best Buy, all told, for a system that sounds a lot better than the one from the Honda factory.
But the A/C is a deal-killer - NOT having it makes the car impossible to sell later on. Most dealers will put A/C in a Civic or Accord DX for around $1000. Which is less than half of the price differential between the DX and the LX in both cases, I believe.
Me, I don't want the power package and I am perfectly happy going to the Best Buy for a stereo (although a really good factory unit is better just because it is aesthetically designed to be part of the dash; a crappy factory stereo I can do without), but I don't buy cars without A/C. And cruise is mandatory: I will pay for factory cruise, but if it is a million bucks extra or part of some super-mondo package (hello, Toyota!), I can go aftermarket on that quite happily too.
My local dealer has a couple of Civic DX 2-doors and 1 4-door, all on the lot right now, all marked at $14,448, all stick shift. That means $17K or so out the door gets me a Civic with dealer-installed A/C, plus $700 once I take it home, buying cruise and a CD player. Or for another $1000, I can just take home an LX that already has all that, plus a couple other little things. What's the extra $1000, $25 extra per month? Guess I'm getting the LX! :-P
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I sold the Taurus privately and shopped the truck a bit, managed to eeeekkkk another $3k out of the 2 of them. Soooo, decided to go with the Civic EX (dealer didn't have an LX and hubby secretly wanted a sunroof, lol). Anyway, bought a 2009 Civic EX coupe 5-spd, nice car, fun to drive and exactly what hubby wanted.
Got a fair deal considering the demand, they were sure happy I unloaded the truck somewhere else..........it was just what EVERY Honda dealer wants *rolls eyes* a 6-spd diesel dually, lol.
We've cut our debt, insurance, and payment by a lot so I'm happy. Hope to have the Civic paid off in 2 years.
Sold my horse trailer this morning for what I wanted out of it, was kind of a sad moment though, I really liked that trailer. However I can buy a truck and smaller horse trailer for what I sold it for. That's my next mission, to find a decent older truck and horse trailer............
I think I've renewed my membership card and my presidency, lol.
However, the Pilot will stay no matter what, I luvs my Pilot!
The EX was my favorite before I found out I had to buy American and got the Malibu. For such a small car it has alot of room up front for 6 footers and the back seat is still decent size.
Have Honda dealers started to deal again on them ? About 2 months ago you could not even find one to test drive.
Well, back in September 2003, I briefly thought about trading the car. My Dad wanted a car so I took him car hunting. We went to the dealer that sold me the Intrepid, and he ended up buying a used '03 Regal ex-rental for something like $10,995. I noticed a black 2002 Intrepid R/T on the lot that I was interested in. It had about 35,000 miles, and was fully loaded. At that time, my '00 had about 86,000 miles on it. They offered me around $4800 in trade, about what I still owed on it. I probably could have gotten them to go a little higher, but then I started thinking about how the car would be paid off in about 14 months, and started focusing on that.
Well, the car crossed the 100,000 mile mark on Christmas Eve, 2004. Three years ago it had about 110,000 miles on it and two years ago, around 123,000. So even though it's not worth much now, it probably wasn't worth much more 2-3 years ago.
The wife still thinks I should have gone with the Altima - 3.5 SE - but it was hard to ignore the 0% financing on the Saturn.
akangl - Congratulations on the new Civic; if I positively had to get a car in the next 48-72 hours, the Civic would probably be on the short list. How much will you be driving it?
nippon - I agree with you on the aftermarket stereo. Earlier this year, I put in a new head unit into my L so I could plug my iPod into it. The stock speakers were upgraded at the factory (includes sub), so I didn't touch those. What Honda was charging for dealer installed stereo equipment back in the 90's was the very definition of overpriced. When we bought the ex-wifes '92 Accord, I think we ended up spending close to $1000 for the single CD player.
Ever notice how you never see akangl and Sarah Palin in the same place?
Both from Alaska... akangl not around here much lately? (busy campaigning?) Both former beauty queens?
I think I'm on to something....
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And, the stereo they dropped in only included the front 2 speakers!
Actualy.... when vehicles don't come with a stereo they only have the front speakers placed in at the factory. The rear speakers are wired to the docks but you need to install rear speakers :sick:
So the dealer did what they said they would do... put a stereo in but they failed to mention that it doesn't come with rear speakers.
GP
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2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
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2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
corvette - congratulations on the new job! Are you still in the legal profession, or are you moving on to something else?
I took a new position last November (same company, just a different job) and now I can work from home - much less stress, plus the new job is more of what I like to do - less technical, more business focused.
yes, and it still is today, and what you get is a stereo that is inferior to almost EVERYTHING Best Buy has to offer!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
As I get older I find I hate complicated electronics, especially aftermarket car stereos with tiny buttons.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
My "ex" & I had the first year CRX--'85?--drove it on many 1000-2000 mile road trips, had it for 7-8 years, spent maybe $200 on it........& the phone practically exploded when we ran a local ad to sell it......
Good choice!
We are beginning to regret selling our 96 with 310,000-miles!
Help?
The Celica, however won't accept one of those cassette to miniplug adapters and the CD player skips like mad so i bit the bullet and replaced the stereo. Now the other problem - I need speakers because the woofers are falling apart at the edge. Of course there are no fewer than six speakers in the doors.
The car is for hubby to commute with, he'll be packing on 500 miles/week so good gas mileage and reliability were very important.
I like the Civic, its a neat little car, but my Pilot is and will always be my favorite. Bad roads.........the Pilot comes out of the garage, its absolutely amazing on the worst roads.
I have not yet met the Honda or Toyota factory stereo that sounded any better than "just OK". The ones in the Lexuses and Acuras are better, but sometimes they make them optional and ask outrageous sums of money for them.
Subaru has a couple of optional ones that sound good (and I can't wait to hear the 385-watt H/K that comes standard in all but base Legacys now) but their base stereo is terrible.
I find the problem in Hondas and Toyotas is usually the head unit, not the speakers. In Subarus, it is both.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I'm now looking at 2007 530i's. I've found a few non-cpo examples with less than 20K miles for the mid $30's. My comfort point is 28-30 max, so I may need to broaden my search.
It's funny, I've watched this group for years, and always knew that "akangl" would be back. Now she's back in style ... trades a car for a car, sells it, sells another, buys one .. and is shopping for her next one. Gotta love her.
LOL, funny. I'm going longer between cars though, my Pilot has been around for 15 months now, the Ram was with us for 28 months, the Taurus was short lived, didn't really want the car, took it in trade for some stuff. Got what I wanted out of it so I wasn't upset, drove it 2200 miles too, lol.
Hopefully these are the last for a while. Although I am going to buy a cheap truck sometime in the next few months, we still have our TT to pull around in the summer plus need to buy a 2 horse trailer.
Right after I got the car years ago I got an estimate from a well known car stereo place near Boston. About $2500 for fairly high quality speakers, cross-overs, & amps, installed. I saw a Benz wagon in their shop they were doing an install on--they literally had almost the whole interior of the car taken apart.
After I got the $2500 estimate I suddenly started to like the stock stereo a whole lot more.....
They were probably installing Dynamats: sound insulation so that the body panels won't vibrate from strong bass.
My C240's stereo weas also very good for stock, as it had 6 or 8 speakers plus an 8" sub in the rear shelf. The Jeep's is so so, but I like the Sirius satelite.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
They're made for antiaudiophiles like me who are perfectly happy if the radio gets decent reception and the speakers are good enough to understand the words.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
That's the thing, if you KNOW you suffer from CCBS, then investing a lot of money in a sound system just seems like throwing money away. Even if you have it removed and installed on your next car, that's more money spent removing and installing every time you change cars....
My limit is about $400 or so. If I can make a noticeable aftermarket improvement to the stereo for $400 (usually possible with Toy/Hon/Sub, but I don't always bother), then it's worth it. When I sell that car, I will just let the next guy have the new stereo. Any more than that, and I won't bother. I'm no audiophile, but it sure would be nice if they really focused on improving the factory systems.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I like the USB jack as it allows me to control the iPod from the head unit (or the remote (!) that came with the stereo) - and I can see the song and artist info on the head unit as well. The AUX jacks in both the wife's VUE and the daughter's ION don't offer those features. Nor do they allow the iPod to recharge.
Funny how different things are important to different people. My mid-life crisis car will have a top that drops. New or used, foreign or domestic, it doesn't matter. At some point in the not-too-distant future, I will have a convertible. Though as I approach my 45th birthday, I am beginning to realize that I may soon be beyond 'mid-life'.
I recommend a convertible for a mid-life crisis. Definitely does the trick.
nippon - I'm with you. Right around $400 is my limit.
OK, I'll grant you that. I know you've got a few years on me and yet you've got little ones still running around the house. What were you thinking?
It may be a few years before the drop-top becomes reality, but it is on my 'to do' list.
Though what it will be is a topic of discussion. The wife wants a T-bird; I'm thinking a used Boxster or Z4. Reality? Sebring or Mustang.
After I bought the 2 y.o. bmw, there were several things I really wished I had gotten: Xenons, Sport Package, the "Premium stereo" (but I bought used, & got a good deal, so.....). By the time I did all those mods after market, it would have been more sensible to sell the car & buy another with the factory options I wanted.
If I had more money than Croesus, & had my fantasy car, I might go nuts upgrading the stereo. But spending $400 to install or upgrade a stereo on a Honda or Saturn is something I'd do in real life.
Me, I've got space to park maybe three cars before it becomes inconvenient (inconvenient meaning cars parked two blocks away), and I can't imagine what I would keep forever, thereby tying up one of those parking spots permanently...
Of course, if I was as rich as you seem to imply this Croesus character was, maybe I could just buy a house with a couple of acres of grounds on which I could store all my cars. :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Isn't Croseus the greek word for "Andre"?
Though, I hear you. I have a house with a driveway and a two car garage. My L is 190" long and I don't think it's likely that anything longer will fit, with all the workbenches and stuff I have in it.
I could put a third car in the driveway, but I'd be forever shuffling cars around to get to the one I want to drive. Plus, whatever stays outside would have to be dusted off in the winter, when the snow falls.
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My frustrating serch for a new car has taken some odd twists and turns. Due to the recent aquisition of an 85 pound Lab, I want something with a wagon back of some sort. Severly limits my options, since I don't want an SUV.
Looked at various Volvos, and I do like them, but I got sidetracked with a 525iT. Posted details on RRTIV, but it is an '00 (way older than I menat to go) with 74K on it. But, 1 owner and real clean.
Of course, for the next 6 months at least I will be commuting ~90 miles/day. Not the most logical choice, but what the heck, you only live once, might as well do it in a comfy car.
At some point, I may find a different job, and not sure if this one will go past the 6 month term, so no idea how long the big commute will last.
I figure if I get it cheap enough, if it is reliable, not a big depreciation hit wiating to happen. But, what the heck should I look out for on one of these?
Might just be better off with a newer CPO Volvo, but that would probably only end up being an '04-'05.
Oh, the budget is no more than mid-teens. I did find an '04 V702.4T with 45K for $16,000. AWD though, but maybe not a bad idea... DId drive nice, and has good seats.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Had an appointment with the Bentley store and have found a Bentley Continental GTC (convertible) that is coming in soon. It's a 2009 in a new color "Ghost White Pearlescent". It has the upgraded Naim stereo ($6,900), special paint upgrade ($4,400) , Mulliner edition and other stuff... MSRP $235,000.
Since the economy is in turmoil..... wonder what a good cash offer would be?
Since the dealer didn't have a 'color swatch' of the new paint color, not sure I will like it until I see it.
Another vehicle has caught my attention....... In California, you can lease the new Honda Fuel Cell vehicle for $600 a month. I haven't seen one yet but I'm sure curious about it! I know nothing about Hydrogen or where to get it. I'm sure California is gearing up for it!
M156
No idea... My guess is that a Bentley is one of those "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" things where negotiating is frowned upon.
BTW, people will think you're the ex-CEO of a failed bank or financial firm, using their golden parachute. :P
I've never seen a metallic white/ivory color that I didn't like. They're all sharp looking.
The six cylinder E39 5ers are wonderful cars. Lots of Bimmer enthusiasts still prefer them over the E60(myself included). Not a lot of stuff goes wrong on those cars. I'd replace the water pump, t-stat/housing, and radiator at @100K. Not too expensive. I'd want to see a full service history; was the brake fluid changed every two years? The coolant every three years? As always, a PPI by a good BMW tech is certainly a good idea. If you buy it, PM me at my CarSpace address and I'll give you some additional info.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Personally, I think that is an urban legend, LOL!! When the time comes, I'll make an offer and see what they say. Cars in this price range are not flying off the lots as the showroom was rather heavy in 2008 models.
I'll keep everyone posted.
By the way, congrats to Akangl on her new Honda purchase!
M156
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Well, I don't know how Croseus has been doing on the stock market, but Andre's not doing so hot. Needless to say, I won't be chronically buying much of anything anytime soon. Except beer, maybe. :P
I could put a third car in the driveway, but I'd be forever shuffling cars around to get to the one I want to drive.
LOL, I run into that problem, even with my ~4 acres out in the boonies. Part of the problem is the way the garage is set up. Sometimes I wish I'd had it built with four doors on the long side, rather than two on the end. Having to put one car in, one behind the other, can be a pain when you want to get the one in back out. Especially if the one in front decides it doesn't want to start! And then I have to make sure I don't park anything too close to the garage, so I can maneuver the other cars in and out.
It would've cost me a lot more $ to build it with 4 doors across the long side, though. Plus I would've had to buy a lot more gravel for the driveway. I was paying something like $450-480 for every dumptruck load of gravel, and those loads don't spread as far as you'd think they would.
I think Croseus dealt mainly in gold, which isn't doing quite as poorly as the market.
I'm glad to hear that mark is doing well and attempting (single-handedly) to keep the economy afloat with his imminent Bentley purchase. And Jolie, with her Honda, too.
Now that I'm working from home, I have the TV in my home office tuned to CNBC. Been interesting, to say the least.
I've told myself that should the time come where the wife and I get a new house, that it will have a 3-car garage. We'll see.
Put 2 and 2 together and you can see logical thinking wasn't a part of this....
nippon - sure, there's such a car that once you have it you stop looking and are forever content. A Honda Pilot. Just ask akangl....
Mark - for a good time offer invoice minus holdback. That should go over really well at a Bentley dealership. Once you get it come drive over and visit us on the East coast....
Also curious to see what kind of follow up service you'd get after purchasing it.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I'd guess the sweet spot is from around $10.5K to $14K.
dealers ask way too much for CPO units!
That depends on the dealer. Sometimes a CPO car can be found at a very good price.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
one did have a nice looking, loaded 2005 X3 3.0i with 33K on it for ~27,000. No idea if that is good bad or indifferent. Now if it was more like 22,000...
On the wagon, it is listed at 12,999. I was thinking of offering 11K for it if we like it after driving, and decide it is a viable option. What's the worst that can happen, they say no?
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.