Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

corvette

28firefighter said:

Cooper Zeon RS3-a I think.

Mine are the RS3-G1. Don’t seem to be rated well for winter traction, but I don’t plan to drive it in the snow if I can avoid it. I’m happy with them so far.

Michaell

stickguy said:

I have Cooper's on my RDX. Really good tires so far.

Coopers on the Outback, as well. Just sent up an appt to have them rotated next week.

Will set up the 30k service, as well.

ronsteve

Isn't the need for new tires usually a cue for a CCB to get another car?

ab348

I read somewhere that Cooper tires are manufactured using an older (i.e. less good) sort of process? That was in the context of the Cooper Cobra white-letter retro muscle care tires so maybe it just applies to them.

corvette

I’m not sure about the manufacturing process. They certainly don’t have the prestige of Michelin or Continental, but Cooper is their premier brand (they also own Mastercraft, Starfire, and some others, and I think they used to make Big O’s house brand tires, but I’m not sure whether this is still true). Cooper’s higher end tires have a visual tread wear square in the tread, which is helpful for people who don’t have a tread depth gauge.

sda

stickguy said:

ran the plan past the wife at dinner. In 2 years and a few months, we go shopping and look at every near or luxury compact to mid-sized CUV. Lots of test drives, and she can pick out whatever she wants to drive, and keep another 10 years. I will just keep the RDX, and then go shopping for a fun/toy car of some kind to go with it, and use in nice weather. Just not sure we will be able to get in and out of anything too fun (low) at that point!

If by chance you do start looking for a car for your wife, you may want to confirm the infotainment system in the RDX works to your satisfaction. My SIL continues to have issues. It is often unresponsive, will drop audio, calls, sometimes just go black. This is a total frustration for her as she actually uses the many functions of the system. She has worked with the dealer, Acura customer service and has submitted a written complaint. The standard response is they are working on an update but no eta. Otherwise she really like the RDX, but this has really given her buyers remorse.

tjc78

I’ve never had Cooper, but did have Mastercraft years ago and they wore like iron and were good in all conditions.

qbrozen

oh man. Not a good time for this to come up. This is exactly like the one my dad had.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1984-mazda-rx-7-gsl-se-12/

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

well, she could get one now. but doesn't want to spend the money/take on the payment. Plus, doesn't want to get rid of the RDX which that would require.

maybe next year when we finish paying off the last of the college related expenses, all the money going toward that will burn a hole in her pocket!

but pretty sure, unless something goes wrong (she has zero tolerance now for a car stranding her) we will stay the course.

Why don’t you sell the RDX to Carvana or Carnax and use the proceeds from the sale to fund most of a lease for the next 2-3 years?

xwesx

stickguy said:

ran the plan past the wife at dinner. In 2 years and a few months, we go shopping and look at every near or luxury compact to mid-sized CUV. Lots of test drives, and she can pick out whatever she wants to drive, and keep another 10 years. I will just keep the RDX, and then go shopping for a fun/toy car of some kind to go with it, and use in nice weather. Just not sure we will be able to get in and out of anything too fun (low) at that point!

Excellent! Plan 1 of 10,000 to come over the next 2 years (and a few months)....

breld

ab348 said:

Maybe @breld wants to dip his toe into the Civic Type R pool again.

Though given the price, perhaps not.

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/honda/civic/2299468.html

I do think fondly of the Type R now and again - what a great drive.

But I don't think I want to deal with the attention it gathers.

And yes, that seller is dreaming.

breld

Well, gotta tell you all, this may be a "no-punch" year for the @breld clan.

Here we are in August, and all our attention and, more significantly, funds, are directed at the new house. And, I regret to say, we are still the unwitting owners of two houses. We seem to be getting more traction on the sale of our former house, but alas, it is still ours.

So...our car budget this year is all taken up by things like this...

stickguy

ambitious project!

stickguy

nyccarguy said:

stickguy said:

well, she could get one now. but doesn't want to spend the money/take on the payment. Plus, doesn't want to get rid of the RDX which that would require.

maybe next year when we finish paying off the last of the college related expenses, all the money going toward that will burn a hole in her pocket!

but pretty sure, unless something goes wrong (she has zero tolerance now for a car stranding her) we will stay the course.

Why don’t you sell the RDX to Carvana or Carnax and use the proceeds from the sale to fund most of a lease for the next 2-3 years?

well, if the desire was to unload her car and get a new one, there are many ways to make that happen. But if we got a lease, that means in 3 years (well, 2.5, then 6 months later) we would be carless again. And the plan is to keep the RDX around indefinitely, so trading it doesn't work. When the new one finally arrives it will replace the TLX, and the RDX goes into spare car duty.

could work out nicely if Acura 2 years from now is running killer end of summer deals and will do a lease pull-ahead. Getting out early is always a viable option.

stickguy

as to the infotainment, that sucks to be having problems with it. Hopefully it gets resolved. I wonder how wide spread it is? Not a worry to me, since they would have a few years to debug the system (and it would have gone through it's mid model refresh) before we come along to buy!

benjaminh

sda said:

stickguy said:

ran the plan past the wife at dinner. In 2 years and a few months, we go shopping and look at every near or luxury compact to mid-sized CUV. Lots of test drives, and she can pick out whatever she wants to drive, and keep another 10 years. I will just keep the RDX, and then go shopping for a fun/toy car of some kind to go with it, and use in nice weather. Just not sure we will be able to get in and out of anything too fun (low) at that point!

If by chance you do start looking for a car for your wife, you may want to confirm the infotainment system in the RDX works to your satisfaction. My SIL continues to have issues. It is often unresponsive, will drop audio, calls, sometimes just go black. This is a total frustration for her as she actually uses the many functions of the system. She has worked with the dealer, Acura customer service and has submitted a written complaint. The standard response is they are working on an update but no eta. Otherwise she really like the RDX, but this has really given her buyers remorse.

I must have missed something. Did you own an Acura RDX? But you had a Pilot and then traded that in on the Q5....

breld

stickguy said:

ambitious project!

Well, we have a landscaper doing all the work. So ambitious from a pocketbook standpoint primarily!

kyfdx

Haven’t seen one of these in awhile

kyfdx

Supposedly, owner sold this to someone, today.

sda

benjaminh said:

sda said:

stickguy said:

ran the plan past the wife at dinner. In 2 years and a few months, we go shopping and look at every near or luxury compact to mid-sized CUV. Lots of test drives, and she can pick out whatever she wants to drive, and keep another 10 years. I will just keep the RDX, and then go shopping for a fun/toy car of some kind to go with it, and use in nice weather. Just not sure we will be able to get in and out of anything too fun (low) at that point!

If by chance you do start looking for a car for your wife, you may want to confirm the infotainment system in the RDX works to your satisfaction. My SIL continues to have issues. It is often unresponsive, will drop audio, calls, sometimes just go black. This is a total frustration for her as she actually uses the many functions of the system. She has worked with the dealer, Acura customer service and has submitted a written complaint. The standard response is they are working on an update but no eta. Otherwise she really like the RDX, but this has really given her buyers remorse.

I must have missed something. Did you own an Acura RDX? But you had a Pilot and then traded that in on the Q5....

The Q5 replaced our 2010 Pilot. My SIL replaced her 2006 TL w/nav that she bought new with a 2019 RDX Advance in February and generously gave the TL to us for our daughter to drive. It was meticulously maintained and looks and drives beautifully. Hard to believe it is 13 years old with 156k.

ab348

kyfdx said:

Supposedly, owner sold this to someone, today.

A Lotus is like a sailboat. Happiest days of your life are the day you buy it, and the day you sell it.

28firefighter

Decided to put them on myself. Not bad.

stickguy

sharp looking car. though just to my eye, they look +1 too big for the vintage of it.

28firefighter

The tires are slightly tall (215/50 instead of 215/45). Wheels are OEM 17s, but finished in satin black.

sda

28firefighter said:

Decided to put them on myself. Not bad.

Looks sharp, and really compliments the color of the car.

nyccarguy

28firefighter said:

The tires are slightly tall (215/50 instead of 215/45). Wheels are OEM 17s, but finished in satin black.

How’d you post a picture?

28firefighter

It’s been fixed for me for a few weeks. I just request desktop mode in safari.

pensfan83

They look great, nice contrast with the car.

corvette

28firefighter said:

The tires are slightly tall (215/50 instead of 215/45). Wheels are OEM 17s, but finished in satin black.

Any significant difference on the speedometer? I went with a plus-zero size with slightly more revolutions per mile on the G37. With the factory size, the speedometer read 2-3 MPH faster than you were actually going, now it seems to be more accurate.

I think the wheels look great.

stickguy

speaking of a G37, my neighbor that has one seems to be upgrading to a new Infiniti. Today a Q50 with temp tags appeared in his driveway. Though his G is there also. Not sure if he is keeping it, but certainly didn't trade it in. I think it is maybe a 2012? Probably a ton of miles because he has a long commute.

Could have gotten rid of his wife's RX350 (probably about 8-10 YO I would guess, though likely lower miles) because I did not see that today, but that would surprise me.

Definitely likes Infinitis, because a year or so ago he traded in his gen 1 Nissan 350Z for a Q60 (both were sticks, those stay in the garage most of the time).

28firefighter

I’ll be going at most 2 mph faster than the speedometer will read. Based on a GPS I use, it will actually make the speedometer more accurate.

mjfloyd1

College students moving back in - I’d like to post a picture of a SAAB going past the parking slot onto a downhill slope heading towards the sidewalk, but I’m unable to...

A friend made the comment that “every SAAB ends in a SAAB story”

28firefighter

Speaking of Saab stories, I should probably get my parking brake cable tightened...

tifighter

Gratuitous summer car shot-

stickguy

If I was a smart aleck, I would ask, “is that where you ran out of juice?”

Good thing I’m not!

stickguy

Live the color on the X BTW. Very sharp. A guy 3 doors down from me has one, but it’s silver.

xwesx

breld said:

Well, gotta tell you all, this may be a "no-punch" year for the @breld clan.

Here we are in August, and all our attention and, more significantly, funds, are directed at the new house. And, I regret to say, we are still the unwitting owners of two houses. We seem to be getting more traction on the sale of our former house, but alas, it is still ours.

So...our car budget this year is all taken up by things like this...

That should be fun, assuming you actually have time to make use of it!

xwesx

tifighter said:

Gratuitous summer car shot-

Picturesque! The car is ridiculously clean, though. How did you manage that?!

benjaminh

tifighter said:

Gratuitous summer car shot-

Awesome car! Great view too.

If I may ask, how much are those? c.80k?

28firefighter

Starts at $85k and goes up from there.

breld

@tifighter - beautiful shot! And I too like the red. I'm starting to warm up to the darker shades of red and could even see myself going that way sometime, just for something different.

breld

Okay, so just as I open my mouth and say no more punches, I do a little search for GTIs.

This I could really get into...

https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/1258875?sri=6ab1efd9-8f0f-458a-b13d-a653251f898b

Specifically, I like this Iron Blue (the name is something like that), but more significantly, I'm not sure I've ever seen an SE trim with the plaid seats. I know that was made an option for the SE model at some point, but I've never actually seen one.

benjaminh

The GTI looks really good to me. Nice price for the condition and miles. Plus it still has c. 4 years of warranty?

28firefighter

I believe if you get the SE with plaid seats (and it is rare) you do not get the fender audio with it.

breld

28firefighter said:

I believe if you get the SE with plaid seats (and it is rare) you do not get the fender audio with it.

Interesting - not a deal killer, but disappointing.

EDIT - Carvana provides the original window sticker, so based off that, you're right...no Fender audio. But some nice safety tech on it, like Blind Spot, Rear Cross Traffic and autonomous emergency braking.

kyfdx

breld said:

Okay, so just as I open my mouth and say no more punches, I do a little search for GTIs.

This I could really get into...

https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/1258875?sri=6ab1efd9-8f0f-458a-b13d-a653251f898b

Specifically, I like this Iron Blue (the name is something like that), but more significantly, I'm not sure I've ever seen an SE trim with the plaid seats. I know that was made an option for the SE model at some point, but I've never actually seen one.

You know, I could've bought a 2017 GTI Sport with just 4000 miles for under $22K... and, that was two years ago!!

28firefighter

Look, I can understand the desire to go back to GTI. It just does a lot of things really well in it's class.

breld

kyfdx said:

breld said:

Okay, so just as I open my mouth and say no more punches, I do a little search for GTIs.

This I could really get into...

https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/1258875?sri=6ab1efd9-8f0f-458a-b13d-a653251f898b

Specifically, I like this Iron Blue (the name is something like that), but more significantly, I'm not sure I've ever seen an SE trim with the plaid seats. I know that was made an option for the SE model at some point, but I've never actually seen one.

You know, I could've bought a 2017 GTI Sport with just 4000 miles for under $22K... and, that was two years ago!!

Snooze you lose.

kyfdx

@breld I must have... constantly reminded, every time I see a GTI (that's a lot!)

xwesx

breld said:

28firefighter said:

I believe if you get the SE with plaid seats (and it is rare) you do not get the fender audio with it.

Interesting - not a deal killer, but disappointing.

EDIT - Carvana provides the original window sticker, so based off that, you're right...no Fender audio. But some nice safety tech on it, like Blind Spot, Rear Cross Traffic and autonomous emergency braking.

Autonomous Emergency Braking. That's a GREAT idea for a car with a manual transmission! Hahahha