Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy

Compared to google maps the TLX Navi is antiquated. And not easy to set. I only use it to have the map up when I dont need guidance, but want to see the map for some reason.

CarPlay is a must for the next newer car.

stickguy

Q, good luck with the lease. But I thought you really liked it he 330?

I don’t think I could move from that to a barge of a dodge, even if it does make lots of cool roaring engine noises!

nyccarguy

I got bit by that manual transmission bug again this AM. We dropped the Pilot off last night (to be serviced today) for an oil change, tire rotation, slow leak in the right rear tire, & squeaky left rear window. 31K miles so far. Those of you who have been paying attention know that means my wife gets the Q40 and I drive my Prelude. 2nd to 3rd upshift to merge on to 95 this AM was a thing of beauty. A couple of perfectly executed downshifts to slow down and get off the exit. Traffic was light. I had the sunroof open. Man, I gotta test drive an Accord Sport 2.0 6MT or a Civic Si Sedan. We'll see how things go on the way home.

tjc78

I do like CarPlay. Having WAZE up to alert of traffic, police etc is a good thing. I wish the Enclave had it.

The Volvo allows the map between the speedo and tach which I really like. It was one of the first things I changed when I started configuring things.

stickguy

Brand, does your wife drive stick? If not that seems like a problem to replace your Q40 with a stick. That’s one of the reasons I ended up not doing it. Sometimes I need the RDX, leaving the wife with my car. She can drive manual, but is real rusty and would rather not.

I do miss it though. Eventually a toy will be the Solution!

tjc78

nyccarguy said:

I got bit by that manual transmission bug again this AM. We dropped the Pilot off last night (to be serviced today) for an oil change, tire rotation, slow leak in the right rear tire, & squeaky left rear window. 31K miles so far. Those of you who have been paying attention know that means my wife gets the Q40 and I drive my Prelude. 2nd to 3rd upshift to merge on to 95 this AM was a thing of beauty. A couple of perfectly executed downshifts to slow down and get off the exit. Traffic was light. I had the sunroof open. Man, I gotta test drive an Accord Sport 2.0 6MT or a Civic Si Sedan. We'll see how things go on the way home.

It was a nice ride this morning. Cool and sunny. I had the sunroof open too and took the non-highway route into the office. Opened up the new machine a few times, it's deceptively quick. I have trouble believing it's a 4cyl.

stickguy

Even my TLX with only 206 HP Is deceptively quick. I’m a big fan of the 2.0t engines. As much power as I’ll ever need, and still can get good MPG cruising.

qbrozen

stickguy said:

Q, good luck with the lease. But I thought you really liked it he 330?

I don’t think I could move from that to a barge of a dodge, even if it does make lots of cool roaring engine noises!

I do like the 330. But since when does that matter? Lol.

Might be a dodge; might not. I’ll be looking at anything that makes good sounds and has immediate torque off the line. Since this is a 1 for 2 deal I’m attempting, practicality is less of an issue. But I’m in no rush. If the bimmer doesn’t transfer, so be it. Does not bother me at all.

28firefighter

I’ve had CarPlay in my GTI. Was great. As long as I have a way to stream music and something for periodic navigation, I’m good, whether it’s carplay or OEM.

au1994

stickguy said:

Even my TLX with only 206 HP Is deceptively quick. I’m a big fan of the 2.0t engines. As much power as I’ll ever need, and still can get good MPG cruising.

100% agree. While the neck snapping 300+hp in previous BMW's was nice, 200-225hp is a great balance for daily driving.

tjc78

stickguy said:

Even my TLX with only 206 HP Is deceptively quick. I’m a big fan of the 2.0t engines. As much power as I’ll ever need, and still can get good MPG cruising.

MPG (still on first tank) in the S60 is sitting at 20.6. Not impressive, but not awful considering the weight, power and driver.

jpp75

nyccarguy said:

I got bit by that manual transmission bug again this AM. We dropped the Pilot off last night (to be serviced today) for an oil change, tire rotation, slow leak in the right rear tire, & squeaky left rear window. 31K miles so far. Those of you who have been paying attention know that means my wife gets the Q40 and I drive my Prelude. 2nd to 3rd upshift to merge on to 95 this AM was a thing of beauty. A couple of perfectly executed downshifts to slow down and get off the exit. Traffic was light. I had the sunroof open. Man, I gotta test drive an Accord Sport 2.0 6MT or a Civic Si Sedan. We'll see how things go on the way home.

I love this. Every time I drive the C30 I'm reminded of how great a manual can be.

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

Even my TLX with only 206 HP Is deceptively quick. I’m a big fan of the 2.0t engines. As much power as I’ll ever need, and still can get good MPG cruising.

I agree. Much like my Prelude, the 2010 TSX we had with the 2.0 was a GEM of an engine. Deceptively fast is a good way to describe it. The last time I got stopped for speeding was in that TSX. I was clocked at 82 in a 55 & was going MUCH faster before I saw the trooper & hit the brakes. That was March 10, 2010 for those of you keeping score.

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

Brand, does your wife drive stick? If not that seems like a problem to replace your Q40 with a stick. That’s one of the reasons I ended up not doing it. Sometimes I need the RDX, leaving the wife with my car. She can drive manual, but is real rusty and would rather not.

I do miss it though. Eventually a toy will be the Solution!

My wife doesn't drive stick. We switch cars often enough that it would be an issue.

stickguy

Tom, 300 HP is still gonna be thirstier around town. And I never trust the first tank, especially since usually a lot of idling at the dealer. I would be curious what you get on an extended highway run though.

tjc78

We switch cars often enough that it would be an issue.

Sounds like my wife and I. We really do share the cars, it's also great in my case since we can spread the miles out a bit. She is only a 10 mile round trip to the train.

breld

Good luck with the process and any negotiations @qbrozen!

Looking forward to see how it all unfolds!

tjc78

stickguy said:

Tom, 300 HP is still gonna be thirstier around town. And I never trust the first tank, especially since usually a lot of idling at the dealer. I would be curious what you get on an extended highway run though.

Yes, first tank is usually terrible on any vehicle.

I'm not expecting much, and in all reality I'd be happy with averaging 20 with my commute. It's rated 21/32 so on a highway run 30 should be attainable.

I also really don't like start/stop so I turned it off in the configuration menu. Much to my surprise it stays off between starts.

carnaught

@tjc78, does the S60 require PUG?

stickguy

T6 requires PUG. T5 recommends it but is perfectly fine with RUG.

tjc78

Yep, premium it is. The owner's manual says 93 (91 min) for the T5 too, but like you said I'd bet it's fine on 87.

stickguy

I saw it on Volvo’s website. Possibly it changed for the new model. And something I really want to avoid! Pretty sure the TLX will be fine with regular, but so far I compromised and always use mid grade. Our 2000 TL used that and ran great at 175,000 miles when I sold it!

pensfan83

Two weeks with the Tacoma and 400 miles. It's been mainly driven by me but my wife has also driven it with no problems. No complaints so far other than the brakes seem a little grabby and looking closer there are more hard surfaces than soft but the materials and fit/finish are very good and visually it looks really good I think. It's already hauled home a new grille and been used for baseball practice with nothing needed but a quick rinse of the bed with the hose instead of the wet/dry vac for the trunk. Oh and remember how I said I wished the Acura had more USB ports? This thing has three(!) so we're set for any road trips, which I expect we'll split between this and the Acura depending on the destination.

As for the manual transmission, that's what initially halted the plan to get a Tacoma until I agreed it would be an automatic, which was fine with me. I still have the Prelude and experience the same joy as @nyccarguy does with his, it's such a fun car. I'm probably going to drive that more frequently since it will go into storage in roughly 2.5 months.

benjaminh

stickguy said:

Even my TLX with only 206 HP Is deceptively quick. I’m a big fan of the 2.0t engines. As much power as I’ll ever need, and still can get good MPG cruising.

You probably know this, but TLX's 2.4 isn't a turbo. But from my pov that's maybe a good thing, because I like the engine sound better than almost all turbos, plus it's likely to last longer with fewer repairs if kept long-term.

xwesx

laurasdada said:

Thanks, folks. I did the simple eyeball test, it's LED. Whole unit needs to be replaced. Did go online, found some used and discounted new units, ~$500. So, I'm guessing I'll have to invest another ~$1k by eoy in maintenance. First world issues...

Same is true on the tails for my Q7. I purchased a replacement from RockAuto; was about $350. Not thrilling, but needed it. Replacement is identical to original, right down to the stamping. Mine was mechanical damage (cover had a small chunk that broke out, allowing water, algae, etc, inside it), but it is a non-serviceable LED unit. Replacement was simple and took about 45 minutes.

xwesx

28firefighter said:

Ok. Drove the Q5. No punch to report but I’m done shopping. This is what I want.

I won’t bore you with all the details I gave Friday, but as a reminder this was a 2015 with 36k miles - premium plus with tech package. Black over brown.

Car drove beautifully - even in regular drive mode the steering was tight and responsive, the suspension appropriately sporty without being punishing, and the transmission did a great job of keeping the car in the meat of its power band. As @sda mentioned, it will upshift for gas mileage, but I found that a moderate blip of the throttle and it downshifted easily. It was definitely more sluggish than say my GTI, but the AWD helped the handling immensely.

The B and O stereo is excellent, seats were supportive, and the interior just very upscale. This particular car was clearly well cared for, inside and out. No rattles, creaks or anything - I could be convinced it had half the mileage.

CarMax was asking $24,9 which isn’t cheap for a 2015. But what makes it worthwhile is that a 5 year B2B warranty extension out to 80k miles or so was only ~$2200. That’s half what the Audi dealer quoted me for a similar extension on a CPO car. That is the value proposition on a used ride like this.

Had I not had 4 more payments and a $350 dispo in front of me ($1500) I would have bought it, no question.

Excellent! You know, I have a Q7 that you could get for less, just as lux, better ride, better economy.... I'll even deliver!

xwesx

jpp75 said:

xwesx said:

jpp75 said:

The Rivian is definitely on my list.

Mine too. If only I could dispose of this Q7!

Fortunately I only need to dispose of a Tacoma.

That... that really isn't even fair.

corvette

I saw where VW is CPO-ing the fixed TDI vehicles and it looks like they get a 2-year, unlimited mileage warranty. I'm seeing asking prices starting around $10k for Passats. Not bad for someone who will rack up a lot of miles during that two year period.

xwesx

My wife is the opposite: She doesn't like driving my cars because they are automatics. It's a good problem for her to have, IMO.

ab348

laurasdada said:

Thanks, folks. I did the simple eyeball test, it's LED. Whole unit needs to be replaced. Did go online, found some used and discounted new units, ~$500. So, I'm guessing I'll have to invest another ~$1k by eoy in maintenance. First world issues...

It appears to be an easy DIY job according to this video:

https://youtu.be/1-kiJJYqLYI

andres3

au1994 said:

stickguy said:

Even my TLX with only 206 HP Is deceptively quick. I’m a big fan of the 2.0t engines. As much power as I’ll ever need, and still can get good MPG cruising.

100% agree. While the neck snapping 300+hp in previous BMW's was nice, 200-225hp is a great balance for daily driving.

Hey, my '15 A4 resembles that remark, while my old S4 resembles the former.

To be honest, the extra 100+ horses wasn't much of a weight or fuel economy penalty given the more efficient 7-speed DSG transmission. At least, that's what I'm noticing so far. But I drive in a way that gets the horses working, your mileage may vary.

stickguy

had to go do a home visit for the dog rescue tonight, and there was a Telluride in the driveway. We got chatting about it, and the couple was gushing about how wonderful it was, and feature packed and good value. She said that it was the first one (I think in NJ, or maybe at the dealer) so they were definitely early adopters!

I actually did that once. The Scion tC I got was the first one delivered in the region (I know that for sure, might have been state also). It was the first one that they dealership had actually seen.

stickguy

and on the drive (probably about 50 miles RT, a mix of local, some highway at varying speeds, them some more local) the TLX, according to the TC, averaged just a tick under 35. Seems like the mileage has improved as it got broken in. Pretty impressive for the driving (I did exercise it a bit when I had the chance). Plus was alone, so had the moonroof open, and pink floyd cranking on the way home!

Car really drives nicely. excellent mix of quiet comfort on the highway, and fun to drive on the back roads. I think the A spec specifics (wider tires and suspension tweaks) really add to the sporty aspect. And deceptively quick. Still a bit bigger than I really prefer, but excellent car all around. More people should buy these!

stickguy

corvette said:

I saw where VW is CPO-ing the fixed TDI vehicles and it looks like they get a 2-year, unlimited mileage warranty. I'm seeing asking prices starting around $10k for Passats. Not bad for someone who will rack up a lot of miles during that two year period.

that would have been perfect for my daughter. She ended up moving back up this way so her 2 year engagement at her development program in Delaware is going to end up racking close to 50k miles on her car. A cheap CPO with unlimited miles, and excellent MPG, would have been just the ticket to buy, use heavily, then dump it at the end. Cheaper than leasing!

andres3

First things first. A couple of pics of the new to me '15 A4 after getting all cleaned up for the first time since delivery.

stickguy

is that the dark blue, or black? Either way very sharp looking. I always thought the generation A4 was a perfect size and classy design.

28firefighter

Watched some reviews of the Legacy XT today. Consensus seems to be that the engine packs a ton of punch - more than it probably needs given how the steering and suspension are tuned.

I’m intrigued to drive it - interior looks seriously upgraded.

andres3

stickguy said:

is that the dark blue, or black? Either way very sharp looking. I always thought the generation A4 was a perfect size and classy design.

It's the midnight blue, which might as well be called black with blue sprinkles of metallic. It is about as dark as a blue can get, without being mistaken for black 100% of the time.

Similar to black, it looks great when it's clean and shiny!

It does soak up the heat though, my next car needs to be lighter, without being white or gray.

stickguy

looks like a Volvo to me.

breld

Okay, one step in our reallocation of overall debt - increase house debt, decrease car debt.

Q7 is out, wife got the Alltrack she has pined for, and I take over the A5 Sportback to go with the GTI.

A few poor quality pictures. I’ll get some better ones when the two Golfs are sharing space.

andres3

breld said:

Okay, one step in our reallocation of overall debt - increase house debt, decrease car debt.

Q7 is out, wife got the Alltrack she has pined for, and I take over the A5 Sportback to go with the GTI.

A few poor quality pictures. I’ll get some better ones when the two Golfs are sharing space.

I see I was too late with my post. Either way, congrats! I imagine the manual was more important than avoiding a black interior, which would be triply hard to do with a manual.

Enjoy; the Alltrack is truly a great VW. Still think the engine needs Stage 1 tuning to come alive.

Those wheels are one of my favorite all-time set of OEM wheels! I even explored buying them separate!

Vroom or Carvana? Is it a '17 or 18 or '19?

stickguy

sharp looking. Seems to be a run on that color VW this week! I could live with that.

Hope the fleet stays intact at least until the end of the year.

stickguy

oh, is that brand new or slightly used?

pensfan83

Nice @breld!

nyccarguy

Lookin good @andres3 ! That midnight blue is a very pretty color. Lots of depth in the sunlight.

@breld - excellent job as always! Quiet for the year so far, but then pinching your card twice with authority! Love your GTI & your wife has good taste as well!

breld

So it's a new 2019 Alltrack. Would have been happy to buy used, but would have wanted at least a 2018 for the warranty, a manual was a must, and the SEL was strongly desired. So...not too many options.

We've been eyeing inventory for awhile, and this dealership has had several of them (SEL Manuals), they were down to 3 of them, one of them being the Silk Blue my wife likes.

They were pricing them pretty aggressively to start with, but ended up offering a bit extra, and the sales manager was extremely thoughtful in offering the trade on the Q7 (meaning, he was familiar with Audi's, valued the upgraded wheels and adaptive suspension, and was very transparent on how he arrived at the value). They offered about a grand higher than expected (based on Q's assessment) and about $5,500 off the Alltrack, so we were very happy.

28firefighter

Mercy mercy you folks move fast! Nice choice though - if that thing had a bit more kick (legally, without a tune), I think I'd be all over it.

mjfloyd1

breld said:

So it's a new 2019 Alltrack. Would have been happy to buy used, but would have wanted at least a 2018 for the warranty, a manual was a must, and the SEL was strongly desired. So...not too many options.

We've been eyeing inventory for awhile, and this dealership has had several of them (SEL Manuals), they were down to 3 of them, one of them being the Silk Blue my wife likes.

They were pricing them pretty aggressively to start with, but ended up offering a bit extra, and the sales manager was extremely thoughtful in offering the trade on the Q7 (meaning, he was familiar with Audi's, valued the upgraded wheels and adaptive suspension, and was very transparent on how he arrived at the value). They offered about a grand higher than expected (based on Q's assessment) and about $5,500 off the Alltrack, so we were very happy.

So much for the “punch free” year ...😂

28firefighter

This does look nice though...

https://www.cartervw.com/vehicle-details/new-2019-volkswagen-golf-alltrack-sel-6speed-manual-seattle-wa-id-28883166

mjfloyd1

28firefighter said:

Mercy mercy you folks move fast! Nice choice though - if that thing had a bit more kick (legally, without a tune), I think I'd be all over it.

Tunes are legal, you just trash your drivetrain warranty