Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

mark156

Steve, have you thought about getting a motorhome? :P

Mark

stever

Sweet - you probably saw the pic of the 17' Wenonah Voyager Dagger Venture on the Quest that we toted to Newfoundland one trip. (too many boats have passed through my hands for me to keep track of them - CBBA'er?).

Mark, I'm trying to cut down - maybe we'll even go back to backpacking so we don't have to haul all that crap around. I'd hate to think of what all I'd fill up your rig with.

roadburner

I picked up the '75 2002 and drove it home Saturday. I ran it around town a little on Sunday and drove it to work yesterday. Woo-Hoo!!! It has several fiddly problems I need to address, but they are issues I can easily fix myself. At the top of the list is replacement of the heater fan(coupled with a full renovation of the heater box), new door brakes, and adjustment of the door glass and the sunroof. Oh yeah, I also have a MOMO Alpina steering wheel to replace the bus-sized OEM tiller. Here are a few shots of the new arrival at Casa Roadburner:

fezo

Sweet!

guss

Your BMW takes me back to 1980 when a buddy of mine in High School had a 2002. Except for the automatic and no puke stains in the back seat yours looks identical to it.

mark156

Roadburner, that is one beautiful classic car! The style is timeless!

M156

roadburner

Roadburner, that is one beautiful classic car! The style is timeless!

Thanks! It will need a few weekends to get it into shape, but it is already a lot of fun to drive. The automatic isn't that bad, though I would prefer a manual. My firstr BMW was a 1973 Bavaria 3.0 so the '02 is kind of "deja-vu all over again" :P

mark156

Today was the day,

I took delivery of the 2009 Bentley Continental GTC, Ghost White Pearlescent, Linen leather... absolutely gorgeous! This is my first car with the 'auto-start' button. If you have the car-key fob in your pocket, the doors will unlock automatically when you touch the door handle (pretty cool)..... then, when you put your foot on the brake and hit the start/stop button, the car comes ALIVE. The sound of the engine is very unique. It kind of sounds like a Ferrari/Lamborghini but quieter, nice sound.

M156

oregonboy

It seems silly to me that you should have to go to all the trouble of pushing the start button. It should be enough to put it in gear, step on the go-pedal, and think about accelerating. For that kind of money, the car should read your mind! :P

fintail

Awesome, congrats. We can live vicariously through you.

I saw a GTC at the local Safeway parking lot a few days ago. It was a lightish metallic blue, a pretty color that seemed out of the 60s. Unfortunately the driver was an aging trophy wife who had a stretched back face that reminded me of a cat.

mark156

Fin, your post really cracked me up!! I've seen that before!!! I live in a resort community and that sometimes is the norm!

M156 :confuse:

andre1969

Unfortunately the driver was an aging trophy wife who had a stretched back face that reminded me of a cat.

kinda like this?

corvette

Or this?
Bride of Wildenstein

fintail

Now that's more like it!

The local Bentley woman wasn't that bad...just kind of that permanent "surprised" look and maybe some makeup applied with a trowel.

boomchek

Congrats on your GTC. Post up some pictures please so we can admire your new ride, and so I can get the nasty catwomen images out of my head. :mad:

mark156

I have tried to post a pick but it's not working. :sick: I followed the exact instructions, maybe I'm doing someting wrong. I posted the pic at a hosting site, I hit IMG then copied the HTML and then IMG again... it won't post.



Mark

stever

I can paste the link in the address bar of my browser and see it (love the white!).

Maybe there's something in the link that's breaking the pic posting here. How about putting it in your CarSpace Album?

What are the little circular sensor looking things on the front bumper?

guss

Copying and pasting was definitely worth the trip. Mark, your Bentley is gorgeous, you are one lucky man.

Could you plan a road trip where you give all CCBA members a ride ?

boomchek

corvette

Wow! What a beaut!

mark156

Steve, the front circle sensors are the 'park distance control'. There is a diagram that pops on the 'media' screen that shows an outline of the car. As you get closer to an object, the beeping noise gets faster and the diagram show a red-distance-bar moving closer to the front bumper.

When you put the car in reverse, you have the same bumper sensors plus a rear camera.

This car is awesome!!

Mark
PS. Boom, thanks for posting the picture!

stever

'park distance control'

Sweet - just a tad more classy than curb feelers.

(and how many of y'all know what curb feelers are anyway?)

fintail

That's an amazing looking beast. Not all cars can pull off white, but that one can. I hope you are in a good place for some top down cruising.

fintail

Or their more amusing term, curb whiskers...that's what my dad called them.

akangl

Wow! What a beautiful car!

I tried to lobby for a new car last night when I found that the Ipod connector would not work with my stereo (found this out after the installer tried for 2 hrs to get it to work). It didn't work, but I did get a $800 stereo that has nav and will run the Ipod, lol.

mark156

Fin, the white is 'off white' with metallic flecks in the paint. The soft top is black which looks sharp when it's closed. The wood inlays and the wood steering wheel are 'Piano Black'. I didn't think I would like it but it's beautiful. In the bright sunlight, you can see the grain in the wood otherwise, it looks very smooth.

Suprisingly, the carpet is 'Linen' as is the leather. I don't know why they would put white floor mats in ANY car! I'm going to pick up a set of black mats today.

Here is a picture of the interior....
link title

Mark

fezo

Wow! That's enough to make akangl sell her Pilot!

I'm in agreement that it's a car that can pull off white. I'm not normally a white car sort but I'd take that one in an instant!

Good thing you have the sensors - curb feelers would definitely detract from the image...

stever

We're sort of tire kicking and I've been leaning blue, along with the rest of the mob, (it's the new in color I guess), but I've been dropping a lot of white car hints the last two days. :-)

boomchek

This car is awesome!!

Mark
PS. Boom, thanks for posting the picture!

No problem Mark, it's a very nice ride indeed. Hope the weather holds up well for you to enjoy some top down cruising.

Do you still have and drive your other classic Bentley?

fintail

The pearly white is even a bit much on most cars...but I guess when the car is both elegant and a little brash, it can wear almost what it wants. That wood reminds me of my E55 with its dark grey wood...more than one person has actually thought it was marble :confuse:

You live in a sunny climate IIRC...it's a good color combo for there. Maybe white floor mats make well-heeled buyers buy expensive OEM replacements more often ...yeah

corvette

The factory mats on my A4 are also ivory. I got a set of black rubber Audi mats that have saved me untold hours of cleaning.

tifighter

I like white, and I really like it on this car; nice choice Mark.

That must be a fairly lonely showroom these days, yes?

mark156

Do you still have and drive your other classic Bentley?

Boom, the classic car is a 1964 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III in Antique White. I've had it 10 yrs this month. It's a fun car and the styling is timeless! Every year it seems to need something, just had the master brake cylinders rebuilt (stops on the dime now!). LOL! I had the air conditioning compressor replaced with a low voltage unit last year (no bogging down the 6.25 liter engine!). :surprise:

Mark

mark156

That must be a fairly lonely showroom these days, yes?

Surprisingly, the showroom was fairly active the day I stopped in. When I went to finalize the paperwork, someone was test driving a bright yellow Aston Martin convertible. There are several brands of cars at this dealership (Rolls, Bentley, Aston Martin, Maserati, Jaguar, Land Rover, Audi and another brand that I can't remember).

As the economy slows more, there may be some wonderful deals on the upper-end luxury brands.

Mark

boomchek

Ahh yes the Rolls Royce. I wanted a Silver Cloud for my wedding but unfortunately there were no rentals here in Vancouver.

I love the styling of it too. It has a huge presence on the road unlike most "motorcars" these days :shades:

akangl

Well I guess I can say the first scratch is out of the way, lol. Hubby nearly hit a moose with it last week, said it was close, but that was that.

This morning there's a message to call him right away, I'm thinking oh no, lol. He left for work at 2:30 am, has a 4 hr drive.......about 230 miles. I guess this morning a coyote decided to end its life and to hear hubby tell it I was laughing so hard, not that it made him feel any better, lol.

He said he saw it from a 1/2 mile away, then it went off the road, came back on, he slowed down a bit and watched it. It went back off the road and he thought he was home free. He said then it jumped back on the road, he drove all over the road trying to get away from it, it finally jumped in front of the Civic, direct hit. The Civic then ran over it, lol.

I haven't seen the car yet, he won't be home until Tuesday, but he said the front bumper is mangled. He said normally he would just shrug it off, but he really likes this car, so we'll get it fixed. Depending on how much damage it is it'll either be out of pocket or through insurance. I've got a claim open, but certainly don't have to use it. Our deductible is $1000 for comp which is fine, keeps us from using it on small stuff, lol. I don't know how much a bumper cover is for an 09 Civic but I'd venture to guess its NOT cheap.

Poor car only had 1100 miles on it, lol.

He was grumbling that he's driven a truck for 20 years up here and never hit anything bigger than a rabbit, now he gets a brand new Civic and hits a darn coyote, lol.

What a morning, lol. :sick:

kyfdx

Signed for a new car for the wife today... Pick it up next Thursday..

boomchek

Congrats... what did you decide on?

corvette

That stinks, especially since it's a car you actually liked!

kyfdx,

What kind of car will you be picking up next Thursday? Don't leave us hanging...

guss

Maybe we can play a little hangman.

Give me the letter X.

_ _ _ . X _

akangl

That stinks, especially since it's a car you actually liked!

No big, we'll get it fixed, I'm sure in the long run it will have no bearing on the car's value since he'll drive the thing for 200k if it'll go that long. He's just really pissed off about it, course my giggling doesn't help.

I asked him what was next week?? A bear?? Odd how he didn't find the humor in that, lol.

kyfdx

Yeah... not that hard to figure...

Got my wife's first choice.. BMW X3.. I finally beat the dealer into submission.. :P

It's a 2008 BMWNA car... driven by a field rep, or possibly a BMWNA employee lease.. It has 10,400 miles... Since it's never been titled, it qualified for the special lease/purchase programs they have on the new '08s... So, 3yr/45K lease... for about $63/mo. less than what we are paying for the convertible now..

Sapphire black metallic with gray leather.. Premium pkg, xenons, heated seats, park distance control (which is the only option I wouldn't really want to pay for.. but, it's hard getting what you want from the used car factory).

So, it fit all our requirements without much extra... and, it's what she really wanted..

So... 21 months until the lease is up on my Subie.. so, you probably won't see me around here for awhile (haha.. yeah, right).

regards,
kyfdx

woodyww

Hubby nearly hit a moose with it last week, said it was close

I shudder to think about hitting a moose with a Civic. Maybe lucky that it was "just" a coyote?

A couple of weeks after I bought my current (almost new) bmw, some idiot (I'm cleaning up the language) sideswiped it in a parking lot, hit & run. About $1300. At least I've never run into a moose...... :confuse:

akangl

I shudder to think about hitting a moose with a Civic. Maybe lucky that it was "just" a coyote?

You'd be surprised how well they hold up, depends on where they hit though. I guess the way we looked at it was if its your time its your time, whether you're in an Abrams tank or a Geo Metro. I had a friend who was killed in an accident with a moose.............she was in a new Chevy Tahoe.

guss

Well, you did the right thing. Keeping the boss happy is Job One.

When we were looking at mini-vans I really like the Honda, my wife liked the Chrysler. so of course we got the Chrysler. Five and 1/2 years and 63k miles later we still have it and she still likes it. I learned to never try to force her into anything she is hesitant about.

Good luck with the X3. are you going to miss the convertible ?

gouldn

I finally got some time to test drive cars again, so I headed to my BMW dealer. They had two interesting cars: a 2005 BMW 325 (CPO), and a 2006 5-series wagon. The 3-series had a window sticker of 25, but was on the website for 23.8 ... both of which were too high in my book. At least it had sport+premium+prem sound. I noticed right away that it was slightly rough condition. The interior, although detailed, show some minor peeling around the cupholder, and gunk in most crannies... not HORRIBLE, but a little more worn than I'd expect in a car that made the CPO cut. Anyway, we fire it up, and it cranks over SOOO slowly ... but did start. I drove it, and it was a nice tight riding car, but I'm sorry, my age is showing: I didn't like the sports seats/suspension. My butt was tired after a 10 minute test ride. Plus the 325 engine + automatic was OK, but certainly not wonderful. The premium sound had rattles, and didn't hold a candle to some of the systems I've heard on Japanese cars.

I liked it enough to go talk withe salesman _inside_ though. As we walked in, he asked a fellow-sales person about why a M3 had been moved .. I guess he had already sold it ... the other sales man exploded and a loud argument ensued ... all while I was standing there! At this point, I was turned off by the dealer, and ready to leave. I thanked him, and left. I was so turned off I decided not to even test the 5-er.

I drove a 1/2 block to the Lexus dealer; a while ago I had driven a previous gen GS and kind of liked it ... and I was ready to try again. The salesman pointed out that he had a 2007 Infiniti M35 on sale with 28,000 miles, they they were ready to 'blow out' I decided to drive it. What a wonderful car. I found it quite sporty, but more comfortable than the BMWs, and the price was tempting: 25,888. I got the strong feeling there was more room. My big complaint was the color: black on black. I've owned black cars, and they look great when clean, but you'd better clean them 2X per week! Also black leather can be quite hot, although this car had the cooled seats.

I went home, and I'm typing now Any feedback? It's not CPO (it's at a Lexus dealership), black on black, but sure a nice drive. The only thing I could find wrong was that they didn't have the nav dvd. I'm thinking of throwing them a low-ball offer tomorrow ... maybe 24.5 and see if I get it. Is this a good idea?

grandtotal

I'm thinking of throwing them a low-ball offer tomorrow ... maybe 24.5 and see if I get it. Is this a good idea?

No, it's not a good idea. The DVD missing would put me off, I look for a car that has been owned by a 'detail orientated' person (like me) and if I had owned that car it would be sold complete with DVD. Second reason, it's not in the colour you want. Third reason, it's not CPO, which means something to you or you would not have mentioned it.

michaellno

Speaking of test drives, I found myself with a bit of extra time on Friday so I stopped by a Pontiac / Buick / GMC dealer and test drove the Pontiac Vibe - GT model.

It was black on black, with a stick shift and a sunroof. MSRP of just over $20K. My impressions after a 15 minute test drive that included both city streets and a bit of highway driving:

Likes:
* Light shifter; really only took a wrist flick to change gears.
* Nice seating position; I've noticed that more and more cars are moving to a seat / pedal / steering wheel relationship more like an SUV than a car (sitting more upright rather than having your legs splayed out in front of you.
* Tilt and telescoping steering wheel.
* Decent power - no, 158 HP isn't going to win too many drag races, but certainly adequate for most of the driving I do now
* Versatility - there is decent room in the back seat and the hatchback makes it easy to load golf clubs and stuff from Sam's Club

Dislikes:
* Black paint. I've never owned a black car, but with everything that I've heard about and read here on Edmunds, I'm not sure I'd want one, especially here in Denver during the winter. Of course, the only alternatives on the GT are Red and White.
* Fussy instrumentation. Very much a personal gripe, but a speedo that goes from 0 (at 6 o'clock on the dial) to 140 (at 3 o'clock) means that the usable range stops at about 9:30 or 10. I'm also not a huge fan of the brightwork around the dials.
* Wheel design. The GT comes with 18" wheels and tires, which makes for a nice, sporty ride, but for some reason the style of the wheel just didn't appeal to me.

All in all, not a bad little (?) car. But, I'm not in the market - and won't be for several more years - so it was just a nice diversion on a pleasant Friday afternoon.

stever

All in all, not a bad little (?) car.

It's on our radar. I want to drive the 1.8l/132hp version and see if it's peppy enough for us.

And yeah, black is a deal killer here too. I'm back to preferring boring silver just because it looks ok dirty.

qbrozen

Well, to me, it sounds like you found the make/model you want. No need to settle on this particular one. Hold out for a color combo you are happy with. If you are still considering this particular one, at least do yourself a favor and find out what an Infiniti dealer would want for a new DVD unit. My guess is its not cheap.