Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

graphicguy

Q....nice punch #2. You’ve been quite the wheeler-dealer. Big congrats!

nyccarguy said:

I'm slipping. I didn't even know you were in the market. Beautiful Truck. Big congrats!

pensfan83

tjc78 said:

I really would like to have a truck but just not for my everyday commute.

My wife (believe this or not) said she wouldn't mind a truck for a DD .... so maybe when the Enclave goes back I could convince her.

In a perfect world.... I could have the Volvo (or something like it), a nice truck and then an older Panther for my land yacht "fix",

I saw a pristine 95-97 Black over Grey LTC sig for sale over the weekend. I wouldn't throw that out of the driveway.

Not sure the wife would go for the three car approach....but I went for the Trailer so maybe I have some leverage. At the very least my third car would be cheap!

That's exactly why having a truck works well for us. My commute is a few miles 3 days/week to a park & ride, we still have a sporty sedan that both of us enjoy driving, and of course the Prelude is around 7.5 months of the year.

And my wife has surprised me by taking the truck at least one of the days I work from home and sometimes on the weekend as well.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

xwesx said:

You could save a lot of time and money by just skipping the televisions.... It is a campground/retreat home, right? Stock up on board games, cards, etc. for those rainy/cold days, and lots of beach and sports equipment for those that are not!

Either way, enjoy your time! It will be busy, but also good memories.

TV's are easy! The mounts are already installed, however I do see your point!

Geez, it looks like the previous owner screwed you out of at least one TV. :@

Have fun with the rest of the move-in. I don't envy you the least bit.

jmonroe

tjc78

@jmonroe
It's brand new. They don't include TVs. Bigger problem is that spot will only hold a 40"!

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

@jmonroe
It's brand new. They don't include TVs. Bigger problem is that spot will only hold a 40"!

That is a problem. You should have bought a bigger place.

jmonroe

tjc78

ha ha..

It depends on the layout. Some have room for 60" since there aren't cabinets above.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

ha ha..

It depends on the layout. Some have room for 60" since there aren't cabinets above.

C'mon man, the only way you could get a 60 inch job in that spot without the cabinet would be to mount it vertically.

jmonroe

tjc78

Ok Ok ... different layouts entirely! Ours is an end kitchen layout, some models have the kitchen in the middle which gives a bigger living room and wall for giant TV.

mb_enthusiast

Another surgery today for my dad. He’s been in the OR a long time, and his bed assignment has just been switched to the ICU from the nursing unit. I don’t know what to say.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

Ok Ok ... different layouts entirely! Ours is an end kitchen layout, some models have the kitchen in the middle which gives a bigger living room and wall for giant TV.

Like I said, you bought the wrong place. But I'm sure it's very nice and could work. By that I mean, it's as plain as the nose on my face, @abacomike is not going to send me air fare money to come visit him in south Florida but it aint to early for you to start making plans to invite me and Mrs. j to come visit you for a week or two in July or August, right.

jmonroe

xwesx

tjc78 said:

TV's are easy! The mounts are already installed

Well, now, that's just cheating!

mjfloyd1

mb_enthusiast said:

Another surgery today for my dad. He’s been in the OR a long time, and his bed assignment has just been switched to the ICU from the nursing unit. I don’t know what to say.

What was the surgery for?

stickguy

that place is pretty small. I would think a 40" is more than enough since you are only sitting about 5' from it!

JM, take a number. I live maybe an hour from there. I expect they will just give me my own key.

ab348

tjc78 said:

Ok Ok ... different layouts entirely! Ours is an end kitchen layout, some models have the kitchen in the middle which gives a bigger living room and wall for giant TV.

I'm confused. You mentioned a campground, which I assumed meant a trailer. But that looks like a house.

tjc78

It’s called a park model. Basically a 12’ x 35’ mini house on wheels. Meant to be placed once and done. We will add on a sunroom kit to it next year.

xwesx

tjc78 said:

@jmonroe
It's brand new. They don't include TVs. Bigger problem is that spot will only hold a 40"!

I am so sad for you.

andres3

xwesx said:

tjc78 said:

@jmonroe
It's brand new. They don't include TVs. Bigger problem is that spot will only hold a 40"!

I am so sad for you.

I always hated the track homes of the 90's and early 2000's that had built in insets in living rooms for TV's, either an alcove or an inset shelf wrapped in drywall usually. They all struck me as way too small, and with no room for future expansion. A 42" HD TV was hot stuff in 2002, but nowadays I think people must have remodeled due to such a horrible design. They also never left room for speakers.

corvette

My parents remodeled their basement in the early 1990s and had custom built bookcases with a cutout for one specific rear-projection Mitsubishi big screen TV. Thankfully, the TV lasted until they sold the house. I guess you could have put a TV stand inside the cutout and set a modern flat screen on the stand and it probably would have looked okay.

2000, they built a new house, and finished the basement in 2005 or so. Another custom built enclosure for (I think) a Sony DLP television to make it flush with the wall. They were not so lucky this time, the TV died. They hung a larger Samsung flat screen over the wall opening. Water damaged their home theater subwoofer and I had to find one with a very different (smaller) enclosure to fill the space they had designed around the original one.

xwesx

Such a good point, @andres3. As corvette noted, sometimes it works out, but usually these features do not stand the test of time. I built a "headboard" for the bed I had as a teen (which I also built). It was an ambitious design that incorporated openings for my tower Infiniti speakers. Sadly, I no longer have the headboard, but I do still have the speakers! Purchased in July of 1991, they remain excellent.

My woodshop instructor mentioned that I probably should not build the piece to such a specific purpose. In my case, it worked out very well because the furniture was lost in a fire, so they never outlasted their intended use. Had that never happened, I would still have it with those speakers still neatly installed.

corvette

My parents’ neighbors had a custom built chest at the foot of their bed with a motorized rig that would drop a tube style TV into the chest and hide it. I’m sure that’s long gone, now.

My great aunt and great uncle built a house in the 1970s and it still had the 1970s era intercom system (no longer working), bathroom heaters in the walls, and central vacuum system (still worked) at the time the last of them passed away.

kyfdx

We have a custom built entertainment center in our finished lower level.
I didn't have it made for a specific flat panel, but did make sure it would fit a 52" LCD model (which was pretty big in 2009).

It's a very nice Sony with 1080p. But, cases have become so thin, that I could fit a 60" in there now (but not 65"). A couple of years ago, when they were phasing out the 60" size, I almost bought a new 4K set, just because... But, the Sony is still going strong, and since my son moved out, we rarely go down there.

qbrozen

Arrived at 2am last night. Thankfully, it still looks good in the daylight.

stickguy

Sharp. Looks brand new. And much different than the BMW!

Now go do a burnout down your new driveway.

qbrozen

hahaha. Wife is home today, so it will have to wait.

Another topic of interest: insurance. Geico is actually charging me LESS for these 2 vehicles together vs the one BMW. And, no, I didn't change coverage. For once, insurance actually makes sense since covering one driver between two cars totalling $15k SHOULD be cheaper than that same one driver in one $50k car. Just a data point for those of you who have considered two for one and worry about added costs. The extra insurance was one of my wife's arguments, which I have now proven incorrect. The other was maintenance, but as I always point out, you aren't driving more miles, so the maintenance doesn't theoretically increase (unless you are battling age-related issues, but don't tell me wife that).

28firefighter

My wife's argument against more cars was insurance AND why do I need 2+ cars...

Looks really nice @qbrozen! 2am delivery though? Yeesh! Any plans to swap out that old headunit?

stickguy

I found that with insurance when I dropped the kid and got my new car before selling the prior one. Insurance on the 3rd car, even though new, was much less than the other 2 cars since only 2 drivers. So a selling point for adding to the fleet.

My wife doesn’t care, as long as I don’t try and take her garage bay away. I have to stay on my side of the driveway.

qbrozen

oh no. The old Uconnect is a great system. No plans for swapping right now. I'll have to experiment, but my wife's '08 T&C with uconnect worked very well with Siri, so as long as this is the same, carplay isn't necessary.

Oh, pleasant surprise, the PO put in the K&N cone intake, but put all the original parts in the K&N box and put it in the trunk. Good indication it was a well cared for car.

tjc78

Looks great Q. Enjoy it.

nyccarguy

Love the color & the car! Great Job @qbrozen !

cdnpinhead

"Arrived at 2 am last night. Thankfully, it still looks good in the daylight."

Nice looking car -- I'll add my belated congratulations to all the others. Use it in good health.

I really like orange cars, and it looks like yours is the same shade as my beloved '73 240Z that I drove out of the showroon with 3.4 miles on it in Edmonton; it served me for 224K miles. Hope you have similar good luck with yours, though I know no one on this board (except for RB) would be caught dead driving the same vehicle anywhere near that many miles.

pensfan83

Looks great, and I'm impressed with the condition too. Glad to see I'm not the only one here who bought a car sight unseen lol.

P.S. We have that same shed.

tjc78

The more I think about it ... the more I want a third car. It will be some sort of land yacht.

Problem is I don’t have a garage. Whatever I get won’t be show quality, so maybe a cover will do.

Off the top of my head
88-89 Town Car
95-97 Town Car
77-79 Continental Coupe
77-79 Mark V

Good thing is these are all cheap, except for maybe the best of the best Mark Vs

kyfdx

I really, really don't want to put winter tires back on my BMW, this Fall.
I have a really good set, but they are full-on Blizzaks, and they just about drove me nuts, last year. I was used to "performance" winter tires.

So, looking for hatchback, CUV or wagon.
Under 100K miles
Stick-shift preferred
FWD or AWD
Under $6K (so, no collision or comp. insurance)
I would take a sedan, under duress, or an automatic

pickings are slim

This seems like a great option, vs. spending $700 for a different set of winter tires, right?
(which I won't do... I would just suffer through the ones I have)

nyccarguy

nyccarguy

So the long bed comes in handy. My driver called out sick this AM.

jpp75

nyccarguy said:

So the long bed comes in handy. My driver called out sick this AM.

Definitely couldn't have done that with the Q40.

stickguy

Of course you could. Even close the trunk if you stick them out the roof. Otherwise flip the seat down and run them up the console!

Careful going up hill. Might slide out!

stickguy

A beater? Maybe an early fit? Could get that in a stick.

Like this. Seems like a good deal if as clean as presented.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/786875529/overview/

28firefighter

kyfdx said:

I really, really don't want to put winter tires back on my BMW, this Fall.
I have a really good set, but they are full-on Blizzaks, and they just about drove me nuts, last year. I was used to "performance" winter tires.

So, looking for hatchback, CUV or wagon.
Under 100K miles
Stick-shift preferred
FWD or AWD
Under $6K (so, no collision or comp. insurance)
I would take a sedan, under duress, or an automatic

pickings are slim

This seems like a great option, vs. spending $700 for a different set of winter tires, right?
(which I won't do... I would just suffer through the ones I have)

You want a Saabaru 9-2x Aero.

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

kyfdx said:

I really, really don't want to put winter tires back on my BMW, this Fall.
I have a really good set, but they are full-on Blizzaks, and they just about drove me nuts, last year. I was used to "performance" winter tires.

So, looking for hatchback, CUV or wagon.
Under 100K miles
Stick-shift preferred
FWD or AWD
Under $6K (so, no collision or comp. insurance)
I would take a sedan, under duress, or an automatic

pickings are slim

This seems like a great option, vs. spending $700 for a different set of winter tires, right?
(which I won't do... I would just suffer through the ones I have)

You want a Saabaru 9-2x Aero.

We looked for one of those, once. I’d have to get it in your area, to find one that hasn’t rusted away.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

A beater? Maybe an early fit? Could get that in a stick.

Like this. Seems like a good deal if as clean as presented.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/786875529/overview/

Actually, saw one on CL for $5K, 60K miles. Base model, with some minor scrapes. About 90 miles away. That’s a good choice. If it were close by, I’d have looked at it, already.

stickguy

If you are trolling the lower priced range of the market, and want a stick, that is close by.

Besides, you’re retired. What else you got to do with your time? 😎

corvette

stickguy said:

Of course you could. Even close the trunk if you stick them out the roof. Otherwise flip the seat down and run them up the console!

The back seat on the G37/Q40 doesn’t flip down. I think there’s a small ski pass through, though.

qbrozen

pensfan83 said:

Looks great, and I'm impressed with the condition too. Glad to see I'm not the only one here who bought a car sight unseen lol.

P.S. We have that same shed.

Pretty good shed for the money. Would probably be even better if I had bothered to make a base for it rather than just building it on the grass, but no complaints, really, and large enough for my john deere with plow attached and riding mower parked end-to-end with enough room beside them for 4 bikes and a bunch of other junk

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

Arrived at 2am last night. Thankfully, it still looks good in the daylight.

DAMN, 2 AM. You better check that beauty out, good. Sounds like the delivery guy gave it a real test drive before he showed up. Looks good though, have fun with it; like I had to tell you that.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

nyccarguy said:

So the long bed comes in handy. My driver called out sick this AM.

Doesn't look long enough to me, more like about 3 or 4 feet too short. Looks good though, especially for hauling black pipe.

jmonroe

kyfdx

RE: AZEK decking

kyfdx

The base is all Southern Yellow Pine. We wrapped that post, and faced the outside joists with AZEK material.

ab348

kyfdx said:

So, looking for hatchback, CUV or wagon.
Under 100K miles
Stick-shift preferred
FWD or AWD
Under $6K (so, no collision or comp. insurance)
I would take a sedan, under duress, or an automatic

When I was reading your criteria I immediately thought of a Volvo C30. Dunno if they fit under your price ceiling though.

breld

Congrats Q! That's a mean looking car!