Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

nyccarguy

Thanks for the good wishes about my wife’s job. I appreciate it. She’s still not ok. She’s developed terrible anxiety as a result of what happened.

The flat isn’t fixable. A nice gash in the sidewalk from hitting a pothole or road imperfection “just right.” I’ll measure the tread depth, but I’m going to go with the assumption that the tires are at least 2/3rds towards the end of their usable life. With winter approaching and my wife using it more, I’m going to look into replacing all four.

28firefighter

tjc78 said:

So the Elantra is gone ... but not without drama.

They “grounded” it with the wrong miles. 8408 instead of 18408.

I refused to sign the paperwork until it’s corrected. Apparently this is kind of a process as Hyundai has to undo the return and reprocess.

They told me it doesn’t matter... yeah sure.

I have all the paperwork and it appears that the dealer is buying the car anyway as they put their plate frames on it and the warranty sticker on the window.

Guy handling the return said they love clean low mileage returns like this.

I’d love to know how that got screwed up.

stickguy

quick jotting it down on paper, and lousy typing skills translating when typing into a computer.

28firefighter

It’s really not @tjc78’s problem but it’s exactly how a car ends up with a TMU brand.

laurasdada

Congrats on the new gig for the better half, Bradd. Hopefully, time will heal the anxiety, or perhaps dialog.

And, while I may not be chronic, I am (finally) a car buyer! Tonight, I became the proud owner of a 2010 Mazda 3s Sport hatchback. Bought from a long standing, family owned Mazda dealer, single owner, very well serviced car.
Will actually be registered in my son's name, he will now have a crash course on real world finance as he'll be paying for insurance, gas and maintenance. Poor soul.

Watch out breld, the pump is primed!

fintail

Speaking of Hyundais, my cousin buys a late model Santa Fe every several years or so, miles it up, and gets another. 60-something year old woman, maintains it by the book, mostly highway miles, yada yada. Her current one is a 14 (I think) - at 135K miles, the engine decided to call it quits. She had some kind of warranty that expired at 120K - dealer decided to replace the engine anyway. I'm quite surprised.

roadburner

28firefighter said:

pensfan83 said:

xwesx said:

28firefighter said:

The X1 is going to BMW on Friday for it's pre-return inspection. I'm not expecting anything but you never know.

Interestingly, BMWFS did warn me that the dealer could put up a stink about accepting the return because only the originating center has to take it. It would be a huge bummer if I had to drive this thing down to Portland.

That seems ridiculous! What, do they expect people to just remain tethered in one place for three years? I would say, if they don't want to take it, that's fine. You can just leave it in the lot with the keys inside. Your lease period is done; it is their problem now!

I suspect it could also have to do with whether space is available on the main or overflow lot.

This, I believe, is the underlying issue. Also, BMW dealers have to buy a certain number or percentage of lease returns to resell as CPO units or otherwise use one of a limited number of "passes" to reject a car and ship it to auction, so this might have something to do with it. Though I did just read somewhere that a BMW lease returned to the non-originating dealer can be rejected without using one of their "passes" - maybe @roadburner can confirm?

That's odd; we never rejected a lease return.

laurasdada

Wow. I've killed the thread by buying a car.
Ironic.

Michaell

laurasdada said:

Wow. I've killed the thread by buying a car.
Ironic.

Nah, we're just shocked into silence because it was a Mazda

:laughing:

xwesx

laurasdada said:

Wow. I've killed the thread by buying a car.
Ironic.

Naw, we're thrilled for you(r son)! You did break one taboo, though.... where are the obligatory pics?!

laurasdada

A Mazda shocking? My father's past two cars have been 6s, GF drives a CX-5; I'm now surrounded by 'em!



For a nearly 10 yo car, it's in decent shape, especially the interior. Wheels are a bit rashed though, but as I earlier noted, newish Conti Extreme Contact DWS06 tires. And, winter mats! Two sets of keys!

Of course, getting a hold of the boy to finalize the sale (register in his name & insurance) is like trying to wrangle sheep; "Saturday's no good dad, I'm going to U New Hampster to visit a friend..." Dude, we just bought you a car! Friend must be a girl...

corvette

Nice looking Mazda!

marcogallo1986

@ New York car guy, tell the wife to hang in there, and maybe speaking with someone would be beneficial for her.

marcogallo1986

@ New York car guy, and you’re welcome forgot to write that in the posting above.

marcogallo1986

@ Laura Stana, nice on the purchase of the Mazda three hatchback your son, is that a blue color or gray?

marcogallo1986

@tJC sorry to hear about the mixup on the mileage when you went to return the élan truck, it happens probably like mentioned above, someone wrote it on a piece of paper, and then couldn’t read the handwriting when he went to go type it. Or whatever the case may be.

marcogallo1986

@ Corvette, yes I hope the shop can you use is able to diagnose the problems with the Tahoe, and yes you have to replace that battery terminal, I was the one on the other side in good shape? Good thing you look up common problems with those just so you have an idea. Every car has its common problems if you look ha ha Ha.

marcogallo1986

@ Corvette, I’m glad the noise stopped in your pipes let’s pray and hope it stays away permanently now.

marcogallo1986

@ Not sure who it was above mentioned that the engine on their mother-in-law‘s 2014 Santa Fe give it give up 130 some thousand miles, was nice of Hyundai to cover it even though the warranty was expired.

ab348

laurasdada said:

For a nearly 10 yo car, it's in decent shape, especially the interior. Wheels are a bit rashed though, but as I earlier noted, newish Conti Extreme Contact DWS06 tires. And, winter mats! Two sets of keys!

Of course, getting a hold of the boy to finalize the sale (register in his name & insurance) is like trying to wrangle sheep; "Saturday's no good dad, I'm going to U New Hampster to visit a friend..." Dude, we just bought you a car! Friend must be a girl...

As long as the tinworm hasn't got to it, sounds like an ideal car for your son. Congrats to him and to you for being a good dad!

laurasdada

marcogallo1986 said:

@ Laura Stana, nice on the purchase of the Mazda three hatchback your son, is that a blue color or gray?

It's a blue, "Gun Metal Blue," so some gray, too. I wouldn't call it a masculine color...

laurasdada

As long as the tinworm hasn't got to it, sounds like an ideal car for your son. Congrats to him and to you for being a good dad!

Thanks, it looks solid...for now! It won't be garaged going forward.
I just have this bad feeling that he won't be able to maintain his paid internship, which means he can't pay for the car upkeep... But, he worked all summer and did get an internship this semester, so probably just my general paranoia. Which is well founded, as everybody's out to get me!

Sandman6472

Work just called, home for the holiday and had my cell sound turned off. Another 6 am run to Ft. Myers tomorrow, my n/s day. Had to postpone my dental appointment and the 4 wheel alignment but told them I'd be there. Already at 36 hours for the week so looks like I'll hit at least 45 or so, first time ever! Don't want to work full time anymore, don't have to which is nice, but since they need another body, just said yes. The extra income won't hurt and it's a real nice drive across Alligator Alley/I-75. Rained 90% of the trip back yesterday but the 2018 Kia Forte held the wet roads pretty nicely. And my iTunes worked flawlessly, so all was good. Was supposed to get a Chevy Camaro but traded for the smaller Forte. And since the Camaro was no where to be fond, they substituted a Chevy Equonix. Not as sporty as the Camaro but a nice driver to begin with. We also have a lot of GMC Acadia's in the fleet which is basically the same vehicle.
So looks like another 4:45 am day tomorrow!

andres3

I cross-shopped a V6 RAV 4 with the Audi A3 back in '06. An interesting matchup! Glad I went with my first Audi at the time.... I might have become a drone otherwise.

andres3

Went through an interesting exercise. Can you all remember how you got rid of all the cars you drove around signficantly and/or bought in your lifetime?

I have the following category quantities:

Traded-In: 2 Cars (1 of these was actually me dumping it on my parents; who traded it in)
Sold to Mass Market Buyer (Carmax/Carvana/Vroom): 2 Cars
Totalled/Insurance Loss: 1 Car
Private party sale: 3 cars

Que Matthew McConaughey line "Those are rookie numbers"

tjc78

89 Grand Marquis, 93 Taurus, 98 Olds 88 - Traded
79 Continental - scrapped
2000 Solara, 03 Avalon, 06 Avalon, 2012 LaCrosse, 2015 Enclave, 2017 Elantra - Lease turn ins
09 Genesis - sold to dealer
98 S10 - Gave to SIL
89 Town Car, 08 Elantra, 04 MGM - private party sale.

stickguy

8 cars? I had more than that by the time I graduated college! Well, maybe a couple less. but close.

I had to do a spreadsheet to remember them all. But I didn't bother to add in what happened to them. Majority were private sales. No totals. 1 to Carvana. and I think just 2 traded in. A couple lease returns.

that is out of 40+ cars.

Michaell

stickguy said:

8 cars? I had more than that by the time I graduated college! Well, maybe a couple less. but close.

I had to do a spreadsheet to remember them all. But I didn't bother to add in what happened to them. Majority were private sales. No totals. 1 to Carvana. and I think just 2 traded in. A couple lease returns.

that is out of 40+ cars.

I just went back and updated my list with a "Disposition" column.

Of the 25 entries:

3 Handed Down
5 Lease End
2 Sold Privately
1 Sold to Dealer
3 Totaled
11 Traded In

andres3

stickguy said:

8 cars? I had more than that by the time I graduated college! Well, maybe a couple less. but close.

I had to do a spreadsheet to remember them all. But I didn't bother to add in what happened to them. Majority were private sales. No totals. 1 to Carvana. and I think just 2 traded in. A couple lease returns.

that is out of 40+ cars.

I forgot a big one, must be 9 then.

1 to Class Action Lawsuit Buyback (Diesel-Gate).

A unique category! I'd probably lump it to "Lemon buybacks" but I've had none of those (though the Neon should have been!!!).

mjfloyd1

Narrowed it down to an 18 Audi Q7 prestige with 17.7K miles. Has adaptive suspension, drivers assistance adaptive cruise, cold weather, 21 inch wheels, tow pkg and some other minor stuff.

@qbrozen - what auction number do you put on it?

Inspection tomorrow am

They have agreed to 20k for my GL350

tjc78

I’m at 17 since 1995. I really thought it was more.

breld

@laurasdada - congrats on the Mazda3!

Sounds like a solid car - I looked at those pretty closely when they were new. They got a bad rap for the “smiley” face, but I still think it’s a sharp car.

breld

mjfloyd1 said:

Narrowed it down to an 18 Audi Q7 prestige with 17.7K miles. Has adaptive suspension, drivers assistance adaptive cruise, cold weather, 21 inch wheels, tow pkg and some other minor stuff.

@qbrozen - what auction number do you put on it?

Inspection tomorrow am

They have agreed to 20k for my GL350

Good luck on the Q7. Sounds like almost a twin to the one I just traded. The adaptive suspension is a great and fairly unique option - you’ll love the 4 wheel steering. I was always amazed at how maneuverable it was for its size.

For reference, I got $46k trade on mine, which was consistent with Q’s estimate. It was also an ‘18 Prestige with the adaptive suspension, but it had significantly more miles at 37k miles.

stickguy

I would have likely bought an early 3, but I could not get comfy enough in the manual driver's seat. Was not for a bit I think that they came out with a model with a power seat, and that at the time got kinda pricey. And I needed something a little roomier.

mjfloyd1

breld said:

mjfloyd1 said:

Narrowed it down to an 18 Audi Q7 prestige with 17.7K miles. Has adaptive suspension, drivers assistance adaptive cruise, cold weather, 21 inch wheels, tow pkg and some other minor stuff.

@qbrozen - what auction number do you put on it?

Inspection tomorrow am

They have agreed to 20k for my GL350

Good luck on the Q7. Sounds like almost a twin to the one I just traded. The adaptive suspension is a great and fairly unique option - you’ll love the 4 wheel steering. I was always amazed at how maneuverable it was for its size.

For reference, I got $46k trade on mine, which was consistent with Q’s estimate. It was also an ‘18 Prestige with the adaptive suspension, but it had significantly more miles at 37k miles.

Sounds like I’ll be in good shape then assuming it passes inspection. Agreed to $48825 which they said was a “pricing mistake”. It was changed to $50722 today but the sales lady had screenshots of the original price.

Let me know if you notice anything that looks wanky in the pictures

https://www.nalleybmw.com/used/Audi/2018-Audi-Q7-in+Atlanta-a8e6ef290a0d0cc71b3aba8e46a0a95a.htm

Yep-it’s an 8 hour drive but I’ll stay south of Nashville TN and hopefully get out early- again assuming inspection goes ok

corvette

marcogallo1986 said:

@ Corvette, I’m glad the noise stopped in your pipes let’s pray and hope it stays away permanently now.

Thanks, @marcogallo1986 ! It has come back, but it's not as frequent, so I think I'm going to try to change the pipe supports to something more shock absorbent and try a couple of other things before calling for backup.

And, I dropped the Tahoe off this afternoon. The guys at the shop immediately said they suspected a bad battery cable. I told them I could see corrosion on the negative cable, but didn't know whether it was bad enough to cause a problem. I told them to go ahead and change the oil (using the second and final one from the Groupon package I bought), since it will expire in a couple of months anyway.

nyccarguy

@laurasdada - mazel-Tov on your punch! Those Mazdas seem to hold up well. There is a salesman I do business with who has a ‘14 or ‘15 Mazda 3. It’s a base model. He keeps up with the scheduled maintenance, but doesn’t really care about cars like we do. The car has well over 150,000 miles on it and still runs very well.

nyccarguy

So I decided to go with (4) new shoes for the Pilot. Instead of the OEM Continentals, I bought (4) BF Goodrich Advantage T/A Sport LT for $194 plus tax. Tire Tack says they’ll be at my store tomorrow and I’ll have the Tire Place across the street mount & balance. Wife will be driving the Tacoma.

stickguy

she drive that beast yet? How does she like it?

I had advantage T/As on my old TL. Worked really well, and were quite a god deal at BJs when I got them.

nyccarguy

@stickguy - she drove home from break fast tonight. She handled it fine. She’s a good driver. She wasn’t happy when I first suggested it, but I told her she could drive the Prelude if she didn’t want to drive the Tacoma.

qbrozen

mjfloyd1 said:

breld said:

mjfloyd1 said:

Narrowed it down to an 18 Audi Q7 prestige with 17.7K miles. Has adaptive suspension, drivers assistance adaptive cruise, cold weather, 21 inch wheels, tow pkg and some other minor stuff.

@qbrozen - what auction number do you put on it?

Inspection tomorrow am

They have agreed to 20k for my GL350

Good luck on the Q7. Sounds like almost a twin to the one I just traded. The adaptive suspension is a great and fairly unique option - you’ll love the 4 wheel steering. I was always amazed at how maneuverable it was for its size.

For reference, I got $46k trade on mine, which was consistent with Q’s estimate. It was also an ‘18 Prestige with the adaptive suspension, but it had significantly more miles at 37k miles.

Sounds like I’ll be in good shape then assuming it passes inspection. Agreed to $48825 which they said was a “pricing mistake”. It was changed to $50722 today but the sales lady had screenshots of the original price.

Let me know if you notice anything that looks wanky in the pictures

https://www.nalleybmw.com/used/Audi/2018-Audi-Q7-in+Atlanta-a8e6ef290a0d0cc71b3aba8e46a0a95a.htm

Yep-it’s an 8 hour drive but I’ll stay south of Nashville TN and hopefully get out early- again assuming inspection goes ok

Hell, they probably paid 48825 for it. Great deal. I would have said even the 50.7k was more than fair.

mjfloyd1

They said that was their trade in amount and it was inadvertently pushed to the website

tjc78

That's one nice SUV.

tjc78

So I was just looking at the new model Enclaves (why not, I mean I only have a year left with the current one) and it appears that Buick is taking the stance of all other "luxury" brands.

Extra cost for anything but pure white.

stickguy

I hate that.

ab348

Most if not all GM brands are that way now.

What I find interesting is the different upcharges vary greatly by manufacturer. Kia charges a couple of hundred bucks for premium paint, GM is a range from $500 to $1100, and brands like BMW and M-B charge $1K or more for certain colors. I am most familiar with GM and note that up until recently they would usually offer solid white, black or Quicksilver as standard no-charge paints. Now silver is $500 and often either solid non-metallic black or white may not even be available on certain models.

stickguy

Can kinda see some special pearl that costs more, but not just standard metallics.

fintail

Not just that, but even more than the normal extra costs for metallic white. The Germans do this too with metallic white.

kyfdx

My wife's car is "Mineral White". It's pretty...

tjc78

Same with my Volvo. I'm a sucker for Pearl Whites. This is my third! Fifth white car overall.