Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

kyfdx

stickguy said:

An Audi? Wow!

Fixed it for you..

28firefighter

Congrats, @graphicguy - that is one very nice ride and very very quick. I don't blame them for low-balling the trade after taking the offer you gave. Haha. That is one seriously big discount.

Enjoy!

explorerx4

Audi odometer probably malfunctioned.

28firefighter

Regarding interiors, we've traditionally had dark color interiors but the Outback has ivory seats. I have a seat cover in the back to protect it from both dog and child. So far it's been picking up colors quite a bit, but comes out easily with some leather cleaner.

carnaught

@graphicguy, congrats on the Stinger and first punch of 2020! Looks awesome - enjoy!

tjc78

@graphicguy
Congrats!! Love the white on white.

BTW I get a cookie...I called it.

[Deleted User]

Congrats @graphicguy, sharp looking ride! Thanks for getting us started...

ab348

Those Stingers are good looking cars. Will be interested in your ownership experience.

nyccarguy

@graphicguy starting off 2020 like a boss! Beautiful car! Enjoy it!

corvette

Very nice, graphicguy! Sounds like a great deal!

jmonroe

Hey guys, have you noticed we haven't heard from @graphicguy for quite some time? I know he still likes us but I don't think he likes the tires on the Stinger. Probably still out grinding them down as I speak.

jmonroe

roadburner

graphicguy said:

OK.....here’s this.......

https://jeffwylerfairfieldkia.com/new/Kia/2019-Kia-Stinger-aec4c42e0a0e0ae84bbdfcb835c62e7c.htm?mycarsr=vdp-recentCars

Wasn’t planning on it. Had the itch given I was out kicking tires.

Looked at Mercedes C Class and E Class, Honda Accord 2.0T Touring, Toyota Avalon Touring and Camry V6 XSE, Volvo S60 MOMENTUM, Genesis G70 3.3, and the above Kia.

Lots and lots of trunk money on this guy. I got it for $17K UNDER MSRP and WAY UNDER invoice. Pretty much every available option.

Most of you could tell I was smitten with it when I drove one when they first came out. I’m still a little wary of Kia. But, the dealership I ended up buying from was low pressure. Sales Manager said he wanted the ‘19s gone and he had money to play with (how much money, I wasn’t sure). I made what I thought was a ridiculous offer. He had to get GM approval, which they got today. Got into it a little bit with F&I about $250 doc fee. They said they wouldn’t deduct it. I was getting up to leave and they said they’d throw in 2 years of oil changes and tire rotations to offset the doc feel. I caved and signed.

It leases terribly, so it was a straight out purchase. I know resale is not ideal, but the deal I got, I think it’s a wash.

Bottom line, there are LOTS of VERY NICE cars on the market, today. Short of Fiat or Smart, they’re all made well. The performance of the Stinger and the value equation was pretty overwhelming in my book.

The white is quite pretty. Wanted red interior, but dealer said Kia wasn’t shipping many Stinger GT 1s or 2s, which get the red leather. The light leather is the same as I test drove in the G70.

Liked the Volvo quite a bit. But, to get what I wanted (Inscription) it was going to cost quite a bit more.

Probably would have pulled the trigger on the G70. There just isn’t much in the way of stock...anywhere around here. Plus, I still couldn’t come close to the deal on the Stinger.

Didn’t trade the TLX, as they low balled me on it. I have a couple of people who like my used cars (one is a neighbor) who know I take impeccable care of my cars. They always tell me to reach out to them before trading it.

Who knows, I may keep both. But, I’ll throw some seeds out there and see if I can get some bites on it.

Anyway, I think I’m the first punch of 2020. That’s a dubious distinction. Maybe kick off a flurry of punches.

Congrats! I inquired about a RWD GT2 at my Kia dealer and they pretty much blew me off by trying to push me towards the one RWD Stinger they had- a dowdy base four cylinder...

Michaell

@corvette, who has had the first punch of the year the past few years? I'd like to think it was @breld, but I'm not the record keeper any more.

Michaell

@graphicguy - congrats on the new Stinger. I did test drive the 2.0T with AWD last year. Certainly quick, but I'm sure nothing like what you've got under your right foot.

qbrozen

Michaell said:

@corvette, who has had the first punch of the year the past few years? I'd like to think it was @breld, but I'm not the record keeper any more.

I know I was last, I think a couple of times, but never first, to the best of my knowledge.

stickguy

for some reason I really like this color combo. And nice car. Seems like good value for the money (I assume it is CPO also).

https://www.burnshyundai.com/used/Genesis/2017-Genesis-G80-bb72e7440a0e0ae7498f7e8911a6d50d.htm

graphicguy

Thanks all. I have been looking around for a while. Having the Holidays off, and taking time to look around, I thought I really didn’t find anything that I liked significantly better than my Acura. Got to get a good feel for the landscape of volume produced cars out there. Again, I think the cars coming out now are, for the most part, well engineered and put together. Some use better materials than others. But overall, the cars I test drove were all well screwed together, have tight even seams, etc. They all had their appeal.

Frankly, I didn’t think I’d pull the trigger on the Stinger. I just happened into the Kia dealer I bought from and asked if they had any GTs. They had 2. The one I bought and a black one. Didn’t think I’d like the white one, but they pulled it out of their holding lot for me to see.....white with a nice subtle metal flake in it. I don’t like black interiors, so it was a plus that this one was a light cream color.

Never could pass up a chance to drive a Stinger. The one I bought had a few more things on it than the first one I drove last year (2018)....like heated steering wheel and some other minor adds.

Sales lady was nice. No pressure. I guess I look “mature” enough she let me test drive it by myself. These are just a blast to drive. Better suspension than my Acura and WAY faster. Steering, braking, etc were all better than the TLX, also. You can tell it’s BMW and Audi influence from Biermann, Scheyer, and Guillaume.

You guys have bought enough cars you can pretty much guess how it went down.....

-Mr GG do you like the car? Want to see some numbers?
-No...just looking
-If I told you it costs $1, would you buy it?
-Of course
-It’s our EOY. You might be surprised what you can buy it for. What’s your payment goal? (Here’s the Kia sales model)
-I’m not looking at payments.
-Throw a number out that you’d make a deal

At that point, I did a little iPhone sleuthing at Edmunds, TrueCar and KBB. Knew all the important numbers. What I didn’t know was how much trunk cash they had. I knew the deal that was offered to me at another dealership last year (just under $40K for essentially the same car). I threw out the $17K off MSRP. Sales Manager was involved at this point. The good news, there wasn’t any back and forth. He was right there.

He said he couldn’t make the deal at that price and needed a little more. I thanked him and the nice young sales lady for their time and got ready to leave. Sales Manager walked me out to my car and asked if I was serious with my offer he’d take it to the GM, but wouldn’t be until the next day (yesterday). Told him to give me a jingle with a yes or no.

The sales lady called yesterday about 10:00 a.m. and told me to come pick up my car. I was quite surprised they accepted my offer. I didn’t expect anything except maybe an offer to come back in and negotiate some more (which I wasn’t going to do).

Truth told, it’s not the easiest purchase I ever made. But, it was low stress and pretty darned easy.

Now, let’s see if Kias are as reliable as all the ratings sites say they are. Hoping no paint issues (I know they had problems with the color yellow initially).

@roadburner ....They said they couldn’t sell RWD Stingers in this area. So, they only order AWD models.

They have some nice products. I liked the Kia Soul.

They were delivering 3 Tellurides yesterday while I was taking delivery of my Stinger. Those are quite nice. For an SUV, it’s well worth a look-see. Overall, happy with the purchase and the purchase process.

As I said, let’s see how trouble free my car is.

stickguy

good luck. My Hyundais were flawless. And in a sample size of 1, my son's G70 with that drivetrain has given no problems (other than some creak from the headliner or A pillar, but that seems to be a G70 quirk). Mechanically, just romp on it and go. Fast. I drove it home one day and got on the Northway (was in OF territory) and he told me to hit the gas, so I did. 50-80 or so was exceptionally quick, and got nailed back into the seat. Probably the fastest car I ever drove any distance.

graphicguy

Thanks, @stickguy! Feel better hearing first hand experience.

Sandman6472

My kids 2008 Hyundai Accent was flawless really, the brake light switch went out in year four. Was home with a fixed vehicle within 2 hours. Some guy ran a red light last month right in front of her apartment complex and they ended up totaling the car. She just got a brand new 2020 Accent SE with door edge guards and 3 free oil changes for $17K out the door. With the check from the insurance company and getting her deductible back, vehicle actually cost her $12K in cash. Paid that much for her 2008 Accent back in November of 2008. She had planned on keeping it for another year or two but now, she's in a better more modern vehicle. I know I'm sleeping better at night knowing she's now in a newer and safer vehicle.
We like Hyundai's/Kia's and I liked my 2014 Tucson but it was just too big for my needs but was a nice CUV. And I'd have no problem driving a new Accent as my only vehicle though I'd have gone for the "Limited" Edition with all the bells and whistles they offer on an Accent. Even the wife looked at the Forte before she got her Audi A3. I heard from the Kia guy who just wanted to touch base about the new Soltis which is due out sometime this spring. I like the new Hyundai Venue but really need to go test drive them both when the Soltis arrives in their showroom just to see if it's something I could live with...will it be a better vehicle for me than my current Golf or even beat out the new 2020 Golf, also due out this spring. She's more of a minimalist and wanted the "SE" and since it was her money, she bought what she wanted.
We happen to like Hyundai and kia products and they are getting better each year. Good luck and enjoy your new toy!!

au1994

Congrats on the Stinger!

nyccarguy

How many miles on your TLX? A 2018, so 2 MY old. What did they offer you? Did you check with @qbrozen for your car's value? Did you check carvana/vroom/carmax?

graphicguy

nyccarguy said:

How many miles on your TLX? A 2018, so 2 MY old. What did they offer you? Did you check with @qbrozen for your car's value? Did you check carvana/vroom/carmax?

They offered $24K for my Acura....with 27K miles. It’s two model years old, but 32 months in actual age. I wanted at least $30K for it, which their used car dealer said was retail on it. Last day of their sales year. They were pushing out as many cars as they could. I think they got so skinny on the Stinger, they were trying to make it up on the trade.

I decided not to trade and sell it on my own, though.

Didn’t have time to consult @qbrozen. I still think my Acura will sell between $29-$30K. Could be wrong.

corvette

Michaell said:

@corvette, who has had the first punch of the year the past few years? I'd like to think it was @breld, but I'm not the record keeper any more.

2012 - me
2013 - breld
2014 - breld
2015 - carnaught
2016 - jpp5682
2017 - mjfloyd1
2018 - 28firefighter
2019 - jpp755
2020 - graphicguy

Fewer breld appearances than I would've figured.

corvette

graphicguy said:

Didn’t have time to consult @qbrozen. I still think my Acura will sell between $29-$30K. Could be wrong.

You may have already said, but have you tried getting an offer from Carvana or one of the other "Doordash for cars" sites?

oldfarmer50

greg128 said:

I did a search a few months ago on cars.com for vehicles (including trucks) for sale with over 300,000 miles in the entire country

The results:
Acura: 4
Audi :1
BMW: 3
Buick: 7
Cadillac: 4
Chevy: 201
Chrysler: 5
Dodge: 105
Ford: 266
GMC: 65
Honda: 40
Hyundai: 5
Infiniti: 1
Jeep: 19
Lexus: 11
Mazda: 3
MB: 10
Nissan:: 23
Ram: 21
Subaru: 2
Toyota: 70
VW: 6

Of course most are domestic trucks but I found the results interesting

My 85’ F-150 went 260k miles before dying from rust. Never had a car go beyond 160k before suffering the same fate.

jmonroe

stickguy said:

for some reason I really like this color combo. And nice car. Seems like good value for the money (I assume it is CPO also).

https://www.burnshyundai.com/used/Genesis/2017-Genesis-G80-bb72e7440a0e0ae7498f7e8911a6d50d.htm

When I was looking to replace my '09 Genny in 2015, I drove to the Hyundai store that was waaay on the other side of the county to specifically look at that Manhattan Brown Genny. I didn't like it at all in person, the beige interior was nice though. I notice that Genny only has a V6. That would turn me off too. If there was ever a car that needs a V8 in the Burgh area it is a Genny. Some people say south western PA Is hilly, I think it's mountainous. My Delray Beach SIL had a 2016 Genny V6 and I drove that thing for quite a few miles during several visits. A V6 is fine for the flat lands down there but wouldn't satisfy me up here.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

Looks like Caddy is trying to market to a younger generation these days:

https://youtu.be/ogmFDXTXZJc

Any of you old cogers feel the need to rush out and buy one after seeing this?

roadburner

If the Cadillac model doesn't end with a "V" you can forget it.

kyfdx

I bought two cars with over 185K miles, in the last decade. Sold each of them, too.

roadburner

graphicguy said:

@roadburner ....They said they couldn’t sell RWD Stingers in this area. So, they only order AWD models.

If I could get this GTS for under $38k I'd jump on it. It's AWD, but with a limited slip rear diff and Drift Mode.

qbrozen

roadburner said:

graphicguy said:

@roadburner ....They said they couldn’t sell RWD Stingers in this area. So, they only order AWD models.

If I could get this GTS for under $38k I'd jump on it. It's AWD, but with a limited slip rear diff and Drift Mode.

So make the call and offer

graphicguy

corvette said:

graphicguy said:

Didn’t have time to consult @qbrozen. I still think my Acura will sell between $29-$30K. Could be wrong.

You may have already said, but have you tried getting an offer from Carvana or one of the other "Doordash for cars" sites?

Nope!

roadburner

Yes, with Drift Mode I think I could live with AWD:

graphicguy

roadburner said:

graphicguy said:

@roadburner ....They said they couldn’t sell RWD Stingers in this area. So, they only order AWD models.

If I could get this GTS for under $38k I'd jump on it. It's AWD, but with a limited slip rear diff and Drift Mode.

These aren’t selling well. Plus, mine is already one MY old. I think that’s why Kia is throwing tons of trunk cash at it. Everything I’ve read, Kia may not bring out a Stinger version 2. I think mine was the last ‘19 GT 2 they had.

I think they’re trying to move into a different company than the economy car company where they got their start. Tough sledding to change perceptions.

28firefighter

@roadburner just do what GG did and make an obscenely low offer. Nothing to lose.

pensfan83

@roadburner just do what GG did and make an obscenely low offer. Nothing to lose.

+1

roadburner

28firefighter said:

@roadburner just do what GG did and make an obscenely low offer. Nothing to lose.

I'm in the process now; my wife even likes the color...

carnaught

I like the color as well, not the black interior so much.

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

Looks like Caddy is trying to market to a younger generation these days:

https://youtu.be/ogmFDXTXZJc

Any of you old cogers feel the need to rush out and buy one after seeing this?

I saw that ad on TV a week or so ago and my initial thought was that they are trying to market it as a junior-edition Escalade.

ab348

graphicguy said:

Now, let’s see if Kias are as reliable as all the ratings sites say they are. Hoping no paint issues (I know they had problems with the color yellow initially).

Yes, the yellow was the initial problem color but later on other shades were also problematic. It's odd in that I never heard of other Kia models with paint issues and I presume the Stinger is built in the same plants.

Personally I would not hesitate to buy a Kia on the basis of the product, but with them and Hyundai it all comes down to the quality of the dealer. Some of the old bottom-of-the-barrel outfits still remain part of their network in some places.

ab348

Just back from running a few errands and was behind my first Hyundai Venue in traffic, with a dealer plate hanging off the back so probably a test drive. In terms of size it looked almost identical in width to a last-gen Ford Focus hatch that was next to it, although the Venue is a bit taller and much shorter. The styling... kind of ugh, in truth. A few too many straight lines and squarish corners for my liking, and nothing to make those look distinctive, though I never got a good look at the front end. It actually seemed like a design from maybe 10-15 years ago in some ways, reminding me a bit of the original Tucson, though it was smaller. It looked to me like a rebodied Accent hatch, with nothing much to make one believe it was CUV-ish.

stickguy

in person the Venue is obviously small, and looks like a Pallisade that shrank in the rain. But I liked it.

cdnpinhead

"Looks like Caddy is trying to market to a younger generation these days. . ."

Yeah, Lincoln had a stab at that as well. I was one of the casualties -- otherwise I would have had a BMW before they became rolling computers with hermetically sealed engine compartments.

Oh well -- it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out, as is the case in so many things these days.

stickguy

I really like the stinger in Orange. Works on that car. My wife, she would never go for it though!

tjc78

I have a friend that would be all over the Orange Stinger... he is the one with the Plum Crazy Charger.

kyfdx

cdnpinhead said:

"Looks like Caddy is trying to market to a younger generation these days. . ."

Yeah, Lincoln had a stab at that as well. I was one of the casualties -- otherwise I would have had a BMW before they became rolling computers with hermetically sealed engine compartments.

Oh well -- it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out, as is the case in so many things these days.

You had an LS?

stickguy

speaking of the wife, finally showed her a car I think she loves. Though she saw the sticker, which did not go over well. And required a dissertation about the "service loaner program".

was out running errands with her and the Princess, so swung into the local BMW palace. Thankfully they had an X3 inside this time, and by happy coincidence, it was the exact color combo I wanted (same as the one in Alexandria I linked to yesterday).

Phytonic blue over beige. Was stunning in person. Even the wife, a blue snob, really liked it (she likes blue, but has to be the "right blue"). No question, if we splurged on one, would want that color. This one had all the stuff we want on it (missing the famous HK stereo though, but that would require a test drive to check out). Otherwise, good to go. They have the same car minus the virtual cockpit and Navi for 2K less, which most likely given a choice I would go for. More traditional for the wife.

she appreciated that the dash still has actual buttons and knobs for radio and HVAC stuff (and heated seats, etc.) Super comfy seats, even though the battery was dead and could not adjust.

so other than the pesky price issue, if I brought one of these home, I don't think she would complain too much. Now just need the $49K MSRP version to go become a service loaner then sell for 20% off in a few months!

https://www.bmwofmtlaurel.com/new/BMW/2020-BMW-X3-Mount-Laurel-f674a0910a0d0cc7322a98f556c590b0.htm

oldfarmer50

“Now just need the $49K MSRP version to go become a service loaner then sell for 20% off in a few months!”

https://youtu.be/cvDZtDBiDxQ

stickguy

that is a BMW. should not hurt it at all.