Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

oldfarmer50

nyccarguy said:

So I know it is a “blah” color and it doesn’t have the sport seats & the wrong tranny, but if it checks out, it would make a decent https://www.audigreenwich.com/used-inventory/index.htm?compositeType=used&year=1995&make=&start=0&sort=&facetbrowse=true&quick=true&searchLinkText=SEARCH&showInvTotals=false&showRadius=false&showReset=false&showSubmit=true&facetbrowseGridUnit=BLANK&showSelections=true&dependencies=model:make,city:province,city:state&suppressAllConditions=compliant&newListingAlias=/new-inventory/index.htm&usedListingAlias=/used-inventory/index.htm&certifiedListingAlias=/certified-inventory/index.htm

You can't go wrong for that price. If it breaks down just pull the plates and leave it on the side of the road. I paid $300 more for a same year Lincoln Mark VIII and drove it for 40k miles before the money pit came into view.

qbrozen

stickguy said:

I am not really a fan of black convertibles, but this one, is cool. All that red certainly makes a statement.

https://www.royaleasing.com/details-2013-porsche-boxster-2dr_roadster-used-wp0ca2a80ds113841.html

That’s a lot of red.

tjc78

Yeah, that's a little over the top. It would be better with just red seats IMO

qbrozen

Ioniq updated in Rodo.
Plug-in base is $185 with $185 DAS for 36/12k.

ab348

That's a proper red interior, the way the good Lord intended one to be! Not a black interior with a little bit of red splashed here and there.

I actually find the red convertible top to be far more jarring.

stickguy

qbrozen said:

Ioniq updated in Rodo.
Plug-in base is $185 with $185 DAS for 36/12k.

Cheap. I like those. Wonder what equipment that one has? I need to go check!

graphicguy

qbrozen said:

stickguy said:

I am not really a fan of black convertibles, but this one, is cool. All that red certainly makes a statement.

https://www.royaleasing.com/details-2013-porsche-boxster-2dr_roadster-used-wp0ca2a80ds113841.html

That’s a lot of red.

I LOVE IT! Then again, I’m a huge fan of red interiors (especially with black exterior).

If I hadn’t just bought something........;)

stickguy

Checked. Pretty well equipped. Basically like an Elantra SEL. Just missing a power seat, BLIS and moonroof to have all the preferred goodies. But I could live with one as a super cheap spare car.

qbrozen

There is a Limited for $244/$244. That's a big bump for some options, though, IMHO.

roadburner

corvette said:

The chances of a random 25 year old BMW "checking out" are slim to none.

I think you might be surprised, the M42 only has DISA- no VANOS. The cooling system isn’t problematic, and the only major electronic modules are the ECU and ABS boxes. It may need LCABs or possibly a window regulator, but not much goes wrong on the E36/5.

ab348

corvette said:

The chances of a random 25 year old BMW "checking out" are slim to none.

The listing is funny in that it includes comments from other 3-series owners who presumably bought cars there. You get gems like:

"What we did replace was the shocks, struts, springs, clutch, shift linkage bushings, transmission mount bushings, sway bar bushings, steering rack and tie rods, water pump, fan clutch, brake hardware, and wheel bearings."

and:

"On the down side, I have spent SO much money keeping this car in tip-top shape. Repairs are very expensive. The engine & transmission have never given me problems but many little things have, such as the windows, fuel pump, gauges and various electronic/luxury features. "

and:
"And -whatever- you do, get a manual transmission. Not only is that the way a 3-series is meant to be experienced, but I've heard the automatic transmission tends to fail early with a $3000 repair bill. You don't want that- but you really do want this car!"

and:

"Repairs however are expensive. I can estimate to spend about $1000-1500 in repairs per year on this car however (that does not include maintenance i.e. new tires, oil changes, etc.)"

The price and the mileage essentially make this a project/hobby car though, so if you like wrenching, maybe it would be OK.

suydam

stickguy said:

Checked. Pretty well equipped. Basically like an Elantra SEL. Just missing a power seat, BLIS and moonroof to have all the preferred goodies. But I could live with one as a super cheap spare car.

I’m getting to the point where I just don’t want to drive a super cheap spare car anymore. The used Pontiac Vibe I bought to get us through the last college years taught me that about myself.

stickguy

There’s cheap lease on a brand new car, and cheap old crap. The latter I am too old to deal with. But even base level new cars, like that Ioniq, are relatively loaded, and still drive nice.

breld

That Ionic deal is crazy.

I also like that 318ti, but while most modern cars have enough power and a good automatic, I do believe that one has to have the 5-speed manual. I occasionally miss ours - it was a lot of fun and style for $5k.

breld

This is a tad tempting. It it were white, I'd probably be making an appointment to go look.

https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/ctd/d/berthoud-1991-honda-prelude-si-1991/7038115028.html

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

corvette said:

The chances of a random 25 year old BMW "checking out" are slim to none.

I think you might be surprised, the M42 only has DISA- no VANOS. The cooling system isn’t problematic, and the only major electronic modules are the ECU and ABS boxes. It may need LCABs or possibly a window regulator, but not much goes wrong on the E36/5.

Weren’t the mid 90s BMWs some of the most reliable they ever built? Especially the 5 series. Lot less electronics to go haywire.

pensfan83

Clean Prelude and they are very fun to toss around. No mention of the last timing belt service though

breld

By the way, I let the SiriusXM subscription on the Volvo lapse and then got on their website to check out deals and was able to get a 12 month subscription for $60, plus an Echo Dot for free. And the best part...I was able to do all that online without getting on the phone with them.

Just thought I'd pass that along.

laurasdada

stickguy said:

my wife says I should just do whatever I want, car wise. I think that is mostly because she gets tired of hearing me talk about it. and knows I am inherently too cheap to do anything financial crazy.

this, of course, only goes for "my" car. I am not allowed to do anything with her DD without approval! Same if my car is going to be the primary go places together wheels (the primary reason my elantra got flipped for the TLX).

When we finally upgrade her car to something nice that we will be able to take everywhere, I can start flipping at will, or get any weird set of wheels that strikes my fancy.

Stick, my ex was the same, in fact when I had a minor financial windfall she encouraged me to buy the Jag XK I'd wanted. Encouraged me a few times. So, I did. She then made passive-aggressive comments for the next couple of years; knowing how "frugal" I was with disposable $, she didn't think I'd really do it. Be sure you're reading between the lines!

explorerx4

@corvette,
I have read that Michelin recommends replacing their tires after 6 years.
Last set I had start cracking when they got to be about 6 years old.
Good news was that the tread was pretty worn out anyway, bad news was they had gotten a lot more expensive.
Ended up buying a different brand of tire.

stickguy

no way my wife is going to suggest I buy something like that Jag. I would get a "you don't need that" if I tried to go there!

stickguy

I like that Prelude too.

roadburner

ab348 said:

corvette said:

The chances of a random 25 year old BMW "checking out" are slim to none.

The listing is funny in that it includes comments from other 3-series owners who presumably bought cars there. You get gems like:

"What we did replace was the shocks, struts, springs, clutch, shift linkage bushings, transmission mount bushings, sway bar bushings, steering rack and tie rods, water pump, fan clutch, brake hardware, and wheel bearings."

and:

"On the down side, I have spent SO much money keeping this car in tip-top shape. Repairs are very expensive. The engine & transmission have never given me problems but many little things have, such as the windows, fuel pump, gauges and various electronic/luxury features. "

and:
"And -whatever- you do, get a manual transmission. Not only is that the way a 3-series is meant to be experienced, but I've heard the automatic transmission tends to fail early with a $3000 repair bill. You don't want that- but you really do want this car!"

and:

"Repairs however are expensive. I can estimate to spend about $1000-1500 in repairs per year on this car however (that does not include maintenance i.e. new tires, oil changes, etc.)"

The price and the mileage essentially make this a project/hobby car though, so if you like wrenching, maybe it would be OK.

Useful idiots- I love it; on my 143k mile 1995 ti I've replaced control arm bushings, a couple of switches, a coolant fitting, and an A/C compressor. All in I've spent less than $2000 on repairs over 24 years.

pensfan83

Seems like some of the known issues were taken care of.

https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/d/pittsburgh-bmw-330ci-zhp-2005/7048331758.html

kyfdx

pensfan83 said:

Seems like some of the known issues were taken care of.

https://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/cto/d/pittsburgh-bmw-330ci-zhp-2005/7048331758.html

A lot of custom work. Powder coated the stock wheels. That two-tone interior is definitely with swapped out pieces. Exhaust... meh. The stock sounds great. All of the mechanical stuff is good, except for the oil catch can. That’s to get around a PCV issue.

I’d love to have the “angel eyes” done on mine. Looks good in the pictures.

kyfdx

Stock wheels are silver in the brake picture, but bronze in the other picture. I like the after market wheels a lot

corvette

I like it in red.

kyfdx

Automatic?

kyfdx

corvette said:

I like it in red.

That’s a good color. 😏

corvette

kyfdx said:

Automatic?

The one on CL appears to have a PRND-S bezel on the center console.

Sandman6472

Drove a VW Atlas yesterday...very impressive and it moved! Took it on the turnpike from right near our house, our local Enterprise office, and up to West Palm Beach. Even with 29K on the clock, drove very nicely. Much bigger than a Tiguan.
Got to also drive a Hyundai Kona today and put a good 70 miles on it. Only had just under 24K on it but the road noise was horrendous and had to turn the Apple Car Play up pretty loud to compensate for all the racket. Needed new sneakers desperately. Learned one thing though. As nice as the modern Hyundai dash is, the Kona is not the car for me. Have a feeling that I'm gonna say the same thing about the Venue when I take a test drive in one. Just hoping the new Kia Soltis will be a bit quieter on the road and drive somewhat better. I know it's a really small vehicle, about 159" long, but if it drives nicely, cold be a contender.
But now after driving the new Atlas and liking what VW did with their modern dash layout, anxious to get behind the wheel of the new 2020 Golf. If it drives as well as my current 2015 does and has as good an audio system as my Fender unit, might very well just end up with another Golf. I still love the way it drives and not sure most others I'm interested in will drive as nicely. Still need to try the new 2020 Honda HR-V just to see if they've improved it plus still need to get behind the wheel of a Mini Cooper again, a Countryman, and see if it beats the Golf at it's own game.
Decided that I really do not want to settle on my next vehicle, and if I have to spend a little bit more for it, so be it. The best plan might just be to keep the current 2015 until something goes wrong with it, and then see what's out there. Now that my commute is so short, even if the Golf is in the shop, I could still get by with Lyft or having the wife drive me & pick me up. Just don't want to make another Tucson mistake and get something that just is so wrong for me. And even though a lease could work for me now, not sure I want to do that either.
Sometimes in life, staying the course and doing nothing until something really good comes your way, is the best choice.

pensfan83

kyfdx said:

Automatic?

Huh. So it is...thought I had that filtered. Never mind!

qbrozen

Got the wife to agree to go take a look at the Ioniq. They moved her office beginning of the year so she’ll be driving too much for just her bimmer lease. I suggested this would save a lot of gas money, too. The plan is we share the X2 and another cheap lease so, between her excess miles and my very few miles, we’ll balance out.

stickguy

it probably would be cheaper overall to lease the Ioniq, and put 12K miles/year to that instead of more gas $ and the miles overage on the BMW.

at least that is what I would tell her!

stickguy

Philly car show is a month from today. So will get to show the wife everything possibly on our (OK, my) list. Other than the BMW since they aren't there, but we got to sit in and play with an X3 last weekend, so that is covered. Always interesting to see what strikes her fancy.

Definitely sitting in an Ioniq, and for fun, a Bolt.

breld

Talk about a rough 69k miles. If it’s reflective of low miles mechanically, wonder how much it would cost to fix up the body.

https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/cto/d/fort-collins-1998-honda-prelude/7050390022.html

pensfan83

breld said:

Talk about a rough 69k miles. If it’s reflective of low miles mechanically, wonder how much it would cost to fix up the body.

https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/cto/d/fort-collins-1998-honda-prelude/7050390022.html

If it was sorted mechanically and didn't have so much damage it would bring double the asking price.

tjc78

The Prelude needs to go to a body shop guy who can fix it cheap. To make that right would be well over 4K. Needs a lot of work plus a full re-paint.

OR... it would make a good beater if it checks out mechanically and you could shave 1K off the asking

stickguy

Most of the damage I could ignore. But not the front fender. So once you are in there, a new wing, lots of metal work, and a paint job. Even going cheap, in the end, you are in for at least 9k, right? Is that car pristine worth that?

Plus is miles and new clutch..

corvette

pensfan83 said:

kyfdx said:

Automatic?

Huh. So it is...thought I had that filtered. Never mind!

I think the transmission was listed as “other.”

nyccarguy

breld said:

Talk about a rough 69k miles. If it’s reflective of low miles mechanically, wonder how much it would cost to fix up the body.

https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/cto/d/fort-collins-1998-honda-prelude/7050390022.html

Too much. If the body is neglected like that, there is no way that car is mechanically perfect.

"New Falken All Season Tires" = I put the cheapest set of tires I could find for my Prelude.

If you or someone in your family owns a body shop, it might be a good buy at say $3,500 in that condition. Figure $400 to strip/sand/spray/clearcoat/blend the front bumper, same for the rear. You need a new hood/Front Left Fender which will both need to be prepped/primed/painted/clearcoat/blended. That's another $1,200. OEM Honda Parts aren't cheap. You could always try to source the parts from a junk yard or crashed parts car. That trunk can probably be repaired by a really good PDR shop, then stripped/prepped/painted/blended. The guy says the clutch was recently replaced, but It doesn't say anything about the timing belt/water pump/balance shaft seals which most likely need to be done

graphicguy

@nyccarguy ...That was my first thought. If the owner(s) thought so little of the car to let the body fall into such disrepair, it’s a pretty good bet they ignored the mechanicals, too (i.e. no mention of other major maintenance repairs outside of the clutch, which had to be repaired in order to make it drive).

Spot on about the tires, too.

Hondas are hearty cars. But, they’re still cars that need regular maintenance, which this one probably hasn’t had.

qbrozen

Find a silver prelude that is a total wreck save the fender. No sweat.

tjc78

https://www.copart.com/lot/58783359

pensfan83

nyccarguy said:

breld said:

Talk about a rough 69k miles. If it’s reflective of low miles mechanically, wonder how much it would cost to fix up the body.

https://fortcollins.craigslist.org/cto/d/fort-collins-1998-honda-prelude/7050390022.html

Too much. If the body is neglected like that, there is no way that car is mechanically perfect.

"New Falken All Season Tires" = I put the cheapest set of tires I could find for my Prelude.

If you or someone in your family owns a body shop, it might be a good buy at say $3,500 in that condition. Figure $400 to strip/sand/spray/clearcoat/blend the front bumper, same for the rear. You need a new hood/Front Left Fender which will both need to be prepped/primed/painted/clearcoat/blended. That's another $1,200. OEM Honda Parts aren't cheap. You could always try to source the parts from a junk yard or crashed parts car. That trunk can probably be repaired by a really good PDR shop, then stripped/prepped/painted/blended. The guy says the clutch was recently replaced, but It doesn't say anything about the timing belt/water pump/balance shaft seals which most likely need to be done

That's if you can even source OEM parts. When I had to get new wiring harnesses for the doors for my power locks and windows to work the shop I go to rewired them because we couldn't locate any OEM harnesses online. I've also spent hours scouring the Internet for some trim pieces for the interior and have come up empty. Fully agree on the maintenance though. If he replaced the clutch he should have also done the rear main seal, a key "while you're in there" repair.

stickguy

tjc78 said:

https://www.copart.com/lot/58783359

Wonder what that will go for? But probably cheaper to buy it, swap parts, then resell the carcass. Plus can do it all in your garage!

ab348

LOL... up here back when the newspaper had pages of auto classifieds, they used to advertise cars like that as "Body Man Special".

qbrozen

hmmm... so a broker reached out to me through LH messenger to say he could get me an Ioniq for $153/mo with $153 at signing for 36/12 and just his $199 fee. Delivered to our door.

stickguy

Yowzers. I wish I was looking now. Could deliver it here instead.

You might be able to make the math work. Assuming your wife is willing to put 300 mikes a week on that, instead of a BMW!

28firefighter

qbrozen said:

hmmm... so a broker reached out to me through LH messenger to say he could get me an Ioniq for $153/mo with $153 at signing for 36/12 and just his $199 fee. Delivered to our door.

I'd spend the extra $100 a month for the Bolt, personally. Faster and better range.