Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

corvette

stickguy said:

And he gets a nice 1,200 mile shake down cruise to get it home.

1,200 miles?!? Don't you know that is well over 10% of the life expectancy for a clutch in a VW product?

28firefighter

corvette said:

stickguy said:

And he gets a nice 1,200 mile shake down cruise to get it home.

1,200 miles?!? Don't you know that is well over 10% of the life expectancy for a clutch in a VW product?

Low blow. Lol.

jmonroe

stickguy said:

My wife would have a coronary if I ever tried something like that.

A coronary doesn't sound so bad to me. If I ever did car buying like that in one day, by the time Mrs. j was through with me, my son's would have had to call the coroner . .

jmonroe

explorerx4

I just tell my wife I'm 'interested' in a new vehicle.
She knows the real message is, I'm going to buy one.

stickguy

maybe she would be OK with 2 transactions at the same time. She did ask me after the car show how much was it that we could get from Carvana!

explorerx4

Ineresting video of testing 3 Gen's of CR-V's AWD systems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1qq-jdq6qg

stickguy

not quite sure what to make out of that. other than, don't drive on rollers.

pensfan83

breld said:

@pensfan83 - congrats on the "new" ZHP! It's beautiful!

Was it the availability of @kyfdx's ZHP specifically that made you choose to move on from the Prelude, or was that something you were already thinking of?

The former though subtle hints were being dropped that it wasn't the easiest car for a family of 4 to use. The back seat is little more than a parcel shelf and while it technically gets the job done now, it won't in another 12-18 months.

nyccarguy said:

So how did this all go down? Were you all colluding offline? Who got the ball rolling in this epic 3 way deal? Is this the 1st time in CCBA history that one poster bought a car from another poster?

As @breld noted I was the eventual buyer but not the first one in line once it he made a decision to buy the GTI. Once I had the opportunity to decide I felt it was the right time to make a change As with the GTI it was an easy transaction; I went down Friday and stayed with my sister and BIL who live 20 minutes away. Once there, I drove the car, bought some bourbon, went to a nice brewpub, and we did the paperwork Saturday morning. Since the car is on summer tires we were shooting for a dry, warm(er) day and by the time we left Cincinnati it was in the mid 30s. The drive home was uneventful and the ZHP is now in the garage and will stay there until Saturday since I leave for Cleveland in the morning for work and I'm taking the Tacoma.

pensfan83

Some quick thoughts on the PIT Auto Show. I won't go into too many details since they basically mirrors the experience others have had.

Toyota - Lots of trucks/SUVs. The new Highlander is a really nice vehicle.

Genesis - Full lineup was there but they were all locked (LOL) and not a soul to be found to answer questions. For a brand that needs to build equity they keep tripping over themselves with stuff like this and their botched dealer network. That said the G70 is a good looking car and proportionately "just right"

FCA - Nothing much interested me here, if I was getting a full-size truck though it would be a Ram.

Kia - Sat in Stinger...it's easy to see why @graphicguy likes his. I would prefer the G70 but for the right deal...

Lincoln - Nice looking lineup these days, the Navigator is gorgeous....but for $102K it should be.

Acura - RDX looks really nice inside and out. That touchpad would take some getting used to. ELS 3D Stereo is as advertised, which is to say phenomenal.

The one car we liked a lot was the Honda Passport. It checks a lot of boxes....roomy, reliable, well equipped, solid quality. We would need to test drive one but we both thought it was a good looking SUV. After today the list is pretty expansive and the first thing we need to do is decide if we want an SUV or sedan. We still have 8 months to decide.


SUVs
X3 (I would really want the M40i though)
Passport
RDX
Highlander

Sedans
M340i
G70
New TLX(?)

breld

Smooth transaction today with @kyfdx and his new GTI.

@jpp75 wasn’t able to join in after all, but @michaell, @kyfdx and I are taking in a great Avalanche game (along with my two sons).

stickguy

caption of this picture: "2 addicts and their dealer"

stickguy

pensfan83 said:

Some quick thoughts on the PIT Auto Show. I won't go into too many details since they basically mirrors the experience others have had.

Toyota - Lots of trucks/SUVs. The new Highlander is a really nice vehicle.

Genesis - Full lineup was there but they were all locked (LOL) and not a soul to be found to answer questions. For a brand that needs to build equity they keep tripping over themselves with stuff like this and their botched dealer network. That said the G70 is a good looking car and proportionately "just right"

FCA - Nothing much interested me here, if I was getting a full-size truck though it would be a Ram.

Kia - Sat in Stinger...it's easy to see why @graphicguy likes his. I would prefer the G70 but for the right deal...

Lincoln - Nice looking lineup these days, the Navigator is gorgeous....but for $102K it should be.

Acura - RDX looks really nice inside and out. That touchpad would take some getting used to. ELS 3D Stereo is as advertised, which is to say phenomenal.

The one car we liked a lot was the Honda Passport. It checks a lot of boxes....roomy, reliable, well equipped, solid quality. We would need to test drive one but we both thought it was a good looking SUV. After today the list is pretty expansive and the first thing we need to do is decide if we want an SUV or sedan. We still have 8 months to decide.


SUVs
X3 (I would really want the M40i though)
Passport
RDX
Highlander

Sedans
M340i
G70
New TLX(?)

Are we related? Nice list!

corvette

explorerx4 said:

Ineresting video of testing 3 Gen's of CR-V's AWD systems.

Gen3 in that country doesn't have ESP? (It did in the US.) It might have nothing to do with AWD systems. Gen4 could have a "hard" ESP disable function, where it offers no assistance if you turn it off. Gen5 could have a "soft" ESP disable, where traction control is reduced, but it will still kick in to provide an artificial lock for the diffs if it looks like you're getting stuck.

Honestly, I don't see a "superior" AWD system like Audi/Subaru being that much better in the real world compared to the more rudimentary systems, although they can certainly ace instrumented tests. The goal is to avoid getting stuck, and even basic AWD does pretty well at that.

corvette

The lease deals on Tundras appear to be incredible ($250-ish a month with zero down). Definitely need to test drive one. Can't be worse than an 11 year old Tahoe, right?

ab348

Sandman6472 said:

Retiree lunch took a little longer than planned so skipped the Seltos test drive for today. Would rather go like at 10 am on a sunny weekday and see what happens in the next few weeks. Not lusting after it to be honest and since the Golf is behaving, not in a real hurry to kick it out of the stable quite yet.

Here’s the first review of the Seltos I’ve seen: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/02/2021-kia-seltos-first-drive-its-venue-is-kona/

stickguy

corvette said:

The lease deals on Tundras appear to be incredible ($250-ish a month with zero down). Definitely need to test drive one. Can't be worse than an 11 year old Tahoe, right?

I highly doubt it. If nothing else, you won't have to play "will it have power?" roulette every day!

corvette

ab348 said:

Sandman6472 said:

Retiree lunch took a little longer than planned so skipped the Seltos test drive for today. Would rather go like at 10 am on a sunny weekday and see what happens in the next few weeks. Not lusting after it to be honest and since the Golf is behaving, not in a real hurry to kick it out of the stable quite yet.

Here’s the first review of the Seltos I’ve seen: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/02/2021-kia-seltos-first-drive-its-venue-is-kona/

Super tacky "get pricing" link in the first couple of paragraphs. Yuck!

stickguy

on most of the cars on my list, I will seriously consider the FWD version. Since we are going to buy (not lease) the lower purchase price is significant. And since keeping for a long time, lower maintenance costs along the way, and less expensive stuff to break down the line.

I am not sure if we have really ever kicked the AWD on in the RDX, but I am pretty sure if we had gotten the FWD version we probably would not have even realized the difference. Other than I would have saved a fair amount of $$ not replacing differential fluid!

I would stick with SH AWD for an RDX though. A normal CRV, possibly a Highlander, and the Santa Fe should be just fine with FWD. The BMW would do X drive. Not even sure if the Volvo comes as FWD.

ronsteve

stickguy said:

I don't need or want a 3rd row. It would stay folded down the majority of the time. It just gives some extra cargo space.

Hell. the 2nd row in my RDX stays folded down the majority of the time. Main exception is if we have more passengers early in a stretch of weather that's too cold for cycling.

28firefighter

Congrats to everyone on their swaps.

I, too, have a punch pending.

suydam

Wow! Is there something in the water? Everyone’s jumping in!

28firefighter

It’s some kind of illness for sure.

xwesx

stickguy said:

not quite sure what to make out of that. other than, don't drive on rollers.

The middle generation's AWD is crap. LOL

kyfdx

It’s looking good!

pensfan83

Safe travels!

pensfan83

stickguy said:

pensfan83 said:

Some quick thoughts on the PIT Auto Show. I won't go into too many details since they basically mirrors the experience others have had.

Toyota - Lots of trucks/SUVs. The new Highlander is a really nice vehicle.

Genesis - Full lineup was there but they were all locked (LOL) and not a soul to be found to answer questions. For a brand that needs to build equity they keep tripping over themselves with stuff like this and their botched dealer network. That said the G70 is a good looking car and proportionately "just right"

FCA - Nothing much interested me here, if I was getting a full-size truck though it would be a Ram.

Kia - Sat in Stinger...it's easy to see why @graphicguy likes his. I would prefer the G70 but for the right deal...

Lincoln - Nice looking lineup these days, the Navigator is gorgeous....but for $102K it should be.

Acura - RDX looks really nice inside and out. That touchpad would take some getting used to. ELS 3D Stereo is as advertised, which is to say phenomenal.

The one car we liked a lot was the Honda Passport. It checks a lot of boxes....roomy, reliable, well equipped, solid quality. We would need to test drive one but we both thought it was a good looking SUV. After today the list is pretty expansive and the first thing we need to do is decide if we want an SUV or sedan. We still have 8 months to decide.


SUVs
X3 (I would really want the M40i though)
Passport
RDX
Highlander

Sedans
M340i
G70
New TLX(?)

Are we related? Nice list!

I should also probably add we will at least look at a few EVs, notably the Niro, Ioniq, and the Model 3 LR Dual Motor.

corvette

kyfdx said:

It’s looking good!

Wow, that small dent popped right out!

corvette

Is it bad that I now have a Gmail label called "Dump Tahoe?"

nyccarguy

pensfan83 said:

breld said:

@pensfan83 - congrats on the "new" ZHP! It's beautiful!

Was it the availability of @kyfdx's ZHP specifically that made you choose to move on from the Prelude, or was that something you were already thinking of?

The former though subtle hints were being dropped that it wasn't the easiest car for a family of 4 to use. The back seat is little more than a parcel shelf and while it technically gets the job done now, it won't in another 12-18 months.

nyccarguy said:

So how did this all go down? Were you all colluding offline? Who got the ball rolling in this epic 3 way deal? Is this the 1st time in CCBA history that one poster bought a car from another poster?

As @breld noted I was the eventual buyer but not the first one in line once it he made a decision to buy the GTI. Once I had the opportunity to decide I felt it was the right time to make a change As with the GTI it was an easy transaction; I went down Friday and stayed with my sister and BIL who live 20 minutes away. Once there, I drove the car, bought some bourbon, went to a nice brewpub, and we did the paperwork Saturday morning. Since the car is on summer tires we were shooting for a dry, warm(er) day and by the time we left Cincinnati it was in the mid 30s. The drive home was uneventful and the ZHP is now in the garage and will stay there until Saturday since I leave for Cleveland in the morning for work and I'm taking the Tacoma.

Way back when we had 1 kid, I used to put Andre's rear facing car seat in the back of the Prelude. One Sunday we were in the left lane of a twisty (Bronx River Parkway), 2 lane highway. There was a car in front of us and one in the right next to the car in front of us. I saw in my rear view mirror a car hustling between lanes, tailgaiting... Under normal circumstances I would have moved over and just let the guy ride the bumper of the car in front of me. There was nowhere to go. I looked over to my right and saw the guy with his car half in my lane. I saw an opening in the shoulder and decided to move over and let the guy in. I was prepared to eat the guard rail and not have this guy smash the side of his car into my passenger side where my wife and child were. After that incident I decided to keep the kid out of the Prelude unless I absolutely couldn't get my hands on the Protege or X3. Now that my 13 year old can sit in the front, my 10 (almost 11 year old) can sit in the back without a booster, & my 8 year old daughter fits perfectly back there, I do put them in it more often if I'm shuttling them around on a nice weekend.

stickguy

It helps if you have short legs so the drivers seat isn’t all the way back.

ab348

corvette said:

ab348 said:

Sandman6472 said:

Retiree lunch took a little longer than planned so skipped the Seltos test drive for today. Would rather go like at 10 am on a sunny weekday and see what happens in the next few weeks. Not lusting after it to be honest and since the Golf is behaving, not in a real hurry to kick it out of the stable quite yet.

Here’s the first review of the Seltos I’ve seen: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/02/2021-kia-seltos-first-drive-its-venue-is-kona/

Super tacky "get pricing" link in the first couple of paragraphs. Yuck!

TTAC is an awful website in many ways. They seem to pay poorly and are often guilty of publishing articles that are actually product placement pieces. And of course their writers are guilty of many sins. But they do tend to run things that you don't see anywhere else, or at least, be the first to run things.

stickguy

Speaking of the X3, my latest scheme! I saw a nice 2017, loaded up model, for not too much (I think $25k CPO). Considered trying to pitch the wife on trading up to that. She can keep it for the next year and a half, then when my lease is done, she gets something brand new and I take over the old one. Seems like a solid 2step plan to me. A lot smaller $ investment now, and definitely still an upgrade.

Need to stop at the dealer and compare them back to back.

Will be a test of her competing mantras. “I don’t want a big payment” and, “I don’t want something someone else has driven”

graphicguy

@stickguy ...if Genesis ever gets their “stuff” together, their products are compelling. Two dealers in my area, and probably 10 cars in stock between the two of them.

That said, I think I still would have bought the Stinger given the choice between the two as I think it looks better.

Oh...and it was a LOT cheaper for essentially the same car (aside from a few fancier clothes).

nyccarguy

ab348 said:

corvette said:

ab348 said:

Sandman6472 said:

Retiree lunch took a little longer than planned so skipped the Seltos test drive for today. Would rather go like at 10 am on a sunny weekday and see what happens in the next few weeks. Not lusting after it to be honest and since the Golf is behaving, not in a real hurry to kick it out of the stable quite yet.

Here’s the first review of the Seltos I’ve seen: https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/02/2021-kia-seltos-first-drive-its-venue-is-kona/

Super tacky "get pricing" link in the first couple of paragraphs. Yuck!

TTAC is an awful website in many ways. They seem to pay poorly and are often guilty of publishing articles that are actually product placement pieces. And of course their writers are guilty of many sins. But they do tend to run things that you don't see anywhere else, or at least, be the first to run things.

TTAC has a cool article they post every so often called “Ace of Base.” It is pretty much a glorified product placement piece, but the writer always seems to give his opinion on whether or not it is “worth” the extra money for the next model up. Most of the time they do “normal” cars but sometimes will test a “base” cool car with no options.

corvette

I actually don’t care for the Ace of Base pieces.

Their “reviews” of automotive products from Amazon are a joke. It’s obvious that they didn’t actually try any of the products and are simply aggregating opinions from other reviews.

pensfan83

nyccarguy said:

pensfan83 said:

breld said:

@pensfan83 - congrats on the "new" ZHP! It's beautiful!

Was it the availability of @kyfdx's ZHP specifically that made you choose to move on from the Prelude, or was that something you were already thinking of?

The former though subtle hints were being dropped that it wasn't the easiest car for a family of 4 to use. The back seat is little more than a parcel shelf and while it technically gets the job done now, it won't in another 12-18 months.

nyccarguy said:

So how did this all go down? Were you all colluding offline? Who got the ball rolling in this epic 3 way deal? Is this the 1st time in CCBA history that one poster bought a car from another poster?

As @breld noted I was the eventual buyer but not the first one in line once it he made a decision to buy the GTI. Once I had the opportunity to decide I felt it was the right time to make a change As with the GTI it was an easy transaction; I went down Friday and stayed with my sister and BIL who live 20 minutes away. Once there, I drove the car, bought some bourbon, went to a nice brewpub, and we did the paperwork Saturday morning. Since the car is on summer tires we were shooting for a dry, warm(er) day and by the time we left Cincinnati it was in the mid 30s. The drive home was uneventful and the ZHP is now in the garage and will stay there until Saturday since I leave for Cleveland in the morning for work and I'm taking the Tacoma.

Way back when we had 1 kid, I used to put Andre's rear facing car seat in the back of the Prelude. One Sunday we were in the left lane of a twisty (Bronx River Parkway), 2 lane highway. There was a car in front of us and one in the right next to the car in front of us. I saw in my rear view mirror a car hustling between lanes, tailgaiting... Under normal circumstances I would have moved over and just let the guy ride the bumper of the car in front of me. There was nowhere to go. I looked over to my right and saw the guy with his car half in my lane. I saw an opening in the shoulder and decided to move over and let the guy in. I was prepared to eat the guard rail and not have this guy smash the side of his car into my passenger side where my wife and child were. After that incident I decided to keep the kid out of the Prelude unless I absolutely couldn't get my hands on the Protege or X3. Now that my 13 year old can sit in the front, my 10 (almost 11 year old) can sit in the back without a booster, & my 8 year old daughter fits perfectly back there, I do put them in it more often if I'm shuttling them around on a nice weekend.

I can probably count on one hand the number of times the kids have been in the back, usually it's for quick, local trips. If we have to go any distance we use one of the other cars. They usually don't mind because they have their own seats (it's a big deal lol). The back of the ZHP is going to feel like a limo though compared to the Honda.

Unrelated but I gave the Tacoma's adaptive cruise another go on the OH Turnpike this morning. Relatively light traffic until I was on I-71 but it seemed to work much better than last time so I'll attribute it to user error. Averaged around 22 MPG cruising at 70-75.

ab348

Another Kia Seltos review, this one from CNET:

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/reviews/2021-kia-seltos-sx-dct-awd-preview/

Comments on touchy brakes and a few quibbles with the DCT.

houdini1

jmonroe said:

stickguy said:

My wife would have a coronary if I ever tried something like that.

A coronary doesn't sound so bad to me. If I ever did car buying like that in one day, by the time Mrs. j was through with me, my son's would have had to call the coroner . .

jmonroe

jmonroe said:

stickguy said:

My wife would have a coronary if I ever tried something like that.

A coronary doesn't sound so bad to me. If I ever did car buying like that in one day, by the time Mrs. j was through with me, my son's would have had to call the coroner . .

jmonroe

Buying two cars at the same time is cheating yourself out of anticipation time. I would have waited a couple of days to let the excitement build a little.

benjaminh

Hi Folks—I had some password trouble, then got busy at work, then my dad passed away after a long illness, etc., but happy very late 2020 to everyone! I'll try to catch up on who has a new car. I'm still loving my 2018 Acura TLX, but I'm now more than halfway through the 3 year lease, and so my mind is beginning to think about the options—buy it out? lease something else? buy something else? or, horror of horrors, become a one car family. The last option is my least favorite, but it's true my wife and I could probably make do with just her CRV, and that would save some $.

PS Is stickguy still looking to ditch his TLX? Have the other TLX people moved on to new cars already?

corvette

@benjaminh sorry to hear of your dad’s passing.

pensfan83

@benjaminh I also am sorry to hear of your dad's passing.

I still have my TLX, after this month I only have 6 lease payments remaining. The people manning the Acura display at the auto show were from my dealer and stated they will do a 3 month pull ahead with waiver of payments. So earliest I would do anything would be June, latest September. I also found out my salesman retired so I'll be dealing with someone else this time if we stay with Acura.

ab348

Ben, sorry to hear of your Dad passing away. I seem to remember you were helping with his care.

As for @stickguy, he is always up for a new scheme when it comes to changing cars! :laughing:

fintail

TTAC has one main redeeming quality - Murilee Martin's weekly junkyard installment. Nothing else, and some of the comments make Youtube look like intellectual discourse. Same for Jalopnik - Martin was a saving grace, now it could pass for a facebook comments section with material written by someone who read about a car on wikipedia yesterday.

ab348 said:

TTAC is an awful website in many ways. They seem to pay poorly and are often guilty of publishing articles that are actually product placement pieces. And of course their writers are guilty of many sins. But they do tend to run things that you don't see anywhere else, or at least, be the first to run things.

stickguy

I still have it. Given the lease terms, it is not going anywhere. Getting close to the halfway mark though!

And sorry to hear about your dad. Always a sad thing.

corvette

@pensfan83 and @kyfdx , what are the year(s) and mileage on the BMW and VW?

benjaminh

Thanks, everyone, for your kind comments about my dad. He had a good and long life overall, making it to over 80, but the last couple of years were rough.

Anyway, like the other people here leasing a TLX, I'm interested to see what Acura comes up with for the all-new 2021 TLX, which I think might be in Acura showrooms sometime this summer. I'm hoping someone here might get one and give us detailed reports.

A little bit like stickguy I start thinking about all the possible options maybe a bit too soon. My lease won't be up until the end of June 2021, and so something like 16 months from now. Currently my TLX has about 23,000 miles on it, and so I'm running a bit ahead of where I should be for a 12k a year lease. Right now it looks like I'll be over 36,000 if I turn it in. Options include....

Buying out the 2018 TLX 2.4 with Tech for $18.5. I mean, where can I get a car this nice for that price? But, like others here, I sometimes enjoy something new, and so....

Might consider a 2021 TLX if the leases look nice. I wonder if there's any chance of a hybrid? Seems like a tough sell with my wife (and myself) to start a new lease on another c. $38k car unless it saves on fuel compared to what I've got now. Even though the mpg on my current TLX exceeds the EPA ratings by a couple of mpg, with the premium fuel there's still a gas bill to think about.

Tesla Model 3? I might be happy with the base model, and my work has "free" charging, but without the federal tax credit this is probably a bridge too far.

Toyota Camry hybrid as well as Avalon hybrid might be a possibility, although currently they don't have AndroidAuto, which is a deal killer. But maybe by 2021 they will have it.

Accord hybrid or Honda Insight might also be possibilities.

Finally, since I was a kid I've wanted a BMW or Mercedes. Seems pretty unrealistic, but....

And, finally finally, our daughter is about to start a private college. She got a good merit scholarship, and my Mom is helping, but I could give up having my own car and go down to sharing my wife's 2018 CR-V. I'm not wild about driving that car because I've been spoiled by the TLX, but no doubt thousands each year could be saved.

benjaminh

kyfdx said:

It’s looking good!

Fantastic looking car! And I know the performance on these is even better than they look. Have you already posted details somewhere about the deal and how it drives?

Michaell

I had one last ride in the GTI last night, to attend the Avs game. Such a sweet, sweet ride.

@kyfdx checked in a couple hours ago. Filling up the tank in Salina, KS. He reports north of 30MPG with the cruise set at 83.

explorerx4

@benjaminh,
Sorry to hear about your dad.
You could try going with one car, then get another one if it doesn't work out.
Set aside a few bucks a month to cover your potential over mileage on your lease.

pensfan83

@benjaminh if you go over the mileage and lease another Acura they'll at the very least waive half the overage (up to 7500 miles) AND give you an additional 1K miles for you next lease.