Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

Sandman6472

Trucks today have really come so far, except I hate that the base models don't have a way to lift the drivers seat up. A few of us guys in the 5'6" to 5'8" category could really use the extra height. Love when I get a truck with a power front seat as I know I'll be just fine. And really like the smaller trucks like the Tacoma, Colorado/Canyon and the new Ranger. Ford did a killer job on this newer puppy and love when he throws me the keys to any of those smaller ones.

Sandman6472

A busy day yesterday with constant work, all the way from 8 till 5:30. Mostly around the Margate to West Palm Beach area so not to much dead heading. Supposed to be a busy week so, have a feeling we'll be headed up towards Martin and St. Lucie counties, which is fine by me. "The longer the better" and "just throw me the keys and tell me where to go" are two of my favorite phrases, and basically all I need to know. Most of the crew go by the location numbers but being a retired mail man, just give me the street address and I'm gone. Seriously, we have two pages of different locations, number and addresses but guess my mind is saturated because after "99", our home base, and "18", the nearby Margate location, the rest are just not computing.
Gotta run, the dental hygenist awaits me!

xwesx

With regarding to flooding, the time-honored tradition of holding the accelerator pedal firmly to the floor to shut off the flow of fuel still works to clear floods:

1. Turn key to 'on' position.
2. Press and hold the pedal to the floor.
3. Attempt to start the vehicle. It should take several revolutions of the engine before it tries to catch.
4. As soon as it begins to stutter, release the pedal. If it does not start right away,
5. Wait a few seconds, then attempt to start again as normal - it should fire up quickly this time and smooth out within a few more seconds.

I have found that our Subarus sometimes start hard, or become downright painful to start, if we do not give time for the fuel pump to pressurize before attempting to start them when cold. My normal routine is to set it to 'on,' attach my seatbelt, then start. This gives about five seconds for the fuel pump to prime. Another option is to sit and wait for the car to perform its gauge sweep (assuming they still do this?), then start.

28firefighter

Subaru's with push button start don't give you as much granular control, unfortunately.

qbrozen

speaking of trucks, I'm leaning towards keeping dad's F250. It is overkill for anything I'd use it for, but it was his, after all. I may get aggravated by the amount of space it would take up in the driveway. We'll see.

andres3

qbrozen said:

Ebay has become such a joke. They don’t allow sellers to leave negative for buyers. WTH? A buyer made an offer on my dad’s truck on Friday, which I accepted. Then he says he wants to come look at it. Hey, buddy, you look BEFORE you buy. Anyway, gave him my bro’s number, but he never called. I get a message this morn through ebay that he wants to cancel the purchase. What can I do about that? Absolutely nothing. I have to hit the cancel button and relist for free. Gee, thanks.

My more recent experience with Ebay is probably 3-4 years old, but it was on a couple small dollar items I was selling. On both, I had to deal with non-responsive bidders/buyers winning the bid. I assumed it was rampant and common since it happened on both listings and on one of them two times in a row (had to relist twice). Haven't used Ebay since, as it seems like more time wasted than money earned.

A far cry from the heyday of Ebay in the early 2000's

andres3

qbrozen said:

Ebay has become such a joke. They don’t allow sellers to leave negative for buyers. WTH? A buyer made an offer on my dad’s truck on Friday, which I accepted. Then he says he wants to come look at it. Hey, buddy, you look BEFORE you buy. Anyway, gave him my bro’s number, but he never called. I get a message this morn through ebay that he wants to cancel the purchase. What can I do about that? Absolutely nothing. I have to hit the cancel button and relist for free. Gee, thanks.

My more recent experience with Ebay is probably 3-4 years old, but it was on a couple small dollar items I was selling. On both, I had to deal with non-responsive bidders/buyers winning the bid. I assumed it was rampant and common since it happened on both listings and on one of them two times in a row (had to relist twice). Haven't used Ebay since, as it seems like more time wasted than money earned.

A far cry from the heyday of Ebay in the early 2000's

pensfan83

qbrozen said:

speaking of trucks, I'm leaning towards keeping dad's F250. It is overkill for anything I'd use it for, but it was his, after all. I may get aggravated by the amount of space it would take up in the driveway. We'll see.

If I could have predicted we'd end up with a truck just a year later I would have kept my grandfather's '05 King Ranch around. Man, that was just a nice comfortable truck.

xwesx

28firefighter said:

Subaru's with push button start don't give you as much granular control, unfortunately.

They do. Pushing the button without pressing the brake will turn the car on. Press brake and push again to start. etc.

My Fiesta flooded once when I forgot to plug it in on a particularly cold morning. A little trial-by-fire, and I had it sorted and running.

xwesx

qbrozen said:

speaking of trucks, I'm leaning towards keeping dad's F250. It is overkill for anything I'd use it for, but it was his, after all. I may get aggravated by the amount of space it would take up in the driveway. We'll see.

I can see why. With a driveway as small as yours, every inch counts!

nyccarguy

So this letter made me chuckle for 2 reasons. Number 1, they bought an obviously obsolete list. I turned that car in on lease 6 years ago. Number 2, check out who signed it

28firefighter

Missing an S in that last name. It’s okay. Typos happen.

qbrozen

I can’t be the only one who immediately thought of this.

https://youtu.be/o2X_XNdmWws

qbrozen

Turned a semi milestone this evening. I took a pic but of course can’t post it. The Daytona turned 77777.

stickguy

no, you were not the only person that immediately thought of that car.

Isn't the Caprice one of the very rare airbag cars?

fintail

I like that blue font that fakes handwriting.

Kramer's Caprice/Impala (I think a couple cars were used in the show) was indeed an airbag car, a unicorn of the highest degree.

Sandman6472

Hit 63K yesterday on my Golf. Going forward, think I'll only be doing like 500/month...if that many! But, will be going to St. Cloud in April, so that will ad some extra miles. By then, it'll need to be taken on the turnpike and pushed a bit!

oldfarmer50

nyccarguy said:

So this letter made me chuckle for 2 reasons. Number 1, they bought an obviously obsolete list. I turned that car in on lease 6 years ago. Number 2, check out who signed it

That’s funny because I got a similar letter about “protecting the value” of my 11 yo PT Cruiser (which I no longer own) with an extended warranty.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

Turned a semi milestone this evening. I took a pic but of course can’t post it. The Daytona turned 77777.

Is that the 392 engine in that car?

qbrozen

oldfarmer50 said:

qbrozen said:

Turned a semi milestone this evening. I took a pic but of course can’t post it. The Daytona turned 77777.

Is that the 392 engine in that car?

No. 5.7

stickguy

This guy certainly loves the RDX. Might have to give it a closer look. Not sure though that all the stuff he gets excited about are KPIs for my wife!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uV6XdTGjkGc

Michaell

Hey all!

My sister contacted me last night. Her middle son (18) is looking for a car to get him to school in and around San Diego.

He's picked out a couple of cars that I think aren't right for him, and wanted to get everyone's feedback.

First is a 2000 Toyota 4Runner with 208K on it. RWD, SR5 trim level, automatic with the 3.4 V6. Dealer is asking $5999.

Second is a 2008 Infiniti G35, also RWD. This one has 213K (!) on it, for the asking price of $4495.

I gave her shifty's analogy of old people playing tennis, with cars that have that kinds of mileage. Plus, neither gets great MPGs - he's likely to be driving 15-20K per year for the next couple of years. The Infiniti would also require PUG, if I'm not mistaken.

I think - and she agrees - that he needs to find something with about half as many miles on it. I found a couple of Sonatas in the same price range, each with under 100K on them. Not flashy, but likely more reliable.

Anyway, I've got a feeling I know what your feedback is going to be, so let me (us) have it. BTW, The ZIP code is 92127, if anybody's of a mind to find something you'd recommend instead.

stickguy

Well obviously those are bad choices. Find a midsized 4 cyl with many fewer miles. Gas is expensive out there too. Usual suspects.

28firefighter

That Pontiac Vibe someone shared would be a good fit...

corvette

I think that Vibe is on the wrong coast, though. And the MPGs aren’t great on them.

The G37 didn’t complain when I filled out up with regular one time. But the miles on both of those cars is nuts.

roadburner

28firefighter said:

That Pontiac Vibe someone shared would be a good fit...

Especially if you hated your kid.

28firefighter

roadburner said:

28firefighter said:

That Pontiac Vibe someone shared would be a good fit...

Especially if you hated your kid.

I'm a big fan of slowish, reliable, and cheap to repair for a car for a young person - modeled after my own experience. When you turn 25, can afford more expensive repairs, and your insurance rates drop, you can be more picky.

tjc78

Yeah CamCordNota with around 100K seems much more palatable. 200k on anything is asking for trouble especially at those prices.

There is no way you could pry $6000 out of my hands for a 200K mile SUV.

Michaell

28firefighter said:

roadburner said:

28firefighter said:

That Pontiac Vibe someone shared would be a good fit...

Especially if you hated your kid.

I'm a big fan of slowish, reliable, and cheap to repair for a car for a young person - modeled after my own experience. When you turn 25, can afford more expensive repairs, and your insurance rates drop, you can be more picky.

Agreed. He had the Mazda 3 my sister bought a year or two ago but now that her youngest turned 16 a couple months ago, that became his car. I told her she needs to find something similar for the middle child.

qbrozen

These are from just the first page of cargurus when I searched within 25 miles of that zip with under 120k miles and under $6k.

'08 Elantra SE

'08 GLS

Can't tell, but hopefully not a DSG

If he really wants an SUV

Michaell

qbrozen said:

These are from just the first page of cargurus when I searched within 25 miles of that zip with under 120k miles and under $6k.

'08 Elantra SE

'08 GLS

Can't tell, but hopefully not a DSG

If he really wants an SUV

We had an '08 VUE - it was a good car.

I can pass these along to my sister. She was going to talk to the boy about his decision making process.

roadburner

28firefighter said:

I'm a big fan of slowish, reliable, and cheap to repair for a car for a young person - modeled after my own experience. When you turn 25, can afford more expensive repairs, and your insurance rates drop, you can be more picky.

Funny thing, my son's first car was the 2002 I bought on eBay. I told him if he drove it a year with no at-fault accidents or traffic tickets AND kept his grades up we'd consider an upgrade. He kept his end of the bargain and then told me he'd like my wife's 9 year old X3 because he thought he'd get into trouble with something faster.

28firefighter

(1) I consider both of those in the slow category.

(2) Given your experience, your dealer relationship, etc. it made sense. For most, however, they would not qualify necessarily as reliable or inexpensive to maintain.

suydam

28firefighter said:

roadburner said:

28firefighter said:

That Pontiac Vibe someone shared would be a good fit...

Especially if you hated your kid.

I'm a big fan of slowish, reliable, and cheap to repair for a car for a young person - modeled after my own experience. When you turn 25, can afford more expensive repairs, and your insurance rates drop, you can be more picky.

I am too, but the Vibe is really an awful car, and not even that good mpg. I should know. I owned one and hated it more and more as time went on. I think Camry/Sonata would be good and cheap to own. Instead of a 4runner how about an older RAV4?

oldfarmer50

Michaell said:

Hey all!

My sister contacted me last night. Her middle son (18) is looking for a car to get him to school in and around San Diego.

He's picked out a couple of cars that I think aren't right for him, and wanted to get everyone's feedback.

First is a 2000 Toyota 4Runner with 208K on it. RWD, SR5 trim level, automatic with the 3.4 V6. Dealer is asking $5999.

Second is a 2008 Infiniti G35, also RWD. This one has 213K (!) on it, for the asking price of $4495.

I gave her shifty's analogy of old people playing tennis, with cars that have that kinds of mileage. Plus, neither gets great MPGs - he's likely to be driving 15-20K per year for the next couple of years. The Infiniti would also require PUG, if I'm not mistaken.

I think - and she agrees - that he needs to find something with about half as many miles on it. I found a couple of Sonatas in the same price range, each with under 100K on them. Not flashy, but likely more reliable.

Anyway, I've got a feeling I know what your feedback is going to be, so let me (us) have it. BTW, The ZIP code is 92127, if anybody's of a mind to find something you'd recommend instead.

Just off the top of my head and not knowing anything about either brand.

https://palmsprings.craigslist.org/ctd/d/palm-desert-2004-volvo-s80-awd-low/7082154407.html

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/d/fullerton-1999-subaru-outback-awd-low/7082114010.html

ronsteve

oldfarmer50 said:

Just off the top of my head and not knowing anything about either brand.

https://palmsprings.craigslist.org/ctd/d/palm-desert-2004-volvo-s80-awd-low/7082154407.html

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/d/fullerton-1999-subaru-outback-awd-low/7082114010.html

I've not heard anything good about the AWD in Volvos of that vintage. At least as a 2.5T it doesn't have the problematic tranny.

Michaell

ronsteve said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Just off the top of my head and not knowing anything about either brand.

https://palmsprings.craigslist.org/ctd/d/palm-desert-2004-volvo-s80-awd-low/7082154407.html

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/d/fullerton-1999-subaru-outback-awd-low/7082114010.html

I've not heard anything good about the AWD in Volvos of that vintage. At least as a 2.5T it doesn't have the problematic tranny.

Ron - my sister is not inclined to buy from a private party. One of those things I can't talk her out of.

fintail

I have a relative who recently graduated from college, and did it the "drive a sub-1K beater til it dies, then replace" way. Served him well enough although he did go through maybe 4 or 5 cars. Now that he's employed and fully on his own, he's still driving the last beater (a high mileage Outback that mercifully got a head gasket before he bought it) as he bonded with it.

I drove the fintail during my school tenure - it did require some work now and then and some may list it under "deathtrap", but mommy and daddy weren't in a position to buy me a more expensive car, and I wanted something more interesting than a typical beater. A month shy of 25 years later, it is still around, I like to think I did something right. A really old car is maybe OK for a marginally handy and careful young person, but I can understand the hesitation if their kid isn't handy or in the open the hood demographic.

Michaell

suydam said:

28firefighter said:

roadburner said:

28firefighter said:

That Pontiac Vibe someone shared would be a good fit...

Especially if you hated your kid.

I'm a big fan of slowish, reliable, and cheap to repair for a car for a young person - modeled after my own experience. When you turn 25, can afford more expensive repairs, and your insurance rates drop, you can be more picky.

I am too, but the Vibe is really an awful car, and not even that good mpg. I should know. I owned one and hated it more and more as time went on. I think Camry/Sonata would be good and cheap to own. Instead of a 4runner how about an older RAV4?

I think the issue with Toyota and Honda is that to get into the right price range, the cars are going to be very miled up. And, because California, those brands hold their value even more so than in other places around the country.

Not that it's a bad idea...

28firefighter

2010 generation Ford Fusion a la what @steine13 bought? Pretty sure he is the grand poobah of cars in this pricepoint.

Michaell

28firefighter said:

2010 generation Ford Fusion a la what @steine13 bought? Pretty sure he is the grand poobah of cars in this pricepoint.

I figure any mid-sized sedan that is 10-12 years old, with relatively low (under 100K) miles would be a good fit.

The idea is that the car would get him through his fire fighting school for the next year or two. When he graduates and becomes a US Gov't firefighter, his starting salary will be north of $60K/yr (I'm told). At that point, he can swap out whatever he gets now for something newer and more to his liking - I think he'd like a Tacoma.

stickguy

Sunday my wife randomly said I should just buy out the TLX at lease end. I guess she must like it somewhat. Though I got her to admit not having to go through another search process was part of her thinking! She knows it’s not likely to happen, but you never know.

She doesn’t want to drive it. She took it to work yesterday and when I asked how her commute was, got a lukewarm “it wad ok”. She definitely prefers a higher sitting vehicle like the RDX.

benjaminh

stickguy said:

Sunday my wife randomly said I should just buy out the TLX at lease end....

By any chance do you remember what your buy out price will be in 24 months, or however long you have left?

I'm thinking of buying my TLX out, but I'm likely to consider a few other possibilities until the last minute.

stickguy

IIRC residual is about $21.5k. Might be a good deal at the time for a car with 20k miles on it. Assuming I want to keep it, or spend that kind of money on a used car. But it’s nice, so will be an option.

And hit 22 months left last weekend! Yes I’m keeping track.

pensfan83

My RV is around $26.5K I believe. After this Friday 6 payments left.

qbrozen

ronsteve said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Just off the top of my head and not knowing anything about either brand.

https://palmsprings.craigslist.org/ctd/d/palm-desert-2004-volvo-s80-awd-low/7082154407.html

https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/cto/d/fullerton-1999-subaru-outback-awd-low/7082114010.html

I've not heard anything good about the AWD in Volvos of that vintage. At least as a 2.5T it doesn't have the problematic tranny.

Actually, the geartronic from, IIRC, ‘03-‘05, is a bad one, too. Especially when dragging the Haldex with it.

And the ‘99 subaru ain’t the cream of the crop, neither, so I’d avoid both of those suggestions.

rayainsw

Punch.
2020 BMW M340i - delivered today.
- Ray
[ happy dance ]

[Deleted User]

Congrats @rayainsw, post some pics when you can...of the car...or the dance

rayainsw

Picture post seems broken - for me...

rayainsw

Dark blue over dark brown.
Michelin Pilot Sports.
- Ray
Until I can post pics...