Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stever

Funny, if you were Akangl's neighbor, you could stack the recent $1305 permanent fund dividend on top of the $1300 tax credit and really go crazy.

lilengineerboy

My Contour had an aftermarket OEM sunroof. Webastco is the sunroof supplier for Ford Contour sunroofs, so they just got an aftermarktet one in the same size. I actually liked mine much better than the factory as it had the anti-pinch detection so it had one-touch open/close, and it would automatically close when I turned off the car unless I pushed the open button to keep it open.

No leaks/failures in 10 yrs/150k.

I think a lot of people think of sunroofs as those $99 pop up things from JC Whitney. My friends in high school had those on their cars and small pick-ups and about half would leak and half wouldn't (my guess is it depends on the quality of installation).

roadburner

Back in 1995 my salesperson had to fight tooth and nail to ensure that my 318ti Club Sport was built without a sunroof. The hole in the roof was a $1200 option but BMW had decided that all of the @300 Club Sports would get the "option" regardless. My salesperson prevailed- and as it turns out around five Club Sports were built sans sunroof.

corvette

Unlike Volvo's 2.5T engine, which they use in everything, the TDIs are rare enough that even a large VW dealer doesn't sell that many of them. The consequence is that most dealers aren't familiar with repairing them when they break.

lpastuch

My father recently passed away and left for me a Brand New 2000 Grand Marquis LS . He had multiple cars, all with literally min Kms. He has 1 car that is 32 years old with 16,000km!

It has 33 Km( yes thirty three). I would like to sell it, but not sure how to approach it since I have a Brand new car that is almost 9 years old) runs perfectly).

fintail

There are some people here who might want to buy both cars :shades:

fezo

Yeah. Talk to q. He's in a buying mood....

woodyww

Would it be sensible to price it at $6500 for private sale, or start it there? Would pay to check out ebay listings--a lot of 2000-2001 Grand Marquis LS's, many with very low miles. I'm really thinking around $5K tho.......

qbrozen

LOL. I knew someone would say it.

Since he's talking kms, I think I'm safe from this one.

So, here's the thing ... a 9-year-old car that has not been driven is actually a scary thing. In fact, it would probably need more money put into it to make it safely drivable than one with 90k miles. So I'm afraid it just ain't worth much more than a 90k example. Using straight up Galves calculation for the mileage add (all of 1.2 cents per mile), you get all of a shade over $1k more for the 33 mile car.

Woody's got it about right.... in US dollars, that is.

fintail

Yeah the mileage isn't going to help things. That price seems like it would be a sensible deal. The car has zero collectible value and never will, it is really the equivalent of a 10 year old refrigerator that was never used.

I have a soon to be 8 year old MB with 40K miles on it. Some of them are going over 100K miles now. The value added to my car by the book isn't a whole lot.

Andre or lemko might want it, although I guess lemko already has one of those boats. I wonder what the other car is...a guy with the sense of style to buy the Mercury probably has a 1977 Olds 98/Buick Limited etc with 10K miles on it as the other car...I KNOW lemko would want that.

corvette

I'd change all the fluids, consider driving it far enough to be sure there are no lurking problems, and sell it. Unless you happen to have a need for a new 2000 Grand Marquis...

Oh yeah, if they're over six years old, the tires are probably past their "use by" date, as well.

andre1969

I wonder what the other car is...a guy with the sense of style to buy the Mercury probably has a 1977 Olds 98/Buick Limited etc with 10K miles on it as the other car...I KNOW lemko would want that.

Yeah, I'd be curious as to what the ~32 year old car is, too!

Kirstie_H

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woodyww

I'm not one of those who automatically knocks 10 y.o. garage queens with low miles. For one thing a lot of buyers go nuts over low miles (depending on the car of course). Come to think of it, my 10 y.o. car has ridiculous low miles, & it looks & runs great (knock wood).

Aging tires: This summer, For various reasons, I put a 10 y.o. set of "unused", like new bmw rims & tires that I had around (stored properly), on my car. Most car buffs would predict instant death, but then I read a piece by the Tech Talk guy in the Roundel refuting the thinking that even 10 y.o. tires are "always" unsafe.

In a few weeks, I have to schlep my (new) snows, to have them mounted on my old rims. It's 2X as hard to juggle 2 sets of tires, buy, replace them, etc.....

pp2009pp

I recently tallyed up our purchases and came to a grand total of 34 cars in 9 years. I think I am addicted to car shopping period. I get excited when coworkers are looking for cars because I get to help them look and give them advice.

Are you still here?

Why don't you start a car buying service for those of us who HATE going car shopping. I would pay a few hundred bucks for a personal assessment and a short list of cars to buy because I just ended up with a $40K HOJ (hunk of junk) in my garage.

Car buying is the pits. I put it above death and even above public speaking in the worst experiences of life roster.

:lemon: :lemon: :lemon: :lemon: :lemon:

qbrozen

Huh. So there IS a market for this? My wife has been saying for some time now that I should be a personal car shopper. I do it for family as it is. They call me, ask me for my list, and I often go and make the deal for them.

Hmmmm....

stickguy

I am currently "working" with a new "client" (inlaw relatvie). Not local, so I am not doing the in dealership part, but I have been doing much of the research, and giving her process instructions.

She told me the same thing, about starting a service. ANd she isn't the first!

But, like many other things, when push comes to shove people aren't going to pony up real cash, in advance, to do this. Especially complete strangers!

pp2009pp

So there IS a market for this?

Absolutely.

I wasted about 6 weeks trying to get more than a 1/4" deep look at the relatively small number of cars that would fit the bill for me. Now one month into the buyer's remorse experience, I want to take my brand new car and boot it off a cliff. If it wasn't so expensive and if I didn't actually need something to drive around in I might have left it by the side of the road with a 'free for the taking' sticker on it.

It was only after the HOJ came home that I noticed peculiarities in it like the fact that it feels as if it has basketballs for tires...bounce, bounce, bounce...and gear shifting that belongs in the Spanish Inquisition hall of torture by car. Knowing these specific peculiarities, I could then look up the very large number of similar complaints from 2 years ago.

Before then...second order ignorance...that is what I would plead if asked.

I would pay for good advice unobstructed by manufacturer's nonsense and dealer come ons. Costco does some price negotiations but it is pretty odd and I don't know how useful it really is.

stickguy

Partly Qs fault, but I am getting th eurge to downgrade to something cheaper (from my 2005 Accord). The 2000 V70 wagon really got me perked up. Something like that + a decent chunk of change in my pocket? works for me!

That, and the 1998 ES300 I am helping to replace (for the "client" mentioned above) have the rusty wheels in my brain turning.

I am going to hit 4 years in december since buying a car for me or my wife. Only thing keeping me going is the 2 old ones I bought for my son, one of which is now my spare car while he is away at college. And I don't even drive much these days.

stever

You still need to test drive them.

In your case, a three week rental would probably be wise before sending the broker out to buy.

Using a Car Broker to Buy Your Next Vehicle

pp2009pp

I spoke with an auto broker a long time ago. Slimier than any dealer I have ever met. At that time they were buying the car themselves and then selling you a brand new used car. Maybe they have changed.

People say that I should have taken a car home for the weekend. Has anyone done a weekend test drive? I never knew they existed and I am still not convinced that they do. Does anyone rent a BMW X3? I have never seen one available for rent either. I have seen Subaru Foresters in rental fleets along with tons of Chevy Impalas but never BMWs. That would be a nice service but, I suspect, would send more buyers away than provide new sales.

BTW the nicest car I ever rented was a Buick coupe. I do not remember the name but that was one nice ride from Boston up to Maine.

Consumers definitely need to be smarter but how does that excuse BMW from making a HOJ in the first place.

:mad:

stever

I took a Fit home overnight a few months ago (or maybe it was right before Thanksgiving - we'be been kicking tires so long now, all the test drives have run together). I'm sure the Honda salesperson thought that once we saw it in our garage, we'd buy it. I did like it but my wife didn't, so back to the dealer it went the next day.

Did the same thing with a used Miata last spring from a private seller. It didn't pass IM the next morning so back it went (it was dinged and well used, but part of me wishes I had kept it and fixed it....).

Seat time is important, but yeah, it's hard to get enough, either from a dealer or a rental company. For a more exotic car, traveling to Vegas may be your best bet.

qbrozen

Yeah, a broker just isn't the same as what we're talking about. A broker is nothing more than a middle man. We're talking about a ... ummm... Car Consultant.

qbrozen

OH yeah, I forgot to tell you. I pulled the carfax on that '00 V70. Had an accident within its first 3k miles of life.

Next odd entry was this:
03/13/2002 19,831 New York
New York City Area
Inspection Station Passed safety inspection
Failed emissions inspection

03/13/2002 19,845 New York
New York City Area
Inspection Station Safety inspection performed
Passed emissions inspection

Sooo... with less than 20k miles, it failed emissions ... then passed 20 miles later?

And the same thing happened again just before it was last at auction:
06/01/2009 73,401 New York
Inspection Station Passed safety inspection
Failed emissions inspection

06/02/2009 73,421 New York
Inspection Station Passed safety inspection
Passed emissions inspection

Sooo... I dunno. Not the worst history, but not what you'd call clean.

jaguar16

Jaguar is now an Indian beast (according to the Indian press AND Tata Group) thanks to Tata Motor's 100% acquisition of JLR. Land Rover/Range Rover is also fine Indian heritage now. Both now high quality Indian luxury cars. Power to JLR's new Indian owners/masters.

Already Jaguar/Land Rover are establishing component sourcing offices in India. Soon they may be entirely "Made in India".....yessss!

grandtotal

I too have been doing this for maybe 15 years now, family and an increasing number of friends (and even a few friends of friends). I even have repeat 'clients'. I enjoy matching someone up with a vehicle that they are happy with especially when it is one they had not considered themselves

kathyc2

I normally love car shopping and research, but just not into it this time, so I'm hoping to get some good suggestions here.

It's for my 21 yo son who commutes to local college. He had been driving my 00 GP w/ GPX package and liked the unusual look of it. We had bought him a 2010 Vibe a couple months ago, but an unfortunate run in w/ a 4x4 left it totalled. He was T-boned on the drivers side but walked away w/ a couple of scratches and stiff muscles. However, after that he wants something a little bigger. The GP has a 3.8 and gets around 21 ave MPG. The Vibe had 1.8 and mid 30's MPG. Looking for something in between the two.

So, we are looking at a safe mid-size, 06 or newer 35K miles or less w/ a 17K maximum price.

Kia, Suzuki and Hyundai are not options. Neither of us like the mundane look of Honda and Toyota. On the list to look at are Fusion, Mazda 6, Malibu, Impala. Would love a Forrester or Rouge, but not sure we will find one that meets all the criteria, mainly price. I think the Altima would be good, but son doesn't like looks. Our local Pontiac dealer (who we love working with) has a used Eclipse. Son thinks it's a cute sporty car, but I'm not very familiar w/ Mitsubishi safety or reliability. Son also likes Passat, but again, I'm not familiar w/ VW, other than I've heard they have higher repair costs. What else would be worth a look?

We're not in a huge hurry, but will want to make a decision in the next month or so, as I'll need to take back the GP as my winter car. Any suggestions and advice appreciated.

corvette

The 2008 and newer Malibu has an optional six-speed automatic with a four-cylinder engine. That combination should get good gas mileage without too much of a performance hit. The Altima, Forester, or Rogue would probably be the most dependable of the options you've listed. Mitsubishi and VW don't have great reputations for making dependable vehicles. If he wants something larger than a Vibe, the Eclipse is probably not the way to go.

stickguy

how about a Volvo S40 2.4i? SOmewhat unique, gets pretty good MPG, and has the safety aspect covered. An '06 can easily still be under warranty too.

The Mazda 6 is a good car, and fun to drive. the 4 cyl gets OK mileage.

stever

I think you and Grandtotal are talking about a second baseman.

grandtotal

I'm not good with sporting metaphors. What's a second baseman in this context?

stever

A second baseman is someone who goes to the dealership with you to point out problems with the car, the deal, whatever. They should be able to keep your new car fever in check and keep you somewhat grounded in reality. Often it's a spouse.

It doesn't have to be a good cop/bad cop scenario either. Another person will hear and remember things the dealer says that the buyer will miss or forget.

If worse comes to worse they can drag you out of the showroom kicking and screaming until you come to your senses. :shades:

tifighter

Sooo... with less than 20k miles, it failed emissions ... then passed 20 miles later?


I've noticed a lot of Carfax reports show things like this. We've been looking for a car for my wife in Calif, and a lot of the cars have entries of failing, then passing emissions on the same day; sometimes, only 5 miles difference. I guess its possible that they are all true, but given the sophistication of auto emission systems, combined with our looking at 06-07 year cars (mostly Japanese), I think there may be something up with how Carfax or the state reports the info. The amount of failures in my little sample set seemed awfully high...

tifighter

No no no, you guys missed the IF I had to replace it part! I fully plan on keeping it until the wheels fall off or someone decides they want to remodel its body.

I really do love the Pilot, just wish it could pull the TT.....

I'm just giving you a bad time, Jolie. You've kept that Pilot this long, so you don't have to make any excuses for anything. Not a tow vehicle though, that's for sure.

My Pilot has now been in the house a whole 18 months. Just had the 15k mile service done, and its been flawless. Well, except when a certain family member, who will remain nameless, scraped the passenger side against a concrete wall while in a parking garage recently. She reported: "I just can't believe the side mirror didn't come off!" Ugh. The rear passenger door has a ripple that I'm guessing may not be easily fixable if fixable at all. I'm dreading taking it in for an estimate... :sick:

grandtotal

Ah, no, that's not really what I do. Typically I help with selection and sometimes do the negotiation and the real buyer then turns up to complete the paperwork. There is one Honda salesman that I have 'bought' maybe half a dozen vehicles from now. Last time I called him he simply asked me just what I wanted and how much did I want to pay for it. Very simple transaction for me and the actual buyer.

stever

Ya, that sounds more like a broker to me, except a broker would do all the negotiation too.

Sandman6472

Looked at a slightly used S40 and was not impressed at all. Gas mileage is just ok, it does have a quirky 5 cylinder engine. Safety features are excellent but just wasn't wowed enough to trade in my '06 Civic LX. Drove about 7 '08's, '07's & 1 '06...all had issues that didn't warrant spending the $6k plus my trade to do the deal. Still like the look but have decided to keep what I got.
Look at the Nissan Sentra as an alternative...nice drivers with good gas mileage figures and a nice driver to boot.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

michaellno

Check engine light in the L300 came on yesterday. Went to local indy shop to have code pulled.

O2 sensor failed. $260 to replace. There were a couple of other sensors / filters / whatnot that needed attention as well, but am deferring that work for now as it doesn't affect the performance of the car.

Also, I was told there are 8 (!?) O2 sensors in my L300. Is this normal?

sandman -- were the seats more comfortable in the Volvo? I know you have back issues and wondered what you thought of them.

Sandman6472

No, the seats were very disappointing to me and if they were that great, there's be a S40 sitting in my garage right now, even though the wife was so angry I would even consider doing this. But like I said, very underwhelming seats for me...I sit on a Relax The Back store cushion now in my Civic and it's wonderful.
So really wanted to like the S40, and I drove so many back to back, but it just wasn't worth doing the deal.

The Sandman :confuse: :sick:

michaellno

Wow .. I'm surprised. I've only test driven a couple of Volvo's (one an XC70, the other a V50) and found the seats to be pretty comfortable.

What was a deal breaker for us - at least, on the XC70 - was that the shoulder belt doesn't adjust in the B-pillar. Wife is only 5'3" and the belt was cutting across her neck rather than coming across her shoulder.

Not that it matters .. I'm not in the market for anything at the moment.

fezo

As long as we're on the subject, what have people found are the best seats in cars? I know my old Volvo (this was nearly 40 years ago!) had fabulous seats.

Also what about aftermarket thins? Sandman? What is that one you've got in your Civic? I have back issues and more importantly three herniated cervical disks. It's enough to make me consider ditching the Celica for a different convertible.

Oh, and we really have to stop enabling q....

tifighter

Sandman - you ever sit in a Saab? My friend has had a 9-3 Aero since new in 04 and it has grade A seats; better the Volvos I've sat in. Here's the weird part; he now has 160k on it and it has been rock solid. YMMV...

Sandman6472

It's a black $125.00 cushion and it's with that tempurpedic foam inside and it's wonderful actually! Has a small handle to carry it and I use it at work & in the car so I can sit for extended periods of time. As a bonus, workers comp finally agreed to pick up the tab after going back & forth with them for about a year...had a prescription for it but they kept refusing to pay...crazy huh, but I finally prevailed!!

Made my drive time in my Civic like night & day...it's unbelievable...you should definitely check it out!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

fezo

Yer killing me!

My brother also has a 9-3 (his is an 02) with close to 150K on it and close to Japanese reliability.

If I thought I had a shot at that kind of thing I'd have made the trip to CT to buy that convertible that british rover had. It was even a stick!

Unfortunately the one he has now is in a color that might burn a retina or two.

tifighter

Sorry, chief. :P

I have another friend who had a 9-5 for 6 years and it was trouble free. Maybe they got lucky, but if I were looking for a euro wagon, I'd be looking for a Saab before a Volvo, and WAY before I'd look at a VW. In fact, only BMW would rate higher...I've had 3 Audis already :sick: and MB has a long way towards proving they're reliable again to me.

Lastly, I was in Spain last month and had the latest Renault Megane wagon in a 6-spd manual diesel for a week. Almost 700 mile range, good seats, and comfortable cruising at 90. Not bad, way nicer than the last Megane I drove. My wife instantly slept as soon as she sat in it...

stever

The old Volvo seats were good. My Quest seats are great too. Some VW seats feel too firm at first but get better and better on longer trips.

I'm a bit surprised that the XC70 didn't have a slide adjustment for the seat belt.

stickguy

I was interested in the S40 (actually V50 varient), but the seats were actually a big minus. Odd, because other Volvos it is a big plus!

The S40s are smaler and harder for some reason. The 60, 70 and 80 still have traditional Volvo thrones.

They peaked around '98-2000 on a few of the cars like the C70. Total thronage there.

SAABs are nice to sit in too. BMWs were never as good.

british_rover

I think the more accurate metaphor is a third base coach or a wingman.

Sandman6472

Yes, the seats were hard which in my mind made it a stupid idea to spend like $6k plus my Civic for one of the S40's on the lot. Still love the look of them...even though it's the same body as the wife's Mazda 3, it just looks better on the S40. Funny, they had a red '08 model which I was really drawn to with a gray interior but when I brought the wife over, she nixed the idea. She had test drove the S40 before she bought her Mazda, but hated the rear headrests and their restricted view so bought the cousin car instead. One thing though, every car I tested had interior scratches/issues and small paint issues which I couldn't understand. You would have thought the Volvo dealer would've had the dent wizard guy out to "clean up" the visible blemishes.
Still very happy I kept the Civic & now with my seat cushion in place, I'm a happy camper!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

british_rover

Yeah the S40 and V50 seats are probably the least Volvo seats in the line up. They just aren't quite as good as the other Volvo seats for most people. I have driving some S40sV50s that I really like the seats and others that I never could get comfortable in. Not sure what the difference was.

What year was the XC70? Pretty much all Volvos have automatically adjusting shoulder belts for many years. It looks at first like the belts don't adjust but they do once you adjust your seat height and tug on the belt. I can see maybe if someone was very short like 5'3" that maybe their wouldn't be enough automatic adjustment in them though. The power Volvo seats do have three or four inches of height adjustment in them.

Edit:

Hey Fezo we got a 2004 or 2005 Audi A4 Cab 3.0 Quattro in now.

Audi's scare me personally but that is a lot of car for 16,000 and about the only AWD vert you can get.