Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)
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2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
I know around here we have to file a sales tax declaration stating the purchase price so tax can be paid upon registration. Some sellers will sign a blank form letting the buyer’s conscience fill in the price.
Stating in an ad that he’s willing to “help” with taxes is inviting a whole lot of misery.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Nice cars too. I had one as a loaner when the Jetta was in for service, and rented one in NC once, and they are nice driving cars with a ton of room inside. Gets pretty good mileage too.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
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2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
You should be very happy with it.
Pictures, please?
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Jack Baruth has blogged at length about the ineptitude of many auto journalists, and one of the Motor Trend long-term test writers lives up(down?) to Baruth's opinion. He's currently driving a 228i Gran Coupe. Now, I'll be the first to admit that the 228i is at best an average car, and worse, it's a pathetic BMW. It's aimed directly at wearers- the nitwits who think "trailing throttle oversteer" is a band that used to open for Kansas. Here I actually think the writer likes it(that almost says it all). However, what I took issue with was his evaluation of the iDrive interface.
What does our "expert journo think? Well, he claims older iterations took hours to learn. True, in the case of the early versions, but patently false about the iDrive systems fitted to cars from around 2014-up. True, the first implementation of iDrive in the E65 7er was terrible- there was nothing at all intuitive about it. Still, while denying anything was wrong, Munich continually improved it to the point that it was one of, if not the best driver interface going. Most people I dealt with at the dealer picked up the basics in 30 minutes or less.
But for the sake of argument, let's assume that the average driver is as slow to catch on as our hapless writer. What he likes about the latest iDrive is the touchscreen- calling it "the most intuitive way to interact with the system." Would anyone like to explain how having to take your eyes off the road to find what icon to touch is superior to the iDrive controller and/or the voice recognition system? I guess the magazine assigns long-term test cars to writers who are the target market for the car that they are allegedly evaluating. If that's the case, Motor Trend hit it spot on.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Solid deal for sure!
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Two different platforms. FWD vs. RWD
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Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
But I agree with the overall assessment on the “new” Gran Coupe versions of the 2-series - they look very downscale and unattractive. And based on reviews, the driving experience doesn’t do anything to offset that.
2024 Audi Q8 e-tron - 2017 911 C4S - 2025 BRZ - 2023 A6 Allroad - 2024 Genesis GV60 - 2019 Cayman
https://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/63444/acura/tl/salvage#latest
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
I know nothing about current BMWs
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
I had a 2013 Passat SEL TDI for a short while... It was marvelous; I legitimately miss that car. I was sad last fall when I learned that it had finally made it out of TDI Purgatory and gone on to another owner.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
The project itself is nowhere near 15-20 minutes! I think that estimate is crack-pipe territory! I would say that, if it was a new install, maybe you could hit that. However, in the real world, this job is likely closer to two hours... per side!
So, I lifted the car and put it on jack stands. I checked for looseness in the bearing before pulling the tires, and the passenger side was wickedly bad! Driver side did not have much movement. I then pulled both tires, brake calipers, and disc/drums. At this point, things started getting tricky....
Enjoy the Passat and may it give you no issues at all!
2023 Hyundai Kona Limited AWD (wife) / 2025 VW GTI (me) / 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Premier RS (daughter #1) / 2020 Hyundai Accent SE (daughter #2) / 2023 Subaru Impreza Base (son)
So, all that stuff comes out, too. And, I had to make I took some photos... otherwise, I was not going get it back in there!
Once the brake parts were out, I found that the large backing plate in the image above was not bolted on, but instead was sandwiched between the hub assembly and the spindle. So, hub comes off, THEN the backing plate can come off. After taking a break to do some searching for "what happens when things don't go as planned," I was confident that the old tried and true "just beat the living snot out of it" method was a potential winner (my other reasonable option was to remove the whole spindle from the suspension so that I could use the press hardware I bought last year for the Q7, but the amount of work that adds is substantial).
So, using a 2# sledge and some well-aimed blows (by some I mean like fifty per side), I finally beat the hubs loose enough to work them off the spindles.
Success is success, though, so I sanded down the rust in the spindles, backing plates, and rotors, then called it a night.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I noted already that I cleaned up the spindles and added some rust inhibitor....
Then, I put the hub bolts in, added the backing plate, and bolted the hub in place.
I then put the rotor and caliper back onto the assembly, put the tires on, and tested.... so much better! SOOOOOO much better....