Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy

that's basically what I do (the inherent cheap genes run deep).

whatever my car is worth (trade or private) + whatever I feel comfrotable writing a check for, and bingo, that's what I can afford.

Might consider a s/t loan for the family truckster, only because they tend to cost more. For that, I use my "don't borrow more than 10K" rule.

anonymousposts

2002 Lexus GS430 85k Nav & Mark Levinson Silver/Gray ... should be around $12,900. I am knocking on wood and hoping nothing happens to derail this purchase...

qbrozen

I tend to go with the trade in plus 10-20% rule for my budget on used cars. If the Accord is worth $10k on trade, then I would set my budget at $11k to $12k. When I was trading every year or two it would limit my depreciation expense.

But that means you keep degrading. I mean, on a $10k car, the profit for the dealer will be 20%. So, you are essentially moving between cars of equal value. Then driving for a year or 2, and moving again to a car of equal value. Eventually, you wind up with a beater. I guess you had to "upgrade" at some point, no?

guss

Well, a little of it is going against the flow. Like getting rid of a Durango when gas was $2 and winter was just beginning or buying a fwd Escape right before winter started. But I have always been able to go down in the mileage on the car I was buying with the most I have had to put into the deal is $3k.

I have had to give up some options, like seat heaters. Never again on that one, they are not an option for these old bones.

phollie

Is there any realistic way to trade in a relatively late model luxury car for a less expensive vehicle? My goal is to get out of having two relatively high car payments. I know I could put $10,000 down, but realistically, about $2500 is where I'd max out.
Maybe something used?

jayrider

If you post the details of what you own and it's condition someone may have an idea or two.

stickguy

Well, pay off your baalnce, and your payments go to zero.

other than that, you can always try to sell one car and get something much cheaper. But most people are really looking to move from a 2008 Lexus to a 2002 Sentra. But if you are serious about cutting car expenses, that is the way to go.

The other common approach is getting into a subventred lease. Could lower your payments, but of course you will never own the car.

Like Jay said, need details of the current cars, loan balances, and what exactly you are trying to accomplish.

But, if you are heavy on the negative equity, only a large suitcase full of cash is likely to get your payments down!

phollie

I've got a 2007 Audi A4 with about 35,000 miles. Its in good shape but realistically is about 7k upside down. The poster who said just pay it off is right and that's what I'll most likely do. I'm just looking to see if there are other options. Thanks.

jayrider

How about a Versa hatchback?

anonymousposts

I will be buying the 02 GS430. The car is spotless and was maintained at the Lexus dealer. Drives like a new car. I don't think I could do much better than this one for the price...

gouldn

I love those cars. Have fun with it!

qbrozen

At $7k upside-down, there is nothing you can realistically do as far as trading.

What about the other car? How are you on that one?

It wasn't long ago I did something similar. Traded my Infiniti on a Mazda for the wife and sold her XC90 to a dealer. Then bought myself a $1500 car.

Speaking of which ... the $1500 Benz threw a fit on me today. Started up and drove find to drop my son at school, then took several minutes of attempts to get it to restart. Had to keep my foot on the gas the whole way home, where I switched for my more reliable $1100 Nissan. :shades:

I'll pick up a fuel filter and plugs on the way home and see how that works out.

british_rover

See spending a third more money for a Benz doesn't get you any better reliability. :P

fintail

If it ran rough when it finally did start, it might be the over-voltage relay which is a known old-age failure on those cars.

qbrozen

OH, ya know, you just made me think of something it did that made me go "huh??"

While cranking, the wiper made one sweep. The switch was not on.

I'll have to look up this relay you speak of.

jayrider

Are you on duty steve ?

fintail

When the relay failed in my old W126, it would start hard, idle rough, and accelerate slow, with a host of idiot lights lit up on the dash. A new relay, a simply DIY replacement, solved everything.

The wiper thing sounds pretty funny, but it could be linked.

stever

Not 24/7, no. :shades: My loom has been fighting me for 3 days now so I spent the last hour making sure I finally got it warped right.

Spam is gone. Hope you like the way the post title got amended too.

jayrider

Spam gets a bad rap. Two fried slices-lettuce-cheese- pickle-onion on a sesame seed bun. Just posting that makes me hungry.

stever

Incomplete link but the local Hawaiian cafe has Spam musubi. Not my favorite though since I like my Spam thin sliced and crispy almost to the point of being burnt. And preferably about 20 miles from the nearest road. Stuff always tastes better in the woods. :shades:

Anyone buying? (not me, naturally...).

jayrider

I could go on with this discussion for a while but I won't. You're welcome.

phollie

About the same. Also a german car.
I made a mistake about both. They were both purchased (and leased) before I truly wrapped my head around what's happening in the marketplace right now. I can go ahead and pay and work to lower my expenses in other areas. I sure wish I could have a mulligan though. Thanks.

corvette

You may be able to refinance them when the loan balance is less than or equal to the retail price of a similar model. Of course, that will also keep you in debt longer, but would lower the monthly payment.

fezo

At very least you recognize being in a situation where you'd like a mulligan. I'm always amazed at people who get further and further in negative territory and keep trying to work another deal that makes them worse off.

You'll get through this and less likely to do it again. I'd say unlikely but I have to remember what topic I'm in...

andre1969

looks like I might be in the market for another car, albeit against my will. Someone pulled a hit-and-run on the Intrepid tonite in a restaurant parking lot. Driver's side fender and headlight are smashed...headlight's just sitting there, held on only by the wires to the lights in back. Bumper fascia's hanging loose. And I'm guessing something electronic got snagged as well, because the idiot lights for the battery and Service Engine Soon are both on. Passenger side headlight/turn signal doesn't work, either, although both taillights, brakelights, and rear signals work.

It actually doesn't look THAT bad, but somehow I got a feeling the poor gal's totaled. :sick:

roadburner

Eternal fiery torment is too good for scum like that..

roadburner

1998 M3/4 with heated seats and forged wheels. White over Magma(a deep tan color). Owned by a local CCA member. The price is about half as much as the E46 cars I've been looking at. Since the US E36 M3s don't have true ///M motors they are also a bit cheaper to run- although I'm thinking that if I'm going to get a sled that old I might as well go all in and find a nice E30; they are actually starting to appreciate in value...

andre1969

Really not a whole lot of damage, but at today's repair prices, it doesn't take much to total a car anymore. Especially once they get old, miled up, and of little book-value.

fintail

Ouch! That really stinks, my condolences. Too bad that part of the gene pool hasn't been chlorinated.

I remember way back when, when there was a Tempo in the family fleet, it got smacked in the rear and had similar damage. This was when the car was about 10 years old and had over 100K on it. The insurance company fixed it! Maybe you will get lucky, as I don't think you want to dump the old girl just yet.

michaellno

I agree with fin .. can't hurt to contact the insurance company and get an estimate and see what happens.

But, it does look like $1500-2000 worth of repairs, easily, when you factor labor into it.

Would you be getting an Altima as you've talked about for several years?

bumpy

I dunno; that's borderline for a total considering the age and value. If they do total it for cost, you could buy it back and fix it up with junkyard parts if you're in the mood.

andre1969

But, it does look like $1500-2000 worth of repairs, easily, when you factor labor into it.

Yeah, I'm kind of curious to see what the insurance company says. I've been online pricing stuff, and figure I could get a headlight for $250 or less. I've seen replacement fenders for as little as 30 bucks, but don't know if I'd trust a part that cheap! And the fascia, I'm sure, can just be re-attached. Heck, I could probably even bang/pull that fender out, more or less into its original shape. The end result would be a car that looks like a beater, but still serviceable. The main thing that scares me though, is that the idiot lights came on...SES and battery. Maybe it's just some wire that got pulled loose or twisted or whatever, but maybe something worse?

Even if there's really nothing wrong, and I didn't get those idiot lights fixed, I'd only be able to drive it until the next emissions test, which is less than a year away.

Would you be getting an Altima as you've talked about for several years?

Y'know, it's funny, but I've been talking about the Altima for so long now, I'm starting to lose my fascination with it! However, I did find, of all things, another 2000 Intrepid! It's the nicer ES model, well-equipped, leather, sunroof, and while the ad copy says 2.7, the under-hood pic shows a 3.2. Plus, it has about half the miles of my car!

At this point, I dunno what I'm going to do. If the car isn't fixable though, I'm not going to rush into anything.

bumpy

Yeah, it's not like you don't have a half-dozen other vehicles to drive. And besides, new car payments would eat into your fix-the-DeSoto fund.

fintail

If they do total it, that other Intrepid might not be a bad idea, if it checks out and has been maintained. It's something you know, and after you get the settlement for yours, it wouldn't cost much if you knocked it down to 3500-4K or so.

corvette

That really sucks, especially the part about the responsible person not having the decency to leave a note with contact information. Kind of like this nice lady:

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/28/video-how-not-to-park-your-bmw-x5/2

Edit: The Intrepid at Fitzmall looks nice. Wonder whether they will negotiate down from their internet price? I always thought from looking at their prices on new cars that the internet price was a bottom line sort of deal.

fezo

Dang! I know it's approaching that period in life where if you run out of gas they consider it totaled but that's no way to have it happen!

I like the idea of letting them total it, collect your money and fix it up. I also like that other Intrepid you spotted. After i had put more than planned into the Accord when the AC died I looked around and realized I could have picked up a used one with a third of the mileage pretty reasonably. Oh, well.

Best of luck!

andre1969

I don't know much about their internet pricing. My guess though, is that if they've had the car long enough and want it sold bad enough, they'll either deal with you, or keep slashing that internet price until it does sell.

For the most part though, I don't think Fitzmall's prices seem too bad. Here's another possible candidate, a 2002 Buick Park Ave.

Oh, as for buying the Intrepid back from the insurance company if they total it out, the insurance company said they don't recommend that. I'd also have to drop the full-coverage and comprehensive, and it would have a salvage title.

I'm still hoping that it doesn't end up being a total.

corvette

The Park Ave will drive just like most of the classic luxo-barges you own. I couldn't live with it as a daily driver, but to each his own.

I'd run the numbers before giving up on buying back/fixing the Intrepid... If you could buy it back for a few hundred bucks, the title issue and physical damage coverage wouldn't really matter that much.

qbrozen

Fin,
seems like I may have lucked out and it was just the fuel filter. Picked one up last night for lack of any better ideas that didn't involve special ordering expensive parts ($30 for the filter, though. most expensive one I've ever purchased). Swapped it this morning, checked the old one and it was pretty resistant to being blorwn through, started it up and it was idling smooth. Took it for a spin and it even has more power now.

Someone on 190rev said their wiper does the same thing when they are cranking with a low battery. Weird, but seemingly unrelated to the fuel delivery problem, at least.

fintail

Hey, that's what I call getting lucky. The relay has to be over $100 these days, and who knows what else it could have been...very nice. I hope that's it for awhile.

grandtotal

I'd also have to drop the full-coverage and comprehensive, and it would have a salvage title.

Why would that worry you? If you're buying it back at a low price and will keep it until it dies, so what?

I'd be more concerned about the lights that are lit. What is the SES light anyway? Do you mean SRS?

andre1969

Yeah, I guess if I can get the thing back, dirt cheap, it shouldn't be too much of a concern...except for those idiot lights. SES is abbreviation for "Service Engine Soon", although on the Intrepid, it actually shows a little picture of an engine that lights up yellow. I'm hoping it's just a pinched wire or something minor that's triggering those lights.

They're going to try to get a claims adjuster out tomorrow to look at the car, so hopefully I'll know something soon.

akangl

Oh, as for buying the Intrepid back from the insurance company if they total it out, the insurance company said they don't recommend that. I'd also have to drop the full-coverage and comprehensive, and it would have a salvage title.

Odd that they would make you drop full coverage and comp, we had that 97 F-250 that had been totaled twice, had a salvage title, and we still carried comp on it, they offered us full coverage but we declined. Guess all insurance companies are different.

Sucks that the car got hit though, I always worry some idiots going to nail my Pilot, that would seriously piss me off because I don't want a new car! Wow.....did I just say that?

boomchek

I think E30s have more character too than E36s. I can see them being more valuable in the future due to their low production, and them being the first M3.

fezo

Hey, if you wanted a Park Avenue lemko would have had a nice one for you.... Too late now.

andre1969

I've been browsing around various car sites, probably more than I should be, and found this 2008 Charger R/T at CarMax

2 years old, 20K miles, but pretty well-loaded. I said I wanted to go a bit more economical next time around, but this could tempt me...

fintail

If you're thnking of going that big, maybe a G8 as well?

andre1969

Yeah, a G8 might be tempting. Fitzmall has one of those, too, but it's just a V6 model. Nice looking car, although a bit basic.

If I'm gonna mess around with a Charger R/T or V-8 G8 though, I'll probably be in for a shock when I get the insurance bill.

tifighter

That G8 only has 6k miles...wonder what the story is there.

The R/T seems nice, just needs to lose that pinstripe.

qbrozen

Charger seems pricey. I don't know how these did on the lots, but I remember seeing brand new loaded Magnum RTs being firesaled for less than $24k.