Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

tjc78

28firefighter said:

My mechanic has a 2008 BMW 528 xDrive 6MT for sale. One owner, bunch of maintenance done because he planned to keep it for himself. $7k. Could be a great deal if the miles aren’t too crazy...

Sounds like job security for him!

All joking aside, could be a good find. Not many manual 5s around.

roadburner

ab348 said:

Yeah, I was stunned to recently see a commercial on one of the sports channels up here advertising a contest put on by one of the sponsors of a sweepstakes with the grand prize being one of those i-racing simulators. The ad said the price of the thing was $75K. I'm sure that the tech is amazing, but that really is a sign that you have too much money. I suppose the next big thing will be at-home flight simulators.

There's a guy on AVS Forums who is planning to buy three high-end 65" TVs to set up for his home gaming system; so that's $5k right there.

I read about one guy who converted a wrecked E30 M3 into a driving simulator.

graphicguy

@tjc78 ....beautiful car. Big congrats!

graphicguy

roadburner said:

ab348 said:

Yeah, I was stunned to recently see a commercial on one of the sports channels up here advertising a contest put on by one of the sponsors of a sweepstakes with the grand prize being one of those i-racing simulators. The ad said the price of the thing was $75K. I'm sure that the tech is amazing, but that really is a sign that you have too much money. I suppose the next big thing will be at-home flight simulators.

There's a guy on AVS Forums who is planning to buy three high-end 65" TVs to set up for his home gaming system; so that's $5k right there.

I read about one guy who converted a wrecked E30 M3 into a driving simulator.

I haven’t been over to AVS Forums in a while. Thanks for reminding me. I’ll jump over there to see what’s going on.

My former company built a motion driving simulator to train semi drivers. Keeping everything “screwed” down while offering 6º of 3 dimensional movement was the real trick. They didn’t sell many of them, but at the time got a lot of good press. Truth was, the motion platform flight simulators were used as the basis of their development.

28firefighter

I'd be far more interested (and if I had FU money) in a flight simulator rather than a racecar...

tjc78

graphicguy said:

@tjc78 ....beautiful car. Big congrats!

Thanks!

stickguy

28firefighter said:

I'd be far more interested (and if I had FU money) in a flight simulator rather than a racecar...

Same. You can always go drive your car like a fool, but most of us don’t have a 747 in the garage.

sb55

28firefighter said:

I'd be far more interested (and if I had FU money) in a flight simulator rather than a racecar...

My brother in law is a pilot/flight instructor at Fedex headquarters in Memphis. My whole family got to "play" in a DC10 simulator a few times. Very cool! It's nerve-wracking landing, but when you crash, you don't die!

ab348

graphicguy said:

@tjc78 ....beautiful car. Big congrats!

I was unfamiliar with these until I was next to one today in traffic, in a nice blue metallic paint. Very nice-looking rig, @tjc78 !

qbrozen

roadburner said:

There's a guy on AVS Forums who is planning to buy three high-end 65" TVs to set up for his home gaming system; so that's $5k right there.

I gotta wonder what that really does for you. I mean, the graphics aren't so realistic that a run-of-the-mill 4k TV couldn't handle it, AFAIK. Maybe I'm wrong.

kyfdx

sb55 said:

28firefighter said:

I'd be far more interested (and if I had FU money) in a flight simulator rather than a racecar...

My brother in law is a pilot/flight instructor at Fedex headquarters in Memphis. My whole family got to "play" in a DC10 simulator a few times. Very cool! It's nerve-wracking landing, but when you crash, you don't die!

Also fun to fly in the cockpit. The view when landing/taking off is amazing!

kyfdx

Car shopping today with my son. Tacoma lease is up in December.

Checked out a 2012 Forester 2.5 X with manual transmission. 125K miles. One owner, with a great Carfax. Looked and drove well. Asking $6950. (at small lot)

2004 Forester with stick.. 170K miles for $3950, at a Toyota dealer. Once we looked at it, decided not to drive it.

Spent 40 minutes at Carmax getting a bid on the Tacoma. Mentioned several times that it was a lease to be bought out. Finally, talked to someone in the business office. They can't buy leases from US Bank. US Bank will only sell to third party dealers that are in their "network". IOW, if a dealer doesn't write US Bank leases, they won't sell them the vehicle. Pretty reasonable bid, though ($29K). Unfortunately, it does me no good.

28firefighter

I feel like I've asked this before, but has he considered another Tacoma lease from the broker in Philly? Still a great value and new vs. something older and high mileage.

oldfarmer50

kyfdx said:

Car shopping today with my son. Tacoma lease is up in December.

Checked out a 2012 Forester 2.5 X with manual transmission. 125K miles. One owner, with a great Carfax. Looked and drove well. Asking $6950. (at small lot)

2004 Forester with stick.. 170K miles for $3950, at a Toyota dealer. Once we looked at it, decided not to drive it.

Spent 40 minutes at Carmax getting a bid on the Tacoma. Mentioned several times that it was a lease to be bought out. Finally, talked to someone in the business office. They can't buy leases from US Bank. US Bank will only sell to third party dealers that are in their "network". IOW, if a dealer doesn't write US Bank leases, they won't sell them the vehicle. Pretty reasonable bid, though ($29K). Unfortunately, it does me no good.

I admire your confidence that you can buy cars with that kind of milage without getting stuck with a lemon. I don’t have the smarts or the equipment to evaluate car like that so I usually stick with low mileage ones.

Do you hire out a PPI, buy an extended warranty or are you that mechanically inclined?

Michaell

Member needs help choosing a Volvo

breld

Test drove this today...

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/certified-used-2018-bmw-3-series-340i-xdrive-awd-4dr-car-wba8b7c51ja573012

The manual itself was really nice, as I expected given it’s an M-sport (short shifter). And the car was nicely balanced and would make a great daily commuter with an added dose of sport and fun with the manual trannie. But as a fun car it fell a bit short. Quick enough for sure, but overall not terribly engaging.

I imagine when I want to go with something different, and likely a manual, I’ll be looking at something more along the lines of an M2 or m240i. M3/M4 would be nice but obviously pricey.

@roadburner (and anyone feel free to chime in), is there anything on an F30 that transforms it into a decidedly more sporty vehicle (i.e., track handling package?).

28firefighter

I think you would probably want the track handling package with MPPSK. There may also be some Dinan mods.

That price seems bananas though - you're not terribly far off with dealer discounts + rebates from M340 territory, and that is truly fast.

nyccarguy

breld said:

Test drove this today...

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/certified-used-2018-bmw-3-series-340i-xdrive-awd-4dr-car-wba8b7c51ja573012

The manual itself was really nice, as I expected given it’s an M-sport (short shifter). And the car was nicely balanced and would make a great daily commuter with an added dose of sport and fun with the manual trannie. But as a fun car it fell a bit short. Quick enough for sure, but overall not terribly engaging.

I imagine when I want to go with something different, and likely a manual, I’ll be looking at something more along the lines of an M2 or m240i. M3/M4 would be nice but obviously pricey.

@roadburner (and anyone feel free to chime in), is there anything on an F30 that transforms it into a decidedly more sporty vehicle (i.e., track handling package?).

A decidedly more sportier vehicle? Yes. It’s called an ///M3.

28firefighter

^The man makes a good point.

breld

Yeah, I knew the pricing was high. Based on my stalking of these types of listings, it seems this one-price dealership has success in moving these 6-speed manual 340’s. The few buyers who really want one apparently are willing to pay a premium.

But I’m sure when you go there to trade one in they are more than willing to pay the same premium accordingly. 😉

stickguy

oldfarmer50 said:

kyfdx said:

Car shopping today with my son. Tacoma lease is up in December.

Checked out a 2012 Forester 2.5 X with manual transmission. 125K miles. One owner, with a great Carfax. Looked and drove well. Asking $6950. (at small lot)

2004 Forester with stick.. 170K miles for $3950, at a Toyota dealer. Once we looked at it, decided not to drive it.

Spent 40 minutes at Carmax getting a bid on the Tacoma. Mentioned several times that it was a lease to be bought out. Finally, talked to someone in the business office. They can't buy leases from US Bank. US Bank will only sell to third party dealers that are in their "network". IOW, if a dealer doesn't write US Bank leases, they won't sell them the vehicle. Pretty reasonable bid, though ($29K). Unfortunately, it does me no good.

I admire your confidence that you can buy cars with that kind of milage without getting stuck with a lemon. I don’t have the smarts or the equipment to evaluate car like that so I usually stick with low mileage ones.

Do you hire out a PPI, buy an extended warranty or are you that mechanically inclined?

I usually go with my gut. It, doesn't always work out.

kyfdx

oldfarmer50 said:

kyfdx said:

Car shopping today with my son. Tacoma lease is up in December.

Checked out a 2012 Forester 2.5 X with manual transmission. 125K miles. One owner, with a great Carfax. Looked and drove well. Asking $6950. (at small lot)

2004 Forester with stick.. 170K miles for $3950, at a Toyota dealer. Once we looked at it, decided not to drive it.

Spent 40 minutes at Carmax getting a bid on the Tacoma. Mentioned several times that it was a lease to be bought out. Finally, talked to someone in the business office. They can't buy leases from US Bank. US Bank will only sell to third party dealers that are in their "network". IOW, if a dealer doesn't write US Bank leases, they won't sell them the vehicle. Pretty reasonable bid, though ($29K). Unfortunately, it does me no good.

I admire your confidence that you can buy cars with that kind of milage without getting stuck with a lemon. I don’t have the smarts or the equipment to evaluate car like that so I usually stick with low mileage ones.

Do you hire out a PPI, buy an extended warranty or are you that mechanically inclined?

He is buying the car. $8K or less is his budget. He has the cash. Credit isn’t good enough to lease, or get a loan on a more expensive vehicle.

You have to start somewhere.

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

I feel like I've asked this before, but has he considered another Tacoma lease from the broker in Philly? Still a great value and new vs. something older and high mileage.

Too poor, lousy credit

stickguy

well, even though I would not pay that much for it, I love the colors on that 340.

speaking of colors, I saw a bunch of "twinnies" today(our term for a duplicate of our car). At BJs, 2 spots up another white RDX. and walking home from dinner, another one going to a house just outside our neighborhood. My wife was excited to know that for a change, she was a trendsetter!

stickguy

keep getting texts and emails from my son about options for his next car (for the lease that expires 12/2021, we like to plan ahead). Latest was a 2014 (I think) Cayman. I gently pointed out maintenance costs on a Porsche. He is rethinking that option. Really interested in the new model Golf R if it comes out in time. Or maybe a GV70 Genesis (nice 1 car option instead of a sports car and a truck to replace his G70).

This could be fun, doing some test driving!

roadburner

breld said:

Test drove this today...

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/certified-used-2018-bmw-3-series-340i-xdrive-awd-4dr-car-wba8b7c51ja573012

The manual itself was really nice, as I expected given it’s an M-sport (short shifter). And the car was nicely balanced and would make a great daily commuter with an added dose of sport and fun with the manual trannie. But as a fun car it fell a bit short. Quick enough for sure, but overall not terribly engaging.

I imagine when I want to go with something different, and likely a manual, I’ll be looking at something more along the lines of an M2 or m240i. M3/M4 would be nice but obviously pricey.

@roadburner (and anyone feel free to chime in), is there anything on an F30 that transforms it into a decidedly more sporty vehicle (i.e., track handling package?).

I try to like the Fxx 3ers and 4ers, but I struggle to get excited about them. As @28firefighter said, I'd want the THP as well as the MPPSK at a minimum.

xwesx

kyfdx said:

He is buying the car. $8K or less is his budget. He has the cash. Credit isn’t good enough to lease, or get a loan on a more expensive vehicle.

You have to start somewhere.

I can think of a Honda Fit w/ 5-speed that could be a really good fit for his budget.

xwesx

Oh wait.... nevermind.

stickguy

channel your inner Scotty, and get him a 20 YO Corolla with 125,000 miles on it. Stick shift, roll up windows, rubber mats.

nyccarguy

28firefighter said:

^The man makes a good point.

I was obviously joking when I made that comment knowing the price delta between a regular, ///M Sport 3er & a real, full blown ///M Car.

I’ve admired BMWs for a long time. The ///M3 (which is now the ///M4) has always been the BMW I lusted after. New ones have always been way above my pay grade. CPO ///M models always seem to be priced less than new (obviously), but just out of my reach. I never seem to find the right color combination. Every time I saw a nice priced CPO E36 ///M3 it always had too many miles, was Techno Violet with the Dove Grey Interior, & the Luxury wheels. I only liked E46 ///M3 Coupes with the ‘04 - ‘06 LED tail Lights, the 18” wheels & a 6-Speed Stick These seem to never drop to the price level where I could afford one. Lots of SMG drop tops out there with 19” wheels.

While the ///M Cars do depreciate, they do seem to hold their value somewhat better than regular BMWs. I’m sure @breld keeps his cars immaculate, so given it would be a stick in palatable color (his wife likes blue) it might not cost him that much more in depreciation compared to a regular BMW.

It seems there’s always someone on LH who is trying to swap out of their M3 Competition. Maybe a “short term” lease on a ///M3 or ///M3 is just what the dr ordered for @breld & his constant thirst for a BMW.

suydam

breld said:

Test drove this today...

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/certified-used-2018-bmw-3-series-340i-xdrive-awd-4dr-car-wba8b7c51ja573012

The manual itself was really nice, as I expected given it’s an M-sport (short shifter). And the car was nicely balanced and would make a great daily commuter with an added dose of sport and fun with the manual trannie. But as a fun car it fell a bit short. Quick enough for sure, but overall not terribly engaging.

I imagine when I want to go with something different, and likely a manual, I’ll be looking at something more along the lines of an M2 or m240i. M3/M4 would be nice but obviously pricey.

@roadburner (and anyone feel free to chime in), is there anything on an F30 that transforms it into a decidedly more sporty vehicle (i.e., track handling package?).

Uh oh.

corvette

kyfdx said:

He is buying the car. $8K or less is his budget. He has the cash.

Clean looking Cav

2007 MKZ

2007 Frontier 2wd

2007 Sienna

28firefighter

That MKZ is a wonderful value and should be super cheap to operate.

corvette

28firefighter said:

That MKZ is a wonderful value and should be super cheap to operate.

Some wear on the driver's seat, but looks clean other than that. Very low miles.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

kyfdx said:

Car shopping today with my son. Tacoma lease is up in December.

Checked out a 2012 Forester 2.5 X with manual transmission. 125K miles. One owner, with a great Carfax. Looked and drove well. Asking $6950. (at small lot)

2004 Forester with stick.. 170K miles for $3950, at a Toyota dealer. Once we looked at it, decided not to drive it.

Spent 40 minutes at Carmax getting a bid on the Tacoma. Mentioned several times that it was a lease to be bought out. Finally, talked to someone in the business office. They can't buy leases from US Bank. US Bank will only sell to third party dealers that are in their "network". IOW, if a dealer doesn't write US Bank leases, they won't sell them the vehicle. Pretty reasonable bid, though ($29K). Unfortunately, it does me no good.

I admire your confidence that you can buy cars with that kind of milage without getting stuck with a lemon. I don’t have the smarts or the equipment to evaluate car like that so I usually stick with low mileage ones.

Do you hire out a PPI, buy an extended warranty or are you that mechanically inclined?

I usually go with my gut. It, doesn't always work out.

Sometimes when you go with your gut, you get indigestion.😩

stickguy

MKZ is definitely the winner of that motley crue. Or is it one of the fatal flaw motors?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWfi8GExpXI

this would have worked. Cheap!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yxETp7sRsI

stickguy

and yes, I spend way, way too much time these days watching Youtube videos.

stickguy

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

kyfdx said:

Car shopping today with my son. Tacoma lease is up in December.

Checked out a 2012 Forester 2.5 X with manual transmission. 125K miles. One owner, with a great Carfax. Looked and drove well. Asking $6950. (at small lot)

2004 Forester with stick.. 170K miles for $3950, at a Toyota dealer. Once we looked at it, decided not to drive it.

Spent 40 minutes at Carmax getting a bid on the Tacoma. Mentioned several times that it was a lease to be bought out. Finally, talked to someone in the business office. They can't buy leases from US Bank. US Bank will only sell to third party dealers that are in their "network". IOW, if a dealer doesn't write US Bank leases, they won't sell them the vehicle. Pretty reasonable bid, though ($29K). Unfortunately, it does me no good.

I admire your confidence that you can buy cars with that kind of milage without getting stuck with a lemon. I don’t have the smarts or the equipment to evaluate car like that so I usually stick with low mileage ones.

Do you hire out a PPI, buy an extended warranty or are you that mechanically inclined?

I usually go with my gut. It, doesn't always work out.

Sometimes when you go with your gut, you get indigestion.😩

the used car market is tough. Especially the cheap end. Usually, you need to be trolling the listings, and have a wad of cash in your pocket, and be willing to act quick. Because if you stumble on one of the rare good deals, you better act quick or you will miss out.

most sellers, aren't taking the car off the market for a week while you coordinate a PPI, etc. they are taking the cash from some other guy instead.

Maybe different if you are buying at a dealer, and paying a premium for a car. But CL? that is first cash takes it, figure out what you bought later. So it really helps if you are a competent mechanic, or know one that you can bring along with you. Pretty easy to check the basic, obvious stuff in a once over and test drive.

oldfarmer50

kyfdx said:

oldfarmer50 said:

kyfdx said:

Car shopping today with my son. Tacoma lease is up in December.

Checked out a 2012 Forester 2.5 X with manual transmission. 125K miles. One owner, with a great Carfax. Looked and drove well. Asking $6950. (at small lot)

2004 Forester with stick.. 170K miles for $3950, at a Toyota dealer. Once we looked at it, decided not to drive it.

Spent 40 minutes at Carmax getting a bid on the Tacoma. Mentioned several times that it was a lease to be bought out. Finally, talked to someone in the business office. They can't buy leases from US Bank. US Bank will only sell to third party dealers that are in their "network". IOW, if a dealer doesn't write US Bank leases, they won't sell them the vehicle. Pretty reasonable bid, though ($29K). Unfortunately, it does me no good.

I admire your confidence that you can buy cars with that kind of milage without getting stuck with a lemon. I don’t have the smarts or the equipment to evaluate car like that so I usually stick with low mileage ones.

Do you hire out a PPI, buy an extended warranty or are you that mechanically inclined?

He is buying the car. $8K or less is his budget. He has the cash. Credit isn’t good enough to lease, or get a loan on a more expensive vehicle.

You have to start somewhere.

Does he have any prejudice against domestics? Maybe a nice boring Buick or Chevy? For about $8k I got a Fusion with under 30k miles.

stickguy

poor kid, having to downgrade from a nice new Taco to a beater. Maybe he should get a 2nd job so he can buy something fancy like a Lambo? Though that would probably have to be drug mule or YouTube celebrity!

stickguy

I am starting to get antsy about looking. Though I am enjoying having extra money in the bank every month, and truly have zero need for one. good think my son is going to be looking next year, I can focus my looking on that.

corvette

JR said on his live stream from Vegas that he wasn't planning a diesel delete on the F250 because it was under warranty. Not sure whether he's taken it back to CarMax to get the latest CEL fixed.

oldfarmer50

corvette said:

kyfdx said:

He is buying the car. $8K or less is his budget. He has the cash.

Clean looking Cav

2007 MKZ

2007 Frontier 2wd

2007 Sienna

Here comes the party pooper:

If the Cavalier has the 2.2L they liked to snap valves.

The Lincoln looks like a screaming buy if it doesn’t have the 3.5L with the internal water pump that could fail unexpectedly and ruin the engine.

The Frontiers that I’ve driven were nice and 2WD is fine if there’s not 3 feet of snow. Mileage is scary on that one.

The Sienna looks nice and I’d choose a high mile Toyota over a similar Nissan any day.

28firefighter

I’ve definitely got the itch to flip the i3, even though I love it.

stickguy

one good thing to be down to one car (that belongs to the wife). No need to flip! Just an empty garage bay to fill.

well, technically it is full of stuff because we emptied out the she and put it all in that side of the garage, until the old one gets removed and new one built next week.

corvette

oldfarmer50 said:

If the Cavalier has the 2.2L they liked to snap valves.

My parents had a GMC Sonoma, which I think had the same or similar 2.2 liter engine. 150,000 miles with no major mechanical problems, although I think it had a valve job when it was new, due to oil consumption. The center armrest self-destructed, and one of the adjustment levers for the driver's seat broke off--typical of the interiors on that era GM vehicle.

breld

28firefighter said:

I’ve definitely got the itch to flip the i3, even though I love it.

Contenders?

28firefighter

At the moment there is a 540i xDrive M Sport loaner that I’m swooning over.

But I waffle throughout the day.

qbrozen

I’m still facing down the demon in my head who says, “you aren’t driving anyway, so what does it matter what is in the driveway?”

Funny enough, the wife has been eyeing convertibles. Lol.

oldfarmer50

Stickguy said:
“ the used car market is tough. Especially the cheap end. Usually, you need to be trolling the listings, and have a wad of cash in your pocket, and be willing to act quick. Because if you stumble on one of the rare good deals, you better act quick or you will miss out.”

That is so true. Back in 2016 I saw a grandma special on CL that was posted less than an hour before. Called immediately, saw the car early next morning and offered a little less than asking. Drove away with a 49k mile Florida car for $3500 in hundred dollar bills. 4 other buyers had called as I was test driving.

Same thing with the Sebring, although it was so cheap it just had to roll and the top go up and down.

On both those cars I should have at least bought along a code reader but I got lucky. Next time I will bring one and I recommend on ANY used car bringing the best one you can afford.