Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

Drove some new 2021 Kia Souls at work and found them the shift with no issues at all. They were "S" models so not sure where they land in the pecking order. But I quite enjoyed the drive and they only had like 8 miles on them. Vision out of them was outstanding and wouldn't have any problem owning one when I do get around to replacing the Golf. Figure they'd be "cheap to keep" with little to no drama at all. And going forward, that's something I'm really looking forward to. This VW Golf has had just too much drama over the years and things that I had to replace were stuff that VW should've paid for or at least covered 75% of. I'm not sure I'm going to have the stomach to do it all over again with another VW product, much less a BMW or MB. "Cheap to keep" is starting to look so much better right now but for at least the time being, the Golf is behaving itself. Am hoping this will continue for the next 18 to 24 months if possible as I do like it that much.
And as much as I do like the Mini Cooper vehicles, I think they're not going to be so good with my spinal issues. But again, we'll just have to see how things go going forward and my perfect scenario would be to have no more issues for the next 2 years and by that time, the new 2023 models will be out for me to choose from. But, who knows if that will come true but with the low mileage I'm doing this year, a distinct possibility. Come December 3rd, it'll be a year that I started working 3.3 miles from the house and I've yet to break the 4K point for the year. So if I do end up working another couple of years, again a real possibility, that might be another 8K miles or so and as of today, I'm at around 65.5K miles on it. So, in a couple of years, I'll still be under 74K which works for me. And I'll have another couple of years to save my nickels and dimes.

The S trim Soul is second of six trim levels for 2021. They really confused things since 2019 when they had only 3 well delineated trims. Interestingly, the 2.0L engine is rated at 147hp for 21’ but 161hp for 19’.

If you want the hot version get the one with the turbo.

fintail

breld said:

This is the first Mazda3 that I prefer in sedan form over the hatch.

I think it's a good looking car overall and no doubt continues Mazda's run of nicely finished pleasant driving cars, but I just can't get past this:

oldfarmer50

tommister2 said:

Can we drop the mask talk please? Cars don’t wear masks

Some wear bras though.🤬

tjc78

That rear quarter is painful.

qbrozen

My buddy with the GT3RS just started the buying process on this for his daily.
https://www.carvana.com/search/2000716121

If it disappears from Carvana’s site, it is a 2018 S4 with 15k miles.

oldfarmer50

andres3 said:

corvette said:

@andres3 - if it was shipped on a non-enclosed transporter, I don't think it would matter how long ago it was detailed, it's going to look like a mess once it gets to its destination. Agree about the backup cam. I wish my Tundra had dynamic guide lines, which I'm sure they're waiting for the redesign to implement.

Remember, it was picked up and delivered the same day, and it's a 300 mile jaunt or so, not a long haul by most standards.

Either way, it was fine. On the one hand the prior "old geezer" owner makes @oldfarmer50 happy that the car was not hooned, but on the other, all the wheels have at least some scuffing from curb rash, and one of the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ tires is "gouged." A bit more than a scratch, it has a small flapping piece of rubber on the sidewall, but it's not quite deep enough to reach visible cord/wire, so I think I'm OK.... though if there's one "beef" with the dealership, it'll be this tire; and the shipper noted the tire damage to sidewall on their "pickup" report.

Sounds like the geezer was doing donuts and clipped the curb.....a lot.😫

andres3

qbrozen said:

My buddy with the GT3RS just started the buying process on this for his daily.
https://www.carvana.com/search/2000716121

If it disappears from Carvana’s site, it is a 2018 S4 with 15k miles.

That's a very solid competitive price for an '18 with low miles! Good for him.

ab348

tjc78 said:

That rear quarter is painful.

Hideous.

xwesx

oldfarmer50 said:

Whenever I’ve bought a used car private party I ask the seller to drive it to my home if it’s close enough or in one case where it’s out of state I arrange to leave it with the seller until I can get it registered and go back with plates. On the odd occasion when I considered buying far away, say Florida, I’d get temp plates locally and drive it home.

I have not had that opportunity (long-distance private party purchase), though I can imagine that it might be more troublesome to get the necessary paperwork shipped.

oldfarmer50

Buy,buy, buy!

https://youtu.be/QYH4-KL7Gh8

xwesx

qbrozen said:

My buddy with the GT3RS just started the buying process on this for his daily.
https://www.carvana.com/search/2000716121

If it disappears from Carvana’s site, it is a 2018 S4 with 15k miles.

Eech. It has the Audi Crazymatic Shifter.

ronsteve

stickguy said:

breld said:

No doubt there’s a sizable premium on this, but all in all it’s a nice vehicle for not a ton of money.

https://glenshelly.com/sales/2001-bmw-325xi-touring

my favorite colors. But a slicktop? That hurts me in my soul. And if I ever do finally bite the bullet on an E46, it won't have AWD.

Even with AWD and no hole in the roof, that's a beautiful Bimmer! But I think the biggest downfall may be the lack of bunwarmers.

qbrozen

andres3 said:

qbrozen said:

My buddy with the GT3RS just started the buying process on this for his daily.
https://www.carvana.com/search/2000716121

If it disappears from Carvana’s site, it is a 2018 S4 with 15k miles.

That's a very solid competitive price for an '18 with low miles! Good for him.

The shopping with him was ... humorous. He started out wanting a Wrangler Unlimited. This was to be a temporary solution until his Bronco pre-order came to fruition. Something fun with strong resale that could carry the kids and dogs. Yeah...the S4 fits none of those, except the fun part. I gave him so many options. He’d shoot something down for being non-CPO or bland looking or not big enough. Yup... a used S4. LOL. Ah well. Can’t help everybody.

tjc78

@andres3
Congrats. That’s one nice Audi. Colors are fantastic.

Sandman6472

Finally got to drive a Tesla yesterday. Took a few minutes to get used to it though. It's like a burst of forward motion but take your foot of the accelerator, and bamm, it stops like a rock. I had to feather the accelerator a bit to come to a normal slow down and stop. After a few times, it became more natural. We picked up our Enterprise loaners from the Tesla store in West Palm Beach but they were super low in battery power and all their charging stations were being used. Went to a nearby Wawa and found two empty "fast chargers" but it still took 90 minutes to get full battery.
Definitely want to try one again but this time, would like it for a longer time. Thinking a Chevy Bolt would be the best of both worlds actually. Have a small gas engine to pick up the slack if one runs out of electric power. After talking with some Tesla owners at the Wawa, seems like the federal and state rebates are over so they are pretty pricey for the average person. And what happens after years when the batteries need replacing? And the upfront costs to get the proper retrofitted charger at one's home...guessing that could cost upwards of $750 or so. Seems like the cost of admission is a bit high. But, am still intrigued by something like the Chevy Bolt or Nissan Leaf at this point.

Sandman6472

What is "SiriusXM Select"? Just have regular XM here but it's up for renewal shortly. Like it but don't have to have it now. I want to pay as low as I can to be honest.
Any help here would be appreciated folks!

tjc78

Is Wawa as popular down in FL as it is here in Jersey/PA ?

isellhondas

28firefighter said:

So I watched JRGo’s latest video and I think I’m done with his channel. It is great he’s invested in space for a shop. However, there is just entirely too much stupidity wrapped up into one video for me to support.

Top hits of stupidity...
(1) A large, unmasked gathering of people in a part of the country where COVID cases have exploded. In attendance were several folks who would be deemed high risk. On the next episode of WatchJRGo, “I’m a super spreader.”

(2) Doing massive donuts and burnouts in a confined space with many people standing around - including one person in a wheelchair who would have no ability to move out of the way if someone lost control.

(3) In case #1 wasn’t convincing, I’m sure standing in a building full of burnt rubber and diesel engine smoke without proper ventilation will really help keep their lungs in tip top shape.

I’m all for celebrating but come on...like one big cars and coffee ooopsie waiting to happen. There is a place to do crazy stuff - it’s called the track.

I watched the same episode and even commented on the stupid burnouts. Anymore of this from him and I'm done. I really like the Vise Grip Garage guy and Weird Beard the best.

Sandman6472

It's starting to as they are building them all over it seems. Even built one near our house near the high school in Coral Springs. I usually use Cumberland Farms as they are also all around now and have a fleet card where I save $.10/gallon and it comes right out of my checking account. Makes it pretty seamless and love saving a few cents on each gallon. Luckily, I no longer drive very far and come next week, it'll be a year since I changed jobs. If I use a 1/4 a tank each week, I'm lucky.
We also joined BJ's with one of our kids a few weeks back and their petrol prices are usually the lowest around. But I don't have a card so just go to Cumberland Farms and I'm done.

isellhondas

Sandman6472 said:

What is "SiriusXM Select"? Just have regular XM here but it's up for renewal shortly. Like it but don't have to have it now. I want to pay as low as I can to be honest.
Any help here would be appreciated folks!

They are VERY flexible on pricing! If you tell them that you don't really use it much and to cancel they will quickly drop the price! DO NOT give them your credit card information! If they get this is almost impossible to cancell. I know someone who got a year for 5.00 a month. He told them that the first time they raised the price he could cancel. I think it's been two years now.

corvette

SiriusXM Select is one of the packages they offer that doesn't have all the channels. It still has a good variety, though. I've never *not* given them my CC number and have never had an issue canceling. I'm not sure how you pay them without a CC?

fintail

For a few years I've just been calling in to Sirius/XM the day before my subscription runs out. I've been on the $5/month plan for some time now, it's fair at that price, the supposed retail price is a little crazy though.

fintail

The only big name channels I watch with any regularity are Hoovie and Car Wizard. Hoovies shtick can get a little overdone sometimes, but is generally tolerable, and he seems to have some similar car tastes to me. Otherwise, I still like the auction flipper type channels, and catch Leno now and then too.

isellhondas said:

I watched the same episode and even commented on the stupid burnouts. Anymore of this from him and I'm done. I really like the Vise Grip Garage guy and Weird Beard the best.

qbrozen

Sandman6472 said:

Thinking a Chevy Bolt would be the best of both worlds actually. Have a small gas engine to pick up the slack if one runs out of electric power.

... But, am still intrigued by something like the Chevy Bolt or Nissan Leaf at this point.

There is no gas engine in either the Bolt nor Leaf.

28firefighter

Wizard made a big oops on Hoovie’s SLS. I actually think Tyler overdid it rubbing wizard’s nose in it. An entire video, etc.

breld

Doesn’t seem like I’m the only one, but is there a trick to posting pictures? I seem to be able to do it on my windows laptop, but not on my iPad, iPhone or MacBook. I’ve tried using Chrome instead of Safari without success.

I was able to do it before, but none of the icons above the message seem to work anymore.

corvette

28firefighter said:

Wizard made a big oops on Hoovie’s SLS. I actually think Tyler overdid it rubbing wizard’s nose in it. An entire video, etc.

"WRONG HOLE!" in the preview thumbnail.

Michaell

Anyone want to help select a European car for a member?

https://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/64082/audi/a3/a3-limuzina-s-line-vs-bmw-2-series-gran-coupe-model-sport-line-vs-vw-arteon#latest

andres3

oldfarmer50 said:

roadburner said:

au1994 said:

It’s amazing to me that in this day and age of e-commerce, the breadth and depth of knowledge on the internet and COVID, dealers still play these asinine games.

I’ve been sort of shopping for an X1 replacement. Hard to get info out of some dealers. Rather than answering the question, I get “Good news!! Your Widgetmobile GX is still available!! When can you come in for a test drive?”

Or like you did on the Enclave, some ridiculous numbers...$700 on an XC60 Momentum. Seriously.

Constantly trying to get my number too as I have been email only so far. “Would you like to communicate via text?”. Ummm no as you will be calling me daily from here on out.

Don't get me started about the "Click here for E-Price!!!" game...
In contrast, a couple of the Kia dealers I've emailed have been reasonable- one to the point that if I do with a Stinger I'm getting it from him. He even quoted me an OTD price without any games. The BMW dealers I contacted haven't been bad either- but I usually contact a salesperson directly.
I did contact a friend who used to work at BMW-he now works at the Alfa/Audi/Jaguar/LR/Maserati/Porsche dealer- and found out he can sell from any store.
That may not end well for me...

I’ve gone down that “get your special e quote price” road much to my dismay. Some of our former dealer posters say the reason you can’t really get an internet price is because they fear you’ll just shop it all over town to save $50.

But if they quoted $50 lower the other dealership might not want to win by $50.

It has gotten to the point that if a dealership doesn't force me to walk away I feel like I've paid too much.

ab348

isellhondas said:

Sandman6472 said:

What is "SiriusXM Select"? Just have regular XM here but it's up for renewal shortly. Like it but don't have to have it now. I want to pay as low as I can to be honest.
Any help here would be appreciated folks!

They are VERY flexible on pricing! If you tell them that you don't really use it much and to cancel they will quickly drop the price! DO NOT give them your credit card information! If they get this is almost impossible to cancell. I know someone who got a year for 5.00 a month. He told them that the first time they raised the price he could cancel. I think it's been two years now.

A terrible company with a terrible business model. So glad I’m done with them.

andres3

roadburner said:

breld said:

Another local BMW dealer I’ve worked with plenty, including the 228i earlier this year, just got a slightly used 2020 M2 in.

It’d be more tempting if it had a manual, but it doesn’t. I’m not opposed to the DCT at all, but it’s not all that compelling to switch for an auto when it would pretty much feel the same as my current ride.

I mean, who would make a change just for the sake of change? 😀

The killer for me is that an M2 Comp is one of the last cars where the manual is faster than the automatic or DCT.

0.1 seconds? Likely due to the extra weight. I would wager there's a TCU tune out there that would make up for the .1 or .2 seconds.

kyfdx

breld said:

Doesn’t seem like I’m the only one, but is there a trick to posting pictures? I seem to be able to do it on my windows laptop, but not on my iPad, iPhone or MacBook. I’ve tried using Chrome instead of Safari without success.

I was able to do it before, but none of the icons above the message seem to work anymore.

It has recently crapped out on Safari, which almost always works.

I'll get @michaell right on it. He is our tech guy, so forward any complaints to him.

[Deleted User]

Too good to be true? Anyone have any experience with this site?

https://www.swapalease.com/lease/details/2019-Toyota-Tacoma.aspx?salid=1513548

28firefighter

There is a broker on the east coast that gets deals like this regularly. Swapalease is legit. I’d say you might be able to get close on a new one for yourself if you shop a bit.

oldfarmer50

kyfdx said:

breld said:

Doesn’t seem like I’m the only one, but is there a trick to posting pictures? I seem to be able to do it on my windows laptop, but not on my iPad, iPhone or MacBook. I’ve tried using Chrome instead of Safari without success.

I was able to do it before, but none of the icons above the message seem to work anymore.

It has recently crapped out on Safari, which almost always works.

I'll get @michaell right on it. He is our tech guy, so forward any complaints to him.

My ability to post using Safari went away right after an automatic update to the system took place. I wonder if that had something to do with it.

28firefighter

Happy thanksgiving, friends!

To celebrate we had some relatively dry weather this morning, so I took the ZHP out and opened her up a bit. So nice given that it’s been on the trickle charger for 2+ weeks.

Now, My turkey is in the fryer was we speak.

Grateful for this community of enablers. You’re the only ones who understand this affliction.

Sandman6472

Happy Thanksgiving folks!!
Just finished with Sirius/XM and got the Select Package also for $60 plus $22.43 tax. Since I still had a credit, that was taken off. All I won't get is Howard Stern, Nascar & the NFL Channels. Figured it was well worth it to reduce the price and still keep the service. So, thanks for the heads up here.
Lastly, on the way to dinner, the tire icon came on so one of the tires has an issue. We looked and no nails or screws so will have to take a ride over to Goodyear in a few days and get it checked out. Always something it seems!!

qbrozen

Michaell said:

Anyone want to help select a European car for a member?

https://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/64082/audi/a3/a3-limuzina-s-line-vs-bmw-2-series-gran-coupe-model-sport-line-vs-vw-arteon#latest

I don’t want to carry that kind of guilt

oldfarmer50

I tried stickguy’s suggestion and this was the best I could do with pictures.

This is the result of my amateur body work on my rusted out van door.

https://apis.mail.yahoo.com/ws/v3/mailboxes/@.id==VjN-dPTHuhV5ERznQNaVH3A6ocu1xEHxVfe1cLgNG6qgu8a-AF6NpLnErnHDixs0tShGy5qpTrRmCN0StAvLGuqJTQ/messages/@.id==ANM597Y_yJiRX8AuNAFfkDZXDrU/content/parts/@.id==3/thumbnail?appId=YMailNoble&size=150w&w=150&h=150

https://apis.mail.yahoo.com/ws/v3/mailboxes/@.id==VjN-dPTHuhV5ERznQNaVH3A6ocu1xEHxVfe1cLgNG6qgu8a-AF6NpLnErnHDixs0tShGy5qpTrRmCN0StAvLGuqJTQ/messages/@.id==ANM597Y_yJiRX8AuNAFfkDZXDrU/content/parts/@.id==2/thumbnail?appId=YMailNoble&size=150w&w=150&h=150

stickguy

not coming up for me off those links.

easiest way, at least on a PC or laptop, is to save the picture into your photo library. then in the comment box, click the attach image icon, select "choose files" and just path to the picture and double click on it, then hit post.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

not coming up for me off those links.

easiest way, at least on a PC or laptop, is to save the picture into your photo library. then in the comment box, click the attach image icon, select "choose files" and just path to the picture and double click on it, then hit post.

Yeah, that’s the problem, nothing in the tool bar above the comments works any more. Too get those pictures to post I attached them to an email and then copied them off there before posting.

Funny that you can’t view them because I can. This is getting weird.

I don’t have a PC, only an iPad. I can’t copy directly out of my photo library only if I make an attachment.

stickguy

I have issues off the ipad too. But haven't really spent time trying to figure it out.

I get an error code on your links. I think it might be trying to go to your mailbox, which you can but I couldn't. So not sure you really copied the picture as opposed to the link for it.

ab348

stickguy said:

not coming up for me off those links.

easiest way, at least on a PC or laptop, is to save the picture into your photo library. then in the comment box, click the attach image icon, select "choose files" and just path to the picture and double click on it, then hit post.

That almost never works, which is the root of the problem.

kyfdx

venture

ab348 said:

isellhondas said:

Sandman6472 said:

What is "SiriusXM Select"? Just have regular XM here but it's up for renewal shortly. Like it but don't have to have it now. I want to pay as low as I can to be honest.
Any help here would be appreciated folks!

They are VERY flexible on pricing! If you tell them that you don't really use it much and to cancel they will quickly drop the price! DO NOT give them your credit card information! If they get this is almost impossible to cancell. I know someone who got a year for 5.00 a month. He told them that the first time they raised the price he could cancel. I think it's been two years now.

A terrible company with a terrible business model. So glad I’m done with them.

Me too. It's been 2 (maybe 3) years and don't miss it.

sda

I used to be able to post from my Surface, and Samsung Galaxy S10. Fail. Then I resorted to sending a picture to my email and saving it in my picture gallery on my I pad. That worked, but no longer. I guess they don’t want us to post pictures?

graphicguy

@oldfarmer50 ...I’ve watched some of those “Flying Wheels” vids. Pretty interesting as a front line experience from a guy who has been doing it for a while. He buys some silly stuff, sometimes. But, he’s been at it for a while, so he must be doing something right.

roadburner

kyfdx said:

A "High End" used car lot had a Elan in their inventory several years ago. An intriguing car, but I'd rather have an Elise.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

I have issues off the ipad too. But haven't really spent time trying to figure it out.

I get an error code on your links. I think it might be trying to go to your mailbox, which you can but I couldn't. So not sure you really copied the picture as opposed to the link for it.

It’s tough being a tech dinosaur.

oldfarmer50

Looks like JR stole those warehouses. Listed for over $400k and he got it for $236k. Commercial real estate must be in the dumpster in his area.