Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

Sandman6472

Had a meeting at work today. Bottom line is since the majority of folks have gotten their vaccines, they want to ramp up the number of drivers/vehicle if possible. Minivans will be added to the mix as well as the current 15 packs but with proper social distancing plus continued use of masks. 5 folks in the minivans and 8 folks in the 15 packs as I recall, but will ask about those numbers again just to be sure I heard it right. They stressed that they cannot require us to get the vaccine, only hope folks will. They gave us a form to sign if we're cool with the proposed plans and on it, we had to write the date of our second shot. So basically, they can't even ask if we got the vaccine much less require it but by handing in the consent forms, we're telling them we got the vaccine. Those that haven't yet obviously cannot hand in the form as they'd be lying and subject to immediate dismissal I'm assuming.
We do have a few folks who refuse to take the vaccine and believe in these crazy q'non fantasies. I'm guessing those that refuse to get vaccinated will be kept together as a group and not be allowed to mix with the rest of us drivers, as it should be. Their right of refusal does not supercede our right to not be exposed to it possibly by these folks. I feel sorry for our company in this respect because it's financially better to have more drivers/vehicle so we can move more vehicles going forward but they can't force those holdouts to get vaccinated and it's nothing they can be fired over. They just have to do things differently for those folks. They need to keep both groups separated for safety reasons. End of story.
Am happy that the company is trying to get back to more drivers/vehicle and hope those holdouts will seriously consider just getting vaccinated for the health & safety of the rest of us. The time to inch back to a more normal life has come and pleased that the company wants to do it in a very safe manner. This is really a win/win for our country, the greatest country on this planet!!!

Sandman6472

Took me awhile to phrase my last comment as I kept going over it & tweaking it. Just hope it came across as something positive. This really is new territory for us all and am sure many other work places are struggling to come up with a plan for the future, be it WFH, going back to the office full time or a hybrid form of both. In our job, we have to be there, moving the vehicles. By moving slowly forward, think Enterprise is trying to be as safe as possible for everyone, period. I do appreciate their concern for our well being and making work for both groups as safe as they can. It's probably the best compromise at this juncture.

xwesx

Sandman6472 said:

Am happy that the company is trying to get back to more drivers/vehicle and hope those holdouts will seriously consider just getting vaccinated for the health & safety of the rest of us. The time to inch back to a more normal life has come and pleased that the company wants to do it in a very safe manner. This is really a win/win for our country, the greatest country on this planet!!!

Sounds like the company is taking a good approach. And, they actually can require employees to vaccinate (if they want to keep their jobs), though I think it is a good option for them to go the "encouragement" route. As long as they push reasonable safety protocols and have strict illness policies, these socially-responsible behaviors will help keep you all healthy!

ab348

tjc78 said:

stickguy said:

I saw a Telluride and Palisade at the same intersection tonight. They look ginormous.

take a look at a Traverse? also large.

Those and Enclave are as big as you get without going Tahoe/Expedition

The GMC Acadia is a slightly smaller version of the Traverse/Enclave. I really liked the one I had for a day.

tjc78

I still love the album that song is on. “August and everything after”

tjc78

ab348 said:

tjc78 said:

stickguy said:

I saw a Telluride and Palisade at the same intersection tonight. They look ginormous.

take a look at a Traverse? also large.

Those and Enclave are as big as you get without going Tahoe/Expedition

The GMC Acadia is a slightly smaller version of the Traverse/Enclave. I really liked the one I had for a day.

GM continues to do SUVs well

nyccarguy

fintail said:

That song is in the rotation a bit on Lithium.

I wish the "jutting tablet" design fad would wane, still looks bad IMO, things can be integrated better.

Lithium is my favorite SXM station. The only thing I don’t like is when they play Smashing Pumpkins.

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

Had a meeting at work today. Bottom line is since the majority of folks have gotten their vaccines, they want to ramp up the number of drivers/vehicle if possible. Minivans will be added to the mix as well as the current 15 packs but with proper social distancing plus continued use of masks. 5 folks in the minivans and 8 folks in the 15 packs as I recall, but will ask about those numbers again just to be sure I heard it right. They stressed that they cannot require us to get the vaccine, only hope folks will. They gave us a form to sign if we're cool with the proposed plans and on it, we had to write the date of our second shot. So basically, they can't even ask if we got the vaccine much less require it but by handing in the consent forms, we're telling them we got the vaccine. Those that haven't yet obviously cannot hand in the form as they'd be lying and subject to immediate dismissal I'm assuming.
We do have a few folks who refuse to take the vaccine and believe in these crazy q'non fantasies. I'm guessing those that refuse to get vaccinated will be kept together as a group and not be allowed to mix with the rest of us drivers, as it should be. Their right of refusal does not supercede our right to not be exposed to it possibly by these folks. I feel sorry for our company in this respect because it's financially better to have more drivers/vehicle so we can move more vehicles going forward but they can't force those holdouts to get vaccinated and it's nothing they can be fired over. They just have to do things differently for those folks. They need to keep both groups separated for safety reasons. End of story.
Am happy that the company is trying to get back to more drivers/vehicle and hope those holdouts will seriously consider just getting vaccinated for the health & safety of the rest of us. The time to inch back to a more normal life has come and pleased that the company wants to do it in a very safe manner. This is really a win/win for our country, the greatest country on this planet!!!

As I mentioned, they did that up here last week but we still only get 4 to a minivan. I haven’t seen any big vans since that one guy crashed into the car wash.

qbrozen

tifighter said:

Well, this isn't helping to sell it-

I like the song, so I’m assuming what you are jabbing at is the goofy way in which the station letters are displayed, and I totally agree on that point.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

I saw a Telluride and Palisade at the same intersection tonight. They look ginormous.

take a look at a Traverse? also large.

The Telluride has almost the same exact dimensions as the Pilot.

@nyccarguy Why not another Pilot, if the Highlander is too small?

breld

@nyccarguy - I’d at least take a look at the Palisade/Telluride. It may be the first vehicle they’ve made where you’d be perfectly willing to pay more for vs its competitors. Seems everything else so far has been more of a, “well it offers most everything the others do, but it’s a better value.” The couple Palisade test drives I had were impressive.

stickguy

buying what you really want instead of what has the best hacked deal? What kind of heresy is that?

mlevine

The reviews on Palisades and Telluride are very good. The interior and exterior standard options make these a great value. The 6 cylinder provides very good power. The problem now is low supply with big demand. Most dealers are getting above MRSP. For leasing the numbers are too high. If you buy, the question is holding its value a few years from now.

stickguy

I like the Ascent but that probably isn't going to work for people that need the space of a minivan (that should be getting a minivan of course)

graphicguy

@nyccarguy ....If you can get past the stigma of minivans, they have become quite nice these days. Even the Chrysler Pacifica looks like a luxury vehicle. And, they’re quite roomy.

tjc78

nyccarguy said:

fintail said:

That song is in the rotation a bit on Lithium.

I wish the "jutting tablet" design fad would wane, still looks bad IMO, things can be integrated better.

Lithium is my favorite SXM station. The only thing I don’t like is when they play Smashing Pumpkins.

Lithium is good, so is Classic Rewind and hair nation. In all honesty Pandora mashes up CW and HM into 80s rock radio which is my go to these days (when my wife isn’t listening)

tjc78

At the store this morning saw a new GLS450 in black with a 21” tire and wheel combo (315s!). Really .. really nice. Pricey sucker I’d assume.

nyccarguy

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

I saw a Telluride and Palisade at the same intersection tonight. They look ginormous.

take a look at a Traverse? also large.

The Telluride has almost the same exact dimensions as the Pilot.

@nyccarguy Why not another Pilot, if the Highlander is too small?

I'll consider it. Just figure since we are leasing that a change might be nice.

sda

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

I saw a Telluride and Palisade at the same intersection tonight. They look ginormous.

take a look at a Traverse? also large.

The Telluride has almost the same exact dimensions as the Pilot.

@nyccarguy Why not another Pilot, if the Highlander is too small?

I'll consider it. Just figure since we are leasing that a change might be nice.

What yearly mileage is the Pilot now experiencing? That could be a factor in leasing. Don’t want to get spanked at the end. I've made that mistake...

nyccarguy

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

I saw a Telluride and Palisade at the same intersection tonight. They look ginormous.

take a look at a Traverse? also large.

The Telluride has almost the same exact dimensions as the Pilot.

@nyccarguy Why not another Pilot, if the Highlander is too small?

I'll consider it. Just figure since we are leasing that a change might be nice.

nyccarguy

sda said:

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

I saw a Telluride and Palisade at the same intersection tonight. They look ginormous.

take a look at a Traverse? also large.

The Telluride has almost the same exact dimensions as the Pilot.

@nyccarguy Why not another Pilot, if the Highlander is too small?

I'll consider it. Just figure since we are leasing that a change might be nice.

What yearly mileage is the Pilot now experiencing? That could be a factor in leasing. Don’t want to get spanked at the end. I've made that mistake...

Approximately 20K miles per year.

stickguy

nyccarguy said:

sda said:

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

I saw a Telluride and Palisade at the same intersection tonight. They look ginormous.

take a look at a Traverse? also large.

The Telluride has almost the same exact dimensions as the Pilot.

@nyccarguy Why not another Pilot, if the Highlander is too small?

I'll consider it. Just figure since we are leasing that a change might be nice.

What yearly mileage is the Pilot now experiencing? That could be a factor in leasing. Don’t want to get spanked at the end. I've made that mistake...

Approximately 20K miles per year.

dang, you people drive a lot. 20K on each car? I barely can put 6k on one car.

Get her something smaller and better MPG. Maybe a hybrid of some sort. And flip the Tacoma for a fancy F150 with the giant cab and all the goodies.

fintail

One of my top stations too, along with the general 80s and 90s, First Wave, the classic rap channel, and some electronic stations. Some real oldies and a few news stations are on my presets, but used a lot less.

nyccarguy said:

Lithium is my favorite SXM station. The only thing I don’t like is when they play Smashing Pumpkins.

fintail

GLS580 is where it's at, easily sails well into 6 figures. I've only ever seen one 580.

tjc78 said:

At the store this morning saw a new GLS450 in black with a 21” tire and wheel combo (315s!). Really .. really nice. Pricey sucker I’d assume.

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

nyccarguy said:

sda said:

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

I saw a Telluride and Palisade at the same intersection tonight. They look ginormous.

take a look at a Traverse? also large.

The Telluride has almost the same exact dimensions as the Pilot.

@nyccarguy Why not another Pilot, if the Highlander is too small?

I'll consider it. Just figure since we are leasing that a change might be nice.

What yearly mileage is the Pilot now experiencing? That could be a factor in leasing. Don’t want to get spanked at the end. I've made that mistake...

Approximately 20K miles per year.

dang, you people drive a lot. 20K on each car? I barely can put 6k on one car.

Get her something smaller and better MPG. Maybe a hybrid of some sort. And flip the Tacoma for a fancy F150 with the giant cab and all the goodies.

That’s not a bad idea
Since I’m considering a bigger truck anyway. I’ll have to bring it up to her. Most of the time it is my wife in the car alone for work or she is taking (1) kid somewhere. The Camry SE AWD is nice looking.

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

fintail said:

That song is in the rotation a bit on Lithium.

I wish the "jutting tablet" design fad would wane, still looks bad IMO, things can be integrated better.

Lithium is my favorite SXM station. The only thing I don’t like is when they play Smashing Pumpkins.

I like the decade channels(1960-2000) plus Pop Rocks, Garage, First Wave. Lithium, and Soul Town.

au1994

nyccarguy said:

Just got home from my Highlander test drive. Overall, it is a very nice package. Soft touch, materials. Well laid out controls. Taut but comfortable ride. The interior was quiet. Enough power. It did feel like it was a bit too small for us. I also found the center console to be very intrusive. I couldn’t get comfortable.

Hate that the Highlander isn’t going to work for you. I think you would like the Ascent. Nicely packaged option wise and a great interior. Size may be a concern though. Of the GM triplets, I’d give the Acadia a look.

tjc78

If the Highlander is too small the Acadia will be as well. If going GM have to look at Traverse or Enclave. XT6 is pretty large too.

imidazol97

ronsteve said:

I had seen a couple different articles that said that females and younger people were more prone to the vax side effects. A couple of my co-workers got shut down pretty hard for a day (male/20s/Pfizer, male/40s/moderna) while my running partner and her roomie (both female/40/Pfizer) had minimal impacts.

It's kinda like cars, if you think about it... one person can get a lemon from Honda or Toyota while another can own a string of Chryslers and never have a problem. (C'mon, give me credit for that appropriate bridge!)

A factor in this nonscientific discussion folks (me included) is do the folks get regular vaccinations. Do people who have regularly had all the flu, shingles, pneumonia vaccinations do better with these shots.

I haven't missed a flu annual in decades. My wife hasn't had one in 10 years or more. I've had shingles, both types, and any pneumonia update my doctor threw at me.

i wonder if having had other vaccinations helps lessen the reactions.

corvette

Looks like YouTuber Elliott Alvis' BMW Z4 got written off this morning by an inattentive Civic Hybrid driver. Thankfully, nobody was hurt. Wouldn't take much to write it off, I think he only gave $3,500 for it and it had 200k+ miles.

stickguy

bummer for him. I liked that car. It was coming together too. He would have been better off if somebody creamed his Malibu Class.

corvette

stickguy said:

bummer for him. I liked that car. It was coming together too. He would have been better off if somebody creamed his Malibu Class.

Yeah, it still had the "ugly" wheels on it. He said he was on the way to the Car Ninja's shop to work on it when it happened. Hope he can return or sell the parts he bought for it that weren't installed.

The Malibu would have had potential as a beater if the Ecotec's timing chain setup hadn't gone bad. I'm not even sure it's currently running.

I'm liking JRGo's Ariel Atom. I generally don't like motorcycles, but it seems like a motorcycle with four wheels.

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

ronsteve said:

I had seen a couple different articles that said that females and younger people were more prone to the vax side effects. A couple of my co-workers got shut down pretty hard for a day (male/20s/Pfizer, male/40s/moderna) while my running partner and her roomie (both female/40/Pfizer) had minimal impacts.

It's kinda like cars, if you think about it... one person can get a lemon from Honda or Toyota while another can own a string of Chryslers and never have a problem. (C'mon, give me credit for that appropriate bridge!)

A factor in this nonscientific discussion folks (me included) is do the folks get regular vaccinations. Do people who have regularly had all the flu, shingles, pneumonia vaccinations do better with these shots.

I haven't missed a flu annual in decades. My wife hasn't had one in 10 years or more. I've had shingles, both types, and any pneumonia update my doctor threw at me.

i wonder if having had other vaccinations helps lessen the reactions.

Last vaccination I got was for tetanus a few years ago. I figured that since I was crawling around in the dirt I might need it. I told my doctor if I couldn’t survive the regular flu, maybe it was time to check out anyway.

24 hours in after the second Moderna shot and I’m getting some fatigue so maybe I’ll just go sleep it off.

qbrozen

I maybe might possibly be able to work something out for a car the wife REALLY wants. I've had a denim over blonde V60 CC bookmarked for some time now. I just happened to refresh it today to see if they were still sitting on it, and a new incentive popped up. $1k for being a PenFed member. At least I think it is new. The MF is already pretty low, and there is a $2250 lease incentive. I'm going to do some more digging. They seem to have this tagged as a loaner, so I've reached out to the dealer to find out how many miles it has, and I reached out to a broker who doesn't deal with NJ to find out what an appropriate discount these days would be. I THINK this could work out to a sub-$400 deal with just first month and title/reg at signing. $48k MSRP.

EDIT: so when I signed into PenFed and generated a code, it said $1k is purchase incentive and $500 is lease.
Well, still going to try to work it out, of course.

henryn

When I start wheeling and dealing, I just don’t know when to stop. I had not purchased or sold a car in 34 months, but Thursday afternoon I sold my 2018 F150 XLT Supercrew for $4,500 more than what I paid for it new, 34 months ago. It only had 8.6k miles, but who expects to make a profit on buying a new car?

So this afternoon, Saturday, I’m reading the last 30 days of postings here in CCBA, and I’m seeing that Carvana and Vroom are going crazy. Just for grins, I plug in my 2016 Town and Country, 47k miles, Touring. Carmax, $15.6, Vroom, $15.6, Carvana $16,639. I mean, seriously? What kinds of drugs are these people doing and where can I get some? I was tempted to jump all over that, I only paid about $17.5 for the minivan in January, 2017, one year old. So I can own it for four years for less than $1k???? The only problem is, then what do I do?

So I started looking around at newer minivans, Pacifica’s to be exact. The Hertz car sales location closest to me has 3 2019 Pacifica Touring models, all white, at $18,995 and $19,495. All at around 61 or 62k miles. I hop in the car, drive over, pick out the cleanest looking one, and buy it. I did ask the GM what she would give me for my 2016, and she looked it up and said $12.5k. I told her about the Carvana offer, and she admitted that she sold her son’s personal car to Carvana last week. She also remarked that she suspected people were buying her cars to resell to Carvana or Vroom. But in her words, “Corporate sends us the cars and sets the price, what can I do?”

After closing the deal, and starting for home, I started wondering if the Carvana deal would still be there when I got home. Got home, checked the web page, it had timed out and frozen. Reloaded their web page, started over, all the while sweating bullets that I had just screwed up. Lo and behold, this time (4 hours later) the offered price had gone up $57! Now at $16,696. I wasted no time locking that in, and uploading all of the document images that they asked for.

So I will be moving up from a 5 year old T&C to a 2 year old Pacifica, for $4,326 out of pocket (including TT&L). Is this a great country or what? Most fun I’ve had since the days of the Volkswagen diesel buyback.

henryn

As to when the chip shortage will end, that’s probably going to be a while. The chip foundries are working night and day churning out high end cpu’s and gpu’s. The low cost / low profit chips used in new cars are the last thing that the chip foundries want to fool with.

henryn

nyccarguy said:

Just got home from my Highlander test drive. Overall, it is a very nice package. Soft touch, materials. Well laid out controls. Taut but comfortable ride. The interior was quiet. Enough power. It did feel like it was a bit too small for us. I also found the center console to be very intrusive. I couldn’t get comfortable.

Over the last decade or so, the "intrusive center console" has killed several possible new car purchases for me.

henryn

Now this is interesting -- the Hertz location I was at has raised the prices on their remaining 2019 Pacifica's by nearly $2k since this afternoon. Doesn't bother me, I already purchased the best one at the old price.

cdnpinhead

Timing is everything.

corvette

Impressive dealing, @henryn! Sometimes it still works out that you can finagle an amazing deal before the dealer algorithms catch up.

qbrozen

henryn said:

Now this is interesting -- the Hertz location I was at has raised the prices on their remaining 2019 Pacifica's by nearly $2k since this afternoon. Doesn't bother me, I already purchased the best one at the old price.

Did you see what they’ll give you for the Pac?

xwesx

qbrozen said:

henryn said:

Now this is interesting -- the Hertz location I was at has raised the prices on their remaining 2019 Pacifica's by nearly $2k since this afternoon. Doesn't bother me, I already purchased the best one at the old price.

Did you see what they’ll give you for the Pac?

I was wondering the same thing. I was waiting for him to drop the punchline of entering the new Pacifica into the website and have Carvana offer him more than he just paid for it.

ab348

xwesx said:

qbrozen said:

henryn said:

Now this is interesting -- the Hertz location I was at has raised the prices on their remaining 2019 Pacifica's by nearly $2k since this afternoon. Doesn't bother me, I already purchased the best one at the old price.

Did you see what they’ll give you for the Pac?

I was wondering the same thing. I was waiting for him to drop the punchline of entering the new Pacifica into the website and have Carvana offer him more than he just paid for it.

Be patient. These things take time. He's out of practice after all.

explorerx4

Well Henryn, you certainly returned with a flourish!

tjc78

@qbrozen
What kind of discount off of sticker do you need to make the numbers work for you?

Sounds very similar to my S60 lease. I rolled all taxes and fees in.

oldfarmer50

henryn said:

nyccarguy said:

Just got home from my Highlander test drive. Overall, it is a very nice package. Soft touch, materials. Well laid out controls. Taut but comfortable ride. The interior was quiet. Enough power. It did feel like it was a bit too small for us. I also found the center console to be very intrusive. I couldn’t get comfortable.

Over the last decade or so, the "intrusive center console" has killed several possible new car purchases for me.

Try getting into the new C8 Corvette. That console killed any thought for me.

oldfarmer50

henryn said:

Now this is interesting -- the Hertz location I was at has raised the prices on their remaining 2019 Pacifica's by nearly $2k since this afternoon. Doesn't bother me, I already purchased the best one at the old price.

I thought Hertz had shut their retail sale network down some time ago. In any event, with the shortage of used cars available those price hikes don’t surprise me a bit.

qbrozen

tjc78 said:

@qbrozen
What kind of discount off of sticker do you need to make the numbers work for you?

Sounds very similar to my S60 lease. I rolled all taxes and fees in.

It is looking like it won’t work. I thought discountability is much higher than it is. I thought folks were talking about 13% pre-incentive discount on new. Turns out that was including incentives. If I could have gotten 17% pre-incentive on a loaner, it would have worked for us. Apparently that is a pipe dream.

28firefighter

Wife is off to Hawaii for 5 days with her parents and sister’s family. I’m staying back with the little one. May the odds be ever in my favor...

Hopefully these husband points cover me for the next few mother’s days and Valentine’s days...

xwesx

28firefighter said:

Wife is off to Hawaii for 5 days with her parents and sister’s family. I’m staying back with the little one. May the odds be ever in my favor...

Hopefully these husband points cover me for the next few mother’s days and Valentine’s days...

Maybe the next *one*; there's a time limit on all things good.