Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

Michaell

breld said:

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

Love the Volvo, hate the colors. And of course, better with a stick!

Could you get the AWD wagon with a stick, though?

Yes, you could. I only know that because I test drove one back in the day.

I did, too.

Man, was that fun.

nyccarguy

Got a follow up email from the ford dealer this AM:
"Did you have any more questions I can answer for you concerning the Explorer you inquired about?"

You quoted me $781 per month to lease a $43K Explorer XLT. Did you know I only wanted the lease price for (1) Explorer?

28firefighter

Hahaha. I'd love to see the response to that email.

au1994

@28firefighter did you find a hybrid that would allow you to take advantage of the offer on the Outback?

28firefighter

au1994 said:

@28firefighter did you find a hybrid that would allow you to take advantage of the offer on the Outback?

Not so far...

28firefighter

We're test driving a 2020 CR-V Hybrid Touring at 3:30p at CarMax...

benjaminh

The 2020 MDX is slightly smaller than the Ford Explorer:
Explorer: L199 W79 H70
2020 MDX: L196 W78 H67.5
Compared to $781 a month, the standard lease (10k miles a year) from Acura on a 2020 MDX with SH-AWD is currently about $460 a month (with just fees and taxes down) if you currently own a Honda or Acura. That's for a vehicle that lists for about $47,500, and so it even makes it to that elusive 1% goal/rule.

explorerx4

@benjaminh,
Did you use the same miles per year in the lease comparison?

au1994

28firefighter said:

We're test driving a 2020 CR-V Hybrid Touring at 3:30p at CarMax...

Good luck!

roadburner

@nyccarguy- Maybe send this to your ace Explorer sales guy:
https://www.louisvillebmw.com/offerdetails-New-Jefferson-County-Kentucky-2021-BMW-X5-xDRIVE40i-OFFER-242856?utm_source=AMSI&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=90793-BMWL-SummerSales-051821&utm_content=database&utm_term=photo-2021-X5-xDRIVE40i-OFFER&dm_i=5HFB,EE87,45ZFHD,1IBJK,1

nyccarguy

benjaminh said:

The 2020 MDX is slightly smaller than the Ford Explorer:
Explorer: L199 W79 H70
2020 MDX: L196 W78 H67.5
Compared to $781 a month, the standard lease (10k miles a year) from Acura on a 2020 MDX with SH-AWD is currently about $460 a month (with just fees and taxes down) if you currently own a Honda or Acura. That's for a vehicle that lists for about $47,500, and so it even makes it to that elusive 1% goal/rule.

If I decide to pursue an MDX, it would have to the the Technology Package model that has an MSRP of $52,925. I was also pricing an Explorer with 19,500 miles per year. I'd go for a 15K mile per year lease on the MDX & see if it is cheaper to pre-pay or go over mileage. $53,000 is an awful lot of money. I only owe $10,692.90 on the Pilot.

benjaminh

nyccarguy said:

benjaminh said:

The 2020 MDX is slightly smaller than the Ford Explorer:
Explorer: L199 W79 H70
2020 MDX: L196 W78 H67.5
Compared to $781 a month, the standard lease (10k miles a year) from Acura on a 2020 MDX with SH-AWD is currently about $460 a month (with just fees and taxes down) if you currently own a Honda or Acura. That's for a vehicle that lists for about $47,500, and so it even makes it to that elusive 1% goal/rule.

If I decide to pursue an MDX, it would have to the the Technology Package model that has an MSRP of $52,925. I was also pricing an Explorer with 19,500 miles per year. I'd go for a 15K mile per year lease on the MDX & see if it is cheaper to pre-pay or go over mileage. $53,000 is an awful lot of money. I only owe $10,692.90 on the Pilot.

I know I shouldn't ask this on CCBA, but why not just buy the Pilot? If you do, I personally would skip the extended warranty. I got that for three different Hondas and never used it.

The incentives on the MDX are good. I even wondered for a sec about turning in my TLX and getting one, but I really like driving a sedan—plus my goal is to be debt free at some point.

If you go over miles on an Acura lease it's 20 cents a mile. So if you went 10,000 miles over in 3 years that would be $2k, which seems like maybe it's not that bad? But if you lease or buy another at the end of 3 years they "forgive" half of any miles that you go over anyway, which would mean that going 10k over would only cost 1k.

stickguy

I agree. Seems like a good time to pay off the Pilot and run payment free for a while.

au1994

Sounds like the market may make the choice for him.

Although in my daily browsing, it looks like FCA hasn’t been hit as hard by this chip shortage. The inventories seem stronger than other makes that I look at.

stickguy

I assume the oil has been ok? That was very weird situation. But if the fresh oil stays looking good, and full, shouldn’t be an issue going forward. Hopefully.

explorerx4

I watched a video about why is oil so cheap at Walmart.
One of the comments was that they have their own formulation of name brand oils.
You can find that on the back of the container.
I know that Costco has their own versions of several tires.

au1994

The Costco (Kirkland) products are quite good. I’ve bought some basics like socks and t shirts that were comfortable and lasted a while. Tried a couple of bottles of wine and those were great too.

I have heard that many of these products are made by name brand manufacturers who private label it as Kirkland.

stickguy

they are. stuff like batteries I think they just take a batch down the line and put a different wrapper on them and use a different box. But same duracell.

henryn

explorerx4 said:

I watched a video about why is oil so cheap at Walmart.
One of the comments was that they have their own formulation of name brand oils.
You can find that on the back of the container.
I know that Costco has their own versions of several tires.

I only buy the Mobil 1 at Walmart, and I believe that is straight up the same Mobil 1 that you would buy anywhere else. I also recently posted that you can get the oil delivered for free if you have the Walmart Plus account. Saves going to the local store and finding that they don't have the specific make/model/viscosity that you want.

henryn

The guy with the 2010 Passat flaked out on me. I guess the naysayers were correct, and I was wrong. I started looking at old trucks, I really could use a junk hauler around here. Prices are outlandish, but possibly not as insane, at least if you go back far enough. I spotted a 2004 Tundra, V8, extended cab with 4 doors, PW, PDL, 180k miles and clean Carfax. The pictures looked quite good, and the “cash price” of $6,950 did not appear completely insane. And it was only about 15 minutes away from my house, so off I went.

https://houston.craigslist.org/ctd/d/houston-2004-toyota-tundra/7321606719.html

The truck actually looked quite good, the pictures didn’t lie. The battery was 100% dead, the idiot lights wouldn’t even come on. It jump started easily, and sounded okay. But … You knew there was going to be a “but”, right? The insides were sticky, all of the plastic and rubbery surfaces were downright sticky. The inside door handle, the steering wheel, the handle to release the seat back, every non-cloth surface. The A/C blew cold, but the stereo would not turn on.

So the back of my mind is filled with some nasty thoughts about why every plastic surface is sticky. And then a light went off. Every thing I read about using the ozone generator stressed not running it for more than 2 hours at a time inside a car. It could damage plastic and rubber, it could melt the insulation off of wires, just generally a very bad idea. Could it make all of the plastic and rubbery surfaces super sticky feeling? Sounds quite possible to me. And what would or could you do after the fact?

At any rate, I walked away. I did stop and get a haircut on the way back, so the trip wasn’t a total waste.

henryn

So here's a story to rival my story about someone stealing the hood off my truck while it was parked in my driveway:

https://houston.craigslist.org/cto/d/missouri-city-2001-ford-150-xlt/7324121499.html

Stole the catalytic convertors while he was in a store? Really?

explorerx4

You can check the label to see if it is a Costco specific formulation.
I'm just not giving up on finding a possible reason for what happened with NYC's Pilot.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

I agree. Seems like a good time to pay off the Pilot and run payment free for a while.

I would think this is a great time to buy out any lease as you’re paying off pre-craziness residentials.

roadburner

Long Beach Blue:

Sunset Orange:

Both cars have orange stitching in the interior, which I prefer to blue stitching:


The Sunset Orange car would need to be inspected by my dealer, but that's not a deal-breaker.

henryn

roadburner said:

Long Beach Blue:

Sunset Orange:

Both cars have orange stitching in the interior, which I prefer to blue stitching:

The Sunset Orange car would need to be inspected by my dealer, but that's not a deal-breaker.

The picture of the orange car is a MUCH better picture, which automatically makes it look better. One big difference: black wheels on the blue car. I'm not a fan. Yes, I know they are very popular these days, but I'm still not a fan.

28firefighter

Well CarMax confirmed the $33.5k offer. Which is wild.

But the CR-V is a no go. Painfully slow.

oldfarmer50

henryn said:

So here's a story to rival my story about someone stealing the hood off my truck while it was parked in my driveway:

https://houston.craigslist.org/cto/d/missouri-city-2001-ford-150-xlt/7324121499.html

Stole the catalytic convertors while he was in a store? Really?

Probably took less time than it did to steal your hood. $350 each for a cat? Must be some aftermarket stuff that will throw a CEL as soon as you turn the key.

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

Long Beach Blue:

Sunset Orange:

Both cars have orange stitching in the interior, which I prefer to blue stitching:


The Sunset Orange car would need to be inspected by my dealer, but that's not a deal-breaker.

Either is nice but I prefer the sunset orange, maybe it’s the black wheels on the blue one.

rayainsw

My blue BMW - in Wells Maine.
Just after over 1,200 miles
in 2 driving days.
- Ray
Glad to be here near my Daughter, SIL and Grandson
for the Summer...

stickguy

I do like the blue, but also not a fan of the wheels. Like the ones on the orange car better. And I love that orange color, but my wife hates it.

stickguy

Ray, you have a gorgeous car. Nice.

roadburner

henryn said:

roadburner said:

Long Beach Blue:

Sunset Orange:

Both cars have orange stitching in the interior, which I prefer to blue stitching:

The Sunset Orange car would need to be inspected by my dealer, but that's not a deal-breaker.

The picture of the orange car is a MUCH better picture, which automatically makes it look better. One big difference: black wheels on the blue car. I'm not a fan. Yes, I know they are very popular these days, but I'm still not a fan.

What I really don't like about the LBB car is the interior trim- gloss piano black, instead of the matte CF trim in the SO car:


The knock on the SO car is Continental rubber as opposed to the Michelin PSS.

oldfarmer50

rayainsw said:

My blue BMW - in Wells Maine.
Just after over 1,200 miles
in 2 driving days.
- Ray
Glad to be here near my Daughter, SIL and Grandson
for the Summer...

Yeah, it’s the black wheels. Those look better.

corvette

28firefighter said:

Well CarMax confirmed the $33.5k offer. Which is wild.

But the CR-V is a no go. Painfully slow.

The RAV4 Prime should solve that issue.

nyccarguy

@breld - just commenting on what you were talking about the other day with your younger son getting his license. I’ve driven 23.4 miles in town tonight after I got home. (Drop off 14 y/o at hockey, back home, then pick up 12 y/o from baseball, back home, now back to the rink to pick up the 14 y/o, then home).

This is in addition to the close to my 65 mile round trip commute.

nyccarguy

@corvette said:
The RAV4 Prime should solve that issue.

Except he’s going to pay through the nose for it, especially in the PNW.

stickguy

nyccarguy said:

@breld - just commenting on what you were talking about the other day with your younger son getting his license. I’ve driven 23.4 miles in town tonight after I got home. (Drop off 14 y/o at hockey, back home, then pick up 12 y/o from baseball, back home, now back to the rink to pick up the 14 y/o, then home).

This is in addition to the close to my 65 mile round trip commute.

I remember the old days when I piled up miles running around to kids activities. Now I do it running back and forth the Lowes, etc.

roadburner

stickguy said:

I do like the blue, but also not a fan of the wheels. Like the ones on the orange car better. And I love that orange color, but my wife hates it.

My wife loves the orange; I think the only color my wife was less than enthused about was a Furious Fuchsia Challenger SRT...

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

@breld - just commenting on what you were talking about the other day with your younger son getting his license. I’ve driven 23.4 miles in town tonight after I got home. (Drop off 14 y/o at hockey, back home, then pick up 12 y/o from baseball, back home, now back to the rink to pick up the 14 y/o, then home).

This is in addition to the close to my 65 mile round trip commute.

Yeah, but when you think about the costs of getting a kid their own car, and compare it to the per-mile costs of being the chauffeur, you may think again.

28firefighter

@nyccarguy said:

@corvette said:
The RAV4 Prime should solve that issue.

Except he’s going to pay through the nose for it, especially in the PNW.

Nailed it.

Sandman6472

Like that Volvo to but the colors kind of suck especially in South Florida. We had the 2005 Mazda 3s and thnk the body was identical thought the interior bits and outside rear and front fascia were different. It was in our stable for just over 10 years and we traded it with about 159K on it after the a/c failed and they had trouble fixing it. It owed us nothing so we traded it on the 2015 Audi A3, which for one leak issue, has been great.

tjc78

@nyccarguy said:
If I decide to pursue an MDX, it would have to the the Technology Package model that has an MSRP of $52,925. I was also pricing an Explorer with 19,500 miles per year. I'd go for a 15K mile per year lease on the MDX & see if it is cheaper to pre-pay or go over mileage. $53,000 is an awful lot of money. I only owe $10,692.90 on the Pilot.

With very little haggling I was at 520/520 DAS for an MDX tech 36/10. This was in November I have no idea what current programs are, but I’d think they want those prior generation models gone.

IMO if you can secure a decent lease on something... cashing out the Pilot right now seems like a win. You’ll walk away with a nice chunk of change to invest or whatever.

benjaminh

My guess is that the room in the third row seat in an MDX is smaller than what you find in a Pilot. Also, I think rear visibility is better in a Pilot. But the MDX is fancier than a Pilot, and I think the last generation still looks good. You might also want to consider that premium gas is recommended for the Acura, although not required.
https://www.bridgewateracura.com/inventory/new-2020-acura-mdx-sh-awd-with-technology-package-awd-sport-utility-5j8yd4h5xll032974

au1994

I agree that the 2020 is still a nice looking SUV but they would have to discount it pretty significantly at this point. We are practically halfway through the year. At this point I would think that leasing a 2020 wouldn’t be a good number due to the residual but admittedly haven’t checked. Maybe a steep discount would offset.

At the end of the day, I’m not sure it would be enough of a difference over a Pilot Touring for me to make a deal on a 2020. Coming out of a lot of other stuff? Sure, probably.

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

@nyccarguy said:

@corvette said:

The RAV4 Prime should solve that issue.

Except he’s going to pay through the nose for it, especially in the PNW.

Nailed it.

If you could lease it in NorCal at their rates, it would be a no-brainer.

nyccarguy

tjc78 said:

@nyccarguy said:

If I decide to pursue an MDX, it would have to the the Technology Package model that has an MSRP of $52,925. I was also pricing an Explorer with 19,500 miles per year. I'd go for a 15K mile per year lease on the MDX & see if it is cheaper to pre-pay or go over mileage. $53,000 is an awful lot of money. I only owe $10,692.90 on the Pilot.

With very little haggling I was at 520/520 DAS for an MDX tech 36/10. This was in November I have no idea what current programs are, but I’d think they want those prior generation models gone.

IMO if you can secure a decent lease on something... cashing out the Pilot right now seems like a win. You’ll walk away with a nice chunk of change to invest or whatever.

What did you think of the MDX? Likes? Dislikes? What made you ultimately choose the Volvo?

breld

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a36474818/2021-acura-tlx-type-s-price/

The article states how it slots between the S4 and M340i in pricing, but as we all know, Acura only offers one option, being summer tires, so it will be very well equipped...probably in line with something in between the “Tech” and “Advance.” Apples to apples, it’s probably quite a deal compared to German competitors, so long as it delivers on the performance side.

stickguy

Walked past a gorgeous 330 today (current model). The bright blue over beige, with chrome wheels. Very sharp looking. I could be happy with one of those I think.

breld

You can build your TLX Type S now on Acura's website...

https://www.acura.com/build-price/tlx?modelyear=2021&modelId=UB7F9MGXW&modelYear=2021&exterior=B-621P&interior=OR&wheel=6CAF327B433647F4ABA4164A811AF84A

I really like the newly available "Orchid" interior choice paired with a darker exterior.

nyccarguy

@benjaminh - That red looks sharp. That parchement interior is WAY to light for me.