Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

au1994

So I test drove a Gladiator Overland at lunch. Looked at/sat in 2. A Sting Gray soft top with black cloth at $40k with incentives and a Snazzberry over saddle leather hardtop at $46k with incentives.

The hardtop is a little cleaner look as the soft top is a little ‘lumpy’ but not unattractive. I find it really nice looking and the ‘berry one was pretty loaded with blind spot, heated seats and steering wheel and the larger 8.4 display which gets you more tech and upgraded sound I believe.

Chose to drive the gray soft top and I wanted to check for noise level. The 3.6 is average. Not pokey but not what you would call peppy either. Fair amount of traffic at the lunch hour so I didn’t really get to hit it. I did get it on the highway to check noise and its there, not obtrusive but I would probably opt for the hardtop. No problem getting up to speed or maintaining highway speed so the engine and gearing are good enough for me. Its still a Jeep so there is a bit of wandering at low speeds especially. Not terrible, but noticeable. The ride was actually quite good. The extra length in wheelbase helping there no doubt.

Seating and driving position work well for me. Backseat space is quite good. Probably better than a Ranger or Tacoma based on my eyeball test. Plenty of storage nooks and crannies too. Both tops come off/down easily.

They also came with a spray in bed liner which I thought was a nice touch at that price. Who knows what I will do, it was mostly to satisfy curiosity and remember my days with my 07 2dr Wrangler. The bed (with a cover) would be useful for us and it would be nice to have a convertible in the stable again.

All good problems to have and very blessed and thankful. I was bonused very well this year, my wife received a nice promotion and we paid of a HELOC. Ah heck…we can all see where this is going…

xwesx

qbrozen said:

I have NO idea why, but I just received a check in the mail from the dealer I got my LT1 from. The note reads “taxes owed back to customer.” It is $757. I guess I’ll just not look this horse in the mouth.

Goodness. That Camaro was the gift that just keeps on giving!

ab348

stickguy said:

You can I think get FWD 2.0t. Based on Ford site build your own.

Certainly not on the Canadian site. The 2.0T and AWD come as a package, inseparable.

I think they need to basically replicate my old 1991 Nissan king cab (jump seats, but could have down a small bench like Mazda had). That was about 195” long (I think the Maverick will be about 198”?). And the bed was about 6’2”. Garageable, but nice useful bed size.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting, since they are going to sell all of these they can make for a while. It sounds like that would be similar to my brothers 2 past Rangers. For him the longer bed was usable sometimes but the extra cab space was only good for a few grocery bags. Not even his grandkids wanted to sit back there. He had a utility trailer he used sometimes for cargo instead of the bed. For $300 or less you get a bed extender to make it an effective 6' and that sounds like a far better solution.

xwesx

Ah, Jeeps. That reminds me of last night.

I was on the expressway headed home at around 9pm, and a yellow Wrangler merges onto the road just behind me. It was the prior gen (what is that, JK?), but not necessarily old. As it is merging behind me, I hear a hellacious noise, sort of like a jackhammer. I glanced in my side view mirror, and I can see the front tires on the Jeep doing the most intense death wobble I've ever witnessed! Those things were jumping back and forth so fast, I don't know how the driver kept his teeth.

The driver must be accustomed to it, though, as he jabbed the brakes hard, the vehicle straightened out, and then he sped on by me without further incident. Based on how it was wobbling, I'm going to guess that it needs new steering end links.

corvette

au1994 said:

All good problems to have and very blessed and thankful. I was bonused very well this year, my wife received a nice promotion and we paid of a HELOC. Ah heck…we can all see where this is going…

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

stickguy said:

You can I think get FWD 2.0t. Based on Ford site build your own.

Certainly not on the Canadian site. The 2.0T and AWD come as a package, inseparable.

I think they need to basically replicate my old 1991 Nissan king cab (jump seats, but could have down a small bench like Mazda had). That was about 195” long (I think the Maverick will be about 198”?). And the bed was about 6’2”. Garageable, but nice useful bed size.

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting, since they are going to sell all of these they can make for a while. It sounds like that would be similar to my brothers 2 past Rangers. For him the longer bed was usable sometimes but the extra cab space was only good for a few grocery bags. Not even his grandkids wanted to sit back there. He had a utility trailer he used sometimes for cargo instead of the bed. For $300 or less you get a bed extender to make it an effective 6' and that sounds like a far better solution.
*. *. *
For the number of times I would need a rear seat in a pick up I could rent a car for the back seat passengers. My cargo van only has front seats and I only needed a back seat once in the 5 years I’ve owned it. I’ve needed every inch of cargo space multiple times.

I guess it depends on how many alternative vehicles you have. If you have to routinely haul the family and you don’t have a back up you might not have a choice.

au1994

Interesting. So as not to scare off customers too bad it looks like dealers are counting ‘in transit’ vehicles in the website inventory. I filtered for TRD Off Road and TRD Sport 4x4’s at the closest dealer. Showed 20, but on further clicks all 20 are in transit.

xwesx

To supplement their income, dealers could always rent their lots for storage!

cdnpinhead

henryn said:

4.5' is not a bed, it's an open trunk.

Yea, verily.
Otherwise known as a reason (excuse?) to drive a larger vehicle than might have otherwise made sense.

ab348

A perfect example of addition by subtraction.

https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/gm-build-some-pickups-suvs-without-start-stop-feature

au1994

ab348 said:

A perfect example of addition by subtraction.

https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/gm-build-some-pickups-suvs-without-start-stop-feature

That would be perfectly fine with me.

qbrozen

ab348 said:

No, the Maverick was the same cheap unibody platform Ford developed in the late 1950s for the original Falcon. No frame.

I learn something every day.
Still, though, you got the point. Maverick = car, Sport Trac = 4-door pickup.

mjfloyd1

@oldfarmer50 said:
That’s the question I wanted to ask, did the bus have a dash cam. Most school buses theses days have multiple cameras. That doesn’t look like an official school bus, maybe a private contractor or church school. As you say though, a hit from the rear is a de facto at fault.

It is a “short bus”. The side says MSD Decatur Township, which is a township on the south side of Indianapolis (Metropolitan School District) . The “Hawks” is the mascot of Decatur Central high school.

No idea if it had dashcams.

Decatur township MSD didn’t file a claim so I filed one this morning.
I still don’t have an adjuster assigned and still no rental car. Insurance is Peerless and is being handled by Liberty Mutual.

Wife and daughter are pretty sore today. Do I call “the Hammer” or 333 HURT?

nyccarguy

@mjfloyd1 said:

@oldfarmer50 said:
That’s the question I wanted to ask, did the bus have a dash cam. Most school buses theses days have multiple cameras. That doesn’t look like an official school bus, maybe a private contractor or church school. As you say though, a hit from the rear is a de facto at fault.

It is a “short bus”. The side says MSD Decatur Township, which is a township on the south side of Indianapolis (Metropolitan School District) . The “Hawks” is the mascot of Decatur Central high school.

No idea if it had dashcams.

Decatur township MSD didn’t file a claim so I filed one this morning.
I still don’t have an adjuster assigned and still no rental car. Insurance is Peerless and is being handled by Liberty Mutual.

Wife and daughter are pretty sore today. Do I call “the Hammer” or 333 HURT?

Jim “The Hammer” Shapiro?

explorerx4

@mjfloyd1,
Did your wife and daughter get checked out at a hospital?

mjfloyd1

No. Just a bit sore.

May end up getting checked out if it gets worse

stickguy

I think it is recommended to at least get to your primary physician or an urgent care for a good check-over, and document any ache or pain. Just in case something comes up down the line.

henryn

stickguy said:

You can I think get FWD 2.0t. Based on Ford site build your own.

I think they need to basically replicate my old 1991 Nissan king cab (jump seats, but could have down a small bench like Mazda had). That was about 195” long (I think the Maverick will be about 198”?). And the bed was about 6’2”. Garageable, but nice useful bed size.

Now here we are definitely in agreement. The Nissan King Cab from that era was a really useful little truck. It could haul a lot of junk, even go off-roading if you so desired, and was easy to drive and park.

It wasn't smooth, it was not a highway cruiser, and the back seat area was d___ small. Only suitable for packages and such, not people. But still a very useful around town junk hauler.

henryn

oldfarmer50 said:

For the number of times I would need a rear seat in a pick up I could rent a car for the back seat passengers. My cargo van only has front seats and I only needed a back seat once in the 5 years I’ve owned it. I’ve needed every inch of cargo space multiple times.

I guess it depends on how many alternative vehicles you have. If you have to routinely haul the family and you don’t have a back up you might not have a choice.

That last Supercrew which I owned for about 3 years had a really nice, big back seat. And if memory serves, I filled up that back seat with people exactly twice over that period of 3 years.

Now I did fold up those rear seats and use that inside cargo space a number of times, but still not that many. Which is why my present junk hauler has a regular cab and an 8' bed. I expect I will use that long bed much more often than I used the big back seat in the SuperCrew. Time will tell if I guessed correctly.

oldfarmer50

au1994 said:

Interesting. So as not to scare off customers too bad it looks like dealers are counting ‘in transit’ vehicles in the website inventory. I filtered for TRD Off Road and TRD Sport 4x4’s at the closest dealer. Showed 20, but on further clicks all 20 are in transit.

Translation of “in transit” may be “sitting in a field somewhere waiting on chips”.

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

A perfect example of addition by subtraction.

https://www.autonews.com/manufacturing/gm-build-some-pickups-suvs-without-start-stop-feature

So there is a silver lining.

oldfarmer50

mjfloyd1 said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

That’s the question I wanted to ask, did the bus have a dash cam. Most school buses theses days have multiple cameras. That doesn’t look like an official school bus, maybe a private contractor or church school. As you say though, a hit from the rear is a de facto at fault.

It is a “short bus”. The side says MSD Decatur Township, which is a township on the south side of Indianapolis (Metropolitan School District) . The “Hawks” is the mascot of Decatur Central high school.

No idea if it had dashcams.

Decatur township MSD didn’t file a claim so I filed one this morning.

I still don’t have an adjuster assigned and still no rental car. Insurance is Peerless and is being handled by Liberty Mutual.

Wife and daughter are pretty sore today. Do I call “the Hammer” or 333 HURT?

Most school buses are National Chrome Yellow for visibility. That looks to be a half bus maybe, standard school bus on a shorter frame. Our school had three quarter buses, half busses, Minotaurs ( wide body on a cargo van frame) box buses (narrow body on cargo van frame, Suburbans and minivans. All but the minivans were yellow.

I guess it differs by state.

From my days in the rehab business I’d say unless you have at least one broken bone no ambulance chaser will take the case. Even a broken tooth can make a million dollar difference. Soft tissue=no money.

stickguy

I really liked my Nissan. did not keep it very long because shortly after we got it my wife got pregnant with our first kid, and no way a car seat could go on one of those jump seats. But while I had it (at the same time we got our first house) we found it very useful. Not bad on the highway either, but dang, you did not want to crest a hill in the wet with that thing!

stickguy

I actually want the Xcab to carry stuff inside (groceries, etc.). I really don't need a back seat in my car, since we can use the RDX for that.

roadburner

mjfloyd1 said:

Everyone is ok.

School bus didn’t merge very well. Score is school bus 1 to Audi Q7 0. Rear axle broken.

How do you proceed if you don’t want the vehicle back after repair (or even want it repaired)

I would pray it's a total, so you don't have to screw around with adjusters and body shops.

roadburner

Yes, it's going to have to be an M2 Competition...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH4hz9OB1L0

kyfdx

oldfarmer50 said:

mjfloyd1 said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

That’s the question I wanted to ask, did the bus have a dash cam. Most school buses theses days have multiple cameras. That doesn’t look like an official school bus, maybe a private contractor or church school. As you say though, a hit from the rear is a de facto at fault.

It is a “short bus”. The side says MSD Decatur Township, which is a township on the south side of Indianapolis (Metropolitan School District) . The “Hawks” is the mascot of Decatur Central high school.

No idea if it had dashcams.

Decatur township MSD didn’t file a claim so I filed one this morning.

I still don’t have an adjuster assigned and still no rental car. Insurance is Peerless and is being handled by Liberty Mutual.

Wife and daughter are pretty sore today. Do I call “the Hammer” or 333 HURT?

Most school buses are National Chrome Yellow for visibility. That looks to be a half bus maybe, standard school bus on a shorter frame. Our school had three quarter buses, half busses, Minotaurs ( wide body on a cargo van frame) box buses (narrow body on cargo van frame, Suburbans and minivans. All but the minivans were yellow.

I guess it differs by state.

From my days in the rehab business I’d say unless you have at least one broken bone no ambulance chaser will take the case. Even a broken tooth can make a million dollar difference. Soft tissue=no money.

Not enough money for a lawyer, but definitely can be some cash. When my son was hit on his bicycle, soft tissue injuries added up to $3200 in medical bills, and he got an extra $10K over his actual costs/losses.

corvette

Does the final generation Buick Regal (2018-2020) remind anyone else of the original VW CC, especially from the rear?

oldfarmer50

kyfdx said:

oldfarmer50 said:

mjfloyd1 said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

That’s the question I wanted to ask, did the bus have a dash cam. Most school buses theses days have multiple cameras. That doesn’t look like an official school bus, maybe a private contractor or church school. As you say though, a hit from the rear is a de facto at fault.

It is a “short bus”. The side says MSD Decatur Township, which is a township on the south side of Indianapolis (Metropolitan School District) . The “Hawks” is the mascot of Decatur Central high school.

No idea if it had dashcams.

Decatur township MSD didn’t file a claim so I filed one this morning.

I still don’t have an adjuster assigned and still no rental car. Insurance is Peerless and is being handled by Liberty Mutual.

Wife and daughter are pretty sore today. Do I call “the Hammer” or 333 HURT?

Most school buses are National Chrome Yellow for visibility. That looks to be a half bus maybe, standard school bus on a shorter frame. Our school had three quarter buses, half busses, Minotaurs ( wide body on a cargo van frame) box buses (narrow body on cargo van frame, Suburbans and minivans. All but the minivans were yellow.

I guess it differs by state.

From my days in the rehab business I’d say unless you have at least one broken bone no ambulance chaser will take the case. Even a broken tooth can make a million dollar difference. Soft tissue=no money.

Not enough money for a lawyer, but definitely can be some cash. When my son was hit on his bicycle, soft tissue injuries added up to $3200 in medical bills, and he got an extra $10K over his actual costs/losses.

That’s a fortunate outcome both in that he wasn’t seriously injured and that he got some money out of it. A woman at my previous job got T-boned by a stop sign runner. Bruised head to toe but no broken bones. She had a lot of pain for weeks afterwards. She got her car paid for and some lost wage money but nothing for the injuries.

nyccarguy

@oldfarmer50 said:
Translation of “in transit” may be “sitting in a field somewhere waiting on chips”.

Bingo! When I was Explorer shopping not too long ago, I called a dealer and inquired about a stock number that matched my specs that was “in transit.” He said it was sitting in a parking lot waiting for a chip.

ab348

stickguy said:

You can I think get FWD 2.0t. Based on Ford site build your own.

So, an oddity. The Canadian Ford site does not offer a 2.0T Maverick with just FWD. But the US site does. Seems strange.

imidazol97

nyccarguy said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

Translation of “in transit” may be “sitting in a field somewhere waiting on chips”.

Bingo! When I was Explorer shopping not too long ago, I called a dealer and inquired about a stock number that matched my specs that was “in transit.” He said it was sitting in a parking lot waiting for a chip.

Maybe one of these?
https://www.wlwt.com/article/thousands-of-new-trucks-sit-useless-in-nky-waiting-on-parts-suffering-global-shortage/36355927
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6x0SEPxT3c

henryn

From what I have been reading, Chevrolet is eliminating a couple of chips from the Silverado / Suburban / Tahoe line to try and keep production up. The last one, just recently mentioned here in these forums, is the start / stop technology. But if you go and read the articles, they eliminated active fuel management several months ago. Hopefully this will help relieve some of the shortage of new cars, but I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope.

The world has become unbelievably interconnected. I expect we will have more and more of these types of minor calamities. Gloomy, aren't I?

sda

Seems its like everything else, the pendulum swings back and forth. Just in time inventory rather than having inventory in stock. Centralization of client review instead of by region. Next you know inventory will be kept in stock, etc. School of thought cycles from one extreme to the other, flavor of the day...

carnaught

Paging @graphicguy: what actually is the cause of the chip shortage? I know that supply issues for construction materials, including lumber (and rising costs) is due to trucking issues, shortages, and will take mos. to a year or two to train more truckers. Can the current powers that be help us on this?

henryn

carnaught said:

Paging @graphicguy: what actually is the cause of the chip shortage? I know that supply issues for construction materials, including lumber (and rising costs) is due to trucking issues, shortages, and will take mos. to a year or two to train more truckers. Can the current powers that be help us on this?

I'm not @graphicguy, but I do have some thoughts on this.

It takes a long time (several years) and a lot of money (think billions with a “B”) to set up a chip foundry. Then it takes a long time (several months) and a lot of money (millions with an “M”) to change over the type of chips you are making.

Last year, when the lockdown began, a number of bad decisions were made by a lot of different people in a lot of different industries. The car rental companies reduced their inventory of rental cars by about one third, for one example. Car makers reduced their orders for parts, including computer chips, by rather drastic amounts.

The chip foundries switched over to making more expensive chips, primarily in the area of high end computer cpus and high end graphics. Which worked out quite well for them, as more expensive items generate a higher level of profit. And a lot of people did upgrade their home computers, as a result of working from home. Sales of personal computers hit record numbers last year, after many years of declining sales. Smartphone sales also were up by quite a bit.

I have recently read several articles predicting shortages of the entry level CPUs made by AMD, as they are concentrating on the higher end (more expensive, more profitable) CPUs. I expect the chip foundries that were making the lower cost chips for GM and Ford do not want to get back into making less expensive, less profitable chips. I have no evidence to back this up, but my cynical nature strongly suspects it.

stickguy

The US has shuttered facilities that can make the simpler chips. Just takes time, and money, to get them back online. But strategically needs to happen.

henryn

stickguy said:

The US has shuttered facilities that can make the simpler chips. Just takes time, and money, to get them back online. But strategically needs to happen.

I haven't seen anything about "shuttered" chip foundries. Some have been offline due to accidents and weather, but none deliberately "shuttered" in anything that I have read.

Here's a good article on CNBC, saying pretty much what I said above:
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/02/10/whats-causing-the-chip-shortage-affecting-ps5-cars-and-more.html

What's causing the chip shortage affecting PS5, cars and more? (cnbc.com)

The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred demand for consumer electronics.
The first wave involved people buying PCs, monitors and other gear for working or going to school remotely. Then, last fall, home entertainment gadgets like game consoles, TVs, smartphones and and tablets started flying off the shelves.
PC sales were up 4.8% in 2020 to 275 million units, with over 10% growth in the holiday season, according to Gartner data. That reversed a years-long decline, and is the highest annual growth in the PC market since 2010.
Other gadgets sold well, too. The Consumer Tech Association, an American trade group, said that 2020 was the biggest year on record with nearly $442 billion in retail sales revenue, and is projecting big demand for game consoles, headphones, and smart home products in 2021.
All these devices include a ton of chips — not just the central processor which can cost tens or hundreds of dollars, but also less expensive little chips for controlling the display, or managing power, or operating a 5G modem.
“The current chip shortage all starts with the unprecedented demand for personal computers and peripherals as the globe worked and attended school from home,” said Patrick Moorhead, founder of Moor Insights, a firm that studies the semiconductor industry.
Electronic industry giants that have reported record sales say that they could’ve been even better if there was enough supply. Apple, which recently reported a blowout $111 billion quarter, told analysts it didn’t have enough supply of its new iPhones to meet demand. CEO Tim Cook told Reuters that “semiconductors are very tight.”

xwesx

Okay, so the 2014 Escape is gone! They took it to the local Carmax yesterday, and a couple hours later my grandmother had a check in her hand for $14,800.

That's good enough for me, and well worth the loss of $500 to not deal with Carvana any further.

henryn

xwesx said:

Okay, so the 2014 Escape is gone! They took it to the local Carmax yesterday, and a couple hours later my grandmother had a check in her hand for $14,800.

That's good enough for me, and well worth the loss of $500 to not deal with Carvana any further.

Did they actually give her a check, or a bank draft? The last time I sold a car to Carmax, which was 7 or 8 years back, they gave me a bank draft which took about a week to process.

Carvana, here recently, just gave me a piece of paper which said the bank transfer would happen "soon". The money showed up in my bank account about 36 hours later.

stickguy

We got a draft I think. Daughter couldn’t use her phone app to deposit, but went just fine at the bank branch.

explorerx4

Part of Ford's chip problem was due to a factory in Japan being out of commission die to a fire.
From what I have read, it recently started producing them again.
In 2014, some component in their color Tuxedo Black, which was only produced by one factory also in Japan, was discontinued when the factory was destroyed in the Tsunami.
For 2015 through 2018 the only black was Shadow Black, a solid non metallic color.

mjfloyd1

This accident claim stuff is slooooooow. Accident was 6/7, I reported it to their insurance 6/8. The school corporation just reported it this afternoon.

Liberty Mutual called to speak to my wife this afternoon but just as “fact finders to help assign blame”. They could not authorize a rental car until an adjuster was assigned after they determine who is at fault.
I must try to be nice on the phone. I am failing so far…

henryn

mjfloyd1 said:

This accident claim stuff is slooooooow. Accident was 6/7, I reported it to their insurance 6/8. The school corporation just reported it this afternoon.

Liberty Mutual called to speak to my wife this afternoon but just as “fact finders to help assign blame”. They could not authorize a rental car until an adjuster was assigned after they determine who is at fault.

I must try to be nice on the phone. I am failing so far…

One of the things I like about USAA. They say, "Put your car in the shop where our adjuster can come by and look at. Do you want me to arrange a rental car right now? We'll assign blame later, for now let's just get you going."

Michaell

mjfloyd1 said:

This accident claim stuff is slooooooow. Accident was 6/7, I reported it to their insurance 6/8. The school corporation just reported it this afternoon.

Liberty Mutual called to speak to my wife this afternoon but just as “fact finders to help assign blame”. They could not authorize a rental car until an adjuster was assigned after they determine who is at fault.

I must try to be nice on the phone. I am failing so far…

Aren’t they the folks who tout “only pay for what you need”?

Guess we’re seeing how that plays out in the real world…

mjfloyd1

@henryn said:
One of the things I like about USAA. They say, "Put your car in the shop where our adjuster can come by and look at. Do you want me to arrange a rental car right now? We'll assign blame later, for now let's just get you going."

My insurance company has said the same. Unfortunately my older daughter rear ended someone in my Jeep a year ago and my younger daughter turns 16 soon and will need auto coverage. I really don’t want an accident with unassigned blame on our insurance right now.

I’m just going to get a rental and keep receipts.

mjfloyd1

I do see that the Q7 has 49% aluminum and there are only a handful of places here that are authorized to repair it. All the external panels are aluminum. That’ll be cheap! I think “she gone”

https://www.vehicleservicepros.com/collision-repair/body-shop-and-repair/article/21193888/eight-things-to-know-about-the-aluminum-intensive-2017-audi-q7-and-r8

roadburner

One of my friends is retired Navy; daughters car was stolen amnd later recovered- with the engine now making ominous noises. USAA is dragging their feet and refusing a loaner until they can inspect the car.

corvette

@roadburner - that stinks, USAA is supposed to be one of the best insurers, if you qualify for it. I guess everyone makes mistakes.

xwesx

henryn said:

xwesx said:

Okay, so the 2014 Escape is gone! They took it to the local Carmax yesterday, and a couple hours later my grandmother had a check in her hand for $14,800.

That's good enough for me, and well worth the loss of $500 to not deal with Carvana any further.

Did they actually give her a check, or a bank draft? The last time I sold a car to Carmax, which was 7 or 8 years back, they gave me a bank draft which took about a week to process.

Carvana, here recently, just gave me a piece of paper which said the bank transfer would happen "soon". The money showed up in my bank account about 36 hours later.

I don't know. She only said, "I have the check in my hand, so I'm happy." As such, "Check" could be simply a generic term.