Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

mjfloyd1

Strong spelling work @explorerx4

corvette

I default to pronouncing 4xe as "four X E" instead of "four by E." Surely I'm not alone?

henryn

corvette said:

I default to pronouncing 4xe as "four X E" instead of "four by E." Surely I'm not alone?

That's what I was thinking, although I've never said it out loud (either way). But apparently we were wrong.

stickguy

Big day tomorrow. For the first time in 10 months I will be stranded at home all day with no wheels. My wife is going into the office tomorrow. Team lead is taking them all out to lunch so she is going up earlier to "hotel" work for a bit then will be there a while after lunch. But this means that I won't have wheels available all day. And I even have some open time on my work schedule, and stuff I wanted to do.

I am sure I will figure out a way to survive this 1st world probably. But it is going to bug me all day.

Good thing I saved a ton of money going to 1 car because timing wanting a replacement in the middle of the great car shortage was poor planning!

Wonder if I could stumble upon something worth getting Saturday? Hope the wife feels like shopping, but I think to do that it means another Hyundai is following me home.

mjfloyd1

@corvette said:
I default to pronouncing 4xe as "four X E" instead of "four by E." Surely I'm not alone?

4x4 is “4 by 4”

4xe is “4 by e”

henryn

Things appear to still be on a downward spiral. Last month, when I checked the two closest Volkswagen dealers, they both had 6 to 8 Passats, and were offering a $2k discount (factory incentive, if I remember right). I just checked again, the first dealer has 3, at MSRP, the second dealer only has one, and he's not revealing his asking price. At least not online.

The closest Kia dealer is down to 3 Souls. But they still have the $1,750 rebate and about a $500 dealer discount. New cars are really getting scarce out there.

If I really needed a new car right now, I might have to reconsider that 4XE (however you pronounce it!)

Luckily for me, I'm in a good position to sit tight and wait. I made my profit(s) already, and I don't need to do anything for a while.

mjfloyd1

@henryn said:
Things appear to still be on a downward spiral. Last month, when I checked the two closest Volkswagen dealers, they both had 6 to 8 Passats, and were offering a $2k discount (factory incentive, if I remember right). I just checked again, the first dealer has 3, at MSRP, the second dealer only has one, and he's not revealing his asking price. At least not online.

The closest Kia dealer is down to 3 Souls. But they still have the $1,750 rebate and about a $500 dealer discount. New cars are really getting scarce out there.

Soon they will have no Soul

stickguy

if Hyundai still had their normal rebate on an Elantra, and any dealer discount, it still would not be all that expensive. Even if not quite as cheap! It's the expensive stuff that usually has huge discounts that will burn you.

still probably a really good time to lease if you need to get something.

jmonroe1

mjfloyd1 said:

@corvette said:

I default to pronouncing 4xe as "four X E" instead of "four by E." Surely I'm not alone?

4x4 is “4 by 4”

4xe is “4 by e”

I’ve see quite a few 4x4’s at Home Depot but have yet to see a 4xe in their lumber aisle. Oh wait, yin’s are talking car language which is pretty dangerous talk in my house.

jmonroe

mjfloyd1

Why is a 4x4 not a 16?

jmonroe1

mjfloyd1 said:

@henryn said:

Things appear to still be on a downward spiral. Last month, when I checked the two closest Volkswagen dealers, they both had 6 to 8 Passats, and were offering a $2k discount (factory incentive, if I remember right). I just checked again, the first dealer has 3, at MSRP, the second dealer only has one, and he's not revealing his asking price. At least not online.

The closest Kia dealer is down to 3 Souls. But they still have the $1,750 rebate and about a $500 dealer discount. New cars are really getting scarce out there.

Soon they will have no Soul

I could see that one coming.

jmonroe

mjfloyd1

@jmonroe1 said:
I’ve see quite a few 4x4’s at Home Depot but have yet to see a 4xe in their lumber aisle. Oh wait, yin’s are talking car language which is pretty dangerous talk in my house.

jmonroe

And a lumber 4x4 isn’t even 4x4

stickguy

3.5x3.5 just doesn't have the same ring to it.

stickguy

after watching this I now want another Miata. Nice to see one tested with the cloth roof for a change. And of course has to have a manual. Interesting top design. I like the way it folds now and snaps into place instead of the old one that just kind of dumped into the well upside down.

Really need to go sit in one and see if I fit in this generation! Better not bring the wife though. One time trying to clamber out of it might be enough for her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES2f2e4wVa0

mjfloyd1

stickguy said:

if Hyundai still had their normal rebate on an Elantra, and any dealer discount, it still would not be all that expensive. Even if not quite as cheap! It's the expensive stuff that usually has huge discounts that will burn you.

still probably a really good time to lease if you need to get something.

High prices usually make for poor lease deals unless the MF is low and the residual is high.

The 4 by e leases well because the price is low and residual is high. The MF is high but is overcome by the large discount and high residual and $7500 federal tax credit being passed on.

breld

@corvette said:
Ivory/oyster/lemon would look good, if they offer it. Might be able to get away with one of the orange colors or saddle brown.

When did BMW last offer Lemon? We had it on my wife’s 328xi (‘08 I think?). Monaco blue with lemon was beautiful.

ab348

stickguy said:

Big day tomorrow. For the first time in 10 months I will be stranded at home all day with no wheels. My wife is going into the office tomorrow. Team lead is taking them all out to lunch so she is going up earlier to "hotel" work for a bit then will be there a while after lunch. But this means that I won't have wheels available all day. And I even have some open time on my work schedule, and stuff I wanted to do.

I am sure I will figure out a way to survive this 1st world probably. But it is going to bug me all day.

Or you could drive her to the office and pick her up later.

xwesx

mjfloyd1 said:

4x4 is “4 by 4”

4xe is “4 by e”

Naw. "Forksy"

You're welcome....

Now you have a legitimate reason to forever spurn me.

xwesx

What is the tow rating on, uh, one of those things, anyway?

henryn

xwesx said:

What is the tow rating on, uh, one of those things, anyway?

Google to the rescue.

Not very much, is it? Considering you can get a Maverick with the 2.0L and the towing package less than half the price, and it can tow 4,000 lbs. But then, no one but you has even remotely considered towing anything with the "one of those things".

mjfloyd1

xwesx said:

mjfloyd1 said:

4x4 is “4 by 4”

4xe is “4 by e”

Naw. "Forksy"

You're welcome....

Now you have a legitimate reason to forever spurn me.

Since when did I need a legitimate reason to forever spurn you

sda

stickguy said:

Big day tomorrow. For the first time in 10 months I will be stranded at home all day with no wheels. My wife is going into the office tomorrow. Team lead is taking them all out to lunch so she is going up earlier to "hotel" work for a bit then will be there a while after lunch. But this means that I won't have wheels available all day. And I even have some open time on my work schedule, and stuff I wanted to do.

I am sure I will figure out a way to survive this 1st world probably. But it is going to bug me all day.

Good thing I saved a ton of money going to 1 car because timing wanting a replacement in the middle of the great car shortage was poor planning!

Wonder if I could stumble upon something worth getting Saturday? Hope the wife feels like shopping, but I think to do that it means another Hyundai is following me home.

I bet you will unconsciously go out to the RDX to go get something at the store, Home Depot and find you have no ride. I’ve done that multiple times. What an empty feeling.

stickguy

might happen. Or I will be bored and decide it is the perfect time to run out to the pool store, until I remember I can't.

Technically I could take her back and forth but that is a big hassle. and 1-1.5 hours or so total.

Michaell

stickguy said:

might happen. Or I will be bored and decide it is the perfect time to run out to the pool store, until I remember I can't.

Technically I could take her back and forth but that is a big hassle. and 1-1.5 hours or so total.

I survived without a car in the garage.

You will, too.

stickguy

you have 2 cars though. Isn't one almost always at the house?

corvette

On the Maverick, I really don't care either way on the full-size vs. compact spare, so long as it's not an inflator kit or RFTs. I think that, as production ramps up, they may have to make some equipment changes, like offering the hybrid powertrain with AWD, and at least offering cruise control as an extra cost option on the XL.

$3k is a lot to charge for AWD. It's only a $1,500 hit on an HR-V or CR-V, and $2k on a Pilot or Passport. I think it's closer to $4k on a base, regular cab F-150, unless it also adds features I'm unaware of!

stickguy

I think the hybrid AWD would be very popular. They have that I think on one of the other platforms mates (escape of Bronco Sport)?

Michaell

stickguy said:

you have 2 cars though. Isn't one almost always at the house?

There have been times where the daughter goes in one direction, and the wife in another, and the garage has been empty. Wife has tried a W-2 job a couple of times in the past 9 months, but neither worked out.

She's finally realized that she's done with the early childhood world, and is focusing on the cooking studio. The girls have been commuting together for the summer camp season. The pay sucks, but she sets her own schedule and is her own boss.

mjfloyd1

@Sandman6472 said:
If she wasn't directing me, doubt I would've hit the wall. I relied on the info she was giving me which was my mistake.
The mirror wasn't totally broken but was wobbly. After the tech tried to push it back into place, he broke whatever was holding it in and it just fell onto the door. Had to purchase a brand new mirror and have it painted, then installed. If he had been a bit gentler with it, doubt it would've ended it up like it did when he was done. And then he basically ran away once he saw how he really made it worse.
Learned a valuable lesson here, don't rely on others to help in certain situations. I did and it cost me...over $700 for a new mirror!

Ahhh, you chose to follow your wife’s directions rather than look in your mirrors to see where you were with respect to your garage walls and garage door

It makes more sense when it is worded this way.

Situational awareness

explorerx4

@stickguy,
Which 'This' made you want a Miata?

stickguy

the positive review. And seeing the top in action.

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

@nyccarguy said:

So far so good. Knock on wood. I've been monitoring the oil level and it hasn't flinched. I had the injectors replaced by Honda at no charge. The Pilot has been running great as it should. My wife continues to pile miles on it while she works and shuttles my kids back and forth to whatever camps they at during the given week. No problems other than my wife's attraction to curbs.

Well curbs is better than bollards. My wife has hit two now (one in the 17 Enclave and now the XC)

Haven’t got a quote yet, but I’m guessing at least $1000 and then I need to find a wheel guy to clean up the rash.

Don’t feel bad, it happens to the best of us. Last week one of our chase drivers took off without one of his crew. When he realized his mistake he tried backing up and whacked the rear corner on a bollard. Nice dent and yellow racing stripe.

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

A Sunset Orange M2C with 3,200 miles on it turned up on my dealer’s lot yesterday. I balked at the price but my wife said “ You’re 64 and working after your retirement. Why shouldn’t you have something nice? We need to enjoy our lives while we have good health and blessings.”

It was a moot point as it sold before noon.

I give up.

Another perfect wife.

stickguy

I agree with her. what is the point of working hard and longer than you had to, if you can't enjoy the money?

roadburner

jmonroe1 said:

roadburner said:

A Sunset Orange M2C with 3,200 miles on it turned up on my dealer’s lot yesterday. I balked at the price but my wife said “ You’re 64 and working after your retirement. Why shouldn’t you have something nice? We need to enjoy our lives while we have good health and blessings.”

It was a moot point as it sold before noon.

I give up.

When wives suggest or don’t balk when their husbands buy a car they’re up to something. As a lot of you regulars know from another Edmunds site at least 10 years ago, that was a dining room suite in our house. It took quite a while for me to outwit her on that. To be honest, in the end it was one of her childhood friends who really rescued me buy telling her the one she had was plenty nice enough but if she insisted on getting another one she’d gladly take the old one. Whew !!!!

jmonroe

We are embarking on a major remodel of the two upstairs bathrooms, so there's that...

qbrozen

On the Maverick: I don’t think 36k orders is very much. They had 190k pre-orders on the Bronco by January.

On the 4xe: I also said four-ecks-ee. The problem is how they wrote it. If they wanted it to be like 4 x 4, then the should have used a small x and a large cap E. They made the whole logo the same height and ran it together, so it doesn’t read correctly.

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

No more leakage in the garage but taking it in Monday morning just the same as something ain't right here, cars don't leak for no reason. Let them give it a look see & if it's nothing, they'll tell us but if not, they'll just fix it. The A3 ain't going anywhere for the foreseeable future so we gotta keep it running properly. And I'm betting they'll find a small leak, just not sure it's the oil due to it's almost pinkish color. The guy will let me know what's what.

What color is your coolant?

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

Big day tomorrow. For the first time in 10 months I will be stranded at home all day with no wheels. My wife is going into the office tomorrow. Team lead is taking them all out to lunch so she is going up earlier to "hotel" work for a bit then will be there a while after lunch. But this means that I won't have wheels available all day. And I even have some open time on my work schedule, and stuff I wanted to do.

I am sure I will figure out a way to survive this 1st world probably. But it is going to bug me all day.

Good thing I saved a ton of money going to 1 car because timing wanting a replacement in the middle of the great car shortage was poor planning!

Wonder if I could stumble upon something worth getting Saturday? Hope the wife feels like shopping, but I think to do that it means another Hyundai is following me home.

Time to start looking at Craigslist for a temporary hooptie that will get you from A to B for 6 months until sanity returns to the market.

stickguy

oldfarmer50 said:

Sandman6472 said:

No more leakage in the garage but taking it in Monday morning just the same as something ain't right here, cars don't leak for no reason. Let them give it a look see & if it's nothing, they'll tell us but if not, they'll just fix it. The A3 ain't going anywhere for the foreseeable future so we gotta keep it running properly. And I'm betting they'll find a small leak, just not sure it's the oil due to it's almost pinkish color. The guy will let me know what's what.

What color is your coolant?

Audi uses G13 (so Pink) coolant. And as much as aging Audis like to drip oil, they also like to leak coolant.

Actually just watched and FCP Euro video on common trouble spots on the 2.0t engine (used from about 2009-2016 on the A4 and Q5). Lots of common spots to leak stuff and regular failure points.

Though their Audi has the 1.8T engine (I assume the same motor as in the VWs of that generation). So probably a few different specific leak areas!

in any case, easy enough for a dealer (or indy experienced with the motor) to easily spot.

stickguy

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

Big day tomorrow. For the first time in 10 months I will be stranded at home all day with no wheels. My wife is going into the office tomorrow. Team lead is taking them all out to lunch so she is going up earlier to "hotel" work for a bit then will be there a while after lunch. But this means that I won't have wheels available all day. And I even have some open time on my work schedule, and stuff I wanted to do.

I am sure I will figure out a way to survive this 1st world probably. But it is going to bug me all day.

Good thing I saved a ton of money going to 1 car because timing wanting a replacement in the middle of the great car shortage was poor planning!

Wonder if I could stumble upon something worth getting Saturday? Hope the wife feels like shopping, but I think to do that it means another Hyundai is following me home.

Time to start looking at Craigslist for a temporary hooptie that will get you from A to B for 6 months until sanity returns to the market.

it is an option but I always get spooked normally by the CL bottom feeder market. And I assume it is much worse now. So I will hold off.

I did miss one. My neighbor just bought a new Highlander hybrid, to replace their well worn 2006 Pilot. Not sure the miles but I doubt low. Some decent sized dents on front fender, and a small rust spot on trailing edge of rear fender. But overall looks OK.

They ended up not trading in the Pilot and selling it privately. I did not know until they already had offered it to parents of some friends of theirs. So not sure what they even got for it. I told the wife I missed my opportunity. And got "the look" and some comment about her not wanting that old car.

but, was likely a good deal. 1 owner, big stack of all records, newer fancy goodyear tires. he is a doctor and I don't think skimped on maintenance! So quite likely it was a really good deal. But, gone now.

henryn

Once I realized that I had a coolant leak, I did a google search (without quotes) "coolant leak 2013 f150 5.0". From there, it took me less than 30 minutes to identify the two most common sources for a coolant leak. Then I went outside, looked around the topside of the engine, crawled underneath with a flashlight, and 5 minutes later I had it.

What did we ever do before the internet, car specific forums, and youtube videos? We worked a lot harder to learn stuff, that's what we did.

kyfdx

corvette said:

I default to pronouncing 4xe as "four X E" instead of "four by E." Surely I'm not alone?

Same here, but 4 by E makes sense, now that I think about it.

corvette

stickguy said:

I think the hybrid AWD would be very popular. They have that I think on one of the other platforms mates (escape of Bronco Sport)?

The performance is already projected to be "poky" on the FWD hybrid. Add a few hundred pounds for the AWD and a half second to the 0-60 time, and knock the 40 MPG EPA rating down to 36-37, and it becomes less appealing.

36,000 orders is a lot considering that there are no published reviews discussing the driving experience!

28firefighter

I say 4-by-e.

Lots of compliments on the sting gray over saddle with black wheels tonight when I was out at Target. I’m noticing this thing is a magnet for attracting small talk.

xwesx

henryn said:

Google to the rescue.

Not very much, is it? Considering you can get a Maverick with the 2.0L and the towing package less than half the price, and it can tow 4,000 lbs. But then, no one but you has even remotely considered towing anything with the "one of those things".

Yeah, sorry. I was headed out the door and the thought just occurred to me while I had the comment box at eye level.

Man, 3,500?! That's just too low.

xwesx

explorerx4 said:

@stickguy,
Which 'This' made you want a Miata?

Hahah.

I do not like the "Sarah n Tuned" car reviews. She has a great "deadpan" look, which can sometimes be straight up hilarious, but otherwise, her approach to the review itself just doesn't get to or stay on point very well. Some of her Forester build videos, which I think were early on in her YouTube career, were interesting since she took the time to make sure the audience could see what was going on in terms of accessing/removing/installing parts, which many automotive channels just don't do that well.

mjfloyd1

@28firefighter said:
I say 4-by-e.

Lots of compliments on the sting gray over saddle with black wheels tonight when I was out at Target. I’m noticing this thing is a magnet for attracting small talk.

I believe Target is pronounced “Tarjay” as in “la boutique tarjay”.

I drove my 4 exxxx e to la boutique tarjay.

mjfloyd1

@qbrozen said:
On the Maverick: I don’t think 36k orders is very much. They had 190k pre-orders on the Bronco by January.

On the 4xe: I also said four-ecks-ee. The problem is how they wrote it. If they wanted it to be like 4 x 4, then the should have used a small x and a large cap E. They made the whole logo the same height and ran it together, so it doesn’t read correctly.

The small e looks a male plug in. Notice the two prongs coming off of the left side of the e.

I have a funny feeling that they did that on purpose since it’s a hybrid

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

I say 4-by-e.

Lots of compliments on the sting gray over saddle with black wheels tonight when I was out at Target. I’m noticing this thing is a magnet for attracting small talk.

I think that pronunciation makes a lot of sense, now that I've seen the badge.

Seeing it on lease documents, I just thought it was an internal model designation. I didn't realize it was a marketing name.

stickguy

Technically it’s still a 4x4 too.

So maybe it should be called a 4x4xe