Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

roadburner

@qbrozen said:

@roadburner said:
It is CPO and has $4,500 of M Performance accessories- including the MPPSK. This is the second 440i xDrive manual I've found that is really nicely equipped. Meh.

The auctions don’t care about the accessories.

I realize that, but it is an added value to some buyers.

mjfloyd1

Chevy to replace batteries on all Bolts

https://www.autoweek.com/news/green-cars/a37130110/chevy-bolt-second-recall-for-battery-fire-risk/?source=nl&utm_source=nl_aut&utm_medium=email&date=082021&utm_campaign=nl24804919&utm_term=AUT_Autoweek_StateOfCharge_DailyDrive_Newsletter_Sending

jmonroe1

mjfloyd1 said:

Chevy to replace batteries on all Bolts

https://www.autoweek.com/news/green-cars/a37130110/chevy-bolt-second-recall-for-battery-fire-risk/?source=nl&utm_source=nl_aut&utm_medium=email&date=082021&utm_campaign=nl24804919&utm_term=AUT_Autoweek_StateOfCharge_DailyDrive_Newsletter_Sending

The article said GM has identified 2 rare problems in the battery cell themselves in addition to battery module problems. I see this as kicking the can down the road with the battery cell problem because until a sufficient number of existing, on the road, cells are checked, GM doesn’t really know the extent of the problem. Checking a few new batteries just off the assembly line doesn’t do it for me.

I don’t think this is the end of GM’s problems with this reported problem and I’m betting that there will be more problems with the cells themselves down the road for all manufacturers.

Ain’t electrical cars great?

jmonroe

fintail

Wagon got its first scratch today. Left early this morning, low light. Garage door opener was in my pocket, gets bumped, engages door. I am slowly reversing (I don't back in, small garage, if I back in, I can't open the rear), looking in my right mirror (dipped) and rear camera. I didn't notice the door had started to close, as there was no change in light, the door is almost silent, and the car has good sound insulation. I bumped the bottom edge of the door with the furthest back part of the tailgate/rear hatch - nice few inch vertical scratch down to the metal in a spot. Estimate to fix, just over $500. No real damage to the garage door anyway. I am going to try to touch it up at least for the short term (I think it will just fall under the "credit card rule" for lease damage, should I return the car), if it bugs me, I'll have to get it fixed.



Another fun thing with this car. I am mortgage shopping right now. One lender doesn't care about the lease, as it ends in 7 months. Another said they will lend me much more if I pay down the lease early - kind of surprised me. They have better offers, but I am afraid if I do that, the next day the car will be hit by a runaway dump truck when parked, and I will be out the money.

stickguy

Do you plan to buy it? If not I’d do a DIY touch up good enough to give it back.

fintail

Haven't made up my mind yet. Part of me wants to keep it, as I'll technically have positive equity, it is a somewhat rare car, and it really drives beautifully. On smooth roads. Some of the roads here have me wanting something more rugged

I just put some touch up paint on it, we'll see how it turns out.

stickguy said:

Do you plan to buy it? If not I’d do a DIY touch up good enough to give it back.

stickguy

Always worth a try doing that first. Won’t change anything if you need to eventually get it fixed right anyway.

ab348

Ouch. Hopefully the driveway repair will look OK when you are done with it.

imidazol97

Are there the dent/ding removing touchup repair folks in your area
that might do a professional job for a lesser price.

I used to see them at work in the lots of different dealers around
repairing or covering up problems on used cars to be put on the
dealer lots.

tjc78

@fintail said:
Wagon got its first scratch today. Left early this morning, low light. Garage door opener was in my pocket, gets bumped, engages door. I am slowly reversing (I don't back in, small garage, if I back in, I can't open the rear), looking in my right mirror (dipped) and rear camera. I didn't notice the door had started to close, as there was no change in light, the door is almost silent, and the car has good sound insulation. I bumped the bottom edge of the door with the furthest back part of the tailgate/rear hatch - nice few inch vertical scratch down to the metal in a spot. Estimate to fix, just over $500. No real damage to the garage door anyway. I am going to try to touch it up at least for the short term (I think it will just fall under the "credit card rule" for lease damage, should I return the car), if it bugs me, I'll have to get it fixed.

Another fun thing with this car. I am mortgage shopping right now. One lender doesn't care about the lease, as it ends in 7 months. Another said they will lend me much more if I pay down the lease early - kind of surprised me. They have better offers, but I am afraid if I do that, the next day the car will be hit by a runaway dump truck when parked, and I will be out the money.

That sucks! I just made the appointment to have the XC fixed from my wife’s incident.

As for the mortgage, I think anything ending within six months of closing doesn’t affect D to I. We had one major thing ending in November and it meant nothing to the lender either way and wasn’t counted.

fintail

The place I got the estimate is from a shop that specializes in smaller repairs, not all PDR, but not full rebuilds. The scratch is really deep, and it'll need to get new emblems during the job, as the guy I talked to, who would apparently be doing the job, said to just paint a small patch might not match well. Emblems are about $150 alone.

I just slathered on some touch up paint, we'll see how it works. If anything, it'll keep the metal covered.

imidazol97 said:

Are there the dent/ding removing touchup repair folks in your area
that might do a professional job for a lesser price.

I used to see them at work in the lots of different dealers around
repairing or covering up problems on used cars to be put on the
dealer lots.

fintail

I should be happy it didn't somehow make a dent, or damage the garage door.

Apparently lease vs loan is the issue, under certain lending regulations. It's creating about a 80K difference compared to a lender who doesn't seem to care (but I like the programs offered by the more strict lender). There's always something.

tjc78 said:

@fintail said:

Wagon got its first scratch today. Left early this morning, low light. Garage door opener was in my pocket, gets bumped, engages door. I am slowly reversing (I don't back in, small garage, if I back in, I can't open the rear), looking in my right mirror (dipped) and rear camera. I didn't notice the door had started to close, as there was no change in light, the door is almost silent, and the car has good sound insulation. I bumped the bottom edge of the door with the furthest back part of the tailgate/rear hatch - nice few inch vertical scratch down to the metal in a spot. Estimate to fix, just over $500. No real damage to the garage door anyway. I am going to try to touch it up at least for the short term (I think it will just fall under the "credit card rule" for lease damage, should I return the car), if it bugs me, I'll have to get it fixed.

Another fun thing with this car. I am mortgage shopping right now. One lender doesn't care about the lease, as it ends in 7 months. Another said they will lend me much more if I pay down the lease early - kind of surprised me. They have better offers, but I am afraid if I do that, the next day the car will be hit by a runaway dump truck when parked, and I will be out the money.

That sucks! I just made the appointment to have the XC fixed from my wife’s incident.

As for the mortgage, I think anything ending within six months of closing doesn’t affect D to I. We had one major thing ending in November and it meant nothing to the lender either way and wasn’t counted.

sda

I would touch it up and be done. It is minor and you’ll probably be the only one that will notice it.

qbrozen

@roadburner said:

@qbrozen said:

@roadburner said:
It is CPO and has $4,500 of M Performance accessories- including the MPPSK. This is the second 440i xDrive manual I've found that is really nicely equipped. Meh.

The auctions don’t care about the accessories.

I realize that, but it is an added value to some buyers.

I’m a tough customer when it comes to this stuff. If a dealer won’t pay me more for it at trade time, then neither will I at purchase time. Its that same argument they always love to make with a manual transmission. When the dealer is buying “nobody wants a manual.” But when they are selling “it is rare and therefore valuable.”

sda

qbrozen said:

@roadburner said:

@qbrozen said:

@roadburner said:

It is CPO and has $4,500 of M Performance accessories- including the MPPSK. This is the second 440i xDrive manual I've found that is really nicely equipped. Meh.

The auctions don’t care about the accessories.

I realize that, but it is an added value to some buyers.

I’m a tough customer when it comes to this stuff. If a dealer won’t pay me more for it at trade time, then neither will I at purchase time. Its that same argument they always love to make with a manual transmission. When the dealer is buying “nobody wants a manual.” But when they are selling “it is rare and therefore valuable.”

My experience too. Well said.

fintail

I touched it up. The wagon is now like the fintail, a 10 footer Looks really good from a small distance, but once you get up close, you can see the mark, it's quite a gouge.

I'll probably end up getting it fixed, as if I buy the car, I would want it to be right. Took the car out this afternoon, and it is so smooth and comfortable, going to be hard to give it up, especially as the residual will present a decent discount.

sda said:

I would touch it up and be done. It is minor and you’ll probably be the only one that will notice it.

marcogallo1986

Jay Monroe, you are welcome I’m always lurking here and watching you ha ha Ha ha ha. I hope you’re behaving today.

marcogallo1986

Who is in above water the car but it finally got polled and it’s going to be produced next week. What car is it that you ordered, was trying to look back and see I missed something. Probably in October so I’m gonna order a bass GT Mustang I think is the plan because everything is fine for the most part has options I don’t want. Anyway happy Friday everybody. Hope everyone had an awesome week.

benjaminh

Here's a review of the Hyundai Sonata N-line. This car has a 2.5 liter turbo, sport suspension, dual clutch transmission, performance tires, etc. 0-60 in 5 seconds. 34k. Faster than an Accord 2.0. Looks like a like of fun for the money. 10 year warranty. Tough to beat imho, although this is more power than I need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x18N4514Gvk

stickguy

I did see one review on that (throttle house maybe) where it was clear that it had too much power for the front tires to handle. Or maybe it was that powertrain in a FWD Kia CUV. In any case, more than I want to try and put through a FWD car.

oldfarmer50

I just saw a credit union ad for new car loans—1.69%. That’s the lowest I’ve ever seen.

corvette

Gas stations are sometimes sparse out west. I’ve been following the @nyccarguy method of looking for a refill when the range shows 100 miles remaining and haven’t had any close calls so far.

benjaminh

One of my reasons for not owning a Tesla might not exist in several months. Right now if you own a Tesla in Louisville and need service you need to get your car to Cincinnati somehow, 116 miles from where I live, but in 6 months or so it looks like there will be a Tesla service center in my city.

https://www.wdrb.com/in-depth/tesla-plans-a-louisville-dealership-kentucky-law-could-complicate-that/article_d3792304-f6de-11eb-92cd-c7a2428f7844.html

"So what is being proposed on the roughly 4.5-acre site near Interstate 64 and Blankenbaker Parkway? It depends on who you ask. Tesla has not responded to an email sent Friday morning seeking clarification about its plans. But John Rougeux, president of the Tesla Owners of Kentucky club, said he believes the company is looking to open a service center, not a dealership. For now, Tesla owners in Louisville must drive to Cincinnati for service, although the manufacturer has mobile technicians as well. Middletown Mayor Byron Chapman also said his understanding is that Tesla doesn’t plan to open a dealership, but rather a store where owners can “pick up” cars once they purchase them. He said it’s tentatively scheduled to open during the first half of 2022; it would replace a Harley Davidson motorcycle dealership that is planning to move."

I think that's good news. But for me to ever get a Tesla it would need to make economic sense. Unlike some others here I'm far from being a millionaire. As mentioned, I recently bought out my Acura for $18.5k, and one of the things I thought about was comparing that to the msrp of $42k for a Tesla Model 3. Even the next generation of Tesla, Musk's so-called $25k car, is likely to be more like $32k when it actually goes on sale. The $35k Model 3 that was long promised never quite happened, and I assume something similar for the future $25k car—you'll need to add about $7000 and then you'll get to the real price. Even at 32k it won't make much economic sense for me, since even though I'd save about $1k a year on gas I wouldn't be in the black compared to my current car even after ten years of owning a Tesla. But I'm glad that at least Tesla is finally thinking more about the importance of service.

tjc78

stickguy said:

I did see one review on that (throttle house maybe) where it was clear that it had too much power for the front tires to handle. Or maybe it was that powertrain in a FWD Kia CUV. In any case, more than I want to try and put through a FWD car.

It’s only 290hp. It should be fine. My LaCrosse was 300 with no torque steer.

tjc78

I just checked out the N-Line. Nicely equipped but many things available on the Limited aren’t available on the N. I assume they were keeping the price down.

stickguy

311 torque at low RPMs and less road hugging weight. A problem off the line.

ab348

Large FWD performance sedans never made much sense to me.

roadburner

I don’t like FWD in anything larger than a GTI.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

I did see one review on that (throttle house maybe) where it was clear that it had too much power for the front tires to handle. Or maybe it was that powertrain in a FWD Kia CUV. In any case, more than I want to try and put through a FWD car.

That’s similar to the problem with Hyundai’s EV Kona. FWD only so it spins the wheels at the slightest provocation.

oldfarmer50

“ Unlike some others here I'm far from being a millionaire”

Yeah, those millionaires are the worst!

Have you looked at the prices on other EVs? Maybe there are more affordable options out there.

breld

Just got back yesterday from taking my son out to college in Illinois. Since we enjoy road trips, my wife and I drove his Tiguan out there over 2 days and flew back. My son and his mom (and her boyfriend) flew out and back.

The Tiguan was pretty impressive overall, particularly considering its price point. I didn’t think power was an issue at all, but the shifting is not a smooth as I’m used to (maybe that goes hand in hand with the lower power). Had room to spare after packing my son’s stuff.

We found the drive through Nebraska and Iowa to be pretty. We stopped the first night in Des Moines after 10 hours, and then only had a short 5 hour drive the next day into Naperville.

Naperville itself is beautiful and makes my wife and I envious of going to college in a town like that. It should be a great 4 years for my son. He seemed pretty anxious as we left, but I know he’ll be busy morning to night for “welcome” week and then will fall into a routine. Being on the baseball team will certainly help him acclimate, as he should make friends quickly.

Couple pics of Naperville’s downtown and riverwalk…

benjaminh

ab348 said:

Large FWD performance sedans never made much sense to me.

There might be some performance compromises compared to rear-wheel drive or awd cars that cost 45k-70k, but for the budget-minded among us FWD performance cars are still sometimes a good choice. As we know, it's very rare that you ever need to really floor it from a stop anyway. The power is more useful for merging, passing, etc. And that guy in the video does seem like he's having fun. The Sonata N-line carries four people comfortably while still providing some fun for when the driver doesn't have passengers.

breld

Just to stay on point for the forum, here’s another picture from our trip to Naperville…

breld

We talked Audis much of the way from Colorado to Illinois and my wife decided she wanted one to replace her MINI.

We have an appointment this morning at our Denver dealer and will likely place an order. I’ll leave a little suspense as to the model, but it shouldn’t be too hard to guess based on her history.

stickguy

no grass grows on your driveway! Or something like that.

explorerx4

@breld,
You disappointed by not driving a new car back.

mjfloyd1

@fintail said:
I touched it up. The wagon is now like the fintail, a 10 footer Looks really good from a small distance, but once you get up close, you can see the mark, it's quite a gouge.

I'll probably end up getting it fixed, as if I buy the car, I would want it to be right. Took the car out this afternoon, and it is so smooth and comfortable, going to be hard to give it up, especially as the residual will present a decent discount.

I’d take that to a dealership and see if they have someone that does airbrushing for their used cars. They can match it up and no new emblems needed. Should be cheaper too

[Deleted User]

breld said:

He seemed pretty anxious as we left, but I know he’ll be busy morning to night for “welcome” week and then will fall into a routine. Being on the baseball team will certainly help him acclimate, as he should make friends quickly.

So how are Mom and Dad???

mjfloyd1

@breld - I feel your pain. My daughter left for college today (sophomore) and only 40 miles away and my in laws had come to see my youngest cheer at a HS football game and they all left at the same time. My wife was in tears. Better now thankfully.

breld

dad23 said:

breld said:

He seemed pretty anxious as we left, but I know he’ll be busy morning to night for “welcome” week and then will fall into a routine. Being on the baseball team will certainly help him acclimate, as he should make friends quickly.

So how are Mom and Dad???

With Fall break, thanksgiving, and then Winter break, he’ll be home practically once a month for this first semester, so that will makes things much easier. The NFL season will be weird without having him around as he’s my football buddy, watching and going to games. But the Broncos have a home game the weekend of his Fall break, so we’ll go to that.

I suspect his Mom will have a harder time…her and her boyfriend are staying in Chicago for the weekend and then taking him and his roommate to a Cubs/Rockies game. But once that’s over and she’s headed back home to Denver, I think there will be a lot of tears.

breld

So just got back from the Audi dealership. @jpp75 was at the nearby Land Rover dealership so he joined us, and then we all went to lunch with @Michaell.

So my wife is getting a 2022 A4 Allroad. Not that there’s much inventory anyway, but she was pretty set on the Prestige trim and particular colors and options, so obviously nothing currently available in inventory. She wants the Manhattan Gray with Rock Gray interior and the painted body color fenders.

Plan A is a dealer trade for one that is due in December…Plan B is a special order that would probably be delivered in February. They just have to check next week on whether they can do the dealer trade.

explorerx4

@breld,
Hopefully Mom and group take some time to at least walk the Chicago River.
We went to to a wedding there about 3 years ago and walked it.
The Architecture Tour by boat is supposed to be great.
View from the floor of our hotel.
Not only the famous platter condo's but also House of Blues in the lower left.

stickguy

My wife shed some tears when we left out kids for the first time. I was more concerned about getting moving to beat traffic through the city.

I truly am sentimental!

benjaminh

Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing. 125k when fully loaded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0cbGvMmq3Y

ab348

I think he liked it.

Awesome car.

qbrozen

In about 8 hrs, we’ll be departing NJ and making our way to Hilton Head for the week. First vacay in years. Taking the van since we need the space. I’m hoping no more than 12 hrs on the road. Leaving before 5am so I can get past DC by 8:30 (again, hopefully). We’ll be driving through a tropical storm so ya never know.

mjfloyd1

Safe travels @qbrozen

explorerx4

@qbrozen,
No matter what the weather, you need to get by DC through Richmond. Sunday, so you may be ok.
I-95 South of DC is subject to flooding base on my experience.
Hopefully your trip will go well.

28firefighter

Made it down to Ocean City just in time for the hurricane! Thanks to my corporate rate and status was able to get a Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring (non turbo though) for $175 for the week.

I forgot that speed limits on the AC expressway seem to be taken as recommendations and not a requirement. I was doing 10 over in the rain in the right lane and getting absolutely smoked by folks passing me.

fintail

I'll check on that. My only fear is the depth of the scratch, even a couple coats didn't fully fill it in, it's really down to the metal.

Fortunately, the scratch just fits under a credit card, so it is covered by the "credit card test" - but as I have the car til March, I doubt I will be able to look at it for that long. Already, when I look at the car, my eye goes right to the scratch.

mjfloyd1 said:

@fintail said:

I touched it up. The wagon is now like the fintail, a 10 footer Looks really good from a small distance, but once you get up close, you can see the mark, it's quite a gouge.

I'll probably end up getting it fixed, as if I buy the car, I would want it to be right. Took the car out this afternoon, and it is so smooth and comfortable, going to be hard to give it up, especially as the residual will present a decent discount.

I’d take that to a dealership and see if they have someone that does airbrushing for their used cars. They can match it up and no new emblems needed. Should be cheaper too