Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

xwesx

28firefighter said:

I don't even have line of sight to a replacement...

Oh, I thought you had another forksy on the way. I must have mixed up my posts; there were hundreds just in the time it took me to drive home from Oregon.

au1994

28firefighter said:

The offer on the Outback is now up to $35,400. This is getting downright silly.

If only you had a spare car laying around. Oh wait

And yes, its just silly. The X1 (46k, not xDrive) is up over $25k but like you, nothing out there to replace it with. Dealer has 1 X4 30i thats black over red for $55k. Price tells you its decently equipped but far from loaded and I’m not a fan of that color combo. White over red, I wouldn’t mind. Going the other direction, they have 1 440i convertible for $71k. Gulp.

kyfdx

2018 GTI
Bought 02/20 with 13,800 miles
Currently (20 months later) with 23,500 miles

Offer from Carvana: $2000 more than I paid for it.

kyfdx

kyfdx said:

2018 GTI
Bought 02/20 with 13,800 miles
Currently (20 months later) with 23,500 miles

Offer from Carvana: $2000 more than I paid for it.

Vroom is $3800 higher than Carvana: $5800 over what I paid for it.

au1994

My grandmother (103 years old and still living independently btw) has an 89 Olds 98. Wonder what I could get for that?

sda

kyfdx said:

kyfdx said:

2018 GTI
Bought 02/20 with 13,800 miles
Currently (20 months later) with 23,500 miles

Offer from Carvana: $2000 more than I paid for it.

Vroom is $3800 higher than Carvana: $5800 over what I paid for it.

Wow that would be tempting…only if a viable replacement was available.

kyfdx

Ay... there's the rub..

28firefighter

Should try CarMax. Crazy money.

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

Should try CarMax. Crazy money.

Carmax is just $500 under Vroom. There is a location about 30 minutes from me.

oldfarmer50

I guess I’ve decided to not be in the car buying market for the foreseeable future. Prices are just too crazy. As things get worse I’m glad I made my last purchase in June of 2020 just before things got crazy.

I want to replace my old cargo van but pick up trucks are out of this world. I’m looking to scoop up a pristine 2005 Ranger that is owned by a guy I know. It has a little over 50k miles. He’s looking to replace it with something he can take to Florida. I just hope he doesn’t change his mind because there’s nothing else out there that isn’t worn out junk or priced in the stratosphere.

ab348

Take a good look underneath that Ranger. Their rear frame rails are notorious for rotting in the salt belt.

stickguy

At this point, get an absolutely base Maverick XL for 21.5. Better than crazy money for a beat up, high miles ranger or Colorado

andres3

breld said:

I'm sure you all remember the faceplates that could be removed to discourage theft. What a funny period...carrying a car stereo faceplate in your back pocket whilst walking around the mall.

Later models had a "flip faceplate" where it looks like a removable face plate when it's backwards facing. Neat trick and does the job. The other trick is to bolt the back of the radio to the car frame so when a thief tries to pull it out they are thwarted.

andres3

Kenwood and Pioneeer made the best built-in amps in their head units; pretty much as good as the cheaper separates out there.

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

Take a good look underneath that Ranger. Their rear frame rails are notorious for rotting in the salt belt.

Leaf spring shackles too but this thing doesn’t have a spot of rust. It’s got two out of three things I look for: no rust, low milage and….I hope cheap. I doubt the third characteristic is possible these days but if I can get a low milage rust free truck I’ll be happy paying market value.

Similar to this.

corvette

andres3 said:

Later models had a "flip faceplate" where it looks like a removable face plate when it's backwards facing. Neat trick and does the job.

I installed one of those with a motorized faceplate in my 1999.5 Jetta--I think it was a Kenwood--replacing the factory cassette head unit and the (Panasonic, I think) 8-disc changer I had installed with an adapter to interface using the buttons on the factory head unit. The adapter never worked 100% correctly, and I wanted the capability to burn a bunch of MP3 files to a data CD and have the head unit play them, which the Kenwood provided. Now, many new cars don't have an optical disc drive at all.

stickguy

don't be so sure unless you have been underneath it. Sarah N tuned recently inherited a 94ish Ranger out of New Hampshire. Actually looked just about perfect body wise. Good pain, no rust. But once she got to inspect the underneath, the frame had issues. Was going to IIRC pull the body and clean/restore the frame but it wasn't really in decent enough condition. Ended up finding a southern truck in the junkyard and is doing a frame swap to that one's frame.

ab348

What Stick says is true. My brother owned 2 Rangers, and #2, a 2008, was perfect underneath in terms of the cab and box. But the frame rails around the rear springs and axle were Swiss cheese. He learned that a quick eyeball check was to look at whether the spare tire which mounts to the rear end of the frame under everything was still there. In trucks with frame rust they were all either hanging precariously or carried in the bed.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

don't be so sure unless you have been underneath it. Sarah N tuned recently inherited a 94ish Ranger out of New Hampshire. Actually looked just about perfect body wise. Good pain, no rust. But once she got to inspect the underneath, the frame had issues. Was going to IIRC pull the body and clean/restore the frame but it wasn't really in decent enough condition. Ended up finding a southern truck in the junkyard and is doing a frame swap to that one's frame.

Yeah, I saw that but her grandma’s truck was 11 years older. In reality you never know what you’ll find on an old used car but the owner of this particular truck goes to Florida every winter and either takes it down there or parks it in a garage up here. It sure doesn’t look like it’s seen a lot of salt.

Anyway, I’ll have plenty of time to think about it as he’s not planning on selling until the spring. I’ve had good luck buying from older people they tend to take care of their stuff.

andres3

Our recent model VW's and Audi's have relegated a CD player to the glove box; it's almost like putting the cup holder in the glovebox.

andres3

Don't bring your chronic car buying vehicles to the Golden State of CA:

https://calmatters.org/commentary/2021/10/will-speed-traps-return-to-california/

sda

andres3 said:

Don't bring your chronic car buying vehicles to the Golden State of CA:

https://calmatters.org/commentary/2021/10/will-speed-traps-return-to-california/

That ticks me off just reading the article. Good perspective.

jmonroe1

@oldfarmer50 said:
Yeah, I saw that but her grandma’s truck was 11 years older. In reality you never know what you’ll find on an old used car but the owner of this particular truck goes to Florida every winter and either takes it down there or parks it in a garage up here. It sure doesn’t look like it’s seen a lot of salt.

Anyway, I’ll have plenty of time to think about it as he’s not planning on selling until the spring. I’ve had good luck buying from older people they tend to take care of their stuff.

I can vouch for that. I have an older toothbrush that I wash religiously twice a day.

jmonroe

au1994

28firefighter said:

I don't even have line of sight to a replacement...

What is on the short (or long) list? Isn’t the lease up fairly soon?

28firefighter

It’s up in June. So not soon soon but not far out. Close enough that I’d flip it now if it made sense.

Top of the list is a Grand Cherokee 4xE. Tesla is there too, but I suspect the Jeep to be a much better value.

sda

28firefighter said:

It’s up in June. So not soon soon but not far out. Close enough that I’d flip it now if it made sense.

Top of the list is a Grand Cherokee 4xE. Tesla is there too, but I suspect the Jeep to be a much better value.

Is a buy out at lease end being considered, especially since your wife likes it so much?

28firefighter

Not really. She recognizes that for our purposes leasing makes more sense and therefore would prefer to get into something electric or PHEV.

28firefighter

Also while the Outback is a good buy now at residual, once the market normalizes, it won’t be such a good used buy. At least that’s my take.

oldfarmer50

sda said:

28firefighter said:

It’s up in June. So not soon soon but not far out. Close enough that I’d flip it now if it made sense.

Top of the list is a Grand Cherokee 4xE. Tesla is there too, but I suspect the Jeep to be a much better value.

Is a buy out at lease end being considered, especially since your wife likes it so much?

In this market, buying out a lease has to be the better choice even if you hate the car. It’s the last place where the buyer can still win.

corvette

Here’s today’s facepalm moment: I bought a floor jack and jack stands to rotate the tires on the Prius (they need a non-standard rotation pattern to wear optimally going forward, as somehow the left two tires have the most tread). Apparently if you don’t use an adapter on the designated lifting point along the pinch weld, this happens:

Needless to say, I did not rotate the tires and ended up returning the jack and jack stands.

The only silver lining is that I discovered three of the wheels were insanely overtorqued, such that I would not have been able to put the spare on in those positions using the tools in the trunk. The only one that was torqued correctly was the one Discount Tire repaired a few weeks ago. They’re now all torqued to 80 ft-lbs.

28firefighter

Getting down to the last days of nice weather to take out the ZHP.

kyfdx

I have it on good authority that the ZHP is at home in all weather conditions. 😉

28firefighter

@kyfdx said:
I have it on good authority that the ZHP is at home in all weather conditions. 😉

Yes. But why drive that in cold rain when I have the Jeep?

oldfarmer50

corvette said:

Here’s today’s facepalm moment: I bought a floor jack and jack stands to rotate the tires on the Prius (they need a non-standard rotation pattern to wear optimally going forward, as somehow the left two tires have the most tread). Apparently if you don’t use an adapter on the designated lifting point along the pinch weld, this happens:

Needless to say, I did not rotate the tires and ended up returning the jack and jack stands.

The only silver lining is that I discovered three of the wheels were insanely overtorqued, such that I would not have been able to put the spare on in those positions using the tools in the trunk. The only one that was torqued correctly was the one Discount Tire repaired a few weeks ago. They’re now all torqued to 80 ft-lbs.

Ouch! I hope that’s just a piece of trim that can be put back into place. I know you’ve gone all out fixing up that car. Who would design a car like that?

jmonroe1

@oldfarmer50 said:
Ouch! I hope that’s just a piece of trim that can be put back into place. I know you’ve gone all out fixing up that car. Who would design a car like that?

Toyota?

jmonroe

corvette

oldfarmer50 said:

Ouch! I hope that’s just a piece of trim that can be put back into place. I know you’ve gone all out fixing up that car. Who would design a car like that?

Nope, that's the fender. Supposedly you can sometimes bend things back into place. The one on the passenger side is slightly out of alignment, as well, so I'm guessing I'm not the first one... This seems to be a common issue on unibody cars, I know my great aunt's Park Avenue had a similar issue, and 100percentjake on YouTube did, as well.

sda

corvette said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Ouch! I hope that’s just a piece of trim that can be put back into place. I know you’ve gone all out fixing up that car. Who would design a car like that?

Nope, that's the fender. Supposedly you can sometimes bend things back into place. The one on the passenger side is slightly out of alignment, as well, so I'm guessing I'm not the first one... This seems to be a common issue on unibody cars, I know my great aunt's Park Avenue had a similar issue, and 100percentjake on YouTube did, as well.

Perhaps take a rubber mallet and gently tap it back in place?

au1994

28firefighter said:

Getting down to the last days of nice weather to take out the ZHP.

The E46 is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of 3 series design. It still looks great today in sedan, coupe or convertible.

stickguy

the E46 and contemporary model 5 series were both incredible cars. Mostly neglected now sadly, but timeless designs.

that one is gorgeous too.

Speaking of BMW, was out with the wife today and got behind a new X7 in a medium blue, and she made an unsolicited comment that "BMW has really nice blues". She does like blue cars. I resisted the temptation to tell her that I wanted an X3 when she picked the new RDX, which for some reason, that year did not come in blue.

corvette

Well, that whole episode has made me want a pair of Quick Jacks (which aren't worth it given how little I'd use them) or an actual lift (same, plus I don't have room for it).

I tried to tell the Prius I was sorry by giving it a hand wash and putting a second coat of Zaino on it.

Michaell

Interesting discussions in the last 24 hours.

Daughter has opined that she should sell her MINI, given that the prices are so favorable. I checked with Carvana, and they are offering over $11K for her car (2014 Countryman S ALL4 with roughly 51,000 miles).

But, what to do as a replacement? She really wants a custom order Countryman SE (PHEV) - the local dealer is suggesting it would take 4-5 months to get one in.

Unlike @breld, I'm not planning on buying a Tesla as an "interim" vehicle, and the household still needs a 2nd car.

Aha!

I know where there is an extra car in the family, that I could "borrow" for a short period. Yes, I'd have to fly to CA and drive it back to CO, but it would work splendidly as an extra car, while the girls use the Outback on a daily basis.

When the new MINI comes in, we can pick it up and I'll drive the Sonata back to CA and give it back to my sister and her family.

And, we're thinking we'll run the new MINI purchase through the LLC, to help with taxes.

stickguy

sounds like a lot of effort for a few months, but a lot cheaper than buying a used car!

If they don't need it for the next 5 months, why does it have to go back?

I wouldn't mind having a free car laying around that I could take. Sadly there are none in the family.

but in your case, if you can get the purchase order locked in at MSRP, might as well take the inflated price on it (heck, maybe sell it private for more?) and bank the money until the new one comes in.

oldfarmer50

Michaell said:

Interesting discussions in the last 24 hours.

Daughter has opined that she should sell her MINI, given that the prices are so favorable. I checked with Carvana, and they are offering over $11K for her car (2014 Countryman S ALL4 with roughly 51,000 miles).

But, what to do as a replacement? She really wants a custom order Countryman SE (PHEV) - the local dealer is suggesting it would take 4-5 months to get one in.

Unlike @breld, I'm not planning on buying a Tesla as an "interim" vehicle, and the household still needs a 2nd car.

Aha!

I know where there is an extra car in the family, that I could "borrow" for a short period. Yes, I'd have to fly to CA and drive it back to CO, but it would work splendidly as an extra car, while the girls use the Outback on a daily basis.

When the new MINI comes in, we can pick it up and I'll drive the Sonata back to CA and give it back to my sister and her family.

And, we're thinking we'll run the new MINI purchase through the LLC, to help with taxes.

If you had listened to me that Sonata would be sitting in your driveway right now. I have to say though, that’s a brilliant idea considering the car shortage.

I wouldn’t give it back. Wasn’t it supposed to be yours anyway?

jmonroe1

@sda said:
Perhaps take a rubber mallet and gently tap it back in place?

Or, he could try jacking it back into place.

jmonroe

Michaell

stickguy said:

sounds like a lot of effort for a few months, but a lot cheaper than buying a used car!

If they don't need it for the next 5 months, why does it have to go back?

I wouldn't mind having a free car laying around that I could take. Sadly there are none in the family.

but in your case, if you can get the purchase order locked in at MSRP, might as well take the inflated price on it (heck, maybe sell it private for more?) and bank the money until the new one comes in.

More labor than money.

Flight to CA (I’ve got points)
3-4 tanks of gas
Couple of nights in a hotel
Food for the drive

Reverse the order upon return.

We don’t need a third car at the house.

Just need to determine if my sister can do without it for a few months.

qbrozen

@Michaell said:
Interesting discussions in the last 24 hours.

Daughter has opined that she should sell her MINI, given that the prices are so favorable. I checked with Carvana, and they are offering over $11K for her car (2014 Countryman S ALL4 with roughly 51,000 miles).

Doesn’t seem all that great for a car with only 51k, no? What was that? About $40k new? That’s almost 57 cents/mi depreciation. I would think it should have a long life ahead of it.

stickguy

took longer than I expected, but got an Email from Ford last night. They delayed my Maverick build date. But, only by 1 week. From week of 10/25 to week of 11/1. Remains to be seen if this is the last adjustment.

kyfdx

qbrozen said:

@Michaell said:

Interesting discussions in the last 24 hours.

Daughter has opined that she should sell her MINI, given that the prices are so favorable. I checked with Carvana, and they are offering over $11K for her car (2014 Countryman S ALL4 with roughly 51,000 miles).

Doesn’t seem all that great for a car with only 51k, no? What was that? About $40k new? That’s almost 57 cents/mi depreciation. I would think it should have a long life ahead of it.

Considering the prices I've seen on other low mileage cars, that didn't seem great to me, either. Maybe, MINIs just aren't holding their value all that well?

kyfdx

@Michaell Try Carmax. They are $3300 higher than Carvana on the GTI.

Michaell

qbrozen said:

@Michaell said:

Interesting discussions in the last 24 hours.

Daughter has opined that she should sell her MINI, given that the prices are so favorable. I checked with Carvana, and they are offering over $11K for her car (2014 Countryman S ALL4 with roughly 51,000 miles).

Doesn’t seem all that great for a car with only 51k, no? What was that? About $40k new? That’s almost 57 cents/mi depreciation. I would think it should have a long life ahead of it.

I think it stickered for something like $38k, but I get your point.