Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

xwesx

28firefighter said:

I'll save you all the suspense - we're going to sell the Outback to CarMax and clear just under $12k in equity on the lease. We're going to use that money to put into our little one's college fund and officially finish prepaying 4 years of in-state tuition here in WA.

Dang, congrats on sorting that out while the kid is still so young! I'm glad we were able to sock something away for our pups' college, but it certainly wouldn't cover four years of tuition. I just tell myself that they should be contributing something to their own stinkin' education.

stickguy

Michaell said:

I’m still working on the 2nd car…

same here.

I did see a Civic hatchback today. Dealer got one in they were not expecting. Nice package. I am a sucker for a nice 5 door slopeback hatch. Reminded me a lot of my old Mazda 626. Just not positive I want to just get a carish car like that (it is more practical for bulky stuff than the sedan, but I do have the RDX already for that). This would make more sense if I was getting the stick version to scratch that itch (combining the fun/toy car with the regular car) and giving up on the truck idea for the foreseeable future.

stickguy

qbrozen said:

Geico didn't seem to have a clue what to do about my "new" vehicle. The app wouldn't let me change the address for one car and told me to call. Got through to someone pretty quick. I explained the situation. She put me on hold for about 5 mins. Came back and said I'd need a whole new policy and I'd have to register it in SC. I explained to her how that isn't possible given SC laws. Put me on hold again for a while. Came back and finally said they could do it on my current policy. The location, however, kicked up the premium. When I added in NJ, it was $390/yr. Now, in SC, it is $460.

well, can always just keep it on your regular policy. It's registered in NJ so that makes sense. Just happens to be on a very long vacation. My daughter had her car in NC for 3 years during college. Never did tell the insurance company about that. Thankfully never became an issue.

tifighter

28firefighter said:

I'll save you all the suspense - we're going to sell the Outback to CarMax and clear just under $12k in equity on the lease. We're going to use that money to put into our little one's college fund and officially finish prepaying 4 years of in-state tuition here in WA.

In return, she is going to give the Tesla Model 3 SR+ a whirl - Midnight Silver (gray) with Sport wheels. Picked up an in-stock model drop. I figure worst case, we'll flip it and break close to even.

A man of good taste. Congrats, as those are hard to find...

stickguy

so the ZHP is staying ? didn't specify that.

amazing clearing that much on a lease. strange times we live in.

au1994

Nice choice! The 3 is a cool package. Hard to pass up that deal on the Outback.

imidazol97

boomchek said:

Michaell said:

qbrozen said:

Drive home was uneventful. Everything works, brakes are good (I had no idea you could still get rear drums on an SUV in 2010), tires are almost new Goodyears. It does stink inside. From our discussions and the clues, I believe it to be a result of him getting the interior steamed and then locking it up and leaving it for weeks. Just cosmetics.

Nice looking - a good detail will have it looking great. Seems like a perfect fit for the intended use case.

Congrats! Looks pretty clean.

I always tell our detailers to avoid shampooing used car interiors unless they really need it. Otherwise the vehicles come back from detail, stay locked while on the lot, and the moisture evaporates fogging up all the windows and leaving a wet dog smell inside. You just need to vent it properly and put some air freshener inside.

Is there a cure for the smell of old damp socks stored inside a locker room when the AC is first turned on after sitting a long period of time. We rarely use the AC in this weather in Ohio and both cars developed this smell here in the September days of Fall. It's only there for a minute.

stickguy

I think there are cleaners you somehow run through the system. I have never tried it though.

kyfdx

Someone may remember the $3500 Cherokee I posted recently?

Look what just sold on BaT:
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1997-jeep-cherokee-26/

28firefighter

Yes - the ZHP is staying. At least, for now. I do love it and am not ready to give up having a manual around.

laurasdada

After nixing the black SL450 as being not feminine enough, I found same in white. But, wifey has now decided that a third car just makes no sense. So, logic is only invoked when it's something I want...for her, of course...

She did raise an interested eyebrow when I showed her a lovely '19 Porsche 911, white over black. And, she finds the '18 silver/black AM DB11 mildly attractive. Bet I could slip one of those past her!

She was willing to trade her '18 CX-5 for a new Audi Q5e, but she wants white over black. None currently to be found close-ish to here. And her enthusiasm doesn't seem high, combine that with the current market and I'm not going to push. When the time is right...

tjc78

Congrats 28!

boomchek

andres3 said:

Someone mentioned a harmonic balancer issue with the Audi 3.0 V6. That might be it. In hindsight I did notice idling at times the idle was rougher than it should be in terms of vibration QUALIFIER for an Audi.

Typically, at idle, your not even sure the engine is on at times, so any vibration can be noticeable. It was very minor though, and didn't think anything of it until........

I was thinking perhaps a bad motor mount as those are known to be a maintenance issue.

Actually mine idles like that as well. RPMs are steady but I feel a slight vibration at idle. It's been doing that since I got it year and a half ago. It was in Audi service while still under warranty right after I got it and I asked them to check it out, but they couldn't find an issue with it.

I should revisit it and get it checked out even though it's out of warranty now as its past 4 years, but not mileage.

explorerx4

@28firefighter,
What happens with those prepaid college plans if you move out of state?

nyccarguy

xwesx said:

28firefighter said:

I'll save you all the suspense - we're going to sell the Outback to CarMax and clear just under $12k in equity on the lease. We're going to use that money to put into our little one's college fund and officially finish prepaying 4 years of in-state tuition here in WA.

Dang, congrats on sorting that out while the kid is still so young! I'm glad we were able to sock something away for our pups' college, but it certainly wouldn't cover four years of tuition. I just tell myself that they should be contributing something to their own stinkin' education.

+1

My oldest is a Sophmore in HS and paying for college is something that literally eats away at me every single day. A few of my friends from college had children a few years earlier than us. The kids are Seniors in HS now. Tuition rates are downright scary.

I'm going to most likely push for 2 years of Community College and then transfer. I'd love it if he had some kind of interest in trade school.

28firefighter

explorerx4 said:

@28firefighter,
What happens with those prepaid college plans if you move out of state?

Doesn't matter - the tuition we prepaid is guaranteed and backed by the state to pay out at the annual tuition rate for the most expensive in-state university. If we move out of state or he chooses to go somewhere out of state, the money can still be used - it will just cap out at whatever the highest in-state tuition in WA is at the time.

Our logic was that we both went to state schools and believe college to be an investment. If he wants to go somewhere private/out of state, he is certainly entitled to do so, but there will be a discussion about what that will mean financially for him above and beyond what we have set aside if he does not earn merit based scholarship.

That said, I'm still planning to sock away some extra over time in a regular 529 plan, to cover room/board/expenses/other costs. He won't necessarily know about that upfront.

Michaell

Congrats on the Outback to Tesla flip, @28firefighter!

au1994

We have a 529 and are socking extra away. Plus here in GA we have the hope scholarship. And yes, some of the tuition numbers are scary but I firmly believe its worth it. I’m a state school grad as well and think thats as good of an education as any. We will cover undergrad. There is debate on post grad as to necessity and who will fund that.

What is also scary is how difficult it is to get into college now. We know plenty of people who’s kids with 4.0+ GPA’s, great test scores and all the requisite extra curricular activities that are not getting into UGA.

28firefighter

au1994 said:

We have a 529 and are socking extra away. Plus here in GA we have the hope scholarship. And yes, some of the tuition numbers are scary but I firmly believe its worth it. I’m a state school grad as well and think thats as good of an education as any. We will cover undergrad. There is debate on post grad as to necessity and who will fund that.

What is also scary is how difficult it is to get into college now. We know plenty of people who’s kids with 4.0+ GPA’s, great test scores and all the requisite extra curricular activities that are not getting into UGA.

As someone who did post grad and still sees the loans each month, I'm in your camp - I will debate it when the time is right and if it is needed. I still wonder whether it was worth it for me (leaning towards no).

Anyway, didn't mean to snowball dramatically off topic - the moral of the story is the money was too much to scoff at when the lease is up in 8 months anyway.

au1994

28firefighter said:

au1994 said:

We have a 529 and are socking extra away. Plus here in GA we have the hope scholarship. And yes, some of the tuition numbers are scary but I firmly believe its worth it. I’m a state school grad as well and think thats as good of an education as any. We will cover undergrad. There is debate on post grad as to necessity and who will fund that.

What is also scary is how difficult it is to get into college now. We know plenty of people who’s kids with 4.0+ GPA’s, great test scores and all the requisite extra curricular activities that are not getting into UGA.

As someone who did post grad and still sees the loans each month, I'm in your camp - I will debate it when the time is right and if it is needed. I still wonder whether it was worth it for me (leaning towards no).

Anyway, didn't mean to snowball dramatically off topic - the moral of the story is the money was too much to scoff at when the lease is up in 8 months anyway.

Not to stray further but my wife paid off her post grad loans this month. At 48.

I lean toward no post grad unless it is very specialized.

nyccarguy

au1994 said:

We have a 529 and are socking extra away. Plus here in GA we have the hope scholarship. And yes, some of the tuition numbers are scary but I firmly believe its worth it. I’m a state school grad as well and think thats as good of an education as any. We will cover undergrad. There is debate on post grad as to necessity and who will fund that.

What is also scary is how difficult it is to get into college now. We know plenty of people who’s kids with 4.0+ GPA’s, great test scores and all the requisite extra curricular activities that are not getting into UGA.

My kid definitely doesn't have a 4.0 GPA. He's quite proficient at playing Minecraft and Trailmakers on the X Box as well as watching You Tube Videos of other people playing Minecraft and Trailmakers.

au1994

nyccarguy said:

au1994 said:

We have a 529 and are socking extra away. Plus here in GA we have the hope scholarship. And yes, some of the tuition numbers are scary but I firmly believe its worth it. I’m a state school grad as well and think thats as good of an education as any. We will cover undergrad. There is debate on post grad as to necessity and who will fund that.

What is also scary is how difficult it is to get into college now. We know plenty of people who’s kids with 4.0+ GPA’s, great test scores and all the requisite extra curricular activities that are not getting into UGA.

My kid definitely doesn't have a 4.0 GPA. He's quite proficient at playing Minecraft and Trailmakers on the X Box as well as watching You Tube Videos of other people playing Minecraft and Trailmakers.

I feel ya! Its actually quite sad that we have to ask au94jr now if the witty comment he just made is his or something that came from Instagram, YouTube etc. Unfortunately most of the time its from somewhere else.

explorerx4

There are scholarships for playing video games now.
My son in law wants to be the college prof for that.

corvette

I'm sure the landscape has changed since I was in undergrad and graduate school, but today, I know several people who are 10+ years out of school and still struggling to make their student loan payments. Generally, these are people who spent way too much on their education compared to what their intended occupation was likely to pay.

But, my own personal rule of thumb served me well: If a school was not willing to offer a very substantial merit based scholarship, it didn't get a lot of consideration from me. There are exceptions, but it's often not worth getting little or no help to go to the flagship university within a state, versus getting a substantial scholarship from a non-flagship, but well respected uni.

roadburner

28firefighter said:

Wife told me today she’d entertain us getting an M240 if I flipped both the ZHP and the Outback. This feels like a trap to get me to give up a third car.

Once you are down to two it will be infinitely harder to up the count again. You can never have too many cars- or motorcycles, or bicycles...

stickguy

Merit was not a thing at a lot of schools when my kids were going through it over the last decade. State schools seemed to be like carmax. One price, take it or leave it (unless you were good at basketball or football of course). At least the ivies had need based formulas that were generous. Private schools, hit or miss but given their absurd rack rate prices, they had to offer some sort of package.

laurasdada

I don't know how we did it, but the late ex and I were able to pay for 8 straight years of college for our two young'uns; both had 529 plans we started early (ok, bull market and power of compounding!). Both kids got some scholarship $, but the major bulk was on us.

We told both kids, undergrad on us; anything beyond that is 99.99% likely on their dime. Mom and dad hope to retire someday...

It's a good feeling knowing they graduated debt-free; my daughter is now working for Northwestern U, where they are paying her and paying for her Masters and PhD; smart like her mother. My son, well, he takes after me and is currently chasing butterflies as he figures out life.

Oh, and the boy bought a new Mazda 3 turbo hatch. Maybe he's figuring life out, after all!

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

au1994 said:

We have a 529 and are socking extra away. Plus here in GA we have the hope scholarship. And yes, some of the tuition numbers are scary but I firmly believe its worth it. I’m a state school grad as well and think thats as good of an education as any. We will cover undergrad. There is debate on post grad as to necessity and who will fund that.

What is also scary is how difficult it is to get into college now. We know plenty of people who’s kids with 4.0+ GPA’s, great test scores and all the requisite extra curricular activities that are not getting into UGA.

My kid definitely doesn't have a 4.0 GPA. He's quite proficient at playing Minecraft and Trailmakers on the X Box as well as watching You Tube Videos of other people playing Minecraft and Trailmakers.

Sounds like my son; we paid for four years at South Carolina, but told him grad or law school would have to be in-state.

rny421

28firefighter said:

As someone who did post grad and still sees the loans each month, I'm in your camp - I will debate it when the time is right and if it is needed. I still wonder whether it was worth it for me (leaning towards no).

For some reason I had it in my head that you're an attorney, so wouldn't post-grad be required?

You're smart to take advantage of the pre-paid program in Washington - it'll be a great head start for your son's future. Luckily, my wife and I have paid all of our undergrad loans off, but now my wife is getting her MBA. No kids in our future, so once she's done with grad school, we'll celebrate by buying more cars (or so I dream )

Ultimately - Congrats on the Tesla! I'll be interested in your feedback. I really liked the one I drove, but wasn't ready to commit to buying one yet, and the lease rates were nearly double the cost of my e-tron.

stickguy

Helps to have 2 wage earners with good incomes, and not be wasteful spenders (new cars, well, that’s a necessity). If you can live on one income, the other pays for college.

28firefighter

rny421 said:

28firefighter said:

As someone who did post grad and still sees the loans each month, I'm in your camp - I will debate it when the time is right and if it is needed. I still wonder whether it was worth it for me (leaning towards no).

For some reason I had it in my head that you're an attorney, so wouldn't post-grad be required?

You're smart to take advantage of the pre-paid program in Washington - it'll be a great head start for your son's future. Luckily, my wife and I have paid all of our undergrad loans off, but now my wife is getting her MBA. No kids in our future, so once she's done with grad school, we'll celebrate by buying more cars (or so I dream )

Ultimately - Congrats on the Tesla! I'll be interested in your feedback. I really liked the one I drove, but wasn't ready to commit to buying one yet, and the lease rates were nearly double the cost of my e-tron.

I am a lawyer that doesn't practice and works in a legal-adjacent field. I took a circuitous route to end up where I am and arguably did not need to spend 3 years having my soul and finances destroyed in grad school...I'm not bitter at all. I landed just fine and do very well (as does my wife who blissfully did not go to law school), but definitely one of those decisions I look back on.

Should have stuck with computer science and been a software dev...

nyccarguy

@stickguy said:
Merit was not a thing at a lot of schools when my kids were going through it over the last decade. State schools seemed to be like carmax. One price, take it or leave it (unless you were good at basketball or football of course). At least the ivies had need based formulas that were generous. Private schools, hit or miss but given their absurd rack rate prices, they had to offer some sort of package.

A friend of mine and his daughter looked at Syracuse. $70K per year rack rate.

ronsteve

@au1994 said:
Not to stray further but my wife paid off her post grad loans this month. At 48.

I lean toward no post grad unless it is very specialized.

The way to do post grad, at least in a science field, is as a teaching or research assistant.

xwesx

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

I'll save you all the suspense - we're going to sell the Outback to CarMax and clear just under $12k in equity on the lease. We're going to use that money to put into our little one's college fund and officially finish prepaying 4 years of in-state tuition here in WA.

In return, she is going to give the Tesla Model 3 SR+ a whirl - Midnight Silver (gray) with Sport wheels. Picked up an in-stock model drop. I figure worst case, we'll flip it and break close to even.

A man of good taste. Congrats, as those are hard to find...

Well, that's confusing. The car or the man? With this crowd, maybe both .

explorerx4

We were paying in the 50k range for one of my kids almost 10 years ago.
Go Irish!
That kid has not bought a vehicle yet, still driving a 2013 hand me down, so they won't be posting here.

xwesx

corvette said:

But, my own personal rule of thumb served me well: If a school was not willing to offer a very substantial merit based scholarship, it didn't get a lot of consideration from me. There are exceptions, but it's often not worth getting little or no help to go to the flagship university within a state, versus getting a substantial scholarship from a non-flagship, but well respected uni.

It's a solid "rule," for sure. As a worker bee for a state school, I'm a firm believer that it's better to have another student enrolled than for that additional body to pay top dollar. My school recently came up with a scholarship program that guarantees undergraduate coverage at a certain % of cost for the four years based on incoming criteria including merit and need. In doing so, the hope is to attract both high quality students and help lift the prospects of those in low income situations. Of course, we're a business, so we want more revenue, too, but, again, there's more long-term value in volume than in the revenue per customer.

So, if a school just wants your money, instead find a school that wants you.

xwesx

stickguy said:

Helps to have 2 wage earners with good incomes, and not be wasteful spenders (new cars, well, that’s a necessity). If you can live on one income, the other pays for college.

Hahah; not sure about that comment on new cars, but second incomes definitely help, I'm sure. We are single-income for the best part of two decades now, and it can be difficult at times (especially when the earner is no superstar!).

xwesx

ronsteve said:

The way to do post grad, at least in a science field, is as a teaching or research assistant.

Yes! I would estimate that a vast minority of grad students here actually pay for the education directly.

ab348

There is a growing school of thought that the pressure to drive every high schooler into a university 4-year degree program at a minimum. and in many cases requiring them to continue with post-grad work to attain any sort of marketable skill, often only saddles them with crushing debt and does little or nothing to prepare them for life earning a living afterward, depending of course on what specialty they chose to study. Meanwhile blue collar skilled workers are in very short supply and can often walk into well-paying jobs straight out of training schools. It doesn't suit everyone, but neither does white-collar work.

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

How about a 5th or 6th car?

;b

That would take care of multiple grenades and then some, like a small war. You’re lucky.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

breld said:

28firefighter said:

On my wife's proposed trade, she strongly dislikes having a third car and has been doing everything possible to remind me of that fact. I suspect if I get rid of the ZHP that will be it for a good long while.

Regarding the Jeep, yes - it is more than adequate for family needs. For a variety of reasons we are going to be a one kid household, which dramatically simplifies logistics. The Jeep has plenty of cargo room for sports stuff and travel stuff as needed and covers our desire for a 4WD vehicle to go to the mountains in winter.

There is definitely some appeal in combining fun car with daily car, especially having a garage parking spot, but I'm not sure what makes sense at this point.

I will have space soon for your ZHP.

Surely you’re going to give your poster buddy a reasonable parking fee.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

I don't think I ever shared this before. So I have this recurring dream, and have had it for decades, where I have cars sitting around that I forget I have and don't drive them. In the dream, I'll remember "Oh yeah, I have that CJ sitting out there. I should drive that. But then there's the Le Mans sitting neglected. I really should drive that. But what about ... " and it becomes almost a nightmare where I'm all stressed out about too many cars being neglected. I think maybe I've just crossed the threshold to make that a reality.

I should point out that they are never NICE nor expensive cars.

Aren’t you glad you wake up so that you get back to your somewhat sane world.

jmonroe

corvette

28firefighter said:

I took a circuitous route to end up where I am and arguably did not need to spend 3 years having my soul and finances destroyed in grad school...I'm not bitter at all. I landed just fine and do very well (as does my wife who blissfully did not go to law school), but definitely one of those decisions I look back on.

Should have stuck with computer science and been a software dev...

Ditto... Although I do presently work in a position where a law degree is preferred, but technically not required.

qbrozen

ab348 said:

There is a growing school of thought that the pressure to drive every high schooler into a university 4-year degree program at a minimum. and in many cases requiring them to continue with post-grad work to attain any sort of marketable skill, often only saddles them with crushing debt and does little or nothing to prepare them for life earning a living afterward, depending of course on what specialty they chose to study. Meanwhile blue collar skilled workers are in very short supply and can often walk into well-paying jobs straight out of training schools. It doesn't suit everyone, but neither does white-collar work.

I've been telling my kids since each were in kindergarten that college will be a massive waste of time and money for them. Unless you get a scholarship or some other kind of break, the income difference will never pay the debt. Kid 1 has been talking for several years about going into the military to pay for college. Kid 2 is trying to figure out his place in sports so he can play that angle.

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

@qbrozen said:

@tjc78 said:

Nice find on the Escape Q. It has my favorite Ford exclusive feature on it!

Do tell

Yes the keyless entry pad. I always liked having it, and never carried keys. I would just lock them inside.

Are they still putting the entry code on the trunk/hatch hinge?

roadburner

ab348 said:

There is a growing school of thought that the pressure to drive every high schooler into a university 4-year degree program at a minimum. and in many cases requiring them to continue with post-grad work to attain any sort of marketable skill, often only saddles them with crushing debt and does little or nothing to prepare them for life earning a living afterward, depending of course on what specialty they chose to study. Meanwhile blue collar skilled workers are in very short supply and can often walk into well-paying jobs straight out of training schools. It doesn't suit everyone, but neither does white-collar work.

About 30 years ago I spoke at length with a BMW engineer at Gateway Tech(the BMW Car Club's national tech event- since superseded by the internet). He talked about how the German educational system used aptitude testing to direct students towards jobs that they liked and were particularly well-suited for. There was no concerted attempt to primarily push students towards college. He was also underwhelmed with most of the graduates of US engineering schools.

tjc78

@oldfarmer50 said:
Are they still putting the entry code on the trunk/hatch hinge?

Not sure .. @explorerx4 (our resident Ford expert) probably knows.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

tjc78 said:

@qbrozen said:

I'll have to look into programming it. Could be helpful to just leave the key in it.

Factory code should be somewhere in the car (tailgate hinge maybe) or in a card with the manual if it’s still there.

Enter factory code, then press 1-2, enter new code, press 1-2

Factory code will always work as well as new code.

To open the car enter 5 digit code, then 3-4 opens the other doors, and 5-6 should be for tailgate (opens trunk on sedans)

7-8 & 9-0 locks it

Doing this from memory, so hopefully I didn’t miss anything.

It sounds to me like it would be a LOT easier to just use the key. You young guys must have good memories.

jmonroe

On my 95’ Lincoln I solved the problem by never locking the car. You guys must live in rough neighborhoods.

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

Ditto for my wife. I wanted a "toy" a few years back, a BMW 3-series convertible but she nixed the idea immediately. Said it was a waste to have to keep my d d outside all the time while having the toy take up my garage space. Wasn't even the money to be honest as I could afford it with no problem, she just thought it was a waste. I didn't agree but just went along as it was easier at the time. But, even now, I'd still like a "toy" convertible and am hoping once we both finally do retire in a few years, we can get one. Think once we have it sitting there, she'll see the enjoyment of having it.

I can’t think of a better place to have a drop top.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

qbrozen said:

Geico didn't seem to have a clue what to do about my "new" vehicle. The app wouldn't let me change the address for one car and told me to call. Got through to someone pretty quick. I explained the situation. She put me on hold for about 5 mins. Came back and said I'd need a whole new policy and I'd have to register it in SC. I explained to her how that isn't possible given SC laws. Put me on hold again for a while. Came back and finally said they could do it on my current policy. The location, however, kicked up the premium. When I added in NJ, it was $390/yr. Now, in SC, it is $460.

well, can always just keep it on your regular policy. It's registered in NJ so that makes sense. Just happens to be on a very long vacation. My daughter had her car in NC for 3 years during college. Never did tell the insurance company about that. Thankfully never became an issue.

A woman I worked with registered her car in Florida even though she only spent a few months there in the winter. I suspect some lying was involved.