Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

corvette

Nice Mach-E, @qbrozen ! May it serve you faithfully for many years.

qbrozen

New. Wanted the $7500 credit.

corvette

My Battery Tender stayed red for a whole day when I plugged it into my Prius' 12V feed. I thought the Battery Tender was toast (three replacements so far under its 10 year warranty), but it now appears that it was either a loose connection or the 12V battery was just really low. It was charged up to 12.9V the last time I checked.

jmonroe1

@corvette said:
Nice Mach-E, @qbrozen ! May it serve you faithfully for many years.

Under normal circumstances I’d say the same thing but I doubt it lasts until Memorial Day. Hell, might not even make it to Valentines Day.

Just the same good luck with it @qbrozen and may it be one of your better flips. Maybe even the best one.

jmonroe

xwesx

qbrozen said:

Salesman informed me all the cars I thought were new were used. Wow.

Anyway, drove her home. In short, I am THOROUGHLY impressed. Such a sweet ride. The first time I stomped it from a roll, I think I peed a little. It took me by surprise. And it feels quite luxurious, to boot. The little touches are cool, such as the wireless charging, pop-open doors, and the Mustang projection on the ground. Oh, and the proximity key actually WORKS. Not like chrysler where you have to touch the door handle, it lights up as you approach and locks itself when you leave.

Weird oversight, though, is lack of seat cushion tilt. I know they had to save SOME things for higher trims, but how about the 4-way power lumbar? Seems silly to give me that but not a basic tilt.

PRNDL That's classic Ford for you! Hahah

Congrats on the new investment.

qbrozen

@xwesx said:
PRNDL That's classic Ford for you! Hahah

Congrats on the new investment.

My sons looks in and says “oh, a ‘prindle’ dial. How cute.” Hahaha.

Tell you what, though, he lost his mind at the horse light on the ground. Lol.

jmonroe1

@qbrozen said:

@xwesx said:
PRNDL That's classic Ford for you! Hahah

Congrats on the new investment.

My sons looks in and says “oh, a ‘prindle’ dial. How cute.” Hahaha.

Tell you what, though, he lost his mind at the horse light on the ground. Lol.

That sounds like my youngest grandson (now 15) when I got my ‘15 Genny. Couldn’t get over the Genny logo projected on the ground from the bottom of the side mirrors. In fact, he still likes them. Everybody needs two of those.

jmonroe

laurasdada

Congrats Q.
Visiting my future retirement home, Mohegan Sun Casino. A first, all 4 charging stations in use. And, when I checked back a few hours later, no one had moved. I'm out of electricity, but got plenty of long gone dinosaurs to get me home.
Maybe they'll open tomorrow.

explorerx4

@qbrozen,
Your seat looks like below. Just push up where the arrow is in the pic to raise the front of the cushion.

28firefighter

Which trim/options did you get, Q?

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

@oldfarmer50,
Too small in what way?

By the mid 2000s most of the Ranger’s competitors had grown in size and reviewers used that size difference to criticize Ranger’s “old” design. I just thought it odd that now reviewers are hailing the new Maverick for the same thing they slammed the old Ranger for.

Personally, I find the size of the pre 2011 Ranger to be perfect for a compact truck. If a coworker ever gets around to selling his I’d like to pick one up.

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

I like that Mustang! Very cool!! How long are they...just wonder if it could fit on my side of our garage? We're just not Ford people, but for something this cool, think I could try to live with one. Have a feeling though that the price will be just north of $50K or so. I'm still having an issue wrapping my mind about spending $30K on something right now! Finally got used to the $20K price point and then I hear talk about $30K, what happened to $25K? Whatever, just super glad that we're both not in the market at this point.ave checked the local guys Corolla Cross inventory and still none have come in with the JBL audio package, a must have if I do get one. Would give up the moon roof if necessary but wouldn't be happy as this is the time of year I use it especially in the cooler mornings and evenings. The JBL is non-negotiable as far as I'm concerned!

The one’s I’ve seen in person look to be similar in size to a Nissan Rogue, maybe a little bigger.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

@corvette said:

Nice Mach-E, @qbrozen ! May it serve you faithfully for many years.

Under normal circumstances I’d say the same thing but I doubt it lasts until Memorial Day. Hell, might not even make it to Valentines Day.

Just the same good luck with it @qbrozen and may it be one of your better flips. Maybe even the best one.

jmonroe

You know, with the number of new car flips he does, a YouTube channel seems in order. He’d have more content than JR, Sarah and Weird Beard combined and wouldn’t have to wrench on any of them.

qbrozen

@explorerx4 said:
@qbrozen,
Your seat looks like below. Just push up where the arrow is in the pic to raise the front of the cushion.

That is what it LOOKS like, but not how it functions. The cushion switch is only up and down, not tilt.

qbrozen

@28firefighter said:
Which trim/options did you get, Q?

Select AWD. Nothing extra other than paint. $47295 sticker + $369 doc + $395 dmv = $48,059 OTD. Will get $7500 back from feds. Current auction value $50k.

mrwhipple311

stickguy said:

I think the mostly sold higher lever passports anyway, and likely all they can make. It didn’t seem like something people wanted stripper work versions of.

Maverick, at sticker is a screaming bargain to start with, with versions to cover many needs. And reviews so far very positive. Also helps to basically have a market slice to itself (I don’t really see the Santa Cruz as a real competitor for sales).

My guess is next year or 2, other brands will introduce models though. Rebirth of the relatively compact truck market!

And makers cutting out trim lines, not surprised to see that now.

Having cross-shopped the Maverick and Santa Cruz I definitely agree that they are dissimilar. The Santa Cruz is a much nicer place to be than the Maverick, the Maverick is much more utilitarian (full disclosure only had experience with an XL) and feels like a truck. End of the day its all personal taste.

tjc78

@qbrozen said:

@28firefighter said:
Which trim/options did you get, Q?

Select AWD. Nothing extra other than paint. $47295 sticker + $369 doc + $395 dmv = $48,059 OTD. Will get $7500 back from feds. Current auction value $50k.

If you lease, can you use the $7500 as CCR or is it only when doing your taxes?

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

@qbrozen said:

@28firefighter said:

Which trim/options did you get, Q?

Select AWD. Nothing extra other than paint. $47295 sticker + $369 doc + $395 dmv = $48,059 OTD. Will get $7500 back from feds. Current auction value $50k.

If you lease, can you use the $7500 as CCR or is it only when doing your taxes?

I don't think Ford Credit offers any sort of rebate on a lease. They keep it.

As @qbrozen noted earlier: No sales tax on EVs in NJ?

stickguy

That’s a big savings on a purchase if true. I assume that also eliminates the trade in credit. If not, great loophole!

qbrozen

tjc78 said:

If you lease, can you use the $7500 as CCR or is it only when doing your taxes?

As ky said, no credit on a lease from Ford.

tjc78

Thanks guys. Makes the lease fairly unattractive I’m sure.

breld

Congrats Q! We really liked the Mach E and still could see getting one. At the time, we liked the look and feel of the Polestar a bit better and chose that route.

The only negative I noticed during the test drives was the brakes were very grabby at first, not that you have to use them often with the regen braking.

explorerx4

@qbrozen,
I checked the sticker for my Explorer and it has 8 way power passenger seat.
It works like you said, Highest bottom cushion front tilt is at the lowest position.
If you raise it, the rear seems to come up faster than the front, so it flattens out.

stickguy

Maverick does that too. ford adopted the chintzy system I don’t care for. I like more front tilt. They basically motorized the ratchet lever adjuster.

I think they cheat and count headrest going up and down because it’s really 6 way power (+lumbar)

qbrozen

breld said:

Congrats Q! We really liked the Mach E and still could see getting one. At the time, we liked the look and feel of the Polestar a bit better and chose that route.

The only negative I noticed during the test drives was the brakes were very grabby at first, not that you have to use them often with the regen braking.

Yes, they are!

I would have liked to look at Polestar, but the market data isn't there yet to make a profit judgement call. The only model on Manheim is the '21 Launch Edition, which is about $60k.

sda

explorerx4 said:

@qbrozen,
I checked the sticker for my Explorer and it has 8 way power passenger seat.
It works like you said, Highest bottom cushion front tilt is at the lowest position.
If you raise it, the rear seems to come up faster than the front, so it flattens out.

The Accord and Passat do the same. I want to raise the rear of the seat and the front a bit as well. No can do. I find it hard to find that 'sweet spot' where I am totally comfortable and hate when someone else moves the seat as it does not have a memory setting.

28firefighter

Congrats, @qbrozen. I'd have to get something sub $45k MSRP to get the WA sales tax exemption and make a flip worthwhile. Just not there.

jmonroe1

@sda said:
The Accord and Passat do the same. I want to raise the rear of the seat and the front a bit as well. No can do. I find it hard to find that 'sweet spot' where I am totally comfortable and hate when someone else moves the seat as it does not have a memory setting.

You’ve gotta get rid of those wannabes and get a couple real cars.

jmonroe

explorerx4

@oldfarmer50,
I compared the dimensions of 2010 Frontier and Ranger. Ranger is 2 inches shorter in length and an inch in height and width.

stickguy

Ranger was not small but a lot of people complained that the BOF design just led to a cramped cab, with a high floor. Not an issue on the Maverick! Very roomy passenger compartment.

sda

jmonroe1 said:

@sda said:

The Accord and Passat do the same. I want to raise the rear of the seat and the front a bit as well. No can do. I find it hard to find that 'sweet spot' where I am totally comfortable and hate when someone else moves the seat as it does not have a memory setting.

You’ve gotta get rid of those wannabes and get a couple real cars.

jmonroe

I'm the only one with the wannabe, my girls rate higher than me.

jmonroe1

@sda said:
I'm the only one with the wannabe, my girls rate higher than me.

As it should be. Get used to it.

jmonroe

xwesx

sda said:

The Accord and Passat do the same. I want to raise the rear of the seat and the front a bit as well. No can do. I find it hard to find that 'sweet spot' where I am totally comfortable and hate when someone else moves the seat as it does not have a memory setting.

While I'm the only one in my house that actually follows this guidance, my rule is that I don't change the driver's seat settings in others' primary drivers. If I must, I will adjust the seat back fore or aft just to be reasonably comfortable, but it seems reasonable to me to be a little uncomfortable for a short time in order to avoid the frustration I know the primary driver will feel when they next use the car.

Now that I have a vehicle (Q7) with memory settings on the seat, I'm sure I would find it extraordinarily annoying if my car didn't have the memory and others messed with my settings. It seems impossible to ever quite find the same position as your body remembers.

xwesx

28firefighter said:

Congrats, @qbrozen. I'd have to get something sub $45k MSRP to get the WA sales tax exemption and make a flip worthwhile. Just not there.

Sounds like WA should adjust their threshold a bit. The average price of a new car is over $40K now, so how can they expect electric offerings to reasonably fall below $45K?! The cars that you and @qbrozen just purchased essentially represent base models in the electric market.

xwesx

qbrozen said:

Select AWD. Nothing extra other than paint. $47295 sticker + $369 doc + $395 dmv = $48,059 OTD. Will get $7500 back from feds. Current auction value $50k.

Wow. If I could come anywhere near taking advantage of the tax credit, I'd be on board with jumping down that rabbit hole.

Assuming one of you were willing to babysit the car for me for a bit, that is, as I'm not going to fly down there just to ferry it around. And, would certainly not bring it back here. Maybe when the infrastructure along the route improves... a lot....

28firefighter

I'd complain, but adoption of EVs in WA, at least in western washington is actually quite high. I don't think they've felt like they needed to incentivize it further - at least not yet. I think if they were going to do more, it'd need to be with serious income limits on who can take advantage.

stickguy

xwesx said:

qbrozen said:

Select AWD. Nothing extra other than paint. $47295 sticker + $369 doc + $395 dmv = $48,059 OTD. Will get $7500 back from feds. Current auction value $50k.

Wow. If I could come anywhere near taking advantage of the tax credit, I'd be on board with jumping down that rabbit hole.

Assuming one of you were willing to babysit the car for me for a bit, that is, as I'm not going to fly down there just to ferry it around. And, would certainly not bring it back here. Maybe when the infrastructure along the route improves... a lot....

Qi’s dealer is 20 minutes from me. You Buy one, and I’ll happily pick it up and drive it for you until you want to flip it.

qbrozen

@28firefighter said:
I'd complain, but adoption of EVs in WA, at least in western washington is actually quite high. I don't think they've felt like they needed to incentivize it further - at least not yet. I think if they were going to do more, it'd need to be with serious income limits on who can take advantage.

Weird rule. Seems like they should then apply exemption to first $45k regardless of total.

28firefighter

The incentive is actually a $20k max sales tax exemption on a $45k sale price.

xwesx

stickguy said:

Qi’s dealer is 20 minutes from me. You Buy one, and I’ll happily pick it up and drive it for you until you want to flip it.

Like I said... sorely tempted. However, I can only make use of around half the credit, so that really cuts into the margin on it.

mjfloyd1

Congratulations @qbrozen on the #notamustang Mach e.

Enjoy it for these next few weeks

corvette

I’m guessing the Toyota app runs on AWS, because it’s been unable to connect to my truck for hours now. Thankfully, I was able to remote start it from inside the building using the remote.

ab348

corvette said:

I’m guessing the Toyota app runs on AWS, because it’s been unable to connect to my truck for hours now. Thankfully, I was able to remote start it from inside the building using the remote.

My connectivity tonight is very spotty and a lot of sites are not responding. Is AWS down?

stickguy

it was this morning. Not sure what extended sites that took down.

28firefighter

AWS had a massive outage. I haven’t checked recently but even once they recover it’s going to take time for stuff to go back to normal.

sda

My ignorance, what is AWS? I guess not All Wheel Steering.

fintail

Amazon Web Services - they host a lot of internet and IoT providers. Today we see there's maybe not as much redundancy as some may thinkk.

28firefighter

They’re the largest cloud services provider by market share. They provide cloud computing, storage, hosting and a whole slew of other products.

I dunno what happened, but these types of outages are typically DNS related which impacts internet traffic routing. One major provider having an issue can cause a snowballing impact.

qbrozen

I think the WPS needed a good shot of STP to clear up the stack and reset the GUI’s WIN.jsp. Job done.

corvette

According to one guy's opinion (which I read), it was only a part of AWS that went down, and how much a given hosted service was impacted depended upon how well said hosted service had implemented redundancy within the AWS system.