Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

corvette

@ronsteve - @roadburner posted that Saab earlier. It looks very nice, but I'm sure it will sell for an insane price.

qbrozen

breld said:

@mjfloyd1 -

KEEPER - vehicle for which one has the firm belief and conviction to maintain under one’s ownership for an extended amount of time AND is indeed kept for at least a) 3 months or b) registration is completed, whichever comes first.

By that definition, all of mine are keepers since nobody will buy them until the reg is complete.

qbrozen

nyccarguy said:

Wasn’t there some sort of issue with plastic cooling lines that need to be replaced?

Yes, a cooling pipe that runs between the cylinder banks under the intake manifold. Not the worst job to replace with upgraded aluminum pipe. It is about the only common failure on an otherwise reliable vehicle, from what I know. Still ... 100k miles? No thanks.

kyfdx

@breld Cool. It's really different, huh?

explorerx4

Smokey and the Bandit II is on today and the Trans Am in it looks just like the one in the picture kyfdx posted a few days ago.

roadburner

ronsteve said:

Not sure if it's a good or bad thing that I didn't see this one before now? It's practically in my backyard... https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2007-saab-9-3-18/

If I had known about it earlier in the auction it might have been worth asking for an in-person look...

I posted that link on 2/1. And it IS in my back yard.

roadburner

breld said:

For @kyfdx…

My son and I went there last summer before the NASCAR race. A rather eclectic collection- and very enjoyable.

stickguy

since I looked at breakfast that SAAB jumped from $5,500 to $8,000 with 2 hours left to go. I doubt it is done. $10k seems doable.

stickguy

I love the looks of this car. Nice color. though would prefer the standard cloth seats.

but still pricey for something with nosebleed miles, a deer hit taking out the hood and fender, and rust repairs in the trunk and wheel wells (a NE car will get like that!).

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-honda-prelude-50/

the 9-3 wagon holding at $8.100 with 20 minutes to go!

henryn

mjfloyd1 said:

@breld - what is this “keeper” vehicle that you speak of?

I learned to drive on a Fiat X19 four speed. I remember having a rubber mallet in it to whack the starter solenoid… Fond memories until a tree truck pulling a chipper backed up my hood at a stop sign. Apparently he changed his mind on the direction that he was going.

I learned to drove on several old Chevy pickups. The year I was 12 we lived on a dairy farm, and they had an assortment of very old half ton Chevy pickups (1950, 1951 along there), plus one old Dodge Power Wagon with a flat bed. That's what I learned to drive on.

The first car that I got to call my own was a 1949 Chevrolet, and I kept a brick in the back floorboard. The voltage regulator would stick, and I'd just give it a whack with the brick. I'm sure a rubber mallet would have been better suited, but I didn't happen to have a rubber mallet, and the brick did the job.

henryn

breld said:

For @kyfdx…

I seem to remember that car from "Romancing the Stone". Isn't that the car they floated down the river in?

stickguy

big rush at the end on the SAAB. Sold for $10,500. I liked it. Not sure I liked it that much.

problem with that car is, at that price, what do you do with it? Not really a toy. Or something that makes sense to keep for a lifetime. It only makes sense as a practical car to actually use all the time (it is a wagon after all). But who wants to deal with the hassles of DDing one of those? Maybe if it was cheap like old cars used to be. For $3k, sure, tuck it away and figure it out later!

At least the Prelude you could see keeping in the garage to bring out in nice weather on the weekends to cruise around in.

I really need to find a gen 3 Miata at some point before they are all gone or used up, to hang onto as the fun car. Probably need to move first though!

Michaell

What's the best selling car in each country?

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/best-selling-vehicles-in-the-world-by-country/?fbclid=IwAR0vYoyTOr1KMeNfOz8_AJaTSMrPMEKhHPW1ByFCoxsOpvdonG9zuuqvwn4

ronsteve

corvette said:

That 9-3 looks great. I bet it will sell for over $10k.

At 10,5 I definitely didn't like it that much. And I definitely missed a lot of forum scrolling over the past few weeks, but that's more for Cars & Conversations than for CCBA.

sda

I went car browsing this morning. Not much to report, inventory thin everywhere. Market adjustment the norm. I was a bit amused that the VW dealer had marked up the unpopular non-selling Passat by $1500 + $1100 of add ones. Granted the Passat ended production on 1/25 and there won’t be any available once the inventory is depleted.

stickguy

I drove past a local large Ford dealer today and their big front lot was very sparse. usually they would have a bunch of trucks and police cars (Explorers) out there. I assume the rest of their space was pretty empty too. I know they don't have any Mavericks laying around!

Sounds like Ford got hit with more chip delays. Had to shut down 8 plants for a couple of weeks, and a bunch of people waiting on the Mavericks had their estimated delivery dates pushed back 3 months (sounds like they are still building what they can and just piling up trucks at the plant until they get the missing modules). I am actually glad mine won't be build for quite a while, because I would rather not have my new car locked up tight sitting in the Mexican desert for 3 months!

kyfdx

Went to the Cincinnati car show with my son, today.

Lots of EVs.

Plenty of makes missing.

roadburner

@mjfloyd1 said:
@breld - what is this “keeper” vehicle that you speak of?

I learned to drive on a Fiat X19 four speed. I remember having a rubber mallet in it to whack the starter solenoid… Fond memories until a tree truck pulling a chipper backed up my hood at a stop sign. Apparently he changed his mind on the direction that he was going.

I learned on a1970 Mustang Grande. Deadly dull. Upgraded to a 1974 Monte Carlo based on R&T mentioning that it handled as well as European sedans on a wide enough road. My next daily was a 1979 Arrow GT 2.6. I sold that and bought the 1973 Bavaria my girlfriend(now wife) found for me in1983. The rest is history.

stickguy

the list on the Philly car show of attending makes did not look too bad (no worse than the last show in 2020) but still no guarantee they all show up, and if they do, what kind of selection they bring.

roadburner

My dealer just took a 2021 Supra 3.0 Premium in trade; with less than 1,500 miles I guess the original owner liked the thought of owning a sports car more than actually owning one. I really do like the Supra; too bad that the Toyota dealers can’t provide adequate support.

explorerx4

BMW dealers don't know what to do with it either. I think Edmunds had one as a long termer.

roadburner

explorerx4 said:

BMW dealers don't know what to do with it either. I think Edmunds had one as a long termer.

The problem is that BMW's ETK(parts documentation) does not include all of the Supra parts. Ditto for the TIS(service/technical documentation).

qbrozen

Wife has been commenting she wants to keep the AMG. Oh boy. That’s what I am missing in my life: my wife, who complains about every little thing that goes wrong with vehicles, daily driving an overly complex, high-strung, high-mileage German SUV.

xwesx

ronsteve said:

I saw one at the dealer last time I had the Jetta in for service. The dashboard and steering wheel looked too much like a toy for my tastes.

Plus I don't think I am ready for full EV yet. Given the cooling of my automotive wanderlust these days, it's quite possible that my next vehicle will be a hybrid at least...

Strangely, I saw another ID-4 when I was out with my daughter on Saturday afternoon. Definitely not the same one since the exterior colors were different (blue on the first, black on the second), but she noticed right away that it had no tailpipe.

She said to me, "is that an electric car? I don't see a tailpipe." Even though I was directly behind it, the model didn't even register for me until she pointed it out. This one didn't have its lights on, so it was blingless.

I still plan that my next new car purchase is a full electric. Hybrid just seems like a giant compromise - you might get better economy out of it, but you get the complexity of both types of vehicles (and the costs that go with that).

qbrozen

@xwesx said:
Strangely, I saw another ID-4 when I was out with my daughter on Saturday afternoon. Definitely not the same one since the exterior colors were different (blue on the first, black on the second), but she noticed right away that it had no tailpipe.

She said to me, "is that an electric car? I don't see a tailpipe." Even though I was directly behind it, the model didn't even register for me until she pointed it out. This one didn't have its lights on, so it was blingless.

I still plan that my next new car purchase is a full electric. Hybrid just seems like a giant compromise - you might get better economy out of it, but you get the complexity of both types of vehicles (and the costs that go with that).

I’m sold on PHEVs. Really don’t want to give up the ICE flexibility.

stickguy

I am with QB. They seem like a great idea without the range issues. Though a regular hybrid would still be a good step up for us. Next car will definitely be at least that.

Wes, where you live and some of the drives you talk about, an EV seems really limited. Especially in deep winter when range will take a big hit. Unless you would only be looking to use it locally, and not drive to that other big city (like when you take the Audi in for service)?

stickguy

qbrozen said:

Wife has been commenting she wants to keep the AMG. Oh boy. That’s what I am missing in my life: my wife, who complains about every little thing that goes wrong with vehicles, daily driving an overly complex, high-strung, high-mileage German SUV.

I bet that lasts until the first day something breaks on it and she is stranded on the side of the road on a cold rainy day.

for my wife, that would mean she is never trusting the car again and I need to take care of the situation.

stickguy

experiemented with SM streaming today. I had to go to an appointment this morning and needed google maps navi, so I had to fire up carplay. So when I got in the car to start it up, I opened the navi and kicked that off, then fired up the SM app. Plugged the phone in, and the mav automatically switched over to carplay with google maps up. Just tapped the SX icon on the side apps list, and it turned off the FM and started playing the XM feed. quick and painless.

need to play with the settings to get a split screen to see both together. having maps full view meant if I wanted to change stations (from the favorites list) I had to tap apps icons to bring up what I wanted. Not a big deal but no where near as easy as using the thumb knob on the steering wheel to scroll through stations in the other car.

It is a drawback that the station controls on the steering wheel don't control favorites, but not a huge deal. I will likely only ever use in on trips, and don't do a lot of them. And often the wife is along so she can do it through the phone.

I also ordered a nice 128GB sandisck USB 3.0 flash drive (that thing is tiny too). Now if I can just find my big music files on whichever external HD I copied them on to, I will try that out to see if I can copy something over that the car will be compatible with!

corvette

Isn't there both a USB-C and a USB-A port for the stereo system? What happens when you plug in two CarPlay / Android Auto phones at once?

Also, people bring up the previous-gen Ranger, but check the dimensions of the OG 2001 Explorer Sport Trac vs. the Maverick. Maverick is slightly less tall and about 6" shorter, but almost every other dimension is similar. Oddly, the Mav has better ground clearance.

stickguy

yeah, it has a normal (B? A?) plug, and a C. Either one works with the infotainment. I actually wondered what happens if I have 2 things plugged in and select the USB input. But have not gotten around to trying it out. Once I get the USB loaded I will do it (my iPhone plugs into the C port).

though I guess that would be Carplay and USB device.

with my luck, if I plug my phone and the wifes in at the same time the whole system will short out and light the truck on fire! My guess though, it will make you pick one of the phones.

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

@mjfloyd1 said:
@breld - what is this “keeper” vehicle that you speak of?

I learned to drive on a Fiat X19 four speed. I remember having a rubber mallet in it to whack the starter solenoid… Fond memories until a tree truck pulling a chipper backed up my hood at a stop sign. Apparently he changed his mind on the direction that he was going.

I learned on a1970 Mustang Grande. Deadly dull. Upgraded to a 1974 Monte Carlo based on R&T mentioning that it handled as well as European sedans on a wide enough road. My next daily was a 1979 Arrow GT 2.6. I sold that and bought the 1973 Bavaria my girlfriend(now wife) found for me in1983. The rest is history.

More dull than a 66’ Dodge Polara station wagon? The only good thing about that boat was I could fit all my friends in it.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

I am with QB. They seem like a great idea without the range issues. Though a regular hybrid would still be a good step up for us. Next car will definitely be at least that.

Wes, where you live and some of the drives you talk about, an EV seems really limited. Especially in deep winter when range will take a big hit. Unless you would only be looking to use it locally, and not drive to that other big city (like when you take the Audi in for service)?

I was moving one of our Kona EVs the other day in cold weather. When I started out it said 158 mile range. As soon as I turned on the heat it dropped to 132.

Heat was instant though.

au1994

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

I am with QB. They seem like a great idea without the range issues. Though a regular hybrid would still be a good step up for us. Next car will definitely be at least that.

Wes, where you live and some of the drives you talk about, an EV seems really limited. Especially in deep winter when range will take a big hit. Unless you would only be looking to use it locally, and not drive to that other big city (like when you take the Audi in for service)?

I was moving one of our Kona EVs the other day in cold weather. When I started out it said 158 mile range. As soon as I turned on the heat it dropped to 132.

Heat was instant though.

We’ve had a few days/mornings in the 20’s this winter and I noticed only a small drop with the Jeep, 3-4 miles. But it does stay in the garage.

ab348

stickguy said:

yeah, it has a normal (B? A?) plug, and a C. Either one works with the infotainment. I actually wondered what happens if I have 2 things plugged in and select the USB input. But have not gotten around to trying it out. Once I get the USB loaded I will do it (my iPhone plugs into the C port).

Now that I have become a technological neanderthal in my old age I find the lack of standardization of USB connectors very frustrating. USB A is easy enough to ID, but for the various minis and micros I get annoyed. Plus things like the Lightning type on Apple devices and the weird one that my sister's Samsung phone uses. Grrr.

roadburner

Edgar Dennison > @oldfarmer50 said:

More dull than a 66’ Dodge Polara station wagon? The only good thing about that boat was I could fit all my friends in it.

Maybe not as dull, but certainly not much fun.

tjc78

@ab348 said:
Now that I have become a technological neanderthal in my old age I find the lack of standardization of USB connectors very frustrating. USB A is easy enough to ID, but for the various minis and micros I get annoyed. Plus things like the Lightning type on Apple devices and the weird one that my sister's Samsung phone uses. Grrr.

At this point everything should be USB C on both ends IMO but Apple insists on being different. If you only have USB A use an adapter or A to C cable

roadburner

@qbrozen said:

@xwesx said:
Strangely, I saw another ID-4 when I was out with my daughter on Saturday afternoon. Definitely not the same one since the exterior colors were different (blue on the first, black on the second), but she noticed right away that it had no tailpipe.

She said to me, "is that an electric car? I don't see a tailpipe." Even though I was directly behind it, the model didn't even register for me until she pointed it out. This one didn't have its lights on, so it was blingless.

I still plan that my next new car purchase is a full electric. Hybrid just seems like a giant compromise - you might get better economy out of it, but you get the complexity of both types of vehicles (and the costs that go with that).

I’m sold on PHEVs. Really don’t want to give up the ICE flexibility.

I’d get a 330e-old man vibe and all-if it had the drivetrain from the X5 40e. I balk at paying over $50k for something with less than six cylinders and middling acceleration.

graphicguy

breld said:

For @kyfdx…

Oooohhhh….a Fiat x 1/9. My sister had one. Fun as all get out to drive. Not very fast and terribly….and I do mean TERRIBLY unreliable. I think she sold it right after the 12 month/12,000 mile warranty was up. Our Father reveled in telling her “I told you so” right up until he passed away.

roadburner

@graphicguy said:
Oooohhhh….a Fiat x 1/9. My sister had one. Fun as all get out to drive. Not very fast and terribly….and I do mean TERRIBLY unreliable. I think she sold it right after the 12 month/12,000 mile warranty was up. Our Father reveled in telling her “I told you so” right up until he passed away.

My local Fiat dealer had quite a few X1/9s on their lot in the late ‘70s. I remember that their Fiat badges were already faded out. I sat in one and I still remember that some of the switchgear was loose or hanging out of the dash. I had one idiot salesman even tell me it was such a great sports car that I should buy one without taking a test drive; based on the build quality I wouldn’t want to risk it self destructing on a hapless customer until after the sale.

mjfloyd1

Our X1/9 was pretty reliable as long as you whacked the starter solenoid about 1/10 the time.

It was a rust bucket though

laurasdada

28firefighter said:

Not car related but we suddenly had to say goodbye to our family dog today. Turns out she had been battling cancer for a while and was just hiding it very well. The last couple days were brutal and she was suffering so we made the impossible choice to say goodbye.

We are heartbroken. Truly better than many humans I know.

So sorry for your loss. It will be a tough few days; remember the wonderful life your family shared with your dog.

laurasdada

For the new home, looks like a 65" LG C1. I thought 55" would be a better fit, but tie goes to... well, you know who.

xwesx

stickguy said:

I am with QB. They seem like a great idea without the range issues. Though a regular hybrid would still be a good step up for us. Next car will definitely be at least that.

Wes, where you live and some of the drives you talk about, an EV seems really limited. Especially in deep winter when range will take a big hit. Unless you would only be looking to use it locally, and not drive to that other big city (like when you take the Audi in for service)?

I don't disagree with any point in the arguments.

However, when the time comes, I would definitely run it when and where I wanted. But, of course, these pioneering days do present challenges for the technology. For me, the biggest restrictor is leaving Alaska. We'll get there, for sure, but it may take some more years yet.

If, for some reason, I end up needing to make the run south with an electric car before then, it will just mean more research and time to get it done. Others have transited the highway with electric cars before, so it can be done (just not at the pace to which I am accustomed).

xwesx

ab348 said:

Now that I have become a technological neanderthal in my old age I find the lack of standardization of USB connectors very frustrating. USB A is easy enough to ID, but for the various minis and micros I get annoyed. Plus things like the Lightning type on Apple devices and the weird one that my sister's Samsung phone uses. Grrr.

I fully agree with you! I was at Costco this weekend and toyed with the idea of getting this cordless work light system (very cheap, which is why it was appealing versus something like DeWalt or Milwaukee). However, it uses a microUSB to recharge. Seriously, who builds stuff with microUSB anymore?! Of all the USB options, I think micro is the worst for long-term reliability.

stickguy

I still have a bunch of micro USB chargers around someplace, from an assortment of old, dead devices. Don't have anything current that I can think of that is USB on one and and micro on the other. But entirely possible one of my bluetooth speakers using that plug.

qbrozen

Guess I'm outdated. I have lots of stuff using micro-USB.

What is the new standard? The USB-C?

stickguy

is anything (devices) using USB C as the charge or power plug on the device? I only saw it as the other end of the cord (where you plug it into the car or laptop). Just on the Maverick though, I don't have anything else with it.

well, that is not quite true. Turns out my newest apple cord/charger (from my iPad or phone, whichever is newest) is usb C on the end that goes into the power block that plugs into the wall (phone end is still lightening). Only discovered that when I took that spare charger to use in the new car and when I unplugged the cord from the block, it was a C. Good thing the car had both jack options!

xwesx

qbrozen said:

Guess I'm outdated. I have lots of stuff using micro-USB.

What is the new standard? The USB-C?

C is definitely the standard nowadays. Previously, it was often mini-USB and otherwise microUSB. I suppose I still have quite a few things that run micro, but they are aging devices (a tablet, headphones, etc). And, every single one of them can be a royal PITA to actually get to charge because the ports tend to wear out on them even though the expressed design of microUSB is for the plug to fail (not the port).

So, I'm just saying that I'm surprised a new device, especially something large like that, would have a micro-USB as the charging port as opposed to a C. However, given licensing costs, it's probably just a way to keep it cheap.

xwesx

stickguy said:

is anything (devices) using USB C as the charge or power plug on the device? I only saw it as the other end of the cord (where you plug it into the car or laptop). Just on the Maverick though, I don't have anything else with it.

well, that is not quite true. Turns out my newest apple cord/charger (from my iPad or phone, whichever is newest) is usb C on the end that goes into the power block that plugs into the wall (phone end is still lightening). Only discovered that when I took that spare charger to use in the new car and when I unplugged the cord from the block, it was a C. Good thing the car had both jack options!

Yeah, that's the beautiful thing about C - it is simple, small, and bi-directional. I mean, setting aside everything else like higher voltage throughput (such as laptop power cords), fast transfer speeds, and high fidelity A/V signals.

breld

stickguy said:

is anything (devices) using USB C as the charge or power plug on the device? I only saw it as the other end of the cord (where you plug it into the car or laptop). Just on the Maverick though, I don't have anything else with it.

My iPad and my wife's Macbook both use USB C as the power plug.