Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stever

It doesn't Andre.

er, Tifighter.

tjc78

Yes, you definately have a parking problem. At least you have that monster garage and a lot of property. I keep saying that I want another one of my "land yachts" again. What stops me is that I don't have a garage and already have three cars at my house. I have two and my GFs car. My master plan is for her to get an SUV then I won't need my 99 S10 anymore which opens up a slot for something like this....link title

andre1969

I've thought about having the company that built my garage come out and build another, and have it attached to the back of the house. I figure a 32x64 garage should be able to hold nine good-sized cars and the overhead loft would almost be overkill when it comes to expanding my living area.

FWIW, my original plan for the garage was 30x40 with a gambrel second story, but the county told me no. However, if it had been attached to the house, I could have made the danged thing as big as I wanted!">link title

tjc78

That is odd, as long as you are within the proper boundaries of your property line you should have been able to put what you want. The large attached garage with living space above would be neat. On our block recently someone put in a large garage and before doing so we were all notified to attend a hearing if anyone objected. I guess it wasn't within the guidelines and he fought it.

andre1969

In my county there were some zoning issues that my original plan didn't fit in with. First, no secondary structures can be larger than the primary. The county has my house listed at 1106 square feet. It's really more like 1500, but they have it listed as a "1 1/2" story, (usually reserved for cape cods), so they only count half of my upstairs square footage. That, and they consider one of my rooms a porch. Well, 30x40 would be 1200 square feet (although for some reason, they didn't consider the square footage of the upstairs loft, which would have been another 1200...just the footprint I guess).

They also got me on height...no secondary buildings can have a "midpoint" of more than 12 feet. That would be measured halfway up the roof of a cape cod type structure, and where the steeper roof slope and the shallower roof slope meet on a gambrel style. I think my plan came in at 15 feet.

The county never gave me the opportunity to get a variance though, which would have involved a hearing with any neighbors adjoining my property, to see if they objected.

However, if it was attached to the house, I could have made it as big as I wanted, as long as total coverage (house, driveway, sidewalks, all outbuildings) didn't come out to more than 25% of the total lot.

corvette

Jeremy Clarkson reviews the Town Car:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjzpx_jUUA0

anonymousposts

Gee loved his FX16's. He still talks about the seats and that engine. He sold his 87 to a coworker when he bought the 88. He sold it with 160k, the last time we saw the guy it had close to 300k on it and was still going strong.

Our favorite Integra was the 90-93. The 94's got a little nicer but lost some of the soul the earlier ones had. They dont make nice cars like that anymore with nice, soft-touch interiors, manual transmissions, great gas mileage, and fun to drive. The new Civics are "nice" cars but they dont feel as solid as older Civics or Integras.

I would recommend the RAV4 after having this 03. It is a 2WD RAV4 "L", the only downside is that its an automatic. If you buy one the one thing to check for is make sure the ECU isn't going out. It is pretty widespread in that generation RAV4. Gee took the ECU out and took it to a place in Tennessee that fixes it and gives a lifetime warranty. Apparently, if not fixed it can fry your transmission. Other than that, these seem pretty bulletproof. So far we are getting 27 MPG on average, which puts it between the IS250 and the Camry.

billherm: Sorry to hear about your NAV problems in the IS. Did the NAV not work at all, were the directions bad? I couldn't really get a clear picture of exactly what the problem was with your IS. So far we have not had any issues with our IS.

tjc78

Jeremy Clarkson reviews the Town Car:


Pretty funny... I still love those cars though

qbrozen

I don't seem to have that problem. Hmmm... let's see if this works.

If that loads up properly, it is a shot down my driveway. 2-car garage is there on the left of the courtyard-type area and the parking area I had the driveway folks create on the right. I can fit 6 cars in the parking area on the right pretty easily. I can fit another 4 in the grass on the right. And, if I really needed to, I could park 1 in the center and be able to drive around it. So that's 13 without trying too hard and without creating any blocking problems. :P

qbrozen

Ok... I cry foul on anony's list. I mean, c'mon, do 4 integras of consecutive years count as 4 cars? I say its the same car. :P

Sure, go ahead, call it sour grapes.

boomchek

Plus imagine how many more you can park on your lawn? lol

anonymousposts

Go ahead, even if you consolidate we have a pretty solid case for being gold level ccb card members. lol ...

Our last drive way would easy hold 8-10 cars plus an acre of land as a back up. Our current driveway can only fit 4 cars and only the back two would be accessible. Guess that is the price we paid for moving from a rural area to a more suburban one.

michaellno

Had the family together for a surprise graduation party for our daughter over the weekend.

The son and DIL showed up in their "new" (to them) '07 Caliber. Turns out it's the R/T model (trim?) with the 2.4L, CVT and 18" wheels. Very spiffy looking.

And, my wife's aunt and uncle showed up. For years, they'd driven a late 90's Infiniti I30, but yesterday they showed up in a Mercury Mariner. We got to talking about what they own and drive and her uncle mentioned that he's also got a '98 BMW 3-series convertible. One owner, just over 100K miles, perfect condition. He picked it up for something like $8K.

After hearing that story, the wife gave the tacit go-ahead that, when the time is right, I could do the same. However, what she doesn't know is that I want a slightly newer model with less miles on it. I'm sure I can find something in the $15-25K price range pretty easily.

roadburner

The local Porsche dealer recently traded for this sled.
One owner, 61K miles, original save for the Blaupunkt CD head unit. Unfortunately they want silly money for it: $25,990- which would buy a nice 993. If I could get it for around $18K it would be in my garage tonight.

kyfdx

That looks a lot like my '84 Targa... (which I sold in '94 for $16.5K)

A little over-priced (I'd say more like $20K)... but, I think you underestimate the price of a nice 993.... Try $30K+..

roadburner

I hear that the 1987 is pick of the litter; it gets the G50 transaxle and air conditioning equivalent to two hamsters blowing across an ice cube(as opposed to just one). The guy who owned it was a true OCD case(he even framed the Monroney sticker).
So 993s are over $30K? A rabid Porschephile was the one who told me I could find a nice 993 in the mid to high 20s.
Oh well...

kyfdx

I see late '90s models (Is that 996?) going for mid $20Ks.. but, the 993s are going nowhere but up... think E30 M3...

My '84 was nice.. it was the first year of the body style that went all the way through '89... Other than the middle brake light, you couldn't really tell it from a later model... Not familiar with the upgrades as the went along, as the '84 was as rich as I could go...

A/C? My hamster chewed up the ice, then burped...

lemmer

I am with roadburner on the pricing of the '87 and the 993s. And as for the 996, there are a couple nice low mileage cabriolets near me that I could pick up for $21K.

Maybe they are just cheaper in my neck of the woods?

corvette

"Maybe they are just cheaper in my neck of the woods?"

Road trip!

roadburner

A 2003 525i Touring with a manual tranny- and only 24.7K miles on the clock:



It has the Dinan S1 package(engine upgrades and suspension- @$4800+ installation) and just about every option but Navigation. New Pilot Sports, too. The owner wants $20,875. I'd jump on it if it was around $16,000.

fezo

Oh, now you are talking!

I have a thing for both convertibles and wagons. I like that one lots.

stever

Me too.

boomchek

Wow, that's nice. It's gotta be one of a kind with the options, upgrades, and low miles.

qbrozen

Its pretty enough, but that's gotta be a pig to drive, even with the manual trans. 3700 lbs with 184hp? ehhhh... think I'll pass.

This reminds me, though, I saw a creature in the parking lot at work that I didn't know existed. A newer 535 wagon! Just looked it up and it appears that was the only 5-series wagon for '08 and up. Damned shame you have to get AWD with it, though.

michaellno

3700 lbs with 184hp?

RB did mention that it had some Dinan engine mods, so I wonder how much HP it's making now.

It IS clean, however.

kyfdx

That 184 hp engine, coupled with a manual tranny, will really surprise you.... Very fun to drive...

BMW uses bigger horses....

corvette

Did they make a 540i wagon of that model (E39, I think)?

kyfdx

Yes.. but, the 540iT was auto only....

roadburner

That 184 hp engine, coupled with a manual tranny, will really surprise you.... Very fun to drive...

BMW uses bigger horses....

I believe that the S1 package adds 10-12 hp. I'd thinking that car would do 0-60 in the mid-seven second range. Not an M5, but not a slug either.

fezo

I could live with that very nicely.

stickguy

I almost bought one new in 2001. A 4 door, 5 speed, with the 184HP motor.

seemed pretty darned quick to me. Of course, I never tried it drag race style, but man, when you came down an on ramp in 3rd gear and floored it, you were going real fast real quick.

I know burner thinks anything less than about 600HP is too little, but for anything passing for normal use, that wagon should be plenty peppy enough. I certainly wouldn't mind having it!

stickguy

I saw a 2001 wagon (525iT) for sale today, at a local mechanics. Very interesting color. Sort of medium red, like if you mixed tomato and burgandy. Can't recall seeing it before. But very sharp. tan leather, roof, premium, new sneaks, all serviced (per the owner guy).

105K on the clock. Looks to have sprt package wheels (235/45-17 tires), but premium pack steering wheel and seats.

AT w/steptronic. looked extremely clean. Story is it was a customer car they bought for the prtners wife, serivced it all up, and she decided she wouldn't drive a wagon. So, for sale.

Asking $9,500, but admitted to being "negotiable".

What exactly would something like this actually go for? That seems high to me. Now, an asking price in the $7,500 range might have had me trying to figure out what I could get for my Accord, and of course, how to explain it to my wife!

Hey Roadburner, you the expert. WHat is something like this worth?

jayrider

Stick--- check the car out first. Walk around -- test drive-- SERVICE HISTORY. Then decide if you really want it before you start appraising it. If you want it settle on a fair price and make it conditional on a thorough inspection at your expense. If it checks out -- buy it. If not, walk away. Look at search sites and see what 01's are priced at and how many miles are on them. You should be able to get another 50k miles easy as long as it has been maintained. Have fun.

qbrozen

Seems like alot of dough. And I think you'd be bored with an automatic tank like that.

andre1969

but let me run these two past you guys...

2007 Pontiac G6 GTP sedan for $13,881

2009 Nissan Altima Hybrid for $22,750.

My friend with the 2006 Xterra dropped it off for servicing, and I met him at the dealer to give him a ride home. While we were up there, I gave the used cars a quick look over, and those two caught my eye, for some reason.

The G6, even though it's an orphan, caught my eye because it's a fully-loaded model, rather than your typical rental car stripper. With that 3.6/6-speed, I guess it's sort of like getting a discount-rate 2010 Malibu, just with a slightly downgrade interior, and a sunroof that slides up over the roof, rather than into it (at least, I presume the new Malibu's sunroof tucks inside?)

And the Altima just seems like a pretty good deal too, for being a hybrid. I thought the hybrid had limited availability? I was surprised to see one on a local car lot here in Maryland. Unless it was just limited availability the first year, and then they went 50-state?

**Edit: For some reason, this 2009 Maxima for $22,979 caught my eye, as well. My guess is that this one's a stripper though, as Maximas go? It does have a sunroof, but my guess is just cloth seats, since they don't mention leather?

tifighter

Y'know, I had a G6 once as a rental, and it wasn't as bad as the reports would have had you believe. I've also had the Malibu; the G6 did sporty better for sure. And that was the stripped model; I'd guess the 3.6 would be better still. Seems like a good amount of car for the money.

Never driven the Altima hybrid, but I recall Car and Driver ranked it near last in a comparison recently. For equal money, the Maxima is an easy pick. These newer ones are great looking cars.

corvette

Having owned both a G6 and an Altima, I can say that there is a good reason the Altima costs $9,000 more. If you're not dead set on a hybrid, I imagine that you can get a V6 Altima for about the same price as the hybrid (or a 4-cylinder model for less). I thought they had dropped the panoramic sunroof on the G6 by 2007--there were a lot of problems with leaks.

The Altima is not perfect, but has a lot of virtue. The hybrid version was sold new only in the states that follow the California emissions regulations. Used ones can be sold/serviced anywhere, but the hybrid version is pretty rare.

andre1969

Having owned both a G6 and an Altima, I can say that there is a good reason the Altima costs $9,000 more.

Funny, but I thought about you when I saw that G6, and at that low price, it did make me wonder what was wrong with it!

The dealer also had a brand-new Altima S in the showroom, with a sunroof and a price in the windshield of something like $18,999. At first I thought that seemed like a steal. IIRC, with the Altima, if you want the sunroof you also have to order the package that gives you the alloy wheels, power seat, etc. But, upon closer inspection, this car was just the basic S model with an aftermarket sunroof. I guess that's still not TOO horrible, as the MSRP on a base S is $21,840 plus freight. But I think I'd rather have the power seat, alloys, etc.

I sat in the car, and was impressed with the room up front. Even with a nonpower seat, I was comfy. It went back further than the seat in my 2000 Intrepid did, although my 2000 Park Ave, with all of its adjustments, is still more comfy, as I'd expect it to be.

And for as cramped as I've heard these cars are in the back seat, I didn't think it was too bad. My hair just brushed the ceiling, thanks to the sunroof. And while my knees did sink into the seatback, at least the seat was padded. And if I sat with my legs splayed a bit, I could straddle the seat and get comfy.

So yeah, not perfect, but then, what car is? I think I could be happy with an Altima, if the need for another car arose.

tjc78

The altima isn't a bad ride at all. My GFs
mother has a fully loaded v6. It's a little firm and the CVT is a little weird but it's pretty comfortable In the front and has plenty of power with the v6.

kplacer

Around here (Canada), the V-6 Altimas are very overpriced, so 99% of those you see have the 2.5 4-banger. Whether it is such a good deal at that point remains to be seen. I tend to think not.

roadburner

What do you think about this puppy?

qbrozen

I like the color combo.
Miles are pretty high for the asking price, IMHO. Even KBB hits it at less than $14k trade in. Given their habit of being high, I would think $15k would be plenty to get the deal done.

lilengineerboy

Wow that is beautiful. I don't know about the price/value equation, but I think that one is just a really nice looking car. I am glad its far away and I am broke, eh or something like that.

kyfdx

Dang.. my ears are burning! lol

Nice... Great color combo, too... Wish mine had the Natural Brown leather...

My guess is it will take 16 to get it done... The sedans are more popular than the coupes, and this is the last year for the sedan.. Probably $500 more for the tires/wheels..

A local one-owner with all the right options and a great color combo... Sure wouldn't hurt to go look at it... CCA member, too... so, the service should be good.

I thought you wanted an M3?

stickguy

I like it. love the colors.

I just wouldn't buy something with that low a profile tire/wheel combo. if you could see the roads around here (NJ) you would know why.

Even 45's are iffy to me, but I could get away with them if I really pay attention to potholes, and drive like grandma.

Actually, I would probably take the winter wheels, get new AS tires on them, and sell off the 18's.

hard to believe this is much slower, or with less handling, than a M3. probably not even that much slower than a V8 (at least in real world use).

roadburner

Here's the Car and Driver road test. The ZHP is just as fast as an E36 M3 and about one second slower(0-60 and the quarter mile) than an E46 M3.

ghulet

Agreed, not that anyone asked me, but cool color combo, seems well maintained, I'd probably like slightly lower miles, but then again, who wouldn't? And I hate two-door cars in general just for the lack of utility, so a sedan of this ilk appeals to me.

fezo

Al right, how much does anyone know of the earlier generation Solara convertibles? Kills me that you can't get one with a stick but for a top that comes down what the heck.... Low miles but 9 years old.... 2001 Solara convertible.

qbrozen

wow that's pricey!

and I strongly suggest against a dark colored convertible. At least its not black interior, but still a bit dark.

tjc78

Fezo,

I had a 2000 Solara Coupe SLE V6. It was probably one of the best cars I ever owned. It was built like a tank and never went to the shop for anything except front pads (my fault most likely) and oil changes in 30K miles. Still have to remember one thing about a Solara... its still a Camry and rides/handles like one. That is a good thing to me, but to others its no sports car. Heck, that thing rode ten times better than my 09 Genesis.