Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

cdnpinhead

Michaell said:

Dewey, Cheatem & Howe
Edmunds External Counsel

Point taken.

I visited the offices of DC&H in Cambridge a number of years ago. Their sign was right there in the window, on the 3rd or 4th floor, as I recall. I paid a visit to the garage as well, but it was a weekend and no one was about.

corvette

cdnpinhead said:

I visited the offices of DC&H in Cambridge a number of years ago. Their sign was right there in the window, on the 3rd or 4th floor, as I recall. I paid a visit to the garage as well, but it was a weekend and no one was about.

I need to put that on the list for the next time I'm in Boston. I missed the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum due to COVID restrictions--their website said something vague about reservations being recommended. When I got there, I discovered a timed ticket was required, and the next available was about two hours away. I skipped the museum but still want to see it.

oldfarmer50

corvette said:

My Prius is 15 years old and has a little over 226,000 miles, so about 15k per year, but it's not evenly distributed. The Carfax and service records are interesting, it looks like the previous owner was driving about 30k per year when she first bought it. I know it's had the hybrid battery rebuilt or replaced twice, and based on the history, I suspect that the first time it died, the car sat parked for a while before it got fixed (I also think this may have been about the same time she said she bought a Gen III Prius, which she didn't like and ended up selling after a while).

I've put about 4,000 miles on it in nine months, so it's living out its old age in a relatively low usage environment.

My highest mileage car currently is the cargo van with 122k. It’s 18 years old and the winters here have ruined it so I’m looking to replace it. The Sebring has 86k followed by the Kia with 17k and the Mustang at about 15k.

I only drive about 10k miles a year so after I replace the van I could quietly live out the rest of my life without buying another vehicle. Not that I would……

stickguy

Should have ordered a Maverick XL hybrid last year!

au1994

nyccarguy said:

@cdnpinhead said:

Buy a car. Keep it for 15 - 20 years. Ignore all of this, besides which you have no car payment.

WMMV

After 15 years, I’d have approximately 300,000 miles on whatever car I was driving. I’d be spending a fortune on maintenance & repairs. I thought about that a while back. I think the 1 car that I’ve had that I could still be driving if I held on to it was my 2010 TSX. It had 50K on it when I traded it in for the BMW (50K miles), then put 50K on the Legacy, 50K on the Infiniti, and 54K on the Tacoma. If I still had that car it would currently have over 250K miles.

Where’s the fun in that?

I had a 2010 TSX as well, silver over grey. Probably one of the better cars I’ve had. In true Acura fashion it was a perfect blend of luxury and sport at a great value. Excellent MPG as well. Caught the BMW bug and traded it after a year on a 328i coupe.

kyfdx

The Audi diesel I bought to flip had 90K+ miles in just three years. At 40+ mpg, I can see why they bought it.

corvette

@stickguy - if my order gets converted to a 2023, I may have the opportunity to change it to a hybrid.

stickguy

I actually hope mine roles over instead of getting a 22 in September. Rather wait a few more months and get any MY updates. But mostly so I can go back to Lariat and add the luxury package.

nyccarguy

au1994 said:

nyccarguy said:

@cdnpinhead said:

Buy a car. Keep it for 15 - 20 years. Ignore all of this, besides which you have no car payment.

WMMV

After 15 years, I’d have approximately 300,000 miles on whatever car I was driving. I’d be spending a fortune on maintenance & repairs. I thought about that a while back. I think the 1 car that I’ve had that I could still be driving if I held on to it was my 2010 TSX. It had 50K on it when I traded it in for the BMW (50K miles), then put 50K on the Legacy, 50K on the Infiniti, and 54K on the Tacoma. If I still had that car it would currently have over 250K miles.

Where’s the fun in that?

I had a 2010 TSX as well, silver over grey. Probably one of the better cars I’ve had. In true Acura fashion it was a perfect blend of luxury and sport at a great value. Excellent MPG as well. Caught the BMW bug and traded it after a year on a 328i coupe.

That what happened to me. I made the mistake of test driving a leftover E90 2011 328xi. The rest is CCBA history.

28firefighter

This takes some chutzpah.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/d/lynnwood-2022-vw-golf-mk/7459697822.html

stickguy

Well, if you don’t ask, answer is always no!

Nice and shiny at least.

Wonder if I can get $40k for my truck?

oldfarmer50

28firefighter said:

This takes some chutzpah.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/d/lynnwood-2022-vw-golf-mk/7459697822.html

If that car is really $75k special I think Craigslist is the wrong venue to sell it. Can you see the number of flakes who would be calling and asking for 50% discounts over the phone?

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

Should have ordered a Maverick XL hybrid last year!

Maybe when they come out with a 2 door regular cab with at least a 6’ bed.

laurasdada

My son-in-law in SF just picked up a '22 Golf R for msrp +$5k. He loves it, shiny white/black.

stickguy

So, never? Actually if there was build capacity I think a 2 seat stretch cab (cab and a half?) with a 5.5-6’ bed, same overall length, could be a huge fleet seller. Businesses would buy a ton of those as hybrids. Just not rumored to happen.

qbrozen

laurasdada said:

My son-in-law in SF just picked up a '22 Golf R for msrp +$5k. He loves it, shiny white/black.

So about $50k? Yikes.

fintail

Odometer rolled over already, seems a little dear.

Strong crypto bro/flipper vibes there. Trolls could have fun with the email and phone.

28firefighter said:

This takes some chutzpah.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/d/lynnwood-2022-vw-golf-mk/7459697822.html

corvette

Weird. Why do all those mods to only enjoy it for 300 miles (probably driving it around to detailers, the tint shop, etc.) and then list it for sale?

qbrozen

@corvette said:
Weird. Why do all those mods to only enjoy it for 300 miles (probably driving it around to detailers, the tint shop, etc.) and then list it for sale?

To try to find a sucker to buy it for $75k, of course. You could say it really isn’t for sale.

Hell, I’ve done a lot to my house but I’d move out today of someone wanted to pay $2M. Any takers?

qbrozen

So I want to find out if it is possible to get an extended factory warranty for the wife. Usually the answer is no for the 2nd owner but I could not find that stated anywhere definitively, so I reached out to Volvo. Here is the very confusing response.

_**Thank you for contacting Volvo Car USA.

With regard to warranty, you can not purchased an extended manufacturer or factory warranty; Volvo manufacturer warranty is 4 years or 50,000 miles (whichever comes first). However, you can purchase an extended warranty from any authorized Volvo Retailer.** _

I emailed back for clarification. Maybe she means I can get a 3rd-party warranty, but I obviously would not need a Volvo dealer for that.

nyccarguy

corvette said:

Weird. Why do all those mods to only enjoy it for 300 miles (probably driving it around to detailers, the tint shopTINTZ, etc.) and then list it for sale?

And while we are at it: "It also has a full ppf wrap on the full front, a & b pillars, rocker panels, rear bumper, rear wing, etc, using the new Expel self healing film.

Car also had a full ceramic coating, including wheels, calipers, and exhaust tips."

Is the Expel Self Healing Film AND the Ceramic Coating really necessary?

sda

qbrozen said:

So I want to find out if it is possible to get an extended factory warranty for the wife. Usually the answer is no for the 2nd owner but I could not find that stated anywhere definitively, so I reached out to Volvo. Here is the very confusing response.

_**Thank you for contacting Volvo Car USA.

With regard to warranty, you can not purchased an extended manufacturer or factory warranty; Volvo manufacturer warranty is 4 years or 50,000 miles (whichever comes first). However, you can purchase an extended warranty from any authorized Volvo Retailer.** _

I emailed back for clarification. Maybe she means I can get a 3rd-party warranty, but I obviously would not need a Volvo dealer for that.

Did she buy the Volvo? I must have missed the update.

explorerx4

@qbrozen,
I take that response to be you can buy a 3rd party warranty from the Volvo dealer, as you mentioned.

mjfloyd1

Or that corporate Volvo won’t sell you an extended Volvo warranty but a Volvo dealership will??

au1994

Ok, the Nissan March Madness commercial where the Maryland Terrapin gets out of the Z moving sllloooowww is pretty darn funny…

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

So, never? Actually if there was build capacity I think a 2 seat stretch cab (cab and a half?) with a 5.5-6’ bed, same overall length, could be a huge fleet seller. Businesses would buy a ton of those as hybrids. Just not rumored to happen.

I agree. Something like the old XLT Ranger with jump seats instead of a full sized cab and a 6’ bed would be perfect.

ab348

qbrozen said:

So I want to find out if it is possible to get an extended factory warranty for the wife.

Are things starting to wrong with her?

corvette

ab348 said:

qbrozen said:

So I want to find out if it is possible to get an extended factory warranty for the wife.

Are things starting to wrong with her?

I was wondering whether he posted that on the wrong board by accident.

laurasdada

au1994 said:

Ok, the Nissan March Madness commercial where the Maryland Terrapin gets out of the Z moving sllloooowww is pretty darn funny…

Must we speak of March Madness? With the disappointing, yet not totally unexpected, one and done exit for the UConn Huskies, I am in mourning.

UConn women, you are our only hope.

qbrozen

mjfloyd1 said:

Or that corporate Volvo won’t sell you an extended Volvo warranty but a Volvo dealership will??

That's where my brain went, too. I just don't know what the heck she meant.


As for needing a warranty on the wife ... well... I could trade ... oh, never mind!

And, no, the Volvo is not here yet, but paperwork has been signed and returned. As discussed, they need to actually get it plated in NJ before they can even allow it to leave their lot, though. I'll never make this mistake again. Although a great deal, the hoops to jump through are pretty annoying.

mjfloyd1

Vehicles available with manual transmission

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g20734564/manual-transmission-cars/?utm_source=facebook_dda&utm_medium=cpm&utm_campaign=dda_fb_CD_N_m_i_g20734564

qbrozen

Must be a language barrier.

Volvo Manufacturer warranty is 4 years or 50,000 miles (whichever comes first). Details of Volvo Manufacturer warranty can be found in the warranty and maintenance manual available on our website. Warranty purchased after this period or after the Volvo Manufacturer warranty is an extended warranty provided by authorized Volvo retailers. Volvo Corporate does not have access to details and coverage offered by extended extended warranties.

mjfloyd1

If it was just a Volvo extended warranty then they could let you know the details. Since they are talking about an extended extended warranty, only the Volvo dealership can let you know.

That cleared things right up🤣😂

jmonroe1

corvette said:

ab348 said:

qbrozen said:

So I want to find out if it is possible to get an extended factory warranty for the wife.

Are things starting to wrong with her?

I was wondering whether he posted that on the wrong board by accident.

Like the 60 year old guy said to his doctor, “to keep me young, I’d like to trade her in for two 30 year olds or maybe even three 20 year olds which ever comes first”.

jmonroe

stickguy

on the Volvo I think it was just worded confusingly. I think they meant that the factory warranty is fixed at 4/50 and you can't extend that. But you can buy a Volvo extended coverage plan from a dealer.

28firefighter

Clear as mud on the warranty stuff.

mjfloyd1

It depends on what the definition of “is” is.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/1998/09/bill-clinton-and-the-meaning-of-is.html

corvette

mjfloyd1 said:

Vehicles available with manual transmission

So, shall we put you down for a Chevy Spark, I presume?

corvette

qbrozen said:

Volvo Corporate does not have access to details and coverage offered by extended extended warranties.

Please help, I tried to read this, and now I smell burnt toast.

oldfarmer50

corvette said:

mjfloyd1 said:

Vehicles available with manual transmission

So, shall we put you down for a Chevy Spark, I presume?

I always thought I’d like a Ford Focus stick in the 2012-18 period when the dual clutch fiasco was going on but try finding one.

fintail

Visited the local dealer to get things ready for end of lease - still searching for the best financing. It'll all be settled a week from Monday, will do the deed when the car is in for the annual service and wheel swap, I'll either finance with MBFS or a couple places I am shopping, but will have data in order then. Went over some financials - a few end of lease charges (not sure if these can be waived if I end up financing through MBFS, will have to ask on forums), was offered a 7/100 warranty extension for 5K, but no pressure. Young salesman was all over the wagon, and said if I wanted to trade it in, they'd be happy to have it. Problem with selling the car is like selling a house these days, the market is not fun, nothing on the lot I really want.

stickguy

speaking of houses during the week I got pre-approved for a ridiculous amount of money they would give us to buy a new house (without even selling our current one first). So my agent up north is happy to know she can submit any offers for us now. asked how much we wanted to up the budget. I said not much! now just need to find the right how to start bidding on. A few options floated past, none quite right.

but man, doing this remote in a hot market is not going to be fun. might give the wife a nervous breakdown. to pull it off probably have to send my son and the agent to look at a listing as soon as it pops, do a video walk through, and decide to bid without seeing it. Them get up the next weekend to lay eyes on it before an offer is accepted (or has to be signed). a hassle, but probably less of one than finding an overpriced rental and moving twice!

agent here said our house will go immediately. She can't wait to get her hands on the listing. And highly recommended buying the new one first before thinking about listing. and closing on the new one first (unless we get real lucky and can sell this one first and get a ST rentback deal!)

plus a month from now we will have just arrived in Sicily for vacation. Timing has never been my strongpoint. But the agent really thinks it needs to be listed by June to catch peak market.

explorerx4

@stickguy,
We want to close by the beginning of August. Anyone who buys our house is going to have kids, so it gives them time to move in before school starts

stickguy

same here. so getting listed by June so they have enough time to close is important.

jmonroe1

stickguy said:

speaking of houses during the week I got pre-approved for a ridiculous amount of money they would give us to buy a new house (without even selling our current one first). So my agent up north is happy to know she can submit any offers for us now. asked how much we wanted to up the budget. I said not much! now just need to find the right how to start bidding on. A few options floated past, none quite right.

but man, doing this remote in a hot market is not going to be fun. might give the wife a nervous breakdown. to pull it off probably have to send my son and the agent to look at a listing as soon as it pops, do a video walk through, and decide to bid without seeing it. Them get up the next weekend to lay eyes on it before an offer is accepted (or has to be signed). a hassle, but probably less of one than finding an overpriced rental and moving twice!

agent here said our house will go immediately. She can't wait to get her hands on the listing. And highly recommended buying the new one first before thinking about listing. and closing on the new one first (unless we get real lucky and can sell this one first and get a ST rentback deal!)

plus a month from now we will have just arrived in Sicily for vacation. Timing has never been my strongpoint. But the agent really thinks it needs to be listed by June to catch peak market.

I hear what you’re saying but today the peak market is anytime you have a house with value to sell. We just sold flip #3 a few weeks ago, pretty much in the dead of Winter, and we had an acceptable offer in 4 hours. Had 2 other offers a little sooner than that but the couple we chose seemed to be more motivated to buy. Maybe because they were coming from out of town but, hey, good for us.

I doubt in the market we’re in now that you’ll have any problems selling. Buying? Well, that will be the real trick.

jmonroe

Sandman6472

Fin, what wheel swap are you talking about? Thought those were the original wheels on there now. What size are they & are you keeping the same size?
I had the alloys swapped on my Golf but they put the wrong size wheels on, 16's instead of 17's and it took about three weeks of nonsense, going back to the dealer for an alignment & re-balance of each wheel, for their so called "wheel guy" to notice while walking up to my vehicle that they had put the wrong size alloys on. I thought so also and hated the design of the one's they did put on. They finally agreed to let me choose between two Jetta alloy styles, pulling them across from each other and giving me 5 minutes to decide. Chose the SEL 15 spoke alloys over the regular 10 spoke ones and that was that. Still sometimes think I made the wrong choice but once they are cleaned up after a car wash, I'm happy with my choice.
I truly believe that the right alloy wheel style can make or break the looks of any vehicle. Like some, I'm not a big fan of the black only alloys as I prefer the brighter looking ones. Sure, one can see the brake dust when dirty but still prefer that look over the lack kind.

28firefighter

My guess is fin has summer tires and winter tires…

roadburner

I kept the 2004 X3 for 12 years and 200k miles and the MS3 for 7 years and 158k miles. As r the current fleet...
X1- 56k miles
M235i- 70k miles
Clubman- 130k miles
Wrangler- 114k miles
Club Sport- 150k miles

fintail

Yeah, time to remove winter tires. The dealer here does it at the time of service (my car comes due in late March), and they store my unused wheels, it's pretty ideal.

My summer wheels are stock 19" - a little large for the rough roads here (the car rides softer on the winter wheels/tires), but they look good, and are uncommon.

Sandman6472 said:

Fin, what wheel swap are you talking about? Thought those were the original wheels on there now. What size are they & are you keeping the same size?
I had the alloys swapped on my Golf but they put the wrong size wheels on, 16's instead of 17's and it took about three weeks of nonsense, going back to the dealer for an alignment & re-balance of each wheel, for their so called "wheel guy" to notice while walking up to my vehicle that they had put the wrong size alloys on. I thought so also and hated the design of the one's they did put on. They finally agreed to let me choose between two Jetta alloy styles, pulling them across from each other and giving me 5 minutes to decide. Chose the SEL 15 spoke alloys over the regular 10 spoke ones and that was that. Still sometimes think I made the wrong choice but once they are cleaned up after a car wash, I'm happy with my choice.
I truly believe that the right alloy wheel style can make or break the looks of any vehicle. Like some, I'm not a big fan of the black only alloys as I prefer the brighter looking ones. Sure, one can see the brake dust when dirty but still prefer that look over the lack kind.

xwesx

I have a feeling that the housing market is going to cool off in a hurry as interest rates rise this year. If the Fed plans eight increases, assuming 0.25% each time, we're looking at as much as 2% to the prime rate, which leads us to territory we haven't seen in a good long while.

I expect that housing prices will take a dive commensurate with the increase in prime.

All this to say, "Sooner is better for listing in 2022."