Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

au1994

Jeez…I just youtubed the battery replacement process. Might as well take the engine out and do the water pump while I’m at it.

jmonroe1

@au1994 said:
Well, the X1 is dead in the garage. Won’t start but there is power to everything, starter just doesn’t engage so that is what I suspect. It also has the ‘secure vehicle against rolling’ error which is related to a little $3 spring in the shifter from what I read. I’m at the lake and my wife was to come up this morning so I haven’t witnessed in person. Having 3 cars has come in handy!

I’ll get it towed to an independent on Monday. Not messing with a tow remotely plus ours is a side entry garage so its going to have to be pushed out if I can’t get it to start.

This will not sit well with the Mrs. but she is pretty practical with spending and I just don’t think there is anything out there she would be happy with on a $500 or lower lease or buy payment.

Oh and I just put new Michelins on it a month ago!

————————————————-
Good luck with the starter fix.

The new Michelins should allow it to be pushed easier, I think.

jmonroe

henryn

corvette said:

Found that dealer. Don't see a CarFax link, but this would be tempting had I not already planned to take the loaner from my parents. I owned a 2011 or 2012 and the mileage on this one is low enough that I would not worry about CVT issues.

I always rather liked the Murano. I came "this close" to buying a new one in 2013, I was ready to do the deal at the advertised price, bring me the paperwork and I'll sign. Only the dealer wanted about $2k more than what he had advertised, so never happened.

As for the naysayers, I don't think you're going to find any used car, truck, or SUV for that price which doesn't come with some risks built in.

28firefighter

@au1994 said:
About 50k

I think if the voltage is too low the starter won’t even try in the newer cars. Agree, probably battery.

Michaell

We just replaced the battery in the MINI for the second time, a couple of weeks ago.

OEM battery lasted 5 years, the first replacement only made it 3.

jmonroe1

@henryn said:
I always rather liked the Murano. I came "this close" to buying a new one in 2013, I was ready to do the deal at the advertised price, bring me the paperwork and I'll sign. Only the dealer wanted about $2k more than what he had advertised, so never happened.

As for the naysayers, I don't think you're going to find any used car, truck, or SUV for that price which doesn't come with some risks built in.

————————————————
You said, “this close”. From here I can’t tell how close that is but I guess about 2 grand wasn’t close enough.

jmonroe

roadburner

au1994 said:

roadburner said:

au1994 said:

Well, the X1 is dead in the garage. Won’t start but there is power to everything, starter just doesn’t engage so that is what I suspect. It also has the ‘secure vehicle against rolling’ error which is related to a little $3 spring in the shifter from what I read. I’m at the lake and my wife was to come up this morning so I haven’t witnessed in person. Having 3 cars has come in handy!

I’ll get it towed to an independent on Monday. Not messing with a tow remotely plus ours is a side entry garage so its going to have to be pushed out if I can’t get it to start.

This will not sit well with the Mrs. but she is pretty practical with spending and I just don’t think there is anything out there she would be happy with on a $500 or lower lease or buy payment.

Oh and I just put new Michelins on it a month ago!

My money is on the battery. How many miles are on it? I haven't had a BMW/Mini starter fail before 160k miles.

About 50k

That's been the failure mode of the OEM batteries in my 3 Series, 5 Series and X3- everything worked save the starter- not even a click from the solenoid.

roadburner

jmonroe1 said:

@roadburner said:

Bless her heart, my bride suggested I consider picking up a used V8 ponycar with three pedals and get that out of my system while waiting to see if M2 Comp prices ever drop.

Hmmm...

————————————————

That’s very considerate. Where did you find her? One thing for sure; you ain’t gonna trade her in.

jmonroe

That's the truth- she was even on board when I was looking at a supercharged Lotus Elise back in 2015.

corvette

One of the threads on the Maverick board is entitled something like "so, how big is a Ridgeline, anyway?" That didn't make sense to me at first, but when you consider that the options to obtain a Maverick are to either order and wait a year and hope the dealer doesn't try to play tames when it arrives, or to find one in dealer stock or a gently used one and pay $10,000 or more over the original MSRP, I can definitely see the Ridgeline being a more attractive option, especially if they can be had with shorter wait times and/or smaller or no markup (I'm just speculating as to that last bit).

stickguy

it is a lot bigger. i looked at them just did not want something that big. Though I almost pulled the trigger on the cheap Frontier lease!

so to me it was not really an alternative. I guess if you have to have something with an open bed, it is the next closest thing at this point.

jmonroe1

@corvette said:
One of the threads on the Maverick board is entitled something like "so, how big is a Ridgeline, anyway?" That didn't make sense to me at first, but when you consider that the options to obtain a Maverick are to either order and wait a year and hope the dealer doesn't try to play tames when it arrives, or to find one in dealer stock or a gently used one and pay $10,000 or more over the original MSRP, I can definitely see the Ridgeline being a more attractive option, especially if they can be had with shorter wait times and/or smaller or no markup (I'm just speculating as to that last bit).

————————————————-
As long as people are willing to wait for a Maverick like they’ve been doing Ford has no incentive to move any faster than they have. Supply chain problems are getting to be a stale excuse.

Hell, the way things are going with the Maverick maybe you can get a short term lease on a nice available car/truck and place your Maverick order at the same time. By the time the Maverick arrives you’ll be about ready to dump the leased vehicle and drive your Maverick off into the sunset.

That’s probably not as far fetched as you might first think. Especially since to get a Maverick in a reasonable time frame you’ll have to drop options that you want. What’s the sense of buying something new and not getting everything you want?

jmonroe

stickguy

Ford is not making up excuses. they would love to build all the orders. not making any money on reservations taking a year to fill. If they could make 2x as many they would easily sell them all. Dealers might not to gouge as much, but Ford doesn't get anything from that.

jmonroe1

@stickguy said:
Ford is not making up excuses. they would love to build all the orders. not making any money on reservations taking a year to fill. If they could make 2x as many they would easily sell them all. Dealers might not to gouge as much, but Ford doesn't get anything from that.

————————————————
Ford does not have a good reputation for how to handle newly introduced cars/models. Supply chain shortages has probably given them an excuse but if it didn’t they’d have found another way to screw it up. Their track record has proven that.

It’s really a shame because it seems that Ford has hit a home run with the Maverick but they failed to touch the plate when they got to it.

Maybe next time but we’ll have to wait and see about that.

jmonroe

stickguy

Ford has done a great job developing niche busting or super desirable new products. and terrible job with the retailing part. But, they are always going to be constrained in production capacity. so this is what happens

laurasdada

Stopped by Bourne's yesterday. 3 vert wasn't on the lot, at an annex .5 mile away. Sales dude looked it up, said it would be delivered here in 5 minutes.....oh, wait, there's a deposit on it. Sorry.
He who hesitates is not breld/qbrozen.

28firefighter

What is the general view of the V8 Audi S5s? I may have an opportunity to buy one with 90k miles. Tons of recent work - cooling system, alternator, AC, entire front end, etc.

Looks and drives great…but it is an old German car, so…

tjc78

@28firefighter said:
What is the general view of the V8 Audi S5s? I may have an opportunity to buy one with 90k miles. Tons of recent work - cooling system, alternator, AC, entire front end, etc.

Looks and drives great…but it is an old German car, so…

I’ll sum it up with dialogue from Rocky III:

What's your prediction for the fight (Audi V8 purchase)?

My prediction?

Yes, your prediction.

Pain……

mjfloyd1

V8 S5 have updated timing chain guides vs the V8 S4, so there is that bit of hope🤣

jmonroe1

@laurasdada said:
Stopped by Bourne's yesterday. 3 vert wasn't on the lot, at an annex .5 mile away. Sales dude looked it up, said it would be delivered here in 5 minutes.....oh, wait, there's a deposit on it. Sorry.
He who hesitates is not breld/qbrozen.

————————————————-
That sounds like Bourne’s has acquired a new reputation. At least with you.

jmonroe

ab348

mjfloyd1 said:

V8 S5 have updated timing chain guides vs the V8 S4, so there is that bit of hope🤣

So are you saying the V8 S4s all blew up?

mjfloyd1

The V8 S4 certainly had issues with timing chain guides and the timing chain is on the back of the motor so it is an engine out endeavor. Sounds like a cheap procedure

laurasdada

jmonroe1 said:

@laurasdada said:

Stopped by Bourne's yesterday. 3 vert wasn't on the lot, at an annex .5 mile away. Sales dude looked it up, said it would be delivered here in 5 minutes.....oh, wait, there's a deposit on it. Sorry.

He who hesitates is not breld/qbrozen.

————————————————-

That sounds like Bourne’s has acquired a new reputation. At least with you.

jmonroe

No harm, no foul. I just drove in on the way home, wandered the lot for a while. Then went inside to ask about the 4 vert. There's a sign on the lot noting more inventory at the offsite storage, that's what led me to ask if it was still available.
Nothing really underhanded, the website just not up to the minute updated.

jmonroe1

@laurasdada said:
No harm, no foul. I just drove in on the way home, wandered the lot for a while. Then went inside to ask about the 4 vert. There's a sign on the lot noting more inventory at the offsite storage, that's what led me to ask if it was still available.
Nothing really underhanded, the website just not up to the minute updated.

————————————————
Nothing wrong with any of that. I was talking about the deposit, which I assume was for the test drive. Did their website mention that?

jmonroe

breld

So we’re still trying to decide if we pull the trigger on a quicker delivery Rivian R1T or wait for the R1S.

Given our obvious track record of length of ownership, it likely doesn’t matter, but all you that are loving the practical nature of having a pickup in the fleet, feel free to chime in on all the advantages.

tifighter

corvette said:

One of the threads on the Maverick board is entitled something like "so, how big is a Ridgeline, anyway?" That didn't make sense to me at first, but when you consider that the options to obtain a Maverick are to either order and wait a year and hope the dealer doesn't try to play tames when it arrives, or to find one in dealer stock or a gently used one and pay $10,000 or more over the original MSRP, I can definitely see the Ridgeline being a more attractive option, especially if they can be had with shorter wait times and/or smaller or no markup (I'm just speculating as to that last bit).

Quick answer - smaller than a Tundra.

tifighter

breld said:

So we’re still trying to decide if we pull the trigger on a quicker delivery Rivian R1T or wait for the R1S.

Given our obvious track record of length of ownership, it likely doesn’t matter, but all you that are loving the practical nature of having a pickup in the fleet, feel free to chime in on all the advantages.

anthonyatdsr

im looking for something cool to buy. around $80k to $90 k. something still under warranty a year or 2 old with super low miles.....anyone selling?

qbrozen

@anthonyatdsr said:
im looking for something cool to buy. around $80k to $90 k. something still under warranty a year or 2 old with super low miles.....anyone selling?

How about a sweet 2020 S90 T6? I’m willing to take the low number of your range.

anthonyatdsr

qbrozen said:

@anthonyatdsr said:

im looking for something cool to buy. around $80k to $90 k. something still under warranty a year or 2 old with super low miles.....anyone selling?

How about a sweet 2020 S90 T6? I’m willing to take the low number of your range.

I'd probably offer you somewhere in the $30's for it. I can payoff volvo. if it has low miles, it would be a good daily.

explorerx4

@breld,
Take the new kid in town and flip it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pa5nqYXEnY

henryn

corvette said:

One of the threads on the Maverick board is entitled something like "so, how big is a Ridgeline, anyway?" That didn't make sense to me at first, but when you consider that the options to obtain a Maverick are to either order and wait a year and hope the dealer doesn't try to play tames when it arrives, or to find one in dealer stock or a gently used one and pay $10,000 or more over the original MSRP, I can definitely see the Ridgeline being a more attractive option, especially if they can be had with shorter wait times and/or smaller or no markup (I'm just speculating as to that last bit).

Back around 2018, I looked at the Ridgeline. A very short look, as it turned out. I sat in one, the center console was HUGE, left very little room for my legs. I asked the salesperson if they all came with the center console, he said yes, I said thank you and departed.

The Nissan Frontier was a contender at that time. I might have bought one, but it wasn't a lot more to get an F150. At least at that time it wasn't a lot more. These days, different story.

oldfarmer50

anthonyatdsr said:

im looking for something cool to buy. around $80k to $90 k. something still under warranty a year or 2 old with super low miles.....anyone selling?

For that price you can have all my cars.

mjfloyd1

@breld said:
So we’re still trying to decide if we pull the trigger on a quicker delivery Rivian R1T or wait for the R1S.

Given our obvious track record of length of ownership, it likely doesn’t matter, but all you that are loving the practical nature of having a pickup in the fleet, feel free to chime in on all the advantages.

Does a truck or a SUV hold its value better?

I suspect a truck would hold its value the best, it will work with your inflatable kayaks and you will keep it for a month or two…

laurasdada

jmonroe1 said:

@laurasdada said:

No harm, no foul. I just drove in on the way home, wandered the lot for a while. Then went inside to ask about the 4 vert. There's a sign on the lot noting more inventory at the offsite storage, that's what led me to ask if it was still available.

Nothing really underhanded, the website just not up to the minute updated.

————————————————

Nothing wrong with any of that. I was talking about the deposit, which I assume was for the test drive. Did their website mention that?

jmonroe

Ah, my mistake. Another buyer had put a deposit on the car. So, no test drive available while under deposit.

jmonroe1

@laurasdada said:
Ah, my mistake. Another buyer had put a deposit on the car. So, no test drive available while under deposit.

———————————————-
Thanks, now I get it.

jmonroe

au1994

I got the X1 on a trickle charger yesterday and got it to crank. Drove it around a bit and left it on the charger overnight. Going to take it to an Autozone for a test/new battery.

au1994

I completely forgot but I have an assisted punch. My MiL’s Forester was indeed totaled. I was able to find her a 2016 Outback Limited in green for 21k. It has about 113k miles but very well maintained. Must have been a single person that owned it as the only seat with any discernible wear was the drivers seat.

qbrozen

2016 with over 100k miles for $21k? OUCH
Hopefully she made up for some of that with an equally absurd number on her totalled car

Michaell

au1994 said:

I got the X1 on a trickle charger yesterday and got it to crank. Drove it around a bit and left it on the charger overnight. Going to take it to an Autozone for a test/new battery.

Don’t forget that the battery has to be registered to the computer system; pretty sure AutoZone won’t be able to do that.

ab348

Hey @stickguy , be glad you didn't get that hybrid Maverick just yet:

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-recalls-vehicles-due-to-under-hood-fire-risk

Sometimes I think Ford should just have an automatic recall of everything they've produced in the last few years.

au1994

qbrozen said:

2016 with over 100k miles for $21k? OUCH

Hopefully she made up for some of that with an equally absurd number on her totalled car

Believe it or not, her settlement check completely covered it. 2015 Forester with about 50k on it to refresh your memory.

au1994

Michaell said:

au1994 said:

I got the X1 on a trickle charger yesterday and got it to crank. Drove it around a bit and left it on the charger overnight. Going to take it to an Autozone for a test/new battery.

Don’t forget that the battery has to be registered to the computer system; pretty sure AutoZone won’t be able to do that.

Yeah, I ended up taking it to a Goodyear place. Pretty sure they can do it.

jmonroe1

@ab348 said:
Hey @stickguy , be glad you didn't get that hybrid Maverick just yet:

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/ford-recalls-vehicles-due-to-under-hood-fire-risk

Sometimes I think Ford should just have an automatic recall of everything they've produced in the last few years.

————————————————
If you look closely it’s a no charge line item on the Monroney window sticker.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

@au1994 said:
Yeah, I ended up taking it to a Goodyear place. Pretty sure they can do it.

————————————————
Just curious, what’s the adder for the registration?

jmonroe

au1994

jmonroe1 said:

@au1994 said:

Yeah, I ended up taking it to a Goodyear place. Pretty sure they can do it.

————————————————

Just curious, what’s the adder for the registration?

jmonroe

I’ll know when I pick it up.

stickguy

You asking how much $, or how is it done? I think it is just done using a scan tool. I think RB has said he’s done his own maybe? Can’t possibly take long.

I assume Carly can do it. Probably a worthwhile purchase if you have an aging BMW! Plus it can do all kinds of customizations to settings.

jmonroe1

@stickguy said:
You asking how much $, or how is it done? I think it is just done using a scan tool. I think RB has said he’s done his own maybe? Can’t possibly take long.

I assume Carly can do it. Probably a worthwhile purchase if you have an aging BMW! Plus it can do all kinds of customizations to settings.

————————————————
I’m asking the up charge for doing it. They may say something like, “it’s better if we register it”. But maybe it’s rolled into the battery cost for cars that require it.

I know it can’t be too hard to do with a scan tool if @roadburner could do it.

jmonroe

henryn

au1994 said:

qbrozen said:

2016 with over 100k miles for $21k? OUCH

Hopefully she made up for some of that with an equally absurd number on her totalled car

Believe it or not, her settlement check completely covered it. 2015 Forester with about 50k on it to refresh your memory.

That doesn't sound very good to me. Going from a car, where you know the history, and with only 50k miles on the clock, to a similar car with 113k and you don't really know the history, that sounds like a serious downgrade to me.

au1994

henryn said:

au1994 said:

qbrozen said:

2016 with over 100k miles for $21k? OUCH

Hopefully she made up for some of that with an equally absurd number on her totalled car

Believe it or not, her settlement check completely covered it. 2015 Forester with about 50k on it to refresh your memory.

That doesn't sound very good to me. Going from a car, where you know the history, and with only 50k miles on the clock, to a similar car with 113k and you don't really know the history, that sounds like a serious downgrade to me.

Not much choice in this market. It came from the Subaru dealer and had a good service record. New tires and I had them replace the serpentine belt before she took delivery.

Its in great shape and is safe which is what she wanted. She’s 80 with the beginnings of macular degeneration so its not like she’s going to be driving much longer or for great distances.

explorerx4

@au1994,
In this market, how much better are you going to do unless you get lucky?
Good call by RB on the issue being the battery with your wife's car.