Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

qbrozen

I may need some opinions today. I've come across a number of JDM vehicles for this evening's auction and I'm really not sure which ones would be best received stateside. I'll keep my opinions till later so I don't influence the voting.

Starlet, rare GT ... but automatic.


Vivio, rare T-top manual ... borderline condition


FF1, super super clean, manual trans ... but not totally foreign to the US, and it could be very expensive for all I know.


Skyline, top sport spec GT-EX ... but not the generation that the US is necessarily clamoring for, and it could be very expensive for all I know. OH, and it has an autotragic.


Civic, Type R... I have to assume this will likely go for big money, so it won't matter. They group all the Civics in the pricing history, so I can't single out the Type R.

tjc78

R, Skyline and Vivio in that order.

qbrozen

65k miles and top condition rating on a '97 type R. What do you think that commands here?
I'm thinking $20k, if not more.

tjc78

Would not surprise me if it hits 20K

sda

@qbrozen said:
I would just prefer a different color. The whole "hey, red stripe means sporty!" thing is beat to death. Something more adult would be fine. Almost anything other than red.

I believe VW started that trend atleast in the US with the first GTI in 83.

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

I may need some opinions today. I've come across a number of JDM vehicles for this evening's auction and I'm really not sure which ones would be best received stateside. I'll keep my opinions till later so I don't influence the voting.

Starlet, rare GT ... but automatic.


Vivio, rare T-top manual ... borderline condition


FF1, super super clean, manual trans ... but not totally foreign to the US, and it could be very expensive for all I know.


Skyline, top sport spec GT-EX ... but not the generation that the US is necessarily clamoring for, and it could be very expensive for all I know. OH, and it has an autotragic.


Civic, Type R... I have to assume this will likely go for big money, so it won't matter. They group all the Civics in the pricing history, so I can't single out the Type R.

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Getem all. You’re gonna need to stock your lot when you get it. You have to remember you can’t narrow yourself to just cheapies. Otherwise you’re just another buy here pay here lot.

jmonroe

corvette

Agree with @qbrozen - I think the red accents clash with the grey color. That said, the grey is a similar color to the Maverick I ordered, so I really like the color!

IIRC, Dodge offered the Intrepid with a non-metallic grey for a few years, and I remember really liking it at the time, but it never caught on. Supposedly, the 2023 Maverick gets Avalanche Grey as an available color in addition to the Cactus Grey, which is a carryover from 2022. I find that odd because they appear to be very similar. I'm guessing the decision to offer both could be due to supply chain constraints.

qbrozen

jmonroe1 said:

Getem all. You’re gonna need to stock your lot when you get it. You have to remember you can’t narrow yourself to just cheapies. Otherwise you’re just another buy here pay here lot.

jmonroe

Only if I finance low-credit folks, repossess, and recycle.
And how many BHPH lots do you see with JDM imports?

Problem with stocking my lot this way is an approximate 4-mo hold on funds while it ships and gets titled. That's why I'm trying to take it easy, space them out, and only do maybe 1-2 at a clip. If I can get a, let's say, 2-week spacing on the imports, it will eventually get a flow going. And I, of course, have to fill in with regular ole Manheim stuff.

Anyway, I did enter bids on all of them, with the anticipation that at least half will come back with issues on the report.

carnaught

@qbrozen, they are all right hand drive? Is this a hard sell in the US?

jmonroe1

corvette said:

Agree with @qbrozen - I think the red accents clash with the grey color. That said, the grey is a similar color to the Maverick I ordered, so I really like the color!

IIRC, Dodge offered the Intrepid with a non-metallic grey for a few years, and I remember really liking it at the time, but it never caught on. Supposedly, the 2023 Maverick gets Avalanche Grey as an available color in addition to the Cactus Grey, which is a carryover from 2022. I find that odd because they appear to be very similar. I'm guessing the decision to offer both could be due to supply chain constraints.

__________________________________________________________________

I guess because of a negative marketing reaction they don't want to call it "Dirty White".

jmonroe

qbrozen

carnaught said:

@qbrozen, they are all right hand drive? Is this a hard sell in the US?

They are.

And, no, not a hard sell if you look at places like carsandbids and bringatrailer.

kyfdx

I would skip any automatic

Sandman6472

Our Genie garage door opener won't work after a power outage, needing me to climb a ladder to take the plug out and re-insert it. It's past annoying and dangerous right now and have no clue why. Anyone else have a clue here? When I called the company, they were clueless as I suspected. Never had this issue with my Sears units in the past but this time, went with Genie after hearing positive things. Maybe I should've bought Liftmaster!!

explorerx4

andres3 missed his chance to scoop Tavarish with that Audi wagon he was looking at in CT.
Long video 35 minutes. You'll get the drift after a few minutes though.
Edit: Now that I posted this just look at the picture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMxykB7_25g

corvette

Ford pushed back opening the 2023 Maverick order bank until September 15. O.o
I would think all of the 2022 order holders would know by then whether or not theirs gets built as a 2022.

nyccarguy

@28firefighter - congrats on the upcoming “N”. Can’t wait to hear your impressions.

@qbrozen - You know the Civic Type R gets my vote;)

xwesx

So much activity.

Congrats on the buy, @28firefighter ! I assume that's the Elantra N that has been on again, off again, for a time now? Color scheme is a bit unique, but I really don't think this will be a tough sell for you when the time comes to move to the next one.

@qbrozen - I agree that I would skip cars like these that have automatics. It's probably still not too hard to convert to manual in that era, but I think all of these just lend themselves better to being manual.

explorerx4

Color scheme on the Elantra is not totally dissimilar from this.
https://www.mitchellseligford.com/certified/Ford/2021-Ford-Mustang-Windsor,+CT-90b10b660a0e09a925777aff7fd1e52e.htm

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

jmonroe1 said:

I kinda like that accent but they splashed some of it on the calipers.

jmonroe

I would just prefer a different color. The whole "hey, red stripe means sporty!" thing is beat to death. Something more adult would be fine. Almost anything other than red.

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Purple seems to be an in-color lately.

jmonroe

au1994

I like the red on the Elantra N. Being an adult is highly overrated.

au1994

jmonroe1 said:

qbrozen said:

jmonroe1 said:

I kinda like that accent but they splashed some of it on the calipers.

jmonroe

I would just prefer a different color. The whole "hey, red stripe means sporty!" thing is beat to death. Something more adult would be fine. Almost anything other than red.

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Purple seems to be an in-color lately.

jmonroe

Reign, as in purple, is a new color for the Wrangler. If I wouldn't end up divorced, I’d order one up. A Jeep can do bold colors better than anything.

tommister2

@Sandman6472 said:
Our Genie garage door opener won't work after a power outage, needing me to climb a ladder to take the plug out and re-insert it. It's past annoying and dangerous right now and have no clue why. Anyone else have a clue here? When I called the company, they were clueless as I suspected. Never had this issue with my Sears units in the past but this time, went with Genie after hearing positive things. Maybe I should've bought Liftmaster!!

Instead of climbing the ladder to unplug it can you cycle the circuit breaker?

corvette

au1994 said:

Reign, as in purple, is a new color for the Wrangler. If I wouldn't end up divorced, I’d order one up. A Jeep can do bold colors better than anything.

I really love the teal they have offered recently on Wranglers. Reminds me of the color of my dad's old 1991 Civic Si, which got a lot of compliments at the time.

jmonroe1

tommister2 said:

@Sandman6472 said:

Our Genie garage door opener won't work after a power outage, needing me to climb a ladder to take the plug out and re-insert it. It's past annoying and dangerous right now and have no clue why. Anyone else have a clue here? When I called the company, they were clueless as I suspected. Never had this issue with my Sears units in the past but this time, went with Genie after hearing positive things. Maybe I should've bought Liftmaster!!

Instead of climbing the ladder to unplug it can you cycle the circuit breaker?

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Now why didn’t I think of that?

jmonroe

mjfloyd1

@explorerx4 said:
Color scheme on the Elantra is not totally dissimilar from this.
https://www.mitchellseligford.com/certified/Ford/2021-Ford-Mustang-Windsor,+CT-90b10b660a0e09a925777aff7fd1e52e.htm

Looks orange to me and it is a very thin subtle stripe.

It does have the limited edition Ricardo seats. 🤣

corvette

mjfloyd1 said:

It does have the limited edition Ricardo seats. 🤣

This one?

jmonroe1

corvette said:

mjfloyd1 said:

It does have the limited edition Ricardo seats. 🤣

This one?

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Here we go again. If this were the Cars and Conversations site it would be dishwashers.

jmonroe

xwesx

And, I promised that I would have the Q7 running "for sure" by Wednesday night.

Well....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd2ENIHZtsw


I have it running! And, I managed to make it through the initial shakedown run (sorry, Q!). I even drove it to work this morning.

mjfloyd1

Are there Ricardo dishwashers?

I found it

corvette

@xwesx - nice work, but that serpentine belt is looking awfully green.

qbrozen

Most of the cars were trash, apparently. Only one they said is any good is the type R. I doubt my bid will get it done. One can dream.

28firefighter

As if on cue, the dealer experience is absolutely grating on me. Car came in, they asked me to do credit. I told them I had financing lined up and needed a buyer’s order. This was yesterday afternoon. Crickets.

Call today? Sales manager and sales guy are out until Saturday - no one else can help. Sales guy texted me a deal sheet that looked fine, but had no VIN so insufficient for the bank. Crickets again.

Sigh.

roadburner

I contacted one dealer about a CPO on their lot and they appear to be actually interested in selling me a car.
Will wonders never cease?

28firefighter

@roadburner said:
I contacted one dealer about a CPO on their lot and they appear to be actually interested in selling me a car.
Will wonders never cease?

This is new for you. Have you picked yourself up off the floor yet?

jmonroe1

@xwesx, It’s always a relief when a major engine job results in a successful start. Just curious how long it took for the engine to quiet down. Those are scary noises but I heard it starting to quiet down before you ran out of tape.

Congrats on your hard work.

jmonroe

breld

@corvette said:
I really love the teal they have offered recently on Wranglers. Reminds me of the color of my dad's old 1991 Civic Si, which got a lot of compliments at the time.

I remember that teal Si well…I had a ‘90 Si in red and when that teal became available for ‘91 I was bummed!

breld

So wife and I went up to Greeley, about an hour north of where we live, to check out the red GTI and were pretty much set on buying it.

After test driving it, we told them we were gonna go check out a Mini at a nearby dealership but would probably be back.

Well, we never made it back.

tifighter

Has Mini given you the punchcard yet?

Congrats!

xwesx

@jmonroe1 said:
@xwesx, It’s always a relief when a major engine job results in a successful start. Just curious how long it took for the engine to quiet down. Those are scary noises but I heard it starting to quiet down before you ran out of tape.

Congrats on your hard work.

jmonroe

Diesel. That’s just what it sounds like. 🤷‍♂️

xwesx

@tifighter said:
Has Mini given you the punchcard yet?

Congrats!

Haha! No doubt! That’s impressive work for one afternoon of browsing. 😎

stickguy

@corvette said:
Ford pushed back opening the 2023 Maverick order bank until September 15. O.o
I would think all of the 2022 order holders would know by then whether or not theirs gets built as a 2022.

Makes sense. I never understood opening it up before all 2022 builds were scheduled. Won’t change much since production starts in October still. I assume, but never count on it with ford.

stickguy

Nice looking mini. Straight addition to the fleet or did something go away in the deal?

stickguy

In 8 hours we add to our fleet. Of houses. Close on the new place this afternoon so will own 2. Wish us luck

Car related drive 300 miles yesterday in a uhaul. My kidneys still hurt. And suffered a $125 fill up. Drive ok but right side mirror was impossible to adjust and almost useless. Not great changing lanes on the highway!

qbrozen

Have a fun drive, stick.

tjc78

Good luck Stick! Hopefully closing is quick and painless.

explorerx4

Best of luck stick. We are having a video walkthrough this morning and the movers are coming next Wednesday.
Closing for the house we sold is on the 10th. Already signed the papers since we will have moved by then.

qbrozen

geez. That type R sold for more than $18k. Add in shipping and fees and it would be north of $21k.

breld

@stickguy said:
Nice looking mini. Straight addition to the fleet or did something go away in the deal?

The M340i went away, just a week early as a trade against the Rivian.

She was going to try out the X5 for awhile but they didn’t last long…she obviously wanted something smaller.

breld

Best of luck to @stickguy and @explorerx4 on the home closings and moves. It’s such a challenging time, but exciting too.

breld

Quick pic of the interior of the Mini - really nice gray leather in contrast to the mostly plain black interiors in the minis. That went a long way in sealing the deal.