Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

tjc78

This was his cart. So close but it made it. My wife pulled it in while I stood on a ladder.

On the way out me and neighbor sat in the rear to drop it a bit.

28firefighter

That’s the kicker! I’m not even bargaining. I’m simply trying to buy at asking on a car I already agreed to on a deal.

sda

xwesx said:

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.

28firefighter said:

That’s the kicker! I’m not even bargaining. I’m simply trying to buy at asking on a car I already agreed to on a deal.

I may have missed an update. I thought you already took delivery. What’s up?

28firefighter

I’m supposed to take delivery this weekend, but trying to get a purchase order for the credit union has been like pulling teeth.

tjc78

@28firefighter said:
That’s the kicker! I’m not even bargaining. I’m simply trying to buy at asking on a car I already agreed to on a deal.

Yes that would certainly be annoying.

mjfloyd1

@28firefighter - tell them to pound sand. That Infiniti surely won’t break again😇

corvette

28firefighter said:

That’s the kicker! I’m not even bargaining. I’m simply trying to buy at asking on a car I already agreed to on a deal.

Apparently that's not enough anymore, you have to get on your knees and beg, bring Panera for the entire sales staff, etc...

tjc78

If you brought Panera to me I’d make you pay more….but I know millions of people love it.

stickguy

Back in NJ, now much poorer but owning a lot more real estate. The 2 day house of cards plan went off without a hitch. Uhaul worked out well (only issue was the RH mirror being stuck and almost useless). But got all of our stuff up safely. Most still in the garage but at least at the right house! Walkthrough was uneventful (though they did leave more stuff than we expected, but nothing I did not want, so all good there). New snow blower is a beast. I might be afraid of it instead of wanting to use it! Closing was just lots of paper signing and lots of my money disappearing in to many other grubby hands. What a racket.

Got truck returned today and no extra charges (about 30 miles and 1 hour left on my time and miles allotment). Turns out the movers packed more than expected on my truck so they are quite comfortable with easily fitting the rest on theirs Wednesday, so no need for me to reserve another one. Which makes me happy. Plan is for them to load Wednesday, and once they leave, we finishes final cleaning, etc. then drive back up to the new place Wednesday evening. Movers show up Thursday morning to deliver our stuff. Closing here is Friday early AM, but we already signed so not coming back for that.

so with any luck by lunchtime Friday we will have only one house but full of stuff, and a lot of money wired into our checking account!

Oh, we did get a (free for a month) storage unit for stuff I know is just going to be staying in boxes. Less clutter in the house while we get organized and unpacked. Plus I did not remember how much space we have. Turns out, a lot more than we thought. and the prior owner have put in a bunch of heavy duty shelving (could be in a warehouse). Probably at least 15' of 6' high and probably 16-24" deep metal frame and heavy wood shelf units, seemingly bolted to the walls. I think that should be plenty, but we are bring another 4 or so wood units that we have here.

plan is to organize what is there already, then bring the rest back from storage unit before I have to pay rent on it in a month!

tjc78

Sounds like you were very organized!! Having shelving is such a blessing.

Hopefully over the winter I’m going to use my contacts and buy about 20’ 126”’ tall retail gondola shelving for my garage and redo the whole thing.

Easy to install and should be relatively cheap.

28firefighter

@mjfloyd1 said:
@28firefighter - tell them to pound sand. That Infiniti surely won’t break again😇

I can’t make this up.

explorerx4

@28firefighter,
That's just wow.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

If you brought Panera to me I’d make you pay more….but I know millions of people love it.

———————————————
Same here. I just don’t get it.

jmonroe

xwesx

@explorerx4 said:
@28firefighter,
That's just wow.

Grrr…. MJ!!!!!!!

xwesx

@tjc78 said:
This was his cart. So close but it made it. My wife pulled it in while I stood on a ladder.

On the way out me and neighbor sat in the rear to drop it a bit.

>

Wow! Too close for comfort. Hopefully the kit will give you another couple inches of clearance.

au1994

28firefighter said:

@mjfloyd1 said:
@28firefighter - tell them to pound sand. That Infiniti surely won’t break again😇

I can’t make this up.

Ugh…

jmonroe1

xwesx said:

@tjc78 said:

This was his cart. So close but it made it. My wife pulled it in while I stood on a ladder.

On the way out me and neighbor sat in the rear to drop it a bit.

>

Wow! Too close for comfort. Hopefully the kit will give you another couple inches of clearance.

————————————————
So would three 100 pound sand bags. He shouldn’t have any trouble finding the sand.

jmonroe

ab348

stickguy said:

Oh, we did get a (free for a month) storage unit for stuff I know is just going to be staying in boxes. Less clutter in the house while we get organized and unpacked. Plus I did not remember how much space we have. Turns out, a lot more than we thought. and the prior owner have put in a bunch of heavy duty shelving (could be in a warehouse). Probably at least 15' of 6' high and probably 16-24" deep metal frame and heavy wood shelf units, seemingly bolted to the walls. I think that should be plenty, but we are bring another 4 or so wood units that we have here.

plan is to organize what is there already, then bring the rest back from storage unit before I have to pay rent on it in a month!

Once you’ve settled in it would be an ideal time to drop a large dumpster in your driveway and cull out a lot of that stuff before it takes up residence for the next 30 years.

mjfloyd1

28firefighter said:

@mjfloyd1 said:
@28firefighter - tell them to pound sand. That Infiniti surely won’t break again😇

I can’t make this up.

Just a piece of black tape over that check engine soon light and you are good to go😂

I thought you bought that Infiniti from a friend. If so, you need to reevaluate your relationship 🤔

tjc78

@28firefighter
Huge bummer !!

@jmonroe
Lol. I have plenty of “sand”

28firefighter

I get what I deserve etc etc

jmonroe1

28firefighter said:

@mjfloyd1 said:
@28firefighter - tell them to pound sand. That Infiniti surely won’t break again😇

I can’t make this up.

————————————————
Damn those car gods.

jmonroe

nyccarguy

@28firefighter - UGH!

corvette

@28firefighter - that's annoying... have you read the code yet?

mjfloyd1

@28firefighter said:
I get what I deserve etc etc

You deserved better than that

28firefighter

It’s a code for a valve timing control solenoid. Could be a sensor. Could be the beginnings of an oil leak.

tjc78

Neighbors across the street got company.

corvette

@tjc78 - there's a bunch of junk blocking that Honda Odyssey you're trying to show us.

corvette

Finally got the toll bill from driving the Tundra on toll roads around Denver. Weirdly, it was mailed directly to me rather than going to US Bank (the leasing company) and having them sit on it for weeks before forwarding it to me, which is what happened in Texas.

ab348

Lamborghini Hurácan. They don’t do so well in the snow up here. 😀

stickguy

a dumpster would be nice. I would have to dispose of the wife in it first though so not worth the hassle! And the time to do it was here. once it all gets moved, boxes go back into hibernation! Though some go away if we ever get grandkids (all the toys saved for them). So I am doing the best I can to get it at least thinned out. Depending on how well it all stows away when we unpack there may be some fights coming about making more cuts!

I was planning to put some kind of panel wall in the garage (one of the ones where it has tracks you hang stuff from) but the prior owner had a bunch of hooks all over the back wall, so I might not even need it. but we shall see.

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

Sounds like you were very organized!! Having shelving is such a blessing.

Hopefully over the winter I’m going to use my contacts and buy about 20’ 126”’ tall retail gondola shelving for my garage and redo the whole thing.

Easy to install and should be relatively cheap.

Which style do you prefer?

tjc78

@corvette said:
@tjc78 - there's a bunch of junk blocking that Honda Odyssey you're trying to show us.

Ha ha. He is taking the kids for rides. I have to say the exhaust note is pretty amazing.

jmonroe1

28firefighter said:

@mjfloyd1 said:
@28firefighter - tell them to pound sand. That Infiniti surely won’t break again😇

I can’t make this up.

———————————————-
You guys might appreciate this:

While we’re waiting to be seated at the Walburgers hamburger joint, I’m scrolling through this page and my youngest Grandson (the car nut, soon to be 16) sees your pic and yells, “hold it, that looks like my Dad’s dash”. His Dad has a 2013 G37. So I said, “does your Dad’s dash have that light lit on it?” He zooms in on my phone and said, “no, not that light but over the years he’s had a couple different ones”.

I’m still surprised he saw your pic since I wasn’t exactly doing a slow motion scroll though this page.

@tjc78, FWIW, he really liked that Lambo that was visiting your neighbors place. He then wants to know what site I’m on so I told him. He said he might take a peek in here when he gets the chance. So, if a car nut 16 year old kid starts posting in here, don’t say I didn’t warn y’all.

jmonroe

mjfloyd1

tjc78 said:

Neighbors across the street got company.

Exotic yet hideous

ab348

Mavericks are hard to get so I can only imagine how rare one with this factory roof extension/bed cover must be.

nyccarguy

@28firefighter - a number of years ago my wife’s friend had an early - mid 2000 GTI. She loved the car, but after a number of years it was developing problems. Nickel ($500) & diming ($1,000) her. I finally convinced her to go car shopping. I convinced her to lease. She found a Tiguan. She found the color, the best price, I helped her negotiate a trade for her GTI…. She balked. Loved the GTI. Loved driving stick…. I told her - Ana. Dump the car before something else happens and you start cursing it. Finally she decided to pull the trigger. The car threw a CEL on the way to the dealer to trade it in.

jmonroe1

nyccarguy said:

@28firefighter - a number of years ago my wife’s friend had an early - mid 2000 GTI. She loved the car, but after a number of years it was developing problems. Nickel ($500) & diming ($1,000) her. I finally convinced her to go car shopping. I convinced her to lease. She found a Tiguan. She found the color, the best price, I helped her negotiate a trade for her GTI…. She balked. Loved the GTI. Loved driving stick…. I told her - Ana. Dump the car before something else happens and you start cursing it. Finally she decided to pull the trigger. The car threw a CEL on the way to the dealer to trade it in.

————————————————
And she probably blamed you for not being more forceful.

That’s why when someone asks for my opinion about anything I only say it once. And I tell them I’m only going to say it once. Then I never say another word. That’s almost always worked for me.

jmonroe

stickguy

I believe in the theory that people ask opinions but only to hear what they are going to do anyway. So anything else will just be ignored.

stickguy

Ford does sell that canopy as a (very expensive) option but it is by an aftermarket company so you might be able to buy it that way too. I have never seen one in the wild.

I have been seeing a lot of mavs around here lately. during one outing, I was next to one at a light, and followed a different one a little later. and say a yellow (they call it Orange) one in a parking lot. I see them often enough now that it isn't even exciting!

henryn

I have yet to see a Maverick in the flesh, on the street or at a dealership. Not one.

jmonroe1

henryn said:

I have yet to see a Maverick in the flesh, on the street or at a dealership. Not one.

————————————————
Could it be that there are folks who are suffering from Maverick Mirage?

jmonroe

mjfloyd1

@28firefighter said:
It’s a code for a valve timing control solenoid. Could be a sensor. Could be the beginnings of an oil leak.

Looks like a cheap and easy fix even if you replace both sensors and gaskets. Easy to get to on front - both sides of motor. Some clean the solenoids initially.

28firefighter

@mjfloyd1 said:

@28firefighter said:
It’s a code for a valve timing control solenoid. Could be a sensor. Could be the beginnings of an oil leak.

Looks like a cheap and easy fix even if you replace both sensors and gaskets. Easy to get to on front - both sides of motor. Some clean the solenoids initially.

So I took the sensors out and cleaned them this morning and the code hasn’t come back. But I’m still not comfortable selling this to someone without disclosing what’s going on.

These cars can have an oil valley gasket leak because of a cheap paper gasket at the back of the block that can trigger this code - it’s cheap parts but lots of labor. This could be that and maybe it isn’t - I want someone to have eyes wide open buying.

Given that I’m likely selling privately, I am willing to take the loss on it if it means I sleep at night…

jmonroe1

28firefighter said:

@mjfloyd1 said:

@28firefighter said:

It’s a code for a valve timing control solenoid. Could be a sensor. Could be the beginnings of an oil leak.

Looks like a cheap and easy fix even if you replace both sensors and gaskets. Easy to get to on front - both sides of motor. Some clean the solenoids initially.

So I took the sensors out and cleaned them this morning and the code hasn’t come back. But I’m still not comfortable selling this to someone without disclosing what’s going on.

These cars can have an oil valley gasket leak because of a cheap paper gasket at the back of the block that can trigger this code - it’s cheap parts but lots of labor. This could be that and maybe it isn’t - I want someone to have eyes wide open buying.

Given that I’m likely selling privately, I am willing to take the loss on it if it means I sleep at night…

————————————————-
I’m pretty sure if you got a dealers license you could sleep at night with no problems.

jmonroe

28firefighter

Probably why I’d fail spectacularly in the business.

au1994

stickguy said:

Ford does sell that canopy as a (very expensive) option but it is by an aftermarket company so you might be able to buy it that way too. I have never seen one in the wild.

I have been seeing a lot of mavs around here lately. during one outing, I was next to one at a light, and followed a different one a little later. and say a yellow (they call it Orange) one in a parking lot. I see them often enough now that it isn't even exciting!

I see quite a few of them as well. Mostly as commercial vehicles so maybe their orders were prioritized.

28firefighter

Well. This thing is silly. My name is 28FF and I have a problem.

tjc78

I love it. Congrats!!

Michaell

Time for a signature update!