Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

nyccarguy

Congrats to our new X3 owners!

laurasdada

stickguy said:

corvette said:

Did we really just clock two BMW X3 punches in a single day?

@laurasdada - M30i, M40i, or other trim (I'm completely lost on BMW trim levels these days)?

sounds like Dada got the X3 30i.

maybe Breld bought 2 on the same day once? Probably not, but still believable!

Yes, white over beige X3 30i xDrive. She loves it so much, makes my heart smile.

So, I guess I can start negotiating on the M240i vert? No, Laurasdada, we just bought a new car!
Kidding, she's all for me buying a vert (for us, of course. She uses it on sunny days/warm evenings. I use it in rain/winter).
Can I just overcome my logical/frugal mind?

28firefighter

Congrats, both!

laurasdada

And, thanks folks! Glad to finally be on the board again. (ok, it's only been ~18 months since I bought the A7, but, what is that in breld years; 15?)

tjc78

20

28firefighter

So interesting data point. I’ve had the Elantra for 3 months as of tomorrow. I have not seen a single other one in any color anywhere at home or when traveling.

3 month update: I continue to love this car. The only one that ever came close for me was the GTI and I think it’s better in many ways - especially the transmission. Only complaint so far is the gas tank is comically small. I generally fill up at just under 1/4 tank which with my driving style is about every 10 days - about 9 gallons when I do.

Michaell

28firefighter said:

So interesting data point. I’ve had the Elantra for 3 months as of tomorrow. I have not seen a single other one in any color anywhere at home or when traveling.

3 month update: I continue to love this car. The only one that ever came close for me was the GTI and I think it’s better in many ways - especially the transmission. Only complaint so far is the gas tank is comically small. I generally fill up at just under 1/4 tank which with my driving style is about every 10 days - about 9 gallons when I do.

Weight savings!

Glad you are enjoying the car.

tjc78

@28firefighter said:
So interesting data point. I’ve had the Elantra for 3 months as of tomorrow. I have not seen a single other one in any color anywhere at home or when traveling.

3 month update: I continue to love this car. The only one that ever came close for me was the GTI and I think it’s better in many ways - especially the transmission. Only complaint so far is the gas tank is comically small. I generally fill up at just under 1/4 tank which with my driving style is about every 10 days - about 9 gallons when I do.

It’s nice being exclusive. I’ve only seen one other Built to Serve RAM and it wasn’t the same color. Five million other Rams, though lol

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

So interesting data point. I’ve had the Elantra for 3 months as of tomorrow. I have not seen a single other one in any color anywhere at home or when traveling.

3 month update: I continue to love this car. The only one that ever came close for me was the GTI and I think it’s better in many ways - especially the transmission. Only complaint so far is the gas tank is comically small. I generally fill up at just under 1/4 tank which with my driving style is about every 10 days - about 9 gallons when I do.

It’s nice being exclusive. I’ve only seen one other Built to Serve RAM and it wasn’t the same color. Five million other Rams, though lol

C&D did a pickup test, with the RAM, F-150 and Tundra, and the RAM was their favorite, by far.

tjc78

It’s an impressive vehicle. I’m not exaggerating when I say I believe it’s quieter and rides as smooth or smoother than our XC90. Power is great, interior room is awesome.

It’s drives smaller than it is until you go to park it. The big pain point of course it’s an absolute pig. Averaging around 15.1 right now with 60% city driving. For someone who drives more that could be a big deal. Looking back our Enclave only did a little better with a 16.5 average.

I don’t regret the purchase one bit. Like I’ve said, complete overkill for what I need, but so what.

explorerx4

@tjc78,
There's a lot of stuff that needs to break in with a full size 4x4 pickup.
Engine, trans, transfer case, rear axle, front axle.
Do you know what rear axle you have? Some Ram's have a 3.92.
Good for power, not so good for fuel mileage.

jmonroe1

@laurasdada said:
Yes, white over beige X3 30i xDrive. She loves it so much, makes my heart smile.

So, I guess I can start negotiating on the M240i vert? No, Laurasdada, we just bought a new car!
Kidding, she's all for me buying a vert (for us, of course. She uses it on sunny days/warm evenings. I use it in rain/winter).
Can I just overcome my logical/frugal mind?

————————————————-
Nice to hear you’re working on a 50/50 relationship. They can be a beautiful thing.

Mrs. j and I established one of those as soon as we returned from our honeymoon. It goes like this: I make it and she spends it. That has worked for a little more than 55 years. No sense changing it now.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

@28firefighter said:
So interesting data point. I’ve had the Elantra for 3 months as of tomorrow. I have not seen a single other one in any color anywhere at home or when traveling.

3 month update: I continue to love this car. The only one that ever came close for me was the GTI and I think it’s better in many ways - especially the transmission. Only complaint so far is the gas tank is comically small. I generally fill up at just under 1/4 tank which with my driving style is about every 10 days - about 9 gallons when I do.

———————————————
Us folks with gas hogs have coffee mugs larger than that.

jmonroe

xwesx

Congrats on the punches, gentlemen!

Speaking of fuel mileage, my Q7 has gone terrible suddenly. Last tank, based on the trip computer, I should have clocked in upper 20s. But, napkin-calculated after the fill? 20. And, it continues. I am nearly down to a half tank and I've put only 200 miles on the clock this tank... that's into trailer-pulling territory.

Not sure what's up with that? The computers don't think there's anything wrong, but there's definitely something wrong.

jmonroe1

@xwesx said:
Congrats on the punches, gentlemen!

Speaking of fuel mileage, my Q7 has gone terrible suddenly. Last tank, based on the trip computer, I should have clocked in upper 20s. But, napkin-calculated after the fill? 20. And, it continues. I am nearly down to a half tank and I've put only 200 miles on the clock this tank... that's into trailer-pulling territory.

Not sure what's up with that? The computers don't think there's anything wrong, but there's definitely something wrong.

————————————————
Hint: When things like this happen you can almost always point the finger at the right foot belonging to the guy in the drivers seat.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

It’s an impressive vehicle. I’m not exaggerating when I say I believe it’s quieter and rides as smooth or smoother than our XC90. Power is great, interior room is awesome.

It’s drives smaller than it is until you go to park it. The big pain point of course it’s an absolute pig. Averaging around 15.1 right now with 60% city driving. For someone who drives more that could be a big deal. Looking back our Enclave only did a little better with a 16.5 average.

I don’t regret the purchase one bit. Like I’ve said, complete overkill for what I need, but so what.

The basic Ram with the 5.7 gets about 20 mpg on the highway if that’s any consolation.

laurasdada

I've always preferred driving a not-ubiquitosmobile if possible.
Probably why my first new car was a Mitsu Mirage Turbo vs GTI. More recently, the Jag XK vs. 911, XF vs the usual 3 Teutonic sedans; the A7 vs, well, I guess the same.

While at the BMWonderland yesterday, on the showroom floor was a '19 White i8 Roadster. With, of course billionaire doors. I was allowed access and was able to fairly, semi-gracefully ingress and egress. I did hit my head on the door glass exiting (at least?) once. This was with the top down, my guess is ever so less graceful with limited head room of top up.
I mentioned to Herr Salesmeister that perhaps I'd trade the A7 for the i8. His eyes lit up and he said, "Let's make it happen!" Sorry, summer tires negating the year-round ability of AWD. Darn. Again, great seats, nice, simple interior. But, somewhat limited storage. And a trunk suitable for a day pack or two. Think I'll stick to torturing myself until the M240i is sold.

breld

@rayains and @laurasdada - congrats on the X3s! Great vehicles.

stickguy

Mavericks everywhere. Saw 3 different ones this weekend. Yesterday drove about 30 minutes to a nearby town. Ws passed by a white one going the other way then 4 minutes later was next to a blue XL hybrid

Then today ran out to the store and a silver one was going the other direction.

Must be popular up here.

tjc78

@explorerx4 said:
@tjc78,
There's a lot of stuff that needs to break in with a full size 4x4 pickup.
Engine, trans, transfer case, rear axle, front axle.
Do you know what rear axle you have? Some Ram's have a 3.92.
Good for power, not so good for fuel mileage.

I have the 3.21. I’m not complaining about the mileage was just talking pros/cons. I’m sure if I had a lighter foot that would also help significantly!

ab348

stickguy said:

Mavericks everywhere. Saw 3 different ones this weekend. Yesterday drove about 30 minutes to a nearby town. Ws passed by a white one going the other way then 4 minutes later was next to a blue XL hybrid

Then today ran out to the store and a silver one was going the other direction.

Must be popular up here.

Either that, or they have started to multiply.

stickguy

They are mavericks, not rabbits!

sda

I've seen more Rivians than I have Mavericks. I have only seen one Maverick.

pensfan83

corvette said:

My understanding was that dealers generally get a “spiff” of about $200 from the financing bank, possibly more if they are able to mark the interest rate up above what the buyer qualifies for.

The FI I work for generally allows up to a 2% above book rate for indirect auto loans and most dealers take full advantage as you would expect. That said the bank will claw back the money they pay out if the loan is PIF within 90 days of origination. Someone told me that was pushed out to 120 but I don't know if that's true or not.

explorerx4

@28 firefighter,
I've seen a couple of those Elantra N's including one yesterday on a hot shot car carrier.

henryn

pensfan83 said:

corvette said:

My understanding was that dealers generally get a “spiff” of about $200 from the financing bank, possibly more if they are able to mark the interest rate up above what the buyer qualifies for.

The FI I work for generally allows up to a 2% above book rate for indirect auto loans and most dealers take full advantage as you would expect. That said the bank will claw back the money they pay out if the loan is PIF within 90 days of origination. Someone told me that was pushed out to 120 but I don't know if that's true or not.

I remember once, about 15 years back (maybe longer), the finance guy asked me to please not refinance for 90 days. I was financing a new car for my wife (now ex), and we were getting either $750 or $1,000 for using the captive financing. I asked the finance guy, just for grins, what interest rate they were charging, and the answer was ludicrous, way way above market rates at the time. I just shook my head, and told him it didn't matter as I was going to immediately refinance with my credit union. At which point he asked me politely if I could hold off for 90 days on the refinance, otherwise the dealership would get dinged for it.

I thought about that for a couple of seconds, and then agreed. The dealership had treated me fairly, no high pressure sales tactics, no hidden charges or fees, a pleasant experience, so I had no problem returning the favor. Those days are gone, possibly forever? (Serious question.) The way new car dealerships are treating their customers these days, well, ...

corvette

pensfan83 said:

corvette said:

My understanding was that dealers generally get a “spiff” of about $200 from the financing bank, possibly more if they are able to mark the interest rate up above what the buyer qualifies for.

The FI I work for generally allows up to a 2% above book rate for indirect auto loans and most dealers take full advantage as you would expect. That said the bank will claw back the money they pay out if the loan is PIF within 90 days of origination. Someone told me that was pushed out to 120 but I don't know if that's true or not.

I've heard six months for some lenders. I've had good success in getting a better rate by threatening to use PenFed or write a HELOC check instead of financing with the dealer.

pensfan83

Exactly, unless there's an incentivized rate through the captive lender (i.e. .9% for 60 months) I always recommend bringing financing to the table to avoid those issues or as you note, use it as leverage to bring down or eliminate the markup.

kyfdx

Turned over 30K miles on my 2018 GTI. Averaging about 500 miles/month.

Michaell

kyfdx said:

Turned over 30K miles on my 2018 GTI. Averaging about 500 miles/month.

If you subtracted the drive from Denver to Cincinnati, that average would be a lot smaller.

tifighter

An amusing M-car list, for those who practice -

Top Gear 50 best M cars ever.

venture

henryn said:

pensfan83 said:

corvette said:

My understanding was that dealers generally get a “spiff” of about $200 from the financing bank, possibly more if they are able to mark the interest rate up above what the buyer qualifies for.

The FI I work for generally allows up to a 2% above book rate for indirect auto loans and most dealers take full advantage as you would expect. That said the bank will claw back the money they pay out if the loan is PIF within 90 days of origination. Someone told me that was pushed out to 120 but I don't know if that's true or not.

I remember once, about 15 years back (maybe longer), the finance guy asked me to please not refinance for 90 days. I was financing a new car for my wife (now ex), and we were getting either $750 or $1,000 for using the captive financing. I asked the finance guy, just for grins, what interest rate they were charging, and the answer was ludicrous, way way above market rates at the time. I just shook my head, and told him it didn't matter as I was going to immediately refinance with my credit union. At which point he asked me politely if I could hold off for 90 days on the refinance, otherwise the dealership would get dinged for it.

I thought about that for a couple of seconds, and then agreed. The dealership had treated me fairly, no high pressure sales tactics, no hidden charges or fees, a pleasant experience, so I had no problem returning the favor. Those days are gone, possibly forever? (Serious question.) The way new car dealerships are treating their customers these days, well, ...

I had the exact same thing happen when I bought my Fusion. I waited then flipped it to my credit union. But that was about 8 years ago.

Sandman6472

Did the same when my oldest bought her Nissan Versa...waited about 92 days and then paid it off. The sales guy said we needed to do at least 90 days of payments, 3 months, but then, we could do as we pleased. Since they gave her a nice rebate on her first vehicle, we gladly accommodated their request. The only other time I financed a vehicle was right before I got married. After we got home from the honeymoon, we paid it off, though it wasn't very much. Think the total loan was for $2500 and we only owed about $1900 by that point. Still waiting on 0% financing but always miss the boat when it's offered on something I might consider.

rayains

A couple of quick snaps today at a park - between errands.
It has been drizzling - and she is not washed...
The blue in the carbon black really pops in the sunlight!
- Ray
Very happy with her - so far!

tifighter

Nice. Blue, or get out. That's my strategy as well.

rayains

Interior & wheel/tire...
- Ray
Sooo NOT professional quality pics [ sigh ]

corvette

Great colors, inside and out! Congrats!

xwesx

rayains said:

Sooo NOT professional quality pics [ sigh ]

Perhaps not, but they're dealer quality for sure!

andres3

laurasdada said:

Just solicited buy bids on wife's '19 CX-5 Grand Touring
Carvana $18k
Vroom $19k
CarMax $24k

Quite the discrepancy. Guess a road trip to CarMax.
Did I miss any?

Pretty sure Carvana ran out of honest money. They can only afford to pay bottom dollar now.

andres3

Sounds like it would be easier to sell cars under the table in NJ.

ab348 said:

sda said:

A huge new Hyundai dealer just opened. $4 K addendum mark up. Fun Easter egg. I prefer the less gimmicky and practical Maverick.

Up here, Hyundai Canada just rolled out a new slogan, “Wah”. Wha?

https://www.hyundaicanada.com/en/wah?gclid=CjwKCAjwzNOaBhAcEiwAD7Tb6I_bCG_NxvfhkCGG-DB5_47WGNGIq1_a8XCY5G3vmpH3f-TNOfpQWxoCxSAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

When I saw the TV ads touting it, I thought of this scene from Mad Men:

https://youtu.be/dbZLpxnDFoM

Might be how some of their customers feel after all the recalls and engine failures.

I thought they didn't cover engine failures unless you took a photo proving your car had an engine. Forget to take a photo of it? No proof.

qbrozen

@andres3 said:
Sounds like it would be easier to sell cars under the table in NJ.

SHUSH!

Speaking of… the Nissan will go up for sale this week. Ran out of time today but will take it tomorrow morn for photos. I think the park nearby. I had to click a few with my phone this eve, though, because it just looked so pretty in the setting sun.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

@andres3 said:

Sounds like it would be easier to sell cars under the table in NJ.

SHUSH!

Speaking of… the Nissan will go up for sale this week. Ran out of time today but will take it tomorrow morn for photos. I think the park nearby. I had to click a few with my phone this eve, though, because it just looked so pretty in the setting sun.

Nice paint on that. I thought you had placed an informational placard on the hood in the first picture but it was the reflection of the basketball backboard. I’d use that one in the ad.

stickguy

just listing that on normal sites (Craigs, Marketplace, cars.com?) I wonder how some of your units would do on something like cars and bids?

turns out they have quite a few JDM models running now. I like this little peanut.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rJq7z8DN/1994-daihatsu-mira-tr-xx-avanzato-r

xwesx

So snazzy!

nyccarguy

@qbrozen - best of luck to you selling! I hope you make a lot of money!

stickguy

speaking of which, and progress selling off your jeep dealership?

ab348

qbrozen said:

Speaking of… the Nissan will go up for sale this week. Ran out of time today but will take it tomorrow morn for photos. I think the park nearby. I had to click a few with my phone this eve, though, because it just looked so pretty in the setting sun.

When I first glanced at this one I thought it was towing a travel trailer.

I can just imagine some of the responses to the ad. "How much would it cost to put the steering wheel on the other side?"

nyccarguy

@stickguy said:
speaking of which, and progress selling off your jeep dealership?

I have an update, but don’t want to post the full details until “I see the whites of their eyes” if you catch my drift.

qbrozen

whoops, I did it again. Just can't control my trigger finger.
Will wind up with a pair of Pajero Minis. Wonder if I could tow them both at the same time.

stickguy

qbrozen said:

whoops, I did it again. Just can't control my trigger finger.
Will wind up with a pair of Pajero Minis. Wonder if I could tow them both at the same time.

put one inside, tow the other one.