Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

qbrozen

stickguy said:

down that danged rabbit hole again!

This, is incredible. I love it. the whole concept, the color, and those seats are to die for.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/36LkLGon/1997-bmw-316i-touring

I knew someone would post that. But that price? Oh my. Certainly has me on the lookout to import them, though!

28firefighter

I will not ask Q to import me a broken BMW. I will not ask Q to import me a broken BMW. I will not...

ab348

Harry Metcalfe of Harry’s Garage fame did an interesting preview video of this weekend’s Silverstone Auctions event today. I find these fascinating to see what is popular (and not) in the U.K. and Europe. The popularity of Fast Fords over there seems such a contrast to Ford’s image here.

https://youtu.be/ljZadXKe78k

tjc78

@28firefighter said:
I will not ask Q to import me a broken BMW. I will not ask Q to import me a broken BMW. I will not...

Yeah but he imports them and fixes them too!

Sandman6472

Drove my first Alfa Romeo yesterday and liked the way it drove but hated the ergonomics. Took me a few minutes to figure out the audio system and even took a bit to find the start/stop button which was right on the steering wheel! What a moronic place to put it!!! It was a white over black four door unit, name started with a "G" I think and it accelerated very briskly onto I-95. Audio system was just meh and naturally, had no Sirius/XM subscription. Looked very sharp in that white color, paint was pretty shiny...all in all, a very handsome automobile. Not too large either. Have heard that their reliability is nothing to write home about & the nearest dealer is Rick Case down in Weston Florida, a good half hour from home. Would I ever consider owning one? No, but a lease...sure.
Also drove a Mini Cooper 4-door Countryman and except for some turbo lag & some rough shifting at first, did like it. Size is just about perfect for me, seems to be a wee bit smaller all around than the current Golf. Visibility was great, seats comfy enough & think it's something I could live with for a long time even though it is a German vehicle, something I'm not sure I want to own next time around.
Took both vehicles from the Palm Beach area down to Ft. Lauderdale airport and due to traffic on I-95, got about an hour of seat time in much stop & go traffic but was also able to hit the accelerator at times. Both did pretty good in that respect with the Alfa the better all around driver. My lead driver yesterday knows I like the foreign vehicles so he made sure I got two good examples yesterday which made for a good day, if not long, we ended at 6:15. But well worth it! And it's days like yesterday that make me want to stay on my current 3-day a week schedule.

Michaell

FYI, Sandy, the MINI is German owned, but they are assembled in England.

roadburner

@Michaell said:
FYI, Sandy, the MINI is German owned, but they are assembled in England.

The current Countryman is built in the Netherlands; the first generation Countryman was built in Austria.

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

Drove my first Alfa Romeo yesterday and liked the way it drove but hated the ergonomics. Took me a few minutes to figure out the audio system and even took a bit to find the start/stop button which was right on the steering wheel! What a moronic place to put it!!! It was a white over black four door unit, name started with a "G" I think and it accelerated very briskly onto I-95. Audio system was just meh and naturally, had no Sirius/XM subscription. Looked very sharp in that white color, paint was pretty shiny...all in all, a very handsome automobile. Not too large either. Have heard that their reliability is nothing to write home about & the nearest dealer is Rick Case down in Weston Florida, a good half hour from home. Would I ever consider owning one? No, but a lease...sure.
Also drove a Mini Cooper 4-door Countryman and except for some turbo lag & some rough shifting at first, did like it. Size is just about perfect for me, seems to be a wee bit smaller all around than the current Golf. Visibility was great, seats comfy enough & think it's something I could live with for a long time even though it is a German vehicle, something I'm not sure I want to own next time around.
Took both vehicles from the Palm Beach area down to Ft. Lauderdale airport and due to traffic on I-95, got about an hour of seat time in much stop & go traffic but was also able to hit the accelerator at times. Both did pretty good in that respect with the Alfa the better all around driver. My lead driver yesterday knows I like the foreign vehicles so he made sure I got two good examples yesterday which made for a good day, if not long, we ended at 6:15. But well worth it! And it's days like yesterday that make me want to stay on my current 3-day a week schedule.

Was the Alfa a giulia or a Stelvio because we have mostly the latter up here?

If you think the stop/start button was hard to find on an Alfa Romeo I dare you to find it on a Porsche Panamera:

fintail

Michaell said:

FYI, Sandy, the MINI is German owned, but they are assembled in England.

I want to make a joke about combining 2004 BMW engineering with a British Leyland build quality ethos, but I've known people with Minis who didn't have big issues, so maybe we are past that.

tjc78

Rule #1: Don’t buy black
Rule #2: See rule one.

Washing this beast is a project.

ab348

tjc78 said:

Rule #1: Don’t buy black

Rule #2: See rule one.

That goes without saying, unless (a) it is a very small car, or (b) you own a car wash.

henryn

fintail said:

Michaell said:

FYI, Sandy, the MINI is German owned, but they are assembled in England.

I want to make a joke about combining 2004 BMW engineering with a British Leyland build quality ethos, but I've known people with Minis who didn't have big issues, so maybe we are past that.

I had the same initial reaction, "the worst of both worlds".

henryn

Sandman6472 said:

Drove my first Alfa Romeo yesterday and liked the way it drove but hated the ergonomics. Took me a few minutes to figure out the audio system and even took a bit to find the start/stop button which was right on the steering wheel! What a moronic place to put it!!!

One of the few things that I really don't like on my 2013 F150 work truck is the placement of the ignition switch. It's on the steering column, hidden completely behind the steering wheel. You either have to lean way over and look around the wheel, or else feel your way around until you find the opening.

Michaell

fintail said:

Michaell said:

FYI, Sandy, the MINI is German owned, but they are assembled in England.

I want to make a joke about combining 2004 BMW engineering with a British Leyland build quality ethos, but I've known people with Minis who didn't have big issues, so maybe we are past that.

We are on our second one. While not Honda-like in its reliability, neither has it left us stranded.

qbrozen

@oldfarmer50 said:
Was the Alfa a giulia or a Stelvio because we have mostly the latter up here?

If you think the stop/start button was hard to find on an Alfa Romeo I dare you to find it on a Porsche Panamera:

He said it started with a G, so I’m guessing it was a Giulia.

I saw a video recently, and I’m trying to recall the car, I think it may have been an MB SLR, where the start button was on the top of the shifter. Seemed quite a poor choice to me.

ab348

I thought Porsches used the "worst of both worlds" philosophy, having an ignition switch on the left of the steering column, requiring the driver to insert the smart key into a slot there and twisting it to the right to start in the old-fashioned way?

Just imagine any other manufacturer trying to get away with that.

stickguy

that was the MB SL/Maclaren that Hoovie bought. You flip open the cover to expose the button, just like a fighter pilot getting to the launch button.

fintail

qbrozen said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

Was the Alfa a giulia or a Stelvio because we have mostly the latter up here?

If you think the stop/start button was hard to find on an Alfa Romeo I dare you to find it on a Porsche Panamera:

He said it started with a G, so I’m guessing it was a Giulia.

I saw a video recently, and I’m trying to recall the car, I think it may have been an MB SLR, where the start button was on the top of the shifter. Seemed quite a poor choice to me.

The OG MB keyless go innovated around MY 2000 had the start button on the shifter:

fintail

ab348 said:

I thought Porsches used the "worst of both worlds" philosophy, having an ignition switch on the left of the steering column, requiring the driver to insert the smart key into a slot there and twisting it to the right to start in the old-fashioned way?

Just imagine any other manufacturer trying to get away with that.

I had a rental X5 that needed the fob to go into a dash slot before you could press the button - seemed amusingly pointless.

In the late 90s, MB started using a key style across the range that was a "smart" fob rather than a traditional key, but it required placement in the key slot and a turn to start:

qbrozen

Our land rover LR2 had that stupid design. Had to insert the fob, push it in to make it hook in, then push the start button. Nobody has ever asked for extra steps to start a car.

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

I thought Porsches used the "worst of both worlds" philosophy, having an ignition switch on the left of the steering column, requiring the driver to insert the smart key into a slot there and twisting it to the right to start in the old-fashioned way?

Just imagine any other manufacturer trying to get away with that.

The Panamara I drove had a regular fob.

If you look at the picture of the Porsche I posted you’ll see a switch on the dash just off the 8:00 position of the steering wheel. It looks to have a white line on it. If you turn it to it’s first position it turns on the headlights. Only if you turn it further do you discover it’s also the motor on-off switch.



It took me 10 minutes in the dark to figure it out.

The Alfa Romeo button is out of place but at least it’s labeled.

28firefighter

That’s where keys used to go on basically every generation of Porsche….pretty sure the target market will know where to look.

roadburner

28firefighter said:

That’s where keys used to go on basically every generation of Porsche….pretty sure the target market will know where to look.

Exactly!

corvette

henryn said:

One of the few things that I really don't like on my 2013 F150 work truck is the placement of the ignition switch. It's on the steering column, hidden completely behind the steering wheel. You either have to lean way over and look around the wheel, or else feel your way around until you find the opening.

This is why you see a lot of used cars with tons of scratches around the switch, people trying to insert the key without looking.

ab348

28firefighter said:

That’s where keys used to go on basically every generation of Porsche….pretty sure the target market will know where to look.

Well, given that the bulk of their sales are SUVs that get driven to the salons and trendy restaurants by wealthy spouses of the monied elites, maybe not.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

Rule #1: Don’t buy black

Rule #2: See rule one.

Washing this beast is a project.

————————————————
You got that right. That beast has more swirls than a birthday cake.

jmonroe

stickguy

Just wait for the rain. that will take care of it.

laurasdada

fintail said:

qbrozen said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

Was the Alfa a giulia or a Stelvio because we have mostly the latter up here?

If you think the stop/start button was hard to find on an Alfa Romeo I dare you to find it on a Porsche Panamera:

He said it started with a G, so I’m guessing it was a Giulia.

I saw a video recently, and I’m trying to recall the car, I think it may have been an MB SLR, where the start button was on the top of the shifter. Seemed quite a poor choice to me.

The OG MB keyless go innovated around MY 2000 had the start button on the shifter:




Not to mention an ejector seat!

tifighter

Lol-

tjc78

@jmonroe1 said:
————————————————
You got that right. That beast has more swirls than a birthday cake.

jmonroe

Are you joking or does it look that bad in the photo? I used a two bucket method and was pretty careful with it. It has also not been through a car wash. In person I don’t see many swirl marks at all.

oldfarmer50

28firefighter said:

That’s where keys used to go on basically every generation of Porsche….pretty sure the target market will know where to look.

And if they don’t they can have one of the servants figure it out for them.

nyccarguy

@tjc78 - nice job cleaning up your RAM. That’s a lot of real estate to dry.

sda

Within the last week or so the dealer I visit updated the VW logo.

fintail

tifighter said:

Lol-

Maybe I can get a nice China Blue on Dark Blue non-bling spec G550 for 100K off MSRP now. Right?

tjc78

@nyccarguy said:
@tjc78 - nice job cleaning up your RAM. That’s a lot of real estate to dry.

Thanks. One thing for sure you need with this is a bottle of spray detailer to go over the spots that didn’t get fully dry or drips that happen from the seams or mirrors

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

@jmonroe1 said:

————————————————

You got that right. That beast has more swirls than a birthday cake.

jmonroe

Are you joking or does it look that bad in the photo? I used a two bucket method and was pretty careful with it. It has also not been through a car wash. In person I don’t see many swirl marks at all.

————————————————
Calm down. I was just joking. Nice to see that someone scraped you off the ceiling so you could post a reply.

jmonroe

corvette

I think I only hand washed the Tundra once the entire time I had it—before it got its one and only coat of sealant. It required the use of a step stool and climbing up in the bed.

henryn

When I wash my pickup and minivan, I usually just hose off the roof and otherwise ignore it. Everything else gets washed properly, just not the roof as I am very leery of ladders these days, even step ladders. When I occasionally pay for a hand wash and wax, everything gets done, and that usually happens every 2 or 3 months.

tjc78

@jmonroe1 said:
————————————————
Calm down. I was just joking. Nice to see that someone scraped you off the ceiling so you could post a reply.

jmonroe

Well you got me! 😝

tjc78

@fintail said:
Maybe I can get a nice China Blue on Dark Blue non-bling spec G550 for 100K off MSRP now. Right?

Ha! Probably still impossible even at MSRP. Even before the madness G’s were subject to ADM if I’m not mistaken

au1994

fintail said:

ab348 said:

I thought Porsches used the "worst of both worlds" philosophy, having an ignition switch on the left of the steering column, requiring the driver to insert the smart key into a slot there and twisting it to the right to start in the old-fashioned way?

Just imagine any other manufacturer trying to get away with that.

I had a rental X5 that needed the fob to go into a dash slot before you could press the button - seemed amusingly pointless.

In the late 90s, MB started using a key style across the range that was a "smart" fob rather than a traditional key, but it required placement in the key slot and a turn to start:

The ‘11 328 is like that. Push button start but you have to insert the fob into the slot in the dash.

Seems like one of those things rushed to market. “Look!! We have push botton start too!!”. (well sort of…)

tjc78

I would rather just have a key at that point. By then most cars only needed a blip of the key and the computer started it anyway much like push to start.

fintail

tjc78 said:

@fintail said:

Maybe I can get a nice China Blue on Dark Blue non-bling spec G550 for 100K off MSRP now. Right?

Ha! Probably still impossible even at MSRP. Even before the madness G’s were subject to ADM if I’m not mistaken

I briefly talked about this with a salesman when I was at the dealer waiting for my tire swap. He mentioned they could get 10-20K on a G550, and 50K on a G63. This uncertain economy has still been very friendly to the upper end of the income/wealth scale, as usual and as expected (feature not a bug), I am pretty sure I've read that exotic car sales are also breaking records.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

tjc78 said:

@jmonroe1 said:

————————————————

You got that right. That beast has more swirls than a birthday cake.

jmonroe

Are you joking or does it look that bad in the photo? I used a two bucket method and was pretty careful with it. It has also not been through a car wash. In person I don’t see many swirl marks at all.

————————————————
Calm down. I was just joking. Nice to see that someone scraped you off the ceiling so you could post a reply.

jmonroe

What did you expect when you make fun of someone’s baby?

https://youtu.be/mGMsBjSSsvM

cdnpinhead

Michaell said:

While not Honda-like in its reliability, neither has it left us stranded.

I guess that's what it's come down to, hasn't it. I think it's called a low bar.

sda

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe1 said:

tjc78 said:

@jmonroe1 said:

————————————————

You got that right. That beast has more swirls than a birthday cake.

jmonroe

Are you joking or does it look that bad in the photo? I used a two bucket method and was pretty careful with it. It has also not been through a car wash. In person I don’t see many swirl marks at all.

————————————————
Calm down. I was just joking. Nice to see that someone scraped you off the ceiling so you could post a reply.

jmonroe

What did you expect when you make fun of someone’s baby?

https://youtu.be/mGMsBjSSsvM
That was a great commercial, hit home.

cdnpinhead

fintail said:

. . . seemed amusingly pointless.

There's a lot of that going around, but it seems to work every time it's tried.

roadburner

Michaell said:

fintail said:

Michaell said:

FYI, Sandy, the MINI is German owned, but they are assembled in England.

I want to make a joke about combining 2004 BMW engineering with a British Leyland build quality ethos, but I've known people with Minis who didn't have big issues, so maybe we are past that.

We are on our second one. While not Honda-like in its reliability, neither has it left us stranded.

Most of the problems we experienced with our Clubman were caused by substandard service performed by shops before we bought it.

mjfloyd1

I saw this M2/ Maxima photo on LeaseHackr

au1994

Wasn’t the Gloria supposed to go live today?