Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

corvette said:

Many of the take-out containers I've seen lately are marked "dishwasher safe," I wonder whether that makes them exempt from some of the bans, since they're theoretically no longer "single use."

A while back Enterprise gave us plastic water containers as a sign of appreciation. I put it in the dishwasher and it melted into something that looked like the inside of a lava lamp.
I guess that was a single use plastic.

This year was much better. For appreciation day they put out a huge spread of donuts, cupcakes and candies that few of the diabetic old men could eat.

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Did you thank them for the seconds, thirds and fourths you got?

jmonroe

kyfdx

Single-Pay 18 month lease on a Frontier Pro-4X

Great deal!

oldfarmer50

kyfdx said:

oldfarmer50 said:

kyfdx said:

oldfarmer50 said:

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Not anywhere I shop. Maybe Aldi’s. We have stupid plastic bag ban here in NY and I guess you have to pay a nickel for paper. I saved a few case of plastic bags from my farmer’s market days so I don’t have to play that game. I’m old enough to remember paper bags being banned to save the trees.

I guess the trees need a better lobbyist.

Just look at this to see what we have to put up with these days in Canuckistan:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-environment/phase-1-of-canada-s-single-use-plastics-ban-comes-into-effect-this-month-these-are-the-products-on-the-list-1.6189050

I notice that absent from that list are covid face masks. I read an article that claimed that the masks are in whole or part made with plastic and are discarded willy-nilly into the environment where they break down into micro plastics.

Who wants medical waste recycled?

So it’s better to let it flow into the ocean?

You don't have landfills in NY?

Sure, if they make it to landfills but people throw them anywhere they like. Folks who recycle their bottles and scream about plastic bags think nothing of leaving a dozen in a rental car that yours truly has to drive. I’m sure as many just get thrown out the window or leave them in shopping carts. People are funny.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

he did get content out of it. He hasn't done a video on selling it yet (usually he sells a few at a time) but I am sure he will eventually.

might be cheap for what they cost, but still seems like a lot for what it is (just a toy that will rarely get used). Probably a lot of fun though, for the really wealthy crowd!

sounds like he missed selling high on a bunch of stuff, with collector car prices taking a beating (I have heard Ferraris especially). Wonder if his Lamborghinis are down a lot too?

not that we likely would need to run a go fund me for him, if he decided to take the entire collection to the auction and cash it all out.

He did a video a short time ago on how much his fleet has gone down in value.

nyccarguy

kyfdx said:

Single-Pay 18 month lease on a Frontier Pro-4X

Great deal!

18 month leases make me salivate. What does NMAC charge per mile if you go over?

stickguy

$332 effective all in is absurd. The one I should have done last fall was IIRC $420/month with just 1st payment DAS. Though that had the extra packages on it which ran up the cap cost (I think the base 4X might have been $40k, and with all the goodies $44/45?)

but great value. Though would have to see the paperwork to know if there was anything else involved (trade in?)

corvette

The monthly nut on the Tundra was $359, back in the good old days of 2020.

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

Single-Pay 18 month lease on a Frontier Pro-4X

Great deal!

18 month leases make me salivate. What does NMAC charge per mile if you go over?

Tried to find that information, but couldn't. I'd guess the typical .10-.20 per mile.

xwesx

ab348 said:

Just look at this to see what we have to put up with these days in Canuckistan:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-environment/phase-1-of-canada-s-single-use-plastics-ban-comes-into-effect-this-month-these-are-the-products-on-the-list-1.6189050

Wow. Seems extreme now that we are so accustomed to these things, but it wasn't that long ago that we made do just fine without any of them.

qbrozen

Someone asked for it, so here you go. Photos incoming. Keep in mind it is still not cleaned up.

qbrozen

Not sure if I ever posted Pajero pics? I started taking prelim pics for selling (also not washed)… but good grief I want to keep this!!

Michaell

The Astra is roughly the size of a Focus or Corolla? Hard to tell from the pix.

mjfloyd1

I stumbled upon another car auction site

Pcarmarket.com

xwesx

qbrozen said:

Someone asked for it, so here you go. Photos incoming. Keep in mind it is still not cleaned up.

Time capsule! Reminds me a lot of the later Escorts.

xwesx

qbrozen said:

Not sure if I ever posted Pajero pics? I started taking prelim pics for selling (also not washed)… but good grief I want to keep this!!

You should keep it! How much are you thinking you'll get for it?

xwesx

mjfloyd1 said:

I stumbled upon another car auction site

Pcarmarket.com

Not nice. Don't we have enough of these?!

explorerx4

Astra was sold over here as a Pontiac.

stickguy

which one? I remember the LeMans but I think that was a Daewoo.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

which one? I remember the LeMans but I think that was a Daewoo.

The Pontiac Astre was a Vega clone..

kyfdx

Saturn also had an Astra, that I think was an Opel? Or, was that the Aura?

Michaell

kyfdx said:

Saturn also had an Astra, that I think was an Opel? Or, was that the Aura?

The Saturn Astra was a clone of the Opel/Vauxhall model in Europe.

The Aura didn't have any heritage to Opel; the L-series was loosely based on the Vectra, IIRC.

stickguy

this should be the inspiration for QB on his sprinter build. but first might need to weld in a couple feet to the middle.

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/2020-mercedes-sprinter-3500/

and this, I could really learn to enjoy this.

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/2003-porsche-911-carrera-cabriolet/

ronsteve

kyfdx said:

Saturn also had an Astra, that I think was an Opel? Or, was that the Aura?

That was the Aura, on the GM Epsilon platform which also begat the Opel Vectra and Saab 9-3. Not a bad driving car with a V6.

stickguy

Saturn actually had the Astra (3 door?) so an Opel. They had another sedan that I believe was also from the Opel range, just tweaked a bit. Caddy had the Catera too. I think that was also an Opel.

Astre back in the 70s was a Vega. Baby LeMans was a Daewoo. And not my forte, and my mind is mushy, but I don't recall any other rebadged econ imports from Pontiac.

corvette

ronsteve said:

That was the Aura, on the GM Epsilon platform which also begat the Opel Vectra and Saab 9-3. Not a bad driving car with a V6.

The Aura XR looked great at the time, but probably would have been a nightmare to own once the warranty was up (one of the first applications of the GM 3.6 liter V6 plus the early six speed automatics had widespread issues, if memory serves).

The 3.5 liter overhead valve V6 had variable valve timing, and drove pretty well in a few rentals I had. Of course, the car I ended up buying with that powertrain, a G6, was plagued with transmission issues and, consequently, never drove quite as good as the others I had driven.

qbrozen

xwesx said:

qbrozen said:

Not sure if I ever posted Pajero pics? I started taking prelim pics for selling (also not washed)… but good grief I want to keep this!!

You should keep it! How much are you thinking you'll get for it?

Honestly no idea. Others advertise them, with the lesser engine, for $14-15k. Gotta be at least 12, I'd think. I'd likely make a good buck on it, in other words. I should just register it so I can drive it around a while. Was hoping the Suzuki Wagon R title would come any day now so I could make one trip to the MVC.

qbrozen

stickguy said:

this should be the inspiration for QB on his sprinter build. but first might need to weld in a couple feet to the middle.

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/2020-mercedes-sprinter-3500/

and this, I could really learn to enjoy this.

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/2003-porsche-911-carrera-cabriolet/

Surprisingly, we don't want to do the whole luxo build. We still like the utility factor. And the stock seats are fine. Kids had no complaints after 12 hours.

qbrozen

Michaell said:

The Astra is roughly the size of a Focus or Corolla? Hard to tell from the pix.

Yes. When I tried to get a grasp on size before it arrived, I found the measurements (167 x 67 x 55 h) to be pretty much in line with compacts of the '90s. Same height and width as Sentra/Corolla/Civic/Jetta and just a little shorter

qbrozen

Just accepted an ebay offer on the Nissan. Let's see how this goes!

au1994

Love the Opel. A set of cool wheels would really set it off. I hope you find a way too keep the Mitsubishi in the fleet.

stickguy

good luck!

I noticed when you picked up the Opel, it was parked behind another Gloria.

explorerx4

Maybe I'm wrong about the Pontiac version of he Astra, can't find any pics of the car I'm thinking of.

qbrozen

stickguy said:

good luck!

I noticed when you picked up the Opel, it was parked behind another Gloria.

Yes, it was. It was surrounded by some crazy stuff. The Gloria and Opel stood out as the mundane. Others were highly modded RX7 and 240SX, a GTR, Civic type R, couple of Defenders, the aforementioned Defender pickup, an Alfa Giulia 1900 Ti, and, of all things, an early '40s Pontiac.

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

Someone asked for it, so here you go. Photos incoming. Keep in mind it is still not cleaned up.

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But it’s still green.

jmonroe

tjc78

Both cars look great Q. Something to say about owning something you certainly won’t see another of at the grocery store.

ab348

explorerx4 said:

Astra was sold over here as a Pontiac.

Actually that was the Pontiac Astre. Saturn sold a version of the Opel Astra just prior to the bankruptcy in 2008.

ab348

QB, I’m confused. Did the Astra come over from Japan? If so, why would there be a LHD German GM compact there?

qbrozen

ab348 said:

QB, I’m confused. Did the Astra come over from Japan? If so, why would there be a LHD German GM compact there?

I'd imagine same reason there are RHD cars here. haha.
I do manage to find quite a few LHD cars at their auctions, typically German, Italian, and some Swedish. Not all of them, but probably 50/50 split.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

this should be the inspiration for QB on his sprinter build. but first might need to weld in a couple feet to the middle.

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/2020-mercedes-sprinter-3500/

and this, I could really learn to enjoy this.

https://www.pcarmarket.com/auction/2003-porsche-911-carrera-cabriolet/

Can you see sitting on the throne of that Sprinter and the doors pop open on a bump?

Are you considering that Porsche for your winter beater or your summer toy?

stickguy

that would not be seeing anything but bone dry, salt free roads.

Bidding still pretty low with 1 day left!

henryn

You guys are wearing out the scroll wheel on my mouse. When you quote a post with 17 pictures, you don't have to include all 17 of the pictures. Just one would be sufficient, I really don't need to see all 17 of the pictures for a second time, or a third time, or ...

qbrozen

That Porsche is tempting, but my ML63 wounds are still fresh, making me shake uncontrollably when I view used high-performance German cars.

corvette

@henryn - for some reason, that comment reminds me of the scroll wheel on the Microsoft J-shaped ergonomic mouse (which I had at least a couple of).

fintail

qbrozen said:

Someone asked for it, so here you go. Photos incoming. Keep in mind it is still not cleaned up.

I like the 90s style upholstery.

There's an Astra. CDi. 1.6. Saloon. New Shape featured prominently in the first several minutes of this classic video/show:

https://youtu.be/niA9fFdvp8E

qbrozen

Yes. Someone, maybe you, posted that when I first bought it. I won’t show that to my son. Haha.

tjc78

@henryn said:
You guys are wearing out the scroll wheel on my mouse. When you quote a post with 17 pictures, you don't have to include all 17 of the pictures. Just one would be sufficient, I really don't need to see all 17 of the pictures for a second time, or a third time, or ...

Get off my lawn… 😉

ab348

henryn said:

You guys are wearing out the scroll wheel on my mouse. When you quote a post with 17 pictures, you don't have to include all 17 of the pictures. Just one would be sufficient, I really don't need to see all 17 of the pictures for a second time, or a third time, or ...

One of my pet peeves too, that dates back to the old MS-DOS days on a mailing list when you would get absurdly long replies to a post quoting 6 or 7 previous ones, and then a one-line new response at the end.

qbrozen

received deposit on the Nissan and notification that she booked a shipper on shiply. Awaiting wire transfer today/tomorrow for the balance.

All things taken into account, it is about $1200 less in my pocket than the C&B high bid. Still a good profit for my test subject car.

nyccarguy

qbrozen said:

received deposit on the Nissan and notification that she booked a shipper on shiply. Awaiting wire transfer today/tomorrow for the balance.

All things taken into account, it is about $1200 less in my pocket than the C&B high bid. Still a good profit for my test subject car.

Nice job!

tjc78

Good news Q. It’s a shame you had to do all the back and forth but a decent outcome in the end