Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

sb55

oldfarmer50 said:

We were working in Burlington all day today and we stopped at a Nissan dealer who had one of these in his showroom:



https://www.freedomnissan.com/all-inventory/index.htm?year=2012&model=Clipper Mini Truck

2012 Nissan NT100 JDM with a dump body. 350kg load limit. I thought that was too new to be exempt from emissions testing but who knows, maybe Qbrozen Imports can enlighten me.

They also had a pristine 1983 280Z which I would much rather have.

@oldfarmer50
You're up in the Burlington area frequently. Is there a crew up here at all? Is it really worth you guys driving up from Albany?

au1994

cdnpinhead said:

I heard something on the news the other day having to do with some sort of a recall on the electric (or partially electric) jeeps. Anyone here have any more information, given how popular they seem to be in the flipping community?

There is a recall coming for a s/w fix but not till Jan 12 is my understanding. This problem had been mentioned on the Jeep forums for a while so it’s concerning it took this long.

I’ve been traveling this week so I haven’t checked to see if my VIN is affected.

qbrozen

On the whole death thing… my folks never told us what to do, so we had them cremated and now their urns are on a shelf in my living room along with some reminders and photos. A shrine, I guess. I am pretty certain my mom wanted to be with her mother but my aunt has been unable to obtain the deed to that cemetery plot next to their mother. It is in a safe deposit box somewhere, she says. Sigh. Just an example of what can happen if you don’t leave instructions.

tjc78

“Bury the dead, they stink up the joint”

(Movie Reference)

My mom told us what she wants and we did the traditional for my stepdad and both my grandparents. (Viewing, church, cemetery)

As for me? I’ll trust my wife will figure it out 😛

nyccarguy

au1994 said:

cdnpinhead said:

I heard something on the news the other day having to do with some sort of a recall on the electric (or partially electric) jeeps. Anyone here have any more information, given how popular they seem to be in the flipping community?

There is a recall coming for a s/w fix but not till Jan 12 is my understanding. This problem had been mentioned on the Jeep forums for a while so it’s concerning it took this long.

I’ve been traveling this week so I haven’t checked to see if my VIN is affected.

I got a letter in the mail about it. I can't imagine how backed up my local Jeep dealer is going to be for this one. I called on Tuesday (12/13) to bring it in for an oil change and tire rotation. They told me the next available appointment would be 1/7/2023. I ordered a MOPAR filter from rock auto and bought a 5 Quart jug of Mobil 1 and will have the mechanic who services my Mitsubishi FUSO perform the service.

The other day I got the bad news about my mechanic who has serviced and fixed my cars for the last number of years and it isn't pretty. April 30 he was riding a motorcycle unsafely and alcohol was involved. He rear ended a Tesla and pretty much died at the scene. 58 years old. People make stupid choices.

ab348

This long and detailed account via Reuters regarding child labor at Hyundai/Kia and their suppliers is very disturbing. It speaks to a very bad corporate culture. Makes some of their other behavior re. warranties and recalls seem easier to understand. Are they rotten to the core?

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immigration-hyundai/

corvette

The steel wheels on that NT100 are almost as handsome as the ones on my Maverick.

qbrozen

ab348 said:

This long and detailed account via Reuters regarding child labor at Hyundai/Kia and their suppliers is very disturbing. It speaks to a very bad corporate culture. Makes some of their other behavior re. warranties and recalls seem easier to understand. Are they rotten to the core?

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immigration-hyundai/

They can't control their suppliers. I mean, they can make demands when they know, but they wouldn't know until a report like this happens. I'd be curious to know if it something that happens in AL, for example, and could just as easily be at one or more of Toyota's 40+ Alabama suppliers.

breld

@qbrozen - little late to the responses, but congrats on getting the Gloria sorted out. Sounds like a lot of lessons learned and now you can hit the ground running on the next sale.

@nyccarguy - that's tragic about your mechanic. Very sad regardless of the circumstances.

I had a nice surprise yesterday. You may recall that the faulty keyless access on my driver's door of the wagon was found to be caused by a GPS tracker that had been installed by the selling broker. I contacted them and they put me in touch with the company who installs the trackers for them. A rep from that company asked to see my car to verify what the MB service dept said. I assumed they would just explain away their liability, but after checking out some of the wiring, he agreed it made sense that his tech hadn't installed the tracker correctly and said they'd be cutting a check for the repair!

ab348

qbrozen said:

ab348 said:

This long and detailed account via Reuters regarding child labor at Hyundai/Kia and their suppliers is very disturbing. It speaks to a very bad corporate culture. Makes some of their other behavior re. warranties and recalls seem easier to understand. Are they rotten to the core?

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immigration-hyundai/

They can't control their suppliers. I mean, they can make demands when they know, but they wouldn't know until a report like this happens.

In the article you will see a quote from a Hyundai exec decrying the suppliers practices and saying they would be cut off. Then that statement was walked back.

After the earlier reporting by Reuters on child labor at suppliers SMART and SL, Hyundai’s chief operating officer, José Muñoz, told the news agency he ordered the carmaker’s purchasing department to cease business with the suppliers named in the news reports “as soon as possible.” He also said the company would investigate all suppliers to Hyundai's Alabama operations. Hyundai, Muñoz added, would seek to end the use of third-party staffing agencies that many of its suppliers have relied upon to vet and hire workers.

Hyundai is now backing away from Muñoz’s remarks.

In its recent statement to Reuters, Hyundai said it has canceled its plans to cut off suppliers where minors have worked.

nyccarguy

breld said:

@qbrozen - little late to the responses, but congrats on getting the Gloria sorted out. Sounds like a lot of lessons learned and now you can hit the ground running on the next sale.

@nyccarguy - that's tragic about your mechanic. Very sad regardless of the circumstances.

I had a nice surprise yesterday. You may recall that the faulty keyless access on my driver's door of the wagon was found to be caused by a GPS tracker that had been installed by the selling broker. I contacted them and they put me in touch with the company who installs the trackers for them. A rep from that company asked to see my car to verify what the MB service dept said. I assumed they would just explain away their liability, but after checking out some of the wiring, he agreed it made sense that his tech hadn't installed the tracker correctly and said they'd be cutting a check for the repair!

Nice to see that someone stands by their shoddy work and admits to it, especially to someone who isn't the purchaser. What was the total of that repair?

qbrozen

Nissan has left the building. Bon voyage.

nyccarguy

qbrozen said:

Nissan has left the building. Bon voyage.

MAZEL-TOV!

tjc78

@qbrozen said:
Nissan has left the building. Bon voyage.

On to the next one!

tifighter

What is this for, again?

mjfloyd1 said:

@roadburner said:

Back when the Mazda Miata was introduced I read a review that stated that it looked like something that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would drive; I never got that connection out of my head. So I recently read a Brit review of the G42 M240i; the author wrote that it looked like a Lego version of its predecessor.

What has been seen-or visualized-cannot be unseen…

Did you notice that Bimmerpost has a 2019 M2C sunset orange, 3 pedal with CF roof. It is in Montreal with 19km (12k miles). Asking 62k

Also 2020 M2C hockenheim silver, 3 pedal but hole in roof with 13k miles. In MD. Asking 62k

😳

—————————
Who is the one shopping for a M2 again?

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

I would tell my wife that if she won't tell me in advance, I am having her stuffed and put out in the shed.

I told my wife I wanted to be cremated. She said “good idea, let’s get started on that”.🙄

oldfarmer50

sb55 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

We were working in Burlington all day today and we stopped at a Nissan dealer who had one of these in his showroom:



https://www.freedomnissan.com/all-inventory/index.htm?year=2012&model=Clipper Mini Truck

2012 Nissan NT100 JDM with a dump body. 350kg load limit. I thought that was too new to be exempt from emissions testing but who knows, maybe Qbrozen Imports can enlighten me.

They also had a pristine 1983 280Z which I would much rather have.

@oldfarmer50
You're up in the Burlington area frequently. Is there a crew up here at all? Is it really worth you guys driving up from Albany?

From the amount of work we did yesterday I’m sure it is. Cars up, cars back, picking up dozens of new cars from dealers, shop runs to detailers and repair shops….no sleeping in the van for sure.

The Burlington division had a fairly large contingent of drivers before covid and I understand many didn’t return after. That makes them constantly short handed. In addition, I hear that the remaining crew doesn’t like to do long runs unlike us. So we are frequently assigned to bring units up and back as needed.

Conversely, we often have drivers from JFK airport or Connecticut bring cars up and back from our Albany operation. We also take cars down to NJ or even PA when the need arises so there’s not just us in motion.

I’m sure there is more to it than that and at my level I’m not privy to the big picture. It does make for some interesting work assignments though.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

Nissan has left the building. Bon voyage.

Congratulations, that saga was a cliffhanger start to finish.

jmonroe1

@oldfarmer50 said:
I told my wife I wanted to be cremated. She said “good idea, let’s get started on that”.🙄

————————————————-
Wow, I’ll bet she ain’t no fun while chasing you around the dining room table.

jmonroe

stickguy

Farmer, do they give you an EZ pass to use on these runs, or just let the system bill to the plate?

though that sounds like they would often assign the tolls to the prior renter. Of course, maybe that is the reason they do it...

mjfloyd1

@tifighter said:
What is this for, again?
—————————
Who is the one shopping for a M2 again?

I’m definitely not shopping for an M2 for myself.

mjfloyd1

@roadburner said:

@cdnpinhead said:
I heard something on the news the other day having to do with some sort of a recall on the electric (or partially electric) jeeps. Anyone here have any more information, given how popular they seem to be in the flipping community?

There’s a stop sale in effect. The gas motor can shut off without warning.

The 4xe software is available now. Some have already had it done. It is the same software on the 2023s

au1994

mjfloyd1 said:

@roadburner said:

@cdnpinhead said:

I heard something on the news the other day having to do with some sort of a recall on the electric (or partially electric) jeeps. Anyone here have any more information, given how popular they seem to be in the flipping community?

There’s a stop sale in effect. The gas motor can shut off without warning.

The 4xe software is available now. Some have already had it done. It is the same software on the 2023s

Thanks for the heads up. I’ll call about mine shortly and it needs an oil change. Glad to hear this because the longer I stewed on it, the madder I got.

Edit — Called my dealer and the service guy said not available and all he knew was sometime in Q1 “which means January to March” yeah got it boss. Since he had already ticked me off I asked him what I should do? Should I stop driving it and come pick up my loaner?

Needless to say he and I probably won’t be exchanging Christmas cards.

henryn

oldfarmer50 said:

We were working in Burlington all day today and we stopped at a Nissan dealer who had one of these in his showroom:



https://www.freedomnissan.com/all-inventory/index.htm?year=2012&model=Clipper Mini Truck

2012 Nissan NT100 JDM with a dump body. 350kg load limit. I thought that was too new to be exempt from emissions testing but who knows, maybe Qbrozen Imports can enlighten me.

They also had a pristine 1983 280Z which I would much rather have.

I remember seeing very similar looking vehicles, perhaps the same, running around airports several decades back. And that picture reminds me of the Dodge A100, from back in the 60's. My father owned one, and really liked it. I'm sure this Nissan is a lot smaller though.

mjfloyd1

@au1994 said:
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll call about mine shortly and it needs an oil change. Glad to hear this because the longer I stewed on it, the madder I got.

Edit — Called my dealer and the service guy said not available and all he knew was sometime in Q1 “which means January to March” yeah got it boss. Since he had already ticked me off I asked him what I should do? Should I stop driving it and come pick up my loaner?

Needless to say he and I probably won’t be exchanging Christmas cards.

He didn’t look very hard and is just unaware that it is available

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

Farmer, do they give you an EZ pass to use on these runs, or just let the system bill to the plate?

though that sounds like they would often assign the tolls to the prior renter. Of course, maybe that is the reason they do it...

When we travel they give us EZ passes gas cards and sometimes transport plates. Occasionally some old fella will lose one or more items causing much blue language on the part of the boss. They tell me that the transport plates are worth $10k so that’s a big deal.

jmonroe1

@oldfarmer50 said:
When we travel they give us EZ passes gas cards and sometimes transport plates. Occasionally some old fella will lose one or more items causing much blue language on the part of the boss. They tell me that the transport plates are worth $10k so that’s a big deal.

————————————————-
From what you’ve told us, that’s a lot of hours pay lost. No wonder the poor guy just quits, buys a package of razor blades or signs up for the witness protection program.

jmonroe

breld

nyccarguy said:

breld said:

@qbrozen - little late to the responses, but congrats on getting the Gloria sorted out. Sounds like a lot of lessons learned and now you can hit the ground running on the next sale.

@nyccarguy - that's tragic about your mechanic. Very sad regardless of the circumstances.

I had a nice surprise yesterday. You may recall that the faulty keyless access on my driver's door of the wagon was found to be caused by a GPS tracker that had been installed by the selling broker. I contacted them and they put me in touch with the company who installs the trackers for them. A rep from that company asked to see my car to verify what the MB service dept said. I assumed they would just explain away their liability, but after checking out some of the wiring, he agreed it made sense that his tech hadn't installed the tracker correctly and said they'd be cutting a check for the repair!

Nice to see that someone stands by their shoddy work and admits to it, especially to someone who isn't the purchaser. What was the total of that repair?

Yeah - as obvious as it seemed that they were responsible for the malfunctioning door, I was 100% skeptical about them owning up to it.

The MB dealership spent 4 hours diagnosing and repairing it…$1,200.

breld

Not saying it’s a good deal or anything, but this Aventurin Red M4 with that cognac interior is BEAUTIFUL!

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/used-2022-bmw-m4-base-rwd-2dr-car-wbs53az07nch75502/

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

When we travel they give us EZ passes gas cards and sometimes transport plates. Occasionally some old fella will lose one or more items causing much blue language on the part of the boss. They tell me that the transport plates are worth $10k so that’s a big deal.

————————————————-

From what you’ve told us, that’s a lot of hours pay lost. No wonder the poor guy just quits, buys a package of razor blades or signs up for the witness protection program.

jmonroe

Nah, nobody gets fired for that although personally, if I screwed up that bad I’d probably quit in shame. Some of these guys have done much more than $10k in damage.

au1994

breld said:

Not saying it’s a good deal or anything, but this Aventurin Red M4 with that cognac interior is BEAUTIFUL!

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/used-2022-bmw-m4-base-rwd-2dr-car-wbs53az07nch75502/

Wouldn’t kick that out of the garage

tommister2

@breld said:
Not saying it’s a good deal or anything, but this Aventurin Red M4 with that cognac interior is BEAUTIFUL!

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/used-2022-bmw-m4-base-rwd-2dr-car-wbs53az07nch75502/

That is pricey

mjfloyd1

breld said:

Not saying it’s a good deal or anything, but this Aventurin Red M4 with that cognac interior is BEAUTIFUL!

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/used-2022-bmw-m4-base-rwd-2dr-car-wbs53az07nch75502/

It would probably be fun for a couple months😂

jmonroe1

@tommister2 said:

@breld said:
Not saying it’s a good deal or anything, but this Aventurin Red M4 with that cognac interior is BEAUTIFUL!

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/used-2022-bmw-m4-base-rwd-2dr-car-wbs53az07nch75502/

That is pricey

———————————————
Yeah, even with his money.

jmonroe

stickguy

love the color combo. Love the number of pedals.

have heart palpitations at the price.

and looking outside at the snow and slop in the road, don't know what I would do with it. I don't mind having a sports car to hibernate through salt season, but that is overkill for that duty.

corvette

@stickguy - you have a 2WD truck, I'm sure you would manage.

stickguy

I had that on unplowed snow last year and got up a pretty steep hill. Not thinking a BMW coupe on performance tires is going to pull that off.

plus, I am having serious thoughts about not moving a car from the garage for the next 3 months because I am trying to keep either one from ever getting slushed up underneath. A losing battle I know. Unless I get a 3rd car for winter duty which ain't happening any time soon!

xwesx

stickguy said:

I would tell my wife that if she won't tell me in advance, I am having her stuffed and put out in the shed.

That's not exactly what I said (I'm too cheap for the taxidermy costs). More precisely, I said, "Okay, then I'm just going to stuff you in the shed."

xwesx

breld said:

Yeah - as obvious as it seemed that they were responsible for the malfunctioning door, I was 100% skeptical about them owning up to it.

The MB dealership spent 4 hours diagnosing and repairing it…$1,200.

Any explanation from them on why they did it in the first place? Seems like some pretty invasive surgery to not be disclosed to a buyer.

tifighter

@breld said:
Not saying it’s a good deal or anything, but this Aventurin Red M4 with that cognac interior is BEAUTIFUL!

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/used-2022-bmw-m4-base-rwd-2dr-car-wbs53az07nch75502/

If that isn’t worth a test drive, then I don’t know what is.

tifighter

@tommister2 said:

@breld said:
Not saying it’s a good deal or anything, but this Aventurin Red M4 with that cognac interior is BEAUTIFUL!

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/used-2022-bmw-m4-base-rwd-2dr-car-wbs53az07nch75502/

That is pricey

I understand the reaction. But when I see multiple local listings for something like a 2014 991.1 PDK with 30-40k miles at $79K, this starts to look like a value. Especially in that color combo.

tommister2

My limit for a vehicle is $55-60k. I’m not commenting specifically on that vehicle’s value, I’m simply not prepared to pay 80k for any of them. Gonna take me some time to get there.

stickguy

I still haven’t been willing to go above $40k. And probably never will at this point.

sda

I have purchased several vehicles whose MSRP has been $40-$50k. The Q5 was right at $50k. But these were not new, generally 2 yrs old with low mileage. The most I’ve paid was $26.5k which was for the Q5 less any money down. I am in sticker shock when I see 3 year old cars which should be in the high teens lower 20s going for 30 or more.

laurasdada

I told my first wife that I would not pay more than 50% of my annual salary for a car. Kept my word for cars I bought for myself.
Of course, that offer expired with the divorce. But, I'm still too frugal; I continue to watch the cars I've been test-driving sell...eventually.

kyfdx

Now that you can actually earn real money on cash, it makes it harder to part with.

stickguy

sda said:

I have purchased several vehicles whose MSRP has been $40-$50k. The Q5 was right at $50k. But these were not new, generally 2 yrs old with low mileage. The most I’ve paid was $26.5k which was for the Q5 less any money down. I am in sticker shock when I see 3 year old cars which should be in the high teens lower 20s going for 30 or more.

the RDX was actually stickered at $44k+. but I negotiated it down to just under $40k (back when you could still do that kind of thing!) and the trade in value on the 2013 RDX was much higher than expected, so I really only paid $23k for it (at least in my mind I did!)

nyccarguy

As far as MSRP goes, the Wrangler is by far and away the most expensive vehicle I've ever "purchased." Our Highlander is the most expensive vehicle that I've financed traditionally and "own."

roadburner

breld said:

Not saying it’s a good deal or anything, but this Aventurin Red M4 with that cognac interior is BEAUTIFUL!

https://www.schompbmw.com/inventory/used-2022-bmw-m4-base-rwd-2dr-car-wbs53az07nch75502/

I still can't get past the front fascia...

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

As far as MSRP goes, the Wrangler is by far and away the most expensive vehicle I've ever "purchased." Our Highlander is the most expensive vehicle that I've financed traditionally and "own."

Until the 2 Series, the most I've paid-new or used-was $28k. I'm trying to stay under $60k for my next purchase.