Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

corvette

I'll spare you quoting the image again, but I have that same yellow Cen-Tech digital battery analyzer from Harbor Freight and have been happy with it over the years.

@mjfloyd1 - don't take up farming, you can't crop!

Michaell

We pay personal property tax with our cars in Colorado, too. Sliding scale that starts at 2.1% of 85% of the base MSRP in year one.

(on a $50K base MSRP, that works out to $892.50).

Then, the registration costs are on top of that.

But, if you itemize your taxes, you can claim that amount.

breld

Michaell said:

We pay personal property tax with our cars in Colorado, too. Sliding scale that starts at 2.1% of 85% of the base MSRP in year one.

(on a $50K base MSRP, that works out to $892.50).

Then, the registration costs are on top of that.

But, if you itemize your taxes, you can claim that amount.

My wife went to register both the Mach E and the new JCW this morning. I'm sure that was a big check.

explorerx4

CT has annual property tax on vehicles, too.
Tax year 2021, I paid $611 for my Explorer.
You can deduct the tax if you itemize, as long as you are under the 10K deduction limit.

kyfdx

explorerx4 said:

CT has annual property tax on vehicles, too.
Tax year 2021, I paid $611 for my Explorer.
You can deduct the tax if you itemize, as long as you are under the 10K deduction limit.

You have to have a pretty big mortgage, or give away a lot of money to itemize, any more.

explorerx4

The property tax on our house in CT was over 10k.
A couple of weeks go, someone from the city came around to walk our property.
They said we would get a bill in about a year. So far, we've only had to pay taxes on the lot.

Michaell

Lot of talk here in Colorado about property tax rates. A few years ago, the state amended the constitution to increase split of taxes for residential property vs. commercial property. Now, with housing prices having gone up 30-50% in the past couple of years (before the recent pullback), the state wants to come up with a way to not overburdent property owners.

We'll see what the legislature comes up with.

nyccarguy

@explorerx4 said:
CT has annual property tax on vehicles, too.
Tax year 2021, I paid $611 for my Explorer.
You can deduct the tax if you itemize, as long as you are under the 10K deduction limit.

Property taxes alone on my house are over $10K.

venture

roadburner said:

venture said:

roadburner said:

Love him or hate him, I think Peter M. DeLorenzo's analysis of BMW's brand image is spot on:

"BMW is just another car company cranking out SUVs and crossovers because, well, that’s what it is now and that’s what this business has become. Fold-in the brand’s constantly increasing prices, and you have a giant Wiener schnitzel of Not Good. Do any of these parameters change with BMW’s aggressive push into electrification? No, because all of the aforementioned negatives are not only present and accounted for when electrified, they’re exacerbated. BMW’s brand image is boneless, lost in a choking haze of profitability over integrity, and there’s no point wishing that somehow this will change."

"profitability over integrity".

True for many (most) businesses now, unfortunately. I still don't subscribe to the Greed is Good following. Almost everything that has gone wrong, over time, can be traced back to greed.

I also think that this Car and Driver quote from the October 2017 is prescient with respect to BMW in general.

"The M550i was an excellent opportunity to create a wingman to the M5, a driver-focused lesser model in the spirit of the Mercedes-AMG E43. The M550i isn’t that. It’s a very fast 5-series with an M badge rather than something that BMW’s longer-serving fans would recognize as a real M car."

I stopped at my dealers today. They have a Marina Bay Blue Metallic M5 Competition xDrive in the showroom. It's sweet. It's also $121,530.

I also saw a 4 series before I could turn away. It made my eyes bleed a little.

henryn

Michaell said:

We pay personal property tax with our cars in Colorado, too. Sliding scale that starts at 2.1% of 85% of the base MSRP in year one.

(on a $50K base MSRP, that works out to $892.50).

Then, the registration costs are on top of that.

But, if you itemize your taxes, you can claim that amount.

Does that also apply to a leased vehicle? If it doesn't, that would be a big incentive to lease, at least in Colorado.

ab348

Edmunds review of the new Accord was less than glowing despite their attempts near the end to say "Well, it wasn't THAT bad..."

https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/first-drive-2023-honda-accord.html

breld

henryn said:

Michaell said:

We pay personal property tax with our cars in Colorado, too. Sliding scale that starts at 2.1% of 85% of the base MSRP in year one.

(on a $50K base MSRP, that works out to $892.50).

Then, the registration costs are on top of that.

But, if you itemize your taxes, you can claim that amount.

Does that also apply to a leased vehicle? If it doesn't, that would be a big incentive to lease, at least in Colorado.

No exemption for a leased vehicle.

mjfloyd1

@corvette said:
I'll spare you quoting the image again, but I have that same yellow Cen-Tech digital battery analyzer from Harbor Freight and have been happy with it over the years.

@mjfloyd1 - don't take up farming, you can't crop!

Clearly, I’m a share cropper

roadburner

venture said:

roadburner said:

venture said:

roadburner said:

Love him or hate him, I think Peter M. DeLorenzo's analysis of BMW's brand image is spot on:

"BMW is just another car company cranking out SUVs and crossovers because, well, that’s what it is now and that’s what this business has become. Fold-in the brand’s constantly increasing prices, and you have a giant Wiener schnitzel of Not Good. Do any of these parameters change with BMW’s aggressive push into electrification? No, because all of the aforementioned negatives are not only present and accounted for when electrified, they’re exacerbated. BMW’s brand image is boneless, lost in a choking haze of profitability over integrity, and there’s no point wishing that somehow this will change."

"profitability over integrity".

True for many (most) businesses now, unfortunately. I still don't subscribe to the Greed is Good following. Almost everything that has gone wrong, over time, can be traced back to greed.

I also think that this Car and Driver quote from the October 2017 is prescient with respect to BMW in general.

"The M550i was an excellent opportunity to create a wingman to the M5, a driver-focused lesser model in the spirit of the Mercedes-AMG E43. The M550i isn’t that. It’s a very fast 5-series with an M badge rather than something that BMW’s longer-serving fans would recognize as a real M car."

I stopped at my dealers today. They have a Marina Bay Blue Metallic M5 Competition xDrive in the showroom. It's sweet. It's also $121,530.

I also saw a 4 series before I could turn away. It made my eyes bleed a little.

The M5 Comp is one new BMW I would actually enjoy owning.

oldfarmer50

Michaell said:

We pay personal property tax with our cars in Colorado, too. Sliding scale that starts at 2.1% of 85% of the base MSRP in year one.

(on a $50K base MSRP, that works out to $892.50).

Then, the registration costs are on top of that.

But, if you itemize your taxes, you can claim that amount.

Why do they hate car owners?

corvette

Surprised to see Honda get rid of the 2.0 turbo engine in the Accord. Yes, the "take rate" on such options is low, but it's kind of like having a very low-volume halo car in the lineup--its existence gets people in the door to buy something else, or in this case, a different trim without the big turbo engine.

oldfarmer50

Say, how are the EV owners doing in areas where ice storms have knocked out the power? Some places I hear are out for at least a week. Do they head for areas with power hoping to get there before their car dies or just hunker down and wait it out?

explorerx4

@nyccarguy,
I looked up the latest numbers on my old house, Reval as of Oct 1 2022. Taxes 13.3K.
For Tax Year 2022, the Explorer was $840 despite being a year older.
The prior $611 was for a partial year.
91 Mustang is still about $54.

jmonroe1

kyfdx said:

explorerx4 said:

CT has annual property tax on vehicles, too.
Tax year 2021, I paid $611 for my Explorer.
You can deduct the tax if you itemize, as long as you are under the 10K deduction limit.

You have to have a pretty big mortgage, or give away a lot of money to itemize, any more.

————————————————
I’ve found a way around that.

jmonroe

kyfdx

oldfarmer50 said:

Say, how are the EV owners doing in areas where ice storms have knocked out the power? Some places I hear are out for at least a week. Do they head for areas with power hoping to get there before their car dies or just hunker down and wait it out?

What do you drive, when one of your cars is in the shop?

Michaell

corvette said:

Surprised to see Honda get rid of the 2.0 turbo engine in the Accord. Yes, the "take rate" on such options is low, but it's kind of like having a very low-volume halo car in the lineup--its existence gets people in the door to buy something else, or in this case, a different trim without the big turbo engine.

Provides differentiation to the TLX, is my guess.

explorerx4

oldfarmer50 has a backup and another backup and another backup...

mjfloyd1

@kyfdx said:
What do you drive, when one of your cars is in the shop?

Maybe solar power or generator or…???

qbrozen

nyccarguy said:

Property taxes alone on my house are over $10K.

lucky!!

kyfdx

Once again, we have the hypothetical electric car owner with no friends or resources, other than his single electric car, parked on the street at his apartment building, with no access to electric anywhere within 30 miles.

What will he do?

cdnpinhead

It'll be interesting to see how this electric car thing plays out over the next 5 -10 years. People in the city with a charger in the garage will certainly have a different point of view to a young single person with only one car who lives in an apartment building.

explorerx4

Bring A Trailer Says $87,000 VW GTI Auction Wasn’t Money Laundering.

ab348

I can already see the news stories on TV about fights and dastardly deeds occurring in large apartment blocks with insufficient charger numbers.

venture

cdnpinhead said:

It'll be interesting to see how this electric car thing plays out over the next 5 -10 years. People in the city with a charger in the garage will certainly have a different point of view to a young single person with only one car who lives in an apartment building.

I recently read about how fully charging an EV will eventually be the same price as using gasoline in a normal car. The way electricity costs seem to be going that may not be so far-fetched.

I wish I could remember where I saw that. I did no research.

henryn

I paid $480 in property taxes this year. One reason why I will never move, even though the 2 AirBnB's across the street are driving me crazy.

Michaell

@nyccarguy - I did not know this

stickguy

that seems like a totally outdated rule that congress should happily repeal without any fuss.

Man, sometimes I really crack myself up!

tjc78

@henryn said:
I paid $480 in property taxes this year. One reason why I will never move, even though the 2 AirBnB's across the street are driving me crazy.

21K between the two homes and only get to deduct 10k of it. Sad.

tjc78

Got the XC serviced today.

Oil and filter, top off and check everything. New cabin filter and new front rotors.

Grand total $0

Can’t beat that.

laurasdada

mjfloyd1 said:

Anyone know of a Porsche VIN decoder? Asking for a friend😂

https://vinanalytics.com/

Answering for a friend.

rny421

tjc78 said:

@henryn said:

I paid $480 in property taxes this year. One reason why I will never move, even though the 2 AirBnB's across the street are driving me crazy.

21K between the two homes and only get to deduct 10k of it. Sad.

We're at $13.5K/yr for a ~$400K house. So after a typical 30 year mortgage, you've paid as much as the house is worth in property taxes. Womp.

At least power in Upstate NY is cheap? $.12/kWh makes my e-tron cheap to run.

Speaking of cars, I got lost in some forums recently, and started getting spooked about our GLC300. We've got about 65k miles on it. Supposedly Mercedes has had issues with pistons cracking in their 4-cylinder engine, which requires a full engine replacement. We have the extended warranty until next February, but I'm thinking of getting rid of it before it expires.

Anyone heard of this issue?

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

oldfarmer50 has a backup and another backup and another backup...

With two in storage and one in the shop I was getting short today. If the power was out and an EV was my only backup I would be worried.

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

I can already see the news stories on TV about fights and dastardly deeds occurring in large apartment blocks with insufficient charger numbers.

https://youtu.be/cTch8C9u-8E

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

Got the XC serviced today.

Oil and filter, top off and check everything. New cabin filter and new front rotors.

Grand total $0

Can’t beat that.

I didn't know it was legal in New Jersey to hold a gun to the head of mechanics.

jmonroe

tifighter

@breld said:
I’ve taken two test drives in the iX and came away impressed with the drive as well. It remains on the list for my next EV, along with the Rivian R1S and Polestar 3. I like the size of the iX and its wagon-like profile. I don’t know if anyone actually likes the grill, but it’s one of those where the right color helps.

I’ve been keeping a casual eye on the used market of the iX. I suspect it will be a vehicle that some buyers are excited to get as the newest BMW, but if it’s their first EV, they may find themselves retreating back to a good old X5 or X7. Small sample, but nationwide, there are plenty of used iX’s in the $80k’s and even one that broke into the $70k’s. The used market seems to be normalizing again, where high-end luxury vehicles take the biggest hits.

The R1S is probably more than I want as my daily EV. The Polestar 3 is likely the sweet spot…better styling than the BMW but still with a wagon-like profile.

Or…I may still go the Ioniq 5 route.

My R1S delivery is currently scheduled for Q4 2023 now. I figured the iX was worth a drive for, ahem, research purposes. There’s a lot to like, but I was sorta disappointed with the limited cargo space. As a skier and all.

And at this rate, my Cybertruck order might deliver first.

mlevine

tjc78

I would talk to your service advisor at MB dealership. They should start seeing issues as described for your GLC. My service advisor is very good and told me the MB C250 2014 has engine problems related to turbo as miles get up there. I also use an independent mechanic who also gives me the scoop on older MB vehicles as which ones to stay away from due to problems.

tjc78

@jmonroe1 said:
I didn't know it was legal in New Jersey to hold a gun to the head of mechanics.

jmonroe

Lol. I thought they may have given me trouble about the brake rotors but they just did it when I complained of pulsation when braking.

At first they said they couldn’t duplicate the problem, but didn’t take the car up to highway speeds.

ab348

rny421 said:

At least power in Upstate NY is cheap? $.12/kWh makes my e-tron cheap to run.

Heh. Converted to worthless Canadian dollars, that rate is almost identical to what we pay in Nova Scotia. But here, the locals on social media, or in comments on stories on news sites, are absolutely savage in their hatred of the electrical utility and false claims about "highest power rates in Canada" are legion (although it is not even close to that). Does your electrical utility suffer the same fate?

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

rny421 said:

At least power in Upstate NY is cheap? $.12/kWh makes my e-tron cheap to run.

Heh. Converted to worthless Canadian dollars, that rate is almost identical to what we pay in Nova Scotia. But here, the locals on social media, or in comments on stories on news sites, are absolutely savage in their hatred of the electrical utility and false claims about "highest power rates in Canada" are legion (although it is not even close to that). Does your electrical utility suffer the same fate?

I don’t know where in NY rny421 lives but when I decipher my complicated bill (power and delivery are calculated separately) I get something like .24 per kWh. in the Albany area.

BTW, NY just signed a deal with Hydro Quebec for a bunch of your power to send down to NYC. We won’t get any upstate though since we’re just pass through country.

corvette

We're at around $0.10 per kWh here. My A/C unit died a few years ago, and I kind of regret not going with a heat pump to make my system "dual fuel" since I have a gas furnace.

kyfdx

corvette said:

We're at around $0.10 per kWh here. My A/C unit died a few years ago, and I kind of regret not going with a heat pump to make my system "dual fuel" since I have a gas furnace.

My coil and A/C went out... I looked into a heat pump, to pair with the new gas furnace, but just couldn't justify the cost. (in 2016)

jmonroe1

@tjc78 said:

@jmonroe1 said:
I didn't know it was legal in New Jersey to hold a gun to the head of mechanics.

jmonroe

Lol. I thought they may have given me trouble about the brake rotors but they just did it when I complained of pulsation when braking.

At first they said they couldn’t duplicate the problem, but didn’t take the car up to highway speeds.

————————————————
Years ago I remember talking to a SA who said an owner complained about a shimmy only at highway speeds. The shop couldn’t duplicate the problem. So they called the guy to come get his car. The customer asked what speed they took the car to when they tested it. The SA said they took the car up to about 85 MPH. The guy told him the shimmy only happens when he goes over 90 MPH. The SA told the guy to come get his car because they weren’t going to allow their mechanic to take the car over 85 MPH because that would be too dangerous. The owner told him that’s what my tire shop told me, that’s why I came to you. The SA’s response to that was, “then it must be true”.

I didn’t know it at the time I heard this story but that might have been a relative of @roadburner’s.

jmonroe

corvette

My uncle had a 1994-ish Camaro Z28 and took it to the dealer with a driveline vibration "around three digit speeds." First dealer said they couldn't test the car at those speeds. Second dealer looked up a TSB that had been issued due to batch of bad driveshafts and replaced the driveshaft.

tifighter

Some days, this color really pops.

stickguy

I love that color. if my hybrid Maverick ever arrives, it will be similar to that (a little darker though).