Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

mjfloyd1

@kyfdx said:
You've already had one of those, right?

Yes but mine was a 2016. - old body style

jmonroe1

mjfloyd1 said:

@kyfdx said:

You've already had one of those, right?

Yes but mine was a 2016. - old body style

——————————————————This one has low miles but it does look like a newly poured cement patio.

jmonroe

carnaught

I agree with the above comments on stop/start functions on certain cars. It was very intrusive on my later model Mercedes’, yet is barely perceptible on the Elantra and CR-V.

imidazol97

I believe the Malibu starts the car when the main battery voltage hits 12.2 volts. The battery is operating a transmission pump, a coolant pump, and the HVAC interior fan along with interior lights.
The small trunk battery is only connected during the actual engine cranking and it supplies power to the
car while the main battery is cranking, a short period of time.

Sandman6472

Since our vehicles are from the last decade, the 2020 doesn't have this feature, we don't need to worry about this stuff. But in my rentals, annoying!
Petrol is still a bit hard to find in South Florida since our torrential rain storm last week. More stations are getting in shipments but BJ's had none left last night when the girls took the Audi there. I was there Monday at 6:15 am and there was already a small line behind me. Folks are going nuts!! In Palm Beach County, took us going to five stations to finally fill up & my lead was not amuzed. This to shall pass but annoying that folks are acting like such idiots!

As an update from a few hours ago, both stations near our house have no petrol, only bags over the pumps. Reminds me of the aftermath of a major storm when petrol is in short supply. Right now, it's just a supply issue as the port has plenty of petrol and trucks to take it out. Just that all that rain water has not gone away yet, 8 days after the storm came through. I just got home from the dentist and notice my gas gauge hasn't moved yet since filling it up Monday morning. But I've maybe driven 40 miles since then so not surprised with the lack of any movement. By the time I get home tomorrow night, I'll have driven almost 8 more miles and suspect the gauge will show some movement. The amount of miles I usually drive each week makes me think that an EV vehicle would be perfect for my driving style. If I do 70 miles/week, I'm lucky though it tends to stay around the 55 point. Everything I do is so close to the house so my usage energy wise is quite small.

mjfloyd1

@jmonroe1 said:
——————————————————This one has low miles but it does look like a newly poured cement patio.

jmonroe

Looks like it needs new tires and has really bad curb rash on drivers front wheel

xwesx

I'm happy to say that I've never owned a car with the start/stop feature. I've had a rental or two with it, and it was definitely unsettling, but I think I got the hang of it before I turned the car in (so, within a few days).

I'm driving the 2013 Forester again, and I suspended the insurance on the Q7 for the time being just to save a few bucks. It seems like the car (Forester) isn't running quite right - especially with startup - so I need to delve a little more. I think maybe I just need to put new spark plugs in it, as it has 114,000 (and change ) on the odometer now, and, as far as I know, still has the originals. I'm debating whether I should put new "wires" on it at the same time, which normally I would do, but apparently this car (FB25 engine) has one of these new-fangled ignition systems where each spark plug has a separate coil instead of a common distribution coil. So, "wires" are like $300 instead of $30!

stickguy

I assume by wires you mean the coil packs? I did not think they are that much, but checked rockauto. Looks like $45-$80 range so you are correct. and of course super easy to swap since you have to take them out anyway to get at the plugs! No real reason to change them I guess unless one failed or they look to be on the edge of it.

xwesx

stickguy said:

I assume by wires you mean the coil packs? I did not think they are that much, but checked rockauto. Looks like $45-$80 range so you are correct. and of course super easy to swap since you have to take them out anyway to get at the plugs! No real reason to change them I guess unless one failed or they look to be on the edge of it.

Right - they are individual coils for each of the plugs instead of a single pack that has the traditional spark plug wire traveling from there to the plug. I don't have any prior experience with these. Some recommendations say about 100,000 miles, others say when one fails, change them all, etc.

jmonroe1

@xwesx said:
Right - they are individual coils for each of the plugs instead of a single pack that has the traditional spark plug wire traveling from there to the plug. I don't have any prior experience with these. Some recommendations say about 100,000 miles, others say when one fails, change them all, etc.

————————————————
I’d buy both the plugs and the coil packs but I’d change the plugs first. That way you’ll know if the symptoms you have are do to the plugs.

Me, when I do something I like to do it in steps just to prove things to myself. The next to last thing a shade tree guy wants to do is throw parts at something all at once. The last thing would be being accused of having gained his knowledge while working at a dealership.

jmonroe

stickguy

yes, coil packs can fail at any time, individually. You can just change one as needed but generally (think of smoke detectors that are old) when one goes, the rest are probably not far behind, so might as well do them all while you have them out.''

unless you have a car where they are buried deep (under the intake say) they are obscenely easy to replace. Usually one bolt holding the down, a snap in connector, and they pop right out. Should be easy on a Sube. Actually, just as easy as getting to the plugs!

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

Since our vehicles are from the last decade, the 2020 doesn't have this feature, we don't need to worry about this stuff. But in my rentals, annoying!
Petrol is still a bit hard to find in South Florida since our torrential rain storm last week. More stations are getting in shipments but BJ's had none left last night when the girls took the Audi there. I was there Monday at 6:15 am and there was already a small line behind me. Folks are going nuts!! In Palm Beach County, took us going to five stations to finally fill up & my lead was not amuzed. This to shall pass but annoying that folks are acting like such idiots!

As an update from a few hours ago, both stations near our house have no petrol, only bags over the pumps. Reminds me of the aftermath of a major storm when petrol is in short supply. Right now, it's just a supply issue as the port has plenty of petrol and trucks to take it out. Just that all that rain water has not gone away yet, 8 days after the storm came through. I just got home from the dentist and notice my gas gauge hasn't moved yet since filling it up Monday morning. But I've maybe driven 40 miles since then so not surprised with the lack of any movement. By the time I get home tomorrow night, I'll have driven almost 8 more miles and suspect the gauge will show some movement. The amount of miles I usually drive each week makes me think that an EV vehicle would be perfect for my driving style. If I do 70 miles/week, I'm lucky though it tends to stay around the 55 point. Everything I do is so close to the house so my usage energy wise is quite small.

Can’t you fuel up at your base of operations? At ours we have a 10,000 gallon tank to fill all the rentals.

As to the EV, what would happen if it gets caught in a flood like this one?

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

yes, coil packs can fail at any time, individually. You can just change one as needed but generally (think of smoke detectors that are old) when one goes, the rest are probably not far behind, so might as well do them all while you have them out.''

unless you have a car where they are buried deep (under the intake say) they are obscenely easy to replace. Usually one bolt holding the down, a snap in connector, and they pop right out. Should be easy on a Sube. Actually, just as easy as getting to the plugs!

Might be a good idea to do a quick scan for misfires and then swap coils to see if the misfire moves to a different cylinder. It might save you some $$$$$ if you only have to replace 1 instead of them all.

Sandman6472

They won't let the chase vans fill up at PBI if you can believe that...makes zero sense! We have to be on the road t move vehicles to branches, the ones to be reconditioned & the ones to their new owners when they sell. Sounds ludicrous to me to but that's what we're working with. The farther up north in Palm Beach County, the better things are. But also with the temp shortage, they raised the price per gallon which is just adding on to the crap we're dealing with! Seems a bit unfair to raise the prices when supply chains are restricted!!!

kyfdx

Subaru does everything possible to increase the costs of maintenance and repairs. It starts with the boxer engine design. It's ridiculous.

nyccarguy

kyfdx said:

Subaru does everything possible to increase the costs of maintenance and repairs. It starts with the boxer engine design. It's ridiculous.

I swear I saw a video where it shows replacing the spark plugs on a BRZ is an engine out service.

kyfdx

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

Subaru does everything possible to increase the costs of maintenance and repairs. It starts with the boxer engine design. It's ridiculous.

I swear I saw a video where it shows replacing the spark plugs on a BRZ is an engine out service.

4 O2 sensors on a 4-cylinder Impreza. Two for each bank, and each one is ridiculously expensive. Plus, the "re-learning" protocol after parts are replaced is nuts. My son bought a 2012 Forester in 2020, then traded it on his wife's Mazda CX-30. Unfortunately, he then "inherited" her 2014 Impreza, so still stuck with expensive repairs/maintenance.

Oh, also, the Subaru requires synthetic, so even oil changes are over $100. Some economy car..

corvette

And I think Subaru is currently using a 6 month/6,000 mile maintenance schedule... I would expect a modern synthetic oil to be good for double that, unless those engines are particularly hard on oil.

sda

Given the past history of VW/Audi 2.0t engines having timing chain and oil consumption issues as the engines age I am being cautious and am changing the oil/filter every 5k/6mo or there abouts. The interval called for is 1 yr or 10k. VW/Audi spec synthetic, dealer serviced. Hopefully that pays off in the long run.

explorerx4

This guy covers various Subie engine issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdCGKLNSodk

laurasdada

As to the EV, what would happen if it gets caught in a flood like this one?

Bad things.

oldfarmer50

corvette said:

And I think Subaru is currently using a 6 month/6,000 mile maintenance schedule... I would expect a modern synthetic oil to be good for double that, unless those engines are particularly hard on oil.

Better than Kia where they dropped the OCI from 7,000 to 3,750 without telling you if that was for conventional or synthetic. Changing synthetic at 3,750 is just nuts by my reasoning.

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

This guy covers various Subie engine issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdCGKLNSodk

I saw that this morning. At least they fixed the head gasket problem.

stickguy

carvana still has my old Maverick. Just dropped another $500. Now only $2k more than they paid me for it!

also have been selling a fair number of Lariats lately and inventory is about 20% below the recent high. Wondering if they cut back on buying them because they had too many?

stickguy

oldfarmer50 said:

explorerx4 said:

This guy covers various Subie engine issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdCGKLNSodk

I saw that this morning. At least they fixed the head gasket problem.

seems like every brand has issues as they age now. Engines are just too complicated and high strung with DI, adjustable everything, etc. And super sensitive to maintenance. Which given how many makers have very long intervals for oil and "lifetime" other stuff is already risky, and many owners blow right on past that. and wonder why they fail

even the Subaru guy says repeatedly that you can extend the lifespan considerably by staying on top of maintenance. But that includes stuff that Subaru never puts in the schedule (such as replacing the PCV valve every 3 years).

he does also mention that even the head gaskets on the older engines should go 120K+ before wearing out even with just routine maintenance. For those of us who probably do service early, and only put about 60K miles on in 10 years, likely never going to run into the problem anyway!

ronsteve

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

explorerx4 said:

This guy covers various Subie engine issues.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdCGKLNSodk

I saw that this morning. At least they fixed the head gasket problem.

seems like every brand has issues as they age now. Engines are just too complicated and high strung with DI, adjustable everything, etc. And super sensitive to maintenance. Which given how many makers have very long intervals for oil and "lifetime" other stuff is already risky, and many owners blow right on past that. and wonder why they fail

even the Subaru guy says repeatedly that you can extend the lifespan considerably by staying on top of maintenance. But that includes stuff that Subaru never puts in the schedule (such as replacing the PCV valve every 3 years).

he does also mention that even the head gaskets on the older engines should go 120K+ before wearing out even with just routine maintenance. For those of us who probably do service early, and only put about 60K miles on in 10 years, likely never going to run into the problem anyway!

The over-engineered PCV on Volvo turbos... spool valve on Honda V6s... are both on the order of $1000 repairs. So where does the Subie PCV fall on the pricey scale for those unpublished "maintenance" items?

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

carvana still has my old Maverick. Just dropped another $500. Now only $2k more than they paid me for it!

also have been selling a fair number of Lariats lately and inventory is about 20% below the recent high. Wondering if they cut back on buying them because they had too many?

Carvana just sent me a new offer on the Mustang which is down about $5200 from the original one I got in June of 2021. Interestingly, it’s about the same as one I got from early 2020. So it seems they are still paying a premium.

tjc78

I got the same thing from them about my S60. Huge 5 figure hit from when I quoted it

stickguy

They just sent me an offer on the 2013 RDX I sold in May 2020. Down only $4,000 but they assumed I put 0 miles on it since then!

explorerx4

Got an unsolicited updated quote for my Lincoln, which I sold over a year and a half ago.
Same assumption, no additional miles.

benjaminh

Compared to what things were even six months ago, this is an okay deal. Not that I want it. I feel my 2018 TLX is a much better car for me, with a better engine and transmission, better rear visibility, etc.

Michaell

Email from Carvana on the Outback - $19K and change, which I think is up from the last update I got from them some months back.

I went and looked at some used Passats yesterday at a dealer not far from my house - "Auto Mart", which is kind of a CarMax wanna-be (and, is in fact next door to the CarMax here in town).

2022 Passat R-Line with only 22,000 miles on it. Grey over black. Nice car, but I noticed the left rear tire was a different brand than the other three. Not confidence inspiring, for sure.

benjaminh

Leases of EVs now qualify for the tax credit iirc, which makes this an okay deal as well....

Michaell

benjaminh said:

Leases of EVs now qualify for the tax credit iirc, which makes this an okay deal as well....

If you amortize the down payment over the lease term, that lease becomes $525/mo.

Still not bad, all things considered, given the state of the lease market at the moment.

qbrozen

With the extra NJ money and $0 tax on EVs, a lease in NJ is a great deal on a base 3. I just have zero desire to have one.

breld

Can’t tell…is Tesla passing on the $7,500 on a lease?

Keep in mind, leases themselves don’t entitle you to the $7,500 credit…the current rules allow for a commercial owner (the leasing bank) to qualify with much less restrictions, and it’s up to them whether they pass that credit along as a rebate on the lease.

breld

Model Y pricing recently was decreased to $49,990 for the long range, $53,990 for the Performance. Mere months ago they were around $70k.

At those prices, it’s a very compelling EV compared to any other competition.

benjaminh

The least expensive model Y is now $48,600 with destination, which means about 41k after the 7500 federal rebate.

An AWD CR-V Hybrid has a list price of about $35k—and so a 6K difference.

Fuel savings with the Model Y should be about $800 a year, which still means about 7 years to pay off that difference.

Performance is obviously better with the Model Y.

But the range of the CR-V hybrid is c. 520 miles vs. c. 280 miles with the base Tesla Model Y.

kyfdx

Man.. talk about apples to oranges...

ab348

Because I’m in Canada I haven’t paid much attention to the details of the $7500 US EV rebate. But I thought there was some production threshold where it went away for a manufacturer after selling X-number of units. Is that no longer true?

Michaell

ab348 said:

Because I’m in Canada I haven’t paid much attention to the details of the $7500 US EV rebate. But I thought there was some production threshold where it went away for a manufacturer after selling X-number of units. Is that no longer true?

There used to be a cap where once 200,000 vehicles were made, the manufacturer no longer qualified for the credit. With the new regulations that went into effect last year, that has gone away, but replaced by both an income limit and an MSRP cap on the vehicles ($55K for cars, $80K for SUVs and trucks)

stickguy

benjaminh said:

Compared to what things were even six months ago, this is an okay deal. Not that I want it. I feel my 2018 TLX is a much better car for me, with a better engine and transmission, better rear visibility, etc.

It made sense at the time and worked out from a practical standpoint (the truck came in really handy with our relocation) but I do regret not keeping and buying out my TLX. That car was one to keep long term. Great car, and I do like it better than the current one (and really prefer the old drivetrain).

sda

I really like the color of this A6. It is easy to see the common styling language between my silver VW Passat and the Audi.

benjaminh

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a43657072/evs-fall-short-epa-estimates-sae-article/

"On Car and Driver's 75-mph highway test, more than 350 internal-combustion vehicles averaged 4.0 percent better fuel economy than what was stated on their labels. But the average range for an EV was 12.5 percent worse than the price sticker numbers.

One reason the paper suggests for why EVs fail to match expectations is how the range is calculated. While separate city and highway range figures are computed behind closed doors, only a combined number is presented to consumers. The combined rating is weighted 55 percent in favor of the city figure, where EVs typically perform better. This inflates the range estimates, making it harder to match in real-world highway driving. The paper proposes publishing both city and highway range figures—as with fuel-economy estimates for gas-powered vehicles—to give shoppers a more holistic sense of a vehicle's abilities."

tjc78

@Michaell said:
If you amortize the down payment over the lease term, that lease becomes $525/mo.

Still not bad, all things considered, given the state of the lease market at the moment.

Interesting…. As much as I don’t want a Tesla (for reasons I won’t go into)… $525 for that isn’t all that bad.

Michaell

tjc78 said:

@Michaell said:

If you amortize the down payment over the lease term, that lease becomes $525/mo.

Still not bad, all things considered, given the state of the lease market at the moment.

Interesting…. As much as I don’t want a Tesla (for reasons I won’t go into)… $525 for that isn’t all that bad.

Agreed. I was playing around with some lease numbers last night and a Jetta SE isn't that far off the Tesla payment.

Sandman6472

Went to Lowe's first but they didn't have it so ended up at Home Depot, and of course, they had it! The rodent cover for our outside dryer vent finally blew off the house a couple weeks ago in a very windy two day period. Apparently the plastic around one of the screws came off after being up there in the hot western sun for over twenty something years, and I found the contraption on the ground. All we need to do is find someone to install the new cover over the outside dryer vent on the side of the house.
Seems like there's always something to do in a house. Now that tax season is over, can finally get my wife to commit to a new stove/oven for our kitchen. It's the only original appliance we've had since building the house back in 1987. Sure, the elements in the oven have been replaced and the self-cleaning part no longer works but it still works to bake and broil. Since we want to get an air fryer, have seen some units that have that feature in them. So hopefully within the next few weeks, we'll have our new stove/oven bought & installed.

roadburner

Found another nice JK- a Firecracker Red Sahara. Went to look at it this afternoon to find that it sold about an hour before we arrived. I'm hoping that the JK search mirrors the C43 search in that the ones that got away weren't nearly as nice as the one I wound up buying.

venture

Michaell said:

ab348 said:

Because I’m in Canada I haven’t paid much attention to the details of the $7500 US EV rebate. But I thought there was some production threshold where it went away for a manufacturer after selling X-number of units. Is that no longer true?

There used to be a cap where once 200,000 vehicles were made, the manufacturer no longer qualified for the credit. With the new regulations that went into effect last year, that has gone away, but replaced by both an income limit and an MSRP cap on the vehicles ($55K for cars, $80K for SUVs and trucks)

My Subaru dealer said there is a $7,500 rebate on a lease, but not on a buy. The Subaru web site appears to bear that out.

Is that normal?

EDIT: That's on a Solterra of course.

qbrozen

@breld said:
Can’t tell…is Tesla passing on the $7,500 on a lease?

Keep in mind, leases themselves don’t entitle you to the $7,500 credit…the current rules allow for a commercial owner (the leasing bank) to qualify with much less restrictions, and it’s up to them whether they pass that credit along as a rebate on the lease.

Yes, they are. Or… were? I think we may have passed the cutoff of mid April? I honestly haven’t paid full attention. Just use the calculator on their website and they’ll show what you qualify for.