Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

corvette

Went to British Bash today with the GF and another friend. No pics because I left my phone in the car, lol, but got to see lots of Jags, MGs, Triumphs, etc… most of which had KY or IN plates and appeared to have been driven in.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

I am relatively in the country and the main road outside our neighborhood still has some farms on it (for now). One house has a stand alone workshop/barn/garage (looks pretty new). 3 garage doors facing the road (short side of the rectangle. Middle door is RV height

Anyway, they have a 4 rent sign out by the road with 14x36 listed. So I assume one of the garage bays. About 1.5 miles from the house at most. If I had spare cars it would be tempting to find out what the setup and cost is!

Grab it in anticipation of getting a fun car that you store in the winter.

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

I am relatively in the country and the main road outside our neighborhood still has some farms on it (for now). One house has a stand alone workshop/barn/garage (looks pretty new). 3 garage doors facing the road (short side of the rectangle. Middle door is RV height

Anyway, they have a 4 rent sign out by the road with 14x36 listed. So I assume one of the garage bays. About 1.5 miles from the house at most. If I had spare cars it would be tempting to find out what the setup and cost is!

Grab it in anticipation of getting a fun car that you store in the winter.

————————————————
You should talk @stickguy into buying that fun car he’s been talking about forever. If you can let him keep it at your place for the Winter, which shouldn’t be too hard to do because he won’t want to drive it and get it all salted up. That way you’ll have a car to make all the donuts in the snow that you ever wanted to and he’d never even know it. Just disconnect the speedometer to make sure.

jmonroe

kyfdx

@pensfan83 Alas, no luck.

pensfan83

I usually have the entire garage to myself for the summer but this year there's an LTD Crown Vic parked there. Didn't get a picture of that one but it looks like this. My guess is an 85 or 86 since it had the 3rd brake light.

qbrozen

who knew mini coopers use special spark plugs with a special tool? Ridiculous.

Found more hacked wires on this thing. Replacing them still didn't help, though. Wanted to pull the plugs but, alas, now I gotta wait for the tool. sigh.

jmonroe1

@qbrozen said:
who knew mini coopers use special spark plugs with a special tool? Ridiculous.

Found more hacked wires on this thing. Replacing them still didn't help, though. Wanted to pull the plugs but, alas, now I gotta wait for the tool. sigh.

————————————————
I wonder if you have to use a thin wall spark plug socket like my son had to buy for use on his BMW X3 inline 6 cylinder engine. And not only that, the thin wall socket doesn’t have the standard hex flats, more like a female torx, if I remember it correctly.

Special tools for special cars.

jmonroe

ab348

Nobody tell Qb that because it’s a BMW the plugs need to be registered with the car computer before they will fire. 😮

Michaell

ab348 said:

Nobody tell Qb that because it’s a BMW the plugs need to be registered with the car computer before they will fire. 😮

You read my mind....

tjc78

I like the Pahero Mini > @qbrozen said:

who knew mini coopers use special spark plugs with a special tool? Ridiculous.

Found more hacked wires on this thing. Replacing them still didn't help, though. Wanted to pull the plugs but, alas, now I gotta wait for the tool. sigh.

Whenever I discover stuff like this I have to question why. It’s worked for dozen of years the old way.

roadburner

@qbrozen said:
who knew mini coopers use special spark plugs with a special tool? Ridiculous.

Found more hacked wires on this thing. Replacing them still didn't help, though. Wanted to pull the plugs but, alas, now I gotta wait for the tool. sigh.

I bought my plug tool from FCP Euro; it wasn’t expensive and it also works on BMWs with N and B motors.

roadburner

@tjc78 said:
I like the Pahero Mini > @qbrozen said:

who knew mini coopers use special spark plugs with a special tool? Ridiculous.

Found more hacked wires on this thing. Replacing them still didn't help, though. Wanted to pull the plugs but, alas, now I gotta wait for the tool. sigh.

Whenever I discover stuff like this I have to question why. It’s worked for dozen of years the old way.

I’d be much more upset if the tool was expensive and hard to obtain. I ordered mine at the same time I ordered the plugs.

qbrozen

roadburner said:

I bought my plug tool from FCP Euro; it wasn’t expensive and it also works on BMWs with N and B motors.

got it coming from amazon tomorrow. Was $13, I believe.

I may have been able to dig up a 12-point deep-well thin-walled socket, but not likely. I don't typically have 12-point sockets since they usually round off a tight nut/bolt.

stickguy

found a truck for Old Farmer, up at his Ford dealer. A unicorn, regular cab stippo model. Lowest equipped F150 I think I have run across. Basically an XL with a trailer hitch. MSRP a low, low $34k (about half what the nice ones run up to!) at that price might as well but new!

https://www.morrisford.com/api/legacy/pse/windowsticker/ford?vin=1FTMF1CB9NKF26156&dealerCode=03990&postalCode=12027&status=NEW&accountId=morrisfordfd

roadburner

qbrozen said:

roadburner said:

I bought my plug tool from FCP Euro; it wasn’t expensive and it also works on BMWs with N and B motors.

got it coming from amazon tomorrow. Was $13, I believe.

I may have been able to dig up a 12-point deep-well thin-walled socket, but not likely. I don't typically have 12-point sockets since they usually round off a tight nut/bolt.

Mine was $13 as well.

nyccarguy

My local ford dealer has 3 mavericks in stock. They are asking $3,500 over sticker

stickguy

a lot of dealers are asking a lot more than that.

jmonroe1

@stickguy said:
a lot of dealers are asking a lot more than that.

————————————————
I agree. $3,500 sounds like a bargain.

In December of 2021, Son #1 was considering a Telluride. He found one optioned the way he wanted it in Atlanta but that guy wanted around 18 grand over sticker. Scratched that off his list real quick.

jmonroe

Michaell

jmonroe1 said:

@stickguy said:

a lot of dealers are asking a lot more than that.

————————————————

I agree. $3,500 sounds like a bargain.

In December of 2021, Son #1 was considering a Telluride. He found one optioned the way he wanted it in Atlanta but that guy wanted around 18 grand over sticker. Scratched that off his list real quick.

jmonroe

The Telluride (and Palisade) are still selling over sticker - they are that popular.

jmonroe1

Michaell said:

jmonroe1 said:

@stickguy said:

a lot of dealers are asking a lot more than that.

————————————————

I agree. $3,500 sounds like a bargain.

In December of 2021, Son #1 was considering a Telluride. He found one optioned the way he wanted it in Atlanta but that guy wanted around 18 grand over sticker. Scratched that off his list real quick.

jmonroe

The Telluride (and Palisade) are still selling over sticker - they are that popular.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm sure they are but probably not 18 grand.

jmonroe

tjc78

@Michaell said:
The Telluride (and Palisade) are still selling over sticker - they are that popular.

Nice package for sure, but once you get over sticker there are other options from the luxury brands that are more appealing IMO.

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

a lot of dealers are asking a lot more than that.

How much over did you get for your 1st Maverick?

stickguy

Factor in the bed liner I put in, I think about $5,000 over sticker. Which also happened to be just about my OTD price.

Carvana seems to have lowered their asking prices a bit (still high though) and it is working. Just sold a couple this weekend and currently have 30! Lariats listed. 13 are in pending purchase status. So they are moving units.

breld

There’s a local dealer here in the Denver area that is selling their Tellurides for MSRP plus D&H (something like $699). Another one is doing the same for all but the the X-Pro and X-Line trims, for which they are adding something like a $2-3k markup. Palisades seem to be a tad less competitive, and are generally at MSRP (plus the obligatory D&H most dealers have).

The value does get tricky at the higher trim levels. Those Tellurides are running mid-$50k’s and Palisades aren’t far behind. I’d say competitive at those prices, but add on $2-3k markup and I think consumers are getting a little caught up in it without thinking through alternatives. An MDX Tech stickers at $58k, and we could have bought a nicely equipped QX60 for $57k last week. While those may not compete great against the German competition (or Genesis for that matter), they certainly offer a compelling option to the Hyundai/Kia twins.

tjc78

Maybe I’m biased but I’d take my XC90 over a Palisade/Telluride. Only negative I see is it’s a bit smaller.

@breld
You had one, agree or not? Curious on your thoughts

breld

I know it’s not all that exciting, but I’ll say we really enjoyed driving the GX around this past week. It’s hard to put your finger on it, but the “truck” has a lot of character, what with its V8, 6 speed trannie and the small-for-these-days 18” wheels (and resulting huge sidewall). It’s not quick by any means, but it sure is smooth.

stickguy

people IMO way under appreciate the advantage of nice meaty sidewalls. The maverick has 60 series so lots of rubber. Much less stressful (and more comfortable) on bombed out roads.

plus it (and the RDX with slightly wider 55 series rubber, so roughly the same sidewall height) but grip the road and handle well so not like I am wallowing around low speed corners!

I just watched a review on the new Subaru Imprezza RS (a very nice package and screaming good value) and they went with silly 225/40 rubber band tires (18" wheels I think). Too much stress driving needing to weave around every rough spot or divot! Would probably be better overall with 225/50 17s.

kyfdx

225/40-18 is what was on the BMW and now the GTI.

Those are big fat balloons, compared to the 235/35-19s on the Porsche. I can’t imagine the sports cars with 20s and 21s.

nyccarguy

breld said:

I know it’s not all that exciting, but I’ll say we really enjoyed driving the GX around this past week. It’s hard to put your finger on it, but the “truck” has a lot of character, what with its V8, 6 speed trannie and the small-for-these-days 18” wheels (and resulting huge sidewall). It’s not quick by any means, but it sure is smooth.

It is one of those vehicles that doesn't make sense on paper, but drive it and you "get it."

pensfan83

breld said:

I know it’s not all that exciting, but I’ll say we really enjoyed driving the GX around this past week. It’s hard to put your finger on it, but the “truck” has a lot of character, what with its V8, 6 speed trannie and the small-for-these-days 18” wheels (and resulting huge sidewall). It’s not quick by any means, but it sure is smooth.

We have family in Boston and one of their cars is a 2019 4 Runner Nightshade. I've driven it a few times when we've visited so I know what you mean.

nyccarguy

pensfan83 said:

breld said:

I know it’s not all that exciting, but I’ll say we really enjoyed driving the GX around this past week. It’s hard to put your finger on it, but the “truck” has a lot of character, what with its V8, 6 speed trannie and the small-for-these-days 18” wheels (and resulting huge sidewall). It’s not quick by any means, but it sure is smooth.

We have family in Boston and one of their cars is a 2019 4 Runner Nightshade. I've driven it a few times when we've visited so I know what you mean.

4 Runners hold their value so well that I agonize over whether or not I should buy one. Even given the miles I drive, I most likely will never be under water. I've been warned to take a thorough test drive because they are "dinosaurs."

@breld 's Lexus GX version has the V8 and the adaptive suspension which makes it much nicer.

breld

nyccarguy said:

pensfan83 said:

breld said:

I know it’s not all that exciting, but I’ll say we really enjoyed driving the GX around this past week. It’s hard to put your finger on it, but the “truck” has a lot of character, what with its V8, 6 speed trannie and the small-for-these-days 18” wheels (and resulting huge sidewall). It’s not quick by any means, but it sure is smooth.

We have family in Boston and one of their cars is a 2019 4 Runner Nightshade. I've driven it a few times when we've visited so I know what you mean.

4 Runners hold their value so well that I agonize over whether or not I should buy one. Even given the miles I drive, I most likely will never be under water. I've been warned to take a thorough test drive because they are "dinosaurs."

@breld 's Lexus GX version has the V8 and the adaptive suspension which makes it much nicer.

Given your recent concerns on space, sounds like the new Grand Highlander could be a very suitable option?

nyccarguy

breld said:

nyccarguy said:

pensfan83 said:

breld said:

I know it’s not all that exciting, but I’ll say we really enjoyed driving the GX around this past week. It’s hard to put your finger on it, but the “truck” has a lot of character, what with its V8, 6 speed trannie and the small-for-these-days 18” wheels (and resulting huge sidewall). It’s not quick by any means, but it sure is smooth.

We have family in Boston and one of their cars is a 2019 4 Runner Nightshade. I've driven it a few times when we've visited so I know what you mean.

4 Runners hold their value so well that I agonize over whether or not I should buy one. Even given the miles I drive, I most likely will never be under water. I've been warned to take a thorough test drive because they are "dinosaurs."

@breld 's Lexus GX version has the V8 and the adaptive suspension which makes it much nicer.

Given your recent concerns on space, sounds like the new Grand Highlander could be a very suitable option?

Definitely. It is going to be pricey and I'm going to want to "test fit" my family before making that kind of commitment.

I have another option that will definitely solve my space concerns. A friend of mine has a house in Florida. He has a 2015 Suburban LT 4WD with less than 25,000 miles. It is White with Black guts and no sunroof. The truck is in perfect condition. He's willing to sell it to me for around $30K which seems to be below market value. Given the size of a Suburban, I don't want to put my wife in a position to make it her daily driver. So in order to buy the Suburban for myself, I'd have to sell the Highlander and the Jeep as well as pick up something else for my wife to drive.

corvette

Telluride / Palisade - is the 3.8 liter V6 still the only powertrain option? I think I’d want a little more oomph.

@nyccarguy - why not keep the Highlander for the wife?

explorerx4

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking the dogs in my daughter's neighborhood in the early afternoon,
On one street, maybe a couple dozen houses on each side, I saw 4 Palisade's and a Telluride.
I don't kind the Palisade to have a good looking exterior.

jmonroe1

@nyccarguy said:
Definitely. It is going to be pricey and I'm going to want to "test fit" my family before making that kind of commitment.

I have another option that will definitely solve my space concerns. A friend of mine has a house in Florida. He has a 2015 Suburban LT 4WD with less than 25,000 miles. It is White with Black guts and no sunroof. The truck is in perfect condition. He's willing to sell it to me for around $30K which seems to be below market value. Given the size of a Suburban, I don't want to put my wife in a position to make it her daily driver. So in order to buy the Suburban for myself, I'd have to sell the Highlander and the Jeep as well as pick up something else for my wife to drive.

————————————————
Well, you’re certainly on the right board to justify the purchase of 2 vehicles. You ain’t going to get any no goes in here.

jmonroe

nyccarguy

corvette said:

Telluride / Palisade - is the 3.8 liter V6 still the only powertrain option? I think I’d want a little more oomph.

@nyccarguy - why not keep the Highlander for the wife?

I financed it with $500 due at signing. The payments are $848 per month at 2.49% for 60 months. It is an option as we will strongly consider. Besides the space, the other issue we have is the size of the gas tank. She does a fair amount of driving (20K+ per year) and I've got to fill her tank up every 4 days.

breld

tjc78 said:

Maybe I’m biased but I’d take my XC90 over a Palisade/Telluride. Only negative I see is it’s a bit smaller.

@breld

You had one, agree or not? Curious on your thoughts

Oh yeah - the Volvo is definitely more engaging to drive than the Palisade/Telluride, no doubt.

Assuming you can buy at MSRP, you get great use of space and a ton of features for around $50k on the Hyundai/Kia twins. And they drive mostly like my old Honda Odyssey...which is totally fine, but not very interesting.

tifighter

My local Lexus dealer already has a wait list for the new GX that they're showing later this week. The GM supposedly saw it at a dealer meeting and says they've made big strides with interior space.

tifighter

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

Congrats @breld and @tifighter!

What vehicle is this to replace, @tifighter ? Or an addition to the fleet?

PENDING departure- the Model 3. Since the Y is more accommodating and practical, it becomes my wife's new daily. But she has made it known that she prefers to drive the 3. So I know that now. But we don't need both.

Update - The 3 is now gone. Surprisingly, Carmax surprised me with an offer I could live with, so it went over the weekend. The driveway feels roomier already.

jmonroe1

Here’s another car purchase but not mine so no punch.

Went over to Son #1’s for dinner last night. When I pulled in the driveway I see a strange car at the garage doors but I pull in anyway and now I have it blocked. I thought the car belonged to one of my grandsons friend. As we get out of the car my son comes out of the garage and I told him I’d move it later. He informs me not to worry because the car is his and he just bought it from a guy in Jersey on Wednesday.

It’s a 2017 Chevy SS (build in Australia as a Holden Commodore). It’s Orange Blast Metallic (not gaudy but he won’t have any problems finding it in a parking lot) over black. This was his first color choice so when he saw it listed he went for it. It’s a 6.2 liter V8 (the only way they make that car) 6 speed manual with 35K miles and it cost him 42K. The guy was asking almost 46K for it but he wanted to make room in his 4 car garage and get a little more money to buy a soon to arrive Ineos Grenadier.

I drove it for a few miles and it can almost snap your neck. My son encouraged me to get it to the red line (6K RPM) then back off. I didn’t time it but It didn’t take long to get there I know that. My son showed me a Hennessey video of this car and he was very impressed with it. Even compared it to an M5 (don’t remember the year). I don’t know if Hennessey knows what he’s talking about, but of course, my son liked his review.

Hey @qbrozen, since you’re now in the biz, can you tell me if my son got a reasonable deal on this car? He’s sure he did because he’s seen them go for more than 42K. He has even driven a few that have more miles and he likes the one he bought better and no one else had the color he wanted.

jmonroe

stickguy

if it is what he wanted and he is happy, then it was a good deal!

stickguy

There is a Telluride 3 houses up from me. and a few more of one or the other scattered around the surrounding neighborhoods.

tifighter

@jmonroe1 said:
The guy was asking almost 46K for it but he wanted to make room in his 4 car garage and get a little more money to buy a soon to arrive Ineos Grenadier.

As a reservation holder, believe me when I say no Grenadier is soon to arrive. Unfortunately.

stickguy

Brad, the Suburban sounds like a good deal. But also a solution to a problem that will cause more problems than it solves.

if your wife is not going to drive it, and it makes little sense as your daily, it seems to only play as a spare car for weekend/travel people hauling duty. Meaning you need just as many other cars.

but if you are willing to commit to driving it, then it seems like your wife should just be able to keep either the Jeep or Toyota to drive?

I am guessing she would never be seen dead in one, but man, a Sienna AWD hybrid would be the perfect vehicle for you.

stickguy

It was Maverick day today. I had a Dr. appointment and on the 10 minute drive down, I passed 3 different ones. A Velocity blue in a driveway outside my neighborhood, than a mile apart 2 different dark ones (A gray that looked just like my old one, then a black one). Rare to see so many in close proximity. I assume they all noticed mine of course!

breld

tifighter said:

My local Lexus dealer already has a wait list for the new GX that they're showing later this week. The GM supposedly saw it at a dealer meeting and says they've made big strides with interior space.

Yeah, one of the Lexus dealers near me said they had 7 people on the list, and that was last month. I'm sure the reveal this week will generate tons more interest. I'm hoping my "old" GX will get me through the initial craziness of the launch of the new model. But then again, what's the harm in another refundable deposit being floated out there?

tifighter

@breld said:
Yeah, one of the Lexus dealers near me said they had 7 people on the list, and that was last month. I'm sure the reveal this week will generate tons more interest. I'm hoping my "old" GX will get me through the initial craziness of the launch of the new model. But then again, what's the harm in another refundable deposit being floated out there?

I mean, I WAS at the Lexus dealer too, so who am I to judge?

jmonroe1

@stickguy said:
if it is what he wanted and he is happy, then it was a good deal!

————————————————
I know that but it never hurts to know about the money end of the deal.

He drove the first one locally only because he was driving by that dealership and figured he’d stop in. Turns out it had only 11K miles but the dealer had a ridiculous price of $64K on it. So he walked.

He’s taken a few out of town weekends lately. He drove one in Cincinnati that had more miles than the one he bought with 35K miles. I think he said something like $48K with around 48K miles, black/black. Then he went to Nashville and drove one in Kentucky some where on the way down and it cost about the same with a few less miles. That one was blue which was his second color choice. He considered both of them but figured he’d hold out to see if he could get his first color choice. He got lucky so that alone satisfies him and to spend a little less even more so.

Just a feel good question, I guess.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

@tifighter said:

@jmonroe1 said:
The guy was asking almost 46K for it but he wanted to make room in his 4 car garage and get a little more money to buy a soon to arrive Ineos Grenadier.

As a reservation holder, believe me when I say no Grenadier is soon to arrive. Unfortunately.

————————————————
I only repeated what the guy told my son but the guy said he knew the owner of the place where he was getting it.

It doesn’t really make any difference since my son got the price he wanted which he didn’t think the guy would agree to. Since my son very much wanted that color he was prepared to cave to the guys asking price. Fortunately, he didn’t have to.

jmonroe