Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

xwesx

Funny sentiment, though not true at all with modern Subarus.

venture

ab348 said:

venture said:

fintail said:

xwesx said:

He is going to have trouble with that budget after coming out of luxury makes.

I suggest he try a Subaru Crosstrek. He can get into those, new, at decent trims near his budget point. Used might be a little less, but not much, so why not get new? He could also get into an Impreza, which is nearly the same car, for thousands less at the same trim levels.

Good suggestion. High resale in this area too, so a safe purchase.

Also - Look at an Impreza too, unless he needs that much clearance. A Crosstrek is, basically, a raised Impreza...and the Impreza is about $2,000 less expensive.

Nothing will remind him of his financial setbacks resulting from his divorce more than getting behind the wheel of a Subaru after driving Cadillacs and Lincolns.

I get what you're saying but there is always the other side. For example - I'm happier every time I drive my Legacy than I was when I drove my BMW.

imidazol97

There are a boatload of Subarus that I see around our favorite CFA restaurant. Lots of drivers seem to be happy with their car. Many of them are military families. Many are local folks.

stickguy

In the rankings (like them or not) they always are way up there in owners satisfaction. And consumers reports tends to give them very high scores. So not a big surprise.

imidazol97

corvette said:

My G37 (which someone had incorrectly applied a bunch of goop to the windshield to try to fix, and for which I had to buy a set of double hinged needle nose pliers to install a replacement sunroof drain without tearing the dash apart) certainly didn’t!

I had to look up "double-hinged needle nose pliers." I didn't realize such a thing existed. Neat.

corvette

@imidazol97 - I’ve used them exactly twice in 5+ years, and either time alone, I would have gladly paid $20 or whatever they cost.

venture

corvette said:

@imidazol97 - I’ve used them exactly twice in 5+ years, and either time alone, I would have gladly paid $20 or whatever they cost.

Are they able to reach into a narrow space? Is that what they are for? Never heard of them before either. I see there are bent ended ones too.

stickguy

Looks like you don’t need a wide opening like you would at both ends for straight ones.

jmonroe1

venture said:

ab348 said:

venture said:

fintail said:

xwesx said:

He is going to have trouble with that budget after coming out of luxury makes.

I suggest he try a Subaru Crosstrek. He can get into those, new, at decent trims near his budget point. Used might be a little less, but not much, so why not get new? He could also get into an Impreza, which is nearly the same car, for thousands less at the same trim levels.

Good suggestion. High resale in this area too, so a safe purchase.

Also - Look at an Impreza too, unless he needs that much clearance. A Crosstrek is, basically, a raised Impreza...and the Impreza is about $2,000 less expensive.

Nothing will remind him of his financial setbacks resulting from his divorce more than getting behind the wheel of a Subaru after driving Cadillacs and Lincolns.

I get what you're saying but there is always the other side. For example - I'm happier every time I drive my Legacy than I was when I drove my BMW.

————————————————
That only works when you re-badge a Subie with the BMW badge.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

corvette said:

@imidazol97 - I’ve used them exactly twice in 5+ years, and either time alone, I would have gladly paid $20 or whatever they cost.

————————————————
There is nothing better than having the right tool for the job. Over the years I’ve accumulated several one use tools and I’ve never been sorry I bought that tool. None more than the old drum brake return spring removal/installation tool. It took punching myself in the mouth trying to install a drum brake return spring many years ago using a pair of pliers to learn that lesson. I swear I still see a remnant of that punch on my lower lip to this day.

jmonroe

fintail

ab348 said:

venture said:

fintail said:

xwesx said:

He is going to have trouble with that budget after coming out of luxury makes.

I suggest he try a Subaru Crosstrek. He can get into those, new, at decent trims near his budget point. Used might be a little less, but not much, so why not get new? He could also get into an Impreza, which is nearly the same car, for thousands less at the same trim levels.

Good suggestion. High resale in this area too, so a safe purchase.

Also - Look at an Impreza too, unless he needs that much clearance. A Crosstrek is, basically, a raised Impreza...and the Impreza is about $2,000 less expensive.

Nothing will remind him of his financial setbacks resulting from his divorce more than getting behind the wheel of a Subaru after driving Cadillacs and Lincolns.

I need to tell him about my friend's loaded E450 wagon for not a fortune more than the midsize boxes he is shopping - and it too doesn't drip water from the overhead controls

Subarus are immensely popular in Spokane, sometimes it seems like every third car on the road is one. Some older ones have a rep for head gaskets that need changing with every oil change, but I think the latest gen is ok. A couple co-workers have modern Subies, I think a 17 (loaded) Outback wagon and a 21 Crosstrek, no real issues.

qbrozen

@benjaminh said:
The manual transmission is gone for the 2025 VW GTI.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46317501/2025-vw-golf-gti-prototype-revealed/

"Sadly, there will be no manual transmission offered, as VW confirmed 2024 would be the last year for the three-pedal GTI."

I would never buy a GTI without a manual.

qbrozen

The Xterra saga continues.

We have been trying to work with the seller on obtaining a title. According to the DMV/seller, vehicle was traded in with no title. They haven't been able to apply for a dupe because the vehicle was titled under a company name. We may be able to ask for an adjustment to have you keep it as is, or if it meets the requirements we can send it back to the seller potentially due to lack of title.

My response:

Thanks for looking into this. I've researched the process to obtain a title, and it seems pretty impossible. The first step they require is getting a certified title search from the Motor Vehicle Agencies in New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland, then sending those into the NJ MVC to get them to perform a certified title search. And that is just the beginning of the process. So it seems this would need to go back to the seller. To keep it, I would require a refund of at least half the purchase price so then I could at least part it out and have a chance of coming out whole.

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

The Xterra saga continues.

We have been trying to work with the seller on obtaining a title. According to the DMV/seller, vehicle was traded in with no title. They haven't been able to apply for a dupe because the vehicle was titled under a company name. We may be able to ask for an adjustment to have you keep it as is, or if it meets the requirements we can send it back to the seller potentially due to lack of title.

My response:

Thanks for looking into this. I've researched the process to obtain a title, and it seems pretty impossible. The first step they require is getting a certified title search from the Motor Vehicle Agencies in New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland, then sending those into the NJ MVC to get them to perform a certified title search. And that is just the beginning of the process. So it seems this would need to go back to the seller. To keep it, I would require a refund of at least half the purchase price so then I could at least part it out and have a chance of coming out whole.

————————————————
Is there a way for a buyer to see the title and have it verified before buying a vehicle? Anything short of this should be a red flag and gives meaning to buying a pig-in-a-poke. Needless to say, buying from that seller again has to be out of the question.

jmonroe

qbrozen

Thousands of vehicles are sold at auction every day with promise of a title to come later. The title to my Maserati came later. Although very quickly in that case.

I won’t be doing it again, though, obviously.

corvette

venture said:

Are they able to reach into a narrow space? Is that what they are for?

That's exactly what they're for. When you need more "reach" because there's not enough room to get your hand in the area to manipulate normal ones. I've used them for the sunroof drain as well as to twist the plastic stays on A-pillars on cars with curtain airbags, which need to be turned 90 degrees to get them to release.

ab348

fintail said:

Some older ones have a rep for head gaskets that need changing with every oil change, but I think the latest gen is ok.

I remember someone denigrating Subaru fans as being “piston slappies” in deference to another chronic engineering issue. I kind of liked that one.

xwesx

jmonroe1 said:

There is nothing better than having the right tool for the job. Over the years I’ve accumulated several one use tools and I’ve never been sorry I bought that tool. None more than the old drum brake return spring removal/installation tool. It took punching myself in the mouth trying to install a drum brake return spring many years ago using a pair of pliers to learn that lesson. I swear I still see a remnant of that punch on my lower lip to this day.

jmonroe

Hah! I laughed so hard at that. I did the same thing way back when I was thirteen years old, the first time I took apart the brakes on my 1969 Econoline. I have always made sure to use vice grips in place of regular pliers after that, but I never have bought a specialized tool for the job.

xwesx

I have heard much of piston slap over the years, but never experienced it on one of my cars (I've owned seven Subaru vehicles, not counting my son's Forester) until the 2013 Forester. Every since the short block replacement about 5.5 years ago due to a manufacturing defect, it has piston slap for a few seconds upon start up.

I remember a few friends or coworkers with old units (80s and early 90s) where the car sounded like an old sewing machine, but my family didn't have any of that on our 1980 Subaru GL wagon, which my father owned from 1980-87.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

The Xterra saga continues.

We have been trying to work with the seller on obtaining a title. According to the DMV/seller, vehicle was traded in with no title. They haven't been able to apply for a dupe because the vehicle was titled under a company name. We may be able to ask for an adjustment to have you keep it as is, or if it meets the requirements we can send it back to the seller potentially due to lack of title.

My response:

Thanks for looking into this. I've researched the process to obtain a title, and it seems pretty impossible. The first step they require is getting a certified title search from the Motor Vehicle Agencies in New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Maryland, then sending those into the NJ MVC to get them to perform a certified title search. And that is just the beginning of the process. So it seems this would need to go back to the seller. To keep it, I would require a refund of at least half the purchase price so then I could at least part it out and have a chance of coming out whole.

Refresh my memory, is this the one you’ve been working on and painting for a few months? Was this an online auction like BAT where you don’t have a licensed dealer to fall back on?

Seems like anyone who is selling a car without a title is committing fraud.

jmonroe1

xwesx said:

jmonroe1 said:

There is nothing better than having the right tool for the job. Over the years I’ve accumulated several one use tools and I’ve never been sorry I bought that tool. None more than the old drum brake return spring removal/installation tool. It took punching myself in the mouth trying to install a drum brake return spring many years ago using a pair of pliers to learn that lesson. I swear I still see a remnant of that punch on my lower lip to this day.

jmonroe

Hah! I laughed so hard at that. I did the same thing way back when I was thirteen years old, the first time I took apart the brakes on my 1969 Econoline. I have always made sure to use vice grips in place of regular pliers after that, but I never have bought a specialized tool for the job.

————————————————
I’m glad you got a laugh out of that because I sure as hell didn’t.

I finished up that job with vise grips but the specialized tool works so much better. To give you an idea of how long ago this happened I think the tool cost less than 2 bucks.

Although I no longer need it since disk brakes came along, I still have it and can lay my hands on it in an instant.

jmonroe

au1994

Email from Rodo. All are zero down:


2024 Mazda CX-30 2.5 S AWD
31 available, starting at $259 / month*

2024 Mazda CX-50 2.5 S Select AWD
39 available, starting at $324 / month*

2024 Mazda CX-5 2.5 S Select AWD
213 available, starting at $343 / month*

2024 Mazda CX-90 PHEV (plug-in hybrid) Preferred AWD
37 available, starting at $436 / month*

2024 Mazda CX-90 3.3 Turbo Select AWD
23 available, starting at $487 /

xwesx

My newest car (ownership) is now over three years now. I'm happy with the current stable, though. Honestly, I am! /sigh

ab348

I’m surprised that the Mazda CX-5 is pricier than the CX-50.

qbrozen

@oldfarmer50 said:
Refresh my memory, is this the one you’ve been working on and painting for a few months? Was this an online auction like BAT where you don’t have a licensed dealer to fall back on?

Seems like anyone who is selling a car without a title is committing fraud.

Dealer auction. I haven’t done anything past painting the bumper/grille. I did buy parts though. I shouldn’t have done anything, and they tell you not to do anything, until title was in hand. I just forgot and got ahead of myself.

If they agree to the partial refund, I’ll fix it up anyway and drive it locally. Maybe eventually sell sans title OR go through the laborious process of obtaining one, while driving it locally.

corvette

In my state, it used to be fairly trivial to go to court and get a salvage title, assuming you had satisfactory evidence that the vehicle wasn't stolen and you legitimately paid for it, but I'm not sure whether that is still the case.

jmonroe1

xwesx said:

My newest car (ownership) is now over three years now. I'm happy with the current stable, though. Honestly, I am! /sigh

————————————————
@breld has pills that can help with your honesty.

jmonroe

Sandman6472

Both our holding lots for cars to be sold,"ucs's", are filled right now. At the south lot on Monday around 4:45, it was a real "cluster f--k" getting the new arrivals in. Not sure how they were going to get them out on Tuesday morning! Lately, our crew has been delivering sold vehicles all over the South Florida area and we made two trips down to Miami buyers the last couple of days. I can just imagine how the lots are in other parts of the country right now, pretty well packed in! And we're also getting new vehicles dropped off so it's been quite busy. And the locations/new car dealers are renting as many as we drop off. Assuming the company is doing pretty well, a good thing since we have profit sharing.

Our crew was not asked to work today, Wednesday, which is just as good as I've got a pain doctor later in the day. I've missed about four days of extra work due to my illness of late but figure I'll make it back as the year progresses. No really here for the $ so it is what it is.

Sandman6472

Our 2024 car insurance bill came in Monday and I couldn't believe how much it increased! Will be calling our agent later today to see what's up. Have been with Safeco since 2017 and we do like that they insure us for a year at a time but, this new increase is pretty hefty so maybe it's time to shop around. Having one new vehicle in the fleet, I knew the insurance would increase a bit, but I was just amazed by how much both vehicles increased from 2023. At least for my vehicle, don't really drive it that much so have to see if maybe it's time to drop the collision as I know they'll just total it if I do get into an accident. Luckily I'm off these next couple of days so I can make a bunch of phone calls. Will put off test driving the new Kona until next week I guess.

qbrozen

All insurance across the board is seeing an increase. Good luck with the shopping.

au1994

qbrozen said:

All insurance across the board is seeing an increase. Good luck with the shopping.

Same, ours went up significantly with no claims and an explanation from the agent that this is just what is happening in the market. Repair costs are up, cars are more complex etc. I shopped but nothing came up that was worth the change. We are with Allstate btw.

May be time to look at "un-bundling", despite what conventional wisdom has always said, and break out the cars, houses and boat.

stickguy

I just got the notice that my car insurance renewal docs arrived. Now I’m afraid to look. Car is 6 month policy, bundled house is 12. This is the off cycle period. Since we are moving before the next renewal I’ll shop the bundle then. Maybe being old will help!

oldfarmer50

corvette said:

In my state, it used to be fairly trivial to go to court and get a salvage title, assuming you had satisfactory evidence that the vehicle wasn't stolen and you legitimately paid for it, but I'm not sure whether that is still the case.

Aren’t there still a few “title wash” states where you can get a new title?

qbrozen

@oldfarmer50 said:
Aren’t there still a few “title wash” states where you can get a new title?

Nothing on google. Vermont closed their door.

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

Our 2024 car insurance bill came in Monday and I couldn't believe how much it increased! Will be calling our agent later today to see what's up. Have been with Safeco since 2017 and we do like that they insure us for a year at a time but, this new increase is pretty hefty so maybe it's time to shop around. Having one new vehicle in the fleet, I knew the insurance would increase a bit, but I was just amazed by how much both vehicles increased from 2023. At least for my vehicle, don't really drive it that much so have to see if maybe it's time to drop the collision as I know they'll just total it if I do get into an accident. Luckily I'm off these next couple of days so I can make a bunch of phone calls. Will put off test driving the new Kona until next week I guess.

I usually drop collision when my cars value gets below an arbitrary value like $10k. At that point it won’t break me to fix it enough to drive or just junk it. Certainly the $2000 convertible and the $1800 van never had collision. The Kia was worth around $14k last time I checked and the Mustang keeps going up in value according to Carvana so I’ll keep it on those.

BTW, our UCS lot and our rental volume is similar to yours so I’m looking for a third year of record profit sharing.

explorerx4

We got our homeowner's renewal last month. It went up quite a bit. I noticed one of the forms, related to deductibles and bundling wasn't listed.
Also, the bill only showed the bottom line premium not any detail of the individual charges and credits.
Emailed my agent and she looked into it. Somehow my bundling discount fell off the renewal policy.
The corrected policy premium, $802 down to $731, still went up from last year but not as much.

kyfdx

corvette said:

In my state, it used to be fairly trivial to go to court and get a salvage title, assuming you had satisfactory evidence that the vehicle wasn't stolen and you legitimately paid for it, but I'm not sure whether that is still the case.

I don't think that's the case, any longer.

tjc78

Our car insurance went up a bit, but skyrocketed when we swapped the XC90 for the Electric Benz.

It was $1200/ year more. One of my next projects is to re-quote to double check that number. I certainly questioned it when I added the car.

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

I just got the notice that my car insurance renewal docs arrived. Now I’m afraid to look. Car is 6 month policy, bundled house is 12. This is the off cycle period. Since we are moving before the next renewal I’ll shop the bundle then. Maybe being old will help!

All joking aside, I think it does up until a certain point. My Dad said when he turned 75, his umbrella policy increased they said: "due to his advanced age."

Sandman6472

Just got off the phone with Safeco, agent said insurance across the board has jumped and all companies are having increases. Did get a slight savings as lowered the miles/year I drive down to 3000. Keep a record of how much I drive and it's been lower then 3K/year since I switched jobs closer to home, December 1st of 2019. Lucky if I drive 40 miles/week now and will do 37 today just going to see the pain doctor but tis is a once eery 90 day event, give or take. We also discussed taking the collision off as I know if it gets hit, it'll be totaled at it's current mileage. But, decided to keep it for the time being since new car plans are off for the time being.

Guessing things could always be worse and working does help defray the costs a bit also.

breld

I hadn't been paying too much attention to the auction sites, but this one caught my eye. The bidding didn't even approach MSRP, which is about $37k for this special edition GR86. It didn't even hit the MSRP for a "regular" premium trim GR86.

Seems like a good indication that the market is cooling, especially on some of these "enthusiast" cars.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rk46d8OQ/2023-toyota-gr86-10th-anniversary-special-edition

explorerx4

The GR86 is not real popular. The engine has no torque. Less than 12K were sold in 2023.

nyccarguy

explorerx4 said:

The GR86 is not real popular. The engine has no torque. Less than 12K were sold in 2023.

RWD, lightweight, & very well balanced. They weren't going after the stop light drag racing market segment. Supposedly there is no way to access the spark plugs without taking the engine out.

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

explorerx4 said:

The GR86 is not real popular. The engine has no torque. Less than 12K were sold in 2023.

RWD, lightweight, & very well balanced. They weren't going after the stop light drag racing market segment. Supposedly there is no way to access the spark plugs without taking the engine out.

Not that @breld would keep it long enough to worry about that!

roadburner

For years my home and auto policies were through Safeco; my agent did some shopping around and now my home is insured through Auto Owners (go figure). The C43, Sahara, X1 and the bike are insured through Progressive. The Club Sport is insured through Hagerty. I saved a considerable amount of money and so far the premiums have been consistent from year to year. All are 12 month policies.

28firefighter

We must’ve gotten lucky so far. All our 6 month premium renewals have stayed steady.

jmonroe1

explorerx4 said:

We got our homeowner's renewal last month. It went up quite a bit. I noticed one of the forms, related to deductibles and bundling wasn't listed.
Also, the bill only showed the bottom line premium not any detail of the individual charges and credits.
Emailed my agent and she looked into it. Somehow my bundling discount fell off the renewal policy.
The corrected policy premium, $802 down to $731, still went up from last year but not as much.

————————————————
An insurance company allowing something to fall through the crack! Yeah, right, how convenient. And if you didn’t call, it would still be at the bottom of that crack. I’d be shopping around with an excuse like that.

And what was their explanation about why they only showed a bottom line without itemization? That’s another reason to shop around.

jmonroe

explorerx4

@jmonroe1,
The agent said people couldn't figure out the numbers, so they left them off the customer copy of the policy. Agent copy still has them.
The coverages, some of which now have a different description, were still listed.
I didn't see anything about Bundling in either the Forms or Premium sections, which I did see on the previous term policy, so I inquired about it.
Definitely a screw up. I'm sure I wasn't the first to notice the problem.

breld

explorerx4 said:

The GR86 is not real popular. The engine has no torque. Less than 12K were sold in 2023.

I'm not sure it hasn't been popular, unless you're comparing sales figures to a more mainstream vehicle. This new model introduced for 2022 addressed much of the torque issue, and they're not languishing on dealer lots. Used ones are still retailing for higher than new MSRP. And I believe 12k units is pretty respectable for a niche sports car. If I understand right, Mazda sold just under 9k Miatas in 2023.

But point being, given you can't walk out onto the dealer lot and pick one of these up, I was surprised to see the auction be so unsuccessful. Gives me hope some of the craziness is dying down.

nyccarguy

breld said:

explorerx4 said:

The GR86 is not real popular. The engine has no torque. Less than 12K were sold in 2023.

I'm not sure it hasn't been popular, unless you're comparing sales figures to a more mainstream vehicle. This new model introduced for 2022 addressed much of the torque issue, and they're not languishing on dealer lots. Used ones are still retailing for higher than new MSRP. And I believe 12k units is pretty respectable for a niche sports car. If I understand right, Mazda sold just under 9k Miatas in 2023.

But point being, given you can't walk out onto the dealer lot and pick one of these up, I was surprised to see the auction be so unsuccessful. Gives me hope some of the craziness is dying down.

What is it that you (or your wife) has an eye on? Whatever you are eyeing, what will it replace?