Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

au1994

kyfdx said:

ab348 said:

explorerx4 said:

Bruton Smith is big in Nascar.

He was until he died in 2022. Family now owns Sonic Automotive, along with the NASCAR speedways like Charlotte, Atlanta, Bristol, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, Sonoma, Texas, Dover, Nashville, Kentucky, and North Wilkesboro.

The guys that started/deveoped KY Speedway were virtually forced into selling to Smith, otherwise, no dates for Cup events. Seems like a scam.

They were a little heavy handed to put it mildly. Also bought some of the old tracks just to get their race dates.

kyfdx

I like the way we have it now. (KY). a vehicle gets it's own plate, and that plate can't be used for a different vehicle. Of course, since I like it, it's changing.

But, if you had a personalized plate, that stayed with the owner, so it was a little bit of a mishmash.

oldfarmer50

kyfdx said:

explorerx4 said:

Carvana bought some auction company last year?

Yes, they own Adesa, which might be 2nd, only to Manheim.

Really? We drop cars at Adesa in Manville NJ on a regular basis. It has a reputation of being where less than top tier cars go. The company used to do more business with Mannheim in PA but not so much any more. Funny thing is there is a Mannheim auction in Clifton Park NY near stickguy’s estate but I’ve never seen them use it.

oldfarmer50

sda said:

98 Catera. I forget how many unscheduled trips to the service department I made in the year or so I owned it. It had around 24k on it when I bought it, sold it to CarMax with 41k on it. It was still under the 4/50k warranty but I was done.

I thought I might like one of those a few years ago but then I read about all the electronic problems.

kyfdx

oldfarmer50 said:

kyfdx said:

explorerx4 said:

Carvana bought some auction company last year?

Yes, they own Adesa, which might be 2nd, only to Manheim.

Really? We drop cars at Adesa in Manville NJ on a regular basis. It has a reputation of being where less than top tier cars go. The company used to do more business with Mannheim in PA but not so much any more. Funny thing is there is a Mannheim auction in Clifton Park NY near stickguy’s estate but I’ve never seen them use it.

A lot of Carvana cars are ex-rentals

Michaell

oldfarmer50 said:

sda said:

98 Catera. I forget how many unscheduled trips to the service department I made in the year or so I owned it. It had around 24k on it when I bought it, sold it to CarMax with 41k on it. It was still under the 4/50k warranty but I was done.

I thought I might like one of those a few years ago but then I read about all the electronic problems.

I had someone once mistake my '03 Saturn L300 for a Cadillac.

jmonroe1

sda said:

kyfdx said:

ab348 said:

explorerx4 said:

Bruton Smith is big in Nascar.

He was until he died in 2022. Family now owns Sonic Automotive, along with the NASCAR speedways like Charlotte, Atlanta, Bristol, Las Vegas, New Hampshire, Sonoma, Texas, Dover, Nashville, Kentucky, and North Wilkesboro.

The guys that started/deveoped KY Speedway were virtually forced into selling to Smith, otherwise, no dates for Cup events. Seems like a scam.

Smith was a force to be dealt with. A lot of folks didn't care for him.

Somewhat of a funny story. In 2000 when I bought a 98 Catera from Arnold Palmer Cadillac, which then was owned by Sonic, I was picking up the Catera which had been detailed in the Service Area and meeting with my salesman. I would find out later I'd be no stranger to the Service Area. In came a black S class Mercedes and 4 men in suits got out. My salesman excitedly taps me on the shoulder and asks "do you know who that is?" Before I could answer, he said it was the 'Big Man', Bruton Smith. I was underwhelmed.

————————————————
If the owner of a Cadillac dealership doesn’t want a Cadillac why should you? You should have killed the deal right then and there.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

explorerx4 said:

@stickguy,
When we were looking to build here, our realtor refused to show us any properties built by that company.
They are a huge developer.

————————————————-
I agree with your realtor. I don’t know if Dan Ryan is part of the Ryan clan or not but I wouldn’t buy a Ryan home with your money. They are better today than years ago but that ain’t saying much.

I could tell you some stories about how Ryan build homes around here that you wouldn’t believe so I won’t tell you.

jmonroe

sda

Michaell said:

oldfarmer50 said:

sda said:

98 Catera. I forget how many unscheduled trips to the service department I made in the year or so I owned it. It had around 24k on it when I bought it, sold it to CarMax with 41k on it. It was still under the 4/50k warranty but I was done.

I thought I might like one of those a few years ago but then I read about all the electronic problems.

I had someone once mistake my '03 Saturn L300 for a Cadillac.

If it was a V6 it shared essentially the same engine as the Catera. I liked the L Series. Too bad you couldn't get a wagon with a sunroof. Where I parked, I would have welcomed the dent resistant door skins.

Michaell

sda said:

Michaell said:

oldfarmer50 said:

sda said:

98 Catera. I forget how many unscheduled trips to the service department I made in the year or so I owned it. It had around 24k on it when I bought it, sold it to CarMax with 41k on it. It was still under the 4/50k warranty but I was done.

I thought I might like one of those a few years ago but then I read about all the electronic problems.

I had someone once mistake my '03 Saturn L300 for a Cadillac.

If it was a V6 it shared essentially the same engine as the Catera. I liked the L Series. Too bad you couldn't get a wagon with a sunroof. Where I parked, I would have welcomed the dent resistant door skins.

Yep, the L300 badge indicated that it had the 3.0L V6. Mine was fully loaded, and I had Katzkin leather and heated seats added to it. I think the price was around $27K with the options. 0% APR from GM at the time. I got it to over 90,000 miles before we traded it in on MINI #1 for the daughter.

stickguy

I don’t think the code specifies a minimum garage size.

jmonroe1

stickguy said:

I don’t think the code specifies a minimum garage size.

————————————————
It does where I live.

About 15 years ago an independent builder build a house with a garage that didn’t meet the minimum depth for a garage. The prospective buyer had a home inspection done and that’s when it was discovered. The sneaky builder then claimed it wasn’t a garage, it was a large storage space even though the house was advertised as having a “single car garage”. The house was then taken off the market and it sat for about a month. The guy relisted it himself because no realtor would touch it. The listing made no mention of the house having a garage. When the next buyer bought it he also had a home inspection and again it was revealed it was not big enough for a car. His come back was again it was a large storage area not a garage. Finally the boro stepped in and said if it had a garage door it had to be considered a garage in the residential area where the house was built. End of discussion.

Eventually the builder extended the garage by about 2 feet. The house looked a little odd but not too terrible and then it sold.

jmonroe

xwesx

stickguy said:

Saw this, and of course thought of our friend sandy.

Would never be an issue up here in the arctic north!

Wow; and I feel like my "two-car garage" was tight; I built it at 26x26 (with a 3'x8' section out of the back corner for a stairwell down to the basement). I'm pretty sure I could park my plow truck, blade on, in the deep bay, but it would be tight.

xwesx

sda said:

98 Catera. I forget how many unscheduled trips to the service department I made in the year or so I owned it. It had around 24k on it when I bought it, sold it to CarMax with 41k on it. It was still under the 4/50k warranty but I was done.

Huh. reminds me a lot of a Pontiac Grand Prix of that era. The PGPs seemed to be pretty durable. I still see a few around now and again, and those were nearly universally unloved by their owners.

oldfarmer50

kyfdx said:

oldfarmer50 said:

kyfdx said:

explorerx4 said:

Carvana bought some auction company last year?

Yes, they own Adesa, which might be 2nd, only to Manheim.

Really? We drop cars at Adesa in Manville NJ on a regular basis. It has a reputation of being where less than top tier cars go. The company used to do more business with Mannheim in PA but not so much any more. Funny thing is there is a Mannheim auction in Clifton Park NY near stickguy’s estate but I’ve never seen them use it.

A lot of Carvana cars are ex-rentals

That’s disappointing. I think most rental companies are self insured so accidents don’t get reported to CarFax. I suppose they still have to tell you if a car was a rental though.

imidazol97

stickguy said:

Saw this, and of course thought of our friend sandy.

Would never be an issue up here in the arctic north!

Good catch.

Of course both those cars are long.
BTW, what did the advertising for and contract on the home say about garage size?
Maybe Sandy can sell them his Golf when he picks up his new Bolt?

roadburner

laurasdada said:

sda said:

98 Catera. I forget how many unscheduled trips to the service department I made in the year or so I owned it. It had around 24k on it when I bought it, sold it to CarMax with 41k on it. It was still under the 4/50k warranty but I was done.

Perhaps you bought my father's Catera! I think he dumped it after 6 months, mostly spent at the dealership service dept.

Back when the Catera was new there was a guy who posted on one of the Edmunds forums who claimed that the Catera was superior to the E39 5 Series.
With a straight face.

tjc78

It wasn’t? 😛😛😛

corvette

When I was in high school, one of my classmate's mothers bought an early-build Catera new. I don't remember everything that went wrong with it (I think tires and brakes were both on the lengthy list), but I seem to remember it got bought back under the lemon law.

fintail

Funny, I saw the Catera, thought of "Lisa Catera" (GM's hilariously lame attempt at product placement) and then noticed a lease offer email from the dealer where I originally leased the wagon. These deals aint what they used to be!



Back in the day I was getting E-class for not much more than the C-class offer, certainly not with 5K up front either. It's a brave new world out there.

Sandman6472

Mike, saw a Niro at work on Monday morning as we were getting into our transit van. Naturally, had to go over & take a look. Similar dimensions to the new Kona I think and do like the hybrid model as a good compromise. But, right now, think the Kona would be the best fit but will definitely give the Niro a test drive.

Never got down to see the Bolt this morning as had to take care of some issues getting my monthly prescriptions from the doc's office. We changed health care on 1/1/24, same company but a united health benefits part of it which means a different card & member number. So got an email from Walgreens that there's an insurance delay holding things up. Not surprised one bit but after a few phone calls & dealing with folks who have no clue, 12 noon came and went. And since the dealer is down in Miami Lakes, called & changed the appointment to tomorrow around 2:30. I'll be on the southwest part of town where physical therapy is so much closer to I-75 and Miami Lakes. Also, wife was home today and since I didn't want to have to answer a lot of questions, so best I go when she ain't home. I'm 90% sure that I'm not going to get the Chevy Bolt at this point, but still, want to test drive one & find out why it's priced "so good"! And the Hyundai dealer we bought the Accent from is right next door so I can possibly get a test drive of the new Kona also. I'm just starting the looking phase to see what my short list will be. I still need to check out my banks new car finance rates since I'm not doing all cash this time. Figure I'll get a $10K loan, give or take. Haven't financed since 1981 when I got the 1979 Datsun B-210 so it's been awhile.

Watched a few YouTube videos of the 2024 Kona the last few days and right now, it's my #1 choice for my next vehicle. Like the exterior styling, a lot, and the interior looks to be a pretty darn good place to be. Leaning towards the Limited model like my wife got, as it's got a lot of tech and other features I'd like. And this time, don't want to settle for a lessor model as I know I'll regret that decision in time. I'm being very positive right now and plan to get what I want even if it costs a bit more. Luckily, I have plenty of time to find & decide what to get. Truly feel that even though I'm a great candidate for an EV, this just isn't the time to go that route. Driving as little as I do, makes zero sense. And, the Mini Cooper is something I haven't totally dismissed yet. I know I say I want "cheap to keep" this time around, but if the perfect M C model shows up in the color & options I want, it could be a game changer. So, lots to think about and the time has come to start the process & see where it leads me. And if I decide nothing out there is really what I want right now, still have a perfectly good vehicle to drive while I wait. The Golf is just passed it's ninth birthday and it's driving just fine. I have time on my side.

qbrozen

Alright, just for research purposes, what are the thoughts on these in a heads-up comparison?

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/link/375087756

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/link/376043886

corvette

Touareg will have better composure and be better to drive, overall, but the Pathfinder would be the one you'd want to own and keep, assuming the transmission cooler was fixed, which I think was a major issue on those. That Pathfinder is not well equipped, but I'd roll the dice on its very low mileage before I'd consider the Veedubs.

tifighter

@oldfarmer50 said:
That’s disappointing. I think most rental companies are self insured so accidents don’t get reported to CarFax. I suppose they still have to tell you if a car was a rental though.

I’ve noticed recently on carfax listings that cars that were obviously rentals get reported as fleet. That’s not how they used to appear. Are the rental companies doing something different with how they register these to avoid the tag?

Not that I’m looking out there or anything.

qbrozen

@corvette said:
Touareg will have better composure and be better to drive, overall, but the Pathfinder would be the one you'd want to own and keep, assuming the transmission cooler was fixed, which I think was a major issue on those. That Pathfinder is not well equipped, but I'd roll the dice on its very low mileage before I'd consider the Veedubs.

Yes, a common problem. Very cheap and easy to proactively fix it, though.

stickguy

all the prices of a 15 YO V8 audi, with a VW badge on it!

I would take the newer, low mile Nissan instead since it doesn't have a CVT.

nyccarguy

Nissan - what are you going to use it for?

qbrozen

@nyccarguy said:
Nissan - what are you going to use it for?

Driving, silly!

Reason for looking is because I have no daily driver right now. With salt on the roads, the Charger stays in the garage. Past few days has me borrowing wife’s volvo when I need to go out. Is that a big deal? Not really. Do I need more of an excuse to shop? Of course not.

It makes sense that it be something that can tow the car trailer and is good in snow and maybe even off-roading, if I’m ever so inclined. I don’t want something too big. I’d like it to be reliable or at least hard to kill.

There are other routes. I mean, I could use the Alto in bad weather. But it is far from ideal. Better off selling that. Maserati isn’t exactly a wise daily driver. I could put snow tires on it I suppose. Seems like quite a stretch.

kyfdx

V-8 in the Touareg is pretty rare. I love those. I'll guess the Nissan has more interior room, if that's important to you.

stickguy

I need a snow beater. Well, salt. My cars are fine in the snow!

But if I drive the regular cars any less I will need 2 battery tenders also. At this point it’s often just on weekends. But man I hate going out when there is still salt down. Which this month has been almost constantly.

Supposed to crack 40 Saturday. Hose and buckets are coming out.

tjc78

@stickguy said:
I need a snow beater. Well, salt. My cars are fine in the snow!

But if I drive the regular cars any less I will need 2 battery tenders also. At this point it’s often just on weekends. But man I hate going out when there is still salt down. Which this month has been almost constantly.

Supposed to crack 40 Saturday. Hose and buckets are coming out.

My wife’s car is clean and tucked in the garage. It’s not coming out until we get a warm rain to wash the salt away

stickguy

I had both like that. Problem is I can’t keep them both tucked away. I was doing the truck but got caught out in a freak squall so that got trashed and needs a follow up bath. Getting rain this week so hopefully it resolves the issue! For now. They live their salt and brine up here. Roads are always White

laurasdada

roadburner said:

laurasdada said:

sda said:

98 Catera. I forget how many unscheduled trips to the service department I made in the year or so I owned it. It had around 24k on it when I bought it, sold it to CarMax with 41k on it. It was still under the 4/50k warranty but I was done.

Perhaps you bought my father's Catera! I think he dumped it after 6 months, mostly spent at the dealership service dept.

Back when the Catera was new there was a guy who posted on one of the Edmunds forums who claimed that the Catera was superior to the E39 5 Series.
With a straight face.

Yeah, he worked for GM...

nyccarguy

qbrozen said:

@nyccarguy said:

Nissan - what are you going to use it for?

Driving, silly!

Reason for looking is because I have no daily driver right now. With salt on the roads, the Charger stays in the garage. Past few days has me borrowing wife’s volvo when I need to go out. Is that a big deal? Not really. Do I need more of an excuse to shop? Of course not.

It makes sense that it be something that can tow the car trailer and is good in snow and maybe even off-roading, if I’m ever so inclined. I don’t want something too big. I’d like it to be reliable or at least hard to kill.

There are other routes. I mean, I could use the Alto in bad weather. But it is far from ideal. Better off selling that. Maserati isn’t exactly a wise daily driver. I could put snow tires on it I suppose. Seems like quite a stretch.

After reviewing the play. The ruling on the field stands. Nissan!

carnaught

@Sandman6472 , I test drove and priced the 2024 Niro Hybrid recently. Yes, for what it is, it drove well. I found a couple of problems I had with it though: the dash controls were flat, with touch control with little or no feedback, for me requiring taking my eyes off of the road and having to touch a given function more than once to get it to work; secondly, considering the bang for the buck, the SX Hybrid with all the bells and whistles was overpriced in my mind, and along those lines, they would not really deal on them. They had the attitude that I was lucky they had some in stock. So for me, for what it is, a no-go.

pensfan83

Both cars were pretty gross so I ran them through the touchless wash yesterday even though it was raining all day. We don't really have a non-overcast day that's warm enough to wash them until the end of next week but at least the salt's off.

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

I’d like it to be reliable or at least hard to kill.

If you made that more of a priority, just about any GM product of the 50’s or 60’s would work.

jmonroe

xwesx

qbrozen said:

Alright, just for research purposes, what are the thoughts on these in a heads-up comparison?

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/link/375087756

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/link/376043886

From a comfort and performance perspective, Toureg. No comparison. Love the low miles on both, and even though the Nissan is nearly half (maybe not a good thing!), it's pretty insignificant at those numbers. However, from a sanity perspective, the Pathfinder wins. Stay away from the T! LOL

28firefighter

The Tesla needs a wash desperately since getting back from the mountains but I haven’t had time. Of course my wife doesn’t care but it is making me nuts. Hopefully this weekend.

qbrozen

y'all think a Touareg is bad, I'm kinda being tempted by a 5.0 LR4 with 93k miles. hahaha.

laurasdada

The A7 lives outdoors 90% of the time ever since her baby brother M240 arrived. I can't even talk about the state of current cleanliness of the poor beast. But it's been nothing but rain/snow for the past...forever?
She will be washed!

xwesx

qbrozen said:

y'all think a Touareg is bad, I'm kinda being tempted by a 5.0 LR4 with 93k miles. hahaha.

Well, don't get me wrong.... I thoroughly enjoy my Q7. But, the nags are constant, and that alone gets old.... So, if I had the opportunity to choose again, the answer would be, "No."

qbrozen

oooo... a v8 4runner coming up on a no reserve auction tonight. hmmmmm... Interior is rough, needs the exhaust fixed, but body looks pretty good. It is an '03 with 96k miles. Will probably be bid up to something stupid.

xwesx

Oh! I just remembered that I saw our pair of Tesla CyberTruck testers tooling around last night! Temperatures here have been between -20F and -40F all week, and likely will continue into next week, so they should definitely be getting plenty of cold weather testing in!

I keep wanting to see them stopped somewhere so I can chat briefly with the driver(s) to strongly encourage them to leave the trucks outside over night a few times. You can't really test cold weather performance without a full climate soak!

tjc78

@qbrozen said:
y'all think a Touareg is bad, I'm kinda being tempted by a 5.0 LR4 with 93k miles. hahaha.

The Nissan is not adventurous enough for you.

Something to consider .. a guy I see on another platform got a Cayenne Diesel that he tuned and deleted all the junk. Claims it moves along well…

kyfdx

qbrozen said:

oooo... a v8 4runner coming up on a no reserve auction tonight. hmmmmm... Interior is rough, needs the exhaust fixed, but body looks pretty good. It is an '03 with 96k miles. Will probably be bid up to something stupid.

Can't recall ever seeing a 20 year old 4Runner that wasn't rusty, somewhere..

Michaell

@kyfdx said:
Can't recall ever seeing a 20 year old 4Runner that wasn't rusty, somewhere..

My nephews ‘96 might disagree with that.

But, it’s 2WD and is a California car.

[Deleted User]

Michaell said:

@kyfdx said:

Can't recall ever seeing a 20 year old 4Runner that wasn't rusty, somewhere..

My nephews ‘96 might disagree with that.

But, it’s 2WD and is a California car.

Our '07 was from Utah, it's pretty clean as well.

andres3

A 7 year old M2 with less than 36K miles with 6 owners. What says the peanut gallery? Avoid, or at least drive 1.5 hours for a test drive?

andres3

xwesx said:

qbrozen said:

y'all think a Touareg is bad, I'm kinda being tempted by a 5.0 LR4 with 93k miles. hahaha.

Well, don't get me wrong.... I thoroughly enjoy my Q7. But, the nags are constant, and that alone gets old.... So, if I had the opportunity to choose again, the answer would be, "No."

My '15 S4 is nagging me none (KNOCK ON WOOD), so outside of a dagger to the heart, no Knicks or cuts really.