Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

andres3

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/tesla-cyber-truck-owners-are-fuming-over-them-starting-to-rust/ar-BB1iAITg?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=1b3f3dd662e94172b05d3514475560b1&ei=44

The article talks about Tesla's reputation for quality but I thought their reputation was bad quality? Could have fooled me!

stickguy

Sounds like the accord I rented last spring (a “sport”). Weird being that low. But great highway cruiser and pulled just about 40 mpg on a couple hundred mile mixed driving trip. Huge gas tank too. If I had to do a lot of commuting type driving by myself a Camry or accord would be a good option.

xwesx

andres3 said:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/tesla-cyber-truck-owners-are-fuming-over-them-starting-to-rust/ar-BB1iAITg?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=1b3f3dd662e94172b05d3514475560b1&ei=44

The article talks about Tesla's reputation for quality but I thought their reputation was bad quality? Could have fooled me!

I'm not sure why folks are complaining. That's just a natural patina! Sometimes folks have to wait fifty years or more for a good vehicular patina! I'd worry about it when there are reports of rust-through.

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

andres3 said:

Shopping M2's and not needing to buy is nice. The salesman are trying to push a $40-43K car onto people with bad credit and not viable buyers (they might want it but an ill-advised purchase I'm sure). Someone with no credit really shouldn't be buying a $40K+ 6 year old M2.

Somebody with no/bad credit shouldn’t be financing anything. The cheapest rate my credit union offers on older cars is 9.24% for a 2 year loan for top tier customers.

————————————————
I would never have guessed that top tier customer rates would be anywhere near that high for a used vehicle. That almost tells you to buy a new car with a lower interest rate. At least that way you can stretch the payments out to 6 or 7 years and probably have the same age car when you’re done and some of that would be under the free factory warranty.

Not that I would finance for that long but it should make some folks look into that.

jmonroe

mjfloyd1

andres3 said:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/tesla-cyber-truck-owners-are-fuming-over-them-starting-to-rust/ar-BB1iAITg?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=1b3f3dd662e94172b05d3514475560b1&ei=44

The article talks about Tesla's reputation for quality but I thought their reputation was bad quality? Could have fooled me!

I had also seen that the aero wheel covers are damaging the tire sidewall

https://www.autoblog.com/2024/02/02/tesla-cybertruck-wheel-covers-it-turns-out-are-rubbing-into-the-tire-sidewalls/

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

andres3 said:

Shopping M2's and not needing to buy is nice. The salesman are trying to push a $40-43K car onto people with bad credit and not viable buyers (they might want it but an ill-advised purchase I'm sure). Someone with no credit really shouldn't be buying a $40K+ 6 year old M2.

Somebody with no/bad credit shouldn’t be financing anything. The cheapest rate my credit union offers on older cars is 9.24% for a 2 year loan for top tier customers.

————————————————
I would never have guessed that top tier customer rates would be anywhere near that high for a used vehicle. That almost tells you to buy a new car with a lower interest rate. At least that way you can stretch the payments out to 6 or 7 years and probably have the same age car when you’re done and some of that would be under the free factory warranty.

Not that I would finance for that long but it should make some folks look into that.

jmonroe

That was for cars older than 2016. Newer used cars go off in the 6% range.

carnaught

Sandman6472 said:

That Mini Cooper CountrymanS loaner was still in the showroom on Monday morning. Was told it has about 5800 miles on the clock. No paperwork on the window so have no idea how much they're asking. It's white with a white roof over dark gray guts. I was drawn to it last week when I first saw it and the sales guy went to see how much they want for it. I had to leave & do another run, so he never got back to me. Wanted to go over last Wednesday or Thursday but since I wasn't feeling well, never got over there. Hope to go over either tomorrow or Thursday and take a test drive if it's still there. They also had a similar unit outside, white rood over a gray body but a dark interior. Am liking the Countryman more & more lately so think a test drive is in order.

Size wise, think we're good here. Really curious about the audio system in both units as I do like a nice system I don't have to mess with actually. Next, I'm gonna have to really love the way it drives. I can see myself in one of these for the next 9 to 10 years honestly and if I do actually go for a test drive, I'll be very surprised but this is the closest to even wanting to try since well, the end of 2014. If the drive goes well and the price is right, could work. Just hope the place isn't high pressure because that'll turn me off right away & I'll be out the door very fast! As much as I do love my Golf, think this could be the one!

@Sandman6472, are you okay that the Mini Cooper Countryman S requires unleaded premium gas?

nyccarguy

@au1994 said:
I had a Camry SE for a rental last week. Put nearly 400 miles on it or 1 tank of gas. Some impressions:

• despite the ‘SE’ moniker there was nothing sporty about it. I think 203 hp so it didn’t get in a hurry but once up to speed it was fine.
• quiet and smooth on the highway. could easily have conf calls or talk in the car over some rough roads.
• A little low so not exactly easy to get out of. Could be that I am so used to SUVs.
• Good mpg. I didn’t put pen to paper but the car calculated 35 mpg.
• Driver had power seat and tilt/tele wheel but it still took a minute to find a comfortable driving position.
• Passenger was all manual and there were some grumbles about getting comfortable.

Not exactly my cup of tea but I can see why they sell. Especially back in the day when they leased very well.

If the X1 took a puke and there were deals to be had, I’d consider one as a replacement for Jr.

Did you happen to notice how many miles were on it?

The SE is meant to be sporty looking. I agree it would make a fantastic commuter. Tried and true power train. 8 Speed Automatic. Gets the job done. Available AWD.

stickguy

change the oil regularly and probably put 300K on it without an issue if you drive a lot.

andres3

Given my wife's recent run in with another bad driver in San Diego, there's no way in hell I'm overpaying for a rental car while her Tiguan is fixed (again). If rental car costs haven't come out of the stratosphere, I think this is as good an excuse as any to make a punch!!!!

mjfloyd1

Not “another bad driver” again😂

roadburner

stickguy said:

change the oil regularly and probably put 300K on it without an issue if you drive a lot.

300K miles behind the wheel of a Camry?

stickguy

Ti should at least watch starting at 7:07

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4A00-RzoA4

au1994

@nyccarguy said:

@au1994 said:
I had a Camry SE for a rental last week. Put nearly 400 miles on it or 1 tank of gas. Some impressions:

• despite the ‘SE’ moniker there was nothing sporty about it. I think 203 hp so it didn’t get in a hurry but once up to speed it was fine.
• quiet and smooth on the highway. could easily have conf calls or talk in the car over some rough roads.
• A little low so not exactly easy to get out of. Could be that I am so used to SUVs.
• Good mpg. I didn’t put pen to paper but the car calculated 35 mpg.
• Driver had power seat and tilt/tele wheel but it still took a minute to find a comfortable driving position.
• Passenger was all manual and there were some grumbles about getting comfortable.

Not exactly my cup of tea but I can see why they sell. Especially back in the day when they leased very well.

If the X1 took a puke and there were deals to be had, I’d consider one as a replacement for Jr.

Did you happen to notice how many miles were on it?

The SE is meant to be sporty looking. I agree it would make a fantastic commuter. Tried and true power train. 8 Speed Automatic. Gets the job done. Available AWD.

About 8900 when I picked it up. Practically new!

corvette

andres3 said:

Given my wife's recent run in with another bad driver in San Diego, there's no way in hell I'm overpaying for a rental car while her Tiguan is fixed (again).

Sorry to hear about her bad luck... if the bad driver is at fault, shouldn't their insurance be picking up the rental costs?

Sandman6472

Had no idea about it needing premium fuel. But, if I liked it that much, wouldn't let that make me not want to purchase it. Did a Carvana estimate on the Golf and they offered $6600 for it. It's worth more then that to me at this point. And I was just outside taking the garbage to the curb and looked in the open garage and liked what I saw. I honestly still like the Golf and see no real reason to swap it out except it's age. It just turned 9 in December and everything works nicely right now. No lights on the dash showing an issue and it drives straight and true down the road. Guess I just want something new to shake things up a bit but that's just a silly reason to go out & spend $30K plus on something new.

Best thing to do is nothing right now. Save the funds until I find something that I really really want. And it's not the money I'm concerned about because I can easily afford it. So, best thing to do is just keep my eyes open and when I do find "the one", go for it. And that's just what I'll be doing. And the one great thing is...still get that sh-t eating grin on my face whenever I get behind the wheel! Like they say, "everything in good time".

stickguy

needing premium, is probably one of the least significant considerations given your situation. IMO of course. They key of course, is not driving a lot of miles!

some mental math, say 6,000 miles a year, and something averaging 30 MPG. that is 200 gallons/year. If PUG is $1/gallon more (should be less, but makes the math easier!) it is $200/year or $4 per week. Seems like a reasonable investment to have what you really want!

xwesx

andres3 said:

Given my wife's recent run in with another bad driver in San Diego, there's no way in hell I'm overpaying for a rental car while her Tiguan is fixed (again). If rental car costs haven't come out of the stratosphere, I think this is as good an excuse as any to make a punch!!!!

Rental car rates are far lower than they were 2-3 years ago. Perhaps not as cheap as they were a year before the pandemic, but tolerable, anyway.

xwesx

I'd be so darned pleased if one of my daily drivers made it to nine years. I mean, all but one of my cars are older than nine years at this point, but I've only had the Q7 and Forester for ~7. So far, 7.5 years of ownership was the longest I made it with a daily before someone ends up crashing into me and the car gets totaled. I hope that trend changes with one or both of my current cars.

breld

A more attainable Land Cruiser they said…

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46868011/2024-toyota-land-cruiser-price/

explorerx4

Excluding the Mustang which is not a DD, had our 2002 Explorer for 12 1/2 years, 2004 Escape for 12 1/2 years and have had the 2013 Escape since Oct 2012. The 2013 was handed down to one of the kids in Feb 2016 and replaced the hand me down 2004 Escape .
Kid is 34 and has never bought a car!

roadburner

While I was at the prosecutors conference I had the opportunity to try out a firearms simulator. It consisted of a VR headset which linked to a gun and/or taser. I went through several scenarios and I did pretty well on a couple. On a traffic stop a driver quickly reached into his truck and pulled out…
a cell phone. I didn’t shoot him- so I got brownie points for that. My final scenario was an active shooter in a college classroom building. There were two and I took out both without hitting any students.
I told my son about it and we agreed if we had something like that at home we’d never get any work done. It’s definitely addictive.

corvette

breld said:

A more attainable Land Cruiser they said…

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46868011/2024-toyota-land-cruiser-price/

Styling and exterior materials resemble the full size Bronco, and it's a might bit more dear than that. Also larger (I presume), and will probably last forever with minimal repairs, but still...

corvette

roadburner said:

While I was at the prosecutors conference I had the opportunity to try out a firearms simulator.

I played laser tag for the first time at our work outing in January. My performance was mediocre, but I'm pretty sure I'd sign up for a laser tag gym if one existed.

stickguy

breld said:

A more attainable Land Cruiser they said…

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46868011/2024-toyota-land-cruiser-price/

it looks cool. Maybe it is good that I won't likely be shopping any time soon, given how expensive stuff is these days! I should stop ever showing my wife replacements for her car that she still likes. and almost never drives.

Dang, the Maverick is one heck of a good deal these days.

tifighter

@breld said:
A more attainable Land Cruiser they said…

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46868011/2024-toyota-land-cruiser-price/

Looks like mid-60’s for the middle of the road off road configuration. That’s where I’d expect it, honestly. The last 200 series was in the mid-80’s and it was always going to be positioned above the 4Runner. My question is if these are being built in Japan…

tifighter

In case anyone is shopping-

stickguy

is that about the size (and competing with) a Wrangler and big Bronco? those get pretty pricey too.

I have trouble imagining spending that kind of money on something then taking it into the back country and actually trying to use the capabilities and beating the heck out of it.

nyccarguy

@breld said:
A more attainable Land Cruiser they said…

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46868011/2024-toyota-land-cruiser-price/

I’m not trying to be funny, but I can totally see you with one of these in your garage @breld. A 1958 of course. Not anytime soon, but when the hype dies down.

nyccarguy

@tifighter - there have been some insane E-Tron GT deals posted on Leasehackr as of late. Higher MSRP cars with less down for payments that start with a $6. 12 month leases with very high residuals. No sales tax on EVs in NJ makes them attractive there. Here in CT they tax the rebates, then I’d get a property tax bill in July for a $110K+ ish car from the city where I live.

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

@tifighter - there have been some insane E-Tron GT deals posted on Leasehackr as of late. Higher MSRP cars with less down for payments that start with a $6. 12 month leases with very high residuals. No sales tax on EVs in NJ makes them attractive there. Here in CT they tax the rebates, then I’d get a property tax bill in July for a $110K+ ish car from the city where I live.

The 12 month residuals are not as high as you might think.

nyccarguy

Michaell said:

nyccarguy said:

@tifighter - there have been some insane E-Tron GT deals posted on Leasehackr as of late. Higher MSRP cars with less down for payments that start with a $6. 12 month leases with very high residuals. No sales tax on EVs in NJ makes them attractive there. Here in CT they tax the rebates, then I’d get a property tax bill in July for a $110K+ ish car from the city where I live.

The 12 month residuals are not as high as you might think.

Then what makes them so attractive to lease? Is it the combination of dealer discount, lease cash, & federal tax leasing incentive? Or an attractive money factor that you are only paying interest on for 12 months? I feel like if @breld didn't have the Corvette & he could find one at an attractive price in CO, then therre'd be one in his garage.

stickguy

Ed Bollian has a video on it.

stickguy

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3mumDYSmIY8&list=PLCiXi0Azd3pnRkPWSdnJ8GOhPG1Q9FR18&index=2&pp=iAQB

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

Michaell said:

nyccarguy said:

@tifighter - there have been some insane E-Tron GT deals posted on Leasehackr as of late. Higher MSRP cars with less down for payments that start with a $6. 12 month leases with very high residuals. No sales tax on EVs in NJ makes them attractive there. Here in CT they tax the rebates, then I’d get a property tax bill in July for a $110K+ ish car from the city where I live.

The 12 month residuals are not as high as you might think.

Then what makes them so attractive to lease? Is it the combination of dealer discount, lease cash, & federal tax leasing incentive? Or an attractive money factor that you are only paying interest on for 12 months? I feel like if @breld didn't have the Corvette & he could find one at an attractive price in CO, then therre'd be one in his garage.

.00302 MF
$25k incentives

tjc78

Yes - EVs lease well when the $7500 can be applied as a CCR.

My deal was pretty strong, but lately I’ve seen a few that were every bit as good or a touch better.

Michaell

tjc78 said:

Yes - EVs lease well when the $7500 can be applied as a CCR.

My deal was pretty strong, but lately I’ve seen a few that were every bit as good or a touch better.

The dealer cash jumped from $1k to $4k on the EQE for February

tjc78

@Michaell said:
The dealer cash jumped from $1k to $4k on the EQE for February

It’s insane. There are people getting EQE and EQS for lease prices lower than 50K Highlanders.

My wife absolutely loves her EQE.

On another note, has anyone seen the new Ram Tungsten? It’s basically a Grand Wagoneer with a bed. It is one hell of a rig.

breld

tifighter said:

@breld said:

A more attainable Land Cruiser they said…

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46868011/2024-toyota-land-cruiser-price/

Looks like mid-60’s for the middle of the road off road configuration. That’s where I’d expect it, honestly. The last 200 series was in the mid-80’s and it was always going to be positioned above the 4Runner. My question is if these are being built in Japan…

The new Land Cruiser didn't strike me as being positioned above the 4Runner, but if that's the case then it makes more sense.

I figured Toyota was going after the new Bronco, and while Broncos can get expensive, you can also get a very nicely equipped one with the V6 for mid-$50k's (now that some of the hype has died down).

And then there's the GX550 that is $70k for a nice Premium Plus trim, with the turbo V6.

Clearly there will be a long waiting list and Toyota will easily sell every single one for years to come.

breld

Colorado has a $5k incentive on EVs that can be applied toward a lease as well (has to be less than $80k MSRP), so yeah, when you start with $12,500 off the top before any dealer/manufacturer incentives, the leases can get attractive.

28firefighter

Speaking of leasehackr. I got an email yesterday telling me it had been 3 months since I last logged in (home Reno and work have been crazy). Clicked in to see lots of MB and Audi GT mania.

Am I going to lose my membership here?

breld

For kicks, just went on the Toyota and Lexus websites to build a LC and a GX550. The mid-level LC with premium package is $69,535 and a similarly equipped (premium plus) GX is $70,350.

You can save $4,600 on the LC by excluding the premium package (stereo upgrade, leather seats, moonroof, HUD, etc.), but then again, you can also opt for the "base" premium GX with similar savings.

EfrainCooke

It's not so bad actually, I thought that it would cost more, not that I can afford it even so, but still it's a hope for the future

stickguy

@breld said:
For kicks, just went on the Toyota and Lexus websites to build a LC and a GX550. The mid-level LC with premium package is $69,535 and a similarly equipped (premium plus) GX is $70,350.

You can save $4,600 on the LC by excluding the premium package (stereo upgrade, leather seats, moonroof, HUD, etc.), but then again, you can also opt for the "base" premium GX with similar savings.

If you are spending that much anyway, why would you want to give up all the goodies and get a “stripper”?

pensfan83

28firefighter said:

Speaking of leasehackr. I got an email yesterday telling me it had been 3 months since I last logged in (home Reno and work have been crazy). Clicked in to see lots of MB and Audi GT mania.

Am I going to lose my membership here?

If you do, I'll lose mine too. I'm perfectly happy with the current fleet and not chasing deals, no matter how good the lease vs. MSRP proposition is on some of those cars. I'll never say never though.

tifighter

@stickguy said:

@breld said:
For kicks, just went on the Toyota and Lexus websites to build a LC and a GX550. The mid-level LC with premium package is $69,535 and a similarly equipped (premium plus) GX is $70,350.

You can save $4,600 on the LC by excluding the premium package (stereo upgrade, leather seats, moonroof, HUD, etc.), but then again, you can also opt for the "base" premium GX with similar savings.

If you are spending that much anyway, why would you want to give up all the goodies and get a “stripper”?

Funny thing about Toyota 4x4s is that a stripper, especially in the overland community, is very desirable. The Land Cruiser name is king in that group, and the closer they can mimic the holy grail basic 70 series that you can’t get in the US, the better. The 4Runner just doesn’t have that cache.

The previous LC and LX were priced on top of each other too.

tifighter

At the local Acura dealer for service this morning, but had to share the sitcom going on next door-

stickguy

Good luck to them.

pensfan83

Ha. That's amazing.

nyccarguy

New Car Prep?
Propack?
Adjusted Market?

Don't forget to tip your waitress