Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

sda said:

I was given a RDX tech loaner while the TL is back in the shop to address the VSA malfunction. I like the way the RDX drives. It feels lively and fun to drive. Comfortable seats, decently quiet, nice sound system. It took me a while to figure out how to navigate to XM and radio stations and found it cumbersome and frustrating to make changes while underway. Perhaps familiarity with the system would lessen that experience. The MSRP on the RDX is about $48500.

As someone who drives every imaginable car I agree that the touch screen revolution is a major frustration. What was wrong with knobs and buttons. I was in a relatively new F-150 (2022) today and it took me twice as long to adjust the radio on the big touch screen than it does to turn the knobs on my 2013. Same with the climate controls.

————————————————-
You sound like a guy who isn’t a fan of fixing things that ain’t broke. You’re in good company…me.

jmonroe

stickguy

My first car was a GM also (Camaro). That pretty much ended the run. I did have a Nova briefly but never registered it. And I guess the Opel would technically qualify!

jmonroe1

All this talk about stereo system upgrades reminds me of when I put a Motorola reverberator unit in my new ‘66 Bonneville. Along with two 6X9 speakers on the rear shelf. I was dating at the time and all of my dates really liked it. So much so one of them wanted me to put one in her ‘66 Chevy Caprice, so I did. She paid for it and I provided the free installation. I still remember that Caprice had a very nice interior.

Like I said it was a hit with the girls but when one of the girls, who went on to become Mrs. j, first heard it she said, “what’s wrong with your radio?” Eventually she started to like it.

That reverb was a real conversation piece.

jmonroe

xwesx

sda said:

Question, does the lifetime super charging transfer to the new owner? I’ve read some of the expensive options that the first owner paid for, Tesla removes to the new owner’s chagrin.

Based on what I read, it is transferrable up to a point on 2017 models (so, yes on all 2013-2016 models). After that, it is restricted to the original owner and/or any direct-from-Tesla purchases, if it is even possible to buy used Teslas from the manufacturer...?

qbrozen

@jmonroe1 said:
reminds me of when I put a Motorola reverberator unit in my…

Whoa! I thought this was a family show!

au1994

nyccarguy said:

@au1994 said:

I had Kenwood and then Clarion CD players in my ‘89 Beretta. JVC amp and Clarion speakers. Couldn’t chum up the funds for an Alpine. Alarm too, not Clifford, Hornet, I think?

That car got me through college and after that I started leasing quite a bit once I started working so I had to be good with the factory deck. Which for the most part has been fine with me. Not exactly an audiophile. I just did the CD player because the Beretta didn’t come with one. Plus back then, you just put a car stereo in. You just did.

I’m sure you’ve mentioned it before, but I didn’t realize you had a Beretta. Me too. My 1st car was a ‘92 Beretta GT. V6 w/ the 3 Speed Automatic. I haven’t owned a GM car since.

Ok, this is funny. We’ve now had the Beretta, TSX, 328i and Tacoma (a ‘95 replaced the Beretta) in common.

My Beretta was an absolute dog. Former rental. Crank windows and the 2.0 w/3spd auto. Misc reliability problems: alternator left me stranded in rural AL on the way back to college. Pre cell phone days so that was interesting. ECU went out, drivers side window loved to pop out of its track.

Other than a brief flirtation with a GMC Canyon, it’s the last GM for me. I’ve considered them though as they have vastly improved since the ‘90s.

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

@jmonroe1 said:

reminds me of when I put a Motorola reverberator unit in my…

Whoa! I thought this was a family show!

————————————————-
And many years later it’s still a conversation piece. Who knew?

jmonroe

28firefighter

Forgot to report back: The Q5 did 415 miles on 3/4 of a tank before I filled up again - showed 125 miles remaining. That was mixed city/highway driving, leaning maybe a bit more towards highway. I'm impressed.

qbrozen

I did 150 miles from full to half in the Sierra. Hahaha

stickguy

hopefully you were at least towing.

28firefighter

Here is a new one. I received a red light ticket in the mail today from the City of Federal Way, which is south of Seattle. Thing is, I haven't been anywhere near Federal Way in the better part of a year.

Sure enough, the photo is of a vehicle that is using the license plate off our old Outback but is attached to something else - probably a Ford Fusion or similar. There is no way to deal with this online, so now I have to submit a written statement and bill of sale that (1) it was sold before the infraction (and provide proof), (2) the vehicle in the picture is not a Subaru Outback.

I thought the whole point of me reporting the sale online and paying this fee was to avoid stuff like this...

explorerx4

@28firefighter,
How did they get your old plate?
If we didn't transfer them to the new vehicle, we reported to the Motor Vehicle Dept that they did not go onto another vehicle and we still have the physical plates.

stickguy

NY and NJ do it right. You own the plate, and put it on whatever car you own (or turn them in if you sell the car and don't need to replace it). staying with the car, never made any sense to me.

ronsteve

@stickguy said:
NY and NJ do it right. You own the plate, and put it on whatever car you own (or turn them in if you sell the car and don't need to replace it). staying with the car, never made any sense to me.

Every other place I had been, the plate remains with the owner, who could either transfer it to the replacement vehicle or turn it in for a pro rated refund on property taxes. Then I get to Kentucky where the plate stayed with the car, until very recently.

Still some growing pains as they still don’t have transfer paperwork at the dealer, and you’re advised not to put the plate on your new car until the new registration arrives.

So this one still has a temp tag, so the pic can’t be that overdue… and I’m actually kinda pleased they didn’t put a front plate bracket on it, since we aren’t a front plate state.

28firefighter

So here the plates go with the person but they are a huge pain to transfer between vehicles if you were leasing/financing the previous vehicle. So dealers typically return them to the DOL for you when you trade in or sell to them. That's what I was expecting.

I mean this was over 3 years ago so I'm a little stunned it's still floating around out there.

qbrozen

@stickguy said:
hopefully you were at least towing.

Nope!
Just heavy-footin it everywhere

xwesx

qbrozen said:

Just heavy-footin it everywhere

Hahahah! I cannot even fathom!

jmonroe1

xwesx said:

qbrozen said:

Just heavy-footin it everywhere

Hahahah! I cannot even fathom!

_______________________________________________________________________________________
You're the only one.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

28firefighter said:

Here is a new one. I received a red light ticket in the mail today from the City of Federal Way, which is south of Seattle. Thing is, I haven't been anywhere near Federal Way in the better part of a year.

Sure enough, the photo is of a vehicle that is using the license plate off our old Outback but is attached to something else - probably a Ford Fusion or similar. There is no way to deal with this online, so now I have to submit a written statement and bill of sale that (1) it was sold before the infraction (and provide proof), (2) the vehicle in the picture is not a Subaru Outback.

I thought the whole point of me reporting the sale online and paying this fee was to avoid stuff like this...

Who thinks to keep a bill of sale? Usually I give a buyer form dtf-802 to pay sales tax when they register but I have never kept a copy of it. How would your motor vehicles agency not have a record of a new owner unless they have been running around unregistered for a year?

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

@28firefighter,
How did they get your old plate?
If we didn't transfer them to the new vehicle, we reported to the Motor Vehicle Dept that they did not go onto another vehicle and we still have the physical plates.

Exactly. In NY you can’t even cancel the insurance until you send them a certificate that says you turned in the plate. Of course that doesn’t stop people from creating phony plates and driving around unregistered and uninsured.

Michaell

oldfarmer50 said:

explorerx4 said:

@28firefighter,
How did they get your old plate?
If we didn't transfer them to the new vehicle, we reported to the Motor Vehicle Dept that they did not go onto another vehicle and we still have the physical plates.

Exactly. In NY you can’t even cancel the insurance until you send them a certificate that says you turned in the plate. Of course that doesn’t stop people from creating phony plates and driving around unregistered and uninsured.

There was a big artcle in the New York Times on this very subject yesterday - the proliferation of fake temporary tags and folks not permanently licensing their vehicles.

explorerx4

If you've ever watched TowTrucker on YT, you know it's a huge problem in Atlanta.

fintail

explorerx4 said:

If you've ever watched TowTrucker on YT, you know it's a huge problem in Atlanta.

Fake out of state temp tags are a thing all the way out here, too. Whenever I see one I assume it is fake, often on a car that likely couldn't have been driven from it's claimed origin.

I wouldn't want TowTrucker's job, I assume he is well trained in self defense.

nyccarguy

au1994 said:

nyccarguy said:

@au1994 said:

I had Kenwood and then Clarion CD players in my ‘89 Beretta. JVC amp and Clarion speakers. Couldn’t chum up the funds for an Alpine. Alarm too, not Clifford, Hornet, I think?

That car got me through college and after that I started leasing quite a bit once I started working so I had to be good with the factory deck. Which for the most part has been fine with me. Not exactly an audiophile. I just did the CD player because the Beretta didn’t come with one. Plus back then, you just put a car stereo in. You just did.

I’m sure you’ve mentioned it before, but I didn’t realize you had a Beretta. Me too. My 1st car was a ‘92 Beretta GT. V6 w/ the 3 Speed Automatic. I haven’t owned a GM car since.

Ok, this is funny. We’ve now had the Beretta, TSX, 328i and Tacoma (a ‘95 replaced the Beretta) in common.

My Beretta was an absolute dog. Former rental. Crank windows and the 2.0 w/3spd auto. Misc reliability problems: alternator left me stranded in rural AL on the way back to college. Pre cell phone days so that was interesting. ECU went out, drivers side window loved to pop out of its track.

Other than a brief flirtation with a GMC Canyon, it’s the last GM for me. I’ve considered them though as they have vastly improved since the ‘90s.

Don't forget the Wrangler 4Xe.

Misc reliability problems:
I had the EXACT same problem. Mine would actually separate itself from the track and fall into the door. It was a lot of fun when that happened during the winter while I was away at school in Ithaca, NY.

I bought mine brand new. Sticker was $16,001 back in 1992. The pushrod V6 had plenty of low end grunt.

My power windows wouldn't function while the rear defroster was on. Again, lots of fun back in the days before EZPASS & electronic tolling. I brought it to the dealer probably a dozen times. They could never replicate it. Years later there was a TSB or a recall for this problem.

At around the 60,000 mile mark, the 2nd lobe of the camshaft wore down and the engine would BANG under moderate to hard acceleration. I remember the mechanic at the time saying how "he's been a mechanic for X years and has NEVER seen a camshaft wear down the 2nd lobe."


Truth be told, when I've been shopping, there hasn't been a GM product that has interested me in the class of vehicle or price point.

au1994

nyccarguy said:

au1994 said:

nyccarguy said:

@au1994 said:

I had Kenwood and then Clarion CD players in my ‘89 Beretta. JVC amp and Clarion speakers. Couldn’t chum up the funds for an Alpine. Alarm too, not Clifford, Hornet, I think?

That car got me through college and after that I started leasing quite a bit once I started working so I had to be good with the factory deck. Which for the most part has been fine with me. Not exactly an audiophile. I just did the CD player because the Beretta didn’t come with one. Plus back then, you just put a car stereo in. You just did.

I’m sure you’ve mentioned it before, but I didn’t realize you had a Beretta. Me too. My 1st car was a ‘92 Beretta GT. V6 w/ the 3 Speed Automatic. I haven’t owned a GM car since.

Ok, this is funny. We’ve now had the Beretta, TSX, 328i and Tacoma (a ‘95 replaced the Beretta) in common.

My Beretta was an absolute dog. Former rental. Crank windows and the 2.0 w/3spd auto. Misc reliability problems: alternator left me stranded in rural AL on the way back to college. Pre cell phone days so that was interesting. ECU went out, drivers side window loved to pop out of its track.

Other than a brief flirtation with a GMC Canyon, it’s the last GM for me. I’ve considered them though as they have vastly improved since the ‘90s.

Don't forget the Wrangler 4Xe.

Misc reliability problems:
I had the EXACT same problem. Mine would actually separate itself from the track and fall into the door. It was a lot of fun when that happened during the winter while I was away at school in Ithaca, NY.

I bought mine brand new. Sticker was $16,001 back in 1992. The pushrod V6 had plenty of low end grunt.

My power windows wouldn't function while the rear defroster was on. Again, lots of fun back in the days before EZPASS & electronic tolling. I brought it to the dealer probably a dozen times. They could never replicate it. Years later there was a TSB or a recall for this problem.

At around the 60,000 mile mark, the 2nd lobe of the camshaft wore down and the engine would BANG under moderate to hard acceleration. I remember the mechanic at the time saying how "he's been a mechanic for X years and has NEVER seen a camshaft wear down the 2nd lobe."


Truth be told, when I've been shopping, there hasn't been a GM product that has interested me in the class of vehicle or price point.



Jeez, how did I miss the 4xe??

kyfdx

Some shots from Cars n Coffee, today

kyfdx

imidazol97

Thx for posting the pictures.

Sandman6472

Also had a Audiovox FM converter in my '67 Olds Cutlass Supreme. My fraternity brother installed it in the frat's driveway before we took a trip home to Florida. Was so nice to have FM even though the sound left a lot to be desired. Upgraded every vehicle I owned since then and luckily, the Golf's Fender system is pretty decent. Old school knobs for the on/off/volume and tuning which I prefer but I use the steering wheel controls 90% of the time anyways. Think the Kona has the Harman Kardon system which actually sounds pretty decent. The 2024 Kona has the Bose system currently.

fintail

kyfdx said:

Some shots from Cars n Coffee, today

Gulf livery thing appears to be a Fiero-based Dino tribute, a replicar not often seen.

28firefighter

My kiddo starts bike camp tomorrow for spring break this week. He finally outgrew his old bike and his new one is too big to fit in the trunk easily, so I found someone selling a lightly used Thule rack on FB marketplace - picked it up for $100 ($500 retail), works great, and I didn’t get stabbed. Win!

corvette

Here’s another lease bargain from my FB feed. Anyone want to lease an MDX for $839/month (effective) plus tax?

stickguy

nope. 54K sticker. Not cheap, though I suspect they come a lot more expensive in higher trim levels. But a $6k discount is pretty healthy.

jmonroe1

corvette said:

Here’s another lease bargain from my FB feed. Anyone want to lease an MDX for $839/month (effective) plus tax?

————————————————-
The only one I can think of right now is @oldfarmer50.

jmonroe

qbrozen

Poor bed liner design had led to this tailgate’s condition. It wraps around the bottom and is (was) glued in place, covering the drain holes. Pics are after I cut away the wraparound piece of the liner.

stickguy

that fixable, or do you need a new tailgate?

28firefighter

As long as it’s not rusted through I bet it can be repaired…

qbrozen

The hinges are still solid, so I am attempting to just make it look decent with trim and wrap. The problem is by the GMC badge where there is not much metal left for the trim to attach to. I may have to rig some support.

kyfdx

corvette said:

Here’s another lease bargain from my FB feed. Anyone want to lease an MDX for $839/month (effective) plus tax?

Effective rate is $739/mo

stickguy

6k spread over 24 months is $250/mo. So add that to $589 and get $839

kyfdx

stickguy said:

6k spread over 24 months is $250/mo. So add that to $589 and get $839

Duh.. missed the lease term.

Either way, you have to subtract the first payment from the $5999, before amortizing. so closer to $814/mo.

tjc78

It’s worse than that… have to add taxes and dealer fees.

kyfdx

Everywhere I go, there is always some jerk with a Porsche.

explorerx4

Trying to get the attention of the girls inside the studio?

kyfdx

explorerx4 said:

Trying to get the attention of the girls inside the studio?

That might be across the street from a brewery. 😉

tjc78

Mom’s new ride. Flawless broker deal … delivered to the house. Well worth the small cost for all the leg work on a good deal.

Black wheels are unfortunate… but the “Wind Chill Pearl” looks great in person.

Taking it for a drive shortly.

kyfdx

Looks good! Which trim?

stickguy

CX-5 or CX50?

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

Mom’s new ride. Flawless broker deal … delivered to the house. Well worth the small cost for all the leg work on a good deal.

Black wheels are unfortunate… but the “Wind Chill Pearl” looks great in person.

Taking it for a drive shortly.

————————————————-
Looks nice. It seems like black wheels are becoming the standard for CUV’s and SUV’s lately. That black doesn’t bother me.

I agree sometimes convenience is worth the price. Do you mind telling us what it cost you?

jmonroe

tjc78

It’s a CX-50 2.5S Preferred.

Broker deal 36K/10K - $401 /month $401/ DAS. 34K MSRP

Broker fee was $599, plus $99 for home delivery.

So - $420 effective

Not amazing, but for today a solid deal that would be tough to duplicate without emailing a dozen dealers. Also it was super easy. Couple emails, a credit app and it showed up today.

She is happy.

Just drove it. Much nicer drive than her current Murano even with much less power.