Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

benjaminh

Congrats on the new cars purchased in the last few months! I've been busy with work and travel, but have started thinking about cars a lot more the last week or so. Here's our situation. Our daughter has just graduated from college with honors. Her goal is to write graphic novels, but in the meantime will need to get some other kind of job. She's planning to move back to her college city in Ohio in a few months, and will need a car. My wife and I at first unrealistically thought that maybe we could go down to one car (my TLX) and lend to our daughter my wife's CR-V for a year. But the reality of sharing one car, once we thought it through, seemed unrealistic, given that we are both working and have different schedules.

So a car needs to be procured for either daughter or wife. A good new car value seems to be the Mazda CX-50 Select. The Select is the entry-level, but still has smart entry/push button start, blind-spot monitoring, wireless Android Auto/CarPlay, etc., standard for thousands less than a comparable Subaru Outback. List price of the nice blue one I test drive today is $32k, but with the dealer discount and rebate would be about $27.5 + TTL. So still about $30k, which is pretty good these days, but when I thought about writing a check by dipping deep into our emergency savings accounts, I blanched and started thinking about used. Plus, although I like the CX-50, the engine is a bit underpowered compared to our current cars. It's adequate, but....

So I quickly looked at the Used selection at our local Acura dealer, and an interesting possibility popped up --a 2005 Acura RL with SH-AWD for $4k. Yes it was old, and had 180k miles, but most of the service had been done by the Acura dealer. Seemed like it would be more fun to drive than the CX-50, but...by the time I asked about the RL today it had already been sold, giving me a surprising large amount of regret. I was thinking I could drive the RL for a few years, my wife could drive my TLX, and daughter could have the CR-V until she could get something of her own, and we could save all that money.

But now that little dream has vanished, and I'm back to thinking about the CX-50. Any thoughts on the Mazda or other possible options with a budget of up to $30k? Thanks in advance.

greg128

mjfloyd1 said:

breld said:

Well, casual browsing on Saturday turned into a punch for us today.

Wife liked her X5 just fine, but craved something with a bit more character and she loves herself a wagon.

So this slightly used Audi A6 Allroad came up…looked at it Saturday and made the deal today. It provides all the comfort and functionality of the X5 but in cool wagon form.

Color me surprised @breld

Nice avant though

Still no shadow line package?😎

The side profile is gorgeous and much nicer than any SUV and probably just as practical. Pretty long at 195" but shorter than an Accord. It has stellar consumer reviews on edmunds and it's quick. Good luck!

28firefighter

Pacific Hybrid particularly rules. Loved that on a roadtrip we took a few years back.

au1994

@benjaminh lots of choices out there! Getting to be a little better time to shop so thats good.

I’m sure we all have some opinions we’d be happy to share. Sounds like you’ve got to decide new or used first.

jmonroe1

@benjaminh, used cars pop up all the time. If you want a used Acura and you trust the dealer that had the one that got away, tell them what you’re looking for and I’m sure they can find one fairly quick. They might even be in the process of taking one in on a trade soon. It never hurts to let them know you’re interested.

jmonroe

benjaminh

I'm having trouble deciding between used and new.

Maybe I could just get a used but somewhat fun car for me, or maybe we should get a longer-term new car for my wife or daughter. Just don't know. If the right used car came up I can see going that route, even though I seemingly swore off of used cars almost 20 years ago. But maybe there are good used cars out there with good value. Although I was pining over that 2005 RL that slipped through my fingers, after watching this video on common problems with old RLs probably I dodged a bullet....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqcoTGfpcyM

roadburner

If I had the disposable income I'd be ordering an E53 Hybrid. It ticks the most important requirement for a replacement- it's faster than my current car (0-60 in 3.7 seconds 174 mph top speed). It has a 62 mile EV range and can be configured for one pedal driving. If only the wagon was available in the US.

benjaminh

This video helped cure me of the likely folly of getting an low cost used car...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB7DpaMo8jI

breld

nyccarguy said:

breld said:

nyccarguy said:

stickguy said:

we can certainly trade one utility vehicle for something fun as long as my wife doesn't mind driving it. But she would have no interest in a convertible for something she drove all the time. Good thing she hardly ever drives so it is basically my car too!

She is not a fan of really low cars. Never was, and at our age, even less so!

WRX & BRZ sales are way down year over year. Just sayin'

The WRX is a great daily for a sporty vehicle.

I forgot, did you have the previous generation or the current generation?

It was a current generation. It’s been awhile since I’ve driven the previous versions, but I was immediately impressed by how well-mannered the new one is.

breld

Just found out today that the insurance company for the driver who was responsible for my wife’s accident in the X5 agreed to pay $3,200 for diminished value.

I had put together a schedule and some support for around $5k, not expecting to get that, so we are very pleased with the offer. Particularly since we just traded it in and didn’t seem to take too much of a bath on it!

breld

Also spent much of the day today driving to and from a tax appointment in Fort Collins, north of Denver.

For my state tax refund, the DOR rejected both my claims for EV credits. The correspondence didn’t make sense, as it cited all possible reasons for the denial, none of which were accurate. Turns out they had a glitch in their system that rejected the EV credit claims for a little while, turning them over to manual review. So they are super backed up with that, hence the need to travel further for an in-person appointment.

xwesx

Icing on the cake. Yummy!

xwesx

@benjaminh With some of the lease deals that folks here are posting currently, I feel like leasing an electric vehicle might be just the ticket! You could get into something cheaply, have very little cost of ownership, and you wouldn't need it for anything but local (commute) duty anyway. This would get your daughter into a car quickly, not leave you and the spouse in a lurch sharing one car, and give you plenty of time to ponder "what's next" without making any major financial commitments on short notice.

jmonroe1

breld said:

Also spent much of the day today driving to and from a tax appointment in Fort Collins, north of Denver.

For my state tax refund, the DOR rejected both my claims for EV credits. The correspondence didn’t make sense, as it cited all possible reasons for the denial, none of which were accurate. Turns out they had a glitch in their system that rejected the EV credit claims for a little while, turning them over to manual review. So they are super backed up with that, hence the need to travel further for an in-person appointment.

————————————————
Bureaucracy glitches always cause heartburn to both sides but the customer is usually inconvenienced much more. Sometimes it seems like they just want you to go away.

jmonroe

kyfdx

breld said:

Also spent much of the day today driving to and from a tax appointment in Fort Collins, north of Denver.

For my state tax refund, the DOR rejected both my claims for EV credits. The correspondence didn’t make sense, as it cited all possible reasons for the denial, none of which were accurate. Turns out they had a glitch in their system that rejected the EV credit claims for a little while, turning them over to manual review. So they are super backed up with that, hence the need to travel further for an in-person appointment.

A friend who retired early has very little taxable income, though he is fairly well off.

The IRA provided subsidies for those buying insurance on the federal website. He did his research and found he qualified for those subsidies. He got rejected. Filed an appeal.

After a few phone calls, he found out the state was rejecting everyone that didn't qualify for Medicaid. Once he filed the appeal, they called and asked him to rescind the appeal, and then they approved him for the subsidy he qualified for.

Crazy was to do business.

oldfarmer50

benjaminh said:

Congrats on the new cars purchased in the last few months! I've been busy with work and travel, but have started thinking about cars a lot more the last week or so. Here's our situation. Our daughter has just graduated from college with honors. Her goal is to write graphic novels, but in the meantime will need to get some other kind of job. She's planning to move back to her college city in Ohio in a few months, and will need a car. My wife and I at first unrealistically thought that maybe we could go down to one car (my TLX) and lend to our daughter my wife's CR-V for a year. But the reality of sharing one car, once we thought it through, seemed unrealistic, given that we are both working and have different schedules.

So a car needs to be procured for either daughter or wife. A good new car value seems to be the Mazda CX-50 Select. The Select is the entry-level, but still has smart entry/push button start, blind-spot monitoring, wireless Android Auto/CarPlay, etc., standard for thousands less than a comparable Subaru Outback. List price of the nice blue one I test drive today is $32k, but with the dealer discount and rebate would be about $27.5 + TTL. So still about $30k, which is pretty good these days, but when I thought about writing a check by dipping deep into our emergency savings accounts, I blanched and started thinking about used. Plus, although I like the CX-50, the engine is a bit underpowered compared to our current cars. It's adequate, but....

So I quickly looked at the Used selection at our local Acura dealer, and an interesting possibility popped up --a 2005 Acura RL with SH-AWD for $4k. Yes it was old, and had 180k miles, but most of the service had been done by the Acura dealer. Seemed like it would be more fun to drive than the CX-50, but...by the time I asked about the RL today it had already been sold, giving me a surprising large amount of regret. I was thinking I could drive the RL for a few years, my wife could drive my TLX, and daughter could have the CR-V until she could get something of her own, and we could save all that money.

But now that little dream has vanished, and I'm back to thinking about the CX-50. Any thoughts on the Mazda or other possible options with a budget of up to $30k? Thanks in advance.

I’ve driven all the Mazda SUVs and I like the CX-50 the best. Just the right sized and I didn’t think it lacked power.

oldfarmer50

breld said:

Also spent much of the day today driving to and from a tax appointment in Fort Collins, north of Denver.

For my state tax refund, the DOR rejected both my claims for EV credits. The correspondence didn’t make sense, as it cited all possible reasons for the denial, none of which were accurate. Turns out they had a glitch in their system that rejected the EV credit claims for a little while, turning them over to manual review. So they are super backed up with that, hence the need to travel further for an in-person appointment.

At least you got in touch with somebody. I have a minor IRS problem with the account number for the refund and I just gave up trying to get anybody but a machine without a long wait. I called the IRS advocate and after being on hold for 30 minutes the person who answered bounced me to another office when the wait would be an hour.

andres3

jmonroe1 said:

stickguy said:

we can certainly trade one utility vehicle for something fun as long as my wife doesn't mind driving it. But she would have no interest in a convertible for something she drove all the time. Good thing she hardly ever drives so it is basically my car too!

She is not a fan of really low cars. Never was, and at our age, even less so!

————————————————-
One of the earliest signs you’re getting old is admitting it.

jmonroe

Who do you go to for warranty claims on your own body parts?

andres3

jmonroe1 said:

breld said:

Also spent much of the day today driving to and from a tax appointment in Fort Collins, north of Denver.

For my state tax refund, the DOR rejected both my claims for EV credits. The correspondence didn’t make sense, as it cited all possible reasons for the denial, none of which were accurate. Turns out they had a glitch in their system that rejected the EV credit claims for a little while, turning them over to manual review. So they are super backed up with that, hence the need to travel further for an in-person appointment.

————————————————
Bureaucracy glitches always cause heartburn to both sides but the customer is usually inconvenienced much more. Sometimes it seems like they just want you to go away.

jmonroe

This is why I value rebates at about .10 on the dollar, and that's generous. Just can't count on them.

andres3

breld said:

Just found out today that the insurance company for the driver who was responsible for my wife’s accident in the X5 agreed to pay $3,200 for diminished value.

I had put together a schedule and some support for around $5k, not expecting to get that, so we are very pleased with the offer. Particularly since we just traded it in and didn’t seem to take too much of a bath on it!

The key is more people just making the claim. If too many people forget to claim it, Insurance companies start believing in alternate realities where things that exist don't exist.

andres3

benjaminh said:

Congrats on the new cars purchased in the last few months! I've been busy with work and travel, but have started thinking about cars a lot more the last week or so. Here's our situation. Our daughter has just graduated from college with honors. Her goal is to write graphic novels, but in the meantime will need to get some other kind of job. She's planning to move back to her college city in Ohio in a few months, and will need a car. My wife and I at first unrealistically thought that maybe we could go down to one car (my TLX) and lend to our daughter my wife's CR-V for a year. But the reality of sharing one car, once we thought it through, seemed unrealistic, given that we are both working and have different schedules.

So a car needs to be procured for either daughter or wife. A good new car value seems to be the Mazda CX-50 Select. The Select is the entry-level, but still has smart entry/push button start, blind-spot monitoring, wireless Android Auto/CarPlay, etc., standard for thousands less than a comparable Subaru Outback. List price of the nice blue one I test drive today is $32k, but with the dealer discount and rebate would be about $27.5 + TTL. So still about $30k, which is pretty good these days, but when I thought about writing a check by dipping deep into our emergency savings accounts, I blanched and started thinking about used. Plus, although I like the CX-50, the engine is a bit underpowered compared to our current cars. It's adequate, but....

So I quickly looked at the Used selection at our local Acura dealer, and an interesting possibility popped up --a 2005 Acura RL with SH-AWD for $4k. Yes it was old, and had 180k miles, but most of the service had been done by the Acura dealer. Seemed like it would be more fun to drive than the CX-50, but...by the time I asked about the RL today it had already been sold, giving me a surprising large amount of regret. I was thinking I could drive the RL for a few years, my wife could drive my TLX, and daughter could have the CR-V until she could get something of her own, and we could save all that money.

But now that little dream has vanished, and I'm back to thinking about the CX-50. Any thoughts on the Mazda or other possible options with a budget of up to $30k? Thanks in advance.

I test drove a 2010 and 2011 Honda CRV yesterday, both with around 130K miles. Both drove fine and were fairly clean cars.

However, being 14 years old one exhibited CA sun wear as if it had been left out the whole 14 years without a wax job. The headlights in particular. The other was better kept, but just an EX and not EX-L. Both felt like Eco Economy cars to me, more like a Fit SUV and less like an Accord SUV. Still, would probably be very cheap transportation for a few more years. A bit too far of a departure from cars I actually like driving though.

ab348

stickguy said:

I need to stop at the Subaru dealer one day. I would love a BRZ but unlikely they will have one. Have not tried out a new style Wrx but interesting idea.

I forgot to mention this but 2 weeks ago I had lunch with a few of my car buddies, one of whom arrived in his BRZ. This his second one. He bought his first last year after waiting for it for many months. About a week after getting it, he got into an accident where he was not at fault and it was written off even though the damage did not seem severe. I forget the reason but apparently the parts damaged were buried deep in the structure and it was decided it could not be economically repaired. So he had another long wait for a replacement but at least that meant he would get a 2024.

I was surprised how much I liked it when I saw it. It is a very pretty shade of silver and is a stick. It was just very nice inside and out. He does some competition driving with it and babies it otherwise. Under the hood it was spotless as he is a bit anal about cleanliness. Lovely car.

stickguy

Busy day here! Benjamin, I agree that cheap old cars now are probably best avoided. Partly because they are still new enough to be overly complicated and have electronics/computers/sensors that if they fail are probably unreplaceable. So be ready to cut and run if things go bad.

your situation, back in the good old days, would have been perfect for a cheap lease on a cheap car (or even better, a mid priced one!) Like when we got our daughter a nice Jetta to use for college for a whopping $225/month all in.

I like the suggestion about finding one of those on an EV though. I saw a couple that were very intriguing.

Or be the mean dad and tell your kid good luck, you are on your own!

roadburner

Today I was extremely disappointed with my coworkers in the probation revocation docket; I quoted Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and NOBODY caught it. I was ending a revocation hearing by reading the probation officer’s list of violations and her recommendation that the defendant be revoked and sent to prison. I finished by saying, “My only response to this report is: I second that emotion.”
He did get revoked, but still…

jmonroe1

andres3 said:

jmonroe1 said:

stickguy said:

we can certainly trade one utility vehicle for something fun as long as my wife doesn't mind driving it. But she would have no interest in a convertible for something she drove all the time. Good thing she hardly ever drives so it is basically my car too!

She is not a fan of really low cars. Never was, and at our age, even less so!

————————————————-
One of the earliest signs you’re getting old is admitting it.

jmonroe

Who do you go to for warranty claims on your own body parts?

————————————————-
So far, no parts have required replacement. Just opted for a couple minor repairs.

jmonroe

mjfloyd1

breld said:

@mjfloyd1 said:

Color me surprised @breld

Nice avant though

Still no shadow line package?😎

I knew I could count on you to notice that.

So now there are TWO Audis in the garage without the black optic! Gasp! 😀

My wife likes the chrome too

explorerx4

@benjaminh,
If you are going to buy a new vehicle, pass your wife's CR-V onto your daughter and have your wife pick out a new vehicle.
I'm thinking your daughter has never owned a vehicle, much less bought one, so there's some learning to be done there. A scratch or a dent on a 6 year old vehicle is a lot less traumatic than on a new one.

fintail

roadburner said:

One perk of the AMG Private Lounge is occasional access to some cool items. This year I was given a big (27”x17”) wall calendar. The month of June is entitled Green Hell celebrating the Nürburgring 24 Hours

They used to make those calendars back in the 00s-early teens when I was in that group. I eventually gave them all away. They also arranged a MB factory (engine) tour in Affalterbach I was able to partake in.

roadburner

fintail said:

roadburner said:

One perk of the AMG Private Lounge is occasional access to some cool items. This year I was given a big (27”x17”) wall calendar. The month of June is entitled Green Hell celebrating the Nürburgring 24 Hours

They used to make those calendars back in the 00s-early teens when I was in that group. I eventually gave them all away. They also arranged a MB factory (engine) tour in Affalterbach I was able to partake in.

I used to get a similarly sized calendar from BMW when I served on the BMW Club board, but that was back in the '90s. I don't know if they still offer them.

oldfarmer50

fintail said:

roadburner said:

One perk of the AMG Private Lounge is occasional access to some cool items. This year I was given a big (27”x17”) wall calendar. The month of June is entitled Green Hell celebrating the Nürburgring 24 Hours

They used to make those calendars back in the 00s-early teens when I was in that group. I eventually gave them all away. They also arranged a MB factory (engine) tour in Affalterbach I was able to partake in.

A coworker used to be a sales rep for Snap On Tools. He said he still had numerous old promotional calendars from decades ago with pictures of girls for each month. These became politically incorrect long ago and are no longer distributed.

He thought they might have some nostalgic value and took them to a flea market. To his suprise everybody wanted one and a small bidding war broke out. Some were sold to women who wanted them for boyfriend or hubby.

au1994

Put the Jeep into Carvana again: $33200, residual is $35. Magically if I trade into a new car with them, they estimate I will save the difference on taxes. I did look at Mavericks, 16 total 2 in the buying process and none of the remaining 14 blew my skirt up from a color, mileage or feature standpoint.

On whim I hit webuyanycar.com. Not sure if they are nationwide and I think they are fairly new. They hit it at $29,100.

Oh and its finally in for 2 recalls and its last Jeep wave oil change and tire rotation.

nyccarguy

oldfarmer50 said:

fintail said:

roadburner said:

One perk of the AMG Private Lounge is occasional access to some cool items. This year I was given a big (27”x17”) wall calendar. The month of June is entitled Green Hell celebrating the Nürburgring 24 Hours

They used to make those calendars back in the 00s-early teens when I was in that group. I eventually gave them all away. They also arranged a MB factory (engine) tour in Affalterbach I was able to partake in.

A coworker used to be a sales rep for Snap On Tools. He said he still had numerous old promotional calendars from decades ago with pictures of girls for each month. These became politically incorrect long ago and are no longer distributed.

He thought they might have some nostalgic value and took them to a flea market. To his suprise everybody wanted one and a small bidding war broke out. Some were sold to women who wanted them for boyfriend or hubby.

Funny you mention snap on tools calendars. For YEARS (decades), Ridgid used to give out calendars very similar to the ones you describe. We'd literally get stacks of them every year. One year they started sending calendars out based on prior year's sales volume. We had a slow year with them the year before coupled with the fact that the year before that we placed a large order in December. They sent us three calendars. Then they stopped making the calendars all together.

breld

au1994 said:

Magically if I trade into a new car with them, they estimate I will save the difference on taxes.

This made me laugh.

I may have mentioned it before, but it burns me up when a salesperson/manager boasts of the tax savings on trade and says, "it's as if we're giving you "this much" in trade due to the tax savings." I understand what they're getting at, comparing their trade to a buy bid at Carmax, but it's simply becoming a tactic for dealers to lower their trade offers. If I'm in a good mood, I usually just reply, with a smile, "the value is the value...taxes are completely separate."

stickguy

They aren’t giving it to you. The state is giving it to you.

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

fintail said:

roadburner said:

One perk of the AMG Private Lounge is occasional access to some cool items. This year I was given a big (27”x17”) wall calendar. The month of June is entitled Green Hell celebrating the Nürburgring 24 Hours

They used to make those calendars back in the 00s-early teens when I was in that group. I eventually gave them all away. They also arranged a MB factory (engine) tour in Affalterbach I was able to partake in.

A coworker used to be a sales rep for Snap On Tools. He said he still had numerous old promotional calendars from decades ago with pictures of girls for each month. These became politically incorrect long ago and are no longer distributed.

He thought they might have some nostalgic value and took them to a flea market. To his suprise everybody wanted one and a small bidding war broke out. Some were sold to women who wanted them for boyfriend or hubby.

————————————————
Not surprised that politics ruined another piece of American culture.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

stickguy said:

They aren’t giving it to you. The state is giving it to you.

————————————————
Agreed. Any knowledgeable buyer should know that but their thinking must be…if they don’t blow their own horn, who will? It probably works more often than we think.

jmonroe

stickguy

Well it does fall into the bottom line category. They might be giving you less but if you are netting more still to your benefit.

qbrozen

au1994 said:

On whim I hit webuyanycar.com. Not sure if they are nationwide and I think they are fairly new. They hit it at $29,100.

I tried them a while back on one of my jeeps. They gave a decent price, but when I went in person, as required by them because I had a payoff, the guy was clueless and wouldn't make the deal. Said I had to buy it myself first. I tried straightening him out, but he wasn't having it.

au1994

There’s a $379 36/10 lease on the Silverado LT Crew Cab 4wd out there.

Catches are its the turbo 4 if that bothers you and $3499 down after all offers. I hardly ever see that combo in inventory around here. We must like our V8’s!

kyfdx

au1994 said:

There’s a $379 36/10 lease on the Silverado LT Crew Cab 4wd out there.

Catches are its the turbo 4 if that bothers you and $3499 down after all offers. I hardly ever see that combo in inventory around here. We must like our V8’s!

Yeah, that's the 2FL vs 1LT. Great lease deal

ab348

Sarah N Tuned tested the turbo 4 and liked it IIRC. Drive it and decide I guess.

au1994

ab348 said:

Sarah N Tuned tested the turbo 4 and liked it IIRC. Drive it and decide I guess.

The stats are impressive…310 hp torque 430.

xwesx

au1994 said:

ab348 said:

Sarah N Tuned tested the turbo 4 and liked it IIRC. Drive it and decide I guess.

The stats are impressive…310 hp torque 430.

For an "around town" truck, the small turbos are really the way to go. If you're going to work the truck, then get a larger engine.

jmonroe1

xwesx said:

au1994 said:

ab348 said:

Sarah N Tuned tested the turbo 4 and liked it IIRC. Drive it and decide I guess.

The stats are impressive…310 hp torque 430.

For an "around town" truck, the small turbos are really the way to go. If you're going to work the truck, then get a larger engine.

————————————————
So, what you’re saying is use your car for groceries and leave your little truck in the garage and continue to make payments on it. That way you won’t mile up the truck and it’ll be worth more at trade in time.

Rinse and repeat.

jmonroe

Michaell

Somebody was mentioning kids and cars recently ... guess the same is happening here.

Daughter is over the MINI experience - not a fan of the rough ride now that she's in her mid-30's. She is the picture of "champagne tastes on a beer budget".

Trying to decide between a hybrid and PHEV on the Kia Sportage. There is about an $8K difference between the two, but CO has a $5350 tax credit that comes off the price on PHEV and BEV vehicles, so that narrows the price gap considerably.

Of course, finding cars on the lot is still a bit of a challenge - I'm not sure I'm ready to step foot on our local Kia dealers lot, just yet, but I may have to.

Ugh - I know this is supposed to be fun, but the high interest rates and somewhat limited inventory makes this more of a chore than I want it to be. She's pretty specific about color, and options, but there may need to be some compromising necessary.

@suydam - did you test drive the Sportage hybrid, or only the PHEV?

corvette

Does the Sportage PHEV also qualify for the $7,500 federal rebate, or did your calculation of the $8k difference already take that into account?

au1994

The high interest rates are the buzz kill for me. I was planning on buying the Mav but we will see. Our credit union has a 4.5 rate on up to $35k for up to 6 years so I’d have to put a bit down on it to get it there. Not all bad though comparatively.

nyccarguy

au1994 said:

There’s a $379 36/10 lease on the Silverado LT Crew Cab 4wd out there.

Catches are its the turbo 4 if that bothers you and $3499 down after all offers. I hardly ever see that combo in inventory around here. We must like our V8’s!

Hey, it is a lease. Don't knock it 'til you try it. If it was cheap enough, I'd completely go for a 4cyl Turbo Silverado or Sierra.

nyccarguy

Michaell said:

Somebody was mentioning kids and cars recently ... guess the same is happening here.

Daughter is over the MINI experience - not a fan of the rough ride now that she's in her mid-30's. She is the picture of "champagne tastes on a beer budget".

Trying to decide between a hybrid and PHEV on the Kia Sportage. There is about an $8K difference between the two, but CO has a $5350 tax credit that comes off the price on PHEV and BEV vehicles, so that narrows the price gap considerably.

Of course, finding cars on the lot is still a bit of a challenge - I'm not sure I'm ready to step foot on our local Kia dealers lot, just yet, but I may have to.

Ugh - I know this is supposed to be fun, but the high interest rates and somewhat limited inventory makes this more of a chore than I want it to be. She's pretty specific about color, and options, but there may need to be some compromising necessary.

@suydam - did you test drive the Sportage hybrid, or only the PHEV?

Now, now. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.

xwesx

Michaell said:

Ugh - I know this is supposed to be fun, but the high interest rates and somewhat limited inventory makes this more of a chore than I want it to be. She's pretty specific about color, and options, but there may need to be some compromising necessary.

I think you said that the MINI is working perfectly at the moment, so it doesn't sound like there is any real hurry on the replacement.