Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

au1994

@sda said:
My wife had about a week's notice to be in the office 3 days a week. This is her third week back to the office. It is a 25 mile drive which can take 1-1.5 hours and she has to pay for parking $20 early bird. Not happy.

I’m not a fan of mandates to RTO. I find myself there 2-3 days a week anyway. One thing I will not stand for is people in the building dialing into a Teams meeting with others in the building. That happened to me recently.

That’s a bad commute your wife has and I wouldn’t be happy either.

stickguy

If my wife got told she had to start coming back in she would be retiring early since the office is now 4 hours away! Better than mine at least. That’s in Texas.

She would be happy with the excuse though. We are mentally ready. Just. Good idea to give the financial part a little more time to recover from the beating of a new house and 2 weddings in a 12 month span!

breld

@mjfloyd1 - congrats on the Lexus. It's pretty!

pensfan83

I'm back to my pre-COVID schedule for the most part which is 3 days in, 2 days at home. My wife is the same. We have flexibility though so some weeks it's 2 days in, some weeks it's none if we're at the lake, there's work travel, etc. I use mass transit and she has a roughly 35 minute, 15 mile commute to an office park.

We never anticipated the remote work becoming a permanent fixture in our lives so as long as there's sufficient flexibility afforded, it's a non-issue with us.

nyccarguy

pensfan83 said:

I'm back to my pre-COVID schedule for the most part which is 3 days in, 2 days at home. My wife is the same. We have flexibility though so some weeks it's 2 days in, some weeks it's none if we're at the lake, there's work travel, etc. I use mass transit and she has a roughly 35 minute, 15 mile commute to an office park.

We never anticipated the remote work becoming a permanent fixture in our lives so as long as there's sufficient flexibility afforded, it's a non-issue with us.

Then the light rail or whatever you use lets you off at the office park where you work or you have to walk from there? You said the parking by the mass transit is easy?

pensfan83

I work downtown and my wife works at a suburban office park. My drive to the closest park and ride is less than 10 minutes. From there I catch the bus and get dropped off a half block from my office. My daily cost to ride the bus is $5.50, parking downtown varies though the garage I use when I do drive is $16. I use pre-tax dollars to fund an account that I then use to reload my bus pass and pay to park downtown.

corvette

I'm WFH four days a week, unless our department director is out, in which case, myself and the other supervisor try to cover those days. The office is only a one mile commute from my house, but that is certain to change next year because we're planning on relocating the office.

28firefighter

My employer pays for our public transit pass if thats our choice to commute (I’m in 50% of the time). I take light rail from the park and ride and it saves me time plus $$. Parking downtown is anywhere from $18-$30/day depending when I get in.

sda

I am in the office 5 days every other week. I am in the office this week. 40 mile commute each way, yet the travel time is less than my wife's

suydam

stickguy said:

If my wife got told she had to start coming back in she would be retiring early since the office is now 4 hours away! Better than mine at least. That’s in Texas.

She would be happy with the excuse though. We are mentally ready. Just. Good idea to give the financial part a little more time to recover from the beating of a new house and 2 weddings in a 12 month span!

Congrats on a lot of blessings and wonderful memories!

qbrozen

Looks like the Charger is sold. Older couple was here, took it for a spin, we agreed on a price, and they are off getting the money.

tifighter

We expect people to be in the office Tues and Thurs so we can plan FTF departmental meetings, working groups, team events etc. One of the problems is that people take that to mean those are the only days they don't work from home. And if they need to do some other offsite meeting that week, they can only schedule it for T or TH and don't come into the office. No, that's what Mon, Weds and Friday are for...

graphicguy

Hi my fellow Edmundsians (sp?).

Haven't chatted for a while. My sister is looking to end her love affair with Jaguars. And, is now on the prowl for an EV.

I told her I wouldn't purchase one, but would lease one because of their plummeting resale values.

Need advice from you all.

What's leasing the best on any EV not called a Leaf?

Appreciate any info.

corvette

The Blazer and Equinox EVs have some nice looking one-pay lease deals. The 2024 Ariya appears to have a decent 24-month lease deal.

kyfdx

graphicguy said:

Hi my fellow Edmundsians (sp?).

Haven't chatted for a while. My sister is looking to end her love affair with Jaguars. And, is now on the prowl for an EV.

I told her I wouldn't purchase one, but would lease one because of their plummeting resale values.

Need advice from you all.

What's leasing the best on any EV not called a Leaf?

Appreciate any info.

Hyundai Ioniq5, maybe?

nyccarguy

I WAW 4-6 days a week during the spring/summer & WAW 5-6 days a week during the fall/winter

graphicguy

kyfdx said:

graphicguy said:

Hi my fellow Edmundsians (sp?).

Haven't chatted for a while. My sister is looking to end her love affair with Jaguars. And, is now on the prowl for an EV.

I told her I wouldn't purchase one, but would lease one because of their plummeting resale values.

Need advice from you all.

What's leasing the best on any EV not called a Leaf?

Appreciate any info.

Hyundai Ioniq5, maybe?

Hey Walt...hope you're well. Thanks for the suggestion. I personally would have no issue with a Kia/Hyundai product. My sister is "brand sensitive", though. I'll try to get her behind the wheel of one, though.

I know you and Michaell are the leasing gurus. My sister isn't as price sensitive as I am. But, it looks like those Ionic 5s aren't necessarily budget EVs. But, if she's leasing, may not matter. Do those have incentives? Lease rates? Heck, if the deal is right, I might lease one.

She was looking at the Lexus RZ. The WEB site said it had $18,500 lease cash. But, I vaguely recall it having some pretty dismal range and long charging times.

Thanks!

kyfdx

graphicguy said:

kyfdx said:

graphicguy said:

Hi my fellow Edmundsians (sp?).

Haven't chatted for a while. My sister is looking to end her love affair with Jaguars. And, is now on the prowl for an EV.

I told her I wouldn't purchase one, but would lease one because of their plummeting resale values.

Need advice from you all.

What's leasing the best on any EV not called a Leaf?

Appreciate any info.

Hyundai Ioniq5, maybe?

Hey Walt...hope you're well. Thanks for the suggestion. I personally would have no issue with a Kia/Hyundai product. My sister is "brand sensitive", though. I'll try to get her behind the wheel of one, though.

I know you and Michaell are the leasing gurus. My sister isn't as price sensitive as I am. But, it looks like those Ionic 5s aren't necessarily budget EVs. But, if she's leasing, may not matter. Do those have incentives? Lease rates? Heck, if the deal is right, I might lease one.

She was looking at the Lexus RZ. The WEB site said it had $18,500 lease cash. But, I vaguely recall it having some pretty dismal range and long charging times.

Thanks!

The Ioniq 5 has $12,500 - $15,000 in incentives, depending on term/trim

And residuals that are 15% higher than the Lexus

corvette

Re: long charging times, I was playing around with the Plugshare website and it appears that quite a few of the DCFCs that are labeled "150kW" are only 150kW if your EV is on an 800 volt architecture, and they max out at 80kW on 400 volt EVs. That's going to be another thing I'll have to plan around when I take a road trip in the Ariya.

laurasdada

Since 3/16/20, WFH full time. My pre-Covid commute was ~14 miles and took ~40 minutes on a good morning. Since moving, I'm now ~55 miles from the office, with no public transportation available to this west of Boston office park. But free charging stations at work!
So, if RTO became a mandate, I'm retired. Which, consistently, the company has stressed the office is a magnet, not a mandate. 99% of my team is in Canada/AsiaPacific, so being in the USHO would offer me very little face to face interaction.
I'm too old to commit 3-4 hours/day commuting. Even in such outstanding vehicles that I'm lucky enough to own!

qbrozen

The Charger has left the building. A bit sad.

On the plus side, I sold it for what I paid for it 5 years ago.

explorerx4

QB has some money burning a hole in his pocket.

Michaell

@kyfdx said:
The Ioniq 5 has $12,500 - $15,000 in incentives, depending on term/trim

And residuals that are 15% higher than the Lexus

@graphicguy - is she shopping for a car or a deal? Has she test driven any EVs to see if she likes the experience? They all drive differently - some are like ICE vehicles where you use both pedals, others have a more pronounced “one pedal” feel to them.

qbrozen

@explorerx4 said:
QB has some money burning a hole in his pocket.

Oh no. The QP and Alfa have already taken up more than the space provided by the Dodge.

When the Toyota sells, then I can roll that investment to the next JDM.

oldfarmer50

laurasdada said:

Since 3/16/20, WFH full time. My pre-Covid commute was ~14 miles and took ~40 minutes on a good morning. Since moving, I'm now ~55 miles from the office, with no public transportation available to this west of Boston office park. But free charging stations at work!
So, if RTO became a mandate, I'm retired. Which, consistently, the company has stressed the office is a magnet, not a mandate. 99% of my team is in Canada/AsiaPacific, so being in the USHO would offer me very little face to face interaction.
I'm too old to commit 3-4 hours/day commuting. Even in such outstanding vehicles that I'm lucky enough to own!

That’s why I like my job, after a short drive TO the office I get to DRIVE my office.☺️

explorerx4

@qbrozen,
That's the Toyota 'Other' that keeps popping on my feeds?

tjc78

@Michaell said:

@kyfdx said:
The Ioniq 5 has $12,500 - $15,000 in incentives, depending on term/trim

And residuals that are 15% higher than the Lexus

@graphicguy - is she shopping for a car or a deal? Has she test driven any EVs to see if she likes the experience? They all drive differently - some are like ICE vehicles where you use both pedals, others have a more pronounced “one pedal” feel to them.

Our EQE has so many different settings. It can go from one foot driving, or take regen to minimum and turn on “creep” and it drives just like a normal car. That is the way we have it.

@graphicguy
Still great deals to be had on the Mercedes EQ models. I keep seeing them from the brokers on LH.

nyccarguy

@qbrozen said:
The Charger has left the building. A bit sad.

On the plus side, I sold it for what I paid for it 5 years ago.

That was a cool car! Good job making the tough decision to get rid of it.

sda

Both are manuals.

suydam

corvette said:

Re: long charging times, I was playing around with the Plugshare website and it appears that quite a few of the DCFCs that are labeled "150kW" are only 150kW if your EV is on an 800 volt architecture, and they max out at 80kW on 400 volt EVs. That's going to be another thing I'll have to plan around when I take a road trip in the Ariya.

True, but on the Blazer that just means it takes 1/2 hour instead of 15 minutes. Since the public chargers here are in a mall, I’m usually running errands anyway so it’s no big deal. On a road trip, you’d stop at some fast food place, use the bathroom and the car would be ready.

roadburner

Last winter my niece announced her engagement and I quipped that I'd perform the ceremony for $150. She took me up on the offer- but my wife said that I couldn't charge her for it. Anyway, last weekend was the wedding. Kudos to my wife, who worked with the bride-to-be to put together the ceremony. Extra kudos for keeping it under 20 minutes.

As luck would have it, the County Judge's secretary called my office Thursday and asked if I could perform a wedding. I thought she was joking but it turned out the judge was out and I was the only person she knew to call. So I went downstairs and five minutes later the happy couple were husband and wife.
The next day we packed up the C43 and headed to Covington- with a stop at the Greater Cincinnati airport to pick up my son and his girlfriend. My son had found a nice Airbnb about a 5 minute drive from the venue. It was really nice, but the street and driveway were quite narrow; the surround view and 360 degree proximity sensors on the C43 were much appreciated. The rehearsal dinner was at MRBL, and the food was excellent. I was dismayed to see guy walk in with a guitar and set up to perform in the corner, but he turned out to be extremely good.

My niece followed the example of my wife and I and had all of the pictures taken at a local park before the ceremony so the wedding guests were not waiting interminably at the reception. The wedding went off without a hitch -again, kudos to my wife- and the reception was quite nice, even though the DJ only played one of my requests (I was especially disappointed that Polyester Bride by Liz Phair didn't make the cut).

The C43 took everything in stride, despite being relegated to workhorse duty during much of the weekend. The trunk easily swallowed all of our luggage and the navigation system was dead accurate (I especially appreciate the Mercedes me connect app which lets me send the destinations from my phone to the car). All in all it was a great weekend, even though I'm not a big fan of attending weddings (my wife still tells people how she caught me checking my watch during our wedding- although in my defense the watch I was admiring was the Heuer she gave me for a wedding present).

graphicguy

Thanks all! Great suggestions!

She and I went test driving. Agree, it’s a different experience. Easier for me since I have a hybrid. For her, coming from decades of driving ICE vehicles, it is a pretty big leap. Not a bad leap, just a big leap.

Test drove Blazer EV and a Lyric. Some really good, some really bad. The good…very cool looking…both of them. I liked the Blazer better. She liked the Lyric. Lyric is quicker but the Blazer is no slouch.

Build quality on both need work. Squeaks and rattles galore….lot of it coming from where the screen meets the dash.

Handled well for vehicles that weigh so much. Lyric is typical Caddy bling! Very cool. Not sure how long that would hold her interest.

Chevy…..tsk…tsk. No Car Play or Android Auto. Big mistake.

Get the feeling they need more fleshing out. Chevy seemed to have big dealer cash. Caddy said no lease support programs. Odd to me, given the amount they had on their lot (I counted 20 just on their front lot).

She entertained me by going to Hyundai. Test drive an Ionic 5 Limited AWD. I was impressed…quick, comfy, little funky looking but I liked it. Hell, may be a customer. What do these lease for? 10k/ 24 or 36 mo?

We’re headed to Columbus tomorrow to look at Polestars. And will probably hit up the Lexus store, too!

To answer the “price or product” question (Caddy guy asked that same question), for her, she’s way more “flush” than I am. So, she’ll pony up if she really likes something.

Y’all know me. I’ve always been in that midrange luxury price point area. But, even the Ionic is in the $50+k range. I can buy a TLX Type-S area for that!

Salespeople….somebody forgot to tell them that the days of walk in traffic buying immediately when they walk in are long gone. Didn’t seem like they were much in the mood of giving out pricing unless we committed to buy “today”. Disappointing!

graphicguy

@tjc78 said:

@Michaell said:

@kyfdx said:
The Ioniq 5 has $12,500 - $15,000 in incentives, depending on term/trim

And residuals that are 15% higher than the Lexus

@graphicguy - is she shopping for a car or a deal? Has she test driven any EVs to see if she likes the experience? They all drive differently - some are like ICE vehicles where you use both pedals, others have a more pronounced “one pedal” feel to them.

Our EQE has so many different settings. It can go from one foot driving, or take regen to minimum and turn on “creep” and it drives just like a normal car. That is the way we have it.

@graphicguy
Still great deals to be had on the Mercedes EQ models. I keep seeing them from the brokers on LH.

I’m new to leasing. Who are “brokers on LH”?

jmonroe1

roadburner said:

Last winter my niece announced her engagement and I quipped that I'd perform the ceremony for $150. She took me up on the offer- but my wife said that I couldn't charge her for it. Anyway, last weekend was the wedding. Kudos to my wife, who worked with the bride-to-be to put together the ceremony. Extra kudos for keeping it under 20 minutes.

As luck would have it, the County Judge's secretary called my office Thursday and asked if I could perform a wedding. I thought she was joking but it turned out the judge was out and I was the only person she knew to call. So I went downstairs and five minutes later the happy couple were husband and wife.
The next day we packed up the C43 and headed to Covington- with a stop at the Greater Cincinnati airport to pick up my son and his girlfriend. My son had found a nice Airbnb about a 5 minute drive from the venue. It was really nice, but the street and driveway were quite narrow; the surround view and 360 degree proximity sensors on the C43 were much appreciated. The rehearsal dinner was at MRBL, and the food was excellent. I was dismayed to see guy walk in with a guitar and set up to perform in the corner, but he turned out to be extremely good.

My niece followed the example of my wife and I and had all of the pictures taken at a local park before the ceremony so the wedding guests were not waiting interminably at the reception. The wedding went off without a hitch -again, kudos to my wife- and the reception was quite nice, even though the DJ only played one of my requests (I was especially disappointed that Polyester Bride by Liz Phair didn't make the cut).

The C43 took everything in stride, despite being relegated to workhorse duty during much of the weekend. The trunk easily swallowed all of our luggage and the navigation system was dead accurate (I especially appreciate the Mercedes me connect app which lets me send the destinations from my phone to the car). All in all it was a great weekend, even though I'm not a big fan of attending weddings (my wife still tells people how she caught me checking my watch during our wedding- although in my defense the watch I was admiring was the Heuer she gave me for a wedding present).

————————————————
And you actually got away with that excuse? I doubt I could have pulled that off with a straight face.

jmonroe

roadburner

graphicguy said:

@tjc78 said:

@Michaell said:

@kyfdx said:

The Ioniq 5 has $12,500 - $15,000 in incentives, depending on term/trim

And residuals that are 15% higher than the Lexus

@graphicguy - is she shopping for a car or a deal? Has she test driven any EVs to see if she likes the experience? They all drive differently - some are like ICE vehicles where you use both pedals, others have a more pronounced “one pedal” feel to them.

Our EQE has so many different settings. It can go from one foot driving, or take regen to minimum and turn on “creep” and it drives just like a normal car. That is the way we have it.

@graphicguy

Still great deals to be had on the Mercedes EQ models. I keep seeing them from the brokers on LH.

I’m new to leasing. Who are “brokers on LH”?

The Leasehackr forum.

explorerx4

@roadburner,
Kids getting married have seemed to have figured out that getting the wedding pictures early, even a day early makes for a less sressful wedding day.

corvette

I guess I'm becoming an old man... I prefer the styling of the EV6 to the Ioniq 5.

stickguy

my daughter is making it even more efficient. They are getting married the day before at their apartment with just a small group of immediate family and special friends. Next day, the "wedding" is going to be a nice dinner, band and dancing stuff at a restaurant in Cambridge.

roadburner

I have no idea what kind of ceremony my son and his girlfriend will have. Her parents live in PA; I'm hoping that the wedding is in Charlotte where both kids live.

qbrozen

@explorerx4 said:
@qbrozen,
That's the Toyota 'Other' that keeps popping on my feeds?

Maybe.

I’m considering, after I get the Alfa title, to have both that and the Toyota up for sale. When one sells, I keep the other.

explorerx4

@corvette,
An Ioniq 5 looks like something out an old Woody Allen movie to me.

@stickguy,
A couple of weeks ago, we went yo a wedding reception held 6 months after the couple got married.
I told the groom he got off lucky because nobody told embarrassing storys about him.
He's from Canada.
He said that his side of the family was having another reception the next week and the storys would come out then.

stickguy

our niece did that. Her now husband was in the army and going over seas so they got married in a quick civil ceremony (I think so they could get base housing stateside?) then 6 months later when he was back they had a reception.

suydam

@graphic_guy — very interested in hearing your driving impressions. We test drove the Ioniq 5 and the Blazer. The Ioniq is a really good vehicle, but somehow we preferred the driving dynamics of the Blazer. Ours is very quiet as is the Ioniq so that wasn’t a factor. We really liked how roomy the Blazer is, as we already have a compact size vehicle and the Ioniq seemed more similar to that. We sometimes have to fit in those modern giant car seats, and we are all tall people. It’s a good car for when you have company.
Not an Apple Car play person so not a factor for us either. Love Google Maps. It’s all about what works fo you. Very easy driving interface, I think Chevy nailed that. We never tried the Lyric.
It took us 3 months before we pulled the trigger on the Blazer, so the old “what will it take to buy this car today” definitely didn’t work for us!

stickguy

I always use google maps too. I just run in through apple car play interface.

oldfarmer50

“ Salespeople….somebody forgot to tell them that the days of walk in traffic buying immediately when they walk in are long gone. Didn’t seem like they were much in the mood of giving out pricing unless we committed to buy “today”. Disappointing!”

I’d be more than disappointed, that would be a deal breaker for me.

kyfdx

@graphicguy RE: Lexus

Just had a report in the RZ forum of a 300E lease in California.

$2000 Due at signing and $472/mo. (36/7.5)
$56,XXX MSRP

nyccarguy

@graphicguy

Good to see you pop in again!

nyccarguy

@mjfloyd1

I must have missed your post that you got the Lexus! I went back to check it out. Looks great! Congrats on the punch! I like the current RX in White. I'm glad you can put the ordeal with the Q7 in your rearview mirror.

Did you sort everything out with the Lexus dealership or did they try and play games with you?

au1994

oldfarmer50 said:

“ Salespeople….somebody forgot to tell them that the days of walk in traffic buying immediately when they walk in are long gone. Didn’t seem like they were much in the mood of giving out pricing unless we committed to buy “today”. Disappointing!”

I’d be more than disappointed, that would be a deal breaker for me.

When I was fishing for both the Audi and Jeep I got an intolerable amount of 'when can you come in?' messages. My response was always 'when we have some directional numbers that are interesting enough for me to do so'.

oldfarmer50

au1994 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

“ Salespeople….somebody forgot to tell them that the days of walk in traffic buying immediately when they walk in are long gone. Didn’t seem like they were much in the mood of giving out pricing unless we committed to buy “today”. Disappointing!”

I’d be more than disappointed, that would be a deal breaker for me.

When I was fishing for both the Audi and Jeep I got an intolerable amount of 'when can you come in?' messages. My response was always 'when we have some directional numbers that are interesting enough for me to do so'.

I’ve always done a walk in with a specific car in mind so I usually get the numbers at that time. If they aren’t to my liking I leave and wait for a call back. Sometime the negotiations continue on the phone but I always tell them that I am a buyer TODAY at my stated price.

That always worked pretty well until my last purchase where after an initial discount of $500 we were still $1100 apart. The dealer dug in his heels and eventually I offered to come up $500 on my side. We went back and forth with me shaving off some BS dealer installed options and (deliberate?) miscalculations of the registration fees to the point where the sales manager got frustrated and agreed to the deal only if I took delivery before the end of the month which was the next day.

Although I didn’t like having to come up on my initial offer I later found out from a source at the dealership that the UCM was claiming “we didn’t make a penny on that deal”. LOL.