Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

fintail

Surround view is awesome, makes parallel parking so much simpler too - vastly reduced odds of curbing a wheel.

On the car expense note, took the wagon in for winter tire changeover this morning. They charge 59.95 to change the wheels and store my unused tire/wheel set - not unreasonable IMO as they set the air pressure/TPMS, I think check the balance, etc. But - one of the all seasons had a slow leak (maybe 3 psi every 6 weeks) that I wasn't sure if from a puncture or maybe other issue. Nail in the tire, right along the inside sidewall, unrepairable - but as I won't need all seasons until spring I can put it off, and on a AWD MB only 2 tires have to be replaced, not 4 like on some (Subaru I think). And to compensate for that, I was told differential service is due at 30K, car was barely under that in spring and is now just a little over, so I did it now rather than have a larger bill in the spring when it'll need annual service and the tires. MB gear oil is $67 a unit MSRP and each differential takes two units. That's dear oil - material cost a bit more than labor. And I am still amused that the winter tires with their taller sidewalls feel like gliding on a cloud.

au1994

suydam said:

As I have gotten (ahem) older, I have found the new surround backup cameras are a godsend. They help pulling frontways too into tight spots. Another reason to be looking into a new vehicle, Sandy!

You are not kidding. I'm travelling this week and the loaner at the plant I am visiting is a ~2018 Taurus. Only has 84k on it and is in really good shape for a loaner vehicle but the back up cam is about the size of my iPhone. I'm going to be a nervous Nellie parking and backing up this week.

Sandman6472

They just replaced the battery as I still had free three year warranty left. That works for me right now as I doubt it'll be here in another three years. Just has been a frustrating few days as I truly hate any vehicular drama. But love it as I do, there's going to be a point where I'll just have to move on here.

As to the mirror, gonna try to reattach it if possible and not running out for a new one. Last time, I really mangled it and it was hanging down so not even did the mirror work, the turn signal didn't either. This time, it's not that bas and all still useable. Just was happening at the wrong time and I should've avoided it...careless of me. Really more mad at myself here!

ab348

fintail said:

On the car expense note, took the wagon in for winter tire changeover this morning. They charge 59.95 to change the wheels and store my unused tire/wheel set - not unreasonable IMO as they set the air pressure/TPMS, I think check the balance, etc. /blockquote>

I had that same thing done up here last week, $95 in worthless Canadian dollars, so pretty much the same in real money.

nyccarguy

My Mom & Dad picked up their new ‘24 RX 350 tonight. Their sales person was great. He did a phenomenal job going over the car with them. No easy feat considering they are both in their mid-late 70s and admittedly technologically challenged.

The salesman tried to push their branded “mop n glow” starting at $2,500, then quickly dropped to $1,500 after my parents said no. Finally he asked if they would take it for $750. Again. My parents are well trained. They respectfully declined again.

Then things went sideways in finance. 1st they tried to push prepaid maintenance to which my parents declined. The finance guy kind of nonchalantly tells my parents to “sign, here, here…”. My parents read it over as it is a legal document. 1st the incorrect mileage per year was written (10K, not 15K). Then they wanted them to pay $21.75 to the salesman for commission. It’s not the $21.75, it’s the principle that it was snuck in and not explained to them. Then the car was said to have 0-10 delivery miles. The car has 286 miles on it. So they had to rewrite the lease agreement again.

Again. They got the right price for the car. And they really like the way it drives. Pics to follow on Wednesday when my Mom comes to work.

jmonroe1

nyccarguy said:

My Mom & Dad picked up their new ‘24 RX 350 tonight. Their sales person was great. He did a phenomenal job going over the car with them. No easy feat considering they are both in their mid-late 70s and admittedly technologically challenged.

The salesman tried to push their branded “mop n glow” starting at $2,500, then quickly dropped to $1,500 after my parents said no. Finally he asked if they would take it for $750. Again. My parents are well trained. They respectfully declined again.

Then things went sideways in finance. 1st they tried to push prepaid maintenance to which my parents declined. The finance guy kind of nonchalantly tells my parents to “sign, here, here…”. My parents read it over as it is a legal document. 1st the incorrect mileage per year was written (10K, not 15K). Then they wanted them to pay $21.75 to the salesman for commission. It’s not the $21.75, it’s the principle that it was snuck in and not explained to them. Then the car was said to have 0-10 delivery miles. The car has 286 miles on it. So they had to rewrite the lease agreement again.

Again. They got the right price for the car. And they really like the way it drives. Pics to follow on Wednesday when my Mom comes to work.

————————————————-
It doesn’t sound like you trained them well enough. When they pulled those shenanigans, they should have known to walk.

jmonroe

suydam

Nowadays you just say no and usually they drop it right away. If they want to sell you a car.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

nyccarguy said:

My Mom & Dad picked up their new ‘24 RX 350 tonight. Their sales person was great. He did a phenomenal job going over the car with them. No easy feat considering they are both in their mid-late 70s and admittedly technologically challenged.

The salesman tried to push their branded “mop n glow” starting at $2,500, then quickly dropped to $1,500 after my parents said no. Finally he asked if they would take it for $750. Again. My parents are well trained. They respectfully declined again.

Then things went sideways in finance. 1st they tried to push prepaid maintenance to which my parents declined. The finance guy kind of nonchalantly tells my parents to “sign, here, here…”. My parents read it over as it is a legal document. 1st the incorrect mileage per year was written (10K, not 15K). Then they wanted them to pay $21.75 to the salesman for commission. It’s not the $21.75, it’s the principle that it was snuck in and not explained to them. Then the car was said to have 0-10 delivery miles. The car has 286 miles on it. So they had to rewrite the lease agreement again.

Again. They got the right price for the car. And they really like the way it drives. Pics to follow on Wednesday when my Mom comes to work.

————————————————-
It doesn’t sound like you trained them well enough. When they pulled those shenanigans, they should have known to walk.

jmonroe

Yeah, trying to change the mileage on the lease is almost certainly fraud. They should have taken a screen shot of that section and sent it to the AG’s office.

tjc78

@nyccarguy
Unacceptable at a luxury dealership. I would have been ticked off

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

@nyccarguy

Unacceptable at a luxury dealership. I would have been ticked off

In my experience, that's everywhere...

suydam

Our experiences at Kia and Chevy were pretty straightforward.

nyccarguy

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe1 said:

nyccarguy said:

My Mom & Dad picked up their new ‘24 RX 350 tonight. Their sales person was great. He did a phenomenal job going over the car with them. No easy feat considering they are both in their mid-late 70s and admittedly technologically challenged.

The salesman tried to push their branded “mop n glow” starting at $2,500, then quickly dropped to $1,500 after my parents said no. Finally he asked if they would take it for $750. Again. My parents are well trained. They respectfully declined again.

Then things went sideways in finance. 1st they tried to push prepaid maintenance to which my parents declined. The finance guy kind of nonchalantly tells my parents to “sign, here, here…”. My parents read it over as it is a legal document. 1st the incorrect mileage per year was written (10K, not 15K). Then they wanted them to pay $21.75 to the salesman for commission. It’s not the $21.75, it’s the principle that it was snuck in and not explained to them. Then the car was said to have 0-10 delivery miles. The car has 286 miles on it. So they had to rewrite the lease agreement again.

Again. They got the right price for the car. And they really like the way it drives. Pics to follow on Wednesday when my Mom comes to work.

————————————————-
It doesn’t sound like you trained them well enough. When they pulled those shenanigans, they should have known to walk.

jmonroe

Yeah, trying to change the mileage on the lease is almost certainly fraud. They should have taken a screen shot of that section and sent it to the AG’s office.

The original lease agreement they showed my parents showed 10K miles per year. The finance guy just told them to "sign here." Luckily my parents look at things before they sign them and caught the mistake.

nyccarguy

tjc78 said:

@nyccarguy

Unacceptable at a luxury dealership. I would have been ticked off

The thing I don't get is that when there is a mistake, why does it take so damn long to print up a new document?

graphicguy

nyccarguy said:

My Mom & Dad picked up their new ‘24 RX 350 tonight. Their sales person was great. He did a phenomenal job going over the car with them. No easy feat considering they are both in their mid-late 70s and admittedly technologically challenged.

The salesman tried to push their branded “mop n glow” starting at $2,500, then quickly dropped to $1,500 after my parents said no. Finally he asked if they would take it for $750. Again. My parents are well trained. They respectfully declined again.

Then things went sideways in finance. 1st they tried to push prepaid maintenance to which my parents declined. The finance guy kind of nonchalantly tells my parents to “sign, here, here…”. My parents read it over as it is a legal document. 1st the incorrect mileage per year was written (10K, not 15K). Then they wanted them to pay $21.75 to the salesman for commission. It’s not the $21.75, it’s the principle that it was snuck in and not explained to them. Then the car was said to have 0-10 delivery miles. The car has 286 miles on it. So they had to rewrite the lease agreement again.

Again. They got the right price for the car. And they really like the way it drives. Pics to follow on Wednesday when my Mom comes to work.

Unreal. Probably would have walked on that deal. If one dealership will make the deal, another will make the same deal.

graphicguy

suydam said:

Our experiences at Kia and Chevy were pretty straightforward.

I felt like I had to take a shower after making a deal on my previous Stinger from the local Kia dealerships. The EV6 Kia dealership was up front, low key. Like them a lot. Except, they were a state away.

sda

My experience with a large Toyota dealer where I had purchased a previous car, and they recognized me as a repeat customer, was poor. They kept trying to give me finance numbers that were above what I requested and made no effort to address my concerns when I asked them about the paint work on the 2022 Lexus ES 350 I was trying to buy. I took the Finance Manager and Salesman outside to show them what I was concerned with and received a trite response. I told them I no longer wanted the car and left. My experience buying the Arteon at the VW dealer was the complete opposite. A pleasure. Love the car, too.

jmonroe1

nyccarguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe1 said:

nyccarguy said:

My Mom & Dad picked up their new ‘24 RX 350 tonight. Their sales person was great. He did a phenomenal job going over the car with them. No easy feat considering they are both in their mid-late 70s and admittedly technologically challenged.

The salesman tried to push their branded “mop n glow” starting at $2,500, then quickly dropped to $1,500 after my parents said no. Finally he asked if they would take it for $750. Again. My parents are well trained. They respectfully declined again.

Then things went sideways in finance. 1st they tried to push prepaid maintenance to which my parents declined. The finance guy kind of nonchalantly tells my parents to “sign, here, here…”. My parents read it over as it is a legal document. 1st the incorrect mileage per year was written (10K, not 15K). Then they wanted them to pay $21.75 to the salesman for commission. It’s not the $21.75, it’s the principle that it was snuck in and not explained to them. Then the car was said to have 0-10 delivery miles. The car has 286 miles on it. So they had to rewrite the lease agreement again.

Again. They got the right price for the car. And they really like the way it drives. Pics to follow on Wednesday when my Mom comes to work.

————————————————-
It doesn’t sound like you trained them well enough. When they pulled those shenanigans, they should have known to walk.

jmonroe

Yeah, trying to change the mileage on the lease is almost certainly fraud. They should have taken a screen shot of that section and sent it to the AG’s office.

The original lease agreement they showed my parents showed 10K miles per year. The finance guy just told them to "sign here." Luckily my parents look at things before they sign them and caught the mistake.

————————————————
With everything else that they tried to pull, are you sure it was a mistake?

jmonroe

xwesx

graphicguy said:

suydam said:

Our experiences at Kia and Chevy were pretty straightforward.

I felt like I had to take a shower after making a deal on my previous Stinger from the local Kia dealerships. The EV6 Kia dealership was up front, low key. Like them a lot. Except, they were a state away.

Haha; that statement makes me chuckle. Driving from my house in Conneaut over to Indianapolis is nearly identical, distance/time-wise, to driving from Fairbanks to Anchorage.

oldfarmer50

graphicguy said:

suydam said:

Our experiences at Kia and Chevy were pretty straightforward.

I felt like I had to take a shower after making a deal on my previous Stinger from the local Kia dealerships. The EV6 Kia dealership was up front, low key. Like them a lot. Except, they were a state away.

My buying experience at Kia was flawless. I expected trouble based on various reports.

kyfdx

We drove this car, today.
2003 retired service loaner
Original sticker of $73K+
8000 miles
$56K asking
https://www.porscheofthevillage.com/inventory/used-2023-porsche-macan-awd-4d-sport-utility-wp1aa2a57plb07612/

It's also CPO. 2 years, 2 months left on original warranty. 2 more years on CPO warranty, after that.

kyfdx

Fun fact: Has $5700 Burmester sound option..

jmonroe1

nyccarguy said:

tjc78 said:

@nyccarguy

Unacceptable at a luxury dealership. I would have been ticked off

The thing I don't get is that when there is a mistake, why does it take so damn long to print up a new document?

————————————————
Maybe they have to figure out where to hide the incriminating evidence.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

kyfdx said:

We drove this car, today.
2003 retired service loaner
Original sticker of $73K+
8000 miles
$56K asking
https://www.porscheofthevillage.com/inventory/used-2023-porsche-macan-awd-4d-sport-utility-wp1aa2a57plb07612/

It's also CPO. 2 years, 2 months left on original warranty. 2 more years on CPO warranty, after that.

————————————————
So, how serious are you about it? Looks very clean but I guess 8K miles is responsible for a lot of that but still damn clean.

You gotta love how manufacturers come up with names for colors. The add says the interior color is Agate Grey but it looks pretty black to me.

jmonroe

kyfdx

Agate gray is very dark. But, noticeably lighter than black. Also, a little taupe in it. My wife really liked it.

The silver on that car is gorgeous. Makes my silver car look meh.

jmonroe1

kyfdx said:

Fun fact: Has $5700 Burmester sound option..

————————————————
Something ain’t right. The add says the car has both a Burmester and a Bose sound system.

jmonroe

qbrozen

@kyfdx said:
We drove this car, today.
2003 retired service loaner
Original sticker of $73K+
8000 miles
$56K asking
https://www.porscheofthevillage.com/inventory/used-2023-porsche-macan-awd-4d-sport-utility-wp1aa2a57plb07612/

It's also CPO. 2 years, 2 months left on original warranty. 2 more years on CPO warranty, after that.

Sounds pricey for a 22-yr-old model. ;b

breld

@kyfdx - that’s a nice Macan! I was gonna say it seems there’s a nice discount going from a 2024 to 2023, with obviously no loss in features or other updates.

The silver really is gorgeous. Pics don’t do it justice. Good luck with the potential purchase!

kyfdx

Ah... just found three different 2024 service loaners at the Louisville dealership with better option/color combos. It never ends.

tifighter

@kyfdx said:
Ah... just found three different 2024 service loaners with better option/color combos. It never ends.

That is, after all, why we are all here. The thrill of the hunt.

ab348

I see that Rivian and VW have just announced a $5.8 billion tie-up to bring Rivian’s EV tech to VW.

kyfdx

tifighter said:

@kyfdx said:

Ah... just found three different 2024 service loaners with better option/color combos. It never ends.

That is, after all, why we are all here. The thrill of the hunt.

In Louisville, 90 minutes away..

28firefighter

Man that $5700 Burmester in a base is rare. Must’ve been a custom order.

mjfloyd1

@kyfdx said:
We drove this car, today.
2003 retired service loaner
Original sticker of $73K+
8000 miles
$56K asking
https://www.porscheofthevillage.com/inventory/used-2023-porsche-macan-awd-4d-sport-utility-wp1aa2a57plb07612/

It's also CPO. 2 years, 2 months left on original warranty. 2 more years on CPO warranty, after that.

That’s what I was pointing out with the 2023 CPO example that I posted. 9k less for a CPO 2023 with the same or better options.

I’d like to point out that Agate grey is not chalk…

That agate grey appears a lot lighter than the other examples I see on the internet

jmonroe1

kyfdx said:

Ah... just found three different 2024 service loaners at the Louisville dealership with better option/color combos. It never ends.

————————————————-
If you were @breld it would. At least for a couple months.

jmonroe

qbrozen

This one would be more in my wheelhouse if I could get a few grand knocked off.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/link/388107725

explorerx4

Ad says 3800 overpriced.

corvette

kyfdx said:

In Louisville, 90 minutes away..

Can you buy one of the local, sparsely equipped, Macans to tide you over until you get a chance to make the journey to buy one of the better-equipped ones?

mjfloyd1

@qbrozen said:
This one would be more in my wheelhouse if I could get a few grand knocked off.

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/link/388107725

Shipping from Honolulu. Ouch

qbrozen

Just an example. There are others but I like the red. Like this one is much cheaper but supposedly has black guts. https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/link/400066161

This one is cool with the chocolate outside and suede inserts inside. Miles are a little high though. https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/link/378374372

kyfdx

explorerx4 said:

Ad says 3800 overpriced.

Not for Hawaii, though.. lol

kyfdx

My wife says I can go to Louisville and buy this one, she won't even need to go with me.

https://finder.porsche.com/us/en-US/details/porsche-macan-preowned-G8LQWQ?model=macan&position=40205,38.2214782,-85.67944340000001,50&order=closest&page=3

If you scroll, there is a link to the actual new car sticker.

stickguy

kyfdx said:

tifighter said:

@kyfdx said:

Ah... just found three different 2024 service loaners with better option/color combos. It never ends.

That is, after all, why we are all here. The thrill of the hunt.

In Louisville, 90 minutes away..

you are retired. what else do you have to do with your time?

explorerx4

@kyfdx,
You have to ship it 3 islands over for service.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

kyfdx said:

tifighter said:

@kyfdx said:

Ah... just found three different 2024 service loaners with better option/color combos. It never ends.

That is, after all, why we are all here. The thrill of the hunt.

In Louisville, 90 minutes away..

you are retired. what else do you have to do with your time?

But, will the local dealer give me a loaner, when I take it in for service?

mjfloyd1

What’s the X3 worth in trade? I suspect that the 2023 CPOs will be less painful, although still plenty painful.

kyfdx

mjfloyd1 said:

What’s the X3 worth in trade? I suspect that the 2023 CPOs will be less painful, although still plenty painful.

Carvana offers $14K. All the other on-line are $7500-$10,500.

breld

The side blades in body color is a nice touch that you don’t see too often.

kyfdx

breld said:

The side blades in body color is a nice touch that you don’t see too often.

Yeah... gloss black roof rails, too.

The 2023 silver I linked earlier had gloss black door handles and window trim.. But, just plain gray blades

corvette

kyfdx said:

But, will the local dealer give me a loaner, when I take it in for service?

They may not be under an obligation to, but they will if they think you are going to receive a satisfaction survey.

corvette

I'm sure the Macan is great, but 0-60 in the 5.8 to 6-second range confirms my belief that my Maverick is a very affordable "sleeper" vehicle.