Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stever

I do seem to find them - like this one just now:

1927 Pontiac Oakland.

27k original miles.

qbrozen

So is the 101-year-old original owner in the trunk who will verify that story?

michaellno

michaelll - go for it! You can always apologize later.....

Thanks, Steve. My 14th wedding anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks, and we've got reservations to have Sunday brunch at the Broadmoor Hotel.

Would be nice to make the drive in a nice convertible, but am afraid that if I did this without spousal knowledge or approval, it might be the last anniversary I celebrate.

q - sorry about the subscription; I guess I've started to count on you for some good pricing information.

qbrozen

No problem. I just don't want to make a WAG with someone else's money.

michaellno

No problem. I just don't want to make a WAG with someone else's money.

I hear ya. Edmunds puts the TMV at around $19.5, so the dealer ask of $19.9 seems to be right on target.

However, no CPO, so I'd have to invest in some sort of warranty to hedge my bets on major mechanical issues.

fezo

Even adding a warranty that's a tempting item.

I understand you like being married so I'll calm my nudging.....

Too bad I'm heading out for a week. I see in the local craigslist a senior owned 02 Solara convertible for like $6K. That would work as something for the time being drop top....

corvette

And it will require damage in the amount of xx% of the original MSRP to total a 35 month old car, instead of using the same percentage of the car's value at 35 months. I haven't read one of these policies but suspect that's the case.

au1994

I'll be the little devil firmly perched on your shoulder. Get it you won't regret it.

qbrozen

eh. 40k on a 330 wouldn't worry me one bit. no warranty for me.

roadburner

I'm with gbrozen; my wife's 2004 X3 has nearly 114,000 miles on it and we never used the CPO warranty. Aside from brakes at 60,000 miles and two sets of tires all we've done is follow the maintenance schedule, change the ATF and transfer case oil every 55,000 miles, and change the engine oil at 8,000 mile intervals.

michaellno

You guys certainly aren't making this easy for me.

But then again, you aren't supposed to.

au1994

the name of this forum really should be Chronic Rationalizers Anonymous.

I justified my e92 as a 40th birthday present to myself.

michaellno

I justified my e92 as a 40th birthday present to myself.

Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing, except it's 2.5 years until my 50th birthday. Perhaps by then I can get an e92 'vert for a decent price.

fezo

Yeah, I'm thinking the same thing, except it's 2.5 years until my 50th birthday. Perhaps by then I can get an e92 'vert for a decent price.

Not if you keep wimping out on us.......

Come on ! Let's see some action! :P

stickguy

I'm getting all geared up to toy shop by next year. As soon as my daughter gets her license, we will have need of a 3rd car at the house. I love my plan of teaching her on the stick Accord and letting her drive that when she goes solo, with me getting something fun. Much better plan than me driving the Accord, and getting her something cheap and boring.

kyfdx

Isn't as great as it sounds... It's amazing what isn't covered... Or course, you don't find out, until you are into it for $150 of diagnostics...

mark156

I put the '64 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud III, (91,000 miles) in the shop for some needed maintenance/repair items.

-Rebuild the power steering gear box (no new ones available....have to rebuild the one you have).
-New starter
-Valve cover gaskets
-Radiator leak repair

Total estimate.... $8,700 plus tax.

So, I'm doing my part to keep the antique car market alive!

If the car didn't get so much attention while driving (thumbs up)... I probably would sell it as I've had it for almost 14 yrs. The next item will be to refreshen the interior.

Mark156

nyccarguy

That's the stuff in the fine print. I know you enjoy that ZHP waaaay too much. Hopefully this will just be a $600 hiccup. How many miles have you put on it? How many miles now?

roadburner

No offense intended Mark, but are you sure that you aren't getting hosed? I did a bit of online searching and found the following:
High Torque Starter: $475+shipping
New Radiator: $725+shipping
Valve/tappet cover gaskets $74+shipping
Let's estimate that shipping from England is $500(which is probably high)
Total: $1774
Are those guys telling you it's going to cost nearly $7000 to rebuild the steering box and install the above parts? The rebuild of an S3 box is not for the fainthearted but still...

kyfdx

It had 40K when I got it last May.. Almost 52K now... I've got CPO and extended maintenance until July, 2012.

Didn't start commuting in it, until almost August, when my lease was up on the old car..

I'm only at about a 13K/yr pace, right now... The boy having his own car has cut down on my mileage.. Plus, since the wife won't (not can't..won't...lol) drive the stick, if there is any serious beer drinking ahead, we take her car....

So... we take her car a lot!

qbrozen

I was thinking the same thing. I mean, even if they have the balls to charge $200/hour .... 35 hours labor?? You could rebuild the engine in less time.

houdini1

Those CPO warranties are all different. Lexus has the best CPO program that I know of. Basically it is the same as a new car warranty except I don't believe it is transferable, as least for free.

Mercedes is also supposed to be pretty good.

qbrozen

I've driven the 540i almost 1k miles. I took it on a 312 mile roundtrip to Monticello NY last weekend. It isn't a comfortable long distance car for me. The seat is very firm, presses in the wrong places and doesn't press in the right places (why doesn't a 2000 5-series have lumbar support???).

I'm pleasantly surprised by the gas mileage. OBC told me 25.5 on my last tank, but the calculation told me 22.6, which is much more realistic. That was with about 90% highway driving, 10% rual, and maybe 20 minutes stuck in heavy stop and go traffic. Considering fueleconomy.gov rates it at 14/21, I'm more than happy with my figure. Of course, I bought it figuring I might get 20 on average, so any better than that is gravy. Heck, on my morning commute, the OBC tells me 27.5. If the variance is consistent, that means over 24mpg.

I still haven't figure out what is wrong with the clutch. I guess it is on its way out ... although its behavior still doesn't make sense to me. We'll see. I'll be glad to upgrade it anyway. I just don't want to get stuck anywhere. I was planning on a track day with it, but maybe that's not such a great idea. Certainly don't want to lose the clutch amongst 120mph traffic.

I'm very happy to have both this and the GTI. The GTI is just so easy to drive in comparison. Makes me love it even more. But when I want that RWD V8 grunt, I've got that, too. Of course, in the meantime, the MR2 sits untouched. That's mainly because it lacks a back seat, though.

roadburner

I still haven't figure out what is wrong with the clutch.

Well, the V8s ARE hard on clutches. UUC Motorwerks has some a nice selection of kits in the $700-$900 range.

rayainsw

I appreciate the update.
Sorry to hear that the seats do not work well, for you.
According to the Manual, for the 2000 540, the lumbar adjustment
is only on the 'Comfort Seats'.
Oops.
- Ray
With a back that appreciates adjustment....

qbrozen

Thanks. Unfortunately, what I see there is just a clutch for that price. When I do it, I want to replace the flywheel with a solid piece design and get rid of this dual-stage and self-adjusting nonsense. Gripforce sells packages with both for like $500 ... but it says E39 up to '98, which is odd. So when the time comes, I'll give them a call and hope they have something for me.

motorcity6

Close friend in Detroit purchased a 330 conv when they first became avaiable, in fact he took overseas delivery, saved a few bucks, and still has the car..I doubt if it has been over 70 mph..Nice car, but not my bag..It would be a great car for Fla, however the crappy weather and roads in Michigan aren't easy on any set of wheels..

Had my two foreign cars, new 1958 and 1959 Porcshes, took delivery at factory in Stuttgart, Deutschland, both were 1600 Super Coupes..Bought the 59 back to the states, and sold it a year later to settle my foreign car ledger at a break even cost..60k miles of trouble-free driving..End of foreign car ownership for the other 51 autos came out of the Big3..

The German cars are great. little pricey, and usually limited to a single dealership within a 40 mile radius, however my association of selling assemblies and parts to the Big3 for 34 yrs dictated my loyalty to Detroit..

Growing up the family had Fords, Packards, Nashs, Chevys, and Mercurys, Lasalle, Caddies, and Lincolns..I had 3 Chrysler products, 34 GMs, and balance from Ford..

I just spun off a 2010 Mustang GT w/track pkg, and will wait for a bargain 5.0 Mustang GT either 2011 or 12..No more GM, current left over in the garage is a 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix GT, which I will keep until it reachs 100k..No more FWD cars, total waste of time ..

Buy the Bimmer, and enjoy life...

stickguy

true about the seats. I came close to buying a 2001 525 (stick of course), and one thing that bothered me (other than the price!) was the seat. Too much lumbar, in the wrong spot, and not adjustable. Hard for me to reconcile spending 40 large on something that did not feel heavenly.

gouldn

I've been looking around cars, and am finding that craigslist is getting to be more trouble that it's worth. Sure there are good deals there, but the fact that they don't charge to advertise seems to attract the non-serious sellers, kids, scams, etc. The noise to signal ratio is too high!

Where are you guys buying your used cars these days? I just sold by BMW, and am starting to look around. I like the ebay format, but the whole idea of sight unseen seem dangerous. How many people have purchased a car off ebay, and how well did it work for you?

roadburner

How many people have purchased a car off ebay, and how well did it work for you?

I bought my 1975 2002 off eBay. No surprises; I didn't bother to have it inspected as I wasn't paying all that much for it. Won the auction on Wednesday and drove 90 miles to pick it up/drive it home on Saturday.

fezo

I bought my 99 Celica on Ebay and it was fine.

stever

One thing to perhaps watch for is an eBay seller who wants to do a deal after the auction has ended. The reason ostensibly is to save the auction fees (or perhaps the sale "fell through"), but you'd lose any eBay protections if you go that way.

Every few weeks we get someone posting on Answers about a fake "Edmunds" car escrow service and those usually involve eBay sellers.

kyfdx

Got my wife's first 3-series off eBay... from a used car broker in Chicago...

We actually came to a deal via e-mail/phone... asked him if he just wanted to do it that way... but, he said, "No, bid for it on eBay... I want to get my feedback up."..

So, I did.. but, the car was only 7 months old, so not as much risk..

michaellno

I'll be spending this weekend in Colorado Springs ... attending a fund-raiser tonight, then wife has class both Saturday and Sunday.

Good opportunity to check out the selection at the local BMW dealer:

Sliver and a manual

Also a manual, but not a BMW

More of a boulevard cruiser with higher miles

I'm killing myself here .....

gouldn

I've always had a soft spot for the CLKs, but in 'real life' found them kind of cramped.

puffin1

I have a 2011 3 series as I traded my 2009 328i and I have lumbar. What's a comfort seat?

rayainsw

An option on the 540 that year -
seats with additional adjustments...
- Ray
Will have a 2011 3 series - in less than 90 days....

michaellno

I had a chance to get to the BMW dealer.

The silver 3-series coupe that I linked to earlier was shod with winter tires. Odd.

However, they did have another silver 3-series coupe that they had taken in trade. Also with sport pkg and a manual transmission, with only 41K miles. They were asking $23K for this one.

Very nice looking car, but both the front wheels had major scarring on them. Salesman said it would take about $100 each to put right.

Also stopped at the local Audi dealer. They had a couple of TT 'verts, both with the 3.2L 6-cyl and S-line packages. Nice looking cars, but a bit small. And a bit out of my price range.

They also had a tasty CPO S4 with the 3.0L supercharged V6 - 333HP.

corvette

Why wouldn't the dealer have fixed the wheels as part of their reconditioning process? :confuse:

mark156

No offense taken.... I responded to your post yesterday but it didn't pop up.

Here is the breakdown...
Radiator leaking, will be sent out for repair....$1,164
Replace valve cover gaskets... $1,035
Rebuild power steering gearbox...$4,975
Replace starter with updated version....$905

Total... $8,079

PS.. I posted $8,700 in my previous post... I read the invoice wrong, sorry.

The engine has a 'butter'fly' hood which is going to make it very hard to get to the engine unless they remove the center bar.

These guys have been very good to me and honest as far as I can tell. Not cheap, but honest.

Mark

michaellno

Why wouldn't the dealer have fixed the wheels as part of their reconditioning process?

1) It's not a CPO car
2) The salesman told me that had only taken it in trade the day before - not sure that it's had a chance to be looked over and freshened up

fezo

Way back when I was able to finagle a pretty good deal on an 80 Accord that had just been taken in trade. You could see they hadn't cleaned it up at all but I figured I could have it detailed just as well as they could. That was the start of my Honda kick.

stickguy

Personally, I would rather see it in it's "natural" state, instead of all spiffed up.

stickguy

across from my development is an age 55+ neighborhood (small ranch houses). saw a sign today for an estate sale, so we swung past (we are looking for a laundry room cabinet). Lot's of stuff out on the driveway (and a pod in the way).

but, the reason for the post, a in the road. A green 4 door Accord. I forget if it was an LX or EX, but it was a 2004. with a whopping 29,000 miles on it. $12,000 asking price.

If I was by myself I would have looked, but the wife wasn't interested in that! Not that I have the faintest need or interest in another accord, but someone will probably get a good deal on a low mile creampuff.

fezo

A shame I'm on vacation and down in Virginia at the moment. That's the sort of thing I'd love to work out for my oldest daughter who at one point will finally take on the responsibility of a car that is actually hers.

We have a lot of 55+ communities in this neck of the woods. I'll get a chance.

stickguy

well, tomorrow I will swing by to look at it closer (assuming they are parking it there). Only got that info off the posterboard sign on it. Who knows, when you get back it could still be there.

well that, and I am curious about it!

akangl

I was searching to CL today, not really looking for anything. I found a beautiful set of aftermarket 20" wheels, tires, and tire pressure sensors from an 09 F-150. Set originally cost nearly $3k a year ago, I got them for $800. Tires have maybe 8000 miles on them.

Now I'll just use the stock wheels for winter tires. Just have to hunt down a set of lug nuts for the new set of wheels.

Bedliner and leveling kit in the next couple weeks.

qbrozen

I gotta say, for the same money, a 2010 GTI with 5k miles strikes me as a better deal than a 2007 328i coupe with 40k+ miles.

michaellno

I gotta say, for the same money, a 2010 GTI with 5k miles strikes me as a better deal than a 2007 328i coupe with 40k+ miles.

I don't think I'm gonna disagree with you on that statement.

From a "fun to drive" perspective, I'm not which one is better. VW with FWD, or the BMW with RWD. Both have 6-speed sticks, HP is about the same (200 vs. 230), but the lighter weight of the VW probably means the power to weight ratio is about the same. Both have 18" wheels and tires.

The BMW just looks more sporty - the coupe shape is very appealing to my eyes. However, the practical side of me thinks that the hatchback utility of the GTI would make it a better all around vehicle to have - golf clubs, trips to Sam's club, etc.

Having said all that, I'll probably hold off for now ....

On Saturday, I saw the movie "Company Men" with Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones and Craig T. Nelson. Made me think about how precarious we all are with respect to our job status.

The Ben Affleck character starts out the movie driving a Porsche Boxster S. After losing his job - and not finding a new one - there is a scene where his wife hands the keys over to a new buyer, with Ben standing on the lawn watching the transfer looking quite forlorn. Later in the movie, he is seen driving a '97 Lumina.

Certainly some food for thought when contemplating the purchase of a new / used car for $20K or more, especially when one has a perfectly serviceable - and paid off - car in the garage.

fezo

We will see.

There is a guy who is selling a Solara convertible with 102K and a new timing belt and water pump senior car - for $6,700 in Toms River. That could be a fifth car in the fleet.....