Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

akangl

I whole heartedly can recommend buying only a top of the line radar detector. You have to win the technology wars with the traffic tax collectors (oops, I mean cops).

They improve your situational safety awareness of what is around you, and more information about your surroundings can only help you as a driver.

I totally agree! I plan on adding a laser jammer to my Passport 9500. Hubby almost got nailed yesterday, cop was hiding on a steep downhill just around a curve, got him with the Lidar doing 76. Thankfully they were looking for a bigger fish than 11 mph over the limit. If I had been driving it would have been a ticket, I usually cruise down that hill at 80+. Cops around here LOVE to hide.

I really miss driving.......just 5 months to go...... :sick:

lemmer

That is pushing E36 M3 money.

nyccarguy

That is one beautiful 318ti. What color is that? Montreal Blue?

qbrozen

yeah, not so sure I agree a car with 164k miles for $6500 is "too good to be true."

ateixeira

It belongs in a museum at this point. As a daily driver, that thing seems like it would be a ticking time-bomb.

roadburner

The engine is good for over 200K. Not much else to go wrong on those cars. My 1995 has over 120K and I still use it as a daily driver(today, for example) as well as one of my track toys(3-4 times this year). Worst case scenario would be an ABS pump or a starter. I may offer him $4500 and see what happens. Heck, I could move @ $2000 or so worth of parts over to my Club Sport(suspension, X-brace, speakers, wheels...) and sell it and probably break even.

And nyc, it's Avus Blue...

nyccarguy

Roadburner - A stunning color. I love the M3 Luxury wheels too.

Kirstie_H

A reporter seeks to interview women who are their family's car buyer and men who gave up the role to a female partner. Please respond to pr@edmunds.com no later than Friday, September 2, 2011 with your daytime contact information to be interviewed.

kyfdx

What!!??

other than akangl, that never happens!

Sandman6472

In our house, we each chose what our ride will be since we have different driving styles and likes. Now the wife mentioned keeping her '05 Mazda 3s for at least another year or until something major goes out. She's now at just over 94k, the longest we've ever owned a car but she still loves the car and it has been probably the best car we've ever owned. I'd like to see her in the new Elantra but she seems keen on keeping it and just replacing the tires when they wear out, probably within the next few months.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

kyfdx

...will have my CCBA membership renewal stamped...

With this

tifighter

6 MPG???

Just kidding....congrats on the new ride :shades:

stever

Sweet!

nyccarguy

GTFOOH! That's great! Congrats!

stickguy

But 45K for a used car? Couldn't make myself do it!

kyfdx

Come on.... do you really think a cheap-a** like me would drop $45K on a car?!

It's a demo/loaner that's never been titled, so is eligible for the new car lease program (with adjustment to residual to account for miles).

24 month lease.. I'd tell you how much, but you'd cry.. but, then again, I am a professional.. lol

The color is quite a bit darker than those pictures.. It's a lot gray-er, and less washed out.. crappy camera/lighting, I think.

It's for the wife... a good replacement for an X3, don't you think?

michaellno

Sweet, sweet car, ky. A bit of a departure from the X3.

In current news, I am now officially jealous of breld and his new GTI. I test drove a GTI today (red, 6-speed stick, sunroof & touchscreen stereo) here in the Springs and am officially in love.

Rides nicer than I would have expected with the 18" wheels. The transmission was way better than what we had with our '99 New Beetle. Quick, and handles well. Took a highway on ramp at 60 and never put a wheel wrong. Just the right level of equipment.

Took a brochure and showed the wife. She, of course, doesn't like the tartan cloth interior; her color preferences were the United Gray and Carbon Steel Gray Metallic.

Sandman6472

Outstanding ride...boy, if I just had an extra $50k just lying around!! Still pass that '01 blue/blue 3 convertible daily and am in lust...wifey would probably kill me as she sees a car as an appliance and nothing else. She still complains about the Honda rims I bought on Ebay for my Civic back in '07 and wants me to get rid of the steelies and hub caps. Keep explaining that if I bend a rim or if my next car is a Honda that will have the same fitment as what I've got now. So far, I'm winning that battle. But I still get a smile on my face when I open the garage and see how nice the car looks...best $ I ever spent on my car!!

But way cool car...something I could get used to!!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

stickguy

OK, that sounds better.

I always thought that getting a demo like this on a lease made a ton of sense. get a 1 year old 10K miles car with a 4/50 warranty, 3 year lease and it will still be covered the whole time. Just as good as new to you, and should be way cheaper.

though of course, kind of sounds like what you did!

kyfdx

Yeah... it's just like that..

But, the lease is 24 month, 10K/yr, which works, because my wife started working from home, last year...

It took some searching.. To keep the payment down, I had to find a unit that had what she wanted/needed... premium pkg with leather and all the automatic goodies, heated seats, and automatic.. but, without extra options that would raise the price, unnecessarily (sport package, navigation, etc..) Then, it had to be in a color she found acceptable..

Had to have enough miles to get the selling price down, but not so many that the residual would drop too low. Then, had to be un-titled, so that it would qualify for the new car lease programs..

The moons and stars aligned, and there you go.. They actually marked up the lease financing the maximum, which I usually won't go for... but, if the monthly payment had turned out to be any less, the dealership janitor would probably be driving it, instead of my wife, so I shut up and grabbed the deal.

I'll try to find a better picture of the color. (oh yeah, the actual MSRP on this car was $55,000.. :surprise: )

kyfdx

kyfdx

kyfdx

It's hard to get a good picture of the color... evidently...

In the shade, it's definitely medium gray... In the sunlight, it tends towards silver..

It never looks washed out, like in these pictures..

houdini1

I love that color...and it probably looks even better "in person". Your wife will feel like a Queen, as all our wives should !! Congrats.

corvette

Maryland, huh? That's where I ordered my 3-series (from Passport BMW). It seemed like all of our nearby dealers won't do a deal unless they can gross $5k on it between the MSRP-invoice spread, holdback, and marking up the financing.

Bargain leases seem to be extremely hard to come by nowadays (I take a look at the factory supported leases on Edmunds every now and then, since I would be interested at the right price). Sounds like you did well!

akangl

What!!??

other than akangl, that never happens!

I am certainly the one who does all the car buying in this family. Hubby hates car lots and anything to do with buying a car.

Course now that I can't drive I think its safe to say that my CCBA card won't get punched for a LONG time. The F-150 may be looking for a new home this winter, hard to justify keeping such an expensive truck that does nothing but sit in the garage now. I miss driving my truck. :sick:

kyfdx

Well.. the cheap lease on the Z4 has been going on since May.. there aren't hardly any left.. Not one that met my qualifications within two hundred miles of home..

I actually had a deal on brand-new one in Atlanta (a very generous offer and good salesperson), and a line on one in Peoria (another good salesperson, but not as generous)... and, stumbled on to this demo in Maryland...

I had to lead them to the deal, and point out some quirks of the program, but after two days of e-mails, we were on the same page... one more day to work out the final details.. Not too bad.. never left my chair.

You know.... .I could have obtained a really good lease on a VW CC, an Acura TSX or a Nissan Maxima.... and, all would have been more than what I'm paying for the Z4..

roadburner

Way Kewl!!!

stickguy

I'm not really a lease kind of person I don't think, but my exception would be one of these rare "give them away to get off the lot" offers like this.

especially if the math on a lease/buy-out made more sense than a straight buy.

qbrozen

Are you really going to keep teasing and taunting us or are you going to spill the beans on "how much"?

stickguy

not sure if I can pull this off without somehow skating the wife out of her new car next year (now why did I ever promise her that?).

But, you may recall my grand plan to let my daughter drive my Accord (she can solo starting 12/2012), and I will get a toy of some kind (instead of me keeping Accord, and getting her a cheap older car).

Well, that z4 certainly looks like a toy to me! So instead of buying some old (and potentially repair hungry) fun car that may not be usable for trips, etc., maybe something interesting on one of these cheapo leases?

Not likely to put even 10K miles on it, so that should not be an issue. And 2 years would cover into college, when I likely would have the Accord back anyway.

Yeah, this might work. I just can't justify taking on 2 payments in the same year (as opposed to my real goal, never have one again!)

But spend $250/mo for 2 years (6K) or spend 5K on a well used car (like Isell did) and probably dump 2K into it at least in 2 years?

pros and cons baby, pros and cons.

kyfdx

Well... you definitely wouldn't want to buy it when the lease is up.. for instance the residual at the end of two years on this car, is around $40,700.. I woudn't put that much money towards a car now, let alone two years from now...

And, I don't want to jinx myself, since I don't sign and pickup the car until next Saturday, but here is the price:

$316 + tax per month... I did use the multiple security deposit program.. My due at signing is $2450 security deposit + 1st payment.. that's it, and the security deposit is returned at lease end.

The MSD program saves me about $45/mo., or $1080 over the life of the lease... just for letting them hold my $2450 for two years.. That is an after-tax return of around 22%! Try getting that on a CD.... lol

regards,
kyfdx

stickguy

$316 with nothing down? Not even the usual $795 or so (around here) origination fee?

Yes, if I could have that car for 1st payment down and a small loan to BMW finance, at that price, I would do it instead of getting a 15 YO one!

Next year when it is time I will let you do the legwork for me.

kyfdx

Yeah... all the fees are rolled in..

They actually marked up the money factor and acq.fee... added about $1000 to the deal... but, as noted before.. If I pushed for any cheaper, some dealership employee's brother-in-law would be driving it, or someone would say, "Hey, I bet if I marketed this car for $399 with nothing down, we could move it today".

But, here is the caveat... my wife really wanted another X3.. They were just too much.. I told her I could keep her in a BMW, or we'd have to look at a CR-V, RAV4, etc....

Another caveat? I think I've made a lot of great/good lease deals over the years.... nothing has come close to this one, for payment in relation to MSRP...

corvette

Holy smokes, I don't even like convertibles, and I would be interested at that price. How much would you charge to work my next deal for me? :P

nyccarguy

Bravo! Great deal on a sweet car! Have fun with it!

rayainsw

Best of luck with your BMW.
- Ray
Picking one up in Munich next month...
and paying a bit more !

ateixeira

Congrats. She will like the security of a hard top.

With a soft top a casual thief with a pocket knife can steal a GPS or even a CD.

She'll feel a lot more secure this way.

corvette

I'd be happy with a less expensive (MSRP) car at that payment level. Like a 135i coupe with metallic paint, cold weather package, DCT, paddle shifters, and Comfort Access.

breld

In current news, I am now officially jealous of breld and his new GTI. I test drove a GTI today (red, 6-speed stick, sunroof & touchscreen stereo) here in the Springs and am officially in love.

Hey Michael - if you're up for a 4-door, Tynan's in Aurora, as of last week, had a 2011 United Gray 6-speed stick with sunroof and nav that they are willing to sell at $1,500 below dealer invoice. I was deciding between that one and a 2012 - I went with the 2012 to get my first color choice. Or if you were to end up at McDonald's VW, and don't already have a salesperson there, I would recommend mine. Go Nissan also has a used 2010 white 2-door that is listed in the low $20's.

We're really enjoying it - I like the combination of fun-to-drive and practicality, particularly with the 4-door. I do miss some of the dynamics of the Miata we traded, but the difference is made up for with the fact that I'll be able to drive the GTI on a more regular basis. As you pointed out, the 18" wheels are surprisingly compliant - our 328xi with 17" wheels (albeit run-flats) is much harsher with bumps in the road.

Good luck!

Bruce

breld

With some free time on our hands this past Saturday, my wife wanted to browse around antique and "architectural salvage" stores - in the same area there's a sort of upscale used car place that primarily carries Audis and BMWs. Her - "since I've dragged you around to all these antique stores, why don't we just pop in to check out the inventory." Me - "Well.....gee....okay."

5 wagon stick

You'd think whoever purchased this originally (presumably special ordered) would have opted for the sport package.

ateixeira

AWD to boot.

Wow, for about the price of a new 1 series, and it's a 2008, far from being old.

kyfdx

There are other, cheaper BMWs that my wife would rather have.... but, some of them are twice the monthly cost.. you take what you get... LOL.

breld..

With the wagon being AWD, all the sport package gets you is sport seats.. and, maybe some bigger wheels, so not that big of a deal...

Those AWD wagons are heavy.... I drove one with the 255 HP engine, shortly after they came out in 2004-05... Not too swift.. It needs the turbo, especially at altitude..

ateixeira

Leases are funny, it's all about residuals, money factors, and incentives that they do (or don't) pile on. Funny how such an expensive car can lease for so little.

kyfdx

If I ran a dealership, I'd really stay on top of those programs, and realize when the price just got so cheap, it's ridiculous (like on that demo).. In that case, I'd jack up the price an extra grand, and market it as a cheap lease... and, make even more money...

I would bet that is a $5000 gross deal for them... I would've bargained for more of it, but was afraid they would come to their senses.. :surprise:

Again.. this is the best deal I've ever made... Monthly payment relative to either MSRP or selling price..

qbrozen

FYI, I have the set of 18s that came on my GTI and 2 sets of 17s that fit. I ran one set of 17s all last winter. It makes no discernible difference in the ride quality on this car.

What did make a difference was switching to Koni yellows all around. Mine was kind of irritating on the small imperfections in the road. Just reacted to them way more than I liked. The Konis actually softened the initial impact of the small stuff while retaining the stiffness of the stock setup on the big stuff. It was a nice improvement. I did, however, have over 60k on the stock struts/shocks, so I'm not sure if there would be any improvement over "young" stock equipment.

breld

With the wagon being AWD, all the sport package gets you is sport seats.. and, maybe some bigger wheels, so not that big of a deal...

Yeah, that's how my 530xi was. But I love those seats, as well as the three spoke steering wheel that comes with that package. I kinda like that with the AWD models - you can get those cosmetic upgrades with the sports package without the stiffer suspension.

kyfdx

Well... never mind then.. you know more about it than me...

Hey juice... you picking me up Saturday from the airport?

ateixeira

I'd meet you for lunch, at a minimum, but I'm going to be at the beach!

Hey, you wanna take a road trip to the shore? It's about 2.5 hours in the wrong direction, though! :shades:

kyfdx

Well.. it is a Holiday weekend!

Nah.. thanks, though!