Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

fintail

The old S500 is called a "W140". They were made to be eco friendly in a way, which means some kind of greenie wiring material was used, which at least in the first few years of production, disintegrates. I think it's about a 4K job to replace. I looked at a 98 S500 several years ago, same colors as yours - which didn't help it as I in my rainy area, black is a pain. A local dealer has an immaculate silver 99 S420 which somehow has my eye, but I would never do it. I like the coupes of that era more as they are big and weird, but maintenance is steep. Your new S500 is a "W220", and the 00-01 models were especially troublesome, they were just way too advanced and early buyers kind of beta tested the tech. Have you ever had an air suspension failure? They are notorious for that.

You are probably right on that 95 (A124) value - they are still depreciating slowly even though they are pretty and uncommon cars. I think some bought them back in the day with collectible hopes, but it isn't happening, and might not for decades. The old 500SL (R129) is worth even less, they are kind of seen as out of style now, and can be expensive to keep. You might notice your early car has the same steering wheel as your old 560SEL - that always amused me anyway.

I don't really love the current S (W221) either, I would only want it in AMG form. For MB big boats, the CL (C216) (big coupe) is much more appealing, just because it is so big and overdone, yet somehow subtle at the same time. I am not really into Bentleys somehow...although maybe I should as they are technically German cars nowadays :shades: ...but I will admit I wouldn't mind a Rolls if I had the means.

isellhondas

My buddy snapped his serpentine belt on his E 320 going down the freeway and it caused nearly 5000.00 in damage.

And within the last month, his xenon headlight system went haywire and the dealer gave him a choice. Fix it for 2400.00 or convert it to regualr headlights for the same price. He took the latter option.

And this is a lowly E 320!!

fintail

2400 for a xenon failure? I smell some shenanigans. What shop does he use? Barrier? That system can be replaced for well under a grand. He needs to shop around. The belt thing is kind of iffy too - I'd love to see the itemized bill for that one. I suspect a service advisor just bought a new cabin cruiser :shades:

fezo

Q - I have just the thing for you. The Car of the Month Club. We get a bunch of nice cars and crazies such as yourself and at the end of each month your car goes to the next guy and you get one from someone else. If someone could actually figure the logistics of this and pad teh numbers enough to make it work we could make a fortune!

rayainsw

For anyone interested:
I just had an opportunity to drive my BMW 335iS on an extended road trip. Approx. 700 miles over 2 driving days. Since I was curious, I filled the tank twice during the trip, both times at approx. half tank remaining. At the 2 fills, the car displayed 28.3 and 28.0. Excel calculates 26.9 and 27.2.

Much of the driving was Interstates [ typically posted 70 MPH and maintaining 75-ish ] or divided rural routes [ typically posted 55 and running 65-ish ] – with some ‘in town’ driving as well.

Currently at just over 2,000 miles.

Car: 335iS – trans. = seven speed DCT.
EPA rating is 17 \ 24.
Not bad, methinks, not bad at all.
- Ray
Unable to calculate the MPG for the 1,000+ miles in Europe, because I did not realize until I returned that 2 receipts did not include the number of liters purchased . . .

fintail

I'm just a chronic looker - I've had my car since 06 with no plans of replacement. But no doubt some here and elsewhere would love to be able to change up each month. If you could do that with nice cars...there might be a market for it.

roadburner

2007 BMW 328i Coupe:



It ticks just about all the boxes:
Cold Weather Package
Sport Package
NA inline six
Manual gearbox
Manual seats
One year of CPO warranty left(but the dealer doesn't know that)

And a bit more of a gamble- 2007 335i Coupe:



I like the color combo a lot better, as well as the extra power(especially since it can be bosted even higher for just a few hundred dollars).
That said, the miles are higher, an upgraded oil cooler is a necessity for the track, and while rare, turbocharger and wastegate failures have happened before 100k miles.
Still, I like not having a car payment- so I'll stand pat for now...

qbrozen

I think you and I briefly discussed something like this before. I think the insurance would be a problem. I think you'd have to set it up as a rental agency of some sort.

BTW, I looked up a couple of exotic rental car joints. They want $300-$400 per day for their cheapest cars! No way is that worth it.

stever

Here's a roll model:

DFW Elite Car Club

(yeah, yeah, I know it's "role". Just looks better on a car site).

nyccarguy

Roadburner - I dig both coupes, especially with sport pkgs & 6 speeds. I don't think the 328 is "fast enough for you." I know you'd figure out a way to make it work & still kick everybody's rear end, but I still think if you are going to take on a car payment or add another vehicle to your fleet, you won't be completely happy unless it is an E46 M3 Coupe or a 3 Coupe with the turbo.

qbrozen

Interesting that it works out almost the same as the rental company.

911 cabrio - 538pt/day average. You pay $2k/mo for 4k points, which is just over 1 week in the porsche. So $2k for a 1-week rental.

stever

Get a few more members and fewer Lambos, and call it the semi-elite car club. Knock the rental down by half. :shades:

qbrozen

I'll use the stable of cars now and knock it down by half.

Fezo, you'd pay $1k/mo for the great privilege of driving a 12-year-old 5-series and 26-year-old Benz, wouldn't you?

isellhondas

No, this is at a "botique" Mercedes dealer in So. Calif where they charge 175.00/hr for labor. I keep telling him to find a good Indy Shop.

The xexon bulb replacements alone were 310.00. One went out and the next month the other went. then, a few months later the headlights started doing strange things along with warning lights coming on.

That's when he got the 2400.00 quote!

European cars are expensive PITA's to keep on the road. It's always SOMETHING!

fintail

That's crazy. My local indy might not charge half that. I know I can buy complete light assemblies with bulbs for not a huge amount more than that on ebay - I wonder if that car has other issues like wiring harness or maybe a botched crash repair. Or it was built on an Oktoberfest Friday afternoon :shades:

My E55, knock on wood, has been very trouble free for nearly 2 years, needing nothing more than normal servicing in that time. Maintenance might not be cheap, but it's a hell of a lot more fun to drive than almost anything made by the Camcord companies.

isellhondas

Well, there are no discounts at a Mercedes Dealer and the labor rate is staggering.

Speaking of labor, the Reatta is ready to go to it's (your?) new home.

Nothing is ever easy and pulling that battery was no exception. It was in a tight spot and it had no built in handle. Whoever installed it had managed to round off one of the 5/16th bolts that attach the side terminals.

Off to Costco and 85.00 lighter the little Buick now sports a heavy duty "Kirkland" (what else?) battery.

The Costco battery came with a built in handle that made the job SO much easier.

Come and get it!

kyfdx

I like that white one...

isellhondas

Reading your post again, fintail...

I have to totally agree with you about the fun factor or lack of when driving a Honda or a Toyota. No question about that!

What is NOT fun (to me anyway) are HUGE repair bills, wondering if the car is going to start when I turn the key and wondering which warning light will be the next to come on. I have not much of a sense of humor I suppose.

NEVER ONCE have I ever had a warning light come on on any of the Hondas or Toyotas we have owned. Never a wierd electrical glitch such as sunroofs that don't work and power windows that break.

However...my beloved (and boring) 2003 CRV has finally had something break.

For some reason the CD changer portion of it's radio quit working yesterday.

After 59,000 miles, this is the first thing that has happened. Still on original brake pads and shoes with over half left.

Horrors! I would have expected more from a HONDA! :lemon:

I should go on one of the Problems boards and whine about how after only 11 years, my CD player BROKE!!! I'm sure others will quickly chime in!

Then I'll say that I'll NEVER buy another Honda!!

What should I do, audio experts?

tjc78

Whoever installed it had managed to round off one of the 5/16th bolts that attach the side terminals.

I hate side terminal batteries. I just had a nightmare with my S10. The terminal corroded to the battery and when I went to remove it the whole end fell apart. It was only a $5.00 fix, but still a PITA.

As for your radio, check out Crutchfield. They will have a nice aftermarket CD player with all the harnesses and install kit easily for under $200 shipped. I am sure you could install it in an hour. The older CRV isn't one of those cars where the radio is integrated into everything is it?

I guess you could also try getting a used one on Ebay.

corvette

The BMW I had was the only car I've ever owned that would consistently exceed its EPA rating, without me having to try at all to get good mileage.

corvette

It's a standard radio, right? I'd probably get a cheap aftermarket unit with an iPod hookup.

fintail

Well, you gotta choose the right cars, and you gotta pay to play. There's no free lunch. My mother's Camry has been absolutely faultless in the time she's owned it - needing zero outside of normal servicing. But it's not exactly a blast to drive or even sit in.

I do have worries about my car, esp window regulators and random lights (forgot about that, been about a year and a half since that happened, a simple $100 brake switch cured it), but otherwise, they are known to be pretty solid. Servicing costs a bit, but that's expected - if one drives a highline car and complain it costs more to maintain than an Accent, they need to drive something else.

My friend has an 03 Accord with the non-standard style CD unit, it died ages ago. Was going to be a fortune to replace as you can't install an aftermarket unit, so he just uses the radio now. For your unit, maybe seek junkyards? That's what I told my friend to do.

fintail

Your friend needs to shop smarter, or if he is unwilling, stop complaining and suck it up. Or dump the car. Sometimes a car is just a problem child, can't be cured.

Nope, I don't need a Reatta, thanks anyway ... I have one old extra mouth to feed as it is. Speaking of that, fintail's battery is nearly 5 years old now, and in generator-equipped cars, that's closing in on their life expectancy. Time to get the portable jump starter powered up for the winter. At least it's very easy to get to, although the battery itself is gigantic.

houdini1

Check out Zipcar.com. This is a relatively new car sharing service...all the rates include gas and insurance..

tjc78

Something tells me that Zipcar doesn't have 911s, Lambos, and Ferraris.

gouldn

Around here I only see Zip Prius and Civic Hybrids. Exciting! It does make sense for people who live in SF tho and only need a car to make an occasional escape.

oldfarmer50

"...I respect my G-d..."

Please forgive my ignorance. I have seen some really bad religious intolerance lately and I did jump to conclusions. The intolerance was directed towards a Jewish friend which makes this faux pax ironic.

Please accept my apology.

roadburner

I like that white one...

It's equipped just about the way I'd actually order one- except I'd get the Coral Red leather. It looks to have a full service history to boot.

kyfdx

Yeah.. I like the more daring colors of leather... red, terracotta, even natural brown...

I do like the premium package with the power seats, etc... and xenons.. Not very fond of leatherette, either...

But, stick, sport package and heated seats are a must.... everything after that is just gravy...

breld

It's a bit hard to say this with a straight face after all the car purchases we made this year, but I am so pleased with the '02 530i I found recently that I think I'm good for awhile. It just "fits" me so well in every way - it's a nice size for my 6'3" height and when I need to take others around, without feeling unwieldy; it has a great balance of comfort and sport with that sport package; and it's somewhat of a hidden treasure with the manual trannie. Other than lacking some modern niceties (such as bluetooth and iPod integration), I like it better than the '07 530xi I bought new. And this was literally 1/4 of the cost of that one. Lesson learned.



And my wife loves the GTI, so I don't think she'll have the itch for awhile either.

The CX-9 will turn two years old this Thursday! We're starting to get a little stability in the fleet.

breld

Just thought it'd be fun to share this pic I took over Labor Day weekend. Very patriotic, don't you think?

kyfdx

Nice... even Consumer Reports said that the E39 was the best car they had ever tested.... I'm not surprised you love it..

Did you say you were going to sell the 318ti?

breld

Yeah, the 318ti has been listed for sale ever since I purchased the 530i. No one's gone so far as to even look at it, though I got a call on it yesterday. I blame the winter/holiday season. Plus, I'm not very aggressive on the pricing, though I think it's fair (of course I do - I'm asking what I paid for it).

I'm in no hurry - it's sitting in the garage at work and I take it out at least once a week over lunch. It's a fun ride.

akangl

All this car talk has got my wandering eyes looking around. Still no word on my truck, hopefully hear something by mid-week.

I'm not thrilled about having a rental truck with summer tires and a winter storm warning for tomorrow. Good thing I don't really drive, still want my truck back with working 4WD. Having to cram the whole family into the Escort is rather funny. I'll give the Escort credit though, that thing is a tank on bad roads.

qbrozen

Very patriotic, don't you think?

Yet, all German. So I'm going to have to say No. :P

qbrozen

yeah, if I wanted an econocar, I would just use a rental service.

I really like the lease takeover idea. But I did just put snow tires on the GTI, so I'm pretty sure I'm keeping it through the winter.

Hell, what I REALLY should do is pay off the GTI as fast as possible and sell the 540i. Then pick up somebody's lease. That would take a couple of years, though, and I'm just too impatient.

tjc78

I've looked at the swapping websites. It certainly is a good idea for those of us who don't like keeping a car a long time. The thing I noticed is the good deals go really fast and the ones that look almost too good usually have a down payment attached since the seller wants to recoup some of their original down payment.

When I was looking there was Lincoln MKS (MSRP almost 50K) for 425/month. The seller originally put 7K down (and wasn't asking for any of it back! I was thinking about it, but I wasn't a huge fan of the Taurus the MKS is based on.

mark156

Have you ever had an air suspension failure? They are notorious for that.

Fin, no, we never had suspension failure with any of the big 'S-class' cars. Actually, none of the Mercedes has ever left us stranded in over 20 yrs. of owning them.

but I will admit I wouldn't mind a Rolls if I had the means.

I have a Rolls story that is crazy but true. I have friends that wanted a 4-door Rolls Convertible, they already owned 2 (2001 Corniche and a 1984 Corniche).... they bought a brand spanking new 2004 Phantom, had it shipped to the east coast to be transformed into a four door convertible. The '84 was sold in anticipation of the new car coming. The '01 was bought new.

To make a very long story short, the car is on it's third rebuild. The first guy went bankrupt after starting the project, the second guy didn't know what he was doing and screwed everything up, now the third guy had to rip everything apart and start over. And, I'm only talking about the frame here, during all this time, the interior was not installed and could not be installed until the frame is completely sound.

The car will be done, hopefully, in March of 2012. And yes, the car will be 8 yrs old with only 12 miles on the odometer. It has been a total nightmare and when it's done, it will pretty much be a 'one-of-a-kind' and probably cost more that a million dollars.

The problem I see is the convertible top will be enormous and I just can't see it being air tight. New glass had to be made for the side doors as the B and C pillars were removed so that the glass would touch like a suicide-door Lincoln. The locking systems had to be rebuilt, etc... the list just goes on an on.

Some people have more money than sense but hopefully the car will be drivable. :sick:

Mark156

breld

Yet, all German. So I'm going to have to say No.

Oh yeah - there is that.

ateixeira

What should I do, audio experts?

I'm no expert, but have you tried resetting it by disconnecting the battery?

Even if you're only trying to get any CDs out of it. I remember a friend who replaced his head unit and forgot he had 6 CDs in the in-dash changer. DOH!

qbrozen

The thing I noticed is the good deals go really fast

That's pretty much true of anything, right?

I mentioned the idea to the wife last night and she pretty much ignored me. Guess I can't blame her. Although she did say "so you'll sell the VW and BMW before doing that, right?" ummmm... no.

isellhondas

No, everything works well except the CD changer. When I psh the CD button it just stays on AM or FM radio. Strange.

I can buy a reman unit on Ebay for 179.00 and I think that's what I'm going to do. I don't want to Mickey Mouse some aftermarket unit in there.

Our BMW has a fancy, gimmicky aftermarket unit that takes a Rhodes Scholar to operate. If the wrong button accidently get's pushed it takes fifteen minutes to get back where you were. It flashes districting colors like a slot machine.

Sandman6472

Done! Happy Holidays!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

Sandman6472

Just got home from a couple of errands and the car is such a great appliance...always works and never has stranded me. The maintenance costs are pretty low since I'm down to a once/year oil change schedule. It gets me from point A to point B with no drama, something I like. But I'd prefer a RX 300, a 3 Series or a C Class if finances were different. I know the wife also likes the 3 Series. Showed her a last generation RX yesterday and mentioned how I'd love one of them for the better seating position and the leather...she just said they look really nice and left it at that. Know she'd kill me if I brought one home, but I definitely know she'd want to drive it if I did...she mentioned it a few years ago when I was about to swap for a S40...she said she'd be using it much of the time! But again, I just can't see dumping my perfect Civic at this point in time for a vehicle that will suck more gas, be more expensive to insure and cost more to maintain. But do plan to go drive an older RX 300 just to see how it would feel...for the right price, well let's just drive one first.

Oh, I also like the white 328 better also.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

fintail

I'm glad to see that. I've been driving MB since I was 18, only had one breakdown, when the fintail lost a transmission cooling line. As it was ancient even then, I can forgive it. My cars have been pretty solid.

About that Rolls...I think the owner should have had the work done in England, where frankly there are better coachbuilders, and more with experience with those cars. Once it was done, the product could simply have been shipped home. He would have had it in 2005. Otherwise, as you say, it sounds very impractical, and IMO of debatable taste. Or just dealt with 2 doors and waited for the stylish Phantom Cabrio. The Ghost doesn't appeal to me much, really looks like a fancy 7er to me.

andres3

I know in the 2003 Accord you could fit an aftermarket stereo/CD player/reciever in the front pocket storage bin. They take out the front pocket door/box, and then put the stereo in. Leaves a little pocket space below and your radio is now down lower, but you still have your "clock" display above. Or you can buy a $150 Kit that replaces the front cover to fit a stereo in the weird shaped spaces Honda created.

Honda does make it difficult to install aftermarket stereo's, as do most cars these days.

ab348

After being hyper-busy for a couple of weeks I finally had some time to take up the great lug nut crusade with the dealer again today. As you may recall I have been trying to get the 4 original lug nuts that they replaced with locking nuts which they added on to the price sticker.

Last night I sent a very firm email explaining the issue and asking them to provide the missing lug nuts. This time I copied the sales manager. I got a call from the salesman after a short time saying that he had talked to the parts dept about it. His explanation was that they install the locking nuts on all cars with alloy wheels and (get this) that they then throw he original nuts AWAY!!! I told him I could not believe that and that everyone tells me they are supposed to go in the baggie the locking nuts come in and go back in the car. He then tells me that they would be happy to provide me with lug nuts but that the car originally would have come with a standard lug nut on the stud where the locking nut is, not chromed or stainless capped ones. I almost lost it at that point but kept control and told him that was flat-out wrong.

I guess he must have talked to the manager at that point because I got an email from her a short time later saying she had looked up the p/n for the stainless capped nuts and would order me a set. I only need 4, but whatever. I am thinking she jumped in for damage control because it was starting to get ridiculous. These guys seem to be allergic to straight answers. Why the hell they just don't give me 4 take-offs I dunno, but whatever.

The nuts are supposed to arrive in about a week. We shall see what happens next in the follies...

fintail

You'll receive a set for the wheels on a Lucerne...

stickguy

some of you may remember my story about my son's TL with no heat. He took it to the dealer today (back up at college in the north country) for them to look at. I thought about an indy, but I am not there and did not find one online I felt comfy with, if I could not go oin myself.

So, just had him go to the Honda dealer in town (nearest Acura dealer is in Syracuse, about 45 miles away). And tomorrow he can go get it back, while me bank account will be about $350 lighter, but he will have heat for the winter (somewhat important way up in snow country).

Not sure exactly what it was, just some cort of valve. I will see what exactly they put on the paperwork.

But, (knock wood), not as bad as it could have been. and this was the first repair in 3 years, so I guess we had to get hit sometime. Just don't want another hit anytime soon!

Car should be clicking over 160K before he gets home at Christmas. Still runs more like 60K.

akangl

Talked to the service advisor today and they are waiting for a new transfer case to get there. He said the truck should be ready Thursday or Friday depending on when the T-case gets in.

When I asked what they found wrong with the other one, he said the list was far too long to talk about. Apparently something went wrong and basically destroyed the entire inside of the transfer case. They have no idea what broke first or why the truck was still willing to go into 4WD because with all the damage they found it should not have been functioning at all. Ford decided it was cheaper to replace it then to rebuild it. Fine with me, I just want my truck back!