Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

ateixeira

I don't wear a watch...

Same here, it's become an abacus.

qbrozen

I wear a watch. I don't like looking at my phone because, when other people do it, I take it as a sign of disrespect or disinterest in what is going on in the real world around them. Obviously, that's because I think they are looking at their phone for messages, not just checking the time. Some people take looking at a watch the same way. "What? You got somewhere better to be?" But its a bit different when we are all under the same pressure to attend an absurd number of meetings most days.

Anyhoo... back to the CCB. Here I have rejected the BMW, but I've already gotten in my head to get out of the GTI. Its weird. So now I'm pondering selling it to a local dealer, selling it privately, or driving it to Carmax. All have their ups and downs. Local dealer: easy and close by, but least money. Private: the most money, but a big pain in the butt, especially with this car, which is going to attrack the young and furious as well as joy riders. Carmax: potentially a mid-pricepoint, but its a good 2-2.5 hours away, I'll need to find and pay for transportation back, and it might not net enough over a local dealer to justify ... so a bit of a gamble.

After that? Well, I'd be trying that swap-a-lease kinda program to see how that works out for me.

Sandman6472

Why not drive the BMW after you sell the VW and not buy for awhile. Save the $ to get what you really want down the road. You'd also save on petrol, insurance, wear & tear etc. Also y'all would have more driveway space. Just a thought.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

qbrozen

Yeah, I thought about that, too. But how long can I daily drive a 12-year-old V8 bimmer with 148k miles?

Also, the way I see it, it only saves insurance. Gas and wear & tear would only be accelerated on the 1 car and, therefore, a wash on cost.

tjc78

Carmax: potentially a mid-pricepoint, but its a good 2-2.5 hours away,

Give Autolenders a shot. They took the 09 Genesis off my hands and were great to deal with.

stickguy

There is a car sense one in Westhampton. That's not too far from you. I assume it is still there, since it only opened a couple years ago.

Auto lenders wildly overprices their cars, so possible they will give you a decent price, but might be a little "miley" for them.

Now, when you get desperate and start slashing the price, give me a call!

Sandman6472

How many does the wife have right now? If she has multiples, maybe that could be a temp solution. Just trying ti get ya to find your "dream car", the one which you'll keep for awhile and really love. i know y;all have youngin's and trust me, they get pretty expensive. Right now, our two oldest have come home for a spell to save some bucks for their 1st places. Luckily, they are a big help to me as they help me when I can't get around on my own.

Saw another RX 330 on my way home from the pain doctor and I think it's a sign actually. After really thinking about it, that really would be the perfect ride for me since it's got the ride height I'd want and I could slide right into the drivers seat. With the amount of miles I drive now, the extra price of petrol wouldn't be that much more really. Also thinking a Highlander would be almost the identical ride, just less pricey while using 87 octane. But still lovin' my Civic...it still puts a smile on my face so who could ask for more right now. Better to wait awhile to see how much longer I'll actually be driving.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

roadburner

RB, does the smg make its own gear changes if you are in manual mode?

Not in my limited experience, but the main problem is the lazy herky-jerky upshifts. Drive one and see what I mean...

akangl

That a carmaker needs to come up with an SUV or car that has at least 7-8" of ground clearance, is AWD, stability control, AND gets 35-40 mpg.

We've had WILD weather lately, high winds, freezing rain, snow, just crazy. Hubby went to work Saturday night and it took him nearly 6 hrs to go 230 miles. He got everything, rain, freezing rain, and then ran into 150 miles of 8-12" of snow in the road. He said his Civic did not appreciate that and it really isn't supposed to be a snow plow. By the time he got to work the snow had torn the skid plate loose from under the car and it was dragging, still not sure about other damage. I think this is the worst winter we've had in a long time and its only December. :sick:

kyfdx

I wear a watch. I don't like looking at my phone because, when other people do it, I take it as a sign of disrespect or disinterest in what is going on in the real world around them.

It's funny... that's why I quit wearing a watch (in the late '80s), because I had a bad habit of constantly looking at it.. I worked at a job that gave me a piece of electronic equipment that had the time displayed, and that was the end of my watch-wearing days...

But, I get exactly what you are saying..... I don't check my phone for the time very often, but it's there when I need it.

tjc78

Auto lenders wildly overprices their cars

You aren't kidding..... they did sell my Genny in less than a week though, so they must have an audience.

stickguy

Daughter had her 1st driving lesson today (3 hours). She loved it. Claims to be a natural (and the instructor did tell my wife she did well, but he probably tells all the parents that!). So there goes the "she won't want to drive" option.

This is going to get pricey, and another car is not in the current budget, so that means I have to share with her.

nyccarguy

As a Chronic Car Keeper. Spoke to a banker @ Chase about refinancing my current TSX loan. Started out @ 5 years, 5.65%. Then refinanced @ 4 years, 3.44%. I'm hoping to get approved for 3 years @ 2.61% & pay it off a little early. Then I can start paying more money toward the family Pilot (5 years @ 2.9%).

stickguy

car loans give me the hives. haven't made a payment for at least 4.5 years at this point That will be the hardest part about finally upgrading the family car next year (it will likely require financing). at least with my cars, it is always cash deal or no deal!

nyccarguy

Buy qbrozen's GTI & give your daughter the Accord!

stickguy

I already planted that seed. Just need a little time for it to germinate...

nyccarguy

You know it is funny. I don't like debt at all. But when it comes to cars, I don't mind making the payment. It's weird, I know. My plan is to pay off each car before the financing period is up & drive it for at least 10 years.

stickguy

that's cool.

my plan was always to put up enough to have a manageable payment for 3 years, and pay it off in 2, then drive for free the rest of the time (or of course, have a fully paid off car to trade in!).

Rule of thumb was 25K - 10/15K, finance the difference for 3-4 and pay off in 2-3. Something like that.

qbrozen

I called carsense once back when we wanted to sell the wife's XC90 outright. They were so far below Galves, it was absurd. They won't be hearing from me.

I've shopped at autolenders (once before I found out their "one price" policy). Never thought about selling them a car. Didn't know they did that sort of thing.

Stick, I'll make you a great one time offer ... just cause its you. Galves is $11k on it. I'll sell it to you for $11,500. Hell, make it $12k and I'll even include an extra set of VW Classix wheels with nearly new winter tires. But wait, there's more! Call in the next 72 hours and I'll even throw in a new oil change prior to delivery. That's a $40 value! Yours, free, just for calling!

nyccarguy

Sounds like a good plan. I'll be there ONE day. For now, money is cheap so I don't mind stretching out the payment to 5 years & paying off in 4 - 4.5 years. I put ZERO down on my 2011 Pilot.

kyfdx

...check this....

3-series

Sandman6472

Sweet!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

nyccarguy

Plus as a younger guy with a wife & 3 kids, I'm trying to do the right thing. I've avoided the temptation to trade in my TSX & use the equity I have in it to buy down the money factor on a super cheap (G37X or E90 328xi) lease.

corvette

"car loans give me the hives."

I've been free of car payments since 2010, but now that I am, I wonder why I paid it off so early--the interest rate was low. Grass is always greener, I guess!

stickguy

I like it. even the color. THink it must be overpriced for having 111K on it though. Would need to have one heck of a stack of receipts to get that much.

stickguy

not a bad offer. What is this, a 2008 with 65K on it?

Now, just keep it for 1 more year until I actually have use for another car.

kyfdx

Stick, RWD 3-series wagons are pretty rare... add xenons, premium, sport and leather.. that's a pretty good combo.. (and, really, really rare for a wagon) I see the miles as being low for an 11-yr-old car..

It is overpriced... but, I'm sure it will bring at least $8

qbrozen

'07 5-door with 69,400.

A year? Ha!

Last night, I was reading ... ummm... I think MT's?? Annual All-Stars edition. The GTI was listed... again. So I thought, "why am i giving it up?" As I'm driving it this morning, I'm thinking, "well, its comfy, nice inside, great power ... oh, well, there goes that front wheel spinning again on takeoff [cause the road is wet and I have winter tires] .... meh." Maybe if it lasts till the spring and I put the summer rubber back on, I'll love it again.

After I posted that last night, I kinda hoped you wouldn't take me up on it. That's too cheap. :P

qbrozen

well, the other side to that is it is rare for a reason. Small, small market.

Why is he only getting 25 mpg?? I've gotten that out of a 350Z and turbo volvo. C'mon.

Anyhoo... its $4k on a trade... so unless you let your heart lead your head, $6500 is ALLL the money.

stickguy

that reminds me, I do want a RWD car again! The 3 series wagon KY posted could certainly do the job.

My real problem is, having just laid out a bunch of cash remodeling the house, I really should wait until next year when I actually need a 3rd (technically 4th, but I don't count my sons anymore as it is at college with him) car in the driveway.

though your GTI is certainly intriguing, I suspect it will be long gone by then!

stickguy

no one is trading that for 4K. But, if that car was OCD owner clean and in my area for 6K, I would write that check today.

stever

Chrome/Firefox browser extension:

Once it's up and running, every car listing on Craigslist gets a few extra pages of data below whatever the poster has provided, including things like:

• Car reviews from CarSurvey.org and Edmunds.com
• Recall or safety notices
• Price estimates from places like Motor Trend, Automotive.com, Kelly Blue Book, and the Canadian Black Book
•Other similar listings on Craigslist (with prices)
• A quick way to check and see other listings that seller has up on Craigslist.

Make car shopping on Craigslist less cumbersome (CNet)

stickguy

had today off so ran some errands (in and out of the car inspection station in 15 minutes! Good to go for another 2 years now).

so, stopped at Subaru dealer (hey, I was passing by). Just to sit, not drive (and yes, at 1:00 I was the only person there not employed by the dealership).

The new Imprezza was quite an improvement. Shocking amount of room in it. Even the back seat had lots of leg room, and cavernous headroom front and back. Good job by Subaru.

also checked out the family trucksters for the wife. And got annoyed that style still overrides function in the segment. The outback (a 3.6 limited, for 35K sticker. ouch) was very nice, but the cargo area just seemed small. Not much height, and the slanted roof cut into usable space. Big car, not in the back though.

The Forester at least is still square. Looked more functional.

The Tribeca though had lots of room with the silly 3rd row folded. I think ultimately my wife will insist on something in that size class (like the Highlander) after deciding that stuff like the Escape, CX-5, etc. are just too small inside (cargo wise). Though the CRV might work OK.

what really kills me is the shortness issue. I hate having cargo above the seatback (blocking rear vision) and on many of the SUV types that means you have about 1 foot to play with. The Minivan does spoil you in that sense.

tjc78

The Minivan does spoil you in that sense.

Like it or not, the minivan is probably the ideal vehicle for a family that needs to haul stuff. They are super roomy and versatile.

When I did lots of traveling for my job, I got given the owner's wife's 96 Town and Country (she got a new Navigator), at first I was a little upset but then I realized it was comfortable, a good long distance cruiser, and even loaded up had great visability. Probably didn't hurt that the A/C would chill beer and it had a great stereo.

stever

Hey Sandman, we need you over here if you have a few minutes. Big USPS thread. :shades:

akangl

The new Imprezza was quite an improvement. Shocking amount of room in it. Even the back seat had lots of leg room, and cavernous headroom front and back. Good job by Subaru.

Wonder what the ground clearance is on one of those. I haven't been able to find a straight answer. I know the old Impreza outback sport used to have similar to the Legacy Outback. If that's the case there may be one in our garage in about 2 weeks. The Civic has 6.1" of ground clearance I believe and its just getting torn up with all the snow this winter.

stickguy

it looks to me like any other small sedan, so I would not expect much more than a Civic. maybe a little? Just not an issue to me in NJ, where we worry more about losing the car in potholes than with plowing through snow!

The outback has plenty of clearance, but a whole nother type of car of course.

akangl

The outback has plenty of clearance, but a whole nother type of car of course.

Rumor has it we are going by the Subaru dealer tomorrow. I guess if he can forgo some options maybe we could get an Outback into our price range. I'd rather he just keep the Civic but geez, every trip to work rips a new part off the car. Considering its winter 8 months out of the year and the terrain he has to go through, I guess we didn't think about a ground clearance issue when we bought the Civic.

Have to go by the Honda dealer tomorrow and find out how much the skid plate thing is going to cost, have to replace it since it protects the fuel lines.

stever

If you need a Continental Subaru license plate surround, let me know. One came with my Outback. :shades:

corvette

Supply problems notwithstanding, I bet you can find a deal on a leftover 2011 CR-V, although you might have to make a trip to the CONUS to find a dealer willing to give a discount. The CR-V should have adequate ground clearance...

akangl

The CR-V should have adequate ground clearance...

The CR-V would be perfect in all ways except one. For whatever reason hubby cannot find a comfortable driving position, he's taken several test drives and tried hard to make it work. Considering he has a 4-5 hour commute and after a 15 min test drive he's very uncomfortable, that's certainly a factor.

I guess we'll see what happens, really hard to think about trading the Civic since its still under warranty and has been a great car. I think hubby and I have this discussion every winter, just a lot more this winter since the weather has been horrible.

tjc78

I'll tell you one thing, there is no way I would be making 4/5 hour commute in Alaska, during the winter in a Civic. I can handlie snow, even in a RWD car, but up there 4WD is a life saver.

I think the minimum I would want (trying to be economical) would be a 4wd CRV, RAV, Equinox etc.

nyccarguy

I drove the current generation CRV back in 2007. Very functional, lots of space, decent gas mileage. I felt like I was sitting on a toilet & it had ZERO pickup. I guess the salesman didn't think I was a serious buyer either. I told him I wanted to lease & spelled out the terms which I was willing to do so. He went back to his manager & told me the lease price was "in the 4s.". The guy was definitely a greenpea.

Me: "What's the selling price, money factor, & residual value? 4 what? $405 or $489?"

Sales [non-permissible content removed]: "Sticker."

Me: "Ok, thanks for your time."

Got a follow up call about a week later.

"Have you made a decision yet?"

"Yes, I got a BMW X3 for $471/month including tax with $0 down."

Silence on the other end for a sec, then thanks me for my time.

mark156

I have driven our '07 CR-V for 50,500 miles and I find the seat comfortable. In '07, Honda did not offer a power seat in the CR-V, it came out in later models. But, the seat is totally adjustable manually which works well in my opinion.

We did pay list for ours as they were just coming out and a fully loaded 4wd model with navigation was a little hard to find. I had to put a deposit on one that a dealer had coming in about 300 miles from home. Also, I HAD to have it in Borrego Beige (gold) as it needed to 'blend' with the motorhome colors. It would be so embarrassing to have a tow vehicle that didn't match! LOL!

I can't say I've ever sat or driven in a car that had really bad seats. As long as they are adjustable, I usually can find a setting that works. Also, I'm not a tall person (5'7"), that might make a difference.

Mark156

ateixeira

The new Imprezza was quite an improvement. Shocking amount of room in it. Even the back seat had lots of leg room, and cavernous headroom front and back. Good job by Subaru.

Is there toe room under the front seats? This little improvement helps compact cars a lot.

How was clutch and shifter feel?

If you need a lot of ground clearance they'll soon launch the XV CrossTrek. Should compete with the Outlander Sport and Juke, I guess.

isellhondas

That salesperson certainly handled that wrong but since you felt like you were sitting on a toilet and that the CRV had ZERO (?) pickup he probably figured you WEREN'T serious!

I mean, why would anyone want to lease a car they didn't like?

We currently own two CRV's a 2003 and a 2011. We also had a 2000.

They happen to be my favorite of all Hondas but they certainly aren't right for everybody.

nyccarguy

My wife thought it was "just fine," and it's acceleration was comparable to her 2000 Mazda Protégé ES. It was going to be her car. I figured if it was cheap enough, then why not?

isellhondas

Fair enough.

I've always thouight the pickupwas more than adequate but I guess it's what a person is used to.

Sandman6472

Sat in a new model last week and really liked it, but it seemed a bit big to me. A test drive would certainly be in order if I was interested. Seems to be the same size of the RX330 I love so much, And yes, a power seat would be necessary in any auto I were to purchase in the future...don't want to settle anymore with a seat that I can't minipulate just right. I deserve that at my age & with my spinal issues!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

stickguy

I think there was toe room. At least I don't recall my feet being cramped, and I am 6' tall with pretty big feet.

Only sat in the one on the floot (no drive), and it was an AT so no comment on clutch/shifter.

they did have a used Forester on the lot (2007 maybe?) that was a stick. Not something you see that often.