Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

rayainsw

I don't even see any stone chips on the front.
Going to see this one in person?
- Ray
Hope the pictures reflect the actual condition...

stickguy

yeah, it isn't too far away. Put probably has to wait for Thursday when I am off again.

darned thing is I went about 1/4 mile from it last weekend when I was out shopping (it is across the street from the BMW dealer I stopped at).

But this one in the pictures does look brand new. Even the engine bay is nice and clean. Hopefully that reflects years of care, not just a super good detailer!

kyfdx

I like that one...

Good carfax.. three year lease, then another owner for 3.5 years with dealer service all the way through 68K miles..
Premium package (note power lumbar disc on seats controls)
Full cold weather package (note headlight washers)... pretty sure this means it will also have fold down rear seats (fairly rare on an E46 sedan).
Steel Blue w/gray leather, which is a great combination..

Looks like the BMW dealer had it for a few months, and got tired of sitting on it and wholesaled it...

This is my favorite one, so far..

stickguy

just realized they linked the carfax. That has been a local car to me all its life. Does not look too bad, and no accidents reported.

do have to go check this one out. It has been there for quite a while, so maybe they are looking to deal.

nyccarguy

Roadburner is right, those wheels are from an E90 325i/328i Sport Pkg Sedan. I think you're going to have to be super careful of E46 325is (plural) of this vintage from a non-BMW dealer used car lot type place. Whatever you get, please have it checked out by a BMW mechanic before you buy. Some of these cars might look fantastic, but be mechanical nightmares as far as repairs go.

You might have the right idea buying from an anal owner who kePt detailed service records.

E46 BMWs are generally very reliable. But they are BMWs which means they are supposed to be driven. My accountant has an E46 325xi that has stupid low mileage. I think it is an '04 with less than 50 K. His wife drove it around town, then he used it as a station car (2 miles round trip per day). He's had a decent amount of problems for a car with so few miles. It is in perfect physical shape & has never been hit.

stickguy

yeah, I would look to have it checked over independently if I purchase from some place that I am not familiar with. As long as the deal is in place it should not be a problem. this latest one is right around the corner from the BMW dealer so that should be easy to do.

qbrozen

Geesh, JS has at least five places now?

I've had one good and one bad experience with them. Bought my 350Z there for a great deal. No muss, no fuss. Another time I tried to sell them our XC90 and buy a Sentra. He was way over on the Sentra (which needed a good bit of work) and wouldn't budge and way under on our volvo and wouldn't budge.

Anyhoo, that one's worth maybe $5k on a trade if its all there.

qbrozen

hmmm... looks like new rubber, too. That one would probably pull $8k if its as good as it looks. $11k is probably the number, so they are at a pretty good starting point. Of course, I'd start 'em at $10k.

roadburner

I was high bid at $19,101- below reserve. With a BIN price of $25,000 I'll bet the seller is just a bit disillusioned...

fezo

OK, who are those guys? Obviously you are familiar with them but I'm not.

stick - good thing you saved that one for after I bought the convertible. That looks seriously nice.

Don't disappoint us now - pull the trigger!

qbrozen

just another used car dealer. But they have a lot of inventory and apparently many locations. I knew of 3 of them up until now.

fezo

It was the js that caught my attention. Was thinking the autohaus guys.

fintail

I wonder if they'd take 30K for it :shades:

In those colors and options, a rare bird, maybe one of a dozen or two tops. Shame about that mileage.

stickguy

thanks. I figured 11K would be a good price on the 2005 if it checks out as nice as the pictures and carfax look. 82K isn't too bad on miles, since I won't be putting that many on over the next couple years.

All he has to do is make an offer I can't refuse to just swap cars. So much easier than having to sell one to buy the other! Though if he takes a low enough offer, having a spare temporarily won't kill me.

mark156

Nice car, navy blue is just not my favorite. What do you mean 'shame about the mileage'? :confuse:

Mark156

corvette

"...fold down rear seats..."

This is another option which should be standard, especially on a compact car. I've fit all sorts of flat pack furniture, 8 foot fluorescent light fixtures, ladders, etc., into my car because of this feature. If the demographic buying the car is likely to use it as their only vehicle, it should have a folding rear seat. This would include the Toyota Avalon and Hyundai Genesis.

fintail

11 city 17 highway, makes my E55 look like a Bluetec :shades:

I'd like a lighter blue, but not many of those made anymore.

28firefighter

I just want to echo what NYC said here. If you'll recall, I had a 2004 330XI with only 79k miles when I bought it. Turned out to be an absolute disaster - one issue after another.

Maybe it is fine now with the right owner who could do the repairs themselves and get it up to par, but was not the right car for me and left me stranded too many times.

stever

"One of the biggest challenges of an auto dealership purchasing a used car at an auto auction is the risk of that the vehicle might have serious issues that prevent it from being sold to customers. The auto community calls these unfortunate purchases "kicks".

Figure out a prediction model to predict the losers and win $10,000.

Predict if a car purchased at auction is a "kick" (kaggle.com).

Interesting post at the site here, reminds me of Brentwood's posts over the years.

qbrozen

same place. The name is JS Autohaus.

qbrozen

Posting this here to tempt someone else. I like it, but its a tad out of my self-imposed pricerange.

Asking price is pretty reasonable. And a bargain considering its more than a $1 per mile discount from a new 2012 (which would be about $30,500 for one with these options, according to truecar pricing).

rayainsw

I see this one has the automatic trans.
For 2013, there is a newly available -
'6-speed Auto Transmission w/Select Shift functionality - option code 443'.
This might tempt me to at least test drive one,
when the time comes...
- Ray
Unreasonably happy with current vehicle - today....

tjc78

I was looking at the Mustand Q posted, and while I like the car, am I the only one that thinks Ford needs some serious rethinking of the center stack. The Escape is similar. I just don't like it. Tiny display and buttons and then these huge (almost cartoonish) knobs below. What ever happened to a dedicated HVAC panel and nice double-din size radio/Nav unit?

qbrozen

i don't think so. Looks like a stick to me.

rayainsw

huh...
Was looking at the description text.
sorry....
[ edit: under specifications = '# TRANSMISSION
# Rear-Wheel Drive
Electronic Traction Control Via Abs & Engine Management
Automatic 6 Speed Transmission' ]

stickguy

those are the last of the old school interiors (outside of the big trucks I guess).

From what I have read, spend some time with the new fashioned Sync/my ford touch stuff, and you will be begging to have this back!

tjc78

I played around with the newer system when I test drove the Taurus. I think they are on the right track, but, you have to make features easily accessible. In other words not buried in a menu somewhere.

My LaCrosse has a lot of buttons in the center stack. I thought it was overkill, but, once you learn where everything is it makes sense. I don't need to enter a menu to change the HVAC airflow or to record a file from my USB stick/CD to the hard drive, etc.

andre1969

last week, when my 2000 Park Avenue's check engine light came on. But, yesterday it finally went off. I don't know what triggered it. Never got around to plugging the code reader in. When it first came on, I did check the gas cap, which seemed to come off a bit too easily. So, maybe it was just that, and it took a couple days to reset itself?

Oh, and my roommate's 2006 Xterra is in the shop for a few days for multiple issues. Heater not working, tire pressure light coming on, and one of the inside power outlets not working. He has an Altima for a loaner, and I gotta admit that's tempting me a bit...

oldfarmer50

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP4ade4da7e1c44b7db90841149b95c532.html

fintail

Why am I laughing a bit, inside? :shades:

ateixeira

the man then left a fob in each car

I hope the insurance doesn't cover them. Why should the rest of us pay higher rates for such stupidity?

fintail

Exactly. IMO he had it coming. Money and common sense again have an inverse relationship.

corvette

Leaving the keyless ignition transponder in the car is no different than leaving a regular key in the car!

One exception is that the i-key system on my Altima tries very hard to keep you from locking the thing in the car.

tjc78

my Altima tries very hard to keep you from locking the thing in the car.

I think it is virtually impossible. On my 09 Genesis I tried locking the car with the button on the door handle (while the fob was in it) and the car just beeped at me.

On my LaCrosse if you leave the fob in the car and shut the door it toots the horn at you. I haven't tried to see if it would allow me to lock the door, but I doubt it would.

andre1969

On my LaCrosse if you leave the fob in the car and shut the door it toots the horn at you. I haven't tried to see if it would allow me to lock the door, but I doubt it would.

Even my 2000 Park Ave tries, in a crude way, to remind you to take the key with you. If you want to lock the door without the fob, you have to press the button on the door panel twice. The first time you press it, it chimes at you, and then the second time it locks.

How is your new LaCrosse treating you, by the way?

tjc78

How is your new LaCrosse treating you, by the way?

I really like it. The technology works as advertised and the Hi-Per strut suspension is just right for me. It has a very comfortable ride without being overly floaty. The Harman Kardon stereo sounds great, and the seats (while firm for an American car) are comfortable.

The only real complaint I have is a rattle in the rear package deck the dealer wasn't able to fix. I will give them another shot at my first oil change.

js06gv

That chime you get the first time you press the button should be a delay feature. If you shut the door you will hear the car lock about 5 seconds or so later, even if you don't hit the button again. I guess those seconds are supposed to give you time to re-enter if necessary. You should be able to turn this feature off entirely if your PA is like other GM vehicles.

js06gv

Interesting that this car has the heated seats. When I bought my wife's '11 GT last year finding one with the comfort package was near impossible. I'd venture to guess that about 1 in 50 had it. Of course, I am in Texas but even here heated seats are a must have for my wife for the couple of months she gets to use them.

stickguy

I never use the button or door handle to look my car. Not even sure how it would work on my Accord. I always push the lock button on the fob (and since the fob is also the key, no chance of locking it in the car!)

nyccarguy

Nice pic on page 61 of this month's ROUNDEL

fezo

Now I look at it just the opposite way. I never use the fob to lock the car if I can avoid it. My thought is the car is powered by a big 12 volt battery that I can replace myself if need be. The fob is powered by essentially a hearing aid battery and if that battery goes dead they no doubt will have to reprogram the fob......

Of course we have both fobs from the 12 year old, 238K Accord and they both work just fine - even after early on I went swimming and realized the thing was in my pocket!

corvette

I'm not aware of any that have to be reprogrammed after the battery goes dead. When I replaced the fob batteries on the Altima, I think I paid under $2 for two watch batteries on eBay (free shipping via first class mail).

Sandman6472

Agreed...think my kid took mine over to Radio Shack and they threw one in for under $3 as I recall.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

fezo

Oh, come on; let me be paranoid......

roadburner

Nice pic on page 61 of this month's ROUNDEL

Thanks! My wife was afraid that Satch was going to use the picture of my son at the Texas Hold'em table; he really did amass a pile of chips.

nyccarguy

I was thumbing through ROUNDEL & saw your car. I said to myself, that's got to be the one & only!

sda

It seems it is all the electronics, sensors, computers that cause trouble these days. Rarely do you hear of mechanical failure, smoking exhausts, slipping transmissions. It is always this sensor went bad (you think a $10 part) and it ends up being tremendously expensive. My experience with european cars has been extremely expensive and painful, domestics not that bad, and japan based quite good. :sick:

ateixeira

Probably a function of simple design, but I can confirm that with my experience.

My Miata's clutch pedal went soft, oh no, for sure I thought I'd be out a few hundred bucks at least.

Well, $10.74 later, got a clutch slave cylinder rebuild kit, problem solved.

Also spent about a dollar's worth of brake fluid.

So in all a painful $11.74 or so out of pocket. LOL

roadburner

I said to myself, that's got to be the one & only!

I'm so blessed that my son likes cars; I never tried to push him in that direction, so I guess it's hereditary. I have a couple of friends who are track rats like me and their sons couldn't care less. In fact, one of my the guys bought a CPO Boxster S and asked his 16 year old son if he would like to drive it- the kid said, "No thanks." I told my friend that if he might want to take a paternity test as I don't think that kid sprang from his loins...

Sandman6472

Local dealer called me up earlier and said they have some in stock and come on over and take a spin. Will do that probably the start of next week. Am really excited about this car as I think it could be the one for the wife. We have Buick history on both sides with good results and it does look like a baby Regal, a good thing. Wouldn't mind coming back over to an American car again for the next 6 or 7 years. For some reason she's not into the Elantra as much as I am and I've already crossed the Focus off the short list. Think it'll come down to the Verano and the Mazda3 when all's said and done. Two choices I could definitely live with!

The Sandman :sick: :shades: