Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

qbrozen

low mileage ones with the auto have been hitting 30 lately, but I bet the stick keeps this one down to around 28. I'm surprised how many '11s are going through auction! 34 in the past month.

nyccarguy

That's a crazy amount of '11s running through the auction and it is still 2011! A Perfect car with ZERO reconditioning needed. A prettty sick car for $30K plus TTL.

I'm partial to BLACK interiors though:) So onward. That's a $42K car brand new.

fezo

Other than it being white I could lust after a car like that..... Not at that price but I love the car.

nyccarguy

Fezo - it's not the white that bothers me, it's the lack of a black interior. Definitely a sick car. It's going to sit too. Probably until March.

fezo

I ahve this thing about white cars. Look too much like refrigerators.

I can understand the black interior in CT and NYC. Now if you lived in Florida that would be a different matter.

gouldn

Infiniti's seems like such a good deal on the used market! my favorite dealer is these guys (they're very picky about which cars they offer for sale). As you can see there are 11's for under 30K ... and that's pre-haggling. The only downside is the supposed low MPG, although I have no firsthand experience.

http://www.carsmithmotors.com/web/inventory/All_years/Infiniti/All_models/All_bo- - - - dy_types/All_vehicles/

**EDIT** I didn't realize how steep the discounts where on the new ones. No wonder they used ones are < 30k.

qbrozen

So, as we all knew would happen, the dealership did not honor the trade-in price quoted me. I do believe it was an honest mistake though. And, in the end, i wound up with the deal i was looking for anyway because I got them to come down a hair more than $3k off their asking price, and they snagged me a great finance rate. This one is not CPO, but the rate is just as good. Car still has 8k miles warranty.

I dont have it at home yet because there are some things that they need to fix first.

The car is not perfect, but $24k is a fair enough price. I'll get some pics when i pick it up, probably Monday unless they need to order parts.

akangl

Some colors are much harder than others to blend and match but a quality shop can get it right the first time.

I've met ONE painter that I can honestly say was the best I've ever seen. If I knew where he was right now I'd GLADLY let him fix the paint issues on my F-150. I met him after a windstorm scrapped the paint off the pass side of my 97 Explorer. I took the truck to the same body shop that did the work on the Pilot and they refused to touch it. They said that Desert Violet Metallic was not a color that could matched.

I hunted around and found a little out of the way body shop who happily agreed to fix it. I could never tell that truck had been painted. It was a beautiful job.

I wish I knew where Brandon was today, very talented guy, I was sad to hear that his family closed that shop.

rayainsw

Soooo - details \ link to the one
you decided on \ made the deal on, please?
- Ray
Too many candidates....

qbrozen

There are no pics up for this one. Hell, not even any details. They merely listed a 135 automatic coupe with 41800 miles in Sapphire Black Metallic with Coral Red interior, $26995. I had to email to ask what options it had. Premium, sport, heated seats was the response.

So when I got there, the salesman assigned me wasnt available so they passed me off on someone else. Anyway, the car drove really nice. Tires are in good shape. I couldnt find any evidence of paintwork, but it is easy to see the one thing that lets it down, which is a rear bumper with some pretty bad scratches and a couple of dings (yes, dings in the bumper, i have no idea how you do that to plastic). I used that in my negotiations of course. I figure i'll just drive it that way. Maybe somebody will hit it one day and it will get fixed for me. Haha.

So as I had relayed before, the internet consultant had emailed me that salesguy 1 told him $14-15k for my gti, where Galves is $10300. Salesguy 2 comes back with an appraisal of 9500. And i'm thinking " ugh. Here we go again. I'm writing off all bmw dealers."

Short of that argument was that salesguy 1 told internet dude "14-15 plus his trade." Now, had I known that, life would have been easier because mi initial email offer was mine and $14k, when i thought it was cpo. It took some back and forth to finally arrive at what amounts to $13483 difference.

qbrozen

Sorry. That last paragraph wasnt terribly clear. I'm trying to write this via phone. Anyway, my initial offer of $14k difference was with the intent of being bumped up of course, possibly as much as $1k if it was a clean CPO car. I wound up $500 below my offer for nonCPO with nasty bumper. So essentially a $1500 deduct for accepting it as is. I can live with that. I dont put much stock in CPO. It covers so little.

rayainsw

Thanks - hope you really enjoy it!
- Ray
Enjoying the BMW 'thing'....

isellhondas

Our UCM used to be able to buy Infinitis at the auction for thousands of dollars "back of book". They simply do not sell well either as new cars or as used. Great cars though.

isellhondas

There are other "Brandons" out there. It's just a matter of finding them.

The body shop business is a tough one now with the insurance companies dictating what they can charge. Being a body man isn't a fun profession and the good ones often move on to other things.

That's funny...the body shop that botched the paint on your Pilot refused to work on your Explorer. Can you imagine how THAT would have turned out?

stickguy

I almost got a slightly used CPO G35/37 (first year of the redesign). Very nice. One problem with them is they really are gas hogs.

I am not as big a fan of the first gen, but certainly a viable alternative to a 2003-2005 3 series BMW.

roadburner

Congrats!

nyccarguy

Im really sorry about your friend. Few things in this life hurt more than the death of a friend.

nyccarguy

Way to go! Awesome car!

akangl

We bought a new stereo for his car, nothing fancy, just simple, CD player and USB port. Decided to install it myself with hubby's help, that was fun and really easy. Made one 17 year old super happy.

Our Christmas didn't shape up the way we planned. Daughter is in the hospital, we've been there everyday, decided to stay home today since she's doing better. Not sure when she will get to come home.

I hope everyone has a happy holiday season! :shades:

roadburner

We bought a new stereo for his car, nothing fancy, just simple, CD player and USB port. Decided to install it myself with hubby's help, that was fun and really easy. Made one 17 year old super happy.

That's what we bought for our son, along with new rear speakers. Thanks to terrific deals from Amazon and Best Buy we got off fairly cheap- although installing it in his 35 year old car will probably be a challenge.

corvette

Throwing caution to the wind, here, people:

540iA SP

fezo

Where was this one again? Local or up north?

nyccarguy

Infinitis are great cars! They should sell better. Oh well. Do I smell a CPO M56X a few years down the road? I have always wanted a V8:)

qbrozen

Looks ok. Believe it or not, my seats look a tad better with almost twice the miles. Also note that the radio display has many dead pixels in that one. Price is absolutely nuts.

qbrozen

Bloomfield BMW.

Talked to the salesman today. Picking it up 10:30 tomorrow morning.

kyfdx

Just got back from 170 mile round trip to visit relatives, today.. in my wife's G37X..

Meh..

Wanders on the interstate (in comparison to a BMW).. takes a lot more steering input than you'd think to hold a line in a turn.... You sit up high and it feels like a big fat pig..

Eye-watering acceleration, if you can find a clear interstate on-ramp..

Nicely appointed interior...

But, it's no BMW....

nyccarguy

That's where that 535i 6 speed is:)

rayainsw

Almost 4 hours, and no update?
No pictures?
- Ray
Unacceptable....
[ kidding - hope you are having The Big Fun ! ]

qbrozen

Ugh. Laptop battery died. I don't know how to link these from iPad. does this work?

qbrozen

this

qbrozen

Car didn't come with books, so I have some research to do. Salesman paired my phone to it, that's all I got.

I didn't realize before this has the M sport? So the body kit in addition to the regular sport stuff? At least, that was the explanation he gave for not having the missing bumper insert in stock, nor could they pull it off another car. Had to special order it and will mail to me. It also has some supposedly crazy expensive radar detector installed that I need to research. And, final nice surprise was that they touched up the little chips and scratches it had when I drove it. Was planning to just touch up myself.

Ride home was lovely. Up until I got stuck in traffic, I was averaging 27mpg. Wonder if that could happen regularly. But then my right foot twitched and it quickly dove to 24.

rayainsw

Looks v. nice.
'Car didn't come with books' - owners manuals in .pdf
are on the bmw web site.
Enjoy!
- Ray
CBBA
[ Chronic BMW Buyers Anonymous ? ]

stickguy

dang, that is nice looking. I want a BMW. Bad. Won't be close to this, but poor folks and teenagers have to start someplace!

kyfdx

Oh... my.. :shades:

stickguy

I could see me in it. Letting my daughter drive it? Ah, no.

After new years I need to get back to looking at 325s! Harder than I expected it to be though...

kyfdx

I thought that, too...

But, I wanted my son to drive a stick.... When he started showing a real interest, it was hard to say no..

Of course, there are limits....

But, now that he has his own stick-shift..... he doesn't care about mine, as much..

nyccarguy

congrats on the new ride! I LOVE the color combo. Best of luck to you with it & I hope you ENJOY it!

fezo

Ah! Not the dealer 5 miles from where I grew up but years a go I worked right down teh street from Bloomfield BMW.

Congrats!

qbrozen

So here is the radar detector (and possibly jammer?) that's installed in the car. Right now, the remote doesn't light up. Possibly batteries, but they are AAAA, which I've never heard of before, so its a trip to the store for me tomorrow.

michaellno

q - very nice ride. I am a bit green with envy as I've been coveting the 1-series since they were introduced. Now that there are some coming back from leases I've been keeping an eye on the prices.

I'd be happy with a 128i, however. Just not 100% convinced that it would work as a year round car here in Colorado. We had 14" of snow last Thursday and the roads around town are still a bit slushy in the day and frozen at night.

rayainsw

' The turbocharged-six cylinder, is almost too powerful for a car of this size/weight.'
Really??
Hmmmmm....
- Ray
TQ junkie....

http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/editors_notebook/1112_2012_bmw_135i_coupe/i- ndex.html

qbrozen

Hahaha. That's even funnier coming from a car mag. And the fact that one of them refers to the 2012 as a twin turbo concerns me as to their expertise.

It definitely overpowers the rear tires with ease, but I think the RFTs are partially to blame.

I've also coveted the 1 since intro. I had stopped at a dealer back then and sat in the only 1 they had, which was presold. We had our e30 then and I likened the interior size to that. At that time, I also figured the 128 would be plenty. If they put the ZF auto in the 128, I still may have considered it, but not with the GM trans, no thanks.

Believe it or not, even at just $23,983, this is the most expensive car I have ever purchased for myself.

rayainsw

qbrozen - what model year is your new BMW?

nyccarguy

I've said it before - you got one helluva car for $24K.

Edit - q, I know you said the car's mileage is in the 42K range, right? I can tell you from experience that the car will probably need brakes @ 50,100 miles right after the free maintenance period has expired. So if you are extra hard on the brakes for the next 7K miles & bring it to the dealer complaining about them, then you might get a set compliments of BMWNA.

tjc78

So if you are extra hard on the brakes for the next 7K miles

Not hard to do that at all living in NJ.

Nice ride Q, looks to be in nice shape. I'm not a red interior fan, but on that car it works.

I would be a cop's dream in that car. I have a tough enough time keeping my foot out of the 303 HP my geezer mobile has.

tjc78

I don't know how to link these from iPad

I haven't been able to find a way to "hot-link" an image with the Ipad. There is no way to get to an image's properties like on a Windows machinne. If anyone has the trick please post it.

rayainsw

'...refers to the 2012 as a twin turbo...'

Well, BMW insists on obfuscating terminology for their
single turbo \ twin scroll technology in the N55:
'3.0 -liter BMW TwinPower Turbo six-cylinder engine'

stever

An app like Blogsy might do the hot-link trick, maybe with an intermediate drag and drop step.

Of course, you'd have to buy it, like you do for most Apple stuff.

nyccarguy

Tjc78 - Like so many other things, the red interior is something BMW does right. Usually when someone says "red interior," you think of the lipstick red leather interior, dashboard, & carpeting from a C4 Corvette.

BMW's red leather looks stunning on an assortment of their coupes including the 135i, 3 series coupes & convertibles with black, white, & silver exteriors.

tjc78

We talk about red interior in the classics thread from time to time. I generally don't like it, but, as you said BMW does a nice job with it. If there was ever a color it works with (even on older cars) white is it. I miss blue interiors as well. They really looked good on white cars too.

Steve, I'll check out that app. I usually don't like paying for apps, but if its cheap and does what I want, I'll give a shot.