Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

corvette

Every modern automatic I've ever driven in a mainstream car (Toyota/Nissan/GM) will upshift to top gear in low throttle situations at a point where it feels like it's slightly lugging the engine.

The CVT in my Nissan even has this behavior, and there is a TSB for it which offers a new calibration for the transmission control computer, but also warns that fuel economy will be reduced if the fix is applied. On mine, you can accelerate very slowly at ~1300 rpm and get the lugging feeling or at around 2000 rpm or higher and not get the lugging feeling.

breld

Well, I've thankfully come down a bit from the idea of a new (or newer) Odyssey. My wife and I talked about it this morning on the way into work, and it really set in that sinking $30k into that vehicle would be foolish, considering how much that vehicle will get driven. I mean, I like the CX-9 quite a bit, but even that only gets driven when we need the three rows, when it snows, or we need the cargo room - so maybe a third of the month at best.

So if we do anything, I'd rather sink that kind of cash into that X3 which would be much more purposeful for my wife as a replacement for her 3. We're toying with the idea of trading the CX-9 and 3 on the X3. Then we'd just browse for a well maintained Odyssey or Sienna for $10-$15k. That seems like a good vehicle for that 6-8 days a month.

Or, do nothing.

breld

So I finally have an interested buyer on the 318ti. He's from Florida, and saw my post about it on a 318ti forum. Seems legit - he already owns one and would like to buy another one for his son. At his request, I took it to a local BMW dealer for an inspection, paid by him.

The service tech at the dealer praised the car and its condition, and after the inspection he said he'd give it a "clean bill of health," and did mention a couple of minor items, such as a little oil seepage.

Well, the potential buyer forwarded to me the report from the dealer - the e-mail message did indeed state that they give the car a "clean bill of health," but then they attach a somewhat fancy write-up called a "Recommended Action Plan" that makes the recommendations to 1) replace power steering fluid, 2) replace the lower timing gaskets, oil pan gasket and crankcase rear main seal, 3) replace all drive belts and 4) replace front thrust arm bushings. And they include the cost to perform those services, for a total of about $2,500.

So I don't mean to come off as sour grapes, but it seems to me to be more of a self-promotion by the dealer to sell over-priced maintenance/service. I had our independent BMW shop perform an inspection about 1k miles ago, and he only came up with a few recommended services, which I had him complete.

The potential buyer said he'd get back to me in the morning, and he didn't say anything about the report when he forwarded it, so maybe he takes it in a similar vain as I am. But I wouldn't blame him if he is a bit more wary about it now. We'll see.

isellhondas

Typical European car dealer!

The slightest bit of oil seepage and they want to do a 2000.00 job!

kyfdx

When we picked up the E30 in September, we took it to the local German independent for an oil change that was due.. I asked them to do a "pre-purchase" inspection, so I knew what I was in for. (yes, I'd already bought it..lol).

They came back with a list that added up to $6000... :surprise:

Uh.... I paid $3500 for this car.... what does it really need, now?

Geeezzzz

qbrozen

Yup. Completely typical. When I bought a V70, I took it in for a service and asked they do an inspection (this was after purchase). They came back with something like $1800, IIRC. I used it as a personal repair list. MOST of the list was accurate, but only cost me around $300 and a few hours of work.

au1994

Was the guy able to deliver the $6000 recomendation with a straight face??

breld

Thanks for the feedback - it is good to hear that such a report is not unusual and doesn't by any means indicate that there are $2k of repairs required for the car. I just hope the potential buyer also sees it for what it is - he left me an email this morning that he would call me tonight, so at least he's not running. And I don't know where I got the idea he's in Florida - he's actually just over in Omaha, so that seems a bit more reasonable to make a sale.

If anything, I could see taking the list over to my own BMW mechanic and getting his opinion on what is necessary and the related cost and then take that into consideration on the sale price. We'll see.

isellhondas

Our store used to have a used car mechanic who thought every Honda Civic with over 60,000 miles should have the oil pan gasket replaced.

Finally our UCM called him on it and they raised a car up on a lift that he had said needed a new pan gasket.

Under close examination, yes, there was ever so slight of a bit of seepage. Not dripping but barely starting to seep.

Huge difference between an oil "leak" and slight seepage.

Come to find out, this guy was a wizard at changing pan gaskets! I believe the job paid something like three hours and he could do it in half that time.

So, was he a crook? Well, you decide. Yes, it was seeping, yes, it would probably continue to get worse in the future.

He calmed down after that.

ateixeira

Mechanics will err on the side of caution them making more money.

oldfarmer50

Curious what you folks think of this:

http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/2818071216.html Is it worth it if in good shape?

The low miles are what caught my eye. Kind of an interesting looking car. Might be collectable considering how few were made. No hot rod but that 3800 motor should last.

I recently saw a 1989 model with 77K for sale for $2999.

isellhondas

Except there is another side to this story that I should mention.

Sometimes a mechanic/technician is placed in a bad position.

He sees an oil leak begininning to develop but dismisses it as nothing worth worrying about at the time.

A month later, that gasket decides to blow causing a lot of trouble.

So the "honest" guy who didn't try to sell a gasket job becomes "the idiot who should have spotted that leak". The guy who reccommend it be replaced is the "bad guy" for over selling work.

Once a tech gets burned a few times they get smart.

oldfarmer50

Here's the other one:

http://westernmass.craigslist.org/cto/2810666353.html

tjc78

I believe ISell has one of these (or did). I always liked them, some years (the earlier models I believe) had a touchscreen interface that could be tricky to fix.

The engine is the pretty reliable and easy to get parts for GM 3800.

As for the dealership meachanics... my local Toyota dealer tries to get you to replace your front brakes waayyyy early. On each of my cars at 20K they told me "before your next oil change" you'll need new front pads. I made it over 30K on each car (before I got rid of them).

isellhondas

I'll sell ours for less than that but it has a lot more miles. I lost my garage space and can't stand seeing it sit outside.

On a 22 year old car, condition is more important than miles.

Personally, I would avoid the 88-89 models that used that primitive and troublesome CRT screen. By 1990 they had gotten rid of those.

If anyone doesn't think the 3800 engines in a Reatta don't get up and go you have a surprise coming. I'm pretty sure it would whip our 3 series BMW in a stoplight grand prix.

ateixeira

Good point - perhaps why they recommend (but don't require) the fix. Sounds fair, then.

kyfdx

Was the guy able to deliver the $6000 recomendation with a straight face??


He e-mailed it to me in a Word doc... Which was handy..

I basically said, "duh"... what would you do if it was yours?

He came back with about $1000 worth of work... which, given commercial garage prices was reasonable...

tjc78

If anyone doesn't think the 3800 engines in a Reatta don't get up and go you have a surprise coming.

I wonder if there is room in there to put on the supercharger from the Park Av Ultra or Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. It would be a nice little sleeper for sure.

oldfarmer50

"...room in there to put on a supercharger..."

I read somewhere that the transaxle wasn't strong enough to take that much power. Funny, some of the later supercharged 3800s put out 260hp with no tranny problems. Reatta must have been discontinued by then.

anonymousposts

The RAV4 we have shifts smoothly each time, with no apparent lugging. We've also had the automatic Jetta 2.0T, the Genesis, and several Lexus automatics. None of them had this behavior either. With Odyssey's having been diagnosed with having questionable torque converters, I am leaning more towards this being a fault with the car than it being the way it is designed to operate.

The problem we are running into is finding something that we want to replace it with. Everything is too big or too small. So, we still aren't sure if we will part with it or just keep it through the lease and then make a decision.

lemmer

This 330i caught my eye. It is at a fixed price dealer and they add on $500 for fees. If it sits a couple of weeks, they'll drop it by a grand usually.

lemmer

They have this newer 330i also. But I hate taking care of black cars. And I am not sure I could own a car that doesn't have a dipstick.

nyccarguy

Looks nice. I'd want to see service records - particularly transmission fluid changes to see how meticulous the 2 previous owners were. That was during the era of I believe (correct me if I'm wrong roadburner) BMW calling for "lifetime fill."

What's up with the $489.50 doc fee! Are they insane? Not sure what these are doing at auction, but it kinda seems like a lot of money for a 7 year old car that had an original MSRP of what, $45K?

kyfdx

Both of those are nicely optioned... I'm not a fan of the eyebrow look on the E90 sedans, though... I think they fixed that with the '09 model..

The E46 has premium, sport and cold weather package... that's nice!!

stever

A reporter is hoping to find someone who recently bought a new car and took out a car loan for the first time in a few years.

Please respond to pr@edmunds.com by Tuesday, February 7, 2012 with your daytime contact information and a few words about your experience.

stickguy

If all goes according to plan, I am taking a run up the turnpike (out past qbrozen land!) to look at the 2001 325i he found for me.

Speaking of which Q, is Jeff stuck on fixed price, or is their negotiation room?

Anyway, talked to the dude that owns the play, who claims that car is "neat as a pin and drives better than it looks". And that they go through top to bottom, service every, unicorns fly out my butt, yada yada yada.

Can probably kill a couple hours looking at Volvos and SAABs too. Always a nice way to spend the day.

Of course, trusting myself to buy a 10 YO BMW on faith and gut feelings will be something to see...

qbrozen

as far as I know, its fixed price. As we've seen, he usually does have pretty low markup on them. He doesn't have any salespeople, so its probably why he works that way. Wish I could join you, but I'm on kid duty all morning.

BTW, you know he's right off the Parkway, right?

stickguy

I thought he was pretty much take it or leave it.

and yes, he explained what exit to take, and he was 100 yds up the road. Just a matter of investing an hour+ each way.

I actually like the 325xi wagon (though would be better without the X) too. Always wanted a 3 series wagon for some reason.

and of all things, he has incoming a 2007 SAAB 9-3. 106K on it, but only $7,300.

qbrozen

when are you heading up? Its already 9:40. Times a wastin. :P

I've driven much further than an hour to see far lesser cars. Hell, in just looking for the wife's $3k Benz, we made at least 4 3-hour (roundtrip) road trips to find absolute garbage waiting for us.

stickguy

by noon. need to shower, walk the dog, and stop at the local Acura dealer first!

stickguy

Finally got to spend some time actually out shopping (as opposed just surfing the net. Work is such a drag)

Even put about 150 miles on the car doing it!

Stopped at a local sales place that will find what you want. That guy is supposed to do some looking and give me some options early/mid next week.

Saw a 2003 325i at an Acura dealer that was surprisingly nice. Did not drive as if it had 122K on it. Was priced like it didn't have 122K either. Did not bother to get into the weeds of lowballing them, having other cars to look at.

Hit another local used lot that normally has nice stuff, but no luck.

So, ran up the turnpike to Torchlight to see some promising looking stuff. End up being a disappointment. The 2001 325 was not as nice as I hoped, and I think I will stay newer than that. Did not sound happy when I fired it up. The 2003 325xiT wagon ran nicer, but had some details that did not show well, and I would rather stay away from the AWD.

There was a 2005 S40 T5 that I actually liked. Only $5,200. Probably had something to do with the 152K on the clock. But it did have a new timing belt! And the 2007 SAAB was not in yet. So, I came, I sat, I left.

stopped at a couple local new dealers on the way back, but nothing interesting.

But, there is 1 live item ...

stickguy

Oh, for any NJ people, the GSP/Rt. 9 area? Gawd awful roads and traffic. What a nightmare.

anyway, I stopped at another used high end dealer in Westhampton (J&S, I think Q is familiar with them). Nothing on the lot, but he had something at his Trenton store that they are going to bring down Monday.

Actually the identical car to what I drove at the Acura dealer (a black over tan 2003 325i, with premium, climate, HK sound). This one had 113K on it, but is only listed at a more reasonable $6,995. Will be running up after work to peruse that baby.

http://www.jsautohaus.com/used/BMW/2003-BMW-325-30ac6f4f404638d5016915d4b3399b70- .htm

Other than that, I got nothing.

stickguy

If this BMW doesn't push my buttons (and hey, a 9 YO 113K BMW. What could possibly go wrong?) I my have to reevaluate the whole plan here.

either decide to spend more, or get something different. As in a POC or some bland economy car that I will hate with a passion.

I suppose I could go back to force feeding the kid on a stick, but not ready to go there yet!

Just not ready to put myself into driving something like a Focus for the next 10 months, don't want to add a 4th car right now, and really don't want to spend well into the teens for a car that my kid will have for a couple years once she goes solo.

man, I got lucky snagging my sisters 2000 Acura TL back in 2008 for only $2K (even with 145K on the clock, a great deal).

stickguy

well, after perusing the free carfax, a few flags.

Looks like it was originally a Canadian car, but has been in NJ since 2005, so no big deal.

Now, the 2 rear end accidents in 2008 and 2009 might be of interest!

though at a certain age, miles and price point, may not matter that much.

corvette

"hey, a 9 YO 113K BMW. What could possibly go wrong?"

Don't remind me. I just had the four new Kumhos installed on the 540 today, and ordered a new radiator, expansion tank, thermostat, fan clutch, etc.

Since it's urinating coolant on the floor of my garage, I thought I should go ahead and do the suggested maintenance/replacement on the cooling system. The leak seems to be coming from the temperature sensor, so I ordered the O-ring for that since the sensors themselves rarely seem to fail.

stickguy

just curious, but how much for all the parts, and how much to have it all installed (assuming you aren't doing it yourself).

One thing I have noticed on a 3 series is that the engine bay is really, really cramped.

fezo

We are going to start up a chronic car lookers topic just for you..... :P

stickguy

at least i am out there, pounding the pavement.

and hey, this is a big decision! Can't afford to botch it, my wife will never let me here the end of it.

Actually though, I was 2/3 the way to Paramus, should have just kept going north til I got to your buddy Bills place.

stickguy

Explained this to my wife. She seemed to be sleeping, or just was not interested, or maybe it was her way of giving me the evil eye...

anyway, time to ditch the kid (as in, don't worry about getting something to hand down to her). Instead, spend a little more and get something I want, with the intent of keeping it for a while. Then when she gets her license at the end of the year, find some cheaper Kid-friendly car for her.

As long as she can learn on whatever I get (so no Mustang GTs or Vettes!), and it has a back seat, I have a bunch more options.

so something like the 2005 330ci coupe I drove, a nicer 3 series sedan, maybe even a 5'er. Or a Volvo. Or something...

fezo

This changes the picture completely. Or it brings us back to square one.....

I like this prospect better. No one like it when a new driver gets a BMW....

Yeah, you could have gone up to Paramus but I would bet you he wouldn't have something you'd want. It is the used car section of a Hyundai dealership after all..... Hmmmm... Maybe I should look....

fezo

Oh, here you go!

susan97007

My name's LaDell and I am a compulsive car buyer. I end up buying a new car at least once a year.Everyone who knows me thinks Im nuts,and I keep asking myself "why" do I keep doing this. Then I come up with some stupid reason to do it all over again,HELP ME STOP THE MADNESS!!!

corvette

$764.20 from Pelican for the fan blade, fan clutch, 2 gallons of coolant, radiator cap, expansion tank, radiator, thermostat, water pump, and a couple of o-rings. I'm not doing the hoses.

I'm planning to install it myself and go to the BMW indie for the stuff you need a lift for like the transmission fluid and brake fluid flush.

This is a one-shot deal--in the unlikely event that I still own the car 100,000 miles from now, I'm not replacing this stuff again unless it's visibly leaking.

stickguy

This link is their entire inventory, so I guess you were pointing out they carry some nice stuff too.

I liked the 2007 3 series (that was sold!), and the white X3 (I like terrecota interior, my wife thinks it is ugly of course) though the tint has to go. But that one is sold also.

I'm starting to like this approach. Wagons, an X3, coupes.

what I really really want of course is the new Subaru coupe (brz?) though that isn't happening for many years!

Hey, the genesis coupe could qualify...

stickguy

not too bad. Especially if it is a nice car otherwise with a strong drivetrain. No more expensive than a timing belt change on other cars.

stever

Everyone needs a hobby LaDell, and few of them are cheap.

You could ween yourself a bit and save a little on depreciation by getting CPO cars....

fezo

I had tried to send the link to the BMWs on the lot - more than I thought except that some aren't really on the lot anymore....

nyccarguy

We want details. Years, makes, models. Why'd you get rid of it? What type do you gravitate towards? New or used? What's the biggest loss?

susan97007

whats a CPO car

steine13

This ain't that kind of support group....

Party on! -Mathias