First one looks good. He's got the 6 speed (5 speed was standard) and the upsized rims, so that's probably a mid/upper level model.
The ad is terrible and he doesn't even mention it, but that might not help anyway since mazda flip-flopped the Sport and Touring models from year to year.
It's incredible how these hold their value, though. Buy a used bargain, drive it a few years, and sell it for what you paid.
That red one is in my town too. Though I already did the red maita thing, but I never did drive the new generation.
Probably right that you could buy one like that at something less than his asking price, but maybe 5K/year on it as a toy, and sell it in 3 years with less than 50K on it for only a couple grand less than you paid at most.
I live in California and, no, you pay tax on the actual sales price, not MSRP.
Okay good, that's what I thought, though I last bought a new car in 2006 so don't kick me out of this forum yet! , but my experience is ancient by today's standards.
Maybe the cell phone salesmen were just trying to prevent me from firebombing the cell phone industry by saying it's CA's fault and other things like cars are in the same lame policy umbrella of paying extra sales tax.
Or maybe the car salesman tricked the poor phone salesman with a line of pure BS, and I'm not talking about a degree or diploma, and they really believed they had to pay sales tax of 7.75% in CA on a 30,000 dollar car even though they were selling it to them at 25,000. Wow.. that salesman got the dealership an extra $388!
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
The problem is squeezing the money out of them. I got paid by an uninsured teenager once. His parents were probably the honorable ones and made him pay! When I originally called to demand money, the kid seemed to think it was a joke and was basically laughing at me. When I sent him a letter which proved I had his address from the Police Report (which I enclosed) and threatened legal action, I got a phone call asking where I could receive my money!
Funny thing is the father of the kid who caused the accident gave me his name, address, phone number and everything the night of the accident. I've found out all kinds of info about him....thus the reason I gave it all to my insurance company to deal with since they may have better luck squeezing him and that's what I pay them for.
All this was almost a moot point last night, my son and his sister were coming home from culinary class and a moose walked out in the road about 1/2 mile from our house. My son said he locked the brakes up on the car and was doing everything he could think of to get away from the moose but thought for sure he was going to hit it, doubts he missed it by more than a couple inches. He came in the house and threw his keys, said "I'm DONE, I'm not driving again!" Poor kid has had a rough week......I didn't know if I should laugh or cry, it was kind of funny.
Just trying to get the most I can for my TSX. 1st dealer offered me $16,700. 2nd dealer asked what 1st dealer offered. I told him $19,200 which I thought was a little low. He said his UCM pegged the car at $18,500 - $19,100.
I'm going up there Tuesday to have my TSX appraised & hopefully sign the papers to get my new 2011 328xi.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
True; the Carfax shows that it was a BMW CPO car. If the CPO warranty was still active and I could get it for $20K OTD I'd probably bite. Best to stay away, methinks... :P
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Just had the van in today to have brakes checked. Pads getting down there (3 or 4 MM depending on the wheel). So, service guy recommended doing soon (they generally say to do when drop below 3).
any opinions on that?
anyway, every $ required brings up the question, when to sell vs. put money into it that I will never get back! I really wanted to get at least until year end out of the brakes, but that isn't happening it seems.
so, now I have to decide to do it cheap (rotors are OK enough to just throw pads on it seems) or do it right and spend extra ($300ish) for new rotors too (cutting old ones is not an option). If I was keeping LT certainly would put new ones on. Now, leaning toward just tossing on pads and taking my chances!
If nothing else, for less than $300, I can advertise it as new brakes!
If I keep to year end, probably will need tires (they are at 5/32 or 6/32 now and in pretty good shape), and it will be due for a timing belt change (based on age). One reason for selling before year end (since that will be a good $1,200 right there.)
Was proud of the wife when I explained options. She did mention just buying a new one instead!
Hopefully they measured your pads as having 3-4MM before the wear indicators...You are fine for quite awhile. Your tires are fine. Forget the timing belt and drive it until the end of the year.
That clamp is the "Viggen Rescue Kit" to which I was referring. I hadn't heard anything about cracking mounts until I saw that episode of Wheeler Dealers (a convertible-only problem? I don't know) but that clamp GREATLY reduces torque steer and overall, improves handling by a bunch.
Had the shock of my life today. I came down from my shower, and found my wife at the computer, on a car site (MSN I think) comparing SUVs. This has never happened before. I am starting to think that she really wants herself a new set of wheels, and sooner than end of the year! Though I imagine she will wait it out, but still amazing to me that she is doing research on her own like this.
She did say that it was going to be impossible to pick something, with too many choices (different models, then trim lines, making it really difficult to compare). Good thing she has an expert on call.
Did manage to whittle the original 26 down to 12, and that is really 10 once we take off the 2 that likely don't come close to fitting under the budget cap (Volvo and BMW).
Still a shame that she was sick for the car show, since that would have helped move the process forward nicely. Still, we can see all 10 of the remaining options with 1 trip to the local automall (the few that are not in the complex are on the same main road, less than a mile in either direction). Seems like a fun way to spend the day!
Just need the new Escape to come out (hopefully not too much longer), and if we wait long enough, the new Santa Fe in the fall.
She sounds like a keeper to me. When I talk cars my wife generally makes her wishes known with comments like "absolutely not", "anything but red" or "why ask me, you always do what YOU want anyway". :mad:
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
had an epiphany tonight that I had to share with her. If we stay fiscally prudent and get something like a CX7 or Escape instead of the X3 she got infatuated with, for the price differential I could also get a new frugal car (like a Dart) instead of some older cheap thing. win win, since I come out ahead!
b) After the Z4 fiasco, my wife and I spent two solid Saturdays, test driving 5 different SUVs and 3 sedans... There is no substitute for getting out there and driving them..
whatever site she was on, the comparison chart was nice once you narrowed it down.
and this will be a thoroughly vetted process. She has to be 100% sure, since I ain't picking this one on my own!
she even said today that she was bummed to have been sick the day we were supposed to go to the car show, the one year that she actually wanted to look at stuff.
good thing is, all the options left on the list are either sold at the local automall, or a dealer just up the street. So a day trip down there should let her see everything she finds interesting and get test drives in. Should be fun!
A while back, there was a discussion here [ I think ] about the ability to skip a gear when accelerating & upshifting in a BMW with an automatic trans.
In experimenting, I have discovered that it IS possible to skip a gear – in MY BMW automatic. Here is how:
When accelerating, in [M] Manual mode, run up the RPM to where engaging the desired gear makes sense, back off the throttle, and pull the shift lever twice in rapid succession. Meaning: as soon as you finish one, immediately press again.
Backing off the throttle [ as I certainly would when accelerating with a manual and planning to skip a gear ] unloads the driveline. This appears to allow the ‘skip gear’ behavior. [ Meaning: If you still have the throttle open, it will NOT skip. ]
I made a short [ 7 seconds ] video with my iPhone of a scenario that makes sense, to me. I ran up the RPM in third gear to about 3200, let off the throttle and pulled back on the shift lever twice, very quickly – essentially with no pause between. You will notice that [ though M4 does very briefly appear in the display ] there is a single, smooth sweep of the tachometer – down to just over 2000 RPM. I see [ and feel ] no indication that fourth gear was ever actually engaged. In fact, the gear may have been engaged, but the clutch was never engaged.
Disclaimer: this ONLY applies to the seven speed DCT in my 335iS. I have no idea if such behavior is also possible with BMW’s six speed Steptronic automatic.
Funny thing is the father of the kid who caused the accident gave me his name, address, phone number and everything the night of the accident. I've found out all kinds of info about him....thus the reason I gave it all to my insurance company to deal with since they may have better luck squeezing him and that's what I pay them for
Yeah, the kid I had dealt with pulled a semi-hit-and-run. He stopped, looked around, said hello or something, and then decided to run off.
Also, there are only maybe 3 or 4 insurance companies that should not be shot and killed at point blank range, and at the time of this incident, I had one of the "other" companies, that do deserve the death sentence to all of their employees.
They were about as useless and worthless can be.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
My brother had an amazingly hellish time getting a dime out of Geico a few years ago when he was rear ended by a distracted guy in a F150 going about 35. I guess that's an inconsiderate driver ideal.
You know..." something" like a claim or a couple of tickets.
We have USAA and I can honestly say they are wonderful. Thankfully they won't drop you if you have something like a claim or a couple of tickets, if that was the case I'd be in BIG trouble. My driving record looks like something that belongs on the autobahn and that isn't an understatement either. I came within 2 points of a suspension the summer of 2010 and right now have a court case pending for another ticket I got a few months ago, managed to go a year and a half without a ticket.
Funny thing is the only accident I've been involved in during the last 17 years wasn't even my fault and I was stopped. Main reason for no accidents is my tendancy to go a little fast and stay by myself, I hate being in a clump of traffic.....of course that puts me in the crosshairs of a cop's radar. Doesn't help that I drive (or would be driving) a big red truck either! :sick:
BTW, Progressive is the WORST insurance company EVER to deal with, we are over a year since our accident and the ONLY thing they have paid was the repair on the Pilot. Even that was a battle so I'm not too hopeful that they will pay the medical bills. Our attorney is about as useful as, well, you get the picture..... :lemon:
I've heard nothing but wonderful things about USAA. If a person qualifies, that is a good way to go! They really protect their members!
That's very true. They've been very good to us. Tonight they sent out a claims adjuster to get a second opinion on the body shop's estimate for the Escort, they just want to be sure it is indeed totaled and not worth repairing. He said if they can fix it economically they will rather than total it since it appears to be a nice car.
My son leaves in 3 1/2 months for boot camp and they will drop him off our policy and set him up on his own but won't start his policy until he gets done with boot camp, tech school, and is at his assigned base. That way it won't cost him anything while he isn't driving the car and also won't be costing us anything. They really think of everything and I have never dealt with such a caring insurance company.
I've had State Farm forever and really haven't had any problems with them. Kept the same agent even though I've moved all over metro Denver in the 18+ years I've lived here.
Dealing with Geico on my latest incident. I've found them pretty easy to work with. I've decided to take the money and not worry about the repairs to the ION.
My brother in law was treated VERY well by Geico, go figure. Maybe he got one of the NEW claims adjusters that joined the company to help people rather than just selfishly rise his own rank to the top of the corporate ladder.
He totalled his own car "claims a tire blew out and he lost control on the freeway." I didn't crunch the numbers using Kelly BB or Edmunds, but his almost 4 year old Altima must have been paid off at EXCELLENT Condition + 2 grand, easily. He got a boatload for that car, on the first offer, no negotiation!
BEWARE of Farmer's on real claims..... in college, this lady with a man and her baby in a car HIT ME, I was turning into a parking space in a garage, and it was the first one coming around a turn in the opening (center of structure flow of traffic lane). The reason their was a turn is I was lowering from an upper level to a lower level, and the first spot to the right was open as I was turning right.
I couldn't fit into the spot without backing up and doing a 3 point turn into the parking spot, over half my car was still in the lane of the flow of traffic, only my nose was in the parking spot. So I back up, see another car coming, slam on my brakes to the stupidity of someone trying to get behind me when I clearly couldn't fit into the parking space (and never yielded the lane mind you), and as soon as I came to a stop a light bump ensued as she slammed on the brakes at the perfectly wrong time too. (She could have swerved left and avoided it, she could have sped up and avoided me by moving left a bit, she could have slowed down earlier, and avoided me). Her front right corner hit my back right corner. We get out, there is no damage to either car, good, I have a movie to go see. Her babies crying and she's worried about her baby for no reason (we barely hit; maybe at 2 MPH tops). She has an old unmaintained clunker, in poor condition. They mention something about their front right light assembly being a bit loose, I think nothing of it (probably was already slightly loose for all I know, and anyways, the accident was their fault). We exchange information, but I figure neither of us will make a claim since it was their faul and really no damage was done.
I find out a Year and a half later from Farmers that they paid a claim to her for like $1,250 in damages (what damages, and 1,250 dollars, that was the value of that car! lol). I was at college, at most TWO phone calls away from being contacted as my Parents were the policy holders in my hometown. I was NEVER contacted by Farmers. They paid the claim and blamed me for fault without ever attempting to contact me.
I got a letter from my parents orginally from Farmers that told me this (1.5 years after it was paid, and it said I could dispute the decision within 30 days of my notification, and so I DID!
1) Farmers never called me to verify the incident even happened. For all they know, the whole claim could be made up (which for the most part it was).
2) They got the fault wrong.
3) There was no damage to either vehicle.
4) My conclusion was that the Farmers agent that paid out the claim must have be in on an "INSIDE" fraud job to steal from Farmers, was friends with the claimant, and paid off the claim fraudulently without properly handling the claim.
P.S. Farmers sent me a letter after a couple back and forth phone conversations (first one was some excuses that those papers were filed in a storage facility since they were so old), the letter stated Farmers paid the claim in error, that I was not -at-fault. For a year or two I had to show every company I shopped for insurance with that letter, or they'd charge me extra for this "fake" accident claim.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Funny thing is the only accident I've been involved in during the last 17 years wasn't even my fault and I was stopped. Main reason for no accidents is my tendancy to go a little fast and stay by myself, I hate being in a clump of traffic.....of course that puts me in the crosshairs of a cop's radar. Doesn't help that I drive (or would be driving) a big red truck either!
Actually, that's not as uncommon as you might think, in fact, it's quite common. There are studies that prove driving 5 to 10 MPH over the average speed of traffic is the absolute safest speed to drive on the roadways (currently). I'm in the same boat as you, though I've limited my ticketing to about 1 every 2 years through the use of aggressively looking for cops as I drive to see them before they see me, technology like radar detectors, and other methods. Also, I fight virtually every ticket I get and I have about a 51% win record to get it dismissed, or found not guilty. In 17 years of driving I've had a couple accidents, but they were ALL NO FAULT of mine. They were all no-fault accidents for me. Always someone else's fault.
Ticketing and safe driving have no correlation unfortunately with the way most police officer's enforce the inane traffic laws.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Geico actually settled the car claim well enough, but were being really jerky about medical expenses - heck, he was in a Corolla (total loss) that got plowed by a truck, did they expect nothing happened? I remember he had numerous phone and paper arguments trying to get them to settle, finally he dropped the name of a sleazy TV injury lawyer, and they relented. Your Farmers case does sound pretty sketchy, lots of inside jobs out there no doubt.
Several years ago, a friend of mine got t-boned in his pristine 60K mile 85 Monte SS by a 16 year old girl who ran a stop sign. That was an ordeal for him too, they were trying to write off the car as a clunker with no value, he had to do a lot of footwork to show it was worth a bit more than like $1200. The funny thing was when he called her insurance company, and they brought up an accident claim from one she had been in just a couple weeks earlier.
Regarding speeding, I find locally that if you go 10-15 over, you can actually make 90% of the lights. Funny how they did that.
We have everything through State Farm. Cars, house, condo, umbrella, earthquake etc. We send them a ton of money every year and have never had a claim. Our next door neighbor has the same agent and when a tree fell five years ago and did 60,000 worth of damage, they couldn't have been any better. No questions asked and no quibbling.
I figure if I shopped around I could maybe save 100.00/yr but I like being able to call an office and have a human 10 miles away pick up the phone.
Is losing market share to VW, and VW's market share gains are directly attributable to Honda's losses.
Makes sense to me, as I'm in that group, going from a 03' Accord LX V6 Coupe to the '06 Audi A3 2.0T DSG. Okay, so it's Audi, not VW directly, but still, I considered VW heavily, just liked the value of the A3 over the GTI.
'18 Porsche Macan Turbo, '16 Audi TTS, Wife's '19 VW Tiguan SEL 4-Motion
Going to the dealership tonight to have my TSX appraised and try and hammer out a deal for a 2011 328xi Sedan. I'm trying to set my target price and am having trouble locating the invoice cost of the Premium Package (ZPP).
On the "build sheet" the dealer faxed me, the MSRP of the Premium Package (ZPP) is listed at $2100. Here on edmunds.com (and certain other pricing sites), the MSRP is listed at $2650 with an invoice of $2410.
Should I just assume there is a $240 difference between MSRP & Invoice of the Premium Package and make it $1860?
Thanks in advance for all your help & input.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
We have everything through State Farm. Cars, house, condo, umbrella, earthquake etc. We send them a ton of money every year and have never had a claim. Our next door neighbor has the same agent and when a tree fell five years ago and did 60,000 worth of damage, they couldn't have been any better. No questions asked and no quibbling.
I figure if I shopped around I could maybe save 100.00/yr but I like being able to call an office and have a human 10 miles away pick up the phone.
I feel the same way about State Farm ... when my stepson totaled the Tracker we got him at age 16, we never saw any paperwork for any of the medical bills - flight for life, hospital, nada. I think the total payout on that claim was around $35K.
Same when we had to make a claim for hail damage (new roof) and water damage (carpet and tile damage) - State Farm handled both with no hassles whatsoever.
Nah, I should be prudent, I have a nice paid off car with no needs. It would have to be an insane deal on an insane perfect car to make me jump. And as I have strange tastes, the odds are slim right now. Probably better deals to be had at year's end anyway.
Ticketing and safe driving have no correlation unfortunately with the way most police officer's enforce the inane traffic laws.
The last ticket I was given was for 68 in a 45, now there is NO way I was going that fast, my truck is quick, but to go from 40 (to pass the car in front of me) to 68 in a space of 20-30 feet...yeah, not gonna happen. I still don't know where the cop was sitting, when his radar hit the truck, I looked at my detector and it said 55 mph (its gps linked). He got me at one cross street, marked down on the ticket that the offense occured at an intersection where I was sitting at a red light stopped, and pulled me over a mile later in a 55 mph zone. I plan on taking it to court but can't go when my court date is next week due to daughter's dr appt.
He mentioned my driving record from 2010.......July I had an 83 in a 65 plus expired tags, 20 days later I got a 70 in a 45........no excuses for any of it, just being stupid and annoyed with the slow drivers around here. Prior to those it had been over 5 years since I'd had one. I wish the cops would go after the drivers that go 25 in a 55 or 35 in a 65 and hold up 30 cars, but no, they want the speeders, nothing else. 4 more months....... :sick:
Well, maybe it didn't sell because of a reserve or something. Price doesn't look huge but is actually still overpriced, probably more like a 7-8K car. I like the pukey interior too, very period correct. If I wanted tasteful, I wouldn't choose a car from that model year :shades:
what I have found is you really don't need all the invoice prices, since the markup tends to be the same (the base is a %, then all the options are pretty much the same %). not sure if options are the same in all cases, but usually you can apply a factor of something like 93% to get pretty darned close.
It's pretty much a done deal. I'm trading in my 2010 Acura TSX (purchased 8/29/09) for a 2011 BMW 328xi (Titanium Silver/Black).
I guess this makes things right. Back in 2009 I traded in my 1990 E30 325i on the last day of Cash 4 Clunkers for the TSX. The TSX replaced our leased 2007 BMW X3 which we were going to be insanely over the miles. So during the last year of the X3's lease, we also had the TSX.
Since 2007 this BMW will be the 5th car I have purchased (2007 X3, 1990 325i, 2010 TSX, 2011 Pilot). Does it get me an honorable mention in this group?
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
congrats. I think you will be very happy. I'm jealous.
Iwant to get my wife out to see the new Mazda CX-5. really curious if she could buy off on something that size (she did think the CR-V was OK), and how the 4 cyl will be.
the other big question would have been could I convince her to get it with a stick shift, but of course, they only have it on the base model where you can't get a power seat, or a moonroof.
so, once again, forced to get an AT if we want one, since those are required options.
Last time I looked at new car prices, there was one percentage from 'base price' to get base price invoice, and a second different percentage for all options to get their invoice price.
From the numbers you gave, it appears the percentage is 91% of Option Sticker price to get invoice. That's what I would use. $2100 times .91 gives about $1911 for the invoice.
Comments
First one looks good. He's got the 6 speed (5 speed was standard) and the upsized rims, so that's probably a mid/upper level model.
The ad is terrible and he doesn't even mention it, but that might not help anyway since mazda flip-flopped the Sport and Touring models from year to year.
It's incredible how these hold their value, though. Buy a used bargain, drive it a few years, and sell it for what you paid.
Probably right that you could buy one like that at something less than his asking price, but maybe 5K/year on it as a toy, and sell it in 3 years with less than 50K on it for only a couple grand less than you paid at most.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Okay good, that's what I thought, though I last bought a new car in 2006 so don't kick me out of this forum yet!
Maybe the cell phone salesmen were just trying to prevent me from firebombing the cell phone industry by saying it's CA's fault and other things like cars are in the same lame policy umbrella of paying extra sales tax.
Or maybe the car salesman tricked the poor phone salesman with a line of pure BS, and I'm not talking about a degree or diploma, and they really believed they had to pay sales tax of 7.75% in CA on a 30,000 dollar car even though they were selling it to them at 25,000. Wow.. that salesman got the dealership an extra $388!
Funny thing is the father of the kid who caused the accident gave me his name, address, phone number and everything the night of the accident. I've found out all kinds of info about him....thus the reason I gave it all to my insurance company to deal with since they may have better luck squeezing him and that's what I pay them for.
All this was almost a moot point last night, my son and his sister were coming home from culinary class and a moose walked out in the road about 1/2 mile from our house. My son said he locked the brakes up on the car and was doing everything he could think of to get away from the moose but thought for sure he was going to hit it, doubts he missed it by more than a couple inches. He came in the house and threw his keys, said "I'm DONE, I'm not driving again!" Poor kid has had a rough week......I didn't know if I should laugh or cry, it was kind of funny.
I'm going up there Tuesday to have my TSX appraised & hopefully sign the papers to get my new 2011 328xi.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
If it was RWD I would probably check it out- even though it's a bit of a boat and almost as slow as my Mazda...
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
True; the Carfax shows that it was a BMW CPO car. If the CPO warranty was still active and I could get it for $20K OTD I'd probably bite.
Best to stay away, methinks... :P
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
any opinions on that?
anyway, every $ required brings up the question, when to sell vs. put money into it that I will never get back! I really wanted to get at least until year end out of the brakes, but that isn't happening it seems.
so, now I have to decide to do it cheap (rotors are OK enough to just throw pads on it seems) or do it right and spend extra ($300ish) for new rotors too (cutting old ones is not an option). If I was keeping LT certainly would put new ones on. Now, leaning toward just tossing on pads and taking my chances!
If nothing else, for less than $300, I can advertise it as new brakes!
If I keep to year end, probably will need tires (they are at 5/32 or 6/32 now and in pretty good shape), and it will be due for a timing belt change (based on age). One reason for selling before year end (since that will be a good $1,200 right there.)
Was proud of the wife when I explained options. She did mention just buying a new one instead!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
You'll be fine.
in any case, not an immediate need, but no way it makes it until the end of the year.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
That clamp is the "Viggen Rescue Kit" to which I was referring. I hadn't heard anything about cracking mounts until I saw that episode of Wheeler Dealers (a convertible-only problem? I don't know) but that clamp GREATLY reduces torque steer and overall, improves handling by a bunch.
She did say that it was going to be impossible to pick something, with too many choices (different models, then trim lines, making it really difficult to compare). Good thing she has an expert on call.
Did manage to whittle the original 26 down to 12, and that is really 10 once we take off the 2 that likely don't come close to fitting under the budget cap (Volvo and BMW).
Still a shame that she was sick for the car show, since that would have helped move the process forward nicely. Still, we can see all 10 of the remaining options with 1 trip to the local automall (the few that are not in the complex are on the same main road, less than a mile in either direction). Seems like a fun way to spend the day!
Just need the new Escape to come out (hopefully not too much longer), and if we wait long enough, the new Santa Fe in the fall.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
She sounds like a keeper to me. When I talk cars my wife generally makes her wishes known with comments like "absolutely not", "anything but red" or "why ask me, you always do what YOU want anyway". :mad:
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
b) After the Z4 fiasco, my wife and I spent two solid Saturdays, test driving 5 different SUVs and 3 sedans... There is no substitute for getting out there and driving them..
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and this will be a thoroughly vetted process. She has to be 100% sure, since I ain't picking this one on my own!
she even said today that she was bummed to have been sick the day we were supposed to go to the car show, the one year that she actually wanted to look at stuff.
good thing is, all the options left on the list are either sold at the local automall, or a dealer just up the street. So a day trip down there should let her see everything she finds interesting and get test drives in. Should be fun!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
In experimenting, I have discovered that it IS possible to skip a gear – in MY BMW automatic. Here is how:
When accelerating, in [M] Manual mode, run up the RPM to where engaging the desired gear makes sense, back off the throttle, and pull the shift lever twice in rapid succession.
Meaning: as soon as you finish one, immediately press again.
Backing off the throttle [ as I certainly would when accelerating with a manual and planning to skip a gear ] unloads the driveline. This appears to allow the ‘skip gear’ behavior.
[ Meaning: If you still have the throttle open, it will NOT skip. ]
I made a short [ 7 seconds ] video with my iPhone of a scenario that makes sense, to me. I ran up the RPM in third gear to about 3200, let off the throttle and pulled back on the shift lever twice, very quickly – essentially with no pause between. You will notice that [ though M4 does very briefly appear in the display ] there is a single, smooth sweep of the tachometer – down to just over 2000 RPM. I see [ and feel ] no indication that fourth gear was ever actually engaged. In fact, the gear may have been engaged, but the clutch was never engaged.
Disclaimer: this ONLY applies to the seven speed DCT in my 335iS. I have no idea if such behavior is also possible with BMW’s six speed Steptronic automatic.
Link to the vid:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v298/rayainsw/2011%20BMW%20335iS/DCT%20skip%20- - shift%20vid/?action=view¤t=My335iSskipshift1gearIMG_0066.mp4
YMMV.
- Ray
Fun ‘research’. Happy with this discovery . . .
Yeah, the kid I had dealt with pulled a semi-hit-and-run. He stopped, looked around, said hello or something, and then decided to run off.
Also, there are only maybe 3 or 4 insurance companies that should not be shot and killed at point blank range, and at the time of this incident, I had one of the "other" companies, that do deserve the death sentence to all of their employees.
They were about as useless and worthless can be.
I've also heard they will drop a person like a bad habit if "something" happens.
You know..." something" like a claim or a couple of tickets.
We have USAA and I can honestly say they are wonderful. Thankfully they won't drop you if you have something like a claim or a couple of tickets, if that was the case I'd be in BIG trouble. My driving record looks like something that belongs on the autobahn and that isn't an understatement either. I came within 2 points of a suspension the summer of 2010 and right now have a court case pending for another ticket I got a few months ago, managed to go a year and a half without a ticket.
Funny thing is the only accident I've been involved in during the last 17 years wasn't even my fault and I was stopped. Main reason for no accidents is my tendancy to go a little fast and stay by myself, I hate being in a clump of traffic.....of course that puts me in the crosshairs of a cop's radar. Doesn't help that I drive (or would be driving) a big red truck either! :sick:
BTW, Progressive is the WORST insurance company EVER to deal with, we are over a year since our accident and the ONLY thing they have paid was the repair on the Pilot. Even that was a battle so I'm not too hopeful that they will pay the medical bills. Our attorney is about as useful as, well, you get the picture..... :lemon:
I have a friend who had issues with Progressive, too.
That's very true. They've been very good to us. Tonight they sent out a claims adjuster to get a second opinion on the body shop's estimate for the Escort, they just want to be sure it is indeed totaled and not worth repairing. He said if they can fix it economically they will rather than total it since it appears to be a nice car.
My son leaves in 3 1/2 months for boot camp and they will drop him off our policy and set him up on his own but won't start his policy until he gets done with boot camp, tech school, and is at his assigned base. That way it won't cost him anything while he isn't driving the car and also won't be costing us anything. They really think of everything and I have never dealt with such a caring insurance company.
Dealing with Geico on my latest incident. I've found them pretty easy to work with. I've decided to take the money and not worry about the repairs to the ION.
Excellent.
- Ray
Now have my house insured w/them also....
He totalled his own car "claims a tire blew out and he lost control on the freeway." I didn't crunch the numbers using Kelly BB or Edmunds, but his almost 4 year old Altima must have been paid off at EXCELLENT Condition + 2 grand, easily. He got a boatload for that car, on the first offer, no negotiation!
BEWARE of Farmer's on real claims..... in college, this lady with a man and her baby in a car HIT ME, I was turning into a parking space in a garage, and it was the first one coming around a turn in the opening (center of structure flow of traffic lane). The reason their was a turn is I was lowering from an upper level to a lower level, and the first spot to the right was open as I was turning right.
I couldn't fit into the spot without backing up and doing a 3 point turn into the parking spot, over half my car was still in the lane of the flow of traffic, only my nose was in the parking spot. So I back up, see another car coming, slam on my brakes to the stupidity of someone trying to get behind me when I clearly couldn't fit into the parking space (and never yielded the lane mind you), and as soon as I came to a stop a light bump ensued as she slammed on the brakes at the perfectly wrong time too. (She could have swerved left and avoided it, she could have sped up and avoided me by moving left a bit, she could have slowed down earlier, and avoided me). Her front right corner hit my back right corner. We get out, there is no damage to either car, good, I have a movie to go see. Her babies crying and she's worried about her baby for no reason (we barely hit; maybe at 2 MPH tops). She has an old unmaintained clunker, in poor condition. They mention something about their front right light assembly being a bit loose, I think nothing of it (probably was already slightly loose for all I know, and anyways, the accident was their fault). We exchange information, but I figure neither of us will make a claim since it was their faul and really no damage was done.
I find out a Year and a half later from Farmers that they paid a claim to her for like $1,250 in damages (what damages, and 1,250 dollars, that was the value of that car! lol). I was at college, at most TWO phone calls away from being contacted as my Parents were the policy holders in my hometown. I was NEVER contacted by Farmers. They paid the claim and blamed me for fault without ever attempting to contact me.
I got a letter from my parents orginally from Farmers that told me this (1.5 years after it was paid, and it said I could dispute the decision within 30 days of my notification, and so I DID!
1) Farmers never called me to verify the incident even happened. For all they know, the whole claim could be made up (which for the most part it was).
2) They got the fault wrong.
3) There was no damage to either vehicle.
4) My conclusion was that the Farmers agent that paid out the claim must have be in on an "INSIDE" fraud job to steal from Farmers, was friends with the claimant, and paid off the claim fraudulently without properly handling the claim.
P.S. Farmers sent me a letter after a couple back and forth phone conversations (first one was some excuses that those papers were filed in a storage facility since they were so old), the letter stated Farmers paid the claim in error, that I was not -at-fault. For a year or two I had to show every company I shopped for insurance with that letter, or they'd charge me extra for this "fake" accident claim.
Actually, that's not as uncommon as you might think, in fact, it's quite common. There are studies that prove driving 5 to 10 MPH over the average speed of traffic is the absolute safest speed to drive on the roadways (currently). I'm in the same boat as you, though I've limited my ticketing to about 1 every 2 years through the use of aggressively looking for cops as I drive to see them before they see me, technology like radar detectors, and other methods. Also, I fight virtually every ticket I get and I have about a 51% win record to get it dismissed, or found not guilty. In 17 years of driving I've had a couple accidents, but they were ALL NO FAULT of mine. They were all no-fault accidents for me. Always someone else's fault.
Ticketing and safe driving have no correlation unfortunately with the way most police officer's enforce the inane traffic laws.
Several years ago, a friend of mine got t-boned in his pristine 60K mile 85 Monte SS by a 16 year old girl who ran a stop sign. That was an ordeal for him too, they were trying to write off the car as a clunker with no value, he had to do a lot of footwork to show it was worth a bit more than like $1200. The funny thing was when he called her insurance company, and they brought up an accident claim from one she had been in just a couple weeks earlier.
Regarding speeding, I find locally that if you go 10-15 over, you can actually make 90% of the lights. Funny how they did that.
I figure if I shopped around I could maybe save 100.00/yr but I like being able to call an office and have a human 10 miles away pick up the phone.
Makes sense to me, as I'm in that group, going from a 03' Accord LX V6 Coupe to the '06 Audi A3 2.0T DSG. Okay, so it's Audi, not VW directly, but still, I considered VW heavily, just liked the value of the A3 over the GTI.
On the "build sheet" the dealer faxed me, the MSRP of the Premium Package (ZPP) is listed at $2100. Here on edmunds.com (and certain other pricing sites), the MSRP is listed at $2650 with an invoice of $2410.
Should I just assume there is a $240 difference between MSRP & Invoice of the Premium Package and make it $1860?
Thanks in advance for all your help & input.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
I figure if I shopped around I could maybe save 100.00/yr but I like being able to call an office and have a human 10 miles away pick up the phone.
I feel the same way about State Farm ... when my stepson totaled the Tracker we got him at age 16, we never saw any paperwork for any of the medical bills - flight for life, hospital, nada. I think the total payout on that claim was around $35K.
Same when we had to make a claim for hail damage (new roof) and water damage (carpet and tile damage) - State Farm handled both with no hassles whatsoever.
If I had extra garage space, I'd be all over this thing too...apparently sold, but I can't stop looking at it, you just don't seem them like this anymore, it would be a surprising hit at shows too.
The last ticket I was given was for 68 in a 45, now there is NO way I was going that fast, my truck is quick, but to go from 40 (to pass the car in front of me) to 68 in a space of 20-30 feet...yeah, not gonna happen. I still don't know where the cop was sitting, when his radar hit the truck, I looked at my detector and it said 55 mph (its gps linked). He got me at one cross street, marked down on the ticket that the offense occured at an intersection where I was sitting at a red light stopped, and pulled me over a mile later in a 55 mph zone. I plan on taking it to court but can't go when my court date is next week due to daughter's dr appt.
He mentioned my driving record from 2010.......July I had an 83 in a 65 plus expired tags, 20 days later I got a 70 in a 45........no excuses for any of it, just being stupid and annoyed with the slow drivers around here. Prior to those it had been over 5 years since I'd had one. I wish the cops would go after the drivers that go 25 in a 55 or 35 in a 65 and hold up 30 cars, but no, they want the speeders, nothing else. 4 more months....... :sick:
Ya think? At the bottom of that ad it was scheduled to be in a Silver Auction in Idaho in September 2009.
I liked it too until I spotted that pukey green interior.
I haven't heard a peep for years about Mitch Silver'a auctions. Anyone know if he's still doing them. Heck of a nice guy out of Spokane.
Looks like the auction company is still going strong
what I have found is you really don't need all the invoice prices, since the markup tends to be the same (the base is a %, then all the options are pretty much the same %). not sure if options are the same in all cases, but usually you can apply a factor of something like 93% to get pretty darned close.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I guess this makes things right. Back in 2009 I traded in my 1990 E30 325i on the last day of Cash 4 Clunkers for the TSX. The TSX replaced our leased 2007 BMW X3 which we were going to be insanely over the miles. So during the last year of the X3's lease, we also had the TSX.
Since 2007 this BMW will be the 5th car I have purchased (2007 X3, 1990 325i, 2010 TSX, 2011 Pilot). Does it get me an honorable mention in this group?
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
Iwant to get my wife out to see the new Mazda CX-5. really curious if she could buy off on something that size (she did think the CR-V was OK), and how the 4 cyl will be.
the other big question would have been could I convince her to get it with a stick shift, but of course, they only have it on the base model where you can't get a power seat, or a moonroof.
so, once again, forced to get an AT if we want one, since those are required options.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
From the numbers you gave, it appears the percentage is 91% of Option Sticker price to get invoice. That's what I would use. $2100 times .91 gives about $1911 for the invoice.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive