Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

ateixeira

for a total damage of $127.00

That's so cheap, I wouldn't even call it damage.

Some of the cars you're shopping for require premium fuel, so a fuel fill up would cost that much!

Gotta love cheap parts prices.

andre1969

last nite, my roommate, who drove my '85 Silverado to work, said that one of his co-workers wants to buy it and offered $2,000. If she's serious, I think I'm going to jump on it!

Right now, she's in a situation where she's car-less. I don't know all the details, but she bought a 2007 something or other for about $6500, but now it needs about $8000 worth of work. Even though my truck is old and needs a lot of work itself, she said that her boyfriend could probably fix most of what it would need.

So, we'll see what happens, I guess. And the nice thing is, I won't really have to replace that truck with anything. If the Silverado goes, I'll sell the Park Ave to my roommate, and then just depend on the Ram and my old cars to get around.

I am curious to find out what kind of car this coworker has. I'll see if I can get him to find out.

michaellno

That's so cheap, I wouldn't even call it damage.

The tire rotation and oil change for the CX-7 was only $60!

Some of the cars you're shopping for require premium fuel, so a fuel fill up would cost that much!

Hey now - the last fill up of the CX-7, which takes premium, was less than $60. And, it has a 16 gallon tank.

Gotta love low Colorado fuel prices - premium is $3.759 at the local Shell station.

rayainsw

How goes the new Ram truck?
- Ray
Don't recall reading much here since purchase....

michaellno

How goes the new Ram truck?

Andre's uncle drives it a majority of the time, and it's got only a couple thousand miles on it.

IIRC....

andre1969

Andre's uncle drives it a majority of the time, and it's got only a couple thousand miles on it.

Actually, my uncle has decided he doesn't like it, so it's not getting driven that much. I think it had about 2060 miles on it now. My uncle doesn't like it because it's hard for him to get in and out of, he thinks it rides rough, and it's hard to park.

He might drive it once or twice a week. I had been driving it more when the weather was colder but now that nice weather's around the corner (if Spring will make up its mind and get here!!) I'll probably start driving the old cars more.

Actually, my uncle's complaints are valid, I guess. He's a lot shorter than me, and at 6'3", I think the truck is a bit of a climb to get into. And it does ride rougher than his '97 Silverado did. In some ways, it's rougher than my old '85. There's this one bump and dip on the road going home, right after a bridge, that some of my older cars can go over, and you don't even notice it. When the Silverado goes over it, you barely feel it with the front wheels, but when the back axle goes over, it bounces hard, and at the right (wrong) speed, has actually hurt my back. The Ram seems to hit it harder with the front axle, but not as bad with the back, but because the truck is so solid and doesn't flex, you still feel it. But, at least it hasn't actually hurt my back, like the '85 has done!

And, I HATE parking the thing in tight spaces. It's not bad at home, because it can just sit in the driveway. But I have trouble judging when it comes to parallel parking, and also tight pull-in spaces, because it sits up so high compared to the older trucks I've driven.

But, I imagine all full-sized trucks sit up like that now, so it's just something I'll have to get used to!

Nothing has broken or fallen off of it yet, so I guess that's a plus! And no warning lights have come on, and it hasn't leaked anything yet. I don't like the way the transmission shifts, though. I'm taking it in for an oil change soon, and I'm going to have them look it over in general. It's probably just that I'm not used to a 6-speed automatic.

It's not perfect, and I didn't really need it, but I like it overall. When my uncle's '97 crapped out and he got fed up with it, we probably could have gotten away with him just junking it. He has a 2003 Corolla as well, and could have made do with just that. He ended up telling me, after we traded his truck in on the Ram, of course, that the only reason he kept driving his '97 was so it would get used, but not that he really NEEDED a truck.

tifighter

Andre, we have to find reason for you to drive more to justify an Altima. You've had a crush for awhile.

kyfdx

What is "your BMW" and why wouldn't you let son drive the infiniti?

Mine is '06 E46 Performance Package coupe... 72K miles, right now... 7 years old..

The Infiniti is a G37X... leased.... He won't drive enough to use up the miles.... So, I drive it, while he puts about 6K-8K/yr. on the BMW..(he is a college student). That doesn't meant that we won't switch off, occasionally..

. you pulled a carfax on it, right?

Yes... clean.. Bought from my local BMW dealer two years ago... no runs, hits or errors... one-owner..

andre1969

Andre, we have to find reason for you to drive more to justify an Altima. You've had a crush for awhile.

I did, but I'm not that crazy about the 2013 redesign. Maybe I'll get used to it after awhile, though. Just going on looks, I think I like the Mazda 6 and the Ford Fusion best among midsized cars these days.

ateixeira

That is cheap! Of course it's probably not 93 octane, right? You don't need it at that altitude.

I bet sandman pays more (I'm well over $4 here), and his potential RX purchase would have had a 19.2 gallon tank.

ateixeira

Altima's best feature is the range - 38mpg plus a big fuel tank, you can basically take a road trip and maybe not even stop for gas once.

michaellno

That is cheap! Of course it's probably not 93 octane, right? You don't need it at that altitude.

Our octane ratings are 85 / 87 / 91 here in Colorado, and 86 / 88 / 92 in New Mexico.

andre - saw the new Mazda 6 when I had the wife's ride into the dealership earlier this week .. very sharp looking. I'll need to scope out the interior at some point.

andre1969

Yeah, I do like that long cruising range in the Altima. Kind of a shame though, that they shrunk the tank a bit. The previous model had a 20 gallon tank! Still, 18 gallons isn't bad these days. I think my Park Ave is 18.5 gallons, and my old Intrepid was only 17.

Whenever I've gone on a trip, about the longest I've ever gone between fill-ups was around 400 miles...Intrepid or Park Ave. At that point, the low fuel light would usually be on, so I wouldn't want to risk it. I think 400 miles is about the longest range we've gotten out of my buddy's 2006 Xterra, as well. I forget how big its tank is...20 plus gallons, I'm sure. But it'll usually only get 20-22 mpg on a trip, so that is cutting it a bit close.

gouldn

So in my car search my two favorites are Subaru and Acura, but I have a problem. During the first few years of new car ownership you need to use the dealer for warranty work/etc ... and I don't like the local dealers.

The Acura dealer close to my house seemed really lame, with plenty of bad reviews on yelp, and the manager was not very knowledgeable about the product. I don't think the service visits would go well. Other dealers are neither near work nor home so they would involved making arrangements or losing time from workday/Saturday.

The Subaru dealer is OK but there are no dealers close to my work nor home, so involve the same situation as above.

I currently have older cars so I use a great independent shop that's one mile down a bike path from my work. I just drop the car off, walk/ride in and pick it up at 5. It takes maybe 20 minutes out of my day to get the cars serviced and they're a pleasant walk!

To be honest, I'm leaning towards a used (but much newer than what I have) car just to keep using them!

Any else in a similar boat?

jayrider

Don't think you have much to worry about re warranty work on either car. Just oil changes and tire rotations. Get what you want -- enjoy the trouble free nature of those 2 brands, espeially Acura.

roadburner

Congrats!
Except for the Infiniti part...

nyccarguy

I agree. However, in the 2 1/2 years I owned my Acura TSX, I did need to have a few minor warranty issues taken care of in addition to the scheduled maintenance. They were nagging issues, that I just waited until I needed to bring the car in for service to have taken care of. Also, I notice EVERYTHING so YMMV.

nyccarguy

Hey kyfdx, if you notice you are way under on mileage on your wife's (now your) Infiniti & I'm way over on my BMW mileage, maybe we can swap leases since they end around the same time:)

stickguy

for warranty work, they may give loaners.

but, odds are with either car, you could go years with only routine stuff, so the indy can do that.

and at most, you are looking at 2x/year for service, so you can just suck it up and deal with the locals, or make the arrangements.

to me, the car is much more important than the dealer.

I bought my acura last year 2 hours away (just for price) but have no problems using either local guy for service. But in almost 7 months, I still have had no reason to go in yet. Soon, since the MM is at 30% finally, so sometime next month it will get the first oil change.

kyfdx

Sure.. we can swap now, if you want...

stickguy

the biggest issue I have with the RDX is the size of the tank. 16 gallons is way too small for something this powerful. They cheesed out and kept the CR-V tank. even hypermiling on the highway to push the 27-28 that is still marginal, and at 17 or so around town, you get gas a lot!

This ideally would have a 20, but even 18 minimum.

tjc78

Yeah that is a bit small. 400 miles would be pushing it.

We had an Altima at the office, I put over 500 on a tank while driving to Maine. That was nice.

Sandman6472

I was also at 30% yesterday when I had my oil/filter swapped for fresh stuff and they said the coolant bottle was empty so since I had not done the coolant service ever, decided to just go ahead with it...he wanted to just fill the thing up & said I could wait a few months but I was there and just said go ahead. The brakes feel much better now since they did whatever they did on the rear drums and the car tracks straight and true as he knows I'm real particular about my wheel not being cocked and it driving very straight...the alignment policy is made for folks just like me. Car drives like new again so I'm a happy camper and after they fix the headliner, I'll be done. The new head unit is on hold at this point since I've been spending some $ lately on stuff like running shoes, etc. Got a killer deal on Saucony sneaks yesterday at DSW for $29.99 with my coupon...couldn't resist! And my New Balance one's came on Wednesday so I need to stop spending for awhile!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

nyccarguy

Sure, I think your payment is less though. Mine is $572/month (including 6.35% sales tax) for 20K per year.

nyccarguy

You are right. Car is MUCH more important than the service dept. I actually bought my car in Rockland (only 45 minutes away) because I got more for my trade & there are no insane "conveyance" fees like in CT. I service my BMW there too because I know their service dept. is top notch.

My friend that has an X5 ///M, an ///M5, & a 750 Li X-Drive always complains that the dealer he services his cars at stinks. They never fix things on the 1st try, he's always waiting extra time for a loaner, & the loaner cars aren't that great. Last time he brought his X5 ///M in for service, the dealer gave him a RWD 528i as a loaner. He got stuck in his driveway with 6" of snow.

jayrider

One parked down the street. looks brand new except the black paint. Light interior automatic -- pristine. Love those rubber and chrome bumpers.

graphicguy

guoldn....I think any of the lux brands (BMW, Acura, Infiniti, Audi, etc) all above average service. However, if you have concerns with the dealerships you want to do business with, why not tell the dealership your concerns and see how they respond?

THe only premium brand I had unresolved service isses with was with Cadillac, which prompted me to vow never to do business with them, regardless how good their cars might be (and their ATX is very good).

nyccarguy

Scouring the local paper's auto section, I see some screaming deals on NEW BMW X1s. A black/black 28i with an MSRP of $38,745 selling for $34,140. An X1 35i with an MSRP of $47,095 selling for $41,800. That's before you even walk in the door. In a year, some of these will make some really nice mid - high $20K vehicles.

corvette

"They never fix things on the 1st try, he's always waiting extra time for a loaner, & the loaner cars aren't that great."

Sounds like they're asking for a bad survey.

tifighter

I'd be surprised if those discounts translate to lower used prices in a year. I'd guess that $34K 28i will be $32995 CPO next year at a BMW dealer. They'll say it stickered for $38745, and you are getting a great deal compared to new with more CPO warranty. It happens every year.

kyfdx

Mine is $378/mo. All in.. For 12K/yr..

Geez... you don't want money on top of the swap, do you?

I got that deal because I'm a professional.....

What have you ever done for me? Oh, wait.....

Sandman6472

Did this run in a newish Chevy Malibu and it was quite nice actually...quite nice! Had Sirius, so I was a happy camper, and was quite smooth on all kinds of roads though not as smooth as the wonderful Chrysler 200, but quite nice. Only had 2727 when I pulled up to the gate so almost brand spankin' new in a light blue color with nice gray & white fabric...a perfect rental queen! Honda and Hyundai/Kia have nothing to worry about here but for folks on a limited budget who need a midsizer for a decent price, this may be the way to go for them.

Doing the same run in the morning and hopefully will get something just as nice. Got beat out of a nice Elantra and a few Impala's but it all worked out nicely just the same. Now, we really need to work on some of these personalities...lol!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

nyccarguy

It's actually his fault because he keeps going back there to buy cars. His 2012 X5 ///M is his second. The one before that was a 2010 X5 ///M, and he had an '08 X5 4.8i before that. He's bought close to half a million dollars worth of BMWs (at full sticker) from this dealer that keeps giving him crummy service.

nyccarguy

You are probably right. We can dream can't we?

tifighter

I'm willing to be wrong. I'd look at a year old X1 in the mid-twenties.

nyccarguy

$378/month is almost $200 per month less than my car. Even at the same mileage, yours would still be cheaper. I think you got the trifecta on your Infiniti lease. Low selling price, low money factor, and inflated residual. My BMW lease was a good deal as far as BMWs go, but even their base money factor wasn't that low considering the car was a leftover. You bought down your infiniti's mf to close to zero, right?

What have I done for you? Nothing I wouldn't do for a friend:)

nyccarguy

I know you've got the new car bug. If you find something you love (& you can afford it), go for it! You seem to be as into cars as the rest of us are by the was you write about your rental runs. I know there is nothing wrong with your Civic, but if you want a Lexus, MB, or BMW, then get it. No time like the present. I know you've said you've lost lots of family to cancer, I went to a wake on Friday night for a guy I used to work with. 40. Healthy as a horse. Married with a 3 year old daughter. Had a bad headache one night, went to the hospital. They found a cyst on his brain, removed it, but he never woke up.

roadburner

Ditto. In 1992 at age 35 I bought a 1988 M6; paid for it with a re-fi of the home I now live in. My only regret is that I sold it in 1995.
My father always wanted to visit the UK and Germany. He had the time and the money to do it but he kept putting it off. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in July 1991 and died one month later.
The pastor of our church likes to repeat the story that he's never heard someone on their deathbed say, "I wish I had spent more time at the office."
Me, I know I won't be saying, "I wish I had bought a Regal or a Camry instead of that M6."

fintail

I agree with this, it is kind of what pushed me into my recent purchase. I am in my mid 30s now, time is flying by, and I now realize that your number could be up at any time. You never really know...so if you can afford it, live a little. I was thinking back - seems like yesterday I was still away at school, all 4 grandparents, a great-grandmother, and much extended family still alive and well. Fast forward from the late 90s to today - I have one grandparent, my dad is gone, many secondary relatives are gone, I know of at least a couple old school friends who are gone, etc. So long as I am spending less than I make, and putting away a little - I will enjoy it now, while I can. That goes for a nice vacation when finances allow, too. Hopefully this will encourage someone to punch their card :shades:

gouldn

I couldn't agree more. In my 30's I lusted after fancy cars, but they never made perfect pragmatic sense ... it's always cheaper to buy a sensible Japanese mainline car. After a former co-worker got sick and died in this early 40's for no apparent reason (clean living, non-drinker, etc), I decided to go for it. Kind of ironically I found I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, and let it go after three years ... no biggie, I lost a few grand, but in the grand scheme of things I know now what I like better and it doesn't make a big difference in the grand scheme of tings.

I do draw the line at borrowing large amounts for a luxury car though ... unless (again ironically) you don't _need_ to borrow, and only take the load because you're doing better in your investments. I've seen the opposite .. people who make $30K buying a 40K car on time, and getting in way over their head ... that makes no sense either!!

Sandman6472

All sounds good but not sure I could sleep at night doing something very crazy. Yes, I can now afford almost any vehicle I would like, thank you dad, but it just isn't me ...at this point. I always do the right, practical thing and that's a hard habit to break. So for the time being, we've invested everything and will see what happens down the road. I'm as happy as I've ever been in my life and if it all ends tomorrow, I'm satisfied with the life I've had, my wonderful family & the person I've become. Maybe in a few years it'll be the right time but as for now, we're just staying the course and moving forward.

Drove a Spark to Orlando today, a new one, and it wasn't half bad. it was all decked out with the fancy stuff and drove surprisingly well. This is supposed to be the new Buick Encore though the Buick will be more plush and much quieter on the road...something I'll have to put on my short list. But since the Civic was serviced on Friday, it's like driving a brand new car...I'm pleased as punch!

Meeting at 5:30 a m for a run to Key West as I recall...I was a bit tired when we got back to Lauderdale today. Key West I think!

The Confused Sandman :confuse: :sick: :shades:

nyccarguy

I'm in no way saying that buying a cool car completes your life in any way. It's just a lot of fun:). Besides this former co-worker, I have a close friend that died 9 years ago at the age is 26.

I'm guilty of being "Mr. Practical" too. Using those guidelines, I should've kept my TSX & driven it until somewhere north of the 150K mark & lived with zero car payments for a few years. I traded in my purchased TSX (with less than 3 years left to payoff) for a leased BMW & I love it.

Sandman6472

Understandable in your case but right now, my Civic is a delight to drive, still very tight and willing so waiting is the right thing to do. And truth be told, I do not think I could ever buy a german car...ever! My oldest would absolutely kill me and never set foot in it which I understand. After driving that Spark yesterday and knowing the new Buick Encore will be built on the slightly larger Sonic platform makes it a logical contender for the new Sandmanmobile actually. The Spark wasn't too awful truth be told and I'm sure the slightly larger Sonic is a bit better also. And giving the domestics a chance wouldn't be the worst thing in the world also. And I do like the looks of the Encore especially with the two tone paint treatment...very nice looking. And If it would have a power seat that I could slide over into, all the better and the wife could also drive it...another plus. Heck, she might even take it over as her ride which wouldn't surprise me in the least.

And I still really like the Chrysler 200 though it is a bit too large for me...maybe the dart would be the logical contender from the Chrysler/Dodge company. I only drove the dart once and though a bit crude, wasn't that bad and when I am ready to purchase, I'm sure the refresh will have taken care of any issues. I do love the smoothness of the 200 and the seats/fabric are nice, better than their Dodge cousin in fact!

Still too early to speculate as there may be some more contenders at that time. And the real question is how good/bad the new Corolla will be? I've always been a Toyota guy deep down and since Honda no longer makes any products I'd spend any $ on, the new Corolla or Rav4 could be it seeing how much I really liked the Rogue...liked it so much that it's the #1 spot on my short list and if I had to purchase a vehicle right now, tomorrow...that would be it in SV guise in a charcol or silver color hands down. A very nice ride that checks all my boxes without any hesitation...hands down the winner! Also, my best friend has one and she loves it...and she has the base model to boot!

The Roguish Sandman :sick: :shades:

akangl

I know I haven't been around much, school keeps me so busy I can barely think. I type so many papers that the last thing I want to do is type more!

However, today is a special day, I've had my 2007 GMC Sierra for one year. The old girl has earned the special nickname of Chippy and has endeared herself to me. In the year I've had her she's seen my son's 95 Escort leave for a new home. Hubby's 09 Civic get traded off for a 2012 Focus, a 2011 Yaris join the fleet and then leave 6 months later. She's also watched a 2011 Elantra spend a week in the driveway before heading off to California with my son. Yup, its been a busy year.

On another note, I did get an amazing deal on that Yaris, paid $12,200 for it on September 1, 2012 and sold it to a used car dealer around the end of February for $12,065. We put about 5k on it, very good car.....very bad kid who couldn't keep her end of the bargain!

My CCBA days are over, well except for the occasional Hot Wheels or Match Box car. We are buying a new house this summer and I'm pretty sure my realtor would kill me if I ruined it with my chronic car buying habits. He already says I need an automotive intervention!

Honestly I can't think of anything I'd rather drive.

ateixeira

Your 99% resale value may be a record for a car purchased new. That's unheard of.

xwesx

Thanks for the recap and update! I trust your schooling is going well in addition to keeping you so busy?!

Pretty incredible about the Yaris; all I can do is echo what AJ said.

And, seriously.... "old girl?" It's a 2007 for cryin' out loud! :P

stickguy

I was thinking that I didn't remember hearing about the Yaris leaving. I remember it arriving.

those kids. I learned too late that I should have gotten a puppy instead of a daughter. Though to be fair to her, no problems in the 4 months since I let her take over the Volvo driving.

gouldn

I can think of at least one person I knew awhile ago who would be alive today if the parents had taken the car for not holding up his end of the bargain. Instead he ended up wrapping it around a tree.

stickguy

we have a 1 strike (and I get to decide what that is) policy with a severe penalty (repo the Volvo). And she knows it.

Also pretty responsible for a teenager, and I spent a lot of time driving around with her.

not that any parent can be really comfortable, but some kids worry you more than others!

ateixeira

I swear I read "Volvo drifting" !