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Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)
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The Accord coupe is nice looking, I've always thought. Pricey by the time you get a V-6 and leather though.
I can see where the Mustang could get a stigma of being a "young" car, but you know what they say: you're as young as you feel!
Would this be your driver or hers?
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited Velvet Red over Wicker Beige
2024 Audi Q5 Premium Plus Daytona Gray over Beige
2017 BMW X1 Jet Black over Mocha
However, I do respect my wife's opinion about cars and will take her advice under consideration. Something low to the ground and requires a lot of climbing into and out of is an issue for both of us .. we like the higher seating position of the G6 as opposed to the Mustang.
I have looked at the Accord coupe - V6 with 5-speed auto (no nav) has an MSRP of just under $28K and invoices around $25-26K. G6 GTP optioned the way I would want retails for just under $27K and has an invoice around $24-25K, I suspect.
There is a rebate on the G6 and I qualify for the GM Supplier price, so that works in my favor.
Also, for some odd reason, the wife has a thing against Hondas. Don't fully understand it, but there it is.
Since we have the VUE for passengers and cargo, I've been leaning towards a two door of some sort. I've thought about a VW GTI with the SMG transmission, but, again, there's that 'boy racer' look about it. Perhaps an Audi A3, but when you start adding options it gets expensive pretty quickly.
Not much in the way of coupes available -- looking at Edmunds list of those priced between $15K and $25K, they show the following:
Acura RSX
Chevy Cobalt and Monte Carlo
Ford Focus (ZX3) and Mustang
Honda Accord, Civic and Insight
Hyundai Tiburon
Mini Cooper
Mitsu Eclipse
Pontiac G5 (Cobalt) and G6
Saturn ION
Scion tC
Toyota Camry Solara
VW GTI and New Beetle
If I look at the $25K to $35K price range:
Audi TT
BMW 3-series
Chrysler Crossfire
Infiniti G35
Mazda RX-8
Nissan 350Z
Pontiac GTO
*To tell the truth, the whole place seemed kind of demoralized*
As for the 25-35k list, lots of lustful cars, but it gets really hard for me to drop 30k+ on a coupe. Just the way my mind works I guess.
Agree with you on the A3. When I priced one the way I (we) wanted it, I was north of 30k and hearing that the dealers did not discount them much. For that kind of $$, there were better choices. Plus, it still looked too wagon like for my wife's taste.
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited Velvet Red over Wicker Beige
2024 Audi Q5 Premium Plus Daytona Gray over Beige
2017 BMW X1 Jet Black over Mocha
She told me I was picking a car for my ego....
:confuse:
Both the wife and I actually like the looks of the Mini, but one of the (many) criteria we have for our cars is to answer the mythical question "could we see ourselves driving this to Las Vegas?" - meaning, is it comfortable enough for a 800 mile trip across the West. Can't really see us doing that in a Mini.
Of course, we're a bit older than you, so our priorities are probably a bit different.
As to the G6/G35 comparison, I agree, but when you look strictly at the prices, it's not too far off the mark.
The bigger picture is this .. for $30K, there are a lot of different types of vehicles that can be purchased. Trucks, SUV's of all sizes, sedans (stripper BMW's and Audi's and V8 powered Chevys) and coupes, crossovers and convertibles.
My first new car that I bought was a 1988 Isuzu Trooper. At the time, my first wife and I wanted a 4 door SUV. The only other option available to us was the Jeep Cherokee.
When we sold the Trooper and replaced it with a smaller and more fuel efficient car, I wanted something with 2 doors - this was 1991. Choices? I remember looking at the Civic Si, the Nissan Sentra SE and the Hyundai Scoupe.
My point? Even though we have a much larger palette of cars to choose from, consumers still have their own rationale as to what is important (number of doors, manual vs. automatic, seating position, features) to ultimately limit us to just a few choices.
Then again, perhaps I'm just a ramblin' old fool on this Friday afternoon.
It is a little over 500 miles one way and I got it down so that I could do it in eight hours.
I know it is not 800 miles but it is pretty close. I also took my wife, MIL and SIL to northern VT one time which is a four hour one way trip. That was a pretty interesting trip I must say.
I posted this on one of the other threads but you might find it interesting.
My expenses to drive that car for two years and just under 28,000 miles were aproximately.
4,000 dollars depreciation.
720 dollars sales tax
500 dollars property tax for two years
220 dollars for registration(I got new plates twice)
0 dollars in maitnence since MINs have pre paid maintence
500 dollars for tires
2,400 dollars 100 dollars a month insurace over 24 months
Fuel I have to really guess on this since I stopped keeping my fuel log after the first year.
Life time average fuel economy was about 29 mpg
Always put premium in it so we will say $2.50 a gallon
28,000 miles divided by 29 equals 965.5 gallons times $2.50 equals $2413.75 for fuel.
so add it up.
$10,753.75
About 38 cents a mile which seems a little higher then I thought it would be. I know my insurance throws it up a little bit as I was under 24 and male most of the time I owned the car.
I am still male by the way incase you were wondering.
I graduated college the year before and spent the whole year paying off all my debts but my student loans. With the interest rate at juat over 2% and interest I paid was tax detuctible I was not really worried about that
I am just over half the age of the rest of our sales staff.
As an owner of a 2006 LR3 HSE... (48 yo), I hope younger folks are buying as I'm not ready for the Big Fleetwood with small mirrors and curb feelers just yet.
mark156
*perhaps I'm just a ramblin' old fool on this Friday afternoon*
Hoping to see $8k for the Dodge (trade value is $12,500, but we all know how that goes) and spend no more than $18k on whatever used truck he picks. Since the Dodge is paid off we shouldn't have to finance more than $10k tops.
Looked at a truck last night, 2000 F-350 XL CC 4x4 longbed with 83k on it, drove really nice, seemed fine. Dealer is asking $17,995, but after sending my little brother over to look it over it was a pass. Its been painted and the rear main is out. Ah well, there are tons of those trucks out there to look at. We aren't in a hurry, but sometime in the next 3 weeks maybe we'll find something. In the meantime the Dodge isn't going out very much and the Titan is going logging all the time now.
I guess I am doing alright I am going to be closing on my first house at the end of the month.
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What?? I've learned that ordering a vehicle is tough, I ordered that truck April 6th I think and won't get it until the first week of July. It's driven me nuts waiting!
Then there's the other side of it, I'm still driving the Titan and between the time the new truck was ordered and now the windshield has been shattered (not just broken) and its gained 3k more miles. Zippy on the other hand hasn't left the yard in weeks.
If you guys saw my Titan right now you would all be stunned, its a dirty nasty mess inside and out. We have been using it to go logging, not easy on the truck at all, but with 4 of us going there aren't many choices.
You'll get it coming and going when you turn in or pay off this Titan... think of it as a day of reckoning... keep the Dodge and if you need four people along, take the Sebing along... You will have that Titan down to an ACV of eight thousand bucks if you keep this up...
Opinionatedly yours,
-Mathias
We know what we need.......a USED base model crew cab diesel long bed 1-ton 4x4, that will solve both fuel issues and people carrying issues.
I do agree that using the Titan for logging is silly and don't plan on doing that much more than another 3 weeks or so. Its not hurting it, just making it very dirty and setting up an all day detail marathon for me.
In addition to, we will trade the Focus and the Titan on the new Dodge and then trade our old Dodge on a used ($18k or so) truck to take out logging. We have to have 2 4x4s, otherwise I wouldn't buy the new truck most likely. We will still end up with less car payments and less going out every month, plus we can pay the used truck off by fall time.
Sounds like to me that you definitely need a 4x4 for the roads that you are using. I just hope that the new truck and the cost of fire wood are worth the effort.
mark156
Its a year round thing, we usually have 3-4 weeks of downtime in the spring while waiting for the road to dry up. Other than that its a go go go thing, we haven't slowed down in weeks.
We just got back home (again) had to go move equipment out of harms way, there is a wildfire closing in and forestry told us to move our stuff.
Last year between logging and firewood we made just shy of $40k, none to shabby me thinks.
The new truck you are buying will be about $40,000, right? That's about $800 per month at 6.9% interest. That's $10,000 per year before insurance is deducted. If insurance is $200 per month you are down another $2400. That leaves $27,000. Both of you put time into the logging business so that's $13,500 per person. Doesn't sound worth it to me.
The used crew cab we are buying is 100% for the business, that's all its used for. Thus the reason we are looking at trucks for $18k or less.......much like the Dodge was 3 years ago. The firewood/logging is more a side thing for fun and mad money, its certainly not our sole source of income. Hubby is a career firefighter.
Even buying the new truck and a used truck will still lessen our monthly outgo dramatically. Logging/firewood has its moments, we have had bad times, but so far things are good this year. We have learned not to rely on this income though, so hubby's career income will pay for the trucks and everything else we need.
So far the fire has burned 40,000 acres and isn't slowing down. All this because someone was careless with a burn barrel.
Yeah? What's your point?
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Did some idle shopping today, drove the new Rabbit, liked it a lot. Just for kicks I sat down with the guy to do some numbers, and he offered me $2500 for my Echo. :-(
It is retailing around $9000 right now, and everything that saves gas seems to be selling quickly and easily.
I hadn't expected a ton, but the usual websites say around $5000. Next, the salesman tried to sell me on payments, yick. I got the heck out of there, but before I did I glanced at his sheet, and he had an ADMU of $3000!!! This, at a dealership with ONE SALESMAN, ONE F&I GUY, AND ONE SALES MANAGER. And NOBODY on the lot. That place was dead, dead, dead.
Yeah, right!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I'd rather buy a car called a Golf than a car called a Rabbit. VW may find out that I am not alone, time will tell. Of course it might be that they are changing the name so that they can justify charging much less for the same car.
Take an empty 55-gallon oil drum, pop the top off, and burn your trash in it. I imagine the practice has been outlawed in California for several decades now.
I don't think that a new name is going to help the Golf all by itself.
Now this car stickered at $18,8, and I would be perfectly happy paying about $18K for it - I like the design, the drive is good, the power is fantastic, and it had enough airbags to launch the Queen Mary (including rear side bags).
Thing is, if I were going to settle for fuel economy this low, I might prefer to stick with the known (vs the unknown of VW) and get another Subaru Impreza. Power and price are very similar. The Subie is more rough around the edges, but I like the subwoofer in the SE stereo system, and the AWD instead of FWD. That's a great dirt road car.
And of course, then there is the Mazda3 hatch in the GT trim. Which I could get for a little less than either of the others, and would have the same power and slightly better fuel economy. Heck, there are too many choices. :-/
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Or keep the Titan--it seems to be working now (?) Also, I remember Terry's reply to akangl on the subject of buying this $40K truck.....not encouraging.....
*You'll get it coming and going when you turn in or pay off this Titan... *
Or keep the Titan--it seems to be working now (?)
I think what we have figured out will work, best case for the Dodge is to find a truck we can trade straight across with some cash on the side and walk away with a paid off truck. Worst case is we finance $10k and pay it off this fall.
The Titan was working fairly well (except for the front diff problem) until today, now there is a SES light on and I can't figure out why. Will run it by the parts store on Friday to have them read the code (I tried but the truck is giving me conflicting blinks, lol), then decide from there what I'm going to do to fix it. For the most part its out of warranty, has about 5k left on the powertrain warranty but that's it.
We decided after today the Titan won't run the logging road anymore, kids will just have to hang with a babysitter so we can take the Dodge.
Tomorrow me and the Titan have an all day detail session planned, maybe I should take before and after pics of the interior, lol.
I think that some of us may be too involved in the plight of the Alaska trucks. Akang, it sounds like you've thought it through, so do what makes you happy.
at idle than actual driving down the road...........
aka: "slope rigs"
Jolie: My bud has NO fix for your titan..........
Now if it was a GM or toyota !..............sorry :sick:
There are so many good reliable cars out there Subies, Hondas, heck I'd buy a used bmw 3 or 5 series in a heartbeat before a VW.......
gsemike: ADMU = added dealer mark-up.
BTW, I have NEVER been to that VW dealer before, was just happening by and saw they had new Rabbits in stock. I will from now on actively steer friends away from that dealership.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The payments will be the same as they are for the Titan......$650/mo. We are putting a large down payment and rolling no negative equity. I did price some used ones and anything that had less than 30k on it was priced at $38kish, concidering the price we are getting the new one for its not that big of a difference, new one is $41,500 OTD. Plus you can't put an exhaust brake on an 05 or older automatic, only 06 and up Cummins/Auto.
In Alaska its hard to find a used rig that isn't A. a sloper or ex-rental, B. had body work, C. a smoker's rig (big no no with my asthma and little one's CF), or D. not trashed. Plus its hard to find a used Cummins with less than 100k on it, I think I found 2 when I was looking, one was an 03 with major bodywork, a smoker, 66k miles for $26k and the other was an 05 priced at $38k.
So, we'll go new on that one, but its going to be with us for many moons. Now the truck that we get to replace the Dodge is a little different, its a work truck, not our family vehicle. We will drag little brother along to find a good one, he's already looked at over 27 trucks for us (we didn't go along, he's looking in his spare time) and found 1 that was decent.
I learn more stuff that I never knew I needed from reading your posts.
I guess that a sloper is an ex-logging truck,but what is an exaust brake?
It is also called a Jake Brake and you can hear them when big Semi trucks slow down.
Sounds like the thing is backfiring over and over again but that ist he jake or exhaust brake working.
A sloper is a truck that was used on the North Slope, VERY hard life, LOTS of idle time. Trucks appear low mileage but have TONS of engine hours. Not to mention the haul road is not a nice place for a truck.......we used to go up it to go caribou hunting. Its mostly rough gravel, nasty dirt, just not a fun place.