Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

crkyolfrt

Too bad you left the Camry behind..all those hail divots mighta rendered some record mpg figures, haha. Should I assume you know what I mean? ...divots on a golf ball..less wind resistance..I know, I know, a little weak....it's been a long day :shades:

mark156

We received an invitation to see a selection of Bentley's, Maserati's and Rolls Royce automobiles that were brought to a local restaurant in our town. The salesman was very nice and I really liked the RR Ghost. The extended version would be nicer with an extra 7 inches. I like the 'suicide' doors with the auto-close feature.

They didn't have a Bentley Muslanne (pronounced [two syllable] 'Mul-sahn') which is what I wanted to see. We'll have to go to the dealership 200 miles away to get a real feel of the cars offered. The 2014's can be ordered in about a month and will take six months to build.

Mark156

corvette

"Too bad you left the Camry behind..all those hail divots mighta rendered some record mpg figures, haha."

Ooh, I remember Mythbusters testing that one, but don't recall the result!

breld

Yeah - I tried for awhile to figure out the steering wheel adjustment. Definitely wasn't power, and unless I was doing something wrong, it didn't telescope.

May be part of an option/package upgrade - this one also doesn't have a sunroof.

Maybe it's just relative to my 3, but the Genesis does seem to ride nicely, soaking up bumps well. Perhaps they did adjust the suspension on more recent models.

For the same (actually lower) rate as the Mazda5 Hertz offered, I'm digging this Hyundai.

qbrozen

Well, I am breathing a small sigh of relief this morn.

When I got home last night, I checked the wife's van again for coolant situation. It lost some again. Hmmm... not good. So I decided to drive it to work today. Drove perfect, real strong, this can't be a head gasket. Then I'm thinking ... ya know, wife has complained that climate control is acting funky for a while now ... heater core! No leaking inside the cabin, but when I got to work, I got down on the ground and checked the rear of the firewall. Sure enough, we've got a leak. pretty bad one, too. So I popped the hood and looked back there and I believe it is one hose. They have a strange setup where it is a hard line from the thermostat housing that then switches to a soft line for about 2 feet and then back to a hard line. It is leaking at the union. Why this silly mix of materials? No idea.

SO, hopefully this is the answer and it really is this simple and it fixes 2 complaints.

Meanwhile, she was looking at used Cayennes. :surprise:

ateixeira

When they used clay and put golf-ball-like dimples on the car, it was more fuel efficient! So it actually worked! Funny.

They put the clay in the trunk for the control, so weight would be the same.



URL if you can't see the embedded image:
http://www.imcdb.org/i186858.jpg

ateixeira

the Genesis does seem to ride nicely, soaking up bumps well. Perhaps they did adjust the suspension on more recent models

They did, I think when the 3.8l was upgraded with DI. MY2012 IIRC? 333hp, 29mpg highway, 8EAT...not bad. That's when they got my attention, and I'm not even a sedan person.

Of course every car makes that claim, "improved ride and handling". It's usually one at the cost of the other.

stickguy

Oh yeah, a used Porsche should cure all your reliability and maintenance issues.

I do like the way she thinks though.

However, speaking from experience, when you have multiple younger kids (and their friends, and their activities, and endless amounts of crap) once you get hooked on the Minivan, you won't want to go back until they get older and drive themselves!

stickguy

got the TL to the dealer, and as expected it is the window regulator. Had to order the part, and hopefully it will be in and fixed tomorrow since the Kid needs the car Friday.

and I will be another $400 poorer, for something that I will never get $1 back on a resale.

thought about just having them jam it shut, but I doubt the dealer would be interested in doing that. Plus would still pay the labor.

this car better make it to the end of May (graduation) without costing me more money. if it breaks after that, Junior can get a job and buy a new one. or walk.

ateixeira

That's not much when you think about it. Maintenance can cost more.

michaellno

got the TL to the dealer, and as expected it is the window regulator. Had to order the part, and hopefully it will be in and fixed tomorrow since the Kid needs the car Friday.

and I will be another $400 poorer, for something that I will never get $1 back on a resale.

So, all this talk of Acura maintenance makes me think that a used German car might be the better route to go!

Ha!

ateixeira

Dunno, I priced out an X1 yesterday (not shopping, just curious) and though they include 4 years' free maintenance, an extra 2 years can be purchased as an option.

The cost was over $2 grand! :surprise:

kyfdx

The extended maintenance plan gets you 6yr/100K, instead of 4yr/50K.. If you drive 12K/yr, its not a very good deal, but if you drive 17K/yr, you get an extra 50K miles of maintenance... which makes it a little more cost effective...

michaellno

The extended maintenance plan gets you 6yr/100K, instead of 4yr/50K.. If you drive 12K/yr, its not a very good deal, but if you drive 17K/yr, you get an extra 50K miles of maintenance... which makes it a little more cost effective...

Gee, since I've been averaging about 18K/yr with the pizza delivery, perhaps I can talk the spouse into an X1 xDrive!

ateixeira

I guess at that pace you'd hit 40k well before the 4 years was up.

I have 2 cars so no way for me. I average about 10k/year on the minivan and 6k/year on the Miata. The van does all the trips so the miles pile up quicker.

Of course, say I got one vehicle to replace both of those, then I'd really be piling up the miles, and I guess I would consider the 100k maintenance plan.

stickguy

I am pretty sure that a 14 YO 170K BMW can have it's share of issues, including busted window regulators.

at least (knock wood) the Acura has not been mechanically needed. Other than the standard plugs/T-belt/coolant at around 105K, I think just oil changes other than the alternator it needed in the winter. again, not sure you get that out of a BMW! Though I did change all the fluids again 1-2 years ago just to be safe.

considering I paid 2K for it 4.5 years ago, I think we are getting our moneys worth (and I could probably sell it for more now than I paid for it).

stickguy

same for us. We normally do 10K on the family car. Will probably be 12K now, since we had some extra travel for college looking, and now that we are essentially a 1-car family, more local.

Yes, I have a car, but that is only used when I am by myself and the good one is not available. We used to take my car most of the time locally instead of the van, but the combo of me going to a toy, and the wife upgrading to the new luxo mobile, shifted that balance.

michaellno

Which would I choose - the 170K Acura or 170K BMW? Probably the Acura.

the combo of me going to a toy, and the wife upgrading to the new luxo mobile, shifted that balance.

We pretty much use the wife's CX-7 for everything. She doesn't like riding around in the pizza-mobile.

qbrozen

Which would I choose - the 170K Acura or 170K BMW? Probably the Acura.

Not with the automatic trans, I wouldn't.

ateixeira

If you want the 3 series, though, wouldn't you get the manual? Isn't that sort of the whole point?

Sandman6472

And we use the Mazda as she likes to do most of the driving...and now that I drive all the time, I have no problem with this! She picked up a screw yesterday which flattened the tire at my kids place. She calls me at work and since we're both in downtown Lauderdale, meet at the end of the day to have it patched and then have the best New Orleans wings outside of there...outstanding! Luckily I always get the road hazard from Tires Plus so it was a free patch job and hopefully it was done right...will watch that tire closely. She has agreed to swap for the Accent once my daughter ends the semester and park the Mazda down there for a week or two. Hoping that with enough time behind the wheel, she'll decide to look at the Elantra as her next vehicle as I think it's the perfect d d for her...and I'd love one in the garage! The GT model is really sweet to!

The Sandman

ateixeira

My dad's new 200 convertible did the same thing, but wasn't flat! I just noticed a polished screw head and showed him, told him to make sure he gets it removed and patched ASAP.

I should remind him, come to think of it.

Sandman6472

I love the Chrysler 200, and Dodge Avenger...really sweet, smooth vehicles with gobs of power. Whenever we do a run, I always look for a 200 with the alloys though the smaller tired vehicle is just as smooth but I prefer the power seat. These vehicles are real sleepers and unfortunately can not compete with the other mid sizers out there but they are a heck of a bargain for all that one gets! Great vehicles!!!

The Sandman

ateixeira

I haven't ridden enough miles to judge, but the Pentastar V6 sure is a huge improvement over previous engines. I've rented several Chrysler convertibles in the past.

Sandman6472

Where'd they go? And the other stuff...where'd they go? Seriously, Edmunds, y'all need to change the format here to something that pops...right now it's a real yawner here...very bland and dull. This site needs to pop with vibrant colors and graphics...I know y'all have a great tech team so how bout it folks...let's make Edmunds here a really visually great site! The time has come folks...seriously!

The Sandman

ateixeira

They work if you do it manually -

qbrozen

well, of course. But the older TLs were all autos, weren't they?

corvette

If they'd get rid of the goofy Facebook sharing option, it'd be perfect (and yes, I told them this on the survey)! Even worse, I've tried to block the Facebook sharing option using my ad blocker, and it keeps coming back! :mad:

ateixeira

I guess I paid attention to the TL-S manual models. I think you could even get AWD that way. That was my pick, and the only TL I really paid any attention to.

fintail

Manual AWD TL? Never seen one of those. The normal manual couldn't have been more than 10% production by itself, maybe even 5%.

ateixeira

Just did a quick search on Cars.com and found 13 manual TLs for sale, 6 of them with AWD.

Like I said, those are the only ones I'd care about. I'd want AWD to curb the torque steer. I bet those would be pretty fun.

Last time I drove a TL was in 2000, though, at Edmunds Live, ironically. I was going quick enough around the cones that they asked me to slow down.

It was easy to drive that car fast, put it that way.

fintail

Oh, the current (ugly) style. Somehow I was thinking only 04-08 style cars, before they became a mess.

AWD would be helpful for sure, and a Honda manual tends to be easy to drive. Shame about the aesthetics.

stickguy

The TL now is repaired. Kid reports that the RR window is now 2x faster than the other ones. I told him not to use the other 3, just in case.

Sandman6472

Bummer, no work today. Summer is kicking in with the heat & less work so the Sandman is not a happy camper! Hoping to at least get to work at least 3 days/week as I am getting a bit bored here at home and I want to drive something, somewhere!

The Sandman

tifighter

I'm in Zurich again. A friend of mine here just bought one of these in the Edition 25:

http://www.volkswagen-nutzfahrzeuge.ch/de/models/multivan/edition_25.html

Spent some time with it yesterday afternoon. TDI motor with a 7sp DSG, and it moves pretty well for such a big box. Interior is quite nice as well; we got 6 adults in no problem. It takes 6 months to order a car here unless you actually happen to like the demo the dealer has, but most dealers only have 1 or 2 demos per model; no other inventory. And financing is basically unheard of...the Swiss pay in cash. This van stickers for about CHF 60000, which is about $64k.

ateixeira

I found 7 pre-beak TLs with a manual, too. And I'm only looking at a 30 mile radius.

For the newer ones just wear a blindfold until you're inside.

They've toned the beak down a bit recently.

ateixeira

Once vacation season kicks in, I bet you'll be busy every day. School lets out in mid June.

Since you're basically retired, you should zig while others zag. That is, vacation when everyone else is working (it's cheaper), and work while others are on vacation (less traffic).

Congress is in session and traffic was MISERABLE this week here in DC. Awful. Next week they have a recess so it shouldn't be so bad.

ateixeira

All you need is a bow and it's gift-wrapped.

I really wish VW would have produced this concept:

http://www.motortrend.com/auto_news/112_0107_volkswagen_microbus/viewall.html

Instead we get the Routan.

michaellno

Once vacation season kicks in, I bet you'll be busy every day. School lets out in mid June.

I was under the impression that the peak season for tourism in Florida are the winter months.

Too hot and humid to visit in the summer.

But, hope that Sandy is able to stay busy.

Sandman6472

Just texted boss about the possibility of work today...I'm ready to go as we speak and tired of sittin' in the house. Just wish I had a set schedule so I could plan stuff...would be a bit easier but it is what it is! Maybe later or tomorrow.

The Bored Sandman

imidazol97

>Awful. Next week they have a recess so it shouldn't be so bad.

Too bad we can't keep them on vacation most of the year. The country would be better off with less government from DC. :grin

ateixeira

We went in July 2011 (my crazy brother, don't ask) and the parks were crowded. The Harry Potter ride at Universal had a 1:15 wait on a rainy day!

It's like Yogi Berra said, "Nobody goes there any more. It's too crowded!"

FWIW I went in January a few years before that for my dad's 70th birthday and lines were much shorter.

ateixeira

They worked 126 days last year, what a grueling schedule!

They already have 239 days off, what's another 126?

fintail

But none AWD, right? Or was that generation even available in AWD? My memory is failing.

The beak is only one of the design issues on the current model. Bet it sells a lot slower than the 04-08.

ateixeira

Had to search again ... AWD is on the 2010-2012 models, not the earlier ones.

So yeah, you're stuck with the beak.

OTOH I've seen several aftermarket grilles that look much better than stock. Unless the car is silver I'd consider that mandatory.

stever

Luckily they've killed the Routan. Kills me every time I see a pic of that Microbus concept. Would enjoy seeing them around even if I didn't wind up buying one.

[Deleted User]

On the upper right hand corner of the ad it says:

"konfigurator". Next to it is :

"probefahrt". I don't think I want a 'probefahrt". LOL.

Car and Driver pictured it's German language edition a few years back that said "Der Fahrtwind es rot!" on the cover. Rot indeed.

qbrozen

for the kinda miles we are talking about, I was assuming pre-'04, too (which is what I meant by "older"). And, unless I'm mistaken, that gen was all automatic ... and a faulty automatic at that, which is why I mentioned it for a reliability comparison.

crkyolfrt

Not a single mention of a diesel option. I saw your TDI comment, and can only assume the '25' maybe means it is a 2.5 litre four? I even searched links trying to get a clue, but German is far far far from my strong suit. I did see 4Motion ª though..

My comments here mighta been due to either this post or the one with the MotorTrend link. Either way, it was in English, but again said a 3.6? engine but with the hp/torq figures it was clear it was a gas job...and no mention of a diesel option. Now THAT one surely would sell great over here...but cover the bases...offer a diesel ...with AWD... and don't make me get a freakin' sunroof to do it..

abacomike

Just got home after taking deliver of my 2014 Mercedes E350 Sport Sedan.