Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stever

Any chance you are heading to NM? We're taking off for a month but will be staying at our Eagle River friends' off-grid house near Taos for ~2 weeks so won't be doing near the miles you are. Like 10,000 less, lol.

I always debate about taking the car title in case the van dies, but we have a great house "watcher" here who can FedEx it to us if need be. :shades:

stickguy

When I have old junky cars, I keep the title in the glove box at all times. Just in case.

though I should probably do that with the newer cars too. Still just in case...

stever

Yeah, but if someone steals the car, a "blank" title would make it easier to flip it. Maybe I should lien my old van up. :shades:

Heh, forgot where I was - of course all of y'all keep your titles handy.

jayrider

You really don't need the title to trade your van to a dealer. They can wait for it. If you have good credit dealing is easy.

michaellno

When we last visited the michaell clan, the stepson and DIL had moved into the house with mom and dad. Stepdaughter is also living at home, so the house is a bit crowded with 5 adults and only 3 bedrooms. Plus dad works from home and mom is working on her master's degree when she isn't putting in 40+ hours a week at her job.

As previously noted, there are only 4 cars for 5 drivers. We thought we solved this problem by buying the stepson a bicycle so he could commute to/from work (when he got work, that is).

Well, the kid has a job opportunity ... to deliver pizzas at the same place dad does. The bicycle isn't really suited for that job. :sick:

Mom and dad have talked and it's possible that we'll need to acquire another car. Mom isn't keen about used cars, in any shape or form, so we're back to looking at new.

Two trains of thought:

1) Truck. Found a Tacoma base std cab 4WD being offered for $22,xxx. Auto, air, USB/Aux and that's about it.
2) Small car. Sonic or Cruze, since I've got GM points to use. Lots of inventory in the $17-19K range, before discounts and negotiations.

Then --- buy or lease? The new car would probably be driven by the DIL, so could get away with a 12K lease; this would leave their Caliber for the stepson and pizza duty.

Would probably purchase/lease the car in our name and figure out a plan to have the kids help with the payment and insurance.

We shall see.

qbrozen

Not 8' long, no. My extended cab had a 6.5' bed, which was long for a compact at the time.

qbrozen

the Dakoto 4X4 is way way overpriced

Not according to Manheim data.
Maybe it is because you are looking up Dakoto rather than Dakota. :P

stever

You really don't need the title to trade your van to a dealer. They can wait for it.

A dealer wouldn't pay much though. You think I may have trouble selling a busted van 1,000 miles from home on craigslist?

Mr_Shiftright

Really? That much money for a 2007 Dakota ST 4X4 with V-6 and club cab?

Well okay then, but given the depreciation history, I wouldn't pay that for it.

I'd offer maybe $12K.

xwesx

No, we won't be going that far south. This will be a semi-standard loop for us: Fairbanks to Montreal, then down to Pennsylvania, over to Oregon, and then pretty much straight back north. We'll hopefully be able to slow down enough to see a few things here and there. My wife has planned the whole thing out, including, I think, even making reservations at many of the various campgrounds along the way!

She had initially said she wanted us to take the Raspberry, but, seriously.... I like my family, and I want to still like them by the time we make it home! For a trip like this, our Forester will feel pretty small before too long.

stever

There's a chance we'll head home in early September by way of the Badlands so keep us posted. Your wife is like mine - planning is much of the fun for her. We're going more by ear than usual this trip though and we're going to try to slow down a bit and get back to those 300 mile days with lots of layovers that we used to do.

xwesx

and get back to those 300 mile days with lots of layovers that we used to do.

Hahaha; I'm not sure I'll ever get down to 300 miles/day! A decade ago, I would run 1,000 mile days. When my wife would say, "Wow - Let's stop and take a photo," I'd promptly roll the window down for her. See? I'm considerate that way! :P

But, since we've had the little ones, we tend to only put 8-9 hours of driving in per day, which puts us at about 500 miles.

We're supposed to be in the Badlands area probably around the 12th of September. She has something on the schedule for there - At least, I seem to recall seeing something. I'll have a computer and internet connection with me on this trip, so should be able to keep in touch.

Now, it's just a matter of keeping the bugs away.

stever

All bets will be off with us if one of our oldsters gets sick (and I'm not talking about the van. ). At least we could bomb home in a couple of days from most anywhere we're going, unlike y'all.

xwesx

We could "bomb" home in about 4, anyway! Of course, we'd probably have to strap the kids to the bumper to stay sane, but I don't carry the cargo tray for nothing! :P

qbrozen

only 22k miles, though. $12k would buy you one with 50k on it.

Mr_Shiftright

But I'm not paying $3,000 for 28,000 miles advantage on a truck that will plunge in value the following year. I mean, this isn't a Ferrari, who cares if it's 22,000 miles or 50,000 miles? It's out of warranty anyway.

xwesx

I completely agree, there! Miles make a difference, but 30K is not really significant. Yes, it looks like a big difference simply because 25K is 50% of 50K, but the difference in wear and tear, etc., many times wouldn't even be apparent between the vehicles. I wouldn't be willing to pay a premium for the lower miles alone.

jayrider

The truck may be overpriced for folks with trade-ins. Most dealers have a few of those on the lot to help inflate trades and make a deal.

corvette

DC traffic is awful, but it seemed to move better compared to, say, Austin, TX (which was the worst traffic I've ever driven in). I would not want to live either place!

corvette

Wow, that sounds like an awesome trip! I drove to Montreal in 2008 and really enjoyed it. Since foreign languages are very difficult for me, I was pleasantly surprised to find that most people within the city speak English (out in rural Quebec, French is the norm).

corvette

"The truck may be overpriced for folks with trade-ins. Most dealers have a few of those on the lot to help inflate trades and make a deal."

Either that, or they overallowed on it as a trade-in, and are now seeking to recoup that from the next sucker buyer.

michaellno

Since foreign languages are very difficult for me, I was pleasantly surprised to find that most people within the city speak English (out in rural Quebec, French is the norm).

When I was traveling for work, I had a couple of one week trips to Trois Riviere (a couple hours east of Montreal). I had a roomful of students, only a couple of which spoke passable English. My French is non-existent, so there was a lot of translation as I taught the class. Quite amusing.

Meals out were an adventure as well - lots of pointing at the menu, and broken French from me kept me from being hungry.

qbrozen

I would. I break it down like this: 28k miles is about 2 years of driving. Let's assume real transaction price is $2500 difference. That's only $1250 more per extra year of ownership. That's pretty damned cheap, IMHO.

To put it another way, on most late-model cars, it is typically a $2k-$2500 bump to get one that is just 1 year newer with 1 year less miles.

And, yet another way... you finance the 50k mile car for 3 years at $350/mo. At the end of the loan term, you have a vehicle with 95k miles and only a few months before crossing that magical 100k barrier. Finance the 22k mile car for 44 months at $350/mo. You've paid 8 more months but it still only has 77k on it now and about 1.5 years of driving before it "turns over."

Mr_Shiftright

But it wont' be $1250 I betcha, because you are in the bind of paying for a premium item (low miles) that you will start evaporating as soon as you hop in it.

coupled to steep depreciation, this $14,750 truck will be a $10,000 truck after you've put 20,000 miles on it.

roadburner

Nice!!!

Mr_Shiftright

Should be a fun car to drive!

qbrozen

Well, my numbers are based on someone driving it for quite some time, of course. Like to 100k miles, for example. If the goal is to drive it, let's say, 2 years at 8k per year, then, yes, you are probably better off with the cheaper, higher mileage vehicle.

Mr_Shiftright

Well sure it's a coin flip for most of us--I personally don't think that "low miles" is worth very much on a modern car or truck. It's more about how well it was taken care of.

stickguy

got back from our annual week at the jersey shore, and the RDX was way overdue for a cleaning. Looking quite shabby. So since it was abnormally cool and overcast, it got a wash, clay and wax. A lot of works, but it is now shiny, smooth and looking like new.

the Volvo got waxed in the spring sometime, so that is good until the fall when it gets its pre-winter wax job.

akangl

And punch my card. Chippy has left the stable. Reality sucks sometimes, but the old girl was costing me a fortune to drive and starting to have issues related to all the short trips I've been forcing on her.

I'm sad, I really did like the truck, but at 14 mpg and $4.129/gal for fuel it just didn't make sense. Not to mention we have nothing to tow and really didn't need a 3/4 ton diesel.

At least the new car will fit in the garage easily and is much more pleasant to drive.

It came down to the BMW X5 and oddly enough the 2014 Ford Explorer. The BMW was nice but the deal breaker was uncomfortable leather seats. The Explorer just felt right.

So Chippy has been replaced by a ruby red 2014 Ford Explorer Limited.

nyccarguy

You gave it a good run, but old habits die hard as they say;). I'm sure you got good money for Chippy & will be happy (for now) with your new Explorer! Mazel-Tov & Congratulations! All kidding aside, my sister & her husband have a 2012 Explorer & they love it!

akangl

You gave it a good run, but old habits die hard as they say;). I'm sure you got good money for Chippy & will be happy (for now) with your new Explorer! Mazel-Tov & Congratulations! All kidding aside, my sister & her husband have a 2012 Explorer & they love it!

Life changes, needs change, reality sets in, just how it goes I guess. Hard to justify driving something so expensive to feed and only be using it as a car. Trip home the explorer averaged 21 mpg at 74 mph, Chippy would have been around 16 mpg.

Btw, adaptive cruise control is the coolest thing ever, I might actually use cruise now and maybe avoid some tickets! :P

stever

~11 days early, but happy birthday anyway. :-)

I think I'd like that adaptive cruise too. Congrats!

tommister2

That is a beautiful color. I hope the Explorer treats you well. Congrats!

Sandman6472

We had one of these as our chase vehicle last Wednesday, red over gray...very sweet vehicle! Didn't get to actually drive it, but the seats were quite comfortable front and back. Ours had the 3rd row of seats though I didn't even try to get back there. A very sharp vehicle just the same and probably the nicest looking in this segment, a bit nicer than the Highlander! Enjoy. Gotta give it to Ford, they are producing nice looking vehicles that are pretty comfortable...all the Foci that I've driven have been very nice, even the Fiesta is quite good compared to it's competition.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

roadburner

Congrats- even though you didn't buy the Bimmer...

roadburner

1972 Jensen Interceptor MK III

A Brit GT that came from the factory fitted with a 440 Chrysler V8 and a 727 TorqueFlite automatic. A bit of the Aston Martin vibe without the stratospheric price.

tifighter

Congrats Jolie. Maybe this will give you some of the vibe you miss from the Pilot you had.

corvette

Congratulations on the punch! I like the ruby red color, as well.

My crystal ball (for predicting your next vehicle purchase) is a little hazy... Did you find a vehicle for your daughter yet?

isellhondas

Shifty, I agree with you but most shoppers concentrate on the odometer reading more than ANYTHING else!

They use that as the sole judge of a car's condition.

How wrong we know they are!

isellhondas

I've been gone so long I don't even know who "Chippy" is or was.

Is there any more room on your card for another punch?

Congrats! Those are nice cars!

stickguy

not my cup of tea, as the Brits say, but if you want one, that looks about as nice as they come.

really wonder what the reserve is?

stickguy

Chippy was the big Chevy diesel PU (a 2500?) that a couple of weeks ago was staying with the family forever.

corvette

"...forever..."

LOL. We all know there's no such thing, here in CCBA land! :shades:

stickguy

have to take the S40 in for an oil change on Tuesday, so I will have a little time to browse. Swung through last week, and they have some S60 service loaners at a pretty hefty discount. Will take one for a drive to see how it drives (love sitting in one) and if the deal is too damned good to pass up, I might throw common sense to the wind and pull the trigger.

and if not, at least I get a test drive out of it!

nyccarguy

Jolie - That ruby red is a sensational color. My Father In Law has a 2013 Escape in that color. Gorgeous & very easy to maintain. Ford is definitely doing something right. My In Laws who swore off domestics many moons ago now have a 2013 Escape & a 2012 Flex. They each life their cars!

isellhondas

Ah...I see.

Funny how "needs" and "wants" can change so quickly!

akangl

That ruby red is a sensational color

Originally I wanted the dark grey, but they had very limited pickings, so it was either a silver Limited, a black XLT, or the red Limited. I love the red, its a much deeper and more beautiful red than the red candy. Easy to look at them both since hubby's '12 Focus is red candy.

Isell.....Chippy was my '07 GMC Sierra 2500HD Duramax, bought it about a year and a half ago, traded the F-150 for it when it looked like we were leaving state. Bought a big enclosed trailer and the 3/4 ton, fast forward to now, trailer was sold a month ago after we bought our new house and moved. No trailer, no need for a 3/4 ton truck. Honestly I would have loved to have kept it, very nice truck and I really enjoyed it. It was expensive to maintain and drive, hubby wants a truck of his own (older beater style) plus with the baby coming it made no sense to keep Chippy.

The Explorer is a NICE ride, enjoyable to drive, much easier to park and live with on a daily basis. As a bonus it actually fits very well in the garage! I do wish I could have kept Chippy and bought the Explorer, but 1 car payment is plenty for us.

akangl

Car punch will be coming this year, not sure when, just have to find the right older truck. Daughter is sharing the Explorer with me and will probably drive hubby's older truck on occasion.

Now to find an older Ford Ranger or other comparable small pick up.

I think my punch card is going to be full soon!

qbrozen

I really hate ads like this. "Excellent restored condition." ...buuutt, let me list out these exceptions for you. And please don't mind the exterior rust bubbles or rotted out lower rockers.

IMHO, there is no interpretation for "excellent restored condition." It is or it isn't, and this one clearly isn't.