Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

nyccarguy

If, I do find an exceptionally well cared for '07 or '08 TL Type S, I'll make sure that the car which will most likely have somewhere between 60K & 75K miles has had the tranny fluid drained & filled. I'll also make sure to have a mechanic check it out and check out for slipping with my "butt Dyno."

roadburner

But still...2006 M5

jpp75

Sandy, sit down and figure out what you really want. Don't be constrained by your wife, your parents, etc. But also be somewhat fiscally responsible. You've earned what you've earned, decide how YOU want to spend it and go for it.

Buy a C300, Fiat, BMW X3, Focus, Elantra. Who cares, just buy who you like and can afford. There's a balance between being frivolous and prudent, we all have to find it. Find yours and go be happy!

roadburner

CPO 2011 135i M Sport

Michaell

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I might want to "cheap lease" should the kids need to borrow the ION for an extended period of time.

I've spent a lot of time on-line reviewing A-, B- and C- sized cars from various manufacturers. Here's what I've test driven:

Chevy Cruze 1LT
VW Jetta S and SE
Ford Fiesta SE

The Fiesta was test driven tonight. Sort of. Found a 2013 SE with alloys and an automatic (MSRP $19,xxx). Battery was dead; salesman was able to get it jump started. Unfortunately, I was only able to drive it a mile or so as many of the warning lights (parking brake, ABS, etc.) would illuminate every time I accelerated. Salesman played it off as the dead battery causing the issues - I'm not so sure.

This is the second time I've encountered a defect on a test drive. When I drove the Jetta S last Saturday, the right rear window wouldn't stay shut. It seemed like whenever I raised it, it would go to the top and then retract again.

Am I just unlucky, or is this a trend I should be worried about?

Anyway, one thing I've been noticing on my search is that the door heights seem to be lower on new cars than they are in the ION. With the pizza gig, I'm in and out of my car 15-20 times a night. I can egress the ION with no problems; with the Cruze and Fiesta, I'm noticing that I have to duck my head to get in and out.

Up next, on Saturday - Subaru and Scion.

jayrider

Check out the lease on a Prius. Visit a dealer and just get in and out of one. For a sedan, it has one of the easiest to get in and out of. It sits higher than you would expect. Don't know about leases but you can check.

Michaell

I did take a test drive of a Prius C some time back .. perhaps I'll take a look at the "original" Prius as well when I look at the Scion line.

As far as equipment, I'd like PW, PL, A/C, cruise, automatic, USB/Aux ports and Bluetooth.

EDIT: just looked at the Toyota website. Prius lease offer is $299/mo with $0 down, 12k mpy. Prius C is $269/mo with $0 down. Both are for 2013 model year. Cap cost seems to be MSRP for both.

kyfdx

The CAP cost can't be MSRP.. Most lease advertisements don't disclose all of the parameters.. The dealer's discount is usually one of those variables.

ohenryx

I can egress the ION with no problems; with the Cruze and Fiesta, I'm noticing that I have to duck my head to get in and out.

I'm noticing this exact problem more and more. I don't mind ducking my head a little, but with many of the newer cars I have to fold myself in half like a pretzel to get in and out. One of the reasons I like driving a truck (Ford F150 or Chevrolet Silverado), and one of the reasons I really liked the Honda CR-V when I took it for a test drive.

laurasdada

I enjoyed my '05 TL for 6.5 years/85,000 trouble free miles. A really excellent all-around car. Still one of the best Honda designs, imho. One caveat: Was not a stud in the snow. I ended up getting snows on dedicated rims after a couple of struggling rides through the white gold.

nyccarguy

But once you switched to winter tires, it was OK?

Michaell

I'm up in the big city at the moment. Finished up with my doctors appointment early and had some time to kill before meeting my wife for lunch.

Stopped by the Hyundai dealer and looked at the Elantra GT. wow, what a lot of car for the money – even in base trim. Heated seats and mirrors, Bluetooth, alloy wheels and their version of on star. All included in the base price of just over 20 grand.

Had the salesman run the numbers on a lease. Zero down, 36 months with 15,000 miles per year for the low price of only $205 per month plus tax. Only money out of pocket would be my first payment.

This is a hard to deal to pass up. Will talk to my wife about it when we have lunch and see what she says.

nyccarguy

Here's an Eye Catching Red 2007 TL base model with only 45,000 miles on it. It could most definitely handle my daily commute. Although it isn't a Type S, the base model might prove to be a better commuter car.

nyccarguy

This Black Beauty has been meticulously maintained by the dealer where I had my former TSX serviced.

Michaell

Add a punch! Just completed the paperwork on the 2013 hyundai elantra GT. and, like the other two cars in my household, it is silver with a black interior.

nyccarguy

Congratulations & Mazel-Tov on your punch! You know we want details!

roadburner

Congrats! All of our local Hyundai dealers are either sleazy or incompetent- usually both. Which means I won't consider one...

tifighter

Congrats on the GT, I like those.

We've got work to do if we're going to hit my number for the year. Let's go peeps!

Michaell

You know we want details!

Quickest deal I've ever done - just over an hour total.

Only thing that changed from what I quoted earlier was that added a pre-paid maintenance contract to the deal. The dealership (like so many) is just down the street from the wife's office and they offer loaners, so she can drop off the car, get the loaner, go to work, then reverse the process at the end of the day with no money out of pocket.

So, we handed over a check for the first payment ($231.90) and only have 35 left. $1100 in rebates took care of any other money down. 15K miles per year. 5/60 BtB warranty means there won't be any surprise expenses down the road. The only bummer is a $400 disposition fee if we turn the car in and walk away. No biggie.

A very well equipped car for the money. Decent MPG (27/37) and the wife likes the hatchback body style.

The best part? Unless we end up getting the Saturn back from the kids, I can start shopping again in about 30 months. Until then, wife says we don't talk about cars in the house (other than Edmunds' work related stuff, that is).

I'll pick it up tomorrow morning.

First order of business is to look into seat covers front and rear. Already comes with both carpeted and all weather mats.

One cool feature is the switchable steering feel - can jump between Normal, Comfort and Sport. Tried it out on the test drive and Sport provides lots of feedback, while Comfort allows you to turn the wheel with your pinkie.

stever

Sweet - and the monthly vig is less than some people's phone bill.

Michaell

We've got work to do if we're going to hit my number for the year. Let's go peeps!

Hey, I wasn't planning a punch this year, so consider mine a bonus!

Michaell

Sweet - and the monthly vig is less than some people's phone bill.

Uh, not to pick nits or anything, but isn't the vig the interest?

The "rent charge" on my contract works out to less than a sawbuck each month.

The total payment, however, is about equal to what I pay for cable, phone and internet service each month.

stever

Yeah yeah, but I like using it as another way of saying your monthly nut. Forgot about cable bills. For that money I'd much rather have the car.:)

gouldn

Wow $231 for a decent car all-in ... no down! I assume that includes the sales tax? My (two) iphones + cable internet bill is about the same. Ugh!

Michaell

Yep the $231 includes the 7.9% sales tax.

oldfarmer50

"...$205 a month..."

Boy that's hard to argue against.

oldfarmer50

"...a better commuter car..."

True. I've drive the moonscape of the city and a taught suspension might be tiring after a while.

oldfarmer50

"...completed the paperwork..."

As I said, hard to argue against.

corvette

Done! You're the first purchase for November. Congrats on the new ride, those look really nice!

oldfarmer50

"...if we're going to hit my number..."

Did you count my Lincoln purchase in September? I know that I'm in and out of this board but a car is a car, isn't it?

corvette

"Forgot about cable bills."

I have you beat--no cable bill here. I get all the entertainment I need here on Edmunds. :P

(Well, that and all the free videos that are available on the web...)

corvette

"09/28/13 oldfarmer 1995 Lincoln Mark VIII 67k"

Yep, that's one of the 26 so far this year.

stever

No TV but I do pay almost $100 a month for a landline and "fast" DSL. And $3 a month for Skype calls to landlines. And $10 every 3 months for minutes on an occasional use cell. And $30 a month two or three times a year when we travel and turn the iPad into a hotspot. Costs a lot to stay connected.

The house is paid for so there really are no "regular" payments. Although the van is starting to see the mechanic often enough that maybe I should start contributing to the shop every month and build up a slush fund, lol.

jayrider

Nicely done !!!

[Deleted User]

Congrats on the new ride!!! Do you deliver to Parker

Sandman6472

Did the same thing here, paid the house off way before retirement so all we have is the overhead. No car payments also help the bottom line. That's the only reason I am even thinking about a toy right now cause I can afford it no problem! After all those years of hard work and frugal living, I want to enjoy myself a little right now though it would mean leaving one vehicle outside which is not something I like to do. Plan to go test drive this puppy tomorrow or the day after just to see what I can do...I mean how many folks could be looking for 2005 BMW drop top right now! Really hoping it has been sold so that would make all this talk moot!!!

The Sandman

Sandman6472

Switched crews at work due to my boss's reluctance to even discuss the problems I was having...basically told me leave if I was unhappy...so I did! Am happy about that so we'll see what happens. Finally got to drive the Buick Verano today and loved it...a very nice driving machine with that bit of lux I am looking for! Couldn't tell that it and the Cruze it was parked next to were even related, so much more car for the money. I am very pleased and know the Mrs. will absolutely love it. Then drove a couple of Jetta SE's and thought VW did a great job though a bit stark in the interior. Even though i hate light interiors, the black was just too dull while the ivory wasn't bad at all except it will show every mark but I did like the perforated vinyl...very comfy. The Fiesta hatch was nice but way underpowered for me, I want a bit more get up and go for my next ride and to be honest, we are just not Ford people. The Verano would make us both happy and I'm sure once the wife got used to one, she'd want it on a daily basis.
Now tomorrow, I hope to go visit that BMW drop top and see what the scoop is...if given permission and all works out, I might just be making an unexpected punch in the new car category!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

Michaell

Do you deliver to Parker?

No, but the store there is owned by the same franchisee as ours.

akangl

Its been a while since I was here. My life is crazy busy with school and the house. Let's see, I've had the '14 Explorer for a little over 3 months and 5800 miles now, its been really good and is nice to drive. The my ford touch can be a little glitchy, so can the nav, but I don't pay much attention to it, the car drives great and gets 20-21 mpg mixed city/highway driving.

Now I do have one thing that drives me nuts. I decided to test fit the car seat I bought for the baby and it is a tight fit. Have to move the passenger front seat forward 6-8 inches just to install the car seat. Its not a big car seat either, just an average rear facing infant seat. It cannot be installed in the middle position on the rear seat which is disappointing. Ford didn't think the seating out very well. Sad thing is the car seat fits easily in the middle of the back seat in hubby's '12 Focus. I have heard there is one convertible car seat on the market that will fit in the middle of the rear seat in the Explorer in the rear facing position, so I'll move baby to that around 6 months old or so.

I do like the Explorer, there's no way I could get in and out of Chippy these days, let alone drive the old girl. I miss the truck, but it was time for her to move on down the road. The fuel savings alone is huge.....went from $90/week to $45/week, not to mention the Explorer is so much cheaper to maintain.

Now if January would just hurry up so I can have this baby and get my ability to bend over back! :sick:

ronsteve

All of our local Hyundai dealers are either sleazy or incompetent- usually both. Which means I won't consider one...

Agreed. Not long after we moved up here, we had the wife's Elantra into Oxmoor, trying to get an issue squared away with the serp belt that had been recently replaced by the Hyundai dealer back in NC. Sat around for an unnecessarily long time before they asked our permission to go-ahead with doing anything, and their prime objective was to make sure they got their money. And just looking around the place, you could feel the sleazy... think we needed a shower as soon as we left.

Hoping for better dealer experiences with her Jetta... Bachman at least doesn't give us the sleaze factor.

rayainsw

Congrats on the 'punch' !
Enjoy!
- Ray
1.5+ years from MY next one.....

rayainsw

Good to hear from you, as always!
- Ray
No new kids in the foreseeable future for me ....

stever

It's easy to buy in a depressed area (our current house cost less that lots of new cars do) but we won't be here forever, so there's another house payment in our future. I remember my mom buying a new house when she was 75 and she laughed about the bank giving her a 30 year note without blinking. The future house payment is yet another excuse I pull when my wife starts grumbling about the van aging. :-)

Sandman6472

And we have no idea as our middle child is in pharmacy school and where ever she ends up, we will follow even if that means me staying here while she and the wife go there at first. My wife, G-d bless her, is so devoted to our kids she would do anything for them so I have no doubt we'll move when and if the kid does. I have no problem since I am basically retired and can find a part time gig anywhere...our kids always come first and always will. Would love if she gets a job a bit north of here as I am ready to leave...like tomorrow!

Just called on the 325CI and the guy said it's in the shop for maintenance...hummm! What can they possibly be doing to it that it's already in the shop? He said there's little room for negotiation since it's priced so low and they also have a $399 dealer fee, so am assuming that anything less than $11k ain't gonna fly here. Depending on how it drives and looks, this could be a screamin' deal! Need to go over and get some price points from the guru's in here.

The Sandman

jayrider

If you decide to buy, make sure you get a thorough independent pre-sale inspection before completing the deal. Look for an independent euro car shop to do it.

breld

Congrats Michael - I've spent a lot of time looking at those Elantra GTs and think they're great. If I would have chosen that over the Veloster, I'm sure we'd still have a Hyundai.

Have fun!

crkyolfrt

Hey, congrats on this fine choice! You're not going to want the ION back anyway...you always knew that right?

Thanks also for helping with the timing for my number to be right inline for a winner this year even if it means I might have to hold off on the purchase of my own new Rondo, till the new year, haha..

Michaell

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes on the new car.

I just drove it home from the dealership .. about 25 miles, some city, some highway. First impressions:

quiet ride
not a tremendous amount of acceleration - Edmunds showed 9.5 seconds to 60
still playing around with the configurable steering feel
there is an "eco" button that changes the shift points of the transmission - need to see what that does in around town driving
lots of gadgets - got the iPhone hooked up to Bluetooth and bought an iPod cable while at the dealer

The wife and I have a short road trip planned for next month -about 150 miles one way. Hoping to take the GT and stretch its legs a little bit.

One other thing - I mentioned that I pre-paid for all the services over the next 3 years. Should save me about 20%. Found out that the service interval is 3750 miles - so about every 3 months. Am thinking that the dealer may lose money on this, given how many miles I put on the car when delivering.

Sandman6472

We got a maintenance plan on the Mazda and on paper, the price was great for what we got but not sure I'd do it again. But the car is still doing great and the wife won't let me get her something new and has said she plans to keep it through 2014 and possibly into 2015. Taking her to the Miami Auto Show next weekend anyways cause I want her to see what's out there and get a feeling for what size she really wants. I haven't gone since before my accident in 2005 so am really looking forward to going and even said we could sleep over in South Beach and spend some time down there to make my case for going. I have a motive for all of this and hope it'll work on her as she's a pretty tough cookie.
Just spoke with my insurance guy and he said that our yearly rate should rise about $600 if I decide to purchase the BMW drop top and he said that ain't too bad considering we have pretty high insurance limits. For some reason once I turned 59 last week, i got this bug in me about getting something fun and living down south, what better vehicle can there be than a convertible. Maybe it's a mid life crisis going on here but I really want to do something. Considering 2 of my siblings were gone by their 58th birthday, I feel lucky to be alive right now and want to give myself a gift of life so to speak. I haven't told the wife yet as she will definitely poo poo this idea so I need to get all my ducks lined up before I approach the subject. So far I've got the funds to pay for it all in cash as well as the insurance so all I need to do is find the perfect vehicle and make sure it is in pristine condition. The idea of always leaving the Civic outside is something I will have to come to grips with but if I must, I must. We did talk about widening the driveway last week again, so might just go ahead with that.
So we will see how things progress here. Will call Monday to see when the vehicle will get back to the dealer and then start with a test drive. From the pics I've seen, the car looks pristine and even the fake wood trim on the dash looks fresh and not faded from sunlight exposure. A bunch I've seen look terrible from this condition and those I would never even look at. Will bring it to my mechanic if all checks out and get his opinion. Then if that works out, sit the wife down with my plan. I think if she drives it, and knows that she would have full access to use it, she might be swayed to agree since no house funds will be involved here...I will pay for it all from my savings and gift from my dad. What else do I need to do except get the vin and go to the nearby BMW store and check out the history and hope it has been a one owner vehicle...it really will be a 10 year old vehicle by now since the 2014's must be out by now. And i really would like this just for me!

The Sandman

stickguy

Life can be short. I just found out yesterday that one of my best childhood friends is in the ICU. He had a massive hemorrhagic stroke with lots of brain bleeding, and is in serious condition. Not sure what functions he will have left after this (doctors do think at this point he will survive).

he is 51.