Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

Sandman6472

I also have the two stage heated seats in the Tuscon and like them...my kid loves it. Did use it last week with the dip in temps and enjoyed the warmth.
Old, the pay sucks really, $8/hr but I enjoy the job so it don't matter to me. Looked up my s s and I only have 12 quarters and with 2013, I got 4 more, so now I need 24 more quarters to get to my 40 to be eligible for social security. So that means 6 more working years if my math is correct here and hopefully will be still doing this job till then. I do love to drive and love having a different vehicle every time. Yesterday drove a Altima, Sportage, Passat and another one...senior moment here...all fun vehicles. i love this job and if I get Hertz, I can keep both since they are both part time but with Hertz, I will be a part time employee instead of an independent contractor.
I hope I get it!!!

The Sandman

stickguy

@tjc, since you are so close I should just outsource my next purchase to you. especially if I decide to lease!

Hey, I might even stop in at the Yota dealer by you. Some of the lease #s advertised in today's paper (not by them) piqued my interest. Even if they were on toyota's, Some good ones on Hyundai too.

too bad I am not actually ready for a move yet. But when the time comes, look out!

kyfdx

http://kgmotors.com/detail.aspx?id=3938578&PrefID=0&.aspx

Okay. these guys don't have a great reputation, but I want this car. Miles are low for the year, and the price is right. Don't need a car until October, but...

stickguy

@kyfdx@Edmunds said:
http://kgmotors.com/detail.aspx?id=3938578&PrefID=0&.aspx

Okay. these guys don't have a great reputation, but I want this car. Miles are low for the year, and the price is right. Don't need a car until October, but...

Me and you both. That looks really sweet. I doubt there are many 1 owner, non-bastardize M3s of that generation floating around.

I'm not good with prices, but for what it is, seems reasonable. If that was by me, sure I would be tempted.

nyccarguy

@kyfdx

I'm a huge E36 ///M3 fan & love the 4 doors. I think the way to go us with those ///Motorsport Wheels (not the 5 spoke luxury wheels). Something's off about that car. Looks too perfect. Hard to see, but I swear 1 of the tires is different fom the other 3. Another thing, you own a very desirable enthusiast car. You put that car up on bimmerfest if its "that good" and it will be gone quicker than quick.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, you LOVE them when you have them, but honestly, how many of you would kick a car out just for that, if it had everything else you wanted, and the price was right? I have heated seats and I use them and like them, but they weren't a deal breaker when I went shopping, as say a 6-speed manual was and a certain color was. (I will never drive a white or black Mini Cooper).

roadburner

@MrShift@Edmunds said:
Yeah, you LOVE them when you have them, but honestly, how many of you would kick a car out just for that, if it had everything else you wanted, and the price was right? I have heated seats and I use them and like them, but they weren't a deal breaker when I went shopping, as say a 6-speed manual was and a certain color was. (I will never drive a white or black Mini Cooper).

I did- back in 2007. 2003 540i Sport, one owner, Topaz Blue/Gray leather- immaculate with every option BUT heated seats. No sale.
That said, I** do** regret missing out on one car without heated seats- a 2004 E46 M3. Sterling Gray with Coral Red Leather. The only options were leather, H-K sound, and Xenons. Manual seats, no hole in the roof- Heaven. I hesitated- and lost...

corvette

@kyfdx@Edmunds said:
http://kgmotors.com/detail.aspx?id=3938578&PrefID=0&.aspx

Okay. these guys don't have a great reputation, but I want this car. Miles are low for the year, and the price is right. Don't need a car until October, but...

Looks nice (and has expensive Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires), but I no longer have a problem fighting the urge to own a 10+ year old BMW.

kyfdx

How about if you were a 20 yr old college student? (because, that is who gets it.. lol)

qbrozen

@kyfdx@Edmunds said:
http://kgmotors.com/detail.aspx?id=3938578&PrefID=0&.aspx

Okay. these guys don't have a great reputation, but I want this car. Miles are low for the year, and the price is right. Don't need a car until October, but...

Oh, goodness, yes. And a 4-door. That's a rare find at this point.

Mr_Shiftright

@kyfdx@Edmunds said:
http://kgmotors.com/detail.aspx?id=3938578&PrefID=0&.aspx

Okay. these guys don't have a great reputation, but I want this car. Miles are low for the year, and the price is right. Don't need a car until October, but...

I don't pay much attention to a dealer's reputation unless he's in prison...the car has to speak for itself one way or the other...if the seller is obnoxious and the car is great, I can live through a day of that.

breld

Well, it sounds like a lot of you truly enjoy your heated seats, so as this past weekend suggests, it may be slightly tougher sell here in Colorado without that option.

I didn't think twice about it - didn't even realize they were missing until after the purchase. But of course, this was always meant to be an "occasional" car anyway.

Once the weather gets warmer in a couple of months (if it comes to that), perhaps shoppers won't be quite as focused on the lack of seat heaters.

Michaell

Took the E-GT in for its first service this morning. 9 weeks and 3750 miles. Oil change and multi point inspection. No surprises. Since I've prepaid for maintenance no charge to me. Oh, and I drove a loaner Sonata GLS for about 1.5 miles. I don't like the light colored interior - clashes with the black trim something fierce, IMO.

qbrozen

@kyfdx@Edmunds said:
http://kgmotors.com/detail.aspx?id=3938578&PrefID=0&.aspx

Okay. these guys don't have a great reputation, but I want this car. Miles are low for the year, and the price is right. Don't need a car until October, but...

I just now looked at the carfax for that m3. Sooo... over 14k dealer miles? That's pretty excessive.

breld

Okay, so I'm still considering getting rid of not only the E46 'vert, but perhaps the E90 335xi, and replacing them with one older, less expensive BMW. The thing is, I'm liking the Passat as my daily commuter so much, that the 335xi is more and more becoming an expensive fun car. I could probably fulfill that "fun" car role with something half the price and pocket the difference, which would be very nice.

Not to mention I was discussing with my insurance agent the financial impact of adding my stepdaughter to the policy in a couple of months. Holy Cow! I'm sure any of you who have gone through that can appreciate the crazy increase in premiums for adding a young, new driver, but the agent said that the type of cars we have in our fleet obviously has a significant impact. So, my occasional, fun, "pleasure" 335xi not only is the most expensive car we own, it also carries the highest insurance premium, and no doubt has an impact on adding my stepdaughter to the policy.

I want to be patient and make sure my enjoyment with the Passat isn't due to it being new and different, but I think I'm starting to accept that, for my current age and place in life (family commitments, long work commute, etc.), I am simply enjoying a larger, comfortable (and automatic, gasp!) vehicle for the daily duties. And the stick-shift sporty car is being regulated more to the occasional status.

So, with all that diatribe, what I'm really saying is, I want this:

http://www.northwestpreownedcenter.com/detail-2005-bmw-3_series-330ci-used-11514296.html

Absolutely my favorite BMW color ever.

breld

Ooh - nevermind. I called the dealer and got a carfax, which shows an accident. Funny thing is, the car was subsequently sold as a BMW CPO car. So probably not a bad accident, but just to have that on the carfax makes it a difficult proposition.

laurasdada

The XF has the three stage heated seats. The max setting must be the global thermonuclear war setting, as after a few minutes of the lowest setting, I have to shut it down, it's so hot! Maybe my posterior is just thin-skinned! And, I'm with NYC, heateed steering wheel may be the greatest (non-essential to the actual essence of the car/driving experience) invention ever! One strike against the Audi A5 vs. the XF was the Audi's lack of a heated wheel option.

Dropped my daughter at the airport yesterday morn as she's heading back to college. As I (a bit misty eyed...) watched her head to the security check in, a couple of TSA agents approached me curbside. I though, uh oh, time to move. Nope, they wanted to talk about the XF! One said he saw it coming down the road, loved the aggressive looking front end, wanted to know what it was... Nice. Still miss the XK, though. But, the XF is growing on my every day, still new car smell!

Second tank, ~21.2mpg. But the daily commute mpg so far is not good. Not unexpected, but still bothersome. The stop/start funciton really isn't obtrusive, although the cold weather is disabling it most of the time. But, when it's working, nice to see the mpg-o-meter freeze at the current reading. Rather than rapidly ticking down while stopped. And, no pollution, Al Gore would be so happy with my choice of cars!

stever

Another reason to get 'em:

oldfarmer50

WANNA BUY A TRUCK?

Ford is rolling the dice by putting an aluminum body on the new F-150. Takes 700 pounds off the vehicle.

Considering how in my area most F-150s die of cancer long before they blow up I like the sound of that.

Wonder what that will do to the price?

I seem to remember Ford putting aluminum fenders on the new Mustang too. Am I seeing a trend here?

stever

"No official pricing has been released yet, but we expect the 2015 F-150 to be priced similarly to the 2014 model, at least initially." The base currently stickers at $26,640.

2014 Detroit Auto Show: 2015 Ford F-150 (FAQ)

700 pounds is huge.

Michaell

@Stever@Edmunds said:
Another reason to get 'em:

Hey now, don't be giving away my secrets.

@breld - welcome to the world of teenagers and insurance. When my stepkids got to age 16, the conversation with the insurance agent was pretty short. She suggested we get Saturn sedans as they were the cheapest to insure (this was 10 years ago when you could still get Saturns). Stepson had 3 accidents in 2 years (Geo Tracker, Ford Explorer and VW New Beetle - the Tracker was totaled; the other two had minor damage).

I'm sure that premium German iron and teenage drivers makes for an expensive insurance premium.

corvette

@oldfarmer50 said:
Ford is rolling the dice by putting an aluminum body on the new F-150. Takes 700 pounds off the vehicle.

That's a pretty radical change. It can't affect the price much or sales will suffer. I wish the F-150 had a coil spring rear suspension like the RAM. With the weight reduction, it will probably get the best EPA rating in its class. I'm still not completely sold on the virtues of turbocharging in larger gasoline powered vehicles, but perhaps the 2015 engines are better on that front as well.

tifighter

@breld said:
I think I'm starting to accept that, for my current age and place in life (family commitments, long work commute, etc.), I am simply enjoying a larger, comfortable (and automatic, gasp!) vehicle for the daily duties. And the stick-shift sporty car is being regulated more to the occasional status.

Ditto. For the daily stop-and-go commute reality, auto, comfy seats, space and quiet is hard to beat. The surprising MPG and range with the Accord is just a bonus. Guess I'm officially getting old.

tifighter

@Stever@Edmunds said:
700 pounds is huge.

Its a seriously impressive engineering feat. I just wonder how efficient that 2.7 Ecoboost will really be even with the weight loss; if it needs to be in the boost a lot, the MPGs will go out the window. I'm sure the EPA numbers will be impressive, but real world? Hmm.

rayainsw

2015 Chrysler 200S initial thoughts:

I find this new Chrysler effort intriguing.
The availability of the [ now ubiquitous ] Pentastar 3.6L V6, with almost 300 HP and over 260 TQ and a sort of ‘on demand’ AWD system to help handle that TQ sounds interesting, to me.
A 9-speed automatic is [ um ] also interesting.
Steering wheel mounted paddle shift.
The availability of both heat and vent for the front seats is definitely of interest, to me.
Available dual-pane panoramic sunroof MAY be of interest, depending on the sunshade implementation.
The 200S variant starts at $25.5K w/dest.

Anyway, the specifications look interesting & the pictures of the exterior and interior that I have seen suggest something like a ‘grown up’ Dart – and I think this may make my ‘short list’ of cars I will at least look over thoroughly & likely drive – to see if the execution matches the specs.

• Ray

Looking forward to a test drive, in the Spring . . .

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/01/13/2015-chrysler-200-detroit-2014/

stickguy

Breld, yeah the shock of adding a teen can hurt. Piece of advice (from experience) shop around, because different companies will handle it differently. But one important thing is having at least 1 cheap car (preferably liability only) to assign the kid too. 1 reason I will keep the Tl even when my son gets a car of his own (my 18yo is assigned to that one)

breld

Thanks stick and Michael for the advice. I will have to talk to other companies/agents - I had thought I could simply "assign" a specific car to my stepdaughter, but my current agent said that's not how it works. Our daughter would simply be on our policy and the premium would be reflective of our fleet. She said that's more of an industry thing, but it's worth checking around.

breld

@tifighter said:

Ti - is the Accord still doing great? It was definitely down to an Accord Sport and the Passat for me, and I even told my wife the Accord was my first choice. But the margin was pretty close, and the deal on the Passat was so good I chose not to pass it up. I probably could've gotten a similar deal on an Accord LX, but it's the Sport (and higher models) that I really like.

corvette

@rayainsw said:
2015 Chrysler 200S initial thoughts:

The 200S front seats look like they have some nice bolstering. It's an interesting car with a lot of technology like the 9-speed automatic. The Pentastar and AWD should put a lot of power to the ground. I wouldn't get too excited over the low base price for a 200S, as I'm sure by the time you add a technology package and sunroof, the price will nose past $30k.

xwesx

I have two separate policies, due to my "old" company wanting to charge me a ridiculous rate for my Fiesta. Had that been the rate all companies were charging, I would have declined to buy the car - yeah, it was really that bad!

Fast forward a year and a half, and I'm thinking about moving my other daily driver to this policy as well, but I'm definitely keeping the old policy attached to all my occasional-use vehicles just so I keep the policy active. It seems to be very competitive on the liability side, but they charge an arm and a leg for the collision coverage.

So, maybe if you were to isolate one (or two) vehicle(s) on a separate policy, you could prevent artificial inflation of your rates due to a teen driver.

rayainsw

' the price will nose past $30k.'

I am quite certain that [ equipped as I might seriously consider one ]
it will be over $30K.

But I still think it may be worth a serious look...

• Ray

Another few months before I can even see one . . .

stickguy

@breld said:
Thanks stick and Michael for the advice. I will have to talk to other companies/agents - I had thought I could simply "assign" a specific car to my stepdaughter, but my current agent said that's not how it works. Our daughter would simply be on our policy and the premium would be reflective of our fleet. She said that's more of an industry thing, but it's worth checking around.

I know in Jersey they assign drivers to cars and rates vary depending who is on what

xwesx

I'm not sure that any state does this, but to me it makes sense to have comprehensive and collision as vehicle-specific costs, but it makes no sense whatsoever to make liability have anything to do with the car, as it is the driver's choices that both result in at-fault collisions and the risk associated with the likelihood of collisions. So, why not make liability driver-specific? It doesn't matter if you own no cars or 100 of them, if you want to drive, you carry the same liability (and you're covered at that threshold for any vehicle you drive).

laurasdada

@Michaell@Edmunds said:
I'm sure that premium German iron and teenage drivers makes for an expensive insurance premium.

Even a 12 year old Lexus makes for expensive premium for my (now) 18 y.o. daughter...

nyccarguy

@corvette

what's going on with your GLI?

au1994

@Breld...Thanks for the additional pics. Car looks great and I can't believe its still around. I do think that on a premium brand heated seats are just an expectation. BMW is strange the way they option cars sometimes. My E92 did not have them but my F30 does. Strange as a pretty basic compact has them std now.

I'm a bit out of pocket this week but still have an interest in the 'vert. HOWEVER....I have a line on an 05 Monaco Blue ZHP 'vert. Yes, its a little more than yours but, its a ZHP. Mileage is about the same, 78k.

Michaell

@stickguy said:
I know in Jersey they assign drivers to cars and rates vary depending who is on what.

I believe the same is true here in Colorado. While the MINI is primarily driven by my step-daughter, I am the one "rated" on it to lower the premium.

Well, for the next couple of weeks. Wife and I are using the new year to cut the cord, financially, with the kids. The step daughter just got her own policy on the MINI (100/300) for under $50/mo. The current policy is $45/mo but the limits were 250/500.

Next step is to transfer ownership of the ION to the step-son and DIL. Will probably just sign over the title to them so they can get it added to their current policy with the Caliber. That's another $50/mo saved on our bill .. it will leave us with just the CX-7 and E-GT.

breld - one other piece of advice regarding insurance and kids. We made it mandatory that they had an amount saved up equal to the deductible, so in case the indescribable awful should happen they cover the deductible amount. Makes sense for them to have skin in the game, knowing that they'll lose this money if they get in an accident. Idea is to prevent dumb behavior.

abacomike

@xwesx... but it makes no sense whatsoever to make liability have anything to do with the car...

At first glance, I agreed with your comment, but then I started thinking:

*should liability costs be the same for a basic Toyota Corolla and a Mercedes CLS 550 with lane departure/blind spot monitors, back-up camera, accident avoidance sensors, etc.?

My answer would be no. The severity of an accident (bodily injury and property damage) is dependent not just on the driver's abilities to be alert, cautious, defensive - but also on the feedback to the driver from specific technologies included with the car such as beeps, buzzes, lights flickering, braking ability, handling capability, etc.

So, if a driver operates two vehicles - the Corolla and the CLS550 - would there be a difference in the severity and amount/degree of onjuries if the cars were driven identically under the same circumstances and conditions and an accident occurs? No, because the chances of avoiding an accident are better in the Mercedes due to advanced technologies.

Wouldn't you agree?

kyfdx

Liability rate differences between car models are generally derived from the insurer's experience. Just like collision and comprehensive. If they note that they have a lot of claims payouts for collisions from WRX owners, then that will be reflected in your rates. It's one of the reason that cheaper cars sometimes come with higher liability rates, and why your credit score may be used, as well.

The more responsible you are, and the more you have to lose, the better bet you are for the insurance company.

kyfdx

My son went up to look at the M3, this morning... already sold.

Then, he found this:

http://www.jakesweeneychevrolet.com/inventory-details/title/cincinnati-oh-used-2005-volvo-s60/vehicleid/539461521-d60413

This one scares me, a little..

tifighter

@breld said:
Ti - is the Accord still doing great?

Yeah, no issues. Like I wrote earlier, I did a software update over the holidays and now have Siri integration When you are stuck in traffic and want to send/return a text msg or ask directions, just push the voice button on the wheel and siri comes up. Its not a rocket (0-60 mid-7's most tests) but its responsive while still getting nice mileage. Comfortable. Maybe I can keep this one for more than two years. Yeah right.

js06gv

@breld said:
Thanks stick and Michael for the advice. I will have to talk to other companies/agents - I had thought I could simply "assign" a specific car to my stepdaughter, but my current agent said that's not how it works. Our daughter would simply be on our policy and the premium would be reflective of our fleet. She said that's more of an industry thing, but it's worth checking around.

I'm on the claims side of insurance but familiar with how agents write policies. This could vary by state, but what your agent is telling you is correct at least in Texas. Years ago, parents could keep a beater with liability only in the fleet, put the teenager on it and enjoy lower premiums even if the teen was actually driving one of the nicer rides. Insurance companies got wise to this and started mandating that a teen is rated on all vehicles on the policy. I just went through this in November when my daughter turned 16. Her daily driver is the '07 Santa Fe, but we are insuring as if she has ready access to all our cars (look at my signature line, as I can promise you she doesn't........) My yearly premium went up 78%, just adding her as the 4 cars were already on the policy, and that's with me working for the company! The things we do for our kids.

corvette

@xwesx said:
I'm not sure that any state does this, but to me it makes sense to have comprehensive and collision as vehicle-specific costs, but it makes no sense whatsoever to make liability have anything to do with the car, as it is the driver's choices that both result in at-fault collisions and the risk associated with the likelihood of collisions. So, why not make liability driver-specific? It doesn't matter if you own no cars or 100 of them, if you want to drive, you carry the same liability (and you're covered at that threshold for any vehicle you drive).

Unfortunately, insurance is state specific, which makes it more confusing. When I had two cars, my umbrella liability policy was higher (the auto portion was exactly twice as much), but they charged separately for liability for each car on the auto policy. I think there was a multi-vehicle discount. Uninsured/underinsured coverage cost the same regardless of whether I had one or two cars.

corvette

@nyccarguy said:
corvette

what's going on with your GLI?

Thanks for your concern... Still at the body shop. I think it will be ready for pickup tomorrow. What a nightmare!

breld

@js06gv said:

Thanks for the insight - that helps. Our quote was an increase of about 50%, so I guess that's not all that unusual. And that's with all six of the cars we currently own - at least one is leaving the fleet soon.

In a way, I suppose the 50% makes sense - going from 2 drivers to 3.

nyccarguy

@corvette

So what's the verdict? How much damage dd they estimate for? Were there any supplemental damages? Did they use VW parts to fix the car or kick off parts?

I know you will, but make sure you go over the car with a fine toothed comb & make sure you are completely, 100% satisfied with the work. Look for over spray, perfectly aligned panel gaps, make sure the paint is properly matched and doesn't look like an orange peel.

I know you were a little banged up too. How are you feeling?

And the question on everyone's CCBA mind? Will you be keeping it or dumping it for a new car that hasn't had $X thousand dollars in body work performed?

nyccarguy

I took my car in for the phantom windows that rolled themselves down during the snow storm in the middle of the night, the freakin trunk latch that still doesn't work, & brakes the squeak when I 1st get going after the car has been parked for a decent amount of time. What does this have to do with Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous? The loaner car of course. I saw an X3 35i, a 428i, and ultimately decided on a 328xd. That's right. A diesel.

The more I drive the F30, the more I like it as a commuter car. Very spacious interior & a comfortably taut suspension. The brakes are still phenomenal. The steering is still too light, vague at low speeds, but improving. I know, I know, I've driven 2 F30 loaners and reviewed them already. You want to hear about the "d."

Acceleration is strong and it feels on par with my E90 328xi. The transmission is perfectly mated to this 4cyl diesel motor. A far cry from the 4 door freight train E90 335d, but far from a slouch.

Around town, the diesel power plant is slightly louder than its gasoline powered counter part. At highway speeds you'd never know if its gas or diesel.

The car had 9 miles on it when I left the dealer. I did some "city driving" from the dealer to my parents house for dinner & to finish up some work with Dad, then it was off to my house. I reset the trip odometer & trip computer. I drove 45.6 miles and averaged 40.5 mpg.

stickguy

I forget. Is the Corvette GLI bought or leased? And that is actually one of the pluses to me of leasing. If it gets in a big accident and fixed, you don't get stuck with it!

nyccarguy

He bought his GLI.

graphicguy

@kyfdx@Edmunds said:
My son went up to look at the M3, this morning... already sold.

Then, he found this:

http://www.jakesweeneychevrolet.com/inventory-details/title/cincinnati-oh-used-2005-volvo-s60/vehicleid/539461521-d60413

This one scares me, a little..

Got a breakfast meeting near Jake's tomorrow a.m., if you want me to eyeball that car for you.