Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy

I am giving it 2 months, tops. And that is being generous!

nyccarguy

Anybody else see the 2002 E46 M3 Coupe in the back of ROUNDEL?

FL car, 115K miles, 6-Speed, pkg sensors, sunroof, premium, bi-xenon, HK, alarm, pwr lumbar - completely stock - white/black

Recent Inspection II, o2 sensors, 4 super sports, 6 ignition coils... $9K

stickguy

tempting price on that. Though I am sure if you are not careful it could start to eat you alive.

qbrozen

so, on that Altima, I reset the trip computer before setting out. Car had been warming up for about 10 mins before that. Car not broken in yet, granted. But, for comparison, I took the versa out under the same conditions and that OBC told me around 35 mpg, and I pushed that pedal much much harder.

stick, yes, I was trying to give up the Leaf early. They were somewhere in the $360/mo vicinity with that taken into account.

breld

So, I got a call from a woman in New Jersey this evening expressing interest in the 3-er wagon. She's the right buyer who's been searching for something like this. We agreed on price and her boyfriend will be flying out either next weekend or the one after that to pick up the car.

Of course, nothing's final until they take delivery and we get the check, but that certainly worked out nicely.

We actually agreed on the same price that I got for my 335xi - and her car cost $3k less than mine a year ago. Very minimal depreciation on that wagon of hers.

breld

@stickguy said:
I am giving it 2 months, tops. And that is being generous!

The wife got a good laugh at that. It's nice that she's self-aware.

breld

Different topic, but last night my wife and I went and looked at a 2007 Civic Si coupe at a nearby dealership.

Wasn't sure if it would still hold appeal for me, but I really enjoyed it. Kinda returning to my roots, I do like the Honda shifters and high-reving 4 cylinders. I know they increased the size of the engine and torque in the new model, so wasn't sure if this previous gen would be to my liking, but it felt plenty quick to me. Really fun working the car up to the 8k rpm redline.

Similarly, I've been eying this car too (nyccarguy will appreciate it):

2001 Prelude

I want to go take a look at it when I have a chance. May be a nice gem with those miles and a non-SH model (based on nyc's advice).

qbrozen

Looks nice other than the color.

graphicguy

@nyccarguy said:
Anybody else see the 2002 E46 M3 Coupe in the back of ROUNDEL?

FL car, 115K miles, 6-Speed, pkg sensors, sunroof, premium, bi-xenon, HK, alarm, pwr lumbar - completely stock - white/black

Recent Inspection II, o2 sensors, 4 super sports, 6 ignition coils... $9K

I did see that...was reading ROUDEL last night. Kind of tempting (for you, not me).

stickguy

Dang, I like that prelude. Like a grown up version of the integra I had last year. With 109k fewer miles.

stickguy

Breld, I could have flown out to jersey for the wagon. Just wouldn't have a check with me. But I'm good for the money. Eventually.

Depending on how this college odyssey plays out. Kurd really needs to pick something so I know how much money to come up with!

roadburner

@breld said:
Well, I didn't think it'd take long. My wife found a TT she liked a whole lot (mostly due to the color combo) in the Chicago area. I called the dealership this morning, and made an offer. They finally came back a few hundred higher than we wanted, so we accepted. We've booked a flight to Midway on Friday using miles, and will be driving her TT back to Denver!

Here are the specifics:

2008 TT 3.2 Quattro

>

Congrats!!!

roadburner

I've been down on BMW quite a bit lately- haven't been impressed with their current "bigger/heavier/softer" 5e5 and 3er, not to mention Munich's ridiculous model proliferation. That said, I was checking out the M235i on the BMW USA site and discovered that you can specify a sunroof delete! Now, you've always been able to do that, but it required an additional bit of work that some dealers simply did not want to fool with. So kudos to BMW USA. Now, just make the LSD a factory-installed option and I'll talk about ordering one...

laurasdada

@breld said:

Love those Prelude cloth seats! And, ah, the good old days of the internet dotcom madness... If only I knew it was a bubble...

boomchek

Wow, that's a nice Prelude. Apart from minor body scuffs it looks great, and certainly worth the price since it's a one owner unmolested original.

qbrozen

oooowwwww... This is KILLIN ME! I so wish I had the means for this right now!
854 T5R

Michaell

@qbrozen said:
oooowwwww... This is KILLIN ME! I so wish I had the means for this right now!
854 T5R

Is the 854 four better than the 850?

Nice car, nonetheless.

corvette

@Michaell@Edmunds said:
Is the 854 four better than the 850?

854 = four door, 855 = wagon. It was never on the official badging but I think maybe some of the documentation (window stickers, etc.) had those designations. I loved the styling of those, especially the tall taillights on the wagons.

Michaell

@corvette said:
854 = four door, 855 = wagon. It was never on the official badging but I think maybe some of the documentation (window stickers, etc.) had those designations. I loved the styling of those, especially the tall taillights on the wagons.

You learn something new every day!

stickguy

Nice looking and rare toy. Too bad about having 2 major front end shunts. And who knows what being parked for 2 years did to it.

Perfect for a DIY guy like Q.

breld

Thanks roadburner!

So the NJ buyer of the wagon backed out once I disclosed that the car has an aftermarket exhaust (installed by the first owner). I would've preferred it didn't have it either, but it's pretty mild, and wouldn't (and didn't) deter us from buying the car.

Oh well.

qbrozen

Punter looking for an excuse

nyccarguy

@breld‌

Mazel-Tov & Congrats on your wife's TT. I too LOVE the red interior!

That prelude looks to be in good shape. Makes mine look like a "13 year old Honda." Yes the miles are low & the car is stock, but if you are going to ask close to $8K for it repaint the front bumper for pete's sake. The color actually looks better in person than it does in pictures. Make sure to check out what kind of tires it has. If they are the original Bridgestone Potenze RE92s, then they flat out suck.

The interior is perfect!

You know I LOVE my Prelude. The car is super fun to drive and mechanically bullet proof. Just because it is an oddball, low volume, out of production car, doesn't mean it is (or ever will become) a "classic." I guarantee you he took the car to a dealer and they offered him $3500 - $4,000 for it. I say $5K - $5500. Don't over pay for it.

nyccarguy

breld

@qbrozen said:
Punter looking for an excuse

That's what I kinda figured.

Nice looking Prelude there nyc! Thanks for the advice on looking at the used one. If I could indeed get it for $5-6k, it'd probably be an easy decision.

isellhondas

Great cars! That market segment seemed to have died and as a result the final Prelude series just didn't sell very well. I would love to have one myself.

stickguy

speaking of hot Volvos that I have a soft spot for, here's another one. Wagons. Yum. A touch miley, but if it was maintained and clean, not a bad price it seems.

http://www.torchlightmotors.com/detail.aspx?id=4267568&PrefID=0&.aspx

stickguy

http://imagescdn.dealercarsearch.com/Media/3286/4267568/Thumbnails/635319731279526023.jpg

stickguy

imagescdn.dealercarsearch.com/Media/3286/4267568/Thumbnails/635319731279526023.jpg

stickguy

dang, can't figure out this picture thing.

Michaell

@stickguy said:
speaking of hot Volvos that I have a soft spot for, here's another one. Wagons. Yum. A touch miley, but if it was maintained and clean, not a bad price it seems.

http://www.torchlightmotors.com/detail.aspx?id=4267568&PrefID=0&.aspx

Since when is 9500 miles a year "miley"?

Did you mean "Cyrus"?

nyccarguy

@breld @isellhondas‌

Thanks for the compliment! The Prelude still photographs well from 10 feet away;)

stickguy

I look at total miles. Not per year.

nyccarguy

Speaking of used cars we'd like to own:

Check out this 2004 M3 Coupe Silver, Manual, non leather seats, 6 speed stick, no sunroof, 18" wheels

Michaell

@nyccarguy said:
Speaking of used cars we'd like to own:

Check out this 2004 M3 Coupe Silver, Manual, non leather seats, 6 speed stick, no sunroof, 18" wheels

That link isn't coming up for me.

nyccarguy

Always seems to happen when I try to post a link from my iPad. Just under $21K, 71K miles at a used car dealer in NJ.

stickguy

for some reason, whenever Bradd posts an autotrader link, it never comes up for me either.

kyfdx

@stickguy said:
for some reason, whenever Bradd posts an autotrader link, it never comes up for me either.

Autotrader links are so long... they seem easy to corrupt... When I find one I want to link, I usually find the car on the dealer's website and link from there.

nyccarguy

How about now? They also have an '02 ///M3 with 66K miles.

Michaell

@nyccarguy said:
How about now? They also have an '02 ///M3 with 66K miles.

That link worked for me....

qbrozen

I spotted the v70r the other day. I like it, but not at that price.

kyfdx

@nyccarguy said:
How about now? They also have an '02 ///M3 with 66K miles.

Makes you wonder if the guy wanted a track car, or just the cheapest M3 possible? Cloth, manual seats and no roof..

Michaell

@kyfdx%40Edmunds said:
Makes you wonder if the guy wanted a track car, or just the cheapest M3 possible? Cloth, manual seats and no roof..

Or he's a relative of roadburners....

nyccarguy

@‌kyfdx

The car fax shows it as a 4 owner car.... ummmmm - PASS

stever

Looking at xBs at the moment (online). Cheap. Plenty of standard features, few options. Comes in a manual flavor. So-so gas mileage at 22/28. Has the "magic" minimum storage of 70 sq. ft. with the seats down.

At least it's a box and my wife never much notices cars anyway and doesn't much care what the ones in our driveway look like.

Wonder how many more years Scion is going to be around?

isellhondas

@nyccarguy said:
@‌kyfdx

The car fax shows it as a 4 owner car.... ummmmm - PASS

Really?

Four owners that took great care of a car than one owner who skimped on maintenance.

I look at the overall condition of a car and couldn't care less about how many owners it's had.

Michaell

@Stever@Edmunds said:
Looking at xBs at the moment (online). Cheap. Plenty of standard features, few options. Comes in a manual flavor. So-so gas mileage at 22/28. Has the "magic" minimum storage of 70 sq. ft. with the seats down.

At least it's a box and my wife never much notices cars anyway and doesn't much care what the ones in our driveway look like.

Wonder how many more years Scion is going to be around?

New or used?

I don't think it will much matter if the Scion brand is shut down, since they all use Toyota parts and can be serviced / repaired at any Toyota dealer.

Having said that, I wasn't too happy to be the owner of multiple 'orphans' when GM shut Saturn down.

stever

New, but yeah, it's the resale/orphan aspect that niggles at the back of my mind. I'm in the frame of mind that if something doesn't work out, I'll trade it in two years. (Kind of looking at NM the same way, lol).

We're even looking at leasing for a couple of years. Guess I've been reading this durn discussion way too long. Prius v leases in the Midwest are good right now, but they want $2,400 down, and I saw a post of yours somewhere just this week about why you shouldn't put much money down on a lease. If I could drive-off for ~$800 on a v or a xB, I'd be there.

xwesx

I don't know, Steve. I'm not sure downsizing is going to serve you well with the type of traveling you do! I'd be all over this if they would just throw a diesel engine in it....

In that event, I would replace my Fiesta with it in a heartbeat.

nyccarguy

@isellhondas‌

You do have a point