Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

nyccarguy

Ha! Don't laugh. You should see the "new style" here in the 'hood. Cars literally slammed to within an inch of their life with these huge wheels, tires so thin they make my BMW's 45 series side walls look like they are from a late 1970's Corvette, and rear wheels that stick out on the bottom.

kyfdx

@nyccarguy said:
kydfx

you have the FSD's on your ZHP?

Yes.. I considered the yellows, but everyone said put them on the softest setting, and I knew I would never adjust them, so no benefit for me.. FSDs are a little more (maybe $100 more for the set), but worth it, I think. They have some sort of variable valving that allows them to soak up big bumps (think potholes and frost heaves) with little drama, but stiffen up over smaller bumps (think loading up the suspension into a turn). The idea is a nice ride for every day, but performance suspension for the twisties.. IMO, they hit it pretty well.

I know it's tempting to do the springs, because everything will be apart, anyway.. But, for a car you drive 5K mi/yr? I wouldn't touch them, until you break one.. Unless you are lowering the car with sport/race springs, you will get zero benefit from new springs, other than a lower chance of failure..

nyccarguy

roadburner

Funny thing, FSDs are often reviled by BMW owners, while the Mini and Mazda folks pretty much love them...

nyccarguy

"But, for a car you drive 5K mi/yr?"

There is a distinct possibility that for the next year or so, I might be putting significantly more than 5K per year

roadburner

I love those idiots who run massive amounts of negative camber. I ticked off a guy on a Mazda board who was talking about how cool "stanced" cars are. I said that you shouldn't get a drivers license if the degrees of negative camber are higher than your IQ...

stickguy

picked up my new wheels today at lunch. Don't get too excited, just a rental. A U Haul 14' Ford. at least it is a pretty new chassis (15K on it). A bit wide, but seems to drive OK. Need to load it up and take all my son's assorted crap (and the excess furniture I am offloading to "seed" his apartment!) tomorrow. Should be fun.

gas bill, not fun. I asked, and he said depending on how heavy the load and how fast you go, expect about 8-10 MPG. It has a 36 gallon tank, and sadly will use 3/4 of it to get to Albany. At least most of the trip is highway, so no big deal herding the barge.

almost got the 10', which is basically a GMC van with a raised roof (same width as the cab all the way back). But, was afraid of running out of space (probably would have made it) and the 14' has the "grandmas attic" over the cab (which I won't use) and a wider box, with dual wheels, so the sides stick out more than the cab. Will have to get used to that again.

jayrider

Too late -- once I read you got your new wheels, I got excited and took a Xanax. Then I went back to read the rest and realized I medicated myself unnecessarily. A short nap is in order.

glayfan40

@rayainsw said:
I will pass 15,000 miles in the 2013 GTI later today.
Not much to report, really.
The GTI continues to provide reliable & reasonably entertaining service.
No mechanical issues.
MPG in the high 20s in my typical driving – largely commuting in & out of HotLanta. 30+ on a longer trip w/less traffic.
No squeaks, rattles, moans or groans from any components.

The acceleration & ride & handling remain as impressive [ for the price ] as anything comparable – to me.
No wear evident on any interior parts – seats, etc.
It is certainly not a BMW M235i –
but it is also costing me a lot less . . .

= Ray

Kinda boring . . .

This is good to hear as I just leased a 2014 Wolfsburg DSG myself. Was a little leery on VW reliability based on their track record (simply from info I gathered online as this is my first VW).

Traded in a 2013 MB GLK250 for it. Can't say I'd look back. The fun-to-drive factor simply outweighs the luxury found on the MB. And the materials used and build quality in the GTI are pretty top notch too (for its class of course) so I don't really find it to be too much of a downgrade overall.

Only features I missed are USB input for my music and automatic climate control. But those aren't something I can't live without. Other than those, the MB did have a pano roof which I seldomly used (I live in MA). It didn't even have real leather or backup cam so it was a pretty basic MB.

thebean

What would you think about a trip to Shanghai? By 2017, more than one Volvo model might be made in China. Somehow that takes the shine off of Overseas Delivery for me.

@Michaell said:
Is three years too early to start shopping? Caution: long post ahead.

The wife's CX-7 will be paid off in February 2017 but will have +/- 100K on it (currently at 53K). It's been reliable but just not sure how long I'd want to keep it.

On a separate but related thread, we should be seeing the proceeds of an inheritance in the next week or so. Not a life changing amount, but could allow us to do things we've previously only dreamed about - one of which is to take a trip to Europe. Wife is 1/2 Italian and would like to see the old country. One caveat - she won't fly economy. So I start looking at business class airfares. Wow! $3 grand and up for a r/t ticket - each.

So, I start thinking - 2017 is also the year of our 20th anniversary, she'll need a new car, and we want to travel to Europe.

Can you say Overseas Delivery? Wife has ha a soft spot for Volvos, so I start looking into their OSD program. R/T economy airfare included, which we could upgrade on our own dime. Transportation in Europe is covered; we'd drive the new car. Distance from Gotheborg to Milan is about the same as it is from Denver to LA - 1100 miles or so.

But which Volvo? V60, XC60 or XC70?

This might actually work - if I can get the wife on board.

nyccarguy

@glayfan40‌

Hello & welcome to CCBA. So we need some more info regarding your trade and your "punch." How many miles were on the GLK 250? How big of a hit did you take on the trade? No need to worry about VW reliability if you are leasing:) What made you go with the 2014 over the new 2015?

ab348

I'm thinking I might become a drag on the average here. Ever since I retired at the end of MAy, I find I am barely driving at all, and hence, my car plans may be changing. The lease on my Regal Turbo is up at the end of October and I was originally thinking that I would either buy it outright with a view to trading it either then or a little later on something new, or that the dealer would be enticing me with a deal on a new car that I couldn't pass up. But now I don't think I need to spend anything on a new car once I buy the Regal at lease end. I might be putting a couple of thousand miles a year on it at the current rate of driving I'm doing. The only thing that might motivate me is having the warranty end in 2015. I guess we'll see how things go both car-wise and financially once I've settled into living off my pension and savings for a while.

laurasdada

Fear not, ab348! Breld will maintain the board average!

breld

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

Sandman6472

And you might decide after awhile to get something part time like I did. I get my government pension but decided I wanted to beef up our savings a bit. And since I was young, 56, when I retired the first time, figured a part time job would be a good thing. My decision was also decided because the wife didn't think it was fair that I stayed home and she didn't. So I found a part time gig in what else...the auto business, the rental car business. I did some long distance state driving within Florida for a couple of companies and through one of them, got hired onto Hertz, a Hertz HLE location which is basically just like Enterprise. We basically move vehicles from location to location depending upon reservations and walk in's. It's a fun gig and I drive many different vehicles daily...from a Tahoe to a Sentra today, and everything in between. My job needs flexibility, which I have, and the ability to show up whenever needed, again, something I have no problem doing.
Have found that we have not had any need to raid the savings and can live off the pension and what we both bring in very nicely...and I save the majority of my paycheck which is sweet. My advice to you is find something to do in your passion and do it. Like me and another older co-worker were talking about today, it's nice to be able to go to a job because we want to...and not because we have to. Makes all the difference in the world!!!

The Sandman

stever

@sandman_6472, I think you meant to post this over in Buying and Selling Cars: Post Your Experiences.

roadburner

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

My BMW dealer just traded for my wife's dream car(truck):
2014 X1 xDrive28i

23,600 miles

Valencia Orange

Black Sensatec upholstery

Cold Weather Package

Lighting Package

Driver Assistance Package(rear camera, PDC)

Technology Package(Nav, BMW Apps, BMW Online, etc.)

Heated Sport Wheel with shift paddles

Manual seats, slick top... Just about perfect.

My son may be taking the X3 to college after all...

corvette

Nice! My dad would love that color, his Element is a similar shade of orange. I like proper manual seats with full adjustments, as BMW offers. On most other makes, a manual seat doesn't adjust in as many directions as the power ones.

If you need to dump the 3-series or the X3, I'm sure one of our chronic car buyers here could probably take either one of them off your hands.

fintail

An X1 is a truck?

A few miles a current model year car - ex-demo or loaner? I was thinking maybe Sixt rental, but I doubt they have them in the fleet with even that much equipment.

Michaell

@fintail said:
An X1 is a truck?

The X1 is a smaller 3-series, on stilts.

A few miles a current model year car - ex-demo or loaner? I was thinking maybe Sixt rental, but I doubt they have them in the fleet with even that much equipment.

stever

Here's another person needing some sporty advice. TIA!

stickguy

RB, sounds like a real oddball. But perfect for you. Get it for her and make her happy. Heck, she must deserve it for putting up all your car stuff, right?

breld

My wife isn't the biggest fan of the X1, but did say she'd consider one in that Valencia Orange. Seems to be rare to find one with the Tech package - which sort of dresses up the interior a bit. I like it.

stickguy

got to spend some quality time with the U Haul truck this weekend. About 250 miles worth. Man, at 10ish MPG that is a lot of fuel! Pretty nice truck though. last generation E series Ford, with only 15K on it. Very clean. Not bad driving at all. Got everything moved in for my son, and the truck returned in one piece. I kind of miss it!

stickguy

Next step, to sell off the fleet and get something newer. There are a bunch of cheap leases it seems. Thing like an Altima with LT 1K drive off, for $199/mo + tax. Even an Accord LX for not much more. Camry's, I think they just give you the keys and tell you to enjoy it.

Too bad the nice new Legacy I really liked isn't going to be cheap cheap cheap like that!

breld

Punch.

Finally got the deal done on the trade of the wife's TT for a new GTI.

Last I posted, there was some "shiftiness" in the offer from one dealer that I was frustrated with. Well, I went through the motions with another dealer that I thought was straightforward. At the end of the day, they were a few hundred dollars more than the first dealer, but they had the car on their lot, and we decided to just get it done.

I've never had this happen - we made an appointment after agreeing on numbers. About an hour before we were going to come in, the salesperson calls and says they can't honor the trade value offer anymore - that the wholesaler that had bid on the Audi had bought something else. It was weird - they didn't even offer a lower trade offer (not that I would've taken it at that point). Personally, I think they sold the GTI at a better price to someone. I gave them a little piece of my mind, saying that they really should stand behind their offer and it was poor practice.

Anyway - called the initial dealership, and they stood behind the offer they had made earlier in the week.

So long story short (perhaps too late for that ), I was busy all day with kids' sports, but my wife went in and they had her in and out in a bit more than an hour with her new GTI. Carbon Steel Gray Autobahn DSG.

This dealership was one of those that had a lot of overpriced "forced" options and bogus fees, but made it up with an inflated discount on the car and a somewhat inflated trade-in value. That kinda put me off - I'd much rather them be more transparent and just say they're not discounting the new GTIs right now. But the bottom line was a good deal, so I had to force myself to focus on that and not all the add-ons they had.

And, most importantly, they did the same deal that the other dealership had backed out on.

roadburner

Correction: I was going by the dealer ad(no picture). I decoded the VIN and stopped by to look at it. The color is Marrakesh Brown:

She still likes the color, even though we would prefer Valencia Orange. I'll probably check it out Monday...

stickguy

Good deal. Glad she got something that will work better for her and that she will be happy with.

I still give it 6 months, tops.

roadburner

I won't even deal with a store that ladles on a boatload of overpriced add-ons...

breld

@roadburner said:
I won't even deal with a store that ladles on a boatload of overpriced add-ons...

Yup - I'm generally the same way, but when I accepted that the bottom line of their deal was the same as the one from the other dealer (that actually had "revoked" their offer), I just decided to go for it to get it done.

I kept on telling my wife that I had to force myself to look beyond all the "garbage" in the offer and just accept the final price as a good offer (which it was).

kyfdx

The bottom line is all that matters...

breld

Not that there aren't pics of the new GTI all over the 'net, but thought I'd go ahead and share some of the wife's new ride in our driveway.

breld

The differences in the sheetmetal are somewhat subtle, but very sharp in person.

I'm most impressed with the interior updates. The quality in the MK6 was impressive, but we really like the look in the new one. In particular, the display in between the guages is very upscale - much like the Touareg.

breld

Things that are noticeably absent are memory seats, an auto-dimming mirror and homelink.

The memory seats I can see, but on this top-of-the-line trim level, I would think the other two would be part of the package.

stickguy

very nice looking. and I think the auto mirror/homelink combo is an accessory that you can have added. I like homelink, but can certainly live with the openers (have them in the Volvo), and I actually don't like the auto dimming mirror!

that could be a perfect car for me, but I just can't live with the wheels. Besides not liking the look, there is way too little sidewall for around here in the NE, where most of the roads more resemble a war zone or the surface of the moon.

downsize the wheels to what was on the 2013 GLI we saw (I think that had 17" wheels, maybe 50 or 45 series). Even 45 is lower than I want unless pretty wide. 235/50-17 sounds good!

oh, I just realized what I did. speced out a 1.8T Golf instead!

qbrozen

sweet. But what's that weird knob between the seats where the manual shifter should be?

rayainsw

'I'm most impressed with the interior updates' - breld

Based on my test drive, I agree.

Congratulations & best of luck with the 2015!

= Ray

Driving a 'last generation' GTI .....

roadburner

Nice. My son and I were seriously looking at GTIs until we discovered that you couldn't get a decent stereo in the base "S" trim level- and neither of us want the added "features" you are stuck with in the SE and Autobahn trim levels...

corvette

Nice ride, breld. The interior and exterior are both nice refinements of the previous generation--I'm glad they didn't try to do anything radical with the styling.

roadburner

Here it is: 2014 X1 xDrive28i

breld

@qbrozen said:
sweet. But what's that weird knob between the seats where the manual shifter should be?

Yeah - I hear ya. Feels a bit weird having a GTI without the manual.

breld

Thanks for all the kind feedback everyone!

stickguy

interesting wrinkle today. Daughter said that yesterday one of her friends let her drive his (older) Mustang. A V6 stick. Said she did OK, and didn't even stall it. Must have remembered a few of the things I taught her 2 years ago when she was starting out. Even liked it.

and her best friend is willing to let her practice on her VW. a well worn GTI bomber. They are trading it in next month to get her a new one, so she is happy to let my daughter practice on the old one. Best of both worlds. She gets proficient on a stick, and it isn't my clutch!

if this works out, I could actually have approval to get a stick again when I replace the fleet of old sedans. Not sure I would end up doing it, but nice to have the option.'

Plus, a reason to test drive someone new manual trannys!

stickguy

oh, more appropriate for the manual trans thread, but my daughter now has 3 friends (all 18-19) at least that drive sticks. The Mustang mentioned and the GTI (and they date!), plus another guy that recently got a new orange Civic Si. Seems his father is some sort of big shot at a Honda dealer. Sounds like a keeper to me! so the death of the stick shift among the younger generation might not be complete.

ab348

I really like the new GTI. It's a shame VW offers it in such a limited range of colors. I see in the US they offer it in a dark blue and silver, neither of which is available in Canada. I would definitely prefer the plaid interior.

stever

Yet another poster seeking buying suggestions. Probably should link him to the one posted yesterday but this buyer needs a small commuter..

roadburner

Yeah ab348, I like the plaid cloth too; it gets nixed above the S trim level.

nyccarguy

@roadburner‌

That X1 is a nice rig. Let us know how it goes.

@breld‌

Mazel-Tov & congrats on the new GTI! Someone called that your time with the TT woudn't last the summer (@stickguy). I saw a new GTI when passing the VW dealer yesterday. I really like how they sharpened it up & modernized the look.

qbrozen

I like the color of that x1. What color is the interior, though? Looks more grey in the pics, but could be the lighting. Personally, I'd prefer tan with the brown exterior. Didn't your mother ever tell you brown and black don't go together?

qbrozen

Feel like I'm getting closer to putting the Benz up for sale, so of course I've been perusing what's out there (not that I ever stop doing that).

Of course, I have little clue of what I'll really end up with. My criteria aren't set in stone. I'd LIKE a reliable, inexpensive and easy to maintain, wagon/hatch. But some dedans could be fine, too, if the mood strikes. Trying to limit it to manual trans, but if its powerful enough, I suppose an auto would be OK under the right circumstances. I'm also not looking at anything with over 125k miles on it.

As always, the Protege5 is on the list, as is the mazda3s. Volvo v50 would be nice, but I think that would kill my "inexpensive and easy to maintain" requirement. Other possibilities include Spectra5, Astra, SX4, Soul, Rabbit, or maybe a Subaru of some sort. This one ain't bad.

But then I'll come across something like this, and think "yeah, I could make that work." Yeah, we all know I'm not right in the head.