Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

nyccarguy

@stickguy‌

Car shopping is officially on hold for now. Wife & I had plans to renovate our kitchen. Even with me providing the bulk of material (I've only asked contractors to provide labor, lumber, & sheetrock), we aren't going to have enough funds. So our plan is to save my "car payment" for the next year or so ($572 per month, so I'll transfer an even $600 per month into savings). I love cars too much to drive something that's not a cool car. What does that mean for me as far as edmunds goes? I should be posting more on "The Future of The Manual Transmission" and less on "Mid-Sized Sedans 2.0." You guys are too good a group to revoke my CCBA card. After "punches" in 2007 (X3), 2008 (E30), 2009 (TSX), 2011 (Pilot), & 2012 (E90), I decided that I'm going to buy a new set of springs, shocks, struts, snow shoes, & winter wheels for my beloved Prelude and reinstate it as my daily driver. I've taken exquisite care of it mechanically & driving it does not reveal the 153,000 miles on the odometer.

Sorry I've got no test drive news to report. On the home front though, my best friend saw gas over $5/ gallon in Nyack today.

I also want to thank the hosts who provided me with a wealth of information and numbers at my request. You guys rock.

Sandman6472

So far, the wife is content driving the kids Accent as her d d but something tells me that this might start getting a bit old for her in a few weeks and that by Labor Day or even before, she's going to want to do something with her ride. I'm hoping that she'll finally decide to stay with a compact and get either another Mazda3s or an Elantra GLS and be done with it. Just have a feeling in my gut that by then, she'll finally be ready to do something and move on here. Funny thing is her auto tag for the 2015 period came the other day so no matter when she purchases, she'll have to pay an additional auto tag fee for her new ride just like I had to do last year...my tag was due on the plate by November 1st and I purchased on the 31st or December 1st, forgot already. Either way, I doubt she'll make it through till the last week of December like she wants to do! And I've been stoking the fire by sending her articles about new cars recently to show her what's out there.

The Sandman

au1994

@breld said:

Yeah, sorry about that Hopefully it goes to a good home, preferably yours of course!

stickguy

Good luck with the prelude. If that doesn't really work can always buy a beater or a cheap lease. Looks like you can get into a corolla or Camry for less than $200 with little OOP if need be.

I am in same boat with cash flow thanks to college. Will likely only execute half my plan. Sell the Volvo, but keep the TL.

corvette

nyc, I understand. I am turning my covered porch into a heated and cooled sunroom so I can have a place to leave the dog without putting her in the crate. She tolerates the crate pretty well now, but still isn't fond of it.

I doubt I will get back what I'm spending on it, but it will at least add heated and cooled square footage to the house when it's time to sell. Only downside is that I will no longer have a back porch/grilling area. Maybe next year I'll fix that!

Good luck with the kitchen renovations. Last year, I did a light renovation (painted cabinets, new countertop/backsplash, new sink, faucet, dishwasher). It was a big mess at the time, but still looks great.

nyccarguy

Exactly. I know that 153K doesn't exactly make it a "spring chicken," but there are cars out there with as many or more miles. I know off the top of my head that you & roadburner are driving.

Driving stick again on a daily basis might rekindle my love affair for the manual transmission opening the door for future punches.

Like you said. If things with my Prelude don't work out, I can always cheap lease something.

graphicguy

NYC....I'm betting with the freshening of the Prelude, you'll get another 100K out of it with little problem. That's what Hondas are known for.

corvette....we're going through the same thing now.....a lite refurb of my house. The wife just got hers sold. The plan is to get mine sold, combine the two and buy something we both like. So far, it's been touch and go. Real estate market in Cincinnati and surrounding area is supposed to be strong. We'll see.

Gotta figure out what part of town we want to live, too.

Michaell

@graphicguy said:
corvette....we're going through the same thing now.....a lite refurb of my house. The wife just got hers sold. The plan is to get mine sold, combine the two and buy something we both like. So far, it's been touch and go. Real estate market in Cincinnati and surrounding area is supposed to be strong. We'll see.

Gotta figure out what part of town we want to live, too.

We just sold my wife's grandmother's townhome in Ft. Collins recently. Hadn't been updated in over 20 years, yet we sold it in one day for asking price - all cash offer.

Can't speak to the Queen City, but the housing market here in CO is quite strong.

Best of luck as you combine households.

graphicguy

Micheall....thanks. I did some work in Ft Collins (HP) for a couple of years. Nice area.

I think mine will sell pretty easily. I replaced formica that came with the house with granite. Floors are either tile, wood, and carpet in bedrooms...not new, but not trashed, either. Just put a coat of paint on the bedrooms and bathrooms.

New(er) dimensional 30 year roof, new HVAC, no water issues, concrete is all in decent shape. Real estate lady says to throw a sign up, my price is right, and I'm good to go.

Again, we'll see.

kyfdx

Built our house in '98 with Corian countertops.. Now, wife wants granite.. Of course, the top on just the island is 39" by 75"... Add an L-shaped counter top of about 36 sq.ft more.. new undermount sink, new faucet, new downdraft cooktop... and, tiled backsplash to go with the new granite.. Probably looking at $8K - $10K.

Also... wants to "update" the bathroom to get rid of the polished brass look... and, the full width mirror above the double vanity... So.. drywall, hanging mirrors in frames... new light fixtures above the sinks (to get rid of polished brass trim), paint, two sink faucets/trim, new tub faucet/drain, new shower faucet/trim/showerhead, new shower glass (gold trim there, too), and a new toilet... just because.. $3K-$4K, if I can talk her out of the "heavy glass" shower door.. Maybe, $5K if she goes all deluxe. I wonder how long "satin nickel" will be in style?

Oh yeah.. tuition is due on August 15th.

breld

@nyccarguy said:
Driving stick again on a daily basis might rekindle my love affair for the manual transmission opening the door for future punches.

Of course, you may also find that the manual transmission for occasional driving was just fine, and you miss the automatic for daily driving.

But sounds like a good plan - you can always add a cheap lease or something later on if need be.

breld

So we're packing up the minivan tonight and heading up to Yellowstone tomorrow morning.

About a 10 hour drive from here, but probably a bit longer when you take into account we'll have four kids in the car. I've never been, and my wife hasn't been there since she was a kid, so we're looking forward to it. This is our annual roadtrip vacation that we insist on so the kids get an appreciation for a more traditional getaway (last year was South Dakota).

Have a great week everyone!

breld

@au1994 said:
Yeah, sorry about that Hopefully it goes to a good home, preferably yours of course!

Well, following that thread from the other site, apparently the buyer of the ZHP from Nebraska paid for an inspection and was committed to buying it (so he thought), but the seller sold it out from under him to a local buyer for full price.

Certainly nothing legally wrong with what she did, but I think that's pretty bad. Once I had a committed buyer for the wife's E91, I had plenty of interested buyers on the car, but just told them a sale was pending.

jayrider

@breld said:
So we're packing up the minivan tonight and heading up to Yellowstone tomorrow morning.

Lots of stuff to see in Yellowstone and you'll love the smell of sulfur in the morning.

Michaell

@jayrider said:
Lots of stuff to see in Yellowstone and you'll love the smell of sulfur in the morning.

Just hope the volcano doesn't erupt! It's only 60,000 years overdue.

rayainsw

I took my Daughter to Yellowstone a few years ago.

Terrific trip!

Enjoy - and take pictures!

= Ray

Sipping a vodka sour watching Old Faithful erupt !

ab348

@kyfdx said:
I wonder how long "satin nickel" will be in style?

I just read recently that brass is the next trendy finish in homes. Seriously, I couldn't believe it.

I wasn't a fan of it in the '80s/'90s and I'm still not.

stever

@kyfdx, tell your missis that granite is now passé. As you know, we're house-shopping and the kitchens that grab our eye are tile. But that's a Southwest thing too.

Absent today's flat, the '09 minivan seems to be doing ok, but neither of us find the seats as comfy as the old Quest. So much for 8 way power. We think we'll give it a year - time enough to move this load to TN, another load to NM, some local hauling if/when we find a permanent spot and moving the TN load out.

Then it's on to something smaller. But the punch will likely happen in 2016.

Sandman6472

We need to redo the kitchen and the master bath but the wife has no interest right now so I might just have to get 'er done like when I had the kids bath done a few years back. Figure a good $8k to $10K for the master bath and maybe $13K for the kitchen when all is said and done. Just have to get the wife's o k and then I could start making plans but she's not quite sure about spending that much right now. The bath is more in need actually so we shall see. It's gonna be a messy job and we'll need to seal it off with plastic from the master bedroom. Luckily it's just the two of us here now so we can use the kids bath and even sleep on that side of the house. Just have to start looking for a contractor and go from there.
Gotta feeling her new vehicle will come first to be honest as I've set my time frame for next spring to start the bath reno...once season ends down here, workers have more time on their hands and are looking for work to get them thru the summer.

The Sandman

xwesx

@breld said:
Looking for a little advice regarding snow tires. I know I'm at least a few months away, but we're gonna need to get snows for three of our cars this season - the Ody, A3 and GTI.

I would provide advice about tire longevity and rim size for winter tires, but I'm not sure there is any point given none of your cars are likely to see more than one winter under your ownership!

---

I find that Blizzak is a pretty stout tire on pure ice, but the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice blows it away in deep snow traction while still providing excellent ice traction. In addtion, the UGI's wear rate is approximately 50% of the Blizzak, meaning you can expect greatly improved longevity. Price is comparable (perhaps favoring the UGI a little), but you also start with 13/32 of tread depth vs. 12/32 for most models of Blizzak. I put 30,500 miles on my last set of UGI (2010 Forester) over five winters, leaving it with 7/32 in tread depth (winter rating down to 6/32). I replaced those with a new set of UGI after trying Continental (ExtremeWinterContact) and Blizzak (WS70) on other cars in the interim, but winter's not here yet, so have not been able to test the new tires out!

As for rim size, I tend to drop one (or two) 1" of rim diameter to save on the cost of the tire. Width of the tire is a bit of a crapshoot: skinnier will make for a little better traction in some situations and worse in others, so why bother? I alt-size a smaller rim however it most closely approximates the overall tire circumference of the stock rubber so that my odometer is minimally affected.

Finally, I do not run TPMS in my winter rims. Yeah, the light comes on the dash for half of the year, but I see no reason to fork over money for a nanny tech (personal preference). So, with a set of rims w/ tires, my initial investment is 800-1000 depending on the rim type and sourcing (new vs used, steel vs alloy), but I have recouped the added investment after two years (four seasonal changes) via shop savings.

nyccarguy

@kyfdx‌

I know granite has been "it" for quite a while. Quartz seems to be the new "thing."

Funny, our master bathroom is polished brass. Satin Nickel & Brushed Nickel are still quite popular. I'm a big fan of chrome in the bathroom. Classic. Never goes out of style.

kyfdx

Of course, none of that is a need.... If we were switching, we would do granite mostly because we like it, not just for resale.. The bathroom thing starts with getting rid of that countertop to ceiling, wall to wall mirror over the double vanity.. That's the big update she wants (not cost big, just big on her list).. But, of course, what's the point of updating the bathroom, if you don't really update the bathroom..

You can rationalize anything, once you get started...

corvette

xwesx, I've never had to do it, but having to have TPMS reprogrammed for each wheel swap sounds really annoying. Then again, having the light on half the year (closer to 1/3 the year where I live) is also annoying.

roadburner

My MS3 and 328i both have TPMS and they do not need reprogramming when I swap my winter tires on or off...

au1994

@breld said:

I saw that. Certainly not illegal but definitely bad manners at the least!

Enjoy the trip! This is a beautiful and fascinating country, kudo's for getting out and seeing it!

ab348

@kyfdx said:
Of course, none of that is a need.... If we were switching, we would do granite mostly because we like it, not just for resale.. The bathroom thing starts with getting rid of that countertop to ceiling, wall to wall mirror over the double vanity.. That's the big update she wants (not cost big, just big on her list).. But, of course, what's the point of updating the bathroom, if you don't really update the bathroom..

You can rationalize anything, once you get started...

When I bought this house 17 years ago, the bathroom was the one thing I wanted to update ASAP. I had it done by a friend who was a Mr. Fix-it type, and since I was broke after just buying the house, he did it as cheaply as he could. It actually has held up very well but now I am itching to have it re-done with more ambitious changes, but the cost is still a real concern. Bathrooms can get expensive in a hurry, especially if, as in my case, you want to replace the bathtub/shower.

Michaell

@ab348 said:
When I bought this house 17 years ago, the bathroom was the one thing I wanted to update ASAP. I had it done by a friend who was a Mr. Fix-it type, and since I was broke after just buying the house, he did it as cheaply as he could. It actually has held up very well but now I am itching to have it re-done with more ambitious changes, but the cost is still a real concern. Bathrooms can get expensive in a hurry, especially if, as in my case, you want to replace the bathtub/shower.

We've been in our house 14 years now and the master bath is one room we'd like to update. We're lucky that my step-son has the skills to install tile, but it's just a matter of knowing that we'd be without our shower for a week or more while the work is being done.

rayainsw

I really want to update my garage.

By installing a new car...

= Ray

yuk, yuk, yuk.....

stickguy

Ray, that is the room in my house that needs an update the most too. All the rest have been done!

qbrozen

We set out to update ours finally. I got as far as replacing the toilet and roughing in a combo steam shower/whirlpool tub, which is really really cool. Then I stopped. Still haven't finished the floor or walls surrounding the shower, nor have I gotten around to replacing the vanity. The biggest remaining part is converting the old built-in stall shower into something else. Hell, we still haven't even decided what that something else is. Either another closet or a place for a 2nd vanity.

On the car topic, only got 1 nibble on the benz so far. We'll see if he actually shows up tonight. He sounded pretty interested. Saw the car in person in front of the house and was complimentary on its condition.

I've got 2 days before it goes back in the garage till we return from vacation in mid August. Then it goes on Ebay.

corvette

@roadburner said:
My MS3 and 328i both have TPMS and they do not need reprogramming when I swap my winter tires on or off...

Do you have the summer tires dismounted and the winters reinstalled on the same wheels? I was referring to having winter/summer sets of wheels. With the RF sensor-based systems, I thought you had to have the system mated to the sensors in each set of wheels when they were swapped out.

roadburner

@corvette said:
Do you have the summer tires dismounted and the winters reinstalled on the same wheels? I was referring to having winter/summer sets of wheels. With the RF sensor-based systems, I thought you had to have the system mated to the sensors in each set of wheels when they were swapped out.

I have separate wheel/tire sets. The BMW's wheels/TPMS came from Tire Rack while the Mazda's OEM wheels and OEM TPMS came from two different eBay sellers.

In both cases I just swap the wheels out and drive off- although I DO use the BMW's OBC TPMS reset function once I get the tire pressures set to spec.

I prefer to minimize the number of tire mountings on each set of wheels. The tire shop I use is very good, but I like to minimize opportunities for inadvertent damage...

xwesx

@corvette said:

xwesx, I've never had to do it, but having to have TPMS reprogrammed for each wheel swap sounds really annoying. Then again, having the light on half the year (closer to 1/3 the year where I live) is also annoying.

I can scale the "annoying factor" by its impact on my wallet, so the light wins!

As RB mentioned, the manual reprogramming is mostly a thing of the past, or so I understand. I'm not sure how my Fiesta's system works, but as long as the TPMS sensors on the Subaru are set to the proper brand frequency, my understanding is that the system re-mates itself within the first few minutes of driving. Even after mounting the "summer" tires on the car after their six+ month hiatus, the light stays on for 5-10 minutes. Once it goes out, it's good.

On the Fiesta, the light simply doesn't come on when the stock rims are mounted. That car is a little more annoying than the Subaru in that every time I start the car, the TPMS light starts in the off condition, then blinks after a minute or so, then goes steady after a few more seconds (the Subaru's light simply stays in a steady-on state).

qbrozen

Make that 2 nibbles on the benz. But I rejected the 2nd inquirer and told them to go find a Saturn or Protégé because you don't buy a near 30-year-old German car for your daily transportation that you need to rely on.

qbrozen

Weird. 3rd call today on it. Huh.

corvette

Thanks, roadburner and xwesx, I had no idea that the RF-based systems had improved in that regard!

kyfdx

Another discussion of the "Help Me Choose" variety that could use some input... Thanks!

http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/19362/acura/tl/help-me-choose-an-older-sedan?new=1

nyccarguy

I scheduled my lease end inspection for next Wednesday. They come out to my job, look at the car, make some notes on its condition, snap some pictures, make sure I have 2 keys, & an owners manual. I can then view the report online & either fix or let BMW charge me when I turn it in. There were a few light scrapes on the rear bumper which I buffed out in no time (thank-you Griot's Garage Random Orbital & Machine Polish). Then I decided to give it a bath with the kiddos (there is nothing cuter than my 2 1/2 year old daughter saying: "Look Daddy, I made your BW all shiny.")

Summer vacation 2014 has been a stay-cation so far. We went to see the Statue of Liberty last week, went to the beach here in Stamford, went to Jones Beach, visited Lake Compounce (amusement park in Bristol, CT), hired a baby sitter so I could pay tennis & have lunch with my wife, the wife worked a few days so I got to play "daddy day care."

Starting tomorrow, we are going to branch out a little bit, but not too much. 1st stop will be Sesame Place (Langhorn, PA), then we are driving to Hershey Park tomorrow night. We'll leave Hershey on Friday & head to Gaitherberg, MD (DC Suburb) to visit some family for a cousin's 1st birthday party. Heading home on Sunday (not happy about that, but gave the wife a "yes dear."). Back to work on Monday.

Michaell

@nyccarguy said:
I scheduled my lease end inspection for next Wednesday. They come out to my job, look at the car, make some notes on its condition, snap some pictures, make sure I have 2 keys, & an owners manual. I can then view the report online & either fix or let BMW charge me when I turn it in. There were a few light scrapes on the rear bumper which I buffed out in no time (thank-you Griot's Garage Random Orbital & Machine Polish). Then I decided to give it a bath with the kiddos (there is nothing cuter than my 2 1/2 year old daughter saying: "Look Daddy, I made your BMW all shiny.")

Is it just me, or does that seem early?

Summer vacation 2014 has been a stay-cation so far. We went to see the Statue of Liberty last week, went to the beach here in Stamford, went to Jones Beach, visited Lake Compounce (amusement park in Bristol, CT), hired a baby sitter so I could pay tennis & have lunch with my wife, the wife worked a few days so I got to play "daddy day care."

Starting tomorrow, we are going to branch out a little bit, but not too much. 1st stop will be Sesame Place (Langhorn, PA), then we are driving to Hershey Park tomorrow night. We'll leave Hershey on Friday & head to Gaitherberg, MD (DC Suburb) to visit some family for a cousin's 1st birthday party. Heading home on Sunday (not happy about that, but gave the wife a "yes dear."). Back to work on Monday.

Same here. The week in Santa Fe at the end of May was about it as far as vacations went. My wife and step-daughter went back to Santa Fe at the end of June / beginning of July, and I flew my son out from CA so we could have some guy time here in CO.

Taking another week off at the beginning of September to work the golf tournament and drive some nice BMW's. Got my uniform today - training is on 8/24 which is when I should find out what shifts I work - supposed to work 3 or 4 half day shifts over the 7 days of the tournament. The rest of the time I'll be at the golf course spectating.

My sister, OTOH, is in Florida this week with her family taking in the sights. WDW, Universal, etc., plus a day trip yesterday to Cape Canaveral to watch some satellites being launched. The 5 of them flew from San Diego to Orlando and are tooling around in a rented Ford Edge.

qbrozen

I might be off the grid for a little while. We'll see. Flying out to vegas tomorrow night, then beginning a 2-week trek around the southwest, including Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Virginia City, Reno, St George, Zion, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, etc, etc. Never been out there before. Rental is a small SUV of some sort. Hope that's enough.

Michaell

@qbrozen said:
I might be off the grid for a little while. We'll see. Flying out to vegas tomorrow night, then beginning a 2-week trek around the southwest, including Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Virginia City, Reno, St George, Zion, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, etc, etc. Never been out there before. Rental is a small SUV of some sort. Hope that's enough.

You are covering a lot of ground with that list. Lots of empty stretches of highway. I think you'll enjoy the scenery, especially around St. George / Zion / Grand Canyon (north or south rim?).

Having the SUV will be good - watch out for Jackalopes!

qbrozen

North, I guess. I have no clue what I'm doing. But home base will be Tahoe for 1 week (north) and then St George for 1 week. We are taking our time with most things. For instance, flying into Vegas Thurs night but not getting to Tahoe till Sat night after a Fri night stay somewhere in between and a Sat visit to Yosemite. The longest nonstop drive I have planned so far is the 8 hrs to get from Tahoe to St George. From there, I think all the visits are just a few hrs away.

Michaell

@qbrozen said:
North, I guess. I have no clue what I'm doing. But home base will be Tahoe for 1 week (north) and then St George for 1 week. We are taking our time with most things. For instance, flying into Vegas Thurs night but not getting to Tahoe till Sat night after a Fri night stay somewhere in between and a Sat visit to Yosemite. The longest nonstop drive I have planned so far is the 8 hrs to get from Tahoe to St George. From there, I think all the visits are just a few hrs away.

Not really been to Tahoe, but have been to (and through) St. George multiple times. DIL was born and raised there and that's where the kids got married.

It'll be interesting to get your take on desert weather ... highs in St. George are hovering around the triple digit mark for the next few days.

slorenzen

@qbrozen said:
North, I guess. I have no clue what I'm doing. But home base will be Tahoe for 1 week (north) and then St George for 1 week. We are taking our time with most things. For instance, flying into Vegas Thurs night but not getting to Tahoe till Sat night after a Fri night stay somewhere in between and a Sat visit to Yosemite. The longest nonstop drive I have planned so far is the 8 hrs to get from Tahoe to St George. From there, I think all the visits are just a few hrs away.

Hopefully all the smoke from forest fires will clear by the time you get to Yosemite. It's breathtaking when you can see it!

http://www.yosemiteconservancy.org/webcams-videos

Mr_Shiftright

Hey you guys, give qbrozen a break! First it's triple digit heat, now it's forest fires---LOL! Can't we throw in something more encouraging?

Michaell

@Mr_Shiftright said:
Hey you guys, give qbrozen a break! First it's triple digit heat, now it's forest fires---LOL! Can't we throw in something more encouraging?

Here's a positive --- you won't encounter the type of traffic you're used to seeing in NJ! If you're taking US 95 in Nevada, you can probably count the cars per hour going the other way with the fingers on both hands.

xwesx

@slorenzen said:
It's breathtaking when you can see it!

Hey, if the smoke is thick enough, it might be breathtaking anyway!

tifighter

Add a punch.

It will probably make Q cringe, but I leased a 15 Leaf SL. 24 months. We recently moved to a townhouse in a denser urban area; one car garage and street parking is tough. The Accord was just too tight, and my wife wants nothing to do with squeezing the RDX in the garage.

My usage/commute is freeway, stop and go and predictable. I can charge at work and home. Western Washington has a good charging infrastructure with 90% of the electricity coming from hydro (and its cheap). Drove 26 miles this morning and still showing 75% chg, though that will obviously change in winter. Quiet, rides nicely, good torque keeps it from feeling too slow. I like it. I also drove the i3, which is a very interesting car and worthy of its own post, but I could lease 2 Leafs for the same cost.

Two year lease seems okay; big commitment for a CCBA guy, but the EV landscape will probably be pretty different in 2016 anyhow.

SO the city car is covered. The RDX will get replaced with the next 6 mos to year, and will be replaced with something for ski and outdoor trips, maybe a bit more space.

(Punch streak - 2008, 09, 11, 12, 13, 14. 2010 was a motorcycle year...)

ab348

Did you trade the Accord?

I dunno, we may have to drum you out of the automotive forum now that you have a Leaf. Perhaps someone can recommend a good appliance forum for you to participate in.

qbrozen

Hope it works for you ti. Can't wait till our lease is up. Its just such a waste for us.