Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

xwesx

roadburner said:

Looks nice.

Sweet! A tape deck! I want it.

roadburner

OK, the B7 sold. For $60,500(!)

Next up: 1978 635csi

rayainsw

It would obviously be completely unfair to compare the 2015 M235i to my current 2013 GTI. So, compared to my 2011 335iS:

The 2 is somewhat quicker than the 3 – in fact, published quarter mile times position it almost as quick as the 2007 Corvette I had.

The turbocharged straight 6 is just wonderful. TQ. Sound. Response.

The 2 is slightly smaller in the back seat and the trunk than my 3 – irrelevant to me. I did drive that ‘Vette for over 30,000 miles, as my daily driver & only vehicle.

The 2 has much better EPA MPG ratings than my 3 – almost 30% better in both city & highway. Taller overall gearing in top \ eighth in the 2 helps the highway number, no doubt. This appears to balance the smaller gas tank in the 2, roughly 15% smaller – though I would certainly still prefer larger.

The ZF 8 speed [ torque converter ] automatic in the 2 is a terrific device. In my 2 test drives, it appears to be somewhat better than the 7 speed DCT in my 3 – shifts as quickly, up & down – plus deals with stop & slow traffic better. And is geared to run 400 – 500 RPM less at highway speeds.

Handling response & feel in the 2 are very similar to my 3. Same with the [ now electric ] steering.

The MSRP of the 2, equipped as close as possible to my 2011 3, is actually less expensive. Of course, at close to $50K, this does not make it a bargain, exactly, but not unreasonably priced – to me.

I am well aware of some issues, for some people – like the lack of a true LSD. But I lived with the 335iS TQ and no LSD and rarely yearned for one.

= Ray

So – someone here talk me out of this?

rayainsw

qbrozen - congrats on the Fit - and best of luck!

Enjoy!

= Ray

Dash looks interesting in that pic......

stickguy

Crazy train in a fit. Interesting combo.

stever

Ok, that took me a few minutes.

Mr_Shiftright

great guitar intro!

breld

rayainsw said:

So – someone here talk me out of this?

Yeah, right. So what color is it?

rayainsw

The M235i is black with 'terra' [ brown ] seats and some door trim - the rest of the interior is black - with wood accents...

stickguy

Sounds nice.

Buy it.

henryn

An update on the SiriusXM renewal process. I just went through this last night, and they made it a little harder than it was previously to get the discounted rate.

Me: I have an XM radio coming up for renewal tomorrow, and I either want to get the same discounted rate I got last year, or I will cancel.

XM: Let me check. Have you received any discount offers in the mail?

Me: No, I haven’t. But I simply will not pay $180 for this service.

XM: Let me check. (pause 30 seconds) I do not find any discounts available for you.

Me: Okay, then cancel this subscription, please.

XM: Let me see if I understand you correctly. If you don’t get a discount, you will cancel?

Me: Yes, that is correct.

XM: Let me transfer you please hold.

Another voice, same song, second verse. Except the second time around, when I said, “Go ahead and cancel this account”, suddenly there was a half-price offer that they could let me have. Took me about 5 minutes on the phone, where it used to take 2 minutes to get the discounted rate.

I really don’t understand their thinking on this one. Are there that many people who simply let it slide, and pay twice as much as they have to?

stickguy

yes, there are. Many call centers like that (along with insurance companies, etc.) are instructed to always say no or deny a request. That way they win for anyone that won't push it. Only if you want to fight a battle of some sort will they eventually give in.

stever

Please take our survey:

What safety technologies do you want in your next car?

stickguy

took it. Just for you Steve.

stever

Man, I'm going to owe a lot of favors around here.

Thanks!

xwesx

You better believe you are!

stever

Best that I not mention that the house we're buying has a couple of extra bedrooms and that Las Cruces enjoys 350 days of sunshine annually. Dec./Jan highs are just under 60° F.

Bring your convertibles. Or just fly out and buy one here (if the house pans out ok, I should have room to store a few, just like @andre1969).

nyccarguy

@qbrozen‌

Congrats on the Fit!

@breld‌

Walking through the Temple parking lot today after services, I noticed a 2008 E90 328xi with Xenons & a Stick. Hmmmm;)

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

@qbrozen‌

Congrats on the Fit!

@breld‌

Walking through the Temple parking lot today after services, I noticed a 2008 E90 328xi with Xenons & a Stick. Hmmmm;)

Too late now!

nyccarguy

Funny because at one point I was considering a Civic Si, but can't have 2/3 cars that my wife can't drive. Case in point. Tomorrow my store is closed for the Jewish Holiday. My wife has to work. I'm in charge of the 3 kids tomorrow, so obviously I need the Pilot. So since she can't drive my Prelude, I've got to drop her off at work in the AM & pick her up later in the afternoon.

stickguy

NYC, at lest my wife can drive a stick. Real rusty at this point, and hasn't done it in probably 4 years or so, but in a pinch I am sure she can still do it.

so, I figure I could get a stick for "my" car. The next car would be what my daughter ultimately takes back to school, leaving me car less. which means (oh boy!) I have to find myself something.

the only thing I actually worry about is when she comes home without the car (probably flying home for shorter breaks), which would leave her needing to snitch the RDX. probably could work around that.

such dilemnas!

corvette

henryn said:

Are there that many people who simply let it slide, and pay twice as much as they have to?

Yes, there are. One of my best friends was paying for a second cell phone he couldn't use for years because it was broken, because he needed some sort of security code he couldn't find to cancel the account. Finally, they sent him a letter telling him the old phone would no longer work with their network, and cancelled his account on their own.

I like Alt Nation on XM, but have serious reservations about doing business with a provider when they make it very difficult to get to what I consider a fair price, and then require you to renegotiate every few months to keep that fair price.

ab348

I discovered tonight that a couple of hundred contacts on my iPhone disappeared when my former employer deleted my work email account. I might be a good customer for an Android phone now.

corvette

I'm not pleased with the battery life on my Nexus 4. The battery is near dead at the end of the day even with moderate use.

stickguy

Got ambitious today and replaced cabin filters in the TL. Even though it goes on sale later today. But I can at least feel good about it. Plus resolves only red mark on recent mufti point inspection from dealer.

They were nasty. And lots of crap in cavity. And nan quite a pain dealing with some of those screws. But I got it cleaned out, replaced and back together ok.

Just need to get some pictures taken and uploaded. And the CL ad out there. Hopefully get better action on thus than I did on the Volvo.

May not get waxed again. Actually looks pretty good after getting rained on. Water beaded nice. So will just let it go.

graphicguy

qbrozen said:

Thanks. Just a couple pics. It is raining, so this is the best I got so far. Looks a bit pink in this pic, but its definitely not in reality.

Q...I'm really liking that Fit. I didn't realize they changed it so much. Nice upgrades from the previous versions.

Congratz!

graphicguy

rayainsw said:

It would obviously be completely unfair to compare the 2015 M235i to my current 2013 GTI. So, compared to my 2011 335iS:

The 2 is somewhat quicker than the 3 – in fact, published quarter mile times position it almost as quick as the 2007 Corvette I had.

The turbocharged straight 6 is just wonderful. TQ. Sound. Response.

The 2 is slightly smaller in the back seat and the trunk than my 3 – irrelevant to me. I did drive that ‘Vette for over 30,000 miles, as my daily driver & only vehicle.

The 2 has much better EPA MPG ratings than my 3 – almost 30% better in both city & highway. Taller overall gearing in top \ eighth in the 2 helps the highway number, no doubt. This appears to balance the smaller gas tank in the 2, roughly 15% smaller – though I would certainly still prefer larger.

The ZF 8 speed [ torque converter ] automatic in the 2 is a terrific device. In my 2 test drives, it appears to be somewhat better than the 7 speed DCT in my 3 – shifts as quickly, up & down – plus deals with stop & slow traffic better. And is geared to run 400 – 500 RPM less at highway speeds.

Handling response & feel in the 2 are very similar to my 3. Same with the [ now electric ] steering.

The MSRP of the 2, equipped as close as possible to my 2011 3, is actually less expensive. Of course, at close to $50K, this does not make it a bargain, exactly, but not unreasonably priced – to me.

I am well aware of some issues, for some people – like the lack of a true LSD. But I lived with the 335iS TQ and no LSD and rarely yearned for one.

= Ray

So – someone here talk me out of this?

You can't be serious. Talk you out of it? This group? Hell, buy two! You'll be our hero!

rayainsw

graphicguy -

'Hell, buy two! You'll be our hero!'

Not helping........

nyccarguy

All set to go! Now all I have to do is wait until tomorrow afternoon. I'm approved for Subaru's (Chase) 2.9% financing for 72 months. I've got dinner at my in laws tonight, work tomorrow, then I'll pick it up tomorrow afternoon!

stickguy

good luck. I am sure you will enjoy it. If not, you can blame me!

Mr_Shiftright

Somehow I have the suspicious that this group does not, in fact, attempt to mimic AA, unless your vision of AA is one where the meeting goes like this: "Hey, man, have another drink, it's ok..." and they all chat Toga! Toga! as you chug a lug.

I am shocked...SHOCKED to have been mislead in coming here.

Mr_Shiftright

I got a Droid Maxx for the battery life. Got a great deal. $71 bucks total plus a better plan for $15 less money per month. It's not the newest and latest, but that battery goes for days. I looked at the Apple 6+ and the Galaxy Note 3----way too big for me. I use it for NAV in the car and podcasts as well. If you calculate the cost of Sirius and a NAV screen, it's a good way to go for *some* drivers.

corvette said:

I'm not pleased with the battery life on my Nexus 4. The battery is near dead at the end of the day even with moderate use.

stickguy

short battery life drives me nuts. My iphone 5 has been OK, but when apples start to go, they go quick. I made the mistake of doing the ios8 upgrade, and seem to notice the battery drops quicker ,though I did finally go turn off some features. Might be in my head.

I think a good way to go is a spare "jump" battery. I used to have an inherited phone from my sister that basically had a sister battery slapped on the back. that sucker lasted forever.

so what I was thinking is essentially a mini jump pack that you could plug in when needed, but something smaller than the phone itself. All battery, should be able to recharge a phone many times over, or just give you massive usage range.

graphicguy

Stick....battery life on the iPhone 6 is much better than my previous iPhone. And yes, turning off some of the background apps that you might have used last week, and then forgot about, helps tremendously.

Apple ended up replacing batteries in a lot of the iPhones because they really did die, all of a sudden, and at less than 2 years old. They did this quietly. And, unless you were in an Apple store, or called their support line, would they do it. Of course, if you called their support line, and your phone was older than 12 mos, you had to first agree to a service charge, which they waved. But again, you wouldn't have known that up front.

I do have a couple of those little "cylinder" batteries you see advertised on Facebook all the time. I throw them in my briefcase and use them when I'm not near a plug. They work well, and give me a full charge.

Mr Shftright...who's your mobile phone carrier? I mentioned I dumped AT&T for Verizon (who does SEEM to be better). But, I've got one more week to decide if I want to keep the iPhone 6 and/or Verizon.

qbrozen

Thanks, guys. 

Boy, let's see. No, shifty, this group is totally dysfunctional. I blame the lack of sponsors.

I have a small backup battery I got as a company xmas gift a couple of years ago. Works well. My iphone5 has to be charged daily. More often if I actually use it. I was looking at the comparison specs online and it appears the 6+ has quite a bit more life than the 6. Just dont carry it in your pocket, apparently, or it gets damaged.

So I already have 2 problems with the Fit. One of the rear seat buckle receivers isn't working and the stereo is problematic. This morning, it refused to play my phone through the speakers even though it said it was connected. Then, on the way home today, it just froze in the middle of the drive. Couldn't power it down or anything. Just a brick in the dash. I took video of it to show the service dept before turning the car off because I knew it would reset and they wouldn't experience the problem.

What else? Oh, the Leaf was inspected today for turn in and no extra charges for us. Then I met up with the Benz buyer and sent him on down the road. Bye-bye Benz. This was after driving a Ferarri F430 around a parking lot, courtesy of a gift from my wife. Pretty exciting car, even if the event itself was [non-permissible content removed]. Oh well.

stickguy

gee, a new Honda with glitches? I thought that was impossible! All kidding aside, while frustrating, should be easily fixable. Well, the buckle for sure. Radio, that can be a pain in the rump if intermittent, unless they want to just replace the unit (assuming that is the culprit).

Oh, on the buckles, one thing I learned on some car (not sure if it was my Honda) was that the buckles were not the same (for the middle and the outer on that buckled next to it) to make sure you did not use the wrong one. Something to check at least. of course, if I hallucinated the whole thing it will be a waste of your time!

and down a car in the fleet? You know what that means. Even more shocking, this means you have nothing but usable cars in the stable now, right?

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, Verizon. Good reception when other carriers fail my friends. Great for podcasts while on the road, and NAV is pretty glitch-free although it will lose GPS once in a great while. Recovers quickly, though (just after you've missed your turn)

Downside---tech support is good, but customer service very spotty. I'm developing the Shiftright "One Minute Verizon Representative Intelligence Test". If they pass, I'll continue to talk to them, otherwise it's "oops, gotta run. Baby threw up".

RE: Honda Fit---I could excuse some minor assembly or prep errors, but electronic glitches really bug me. You'd THINK they would have tested their units with the top 20 cell phones back in the ol' R&D department....oh, wait, maybe WE'RE the R&D department in the Brave New World of 2014?

graphicguy said:

Mr Shftright...who's your mobile phone carrier? I mentioned I dumped AT&T for Verizon (who does SEEM to be better). But, I've got one more week to decide if I want to keep the iPhone 6 and/or Verizon.

ab348

I had a bit of an unpleasant experience with my iPhone 5 last night that still baffles me. It was a work-issue phone so it had their email account set up by them, and I added my own Gmail account to it. Worked great, pretty seamless regardless of which one you used.

After I retired, the work email account stayed active for months. Finally they canned it. At some point between then and now, all the work contacts (which were about 90% of the entire Contacts file) disappeared from the phone. I don't know exactly when, but they are gone and there is no backup that is old enough to bring them back. What a dumb thing to tie the Contacts function to whether or not the email account that created it is still active. I would have thought it was a standalone thing.

gouldn

corvette said:

I'm not pleased with the battery life on my Nexus 4. The battery is near dead at the end of the day even with moderate use.

Same phone, EXACT same problem.

stickguy

well, I now have 2 cars on the market. People are going to think I am a curbstoner or something. Hopefully someone comes and buys at least one of them soon. I really need to thin out the fleet. I can barely keep one of mine exercised. No chance on having enough miles to keep 2 fresh. Plus I hate parking on the road, so whichever car is in the garage and blocked in never gets used.

Sandman6472

So far, love my XM but will be willing to let it go if I can't get it for the same price again next year...plenty of cd's and a flash drive with like over 800 songs so if they won't play nice, they'll be history next February 28th. But got a feeling that eventually, I'll get what I want.
When I got my smartphone back in February of 2013 I asked the guy for the easiest android phone they had and he sold me on the HTC One VX for a buck with a 2 year AT&T contract and it really is a great phone. May not have all the bells and whistles like so many others but I can handle it and it's just the right size. Not sure what I'll do when my commitment is up though I really like the LG L3 and the Samsung Galaxy 5 because I want at least a 5" screen. I'll probably wait till the Galaxy 6 comes out and spend a buck for the 5 and another 2 years...we have a 5 phone plan with the free everything and 10 gigs of data and never get near the limit. I pick up the tab for the kids because it really is cheaper that way, comes out to $35/phone account and we do like AT&T actually. Since I am pretty tech challenged, I don't need the fastest and the latest right away even though I like the fastest and the latest and want them deep down...I have patience. And since I got that power thingy from Amazon, I never seem to run out of power and hardly use it...nice to know it's there though just in case. Only drawback with the HTC is the battery can not be replaced...have to replace the phone as the only option. So come February 6th, we'll see how long I can go without doing something and then giving my middle kid my phone as she seems to like it...a win/win here!!!

The Sandman

Sandman6472

Wife finally came home last night and tells me our daughter wants her car back, the Mazda has been sitting at her place since mid July not being used while they have been sharing the Accent. But this new development might push the timeline up a bit here and the wife says she'll start test driving this week. I know she really wants the back up camera and have heard that it's gonna be standard equipment on all makes and models in the near future but not really sure if this is really true. Any insight from the experts here? She loves mine and put it on the top of her list for options she must have. And it has to be a 2015 model, no compromise on this variable. I just wish she would expand her model search and really try a good number of vehicles as there are so many good choices out there for the under $22k plus her car upper spending limit though I do think she'd step up to $25k all inclusive if the vehicle is that good and hits all the variables. And she plans on looking at both foreign and domestic this time around. For her, I like the Buick Encore or the upcoming Chevy Trax but she insists on a trunk for some reason. I think she'd like these small cuv's if she gave them a chance and plan on asking her to take the Tuscon for a few days to see if she could live without a trunk. Think she needs to expand her horizons here because seems like she wants to do the 10 year thing again, G-d knows why. Even I have rethought that long use plan I was stuck on and now know that I will get something after the Tuscon falls out of favor with me and don't think I'm gonna wait 8 model years like I did last time. Think by year 5, I'll become bored and will have a lot of miles racked up...I'll be at about 15k when year one is done if I keep going like I am now. And if I do go back to a second driving gig, that will definitely add to the mileage figures.
Needless to say, not so sure that she's going to wait till the end of the year now and a Thanksgiving timeline is more likely depending on the a/c situation and if she decides to fix it...the heat is still pretty intense down south here and no changes are due to mid November even though by the end of October the heat does break.

The Sandman

stickguy

there is a phase in over the next few years where all cars will have a backup camera. But many already do in MY 2015. The mazda 3 for 2015 has the camera on the touring level and above, and IMO that is the level she should look at. the "sweet spot" of equipment vs. price. That really sounds like the perfect car in your situation, a 3i touring.

corvette

qbrozen said:

This morning, it refused to play my phone through the speakers even though it said it was connected.

Is this over Bluetooth? I had no problems with VW's Bluetooth when I had an iPhone but it is very flaky with Android. May not be the car's fault.

corvette

gouldn said:

Same phone, EXACT same problem.

Today was a very light usage day, and over about 15 hours, it's down to 42%. It claims that Slacker Radio was responsible for 44% of the drain, although I streamed Slacker in the car for perhaps 30 minutes today. Slacker doesn't seem to be the best written app, but perhaps Android's app/battery management isn't as good as Apple's.

Michaell

sandman_6472 said:

Wife finally came home last night and tells me our daughter wants her car back, the Mazda has been sitting at her place since mid July not being used while they have been sharing the Accent. But this new development might push the timeline up a bit here and the wife says she'll start test driving this week. I know she really wants the back up camera and have heard that it's gonna be standard equipment on all makes and models in the near future but not really sure if this is really true. Any insight from the experts here? She loves mine and put it on the top of her list for options she must have. And it has to be a 2015 model, no compromise on this variable. I just wish she would expand her model search and really try a good number of vehicles as there are so many good choices out there for the under $22k plus her car upper spending limit though I do think she'd step up to $25k all inclusive if the vehicle is that good and hits all the variables. And she plans on looking at both foreign and domestic this time around. For her, I like the Buick Encore or the upcoming Chevy Trax but she insists on a trunk for some reason. I think she'd like these small cuv's if she gave them a chance and plan on asking her to take the Tuscon for a few days to see if she could live without a trunk. Think she needs to expand her horizons here because seems like she wants to do the 10 year thing again, G-d knows why. Even I have rethought that long use plan I was stuck on and now know that I will get something after the Tuscon falls out of favor with me and don't think I'm gonna wait 8 model years like I did last time. Think by year 5, I'll become bored and will have a lot of miles racked up...I'll be at about 15k when year one is done if I keep going like I am now. And if I do go back to a second driving gig, that will definitely add to the mileage figures.
Needless to say, not so sure that she's going to wait till the end of the year now and a Thanksgiving timeline is more likely depending on the a/c situation and if she decides to fix it...the heat is still pretty intense down south here and no changes are due to mid November even though by the end of October the heat does break.

The Sandman

sandy, the Hyundai Elantra has a backup camera in the upper trim levels - I've had one as a loaner while mine was in for service.

And I'm ready to take flak for what I say next - why not let her decide what her next car is? Don't push her to something she doesn't want. She wants a sedan; what's wrong with that?

I know we think we know everything about what everyone should drive - heck, that's what this board is all about - spending other people's money. But, in my role as a host, I've learned not to pass judgement on what folks want or what they're willing to spend.

Let things progress naturally - I'm sure she'll come to you with any questions.

stickguy

if I don't have to drive it, I don't care what other people get. Well, actually I do, but I can keep that to myself.

in our house, I could never let my wife totally loose, since I drive "her" car (which also happens to be the family/travel mobile) a lot, so I have to approve. And we do decide together what type makes sense. But past that, I let her decide. Even though this time, it cost me money. And dang it, that hurt. a lot!

qbrozen

Vette - yes, this was over BT. The radio totally freezing up was, by far, the bigger event, though.

The car is such a hoot to drive, though. And I have been revving the snot out of it (what's a break-in period?) while the OBC tells me I've been getting 33.7mpg. Curious what it will register when I'm actually trying to get good mileage.

Stick - yup, just 4 measly cars for us. I find it strange that we had a '12, '13, and '14, and now have swapped the '12 for a '15.

stickguy

hmm., maybe if I get the kid set, when it is time to hand whatever I am driving at the time down to her, I should try out a fit. Could be fun, and cheap. And absolutely will leave extra room in the garage!

Michaell

stickguy said:

if I don't have to drive it, I don't care what other people get. Well, actually I do, but I can keep that to myself.

in our house, I could never let my wife totally loose, since I drive "her" car (which also happens to be the family/travel mobile) a lot, so I have to approve. And we do decide together what type makes sense. But past that, I let her decide. Even though this time, it cost me money. And dang it, that hurt. a lot!

stick, there have been talks here about the wife's next ride in a few years. I think she's landed on the Volvo XC70. Since her car also functions as the family car and I'll drive it as well, I too will have some say.