Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy

Bradd, thanks for the Legacy update. If those are the only drawbacks, nothing that bothers me. I always touch the trunk lid, though rarely open it. and I never let the car go below about 1/4 tank, so DTE to me is more of an academic exercise.

If you pulled ~ 29 overall, on a new engine, I suspect that a straight highway run down south could easily move into the lower-mid 30s. That is a lot of range for sure.

the moonroof? Like everything else, you can get used to what you got. I agree that other than that feature, car is just about perfectly equipped and a pretty good price for what you get.

slorenzen

I've been told that since all cars have their fuel pump inside the tank, and are actually cooled by the fuel, that it's a bad idea to run the tank down all the time, as it makes the pump run hotter, thus shortening it's life.

And when the fuel pump dies, you're stuck, usually without any warning.

Just sayin'...

corvette

My E90 was willing to give you an odd number of miles to empty, e.g., 17 miles or 391 miles. I liked that. The VW and most other cars I've had round off to the nearest 5 mile increment.

stever

I've heard that for decades too, but usually wait until I'm below a quarter of a tank to fill up and I see the low fuel light often enough that I don't freak out when the light comes on. After all, gas is heavy and there's no use hauling extra weight around unnecessarily and hammering your mileage.

I never was able to get within 2 gallons of the 20 gallons the Quest tank held, but I've come within a half gallon of going "dry" in the Grand Caravan. Never had a fuel pump die on me - maybe this van will be the first.

In other news, today Edmunds.com launched Lot Buddy, a new location-aware feature that enables car shoppers to instantly unlock Price Promise no-haggle offers when they step onto a dealer's lot. This is the first car-shopping tool to offer locked-in pricing without requiring a buyer's personal information.*

Mobile visitors can download the app at http://apps.edmunds.com/lotbuddy.

*(I know you guys don't care about hiding your personal information from the dealers - I bet most of y'all are on 10+ dealer speed dials.)

nyccarguy

Stick

I'm not saying those are drawbacks. Just small nits to pick on an otherwise very well designed & engineered automobile.

stickguy

Deciding that I can get something without a moonroof would certainly be budget friendly. And open up options I like.

though fate continues to conspire against us. Instead of looking at Accords tonight, we went out to look at refrigerators. Ours decided to crap out again. Same problem I fixed 1-2 years back, and I am not dumping another $300 into it. So, the budget takes another hit.

so, anyone have strong opinions on brands?

also, after looking, wife decided that she really likes the french door bottom freezer style. Neither of us cares for the usability of the side by side we have now. Of course, that style costs 50% more it seems, factoring in that they tend to start at a higher trim level.

I really hate spending my car money on an appliance, but can't have the beer getting warm.

stever

I love bottom freezers but would prefer to have a single door up top. I swear the French doors are just popular because the patent finally expired a few years ago. Sure seems like most brands have gone from "durable" goods to fridges that conk out in 5 years.

corvette

When I bought my house, it came with a giant side-by-side which was so large it blocked two light switches (too large for the opening). When it crapped out, I got a smaller Frigidaire top freezer model. Sears didn't have free delivery and their model didn't include an icemaker. Bought at Lowe's and got free delivery, free disposal of the old fridge, and the Lowe's model came with an icemaker.

It used to be that the bottom freezer models were more efficient, but energy standards have improved, and they're pretty similar in terms of energy consumption. I also prefer the bottom freezer, but they were significantly more expensive than the one I bought.

graphicguy

laurasdada said:

Holy price per gallon inflation, Batman! Previously posted bargain priced Costco PUG has jumped .14/gallon! I wonder if there was a one week "Grand Opening" price? Still, .10/gal less than next least expensive that I"m aware of, but is it worth paying $50/yr? I'm not sure I need the rest of Costco services, but I'll evaluate. Shouldn't be needing new tires for at least a few years, XF sneakers only have ~9500 miles on 'em. Not shopping for a family, so no 5 gallon just of mayo required...

LD...is Costco worth it? Two words....toilet paper. Your savings on toilet paper alone will pay for the membership. Plus, there's no better place to go every weekend for a bunch of free hors d'oeuvres for lunch time activities.

Good (Tier One) gas and the cheapest prices around are just icing on the cake.

qbrozen

stick - I suggest Kenmore. And, actually, there is a Sears appliance outlet near the Franklin Mills mall where we got a Kenmore stove at quite a discount because it had a dent on the side (which, of course, is hidden by a cabinet anyway).

stickguy

There is a Sears outlet a mile from my house. Went there last night. Nothing that made sense for us

Going to a local appliance place shortly, then if needed hh Gregg and real sears

laurasdada

LD...is Costco worth it? Two words....toilet paper. Your savings on toilet paper alone will pay for the membership. Plus, there's no better place to go every weekend for a bunch of free hors d'oeuvres for lunch time activities.

Good (Tier One) gas and the cheapest prices around are just icing on the cake.

Thanks, yes, I"ve decided to sign up. My old man eyes must have deceived me, the price is back to ~.24/gal less than my cadre of usual suspect stations.

Wandered around Costco last night, you're right, I'll likely save $ on more than just gas. Plus, their mini-cafe food ain't bad! $1.50 for a foot long dog and unlimited fountain drink! Now I finally have a place to take dates!

laurasdada

Another random thought: Pulled up next to a Fisker Karma on the way to work this morning. Imposing, handsome beast. Perhaps Caddy should have grabbed this from the defunct Fisker corp. and turned it into the ELR!

xwesx

qbrozen said:

stick - I suggest Kenmore. And, actually, there is a Sears appliance outlet near the Franklin Mills mall where we got a Kenmore stove at quite a discount because it had a dent on the side (which, of course, is hidden by a cabinet anyway).

I have had very good experience with my Kenmore appliances, overall, as well. Of course, Sears loves to try and sell their extended warranty for about 50% of the price of the unit itself, but I always tell them, "If the unit doesn't last longer than five years, I'll take the money I saved on the warranty and go buy a different brand!"

Our refrigerator is an Amana - basic model with freezer on bottom and a single upper door, and we like it quite well so far. We've only had it for less than two years, though, but the pricing was really good for what we received. We purchased from Sears.

stever

Sears doesn't make their appliances so who knows, a Kenmore frig could be an Amana (which is really a Whirlpool, at least this year). Who makes what? (appliance411.com).

And you thought platform sharing got confusing....

kyfdx

Costco (or Sams)... if you drink bottled water (you know.. like when working out, etc), you can pay for your membership just on that savings.. Laundry detergent, toilet paper.. plus really good meat (where we live, anyway).

kyfdx

We had good luck shopping HHGregg, when getting a washer/dryer. One of those places that can always find another $100 off, if you are on the fence.

stevedebi

stever said:

...

In other news, today Edmunds.com launched Lot Buddy, a new location-aware feature that enables car shoppers to instantly unlock Price Promise no-haggle offers when they step onto a dealer's lot. This is the first car-shopping tool to offer locked-in pricing without requiring a buyer's personal information.*

Mobile visitors can download the app at http://apps.edmunds.com/lotbuddy.

*(I know you guys don't care about hiding your personal information from the dealers - I bet most of y'all are on 10+ dealer speed dials.)

What about the large percentage of the world who doesn't use IOS? Is there an Android app?

stickguy

Well we ordered a fridge. As expected, my wife wouldn't settle for basic and blew my budget (aka cheap). Visited a long time local shop that has own delivery and service. They don't have lower line stuff to weed through. After much looking and discussion with old guy who has been doing this for at least 40 years and owns the place I think, and getting price options, settled on a medium fancy French door whirlpool.

Only worry is that it is said to be noisier than it her brands, but hopefully won't be enough to bother us. Some people are OCD on noise I think. Same with cars. I thought my accord was quiet. Others found I t too noisy to drive.

One hassle is we won't get it until next week. That is an advantage to lowes I guess, but I still like having the local folks there to deal with issues. Just a bit longer using the old beer fridge in the garage.

Still, quite fancy and list of space and features. Hopefully noise does not bother us. Just can't wait to get it here.

Darned things have gotten expensive though

ab348

stever said:

Sears doesn't make their appliances so who knows, a Kenmore frig could be an Amana (which is really a Whirlpool, at least this year). Who makes what? (appliance411.com).

And you thought platform sharing got confusing....

I have a Kenmore fridge and it turns out to be a Frigidaire.

laurasdada

Congrats on the "punch," stick! Nice to support a local business, too.

stickguy

If you can't afford new might as well make like new.

The Volvo actually drives well. Just can't take bumps. If the suspension upgrade cures that, it is a fine car.

Now just need to find my replacement for when I give it back to the kid

stever

stickguy said:

Only worry is that it is said to be noisier than it her brands, but hopefully won't be enough to bother us.

We had an older top freezer fridge at our Michigan house and it would occasionally make a noise like a race car starting out from a pit stop. Was afraid it was going to die before we moved.

This condo has a Hotpoint top freezer and darned if it doesn't make the same noise, just not as often.

At least my fridges always go zoom zoom even if my cars don't.

jpp75

nyccarguy said:

Congrats Bradd! I love the color.

stickguy

that is actually pretty close to the color on the Accord I think.

jpp75

stickguy said:

that is actually pretty close to the color on the Accord I think.

Very close if not the same, but I think the Legacy wears it better.

stickguy

In case anyone is interested, this is the Fridge my wife finally decided to settle on. She might have gone with the GE instead, but that was even more money so I drew the line. I would have saved some with a Fridgedaire, but she didn't like the wobbly freezer handle (don't ask...)

http://www.whirlpool.com/-[WRF736SDAM]-1021423/WRF736SDAM/

Mr_Shiftright

Is that fridge 4G or strictly Wi-Fi?

stickguy

I think I have a focus problem (think the dog in the movie Up! (Squirrel, Squirrel).

after stopping at the repair shop and seeing all the nice Audis in one state or the other of being upgraded or customized, I started thinking about VWs again. Specifically, the Golf.

turns out my dealer (at least per the website) not only still has the platinum launch edition 2 door, they also have one in white. And I am trying to convince myself I really should get over there tomorrow and drive one. These are the 2 door stick models, with a shocking level of equipment for an MSRP of $18,815. only things missing are the roof (still fighting myself on that!) and alloys.

so, I browsed at Ebay and found at least 1 set of new take off 17" wheels/tires (from a 2015 Jetta) which I suspect would fit. And my real bright idea, talk to the guy doing the suspension on my Volvo, and find out if he can source on the cheap a set off wheels that would fit from an A4 of some sort.

the OEM on the launch are cute little things. 195/65-15 steelies. But 225/45-17 is an exact size match (and not coincidentally, another stock Golf size). Can't be that hard to find some wheels that size for a V Dub! That way can save the stocks for snow duty.

I figure that the L.E. with bigger wheels/tires would be the closest spiritual descendant of the early GTIs. Even the interior looks like it.

just a thought. and would get me back into a stick! Though maybe at my advanced age I would look silly in it. Nah.

nyccarguy

Thanks @jpp5862‌

stever

kyfdx said:

Costco (or Sams)... if you drink bottled water (you know.. like when working out, etc), you can pay for your membership just on that savings.. Laundry detergent, toilet paper.. plus really good meat (where we live, anyway).

I'm in trouble; my bud in AK just signed me up for a Costco card on his business account. Already planning a trip to the nearest one down in El Paso.

On special this month are Michelins - $70 off a set. Luckily I don't need tires (or anything else really, not to mention I'm tapped out with house-buying and paying car insurance). I just may kill him.

graphicguy

So....mentioned the $100 Lincoln wants me to have to do a 24 hour test drive in one of their vehicles. They set up an appointment for me to meet with their "sales" guide to help me with the test drive. So, got a call last week from the "sales" guide (SG). We set up an appointment to meet at 6:00 p.m. last night at the dealership. This was confirmed twice again via email.

Got there exactly on time. Asked for the person that I was supposed to meet with. Seems he had left for the day. Huh? Two phone calls, two emails, emails from Lincoln corporate, and he forget out appointment?

So much for that. The sales person who approached me asked if there was anything he could do. Nope! Poor way to try to get people to test drive your cars. Offer them $100, set up an appointment and then miss the appointment.

As I got in my car and about to drive away, another gentleman came out and asked if I had an appointment with SG. Yes. He asked what vehicle I was interested in. I told him I was part of their $100 promotion to keep a Lincoln overnight. He then acted like a light bulb went off in his head.

"Ohhhhh......SG was in charge of that promotion for us. But, he couldn't be here every day, so we put his name on all the promotional material that went out."

ME-"OK...whatever. he told me to ask for him when I came in, we set up an appointment, and he's not here for that appointment."

Ends up the guy who came out to keep me from driving away is the Sales Manager. He asked if he could complete the paperwork for the test drive so I could at least get my $100 gift card?

ME-"Whatzat? $100 you say? Oh, alright...if it doesn't take too long".

It probably took another 30 minutes to complete what seemed like an inordinate amount of paperwork, including a survey with the typical marketing questions...
-Age, current vehicle, time frame for next purchase, etc

They pick the vehicle for your test drive based on what, I'm not quite sure. They sure didn't ask me what I wanted to test drive. I probably wouldn't have known anyway because I have no idea what models are what (except for the Navigator, which I didn't even know they still made, until I saw a new one in the showroom).

Mine was an MKC, a cross over CUV. The Manager went over the vehicle with me, made sure it had a full tank of gas. I gave him my DL and Insurance for him to make a record of.

I'll get into impressions of the vehicle in another post. But, if Lincoln is trying to get into the luxury game again, they're off to a dismal start based on just that one experience.

The dealership is in a tony neighborhood (Montgomery for the locals). You walk in, there's nothing special about it at all. Metal desks for the sales staff lined up against one wall of the dealership, no dividers, just the desks and a few chairs. One sales person was clearly more intent on texting on his cell phone than even looking up when I walked in. One lady seemed busy with a couple of customers simultaneously. One young guy, who initially approached me seemed nice enough, but confused by my presence/request. Sales Manager was professional and helpful. The showroom itself could have been selling lawn tractors. Absolutely nothing said "high line" about it. The local Hyundai dealership is probably nicer.

This isn't the experience you expect in a high line luxury store. Especially if you're trying to lure customers from Acura, BMW, Audi (which is a few hundred feet away from the Lincoln dealership), Lexus, etc.

henryn

graphicguy said:

I'll get into impressions of the vehicle in another post. But, if Lincoln is trying to get into the luxury game again, they're off to a dismal start based on just that one experience.

The dealership is in a tony neighborhood (Montgomery for the locals). You walk in, there's nothing special about it at all. Metal desks for the sales staff lined up against one wall of the dealership, no dividers, just the desks and a few chairs. One sales person was clearly more intent on texting on his cell phone than even looking up when I walked in. One lady seemed busy with a couple of customers simultaneously. One young guy, who initially approached me seemed nice enough, but confused by my presence/request. Sales Manager was professional and helpful. The showroom itself could have been selling lawn tractors. Absolutely nothing said "high line" about it. The local Hyundai dealership is probably nicer.

This isn't the experience you expect in a high line luxury store. Especially if you're trying to lure customers from Acura, BMW, Audi (which is a few hundred feet away from the Lincoln dealership), Lexus, etc.

I have observed this before, in other dealerships. It seems to me that there are people in business who really don't know the first thing about running a business.

Seriously, even if you're just buying a Honda or a Toyota, you're still spending a very large amount of money. And if you're buying a Lincoln or a Cadillac, well ...

stickguy

The only Lincoln dealers I can think of by me merged into the ford dealer. Same showroom. Actuall the L-M showroom was a large place so ford moved in with them, then Toyota took over the huge firmer ford store (same group for all of course)

ab348

Same problem Cadillac has. Hard to impress a $70,000 Cadillac buyer in a showroom full of Cruzes and Sonics.

jpp75

graphicguy said:

This isn't the experience you expect in a high line luxury store. Especially if you're trying to lure customers from Acura, BMW, Audi (which is a few hundred feet away from the Lincoln dealership), Lexus, etc.

I actually had a very similar experience at our Lexus dealership last winter. I was looking to replace the G37x, the new Lexus IS was out as was the Q50. We had seen an IS350 in Atomic Silver at the auto show, gorgeous car. While browsing our local Lexus website one day there was the exact car we wanted in inventory.

I went through the online request process and immediately got a call from "Trevor" asking when I could come in, etc. We set an appointment for later that afternoon and he was going to have me set up with one of his sales managers. He was overly pushy about making sure I would be there at the specified time and that I would be sure to let him know if I couldn't make it.

We arrived at the agreed upon time, when I walked in I mentioned his name and that I had an appointment, no one could find any record of it and mentioned their sales manager was out sick. I asked for "Trevor" but he was in the back and couldn't come out. They finally found me a sales rep to work with, I explained the car I was interested in and she had no knowledge of it and couldn't find it.

She tried to pull it up on their website but their internet was so slow she couldn't pull up their inventory, so I finally just asked to test drive an IS350. She goes to find one, comes back 10 minutes later with an F Sport, which I had already told her I wasn't interested in. She leaves again, comes back 10 minutes later with an IS, on the test drive I ask her what sets the IS apart from the Q50 we're looking at, she replied that she really didn't know much about the Q50 and couldn't say.

Overall I didn't care for the IS as much as the Q50 and the poor dealer experience just sealed the deal. I really expected more from Lexus, but we only have 2 dealerships here so I suspect they don't feel the need to try and earn your business. It was a very disappointing experience though and a total waste of an hour.

stickguy

The Caddy dealer near me is stand alone, and is one of the new "palace" types I think. Nicer than the Lexus dealer across the parking lot, but not quite as fancy as the multi level glass BMW showplace.

http://www.holmancadillac.com/

ab348

Wow, Holman Cadillac would be just a dream around these parts. Looking at Streetview, the BMW dealer next door is gigantic!

stickguy

BMW has 20 cars inside I think. Maybe more. Cars on outside ramps and a whole loft area. And a ton of inventory in the lot.

corvette

ab348 said:

Same problem Cadillac has. Hard to impress a $70,000 Cadillac buyer in a showroom full of Cruzes and Sonics.

They've provided incentives (and been fairly successful) at getting multiline dealers to build separate facilities, especially when the dealers also sell non-GM brands like Nissan, but there are still quite a few holdouts.

kyfdx

Needs ideas....

http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/30104/general/x/fun-and-reliable-daily-driver-for-under-12k#latest

andre1969

It's kinda sad to hear about a 2006 car turning into a money pit already, but I guess it's not that big of a disgrace...it's 9 model years old now. I know someone with a 2006 or so PT Cruiser that's also turning into a money pit, but I guess that's to be expected!

stickguy

Also did not mention miles. big difference between having 80K and 160K.

though if it was bought used, not that big a shock that it could have gotten needy.

andre1969

Also, cars can go through good and bad spells as they age. For instance, there was one period where I had to sink about $3800 into my 2000 Park Ave over the course of about a year. But, in the year after, a whopping $510. Plus $180 for registration renewal. If you asked me my opinion of the car oh, around early July 2013 (when it had almost total brake failure), my response would not have been fit to print here on Edmunds. But, if it continues to behave like is has since then, well, I might just keep it awhile!

stickguy

also, some stuff does just wear out normally. So you get people calling their car a "money pit" when it needed tires, brakes, maybe struts, a timing belt at 90K, Not cheap, but normal and mostly 1-time hits.

money pit to me would be constant failures of stuff that shouldn't go, like sensors, tranny, etc.

au1994

stickguy said:

also, some stuff does just wear out normally. So you get people calling their car a "money pit" when it needed tires, brakes, maybe struts, a timing belt at 90K, Not cheap, but normal and mostly 1-time hits.

money pit to me would be constant failures of stuff that shouldn't go, like sensors, tranny, etc.

Agree stick...as a BMW guy I often see people piling on when talking about the costs to own one and when you dig deeper you find out the 1500 they just dropped on 'that POS' was for brakes, fluid change etc. Oh yeah and it had 90k miles when that was done.

Don't get me wrong, these cars don't like deferred maintenance and will bite you accordingly but context is often important.

Mr_Shiftright

Your local shop might match the Costco price, you never know---also, Costco doesn't do wheel alignments so you'll have to have that done elsewhere once the "new shoes" are on.

Best deal at Costco? The rotisserie chickens!

stever said:

kyfdx said:

Costco (or Sams)... if you drink bottled water (you know.. like when working out, etc), you can pay for your membership just on that savings.. Laundry detergent, toilet paper.. plus really good meat (where we live, anyway).

I'm in trouble; my bud in AK just signed me up for a Costco card on his business account. Already planning a trip to the nearest one down in El Paso.

On special this month are Michelins - $70 off a set. Luckily I don't need tires (or anything else really, not to mention I'm tapped out with house-buying and paying car insurance). I just may kill him.

xwesx

stickguy said:

money pit to me would be constant failures of stuff that shouldn't go, like sensors, tranny, etc.

Exactly. Several of my friends scoffed at me when I owned the Escort because I sunk about $3,500 into a car for which I paid $800. However, that $3,500 came over four years and a good amount of it was to address the embarrassing backlog of a car that had 108,000 miles on it with practically zero maintenance (aside from oil changes) when I bought it.

The car was leagues better after that four years, at 160,000 miles, than it was when I bought it, and I sold it for $1,100 (actually agreed to $1,200, but I gave the lady a pity discount in the end). So the selling price reflected the car's condition, and I didn't go after top dollar on it, either: The first person that looked at it bought it, and that was soon after posting it.

$800 a year total cost, not including fuel, is a pretty cheap car to own!

slorenzen

Mr_Shiftright said:

Your local shop might match the Costco price, you never know---also, Costco doesn't do wheel alignments so you'll have to have that done elsewhere once the "new shoes" are on.

Best deal at Costco? The rotisserie chickens!


I'd been looking for Michelins for the wife's Accord, and the local tire shop was over $200 apiece for them.

I got them at Costco(with the $70 discount) for $480 out the door.

I saved about $350 vs the local store. I really wanted to support local business, but that was too much difference.

We load up twice a month at Costco, and I'd say we save a LOT over the year...

xwesx

I just wish Costco would build a shop here in Fairbanks. Ironic speech for me, as I'm usually the one panning the next national chain to come to town.

I'll make an exception for Costco, though! However, at 360 miles (one way) to the nearest location, I have to admit that I rarely shop there. Also, they don't take my credit cards, so that limits my desire to go there, too.