Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

houdini1

Congrats fintail, smart pick. I also like dark floor mats with a light interior. Very sharp.

Michaell

Nice choice on the replacement for the current ride, fin. Now you'll have to get ruking1 to understand why you did it. I don't think he's gonna be happy.

ab348

fintail said:

Thanks all.

Yes, it is a very light grey, which I like - it really brightens things up, and I have no kids to destroy it. It even has matching floor mats - probably not a good idea, but I took the all weather mats from the old car, which adds a nice contrast too. The German love of black interiors can make things pretty somber. This light color compensates for the lack of pano, and it looks good in the dark with the ambient lighting - I have selected the blue color for that. Had this car been diamond silver with pano and a beige or grey interior, it would have been ideal - but probably a unicorn. For the savings, I can overlook those.

Love it, especially the interior. The lighter the better in my books (says the guy who just bought new car with a BLACK interior! Ah well). The E-Class refresh really helped the front end appearance IMO. I also like the dark wood inside and I see they matched that on the wheel. Excellent choice.

My 2009 Buick Lacrosse (the original model) was Quicksilver (very close to Iridium, a nice shade) with gray leather inside. That and 4 doors is about where the resemblance ends, but I liked the colors on that also.

houdini1

andre1969 said:

This has been years ago, but I remember driving a Tahoe and a Suburban at a GM test drive event, on a closed course. It was May, I remember that much, and either 2004 or 2005. Anyway, one thing that surprised me was that the Equinox actually felt like it had more front and rear legroom than the larger 'Burbs and Tahoes did! Of course, the Equinox was too small to have a 3rd row.

Another thing I found surprising...I swear the Tahoe, and even the Suburban felt more nimble than the Equinox did. I got behind the wheel of the Suburban, and it felt like I was home. I had no trouble whipping that thing around the closed course they had, and it had a confident, well-planted feeling to it. Sure, parking it in a tight space might be a pain. It's not the length so much...I've had cars that are longer...but the height, that makes it harder to judge. But, in contrast, the Equinox was vague and wallowy, almost like the worst of the 70's had been reincarnated. In fact, I had a friend with me, and even as a passenger, its handling scared him...he thought I was going to tip us over!

But, that was a different era, where GM had big vehicles down pretty much to a science, but had a bad knack of making their small ones feel bigger and clumsier than they really were, almost as if they were trying to engineer a big car feel into the smaller ones. Also, the Equinox had electric steering, which I think was still in its infancy back then, so they didn't have the kinks worked out of it yet.

Oh, as for the Durango, I kind of like them, too. I always figured my next new/new-ish car would be a Charger. But, the last time I drove one, I didn't like the feeling of sitting down so low, and the bad visibility. I guess I've gotten too accustomed to the driving position of a truck. So, I figured the Durango might make a nice compromise. To me, it doesn't really look like an SUV, but rather more like a station wagon that's been jacked up.

Plus, I don't really like the restyle of the Charger for 2015. IMO they really uglied-up the front-end. Whatever magic the 2011-14 style had, the 2015 lost it for me.

I've always liked the Durango also. Might not make a difference but I think it is being discontinued after the 2015 model year.

stever

I love the interior too, and you're just the guy to keep it looking good @Fintail.

Talk about sticker shock with SUV prices - the new Yukon Denali is priced at $64,965. Wow.

And speaking of minivans, ours is really getting on my nerves. Went to town to grab lunch, drop off some recycling and get gas for a drive to ABQ Thursday, and wound up coming home with a sofa, a propane cylinder, some 8' 2x4s, a floor lamp (already assembled) and a bag of groceries. A nice little sedan would save me a lot of grunt work (and a lot of money).

jpp75

@fintail‌

Congrats on the new MB, very nice looking car. My first G37x had a light interior like that and I much prefer it to the black in the Q50 I have now.

jpp75

houdini1 said:

I've always liked the Durango also. Might not make a difference but I think it is being discontinued after the 2015 model year.

I had several of the new Durangos as rentals when they first came out and found them very pleasant drivers.

henryn

I really like the Tahoes myself, so much so that I bought a used 2005 a few months back to be my daily driver / commute vehicle. Yes, the gas mileage is terrible, but my commute is only 5 miles so I really don’t care.

I have to agree with andre1969, “I’ve gotten too accustomed to the driving position of a truck.” And speaking of trucks, a few pages back someone (explorer4?) was talking about getting a new Ford F150. He was interested in a Lariat, with a regular cab and a short bed. He’s almost certainly going to have to special order, the only regular cabs in stock are going to be work trucks, not Lariats.

Fintail, congrats on the new ride, looks really nice.

ab348

andre1969 said:

Another thing I found surprising...I swear the Tahoe, and even the Suburban felt more nimble than the Equinox did. I got behind the wheel of the Suburban, and it felt like I was home. I had no trouble whipping that thing around the closed course they had, and it had a confident, well-planted feeling to it. Sure, parking it in a tight space might be a pain. It's not the length so much...I've had cars that are longer...but the height, that makes it harder to judge.

Back in February before I retired, me and another fellow had to take a day-long trip to far-flung places and given the questionable weather I wanted a big 4WD vehicle. I got a Suburban from Budget. I loved driving it on the highway. Most impressive, though, was when we went to lunch in one of the towns we visited, I was able to parallel-park it perfectly on the first try! Impressed the heck out of the guy I was with. I didn't tell him it was just dumb luck.

jayrider

stever said:

I love the interior too, and you're just the guy to keep it looking good @Fintail.

Talk about sticker shock with SUV prices - the new Yukon Denali is priced at $64,965. Wow.

And speaking of minivans, ours is really getting on my nerves. Went to town to grab lunch, drop off some recycling and get gas for a drive to ABQ Thursday, and wound up coming home with a sofa, a propane cylinder, some 8' 2x4s, a floor lamp (already assembled) and a bag of groceries. A nice little sedan would save me a lot of grunt work (and a lot of money).

Any empty space needs filling.

gouldn

That MBZ has a stunning interior!! Wow!

roadburner

Beautiful car, but I'm not that brave...
2007 Jaguar XK

stever

Any empty space needs filling.

Very true @jayrider; the new house is already getting cluttered.

No year end punch guesses yet? I'll go with 39.

28firefighter

Congrats, Fin!  Looks great. You got your last one at Barrier, too, right?

nyccarguy

@roadburner‌

I have nothing against XK Jags, but you better be looking at an R. Plus they are automatic only, so I don't see you in one.

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

@roadburner‌

I have nothing against XK Jags, but you better be looking at an R. Plus they are automatic only, so I don't see you in one.

I just like the look- I'd probably tire of it pretty quickly...

corvette

ab348 said:

My 2009 Buick Lacrosse (the original model) was Quicksilver (very close to Iridium, a nice shade) with gray leather inside. That and 4 doors is about where the resemblance ends, but I liked the colors on that also.

Ahh, that looks familiar. My former law partner had a 2005(? - it was the first year model) LaCrosse. It was the base model with hubcaps and a bench seat up front. No options. It was medium blue metallic, which looked good on that car. It was a soft and quiet car, reminded me a lot of the Impala with which it shares a platform.

roadburner said:

Beautiful car, but I'm not that brave...
2007 Jaguar XK

Come on, what could possibly go wrong?

stever said:

No year end punch guesses yet? I'll go with 39.

For 2014 or 2015?

fintail

That's one thing I see as quirky, I think everyone did it at one time - when the steering wheel is the same light color as the rest of the interior. It makes me think of old Lexus, when the wheel ends up looking dirty or even peeling. I think some contrast vs a light interior via the wheel is good. I am sure that Buick leather was nice and soft, too.

ab348 said:

My 2009 Buick Lacrosse (the original model) was Quicksilver (very close to Iridium, a nice shade) with gray leather inside. That and 4 doors is about where the resemblance ends, but I liked the colors on that also.

fintail

Yep. They just got absorbed by AutoNation after being an independent for 30+ years. Just up the road from me, and I like their car wash.

28firefighter said:

Congrats, Fin!  Looks great. You got your last one at Barrier, too, right?

rayainsw

“Plus, I don't really like the restyle of the Charger for 2015. IMO they really uglied-up the front-end. Whatever magic the 2011-14 style had, the 2015 lost it for me.” - andre1969

I had much the same response, when I saw the first released 2015 official pictures from Dodge – all with a black fascia. Dodge more recently released a new set of pictures, that include the [ optional on the R/T ] body color matching front fascia. For me, this improves the front end to the point that I really like it.
YMMV.

http://www.netcarshow.com/dodge/2015-charger/

= Ray
I understand that the initial production has been released to Carriers this week . . .

graphicguy

roadburner said:

Beautiful car, but I'm not that brave...
2007 Jaguar XK

Oooohhhh.....ooooohhhhh....yes. That's a stunning car. You must buy it.

graphicguy

fintail....did you say your E had leather? When I was helping my sister shop for her Benz, I noticed trying to find a Benz with real leather was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Don't know why they have such an aversion to putting leather in their cars. They did it for years. Now, all of a sudden, no dice.

ab348

fintail said:

That's one thing I see as quirky, I think everyone did it at one time - when the steering wheel is the same light color as the rest of the interior. It makes me think of old Lexus, when the wheel ends up looking dirty or even peeling. I think some contrast vs a light interior via the wheel is good. I am sure that Buick leather was nice and soft, too.

Well, I am like you when it comes to keeping my car clean, especially inside, so that was never an issue. I only had the car for 27 months so it never got dirty inside.

It was a terrible car with a bad transmission GM could never fix, so I dumped it when I had the chance. But the seats were wonderful. They were by far the most comfortable I have ever had in a vehicle. The leather was what Buick called "Nuance" leather. I researched it and apparently it was treated to have more of a leather scent over the long-term. But it was also very soft and pliable. The sewing pattern also introduced some gathering at certain points which gave it a bit of a unique look. Those seats were the best thing about the car.

nyccarguy

@graphicguy‌

Most "lower-level (C, CLA, GLA)" to "mid-priced (GLK, E, ML)" Mercedes in stock have MB Text. Dealers order them that way so they can lease the cars cheaper. When my parents were ML Shopping a few months back, an ML with leather and the options they wanted were hard to find. Maybe only 4 in the country.

qbrozen

sweet looking jag. But that's a bold asking price. And 50k miles is more than I'd want to start at, personally. $22k should be more than enough. Still, 300hp and 3700 lbs. meh. I'd prefer to wait till the 5.0 cars come into financial reach.

houdini1

roadburner said:

nyccarguy said:

@roadburner‌

I have nothing against XK Jags, but you better be looking at an R. Plus they are automatic only, so I don't see you in one.

I just like the look- I'd probably tire of it pretty quickly...

That is one beautiful car.

jayrider

Well, I am like you when it comes to keeping my car clean, especially inside, so that was never an issue. I only had the car for 27 months so it never got dirty inside.

It was a terrible car with a bad transmission GM could never fix, so I dumped it when I had the chance. But the seats were wonderful. They were by far the most comfortable I have ever had in a vehicle. The leather was what Buick called "Nuance" leather. I researched it and apparently it was treated to have more of a leather scent over the long-term. But it was also very soft and pliable. The sewing pattern also introduced some gathering at certain points which gave it a bit of a unique look. Those seats were the best thing about the car.


I've had my 2012 LaCrosse for almost 24 months. Seats are wonderful. Got to sit in a new CTS this week and for me, the Buick was way better. Car continues to drive beautifully -- shifts are smooth and everything has remained bank vault solid. Fingers crossed.

Mr_Shiftright

RE: Jaguar---ambitious price---try $21,000.

fintail

Nope, it's Tex. As you say, leather isn't easy to find in a normal car - even though it isn't a terribly expensive option. IMO, the standard leather in an E or 5er is pretty ordinary, not really any nicer feeling than Tex. You have to move up to the nappa leather for the plush stuff, and it's not cheap. I am fine with Tex, nobody seems to notice.

graphicguy said:

fintail....did you say your E had leather? When I was helping my sister shop for her Benz, I noticed trying to find a Benz with real leather was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Don't know why they have such an aversion to putting leather in their cars. They did it for years. Now, all of a sudden, no dice.

fintail

I even regularly wipe down my steering wheel. I think this wood wheel will show fingerprints easily, so that'll be fun.

That's on thing I remember about older Caddys too, even those from the bad eras - very comfortable to ride in, relaxing seats.

ab348 said:

fintail said:

Well, I am like you when it comes to keeping my car clean, especially inside, so that was never an issue. I only had the car for 27 months so it never got dirty inside.

It was a terrible car with a bad transmission GM could never fix, so I dumped it when I had the chance. But the seats were wonderful. They were by far the most comfortable I have ever had in a vehicle. The leather was what Buick called "Nuance" leather. I researched it and apparently it was treated to have more of a leather scent over the long-term. But it was also very soft and pliable. The sewing pattern also introduced some gathering at certain points which gave it a bit of a unique look. Those seats were the best thing about the car.

henryn

fintail said:

That's one thing I remember about older Caddys too, even those from the bad eras - very comfortable to ride in, relaxing seats.

I've owned a lot of cars (and trucks and SUVs), and if I had to do a long road trip the car I would choose would be the 99 Sedan deVille.

isellhondas

Nice ride, Fintail! I'll be looking for you on the road!

fezo

Wow. Almost 2,000 posts since my last appearance. To make matters worse I haven't bought a car in that time frame. I had a Miata I was following online. Way overpriced then after a long time went to moderately overpriced. Someone bought it. No rush.

laurasdada

roadburner said:

Beautiful car, but I'm not that brave...
2007 Jaguar XK

Awww, you just brought a tear to my eye... I had my '09 for 2.5 years. A couple of warranty work issues (one a recall that wasn't done by prior owner), other than that, no issues. But, the out of warranty spectre always loomed! Great sounding V8. And, as you note, beautiful.

Oh, yeah. 2007 was the first model year, electric antenna.

Sandman6472

Down in Marathon in the middle Keys and the weather is wonderful. Can't get into the room yet, full hotel and wife had to have the 3rd floor so after sitting by the pool and reading Sundays paper, came into the business center. Dropped her off at 9:30, left the house at 6:15 and traffic was minimal coming down. It's race weekend in Homestead so this place is booming...even our office was going to be busy this week due to the racing but they wouldn't let us work over our hours...crazy!!
Insurance guy just called and with either vehicle, the premium will go up about $4.00/month...not a bad deal really. The dealerships keep calling and want to make a deal but she's going to test a few more things Saturday, mainly to see if the hatch is really that much smaller in the 3 I Touring. Passed one this morning and the front didn't look that big to her but I think the hatch is a few inches smaller overall which might do the trick here. Bottom line, she really wants the safety features and I think she'll regret it if she goes for the Rio, maybe not this week or next but eventually, and somehow I'll get blamed for it so am just saying go for it. Also mentioned the IS from Lexus as it might just be the whole package for her. Said she'd check it out once we got home. But driving my Tucson down here to Marathon every month isn't going to cut it for me...best we use her new vehicle for this stuff!

The Sandman

stickguy

Is is going to cost more than an A3 I bet.

I think you have the short list right. And you must have the worlds smallest 2 car garage.

corvette

And you must have the worlds smallest 2 car garage.

20x20 is a pretty common size, and I have seen them smaller than that. 20x20 is tight if you're actually storing two cars, and a longer truck or SUV won't fit at all. Of course, a lot of people fill the garage with worthless dreck, and park their expensive cars outside. 

andre1969

rayainsw said:

“Plus, I don't really like the restyle of the Charger for 2015. IMO they really uglied-up the front-end. Whatever magic the 2011-14 style had, the 2015 lost it for me.” - andre1969

I had much the same response, when I saw the first released 2015 official pictures from Dodge – all with a black fascia. Dodge more recently released a new set of pictures, that include the [ optional on the R/T ] body color matching front fascia. For me, this improves the front end to the point that I really like it.
YMMV.

http://www.netcarshow.com/dodge/2015-charger/

= Ray
I understand that the initial production has been released to Carriers this week . . .

Thanks for posting that. Yeah, it definitely looks better with the body-color matching on the front.

And, I even noticed that at certain angles, the all-black fascia isn't too bad. I kinda like this pic, but maybe it's because I find that shade of blue attractive...

stever

corvette said:

And you must have the worlds smallest 2 car garage.

20x20 is a pretty common size, and I have seen them smaller than that. 20x20 is tight if you're actually storing two cars, and a longer truck or SUV won't fit at all. Of course, a lot of people fill the garage with worthless dreck, and park their expensive cars outside.

I think mine is 20x22, and it feels quite a bit smaller than our last one, which was extra deep. The van really fills it up. Plus there's a "sidewalk" along one side and in back.

We're in one of the cheaper houses in the neighborhood and there are lots of 3 (and more) car garages around. And sure enough, there's lots of nice cars parked outside most of our neighbors' garages, usually with the hoods up to discourage the kangaroo rats.

stickguy

mine is normal size, something in the 20x20 range (maybe 21 deep?). Never had any problem getting the Odyssey in there next to an Accord of Maxima (longest cars I ever had in there). Gotta be a little careful with doors if both are canted toward the center, but really no issues. My Volvo looks lost in there, and that is with 2 bikes and some Ikea shelves in front of it!

ab348

andre1969 said:

And, I even noticed that at certain angles, the all-black fascia isn't too bad. I kinda like this pic, but maybe it's because I find that shade of blue attractive...

I'm reminded of the 2010 Fusion for some reason.

xwesx

I built mine at 26 x 26. I'm hoping to put cars in there someday....

A friend of mine, who just finished his house, has the coolest garage ever. It's about the size of my house (not joking) and has three bays, but they are all oversized. I think the ceiling is 14', and he built the floor with the intent of holding a four-point lift in the third bay in order to lift any of his rigs... including his 6x6 "deuce and a half."

There are some advantages to being single.

stever

Met one of our neighbors yesterday (and their ducks and chickens). They plan to get a "dwarf" cow and maybe a sheep soon and are building a 40x40 barn to accommodate the cow. So we'll have them beat on square footage by 100' (not actually counting their house, lol).

The guy works for a car dealer so I suspect by the time he gets his shop installed at one end and his cars parked at the other, the cow will be stuck under a tarp if it needs shade. They do pretty good though; only the spare Jeep lives outside.

Btw, I'm really liking the epoxy floor in my garage.

stickguy

that is one reason I want to move and build a house. I can start with all garage, and see if any space left for the house!

OK, wife might have an issue with that. But I still plan to go oversized a bit. A couple of feet deeper, and at least 2 feet wider per bay. That should do it. and of course, at least 3 slots.

a home lift might be too much to a$k for.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

that is one reason I want to move and build a house. I can start with all garage, and see if any space left for the house!

OK, wife might have an issue with that. But I still plan to go oversized a bit. A couple of feet deeper, and at least 2 feet wider per bay. That should do it. and of course, at least 3 slots.

a home lift might be too much to a$k for.

I always said I wouldn't build a house without a 3-car garage, but we ended up building in a community with small lots (70' X 109') and the max footprint of the house just wouldn't support it (54' X 44'). I think my garage is about 20' X 19', but don't really remember.. I'd have to go measure..

stickguy

should have jacked that baby up and made the entire lower level a garage.

corvette

My old house had a 24 x 24 attached garage (with a single 16' door), and I would have preferred it to be even larger, and with separate doors, but it still provides good space for storing tools and a riding lawnmower. One of the custom houses in the subdivision had a 24x26 attached garage and a separate 26x34 attached garage. Most of the first floor was the garage. Another house has a 21x25 attached garage and a 22x30 detached garage; and yet another has a 19x25 attached and a 22x28 detached. Land is very inexpensive where my old house is located.

kyfdx, you should have bought more than one lot.

I am not a fan of the epoxy coatings for garage floors. The ones I have seen delaminate when hot tires are parked on them. They are fairly inexpensive if you DIY, but there is no way I would invest that much sweat if part of it is going to peel up.

xwesx

kyfdx said:

small lots (70' X 109')

Small?! That's TINY! Less than a fifth of an acre. Yikes. I couldn't do it. Our property is 1.2 acres, and I kick myself at least a few times a month about not buying three adjacent lots when we bought this one. They were all for sale *and* my wife wanted to get three, but I couldn't see doing that because we wouldn't have the money to actually build on them. In retrospect, it was the only intelligent choice to make.

That was a mistake that I will *never* repeat.

Side note: I have the best garage floor in the world. It is the one piece of contracted work where the contractors actually (shockingly) got it right! It is a 26x26 monolithic heated slab that has not a single crack anywhere.

Sandman6472

20x20 seems about right but on my side is the air handler which takes up some valuable real estate and the Tucson is a bit wider and longer than the Civic but heck, the Escape just fit with inches to spare...I knew it wouldn't work when we took it home for the garage test but the Ford sales guy insisted it had plenty of room, and then some! They really wanted to get rid of that puppy and it eventually was no longer online anymore. (Just parked next to one here at the hotel and about the same size as my rig give or take). Loved the tricoat white color to but the 1.6 ecoboost and size were deal breakers. And the wife insists on the other side with the wall to her left which is also the longer side so we just get creative pulling in sometimes!
Audi store just called about her coming in so Saturday will be the day right now. Also told her what the insurance guy said about the slight bump in our policy amount also but not a deal breaker. No matter what, I'm going with the Mazda here and just told her so to...she just smiled!!
The Tucson is a great road trip vehicle...quiet, comfortable with power to spare when needed, it does everything I need it to do without any fuss, just what a good vehicle does. But after driving a new one up to Orlando about 18 months back, I knew that it would be a great d d for myself if I were to go in that direction which is exactly what I ended up doing to!

The Sandman

fintail

I just have a reserved spot in a garage, and I am happy to have it. Cheapest detached house for sale in my zipcode right now is a 1400 sq ft 1955 tract house on a 9800 sq ft lot listed at 650K - oh, and it has no garage, appears to need everything, and the listing is pending, Next one up is a huge 1220 sq ft 1954 villa on an 8500 sq ft lot, same needs, also pending, but has a one car garage - 669K. Yay.