Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

Michaell

Just got a text message from our salesman – the Subaru arrived at the dealer tonight. I think the plan is for me to go to Carmax in the morning first, then head to the dealer and see if we can strike a deal.

stickguy

good deal. At least you know what the incentives are.

stickguy

also, if your wife is anything like mine, you are buying it, even if you have to pay more than "I stole it from them". Because darn it, you promised it to her and got her hopes up. So if you don't come home with it, she is going to be PO'd at you!

Michaell

stickguy said:

also, if your wife is anything like mine, you are buying it, even if you have to pay more than "I stole it from them". Because darn it, you promised it to her and got her hopes up. So if you don't come home with it, she is going to be PO'd at you!

Actually she has to work tomorrow so she is meeting me at the dealership to sign  the paperwork  

and yeah, I'm pretty sure were going to get it. 

stickguy

I just read the CR auto issue tonight. The top rated the Outback in the class, and scored the 6 cyl higher than the 4. Much quicker (7.4 vs. 10.4 0-60), and just gave up ~2 MPG. Fair trade to me! But I still think a turbo 4 would be nice to have.

nyccarguy

"But I think a turbo 4 would be nice to have."

That makes 2 of us;)

graphicguy

stickguy said:

also, if your wife is anything like mine, you are buying it, even if you have to pay more than "I stole it from them". Because darn it, you promised it to her and got her hopes up. So if you don't come home with it, she is going to be PO'd at you!

That's the way that works.........:)

You guys are talking about turbo motors and diesels. Not much demand around here for diesels. Never has been. Fact is, it's always sginificantly more expensive than regular petro and the additional MPGs don't cover that delta.

I've mentioned I have the 2.0L turbo in my CTS. It's a little torque monster, which is what diesels are known for, but you rarely find in DOHC motors. I know I had to wind out my v6 in my TL to get some torque out of it. And, the wife's 4 cyl Accord has to be spurred to get it to give some push.

I liked the 3.0L turbo in my former 335ix for the same reasons. The supercharged 6 in the S4 seemed to give up a little torque low down to the BMW measured by my seat of the pants. At least the BMW "felt" faster. Not sure that was true in real life, though.

MPG in the TL wasn't bad. I probably hit 22 MPG overall in the time I had it (about the same as I got in the BMW, but well ahead of what I got in the Audi...18 MPG). With the CTS, I'll probably improve that slightly to 23 MPG overall, but it has just about the same HP and ft/lb as the V6 in the TL, too.

Friend just bought a Caddy SRX with the 3.6L. He's beside himself, stating he's getting 16 MPG overall. Certainly weight plays a factor. But, that's real world. Makes me wonder if there's something wrong with his motor.

stickguy

with the cold weather, if he is doing a lot of local around town short hop stuff, that is probably realistic. that is not a particularly good MPG package.

but, as always, if you thought it was prudent to spend 45K+ on a car, you shouldn't be obsessing about a few $/week for gas!

roadburner

stickguy said:

with the cold weather, if he is doing a lot of local around town short hop stuff, that is probably realistic. that is not a particularly good MPG package.

but, as always, if you thought it was prudent to spend 45K+ on a car, you shouldn't be obsessing about a few $/week for gas!

I've run into more than one nitwit on this board who has dropped serious coin on a performance car or sport coupe/sedan and later pops in to ask if it's okay to run a lower octane fuel than specified- or whether they can replace the OEM rubber with Chinese ditchfinders that have a lower speed rating.
Morons.

carnaught

I've run into more than one nitwit on this board who has dropped serious coin on a performance car or sport coupe/sedan and later pops in to ask if it's okay to run a lower octane fuel than specified- or whether they can replace the OEM rubber with Chinese ditchfinders that have a lower speed rating.
Morons.

Yep, people can be "penny-wise, and pound foolish". Makes no sense logically speaking but it's one's prerogative as we all have our "things". But, no need for name calling though .

roadburner

Name calling? Apt description is more accurate...

stever

Funny how that works. I don't like spending on "consumables". I buy toner, not ink. If I shaved much, I'd buy a fancy electric and skip the blades. Having grass isn't high on my priority list so I don't buy gas and mow. I don't use a Swiffer; just some vinegar on a sponge mop. Buying salt for a water softener bugs me. I want to get solar for $20k to save $100 a month on power. I make exceptions for tires, brakes and food. Especially food.

I can hop into my car and drive to Maine whether it burns regular, premium or diesel. Why should I have to pay for premium to get to the same place? Guess I inherited the Great Depression gene from my mom.

Around here, entire cars are consumables, LOL.

Michaell

Quick update while I get a bite to eat. Got two appraisals this morning. First was at Echo park - a sonic automotive version of Carmax thats opened up in Denver this past year. They valued the Mazda at $12,500. Carmax offered me $13,000. 

Off to the dealer now. Keep y'all posted. 

carnaught

roadburner said:

Name calling? Apt description is more accurate...

But, one thing nice on these forums is generally there is no nastiness....we generally play well together and are not condescending .

Michaell

Add a punch! Not a perfect deal but one both sides are happy with. 

jpp75

breld said:

jpp5862 said:

@‌breld
Which trim levels of the Mazda3 have you driven? I need to get a daily driver that can also handle road trips and this is high on my list.

I've just tested out the S Grand Touring models (sedan and hatchback) with the manual trannie.

While I'm certainly drawn to the performance of the WRX, the Mazda3 is still right there in competition for its great blend of comfort, features and dynamics. So, for a daily driver and for road trips, as you mention, I think it'd be a great choice. I'm on a stretch of highway for 30 miles each way on most days, and so comfort is definitely a consideration for me. Some reviews of the Mazda speak of higher noise levels on the highway - that's certainly not something I experienced on my test drives.

The 2.5l engine is great - I like the linear feel of the naturally aspirated engine, and it certainly is potent enough for everyday driving. The 2.0l isn't far behind on acceleration numbers, from what I've read.

Thanks, I'd want the Grand Touring as well. Probably with the Tech package. I'll have to test drive both but I'd probably lean towards the 2.5l as well. The 3 has so many features for the price it's very compelling. I don't need the performance of the WRX so this seems like a good choice.

I'll actually be in Denver this week for work, looks like the cold weather is sticking around.

fezo

I'm back in good graces here. 2010 Prius IV with solar package in a really nice blue. Tough part for me is doing the transaction surrounded by new Mazdas..... That'll be the next punch.

roadburner

Sorry, I call them the way I see them...

qbrozen

well, that diesel bimmer link is dead now.

nyccarguy

@fezo‌

Congrats on the Prius Punch my friend! How many miles?

jpp75

@fezo Congrats on the Prius

@michaell Congrats on the Outback, a great choice!

Michaell

jpp5862 said:

@fezo Congrats on the Prius @michaell Congrats on the Outback, a great choice!

Where in Denver will you be? Meet up?

jpp75

Michaell said:

jpp5862 said:

@fezo Congrats on the Prius

@michaell Congrats on the Outback, a great choice!

Where in Denver will you be? Meet up?

I'll be up north in Westminster, but could make it downtown Tuesday if you're free. I know that's a bit of a haul from the Springs though.

stever

Two punches (almost) on the same day. Good to see things are finally getting back to normal in here.

rayainsw

RE: Bluetooth.
Bought a new iPhone today.
Paired with the Charger in a couple of minutes.
No issues.
THEN and only then did I leave the Verizon store parking lot...
Cheers,
- Ray
Sometimes I am just lucky!

nyccarguy

@Michaell‌

Congrats on the Outback punch! You are going to LOVE it!

Michaell

I didn't even get to drive it home. The girls took it to the mall so I've got the MINI

Michaell

jpp5862 said:

jpp5862 said:

@fezo Congrats on the Prius @michaell Congrats on the Outback, a great choice!

Where in Denver will you be? Meet up?

I'll be up north in Westminster, but could make it downtown Tuesday if you're free. I know that's a bit of a haul from the Springs though.

Tuesday after work might work. 

fintail

Congrats on the cars. Subie and a Prius, you guys would fit right in, in Seattle.

breld

Congrats Michael on the Outback - glad it all worked out.

You'll have to try and "borrow it" next time we have lunch so I can check it out.

Michaell

breld said:

Congrats Michael on the Outback - glad it all worked out. You'll have to try and "borrow it" next time we have lunch so I can check it out.

Might have to sacrifice my left, uh, pinkie to be able to drive it. But we shall see

fezo

nyccarguy said:

@fezo‌

Congrats on the Prius Punch my friend! How many miles?

47 K

stickguy

seems like a good price if it is really nice. I was surprised how expensive a 4 solar went for new.

Good luck with it. should have an easy 100K coming with routine maintenance. and very little spent on gas.

Michaell

Posted in the "Buying and Selling Cars" topic and copied here .....

What a long day. Despite all the research I had done beforehand, I still spent 3 1/2 hours at the dealer.

Tip - don't buy a Subaru on the last day in February - and that day a Saturday - after 10 days of cold weather. Everybody in Denver, it seemed, wanted a Subaru today.

Glad I did all my homework - it paid off. As noted earlier, I went to two different places this morning and got appraisals for the CX-7 - $12,500 and $13,000.

Dealer offered me $10,500, at which point I pulled out the hard copies of my offers. Salesman face fell, especially when I told him I got those quotes just a couple of hours earlier. Went back to the "tower" and the next deal sheet had a trade value of $12,500. So far, so good.

Then, we went back and forth - twice - on the selling price. I showed him my Edmunds research of invoice, he insisted that the 3.6R's are scarce, so we ended up meeting in the middle - about $1K above invoice. Not great, but almost $2K off sticker price.

Off to F&I - where we said yes to a few things that the wife wanted. Yes, it jacked the payment up a bit, but not to a point where we couldn't handle it. And, no cash out of pocket save the $500 "deposit" that turned into a down payment. Wife was at the dealership only 90 minutes, so it was a success in her eyes. She loves the car - much more refined than the Mazda and full of new technology that may be obsolete before we can master it.

I scanned the 2" thick pile of manuals when I got home - it was simply too late to absorb much. I'll try again tomorrow, and get a picture or two as well.

I was able to drive it to and from dinner, and I agree - it's much softer than the Mazda but will handle the day to day chores just fine.

Wife is hoping we're done for a while. I reminded her my lease is up in 20 months.

graphicguy

Fezo....Micheall...congratz!

suydam

Congratulations on the New Subaru. All my friends who have Subarus love them. The buying process for my Encore was incredibly easy. We went from taking an old Vibe in for repair on Wednesday to driving home in a new Encore Thursday night. Once I found out how much repairs were needed, I did a quick look at the dealer's inventory to see if they had anything we might like. We are in a small town and I had no time to shop around further away. It's nice to have at least one vehicle local. I saw the '14 Encore and a '13 Nissan Juke. Told the repair shop to hold off, and in the early afternoon we test drove both cars. Loved the Encore, hated the Juke.

Had already done some quick research on pricing. I knew whatever offer they made on trade in was basically part of the overall deal given that the Vibe was not driveable but still a GM car. The dealer made an offer, we did the back and forth, we went home for the evening. They called back an hour later with an OTD price that was $1k over what I wanted and $1k under the original offer which they had already bumped down $600 before we left. Fair enough. Next day we went out and arranged financing and signed papers. Even then it still took a couple of hours but all told this was pretty painless. It helps that this is a very established dealership, locally owned. So far, the more I drive the Encore the more I like it.

rayainsw

Congrats to New Buyers here !
What is our total so far this year ?
- Ray
Only 1 for me...

jpp75

Michaell said:

jpp5862 said:

Michaell said:

jpp5862 said:

@fezo Congrats on the Prius

@michaell Congrats on the Outback, a great choice!

Where in Denver will you be? Meet up?

I'll be up north in Westminster, but could make it downtown Tuesday if you're free. I know that's a bit of a haul from the Springs though.

Tuesday after work might work. 

I'll send you an e-mail and we can coordinate. @breld let us know if you can join as well!

corvette

rayainsw said:

What is our total so far this year ?
- Ray

I have 5 so far for the group.

qbrozen

That's more than I would have thought given our frenzy at the end of last year.

So, just for giggles, I showed the wife the bronze/brown volvo ad to see her reaction. She dug it but said it was my style. I asked what would be her style and she, as I suspected, said blue over light tan.

kyfdx

stever said:

Funny how that works. I don't like spending on "consumables". I buy toner, not ink. If I shaved much, I'd buy a fancy electric and skip the blades. Having grass isn't high on my priority list so I don't buy gas and mow. I don't use a Swiffer; just some vinegar on a sponge mop. Buying salt for a water softener bugs me. I want to get solar for $20k to save $100 a month on power. I make exceptions for tires, brakes and food. Especially food.

I can hop into my car and drive to Maine whether it burns regular, premium or diesel. Why should I have to pay for premium to get to the same place? Guess I inherited the Great Depression gene from my mom.

Around here, entire cars are consumables, LOL.

No link to your website (re: mops)? Or, is that gone?

stever

That was just a fun experiment and when the free hosting went away the domain went too. :-)

I keep thinking about drivers who appreciate "premium" gas. Even on this car site, it's probably, at most, 20% out there who actually put their foot in it. Out in the real world, I bet it's not even 1 in a 1,000, much less 1 in 100. Lots of people want a premium or performance or luxury car but could care less about any extra oomph the premium gas tuning gets them.

The rest of the story is that a guy like me could meet @roadburner at a track, swap cars, and he'd still lap me driving my minivan.

breld

jpp5862 said:

Michaell said:

jpp5862 said:

Michaell said:

jpp5862 said:

@fezo Congrats on the Prius

@michaell Congrats on the Outback, a great choice!

Where in Denver will you be? Meet up?

I'll be up north in Westminster, but could make it downtown Tuesday if you're free. I know that's a bit of a haul from the Springs though.

Tuesday after work might work. 

I'll send you an e-mail and we can coordinate. @breld let us know if you can join as well!

Let me know if it works out - I may be able to join in.

Either way, enjoy your time here in the Denver area - bring a warm coat.

Sandman6472

Just read a post where the person used the word "satisfying" and that's the exact word I was looking for when I decided to replace the Tucson last year...it just wasn't "satisfying" to drive at the end of the day. It was good for what it was and I think I had to get the small cuv thing out of my system...the looks never wowed me and I think I should've tried them all out but hey, that's history now. Loving the Golf still and if had to do it again, wouldn't have changed a thing as it really is the most fun and satisfying vehicle I've really ever driven. Have driven a few MB's and BMW's at work and think the VW is the perfect choice for me...the Audi is nice but think it's just a gussied up VW to be honest and something I would not have bought...but the wife likes it, still...a great sign!
Congrats to our new vehicle owners, seems to be a great time to purchase and think 2015 will be a banner year for auto sales in America.

The Sandman

stever

Looks like you are spot on @sandman_6472.

Car Sales Rose in February Despite Higher Gas Prices and Winter Storms

VW is down from a year ago but up 6.6% from January.

imidazol97

sandman_6472 said:

.it just wasn't "satisfying" to drive at the end of the day. It was good for what it was and I think I had to get the small cuv thing out of my system..

I gotta agree with the CTS commercial after they first came out. It showed a professional woman getting into her car and being excited by the zoom-zoom effect of the sound and the driving. If your car doesn't turn you on with excitement or comfort, at this stage of life let's just get another one.

ab348

imidazol97 said:

sandman_6472 said:

.it just wasn't "satisfying" to drive at the end of the day. It was good for what it was and I think I had to get the small cuv thing out of my system..

I gotta agree with the CTS commercial after they first came out. It showed a professional woman getting into her car and being excited by the zoom-zoom effect of the sound and the driving. If your car doesn't turn you on with excitement or comfort, at this stage of life let's just get another one.

Kate Walsh. Never heard of her before that ad, but once I saw it I had to look her up. They tried to extend that series with another ad featuring her as I recall, but it didn't seem to work.

Michaell

Another day of running errands in the new Outback, so a few more thoughts and impressions.

First, it's quiet. Not sure if it's the tires, the engine, the engineering, or what, but it's much quieter than the Mazda. City, highway, whatever.

The engine pulls strongly and I don't notice the CVT transmission at all - and I thought I would. Used the "flappy paddles" once to downshift while in D - worked like a charm. Wife will need to get used to the new transmission set up - she likes to engine brake going down hills when the roads are slippery. The paddles are new to her.

The ride, as has been previously noted, is smooth - "luxurious" my wife says. Again, I think the Mazda was tuned for zoom zoom but the Subaru soaks up the bumps and potholes without much complaining. Should be a nice car for road trips.

Did a little stretch of highway driving so I got to play with the adaptive cruise control. Man, that is a nice (albeit, strange) feature. Set the distance and the car automatically slows down and speeds up to keep pace. I had the CC set at 77 but the car in front of me was only doing 65. I moved into the next lane and the Subaru immediately noticed no car in front of me and resumed my set speed. Again, a great feature to have on a long trip. And, you can set the distance between you and the car in front of you if there is more traffic.

Learned something about myself my wife has been saying for years - I have a tendency to drift to the edges of the lanes. With the lane departure warning turned on, she now knows every time I crowd the line. Busted! Guess this will make me more determined to stay within the lines.

Got an extra cable for the wife's iPhone (6) - she has a Pandora subscription, and with the cable plugged into the USB socket the phone synched right up to the audio system and started streaming her music. Shy may keep the XM subscription after the 3 month trial - it's a bit of a hassle to connect and disconnect the phone every time she gets in and out of the car. But, it's nice to have the option.

Played around a little bit with the voice activated commands - setting temperature, making phone calls, stuff like that. So far, everything seems to work as advertised.

Haven't gotten deep into the nav system just yet .. I know my wife wants to set up both home and her office as pre-set destinations so she can use the voice commands to plot a route to either from where ever she is.

The power liftgate is sweet .. can control it from the hatch itself, the remote fob or a button on the dashboard.

Much larger inside, both front and rear, and our daughter likes the fact that the rear seats recline.

Wife says it feels like a luxury car without the luxury badging.

I think I'm going to get spoiled with all the features and will want them on my next car.

stickguy

Oh for sure. My wife already has a list of what the sonata has that her fancy car is missing.

Sandman6472

Yep, once we get a vehicle with new stuff in it for the spouse, we seem to want similar stuff for ourselves which really is fair. Haven't driven hers enough to know how I'd like the lane departure or other safety nannies she has so not sure if I'd like them on my next vehicle. Right now, am totally satisfied with what I've got and that's all that matters. I'm almost 1k past her in mileage but I do drive a bit farther on my commute and I've been working 3.5 days each week now...60 miles/day just going and coming. On my n/s days, I tend to stay home or very close but still think I'm going to put on 13k or more each year the way things are playing out now. Might look for a transfer to a closer office soon but we'll see if I even can.

The Sandman