Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

au1994

Congrats on the recent punches! Really makes me want to contribute this year!

corvette

michaell, I think the Outback should have audio streaming via Bluetooth, without the need to connect via USB.

Michaell

corvette said:

michaell, I think the Outback should have audio streaming via Bluetooth, without the need to connect via USB.

It does .. just won't stream Pandora. If you have music local to your device, you're good (daughter confirmed that on Saturday).

nyccarguy

While not nearly as exciting as waiting to hear about how much your trade is worth and MUCH more nerve racking, I'm waiting for an appraiser to come and tell me how much my home is worth. Here he is.

xwesx

nyccarguy said:

While not nearly as exciting as waiting to hear about how much your trade is worth and MUCH more nerve racking, I'm waiting for an appraiser to come and tell me how much my home is worth. Here he is.

If the experience is anything like here, it is rather anti-climatic. They either make it worth whatever you think it is worth, or they rely entirely on the sales price of other homes in the area. Ask them to value it based on the home's own merit, however, and you might as well go shoot for a hole in one - your odds are definitely better!

breld

Yeah - I don't have much faith in the home appraisal business. They seem to be too easily influenced by things that the owner may talk about (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, if you're the owner), or certainly with a homebuilder.

Quick story - when we built our new home 4 years ago, the home was appraised as part of the process to validate the homebuilder's pricing. Not surprisingly, the appraisal came in right at the selling price. As I reviewed the appraisal in detail, I noted that the appraiser has made assumptions that there would be upgraded tiling in all the bathrooms and hardwood floors throughout the main floor (she was performing the appraisal before the completion of the home).

Because we were going to have all the main floor flooring and all 5 bathrooms tiled professionally post-purchase, we naturally elected no upgrades to those areas - so the house, as built, had the most basic flooring and bath tiling (vinyl on the floors and basic porcelain tiling at the baths).

I brought this to the attention of the appraiser, noting that surely the appraisal had to be adjusted downward to some extent, but she simply insisted that "those things actually don't make any difference on the appraisal." Bunch of hogwash - I'm quite certain if I was having my home appraised, it would make quite a difference if I had vinyl throughout the main floor, as opposed to hardwoods or tiling.

Appraisers are supposed to be independent, but I firmly believe they often have a pre-set agenda based on who is hiring them.

xwesx

breld said:

Appraisers are supposed to be independent, but I firmly believe they often have a pre-set agenda based on who is hiring them.

Yep, absolutely.

And, at the end of the day, they don't really care whether their assessment is accurate or not, as they get paid either way. So, if the person paying them is happy and they get their money, done deal!

When I "hired" an appraiser, it was through the bank where I was considering a construction loan. I had to pay the bank $500 for the appraisal as part of the overall process, so the guy felt like he was hired by the bank. He comes out, has an incredibly arrogant attitude, and continually pesters me about "what I need it to come in at." I made it very clear that I didn't "need" it to come in anywhere - the value is a function of the structure! After he tooled about the property for 45 minutes or so, he finally said, "so, what you're telling me and what you have on your house plans here seem to be different things; which is right?" I said that what we were telling him was right; we had to mod the original plans due to the skyrocketing inflation of building material prices over the intervening years since we began construction.

Then, he asks me, "what was the original home's estimated value?" I said, "our engineer said he thought it would be about $230 when finished."

Well, guess what? That's where he set the appraisal. And, if that was the case, the original home must have been upwards of $300K, which I know is a crock of poo! Icing on the cake, though, was that he took a set of my house plans with him (along with some original drawings we made of the planned modifications), and told me that he would leave the plans with the bank at the time he dropped off the appraisal. Of course, he did not do this. Several phone calls to his business went unanswered and unreturned. Then, finally I got through to him. He said that the would drop them at the bank that day and I could get them the next. I do this, no plans. I told the bank that I wasn't willing to pay for his BS appraisal and that I wanted my $500 back. Of course, they refused. So, we walked away from that whole crap scenario and continued building out of pocket, which we are doing still.

That was $500, a set of house plans, and many, many hours of my life I will never get back....! LOL

PF_Flyer

Ran across a story from NJ about "most popular new cars by state" in 2014 and it had this interesting map


The most popular car in N.J. might surprise you

rayainsw

Huh - my Daughter [ Subaru - though an Impreza ] recently moved
from Maine to CT - interesting..
- Ray
NOT a Camry buyer - in Georgia...

au1994

Not a Camry buyer in GA either but what you see on the road certainly supports this map. I used to live in TX and the F-150 is everywhere and I now travel to the Midwest from time to time and have noticed that it is definitely Chevy country. Very interesting!

suydam

I'm surprised that Ohio isn't Honda territory because Hondas are built there. We see them everywhere!

nyccarguy

HA! If you look at our board - we've got Subarus in CT, CO, & WA.

Ray - where in CT did your daughter move to?

xwesx

And Alaska. Somehow, I have to think that if Dodge beats Subaru here, it is only by a thread. Trucks definitely dominate up here, but I'm not sure that I see any one make more frequently than another. Except Nissan... those are rather uncommon.

Did anyone else find it funny that GMC is tops in Vermont? That's a rather odd one-off.

rayainsw

Redding, CT

nyccarguy

rayainsw said:

Redding, CT

Redding is beautiful. Not too far from me. Maybe 1/2 hour.

rayainsw

Agreed - beautiful, and VERY expensive...

Michaell

Just got our Subaru so we can remain in Colorado.

My guess is that all those states with Ford or Chevrolet as the lead brand must buy a lot of trucks.

slorenzen

Michaell said:

Just got our Subaru so we can remain in Colorado.

My guess is that all those states with Ford or Chevrolet as the lead brand must buy a lot of trucks.

Pictures! We want pictures!

jayrider

slorenzen said:

Michaell said:

Just got our Subaru so we can remain in Colorado.

My guess is that all those states with Ford or Chevrolet as the lead brand must buy a lot of trucks.

Pictures! We want pictures!

Here's a picture of my recent birthday celebration. Didn't have a candle so I used a pipe cleaner.

nyccarguy

rayainsw said:

Agreed - beautiful, and VERY expensive...

That too. Comes with the territory in Fairfield County, CT. Lots and LOTS of gorgeous cars!

slorenzen

jayrider said:

slorenzen said:

Michaell said:

Just got our Subaru so we can remain in Colorado.

My guess is that all those states with Ford or Chevrolet as the lead brand must buy a lot of trucks.

Pictures! We want pictures!

Here's a picture of my recent birthday celebration. Didn't have a candle so I used a pipe cleaner.

I see what you did there...

Michaell

Let's try this:

Michaell

Michaell said:

Let's try this:

I love love love my iPhone but not when it does crazy stuff like this. I tried flipping the picture over and saving it with a different name.

Maybe the hosts can figure this out.

Oh, wait ...

stever

Seems like I'm always on clean-up duty around here.

My wife's iPad often does the same thing - I just grabbed your pic and flipped it with an MS Office tool.

Pretty snazzy. Is it just me or do those wheels make me want a Coca-Cola?

jayrider

Looks like a 35K ride. Nice !

rayainsw

'...those wheels make me want a Coca-Cola? '
LOL

iluvmysephia1

Hey, stever, what do ya think of the new Kia Sorento? I'm thrilling to my 2011 Kia Soul 5-speed up here in eastern Washington but could you imagine yerself in the Kia Sorento? Or a Kia Sedona since you're a minivan fan?

stever

Still jonsing for a Soul. This very one in fact.

Latest plan is to wait for the 2016 Soul and Prius V to come out and compare 'em. Unless the van dies sooner. Been pretty good downsizing around here - so far.

xwesx

jayrider said:

Didn't have a candle so I used a pipe cleaner.

At your age, that's probably not all that inappropriate. A reminder, perhaps?

Michaell

stever said:

Seems like I'm always on clean-up duty around here.

My wife's iPad often does the same thing - I just grabbed your pic and flipped it with an MS Office tool.

Pretty snazzy. Is it just me or do those wheels make me want a Coca-Cola?

Thanks for the assist.

I didn't get the Coca-Cola reference until I took a closer look at the wheels. Funny.

Clear bra and window tint scheduled for Friday. I'm off to the Mazda dealer to begin the process of getting the pro-rated refund of the extended warranty on the CX-7.

I also like that Soul .. fully loaded, it's got more stuff than the Outback. For a lot less money.

stever

Actually, now that I look some more, and considering you're in Colorado, the wheels remind me a bit more of a lava lamp.

The Kia dealer wrote me off after one lame phone message and a non-responsive email reply. But I know a guy in Michigan who'll quote me prices all day long.

Hey, maybe we can swap houses some week. You'll have to leave the Outback there (with the keys) so I can make it to the ski hill though.

corvette

Michaell said:

Let's try this:

Oh no! Tell your wife to keep the shiny side up!

suydam

I really like the Soul too. But I like the Encore better. It's what particular features matter to you. They are great vehicles.

xwesx

stever said:

Still jonsing for a Soul. This very one in fact.

Latest plan is to wait for the 2016 Soul and Prius V to come out and compare 'em. Unless the van dies sooner. Been pretty good downsizing around here - so far.

What?! A white one? Steve, you really should just consider getting this vehicle in a nice shade of brown and skip the formalities.

xwesx

So, no nibbles on the Fiesta over the weekend, and it looks like "my" Flex down in Napa sold, so I'm out for a while. I'm really bad at this whole CCB thing.

stever

xwesx said:

What?! A white one?

True, an adobe colored one would match the house better (and the yard, and the neighborhood, and the town, and the state).

And wouldn't you know it - finally got an email from the Kia salesguy an hour after my post. And another one just now after my reply about probably waiting for the 2016s.

You need to park the Fiesta near the Iditarod start next week. Hey, give away a free Husky puppy with it!

@suydam, I've read a lot of good stuff about the Encore. But it's more SUVy than hatchy and we want a boxy hatch (funky is good too). After I clunk a few rocks, I may be wishing for more GC though. The Soul looks to have quite a bit more cargo with the seats down. Better torque and warranty (expect drivetrain) on the Encore. And better mpg. Don't much like the idea of 18" wheels ($$ tires). No heated steering wheel or ventilated seats either.

nyccarguy

@Michaell‌

The Outback looks fantastic! Pics were upside down on my PC at work, but perfect on my iPad at home. Best of luck with it!

Mr_Shiftright

It should stream Pandora just like anything else. I stream Pandora on a dinky $9 suction cup blue tooth speaker on my windshield.

Michaell said:

corvette said:

michaell, I think the Outback should have audio streaming via Bluetooth, without the need to connect via USB.

It does .. just won't stream Pandora. If you have music local to your device, you're good (daughter confirmed that on Saturday).

Mr_Shiftright

Here---I fixed that for you--oops, Steve beat me to it! The boy's fast.

stickguy

Nice looking sube. But those wheels IMO just look wrong on it.

brian125

@Michaell‌

Good luck with the Sube looks great.

If you plan on driving it upside down make sure you put a couple of layers of wax on the roof.

Michaell

Mr_Shiftright said:

It should stream Pandora just like anything else. I stream Pandora on a dinky $9 suction cup blue tooth speaker on my windshield.

Michaell said:

corvette said:

michaell, I think the Outback should have audio streaming via Bluetooth, without the need to connect via USB.

It does .. just won't stream Pandora. If you have music local to your device, you're good (daughter confirmed that on Saturday).

The Subaru comes equipped with something called Starlink .. it has a Pandora app pre-installed, so the cord is necessary in order to synch with the phone. I dunno .. I'm starting to feel like a Luddite with all this new technology.

Steve, if we swapped houses, we'd have to take the Subaru to get to NM. And, the daughter would still be there; not sure how she'd take to strangers in the house.

Thanks to all for the compliments on the Subaru; wife has gushed about it every day so far. No real bad weather to try it out in yet, but winter is not over around here.

And, best news, it fits in the garage with the parking block set in the same place I had it for the Mazda, even though the Subaru is 5" longer. Much of that is in front of the front wheels, apparently.

iluvmysephia1

Yeah, that's one thing I don't miss about the '08 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS is replacement time for those 18" tires. With mounting they came to around $200 a tire. Yikes. The '11 Soul I have now has 15" tires and I haven't priced their replacements yet but I doubt they'll be anything close to even $100 a tire. The Soul's 15" tires stick fairly well into turns but I know when ta let up on the gas pedal when trying ta push into the hard corner with it. The hatchback's driving experience comes off as fun with the power-assisted "Sport" steering and all...it's a ball ta drive. The fact that it's got a 5-speed stick really lends so much to the fun.

I've pondered a 2015 Soul but my 2011 Soul only has 44,884 miles on it and I can't really justify trading it in at such a young, tender age.

js06gv

Michaell said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

It should stream Pandora just like anything else. I stream Pandora on a dinky $9 suction cup blue tooth speaker on my windshield.

Michaell said:

corvette said:

michaell, I think the Outback should have audio streaming via Bluetooth, without the need to connect via USB.

It does .. just won't stream Pandora. If you have music local to your device, you're good (daughter confirmed that on Saturday).

The Subaru comes equipped with something called Starlink .. it has a Pandora app pre-installed, so the cord is necessary in order to synch with the phone. I dunno .. I'm starting to feel like a Luddite with all this new technology.

Steve, if we swapped houses, we'd have to take the Subaru to get to NM. And, the daughter would still be there; not sure how she'd take to strangers in the house.

Thanks to all for the compliments on the Subaru; wife has gushed about it every day so far. No real bad weather to try it out in yet, but winter is not over around here.

And, best news, it fits in the garage with the parking block set in the same place I had it for the Mazda, even though the Subaru is 5" longer. Much of that is in front of the front wheels, apparently.

My Kia has a Pandora app as well. When connected by cord, I can control everything including pre-stored playlists from the radio menu and steering wheel controls. I suspect yours is similar. However, if I am streaming music via Bluetooth, I can also go to the Pandora app in my phone and stream that in the same fashion. Of course, the trade off is I lose the radio control functionality and have to use my phone instead at that point.

au1994

Nice looking Sube. The Outback looks great in that color!

Michaell

au1994 said:

Nice looking Sube. The Outback looks great in that color!

Yeah, the wife was ready for a 'real' color again after the grey and silver of her last two cars.

qbrozen

I'm not often a fan of green on cars, but that's a really nice color.

au1994

Michaell said:

au1994 said:

Nice looking Sube. The Outback looks great in that color!

Yeah, the wife was ready for a 'real' color again after the grey and silver of her last two cars.

Thats funny because I am seriously considering grey for my next ride. The 335i is my 3rd white vehicle, not in a row though. I've had 2 silver ones as well, 3 if you count one of the ex's.

That being said about the grey, there is a sharp Deep Sea Blue metallic X3 that is calling my name at the moment

I like mixing up colors car to car. Others may not feel the same way.

breld

qbrozen said:

I'm not often a fan of green on cars, but that's a really nice color.

I agree - the green works with the Outback. Always has.

Nice car Michael - I'm sure it's a very competent vehicle with the 4 cylinder. I imagine that 6 cylinder transforms it into true luxury vehicle.

breld

Speaking of green, did anyone else see the latest Motor Trend (I think that was the one), that has a comparison test between a classic E39 M5 and a new Chevy SS?

The Chevy they drove was in a metallic green that did the car no favors.

Other than that, it was a fun read - the review naturally gushed over the M5, but certainly showed appreciation for Chevy making a manual, V-8 sedan in this day and age.