Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

nyccarguy

Got a "handwritten" letter from the desk of the GM at Honda of Danbury today. "I am sending this letter concerning your 2011 Honda pilot. We are depleted of these vehicles, and so are local auctions. According to our appraisal guide, your vehicle could be worth up to $21,550. As the General Manager, I have the ability to offer you more." - WOW! What a super nice guy (sarcasm). Here's the best part: "PS - if you have any other vehicles you would be interested in selling, CALL ME!"

My wife commented sarastically - I never knew our 2011 Pilot was such a hot commodity.

Only 10 payments to go and it is all yours Bradd (repeating to myself over & over)

stever

nyccarguy said:

I was hoping for her to get a diesel just so I could buy it off them in 3 years

Ha, the truth comes out.

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

Got a "handwritten" letter from the desk of the GM at Honda of Danbury today. "I am sending this letter concerning your 2011 Honda pilot. We are depleted of these vehicles, and so are local auctions. According to our appraisal guide, your vehicle could be worth up to $21,550. As the General Manager, I have the ability to offer you more." - WOW! What a super nice guy (sarcasm). Here's the best part: "PS - if you have any other vehicles you would be interested in selling, CALL ME!"

My wife commented sarastically - I never knew our 2011 Pilot was such a hot commodity.

Only 10 payments to go and it is all yours Bradd (repeating to myself over & over)

I got a similar email from the Hyundai dealership where I leased my E-GT - positive equity! new car for little or no out of pocket cost! Hurry hurry hurry!

15 payments left on the lease, then I get to go shopping again. Though, with the new house (and the new payment) on the horizon, I fear my budget will be even less this go around. One of those sub $200/mo Civic SIs does sound good!

Sandman6472

Got a 1:30 appointment to have the lumbar handle re-installed...never knew it was there as it's badly positioned on the side of the seats where they meet the B pillar. Hopefully this will fix things once and for all. Also mentioned the 10k oil change interval to the service lady and she at first said to stick with that but after I explained that I think it's a bit too long, she said I could come in at 8500 if that felt more reasonable. With the turbo engine and all, should I just wait till what the manual says or go in earlier? 90% of my driving is on expressways where I'm going at least 65 and most drives are about a half hour give or take, not many short runs where the engine doesn't have time to warm up properly.

The Sandman

stickguy

If it worries you, go early. It will amount to what, 1-2 extra oil changes in 5 years?

rayainsw

Surprised to see that our newest Counter Sales guy
just showed up with a 2015 Charger R/T.
- Ray
He just started - and I've never even talked with him...

stever

New job, new payments?

I did that.

Once.

ab348

Funny that you mention the Charger R/T. A fellow I know is the latest editor of a fairly well-known automotive website, though not one I like very much. Although he gets press cars, he was in the market for a car of his own and wanted to buy a new Charger with a V8. This is not a small city (+/-400K people) but none of the 3 dealers had any in stock. He expanded the search and found 2 within a 400 mile radius. No V8 Challengers in that same radius either. All that the FCA dealers here sell are Darts, 200s, 500s, minivans, pickups, and of course Jeeps. He was told he could order one in but of course the deal would be significantly less attractive than buying something on the lot. Weird place I live in.

rayainsw

That is odd.
The dealer where I bought mine has 7 R/T Chargers. [ 2 R&Ts ]
The next closest dealer to me has 6 R/Ts.
- Ray
VERY few Hellcats on dealer lots.....

nyccarguy

I think the availability of V8s is regionally dependent.  For 2015 Dodge no longer makes a HEMI powered AWD Charger.  You want AWD, you are getting a Penta-Star V6.  V8 & RWD = no sale here in the northeast.

tifighter

Have now had the LEAF for a year and 12k miles. Has been a great commuter for us. Have averaged 4.3 mi/kwh for the year, or 144mpgE, whatever that means. Electricity from hydro here is 7.6 cents per kwh so the 1000 miles per month I drive costs $17.67 in electricity. Not bad. Lease has one year left.

Still need to replace our Acura; it will happen one of these days. But we just bought a house last month so who knows when I'll get around to that. It has a garage, so that has to worth half a punch, right?

Michaell

ab348 said:

Funny that you mention the Charger R/T. A fellow I know is the latest editor of a fairly well-known automotive website, though not one I like very much. Although he gets press cars, he was in the market for a car of his own and wanted to buy a new Charger with a V8. This is not a small city (+/-400K people) but none of the 3 dealers had any in stock. He expanded the search and found 2 within a 400 mile radius. No V8 Challengers in that same radius either. All that the FCA dealers here sell are Darts, 200s, 500s, minivans, pickups, and of course Jeeps. He was told he could order one in but of course the deal would be significantly less attractive than buying something on the lot. Weird place I live in.

Given the price of petrol, I can't say I'm surprised by the lack of full size cars. 

qbrozen

took the Caddy in for its first service today. Unfortunately, that involved driving about 50 minutes. I have dealers that are closer, but neither of which I wish to take my business. One is part of an auto group that is an old-time foe of mine, the other aggravated me simply through their online appointment tool. It would not allow me to unselect SEVERE service schedule, nor would it allow me to opt out of their BS extra services they want to perform. Could I have called and made the appt by phone and avoided those things? Probably. But why should I? And who is to say they wouldn't apply the pressure once I was there? The dealer I bought the car, on the other hand, had almost the same online appointment tool, but no SEVERE schedule and the default option was "Included scheduled maintenance." Yup, I'll have that, thank you!

Never a word to me while I was there about extra service. They changed the oil, rotated the tires, gave it a real quick wash, and had me out the door in 45 mins. I complimented the service writer and told him I very much appreciate how they are doing business. Then gave him the scoop on the other dealer and he was pretty disgusted by it.

iluvmysephia1

New job, new payments?

I did that.

Once.

Tried that one up here in Moses Lake. Was gonna try and trade in the 2011 Kia Soul 5-speed base for a similar 2015 Soul in Phoenix on the way out of Alamogordo up to Moses Lake. Apparently we were extended far enough on credit on the '11 Soul than they were prepared ta go on anything new.

Oh. Well.

au1994

I will be participating in the Drive for TEAM USA event next week at my BMW dealer. Invite says I get to drive a 3, 4, 5, 6 Series as well as the X4.

I am going primarily for the X4 although if they have a 340i, I'll give that a whirl. I am still a bit out on the lease for my 335i but would seriously consider an X4. The new sedans don't do much for me personally but no need in getting into that debate here.

I've driven an X4 once and loved it. Want to pay closer attention to the rear visibility this time.

I get a 1k credit to be used within 60 days for participating.

rayainsw

SOP for the 340i was lust within
the past 2 weeks or so - I have seen
no reports of a 340i on a dealer lot.
- Ray
Would be there in a heartbeat...

au1994

rayainsw said:

SOP for the 340i was lust within
the past 2 weeks or so - I have seen
no reports of a 340i on a dealer lot.
- Ray
Would be there in a heartbeat...

Yeah I doubt any have made it to lots yet. The rumor, of course, is that this mid cycle refresh with the 340i has corrected some of the sins of the F30 namely the horrid feel of the electric steering. Who knows, kinda got my heart set on a small SUV/CUV this time around but like many of us that could change with the direction of the wind.

stever

Help please (especially @kyfdx, @roadburner and other Bimmer fans):

18yr old with inheritance

Oh, that MINI I spotted FSBO in my neighborhood a week or so ago isn't in the "casual" car sales lot. But the gold Prius is back yet again. I think this is the 3rd or 4th month it's showed up at that corner (which is usually vacant and I've yet to see more than one FSBO parked there at a time). Likely still way overpriced.

breld

Just got back last night from a long holiday weekend in San Diego. Wife, her son and her parents are still out there - they drove out there and are driving back later this week. I rented a car while out there just to have an additional means of transportation for our big group - got a great deal on a "standard" car, which Alamo considered "Jetta or similar." Was actually looking forward to getting a Jetta, but there weren't any available - the attendant pointed out the "other VW" in the "standard" row, which turned out to be a bright red GTI! Of course we already have one in our fleet, but it sure made for a fun rental car - like @stickguy mentioned, I love the plaid seats. When I returned it, I noticed another GTI on the lot, but in the "specialty" row. I do believe I got a good deal due to someone mistaking the GTI for a "regular" Golf.

@akangl - as others pointed out, we did own a Veloster for a little while. I actually liked the car quite a bit. The rear seat was quite roomy, and the 3rd door provided great access. I liked the styling of the car, and thought it offered a lot of "presence" for a compact car. On the downside, the blind spots were horrendous, and it severely lacked power (but that was the standard version, I'm sure the Turbo would be more than adequate). So I'd just say to pay particular attention to the visibility issues - if you end up being okay with that, I wouldn't warn you off of the car. I'd also whole-heartedly recommend the Mazda3 we have for a fun compact car, since you're not after the fastest thing out there. And, like others have mentioned, the Civic Si sure is a smoking deal right now (was a close 2nd to the Mazda I ended up buying).

@michaell - congrats on the new house. No doubt you'll be able to unload your current home with no problem.

Michaell

breld said:

Just got back last night from a long holiday weekend in San Diego. Wife, her son and her parents are still out there - they drove out there and are driving back later this week. I rented a car while out there just to have an additional means of transportation for our big group - got a great deal on a "standard" car, which Alamo considered "Jetta or similar." Was actually looking forward to getting a Jetta, but there weren't any available - the attendant pointed out the "other VW" in the "standard" row, which turned out to be a bright red GTI! Of course we already have one in our fleet, but it sure made for a fun rental car - like @stickguy mentioned, I love the plaid seats. When I returned it, I noticed another GTI on the lot, but in the "specialty" row. I do believe I got a good deal due to someone mistaking the GTI for a "regular" Golf. @akangl - as others pointed out, we did own a Veloster for a little while. I actually liked the car quite a bit. The rear seat was quite roomy, and the 3rd door provided great access. I liked the styling of the car, and thought it offered a lot of "presence" for a compact car. On the downside, the blind spots were horrendous, and it severely lacked power (but that was the standard version, I'm sure the Turbo would be more than adequate). So I'd just say to pay particular attention to the visibility issues - if you end up being okay with that, I wouldn't warn you off of the car. I'd also whole-heartedly recommend the Mazda3 we have for a fun compact car, since you're not after the fastest thing out there. And, like others have mentioned, the Civic Si sure is a smoking deal right now (was a close 2nd to the Mazda I ended up buying). @michaell - congrats on the new house. No doubt you'll be able to unload your current home with no problem.

 The house was listed about mid afternoon today, and we already have three requests to show it 

akangl

Well, looks like I'll be getting a July punch too. Looked at pretty much everything across the compact car segment and ended up deciding on a 2015 Ford Focus......shocker right? Just can't beat the car for comfort.

We came close on a Corolla S, but they didn't have what we wanted and after leaving there we decided to stop by the Ford store, the Focus was just so much more comfortable and pleasant to drive. We did look at a Civic EX and truly liked the car but couldn't get past the hardness of the cloth seats and the dealer had no EX-L in stock. Kia didn't have a Forte new or used on the lot and we didn't bother to go back to Hyundai. I didn't want to deal with the VW dealer so we nixed a Jetta and the salesman at the Mazda dealer pissed me off and they didn't have a car in stock with the options I wanted anyway. Liked the Dodge Dart but the road noise was horrible, Chevy Cruse couldn't fit the car seat, and the Chrysler 200, while nice, just wasn't "it." Didn't look at a Subaru Impreza either, didn't interest me at all, I've owned 2 and neither of them were stellar in any way.

So, that leaves the Focus, just can't beat those cars for being so nice. Picking it up on Sunday, dealer cut the price down to invoice plus tags and such. Plus 0% interest and $1250 rebate....yes please.

2015 Focus SE hatchback (already have a sedan, need to change it up a little), ruby red (gotta keep the stable matching), sport pkg, leather, sunroof, cold weather pkg, pretty loaded up little car for not a lot of $$.

stickguy

sounds nice. I like having a lot of goodies.

akangl

It's a really nicely loaded car for the money. No Ford MyTouch which is completely fine with me, one vehicle with that is more then enough. It does have Sync, bluetooth, usb, all that fun stuff. I wasn't sure how I would feel about the automatic, but they've really improved them since 2012. Hubby's Focus is a manual, he wouldn't dream of an automatic.

ab348

I hope the automatic truly is improved. How the awful automatic transmissions in this generation of Focus haven't become a national cause celebre is a deep mystery.

cdnpinhead

Greetings, folks. I've heard of this board over the years on the ones I do inhabit, and the time has come to join up over here. I'm trying to research Subaru, and as we all know, most of the brand-specific boards are mere shadows of their previous selves, if they exist at all. It was suggested by XWESX that I bring my questions and comments over here, so I will. While cross-posting used to be discouraged, I'm going to do it anyway.

I've downloaded a few of the Subaru brochures from their website and have begun reviewing them. I'm a little leery that the rubber band transmission is the only offering, but Subaru's reliability reputation seems pretty solid these days. Still working on differentiating between the Forester & Outback. Is the Outback the full-up offroad vehicle, or just a tarted-up Forester, given that all Subarus are AWD?

We do mild off-roading in my wife's Pathfinder, and it's been pretty much bulletproof, but has 165K on it, and I think she'd enjoy a new vehicle. We have a cabin at 7500' that we use all winter, so AWD is quite attractive, even though we use the 4WD on the Pathfinder only a few times a year.

rayainsw

Oh my gosh -
a name from the 1999 Lincoln LS board?
Good luck with your search!
- Ray
My Lincoln = long gone...

kyfdx

cdnpinhead said:

Greetings, folks. I've heard of this board over the years on the ones I do inhabit, and the time has come to join up over here. I'm trying to research Subaru, and as we all know, most of the brand-specific boards are mere shadows of their previous selves, if they exist at all. It was suggested by XWESX that I bring my questions and comments over here, so I will. While cross-posting used to be discouraged, I'm going to do it anyway.

I've downloaded a few of the Subaru brochures from their website and have begun reviewing them. I'm a little leery that the rubber band transmission is the only offering, but Subaru's reliability reputation seems pretty solid these days. Still working on differentiating between the Forester & Outback. Is the Outback the full-up offroad vehicle, or just a tarted-up Forester, given that all Subarus are AWD?

We do mild off-roading in my wife's Pathfinder, and it's been pretty much bulletproof, but has 165K on it, and I think she'd enjoy a new vehicle. We have a cabin at 7500' that we use all winter, so AWD is quite attractive, even though we use the 4WD on the Pathfinder only a few times a year.

The Forester is based on the Impreza platform, while the Outback is on the Legacy platform.. I wouldn't consider either of them a full-up off-road vehicle... More of a crossover, either way.. But, nice ground clearance, compared to some of the other CUVs.

xwesx

cdnpinhead said:

We do mild off-roading in my wife's Pathfinder, and it's been pretty much bulletproof, but has 165K on it, and I think she'd enjoy a new vehicle. We have a cabin at 7500' that we use all winter, so AWD is quite attractive, even though we use the 4WD on the Pathfinder only a few times a year.

Ah, mild off-roading! I don't recall that being mentioned on the other post, so I'll just add that I have always enjoyed this aspect of owning Subarus. Our latest are no exceptions to this at all. However, the stock tires on any Subaru are complete junk. If you plan to run the same tires year round or want to do any sort of trail-like activity, I would plan to replace those tires sooner rather than later. We decided to run our Forester on dedicated winter tires, so we kept the stock tires for summer duty, but they only lasted about 1.5 seasons before I sliced a sidewall while doing some *extremely* mild off-roading. LOL

cdnpinhead

rayainsw said:

Oh my gosh -
a name from the 1999 Lincoln LS board?
Good luck with your search!
- Ray
My Lincoln = long gone...

Yeah, just like an old penny. I've watched your various vehicle changes with interest over the years. I bought an Acura TSX to replace the LS, and it's got 105K miles on it so far. I've had fewer problems with it in the whole time I've owned it than I had with the Lincoln in the first six months.

I really don't belong on this board, as I tend to drive vehicles into the ground. The LS had 128K miles on it when I sold it, and I've driven ten vehicles over 100K miles, including two that I drove over 200K.

Anyway, good to hear from you.

rayainsw

My one expensive vice.
[ That will have to go away relatively soon... ]

thebean

@akangl, that Focus sounds very nice indeed.  My wife is thinking about a smaller car for herself and the Focus is the right size.  I'm happy to hear it rides and drives nice.  Congrats on the punch!

Michaell

rayainsw said:

My one expensive vice.
[ That will have to go away relatively soon... ]

And why might that be?

xwesx

akangl said:

Picking it up on Sunday

Wow; when you decide that another vehicle is in your future, you don't mess around with making it happen!

stickguy

To me the forester is more of the off roady type compared to outback. Shorter, and I think a bit more clearance. Plus it looks more trucky!

rayainsw

"And why might that be? "
I fear that I am approaching 'end of career'...

Mr_Shiftright

I wouldn't do anything more than a graded fire road in an Outback. It's not build to withstand chassis and suspension impacts.

nyccarguy

cdnpinhead said:

Greetings, folks. I've heard of this board over the years on the ones I do inhabit, and the time has come to join up over here. I'm trying to research Subaru, and as we all know, most of the brand-specific boards are mere shadows of their previous selves, if they exist at all. It was suggested by XWESX that I bring my questions and comments over here, so I will. While cross-posting used to be discouraged, I'm going to do it anyway.

I've downloaded a few of the Subaru brochures from their website and have begun reviewing them. I'm a little leery that the rubber band transmission is the only offering, but Subaru's reliability reputation seems pretty solid these days. Still working on differentiating between the Forester & Outback. Is the Outback the full-up offroad vehicle, or just a tarted-up Forester, given that all Subarus are AWD?

We do mild off-roading in my wife's Pathfinder, and it's been pretty much bulletproof, but has 165K on it, and I think she'd enjoy a new vehicle. We have a cabin at 7500' that we use all winter, so AWD is quite attractive, even though we use the 4WD on the Pathfinder only a few times a year.

You are a good guy! Even if you aren't a Chronic Car Buyer, you are more than welcome to post! Welcome!

Sandman6472

Drove another new Focus SE hatch today at work and the auto tranny is still, well, "a mess"! Heard it's a dry clutch so it changes gears very clunky like...to be honest, it's a bit better now on the numerous '15 models I've driven but nowhere near what it should be. Heck, my Golf auto tranny is so much smoother, there's really no comparison really. I actually wanted to get a new Focus hatch as I like the size of it to but that clunky tranny kept me away. My Golf also has the turbo which gets much better mileage so I am good here.
Not being a Ford person, I tried to like the Focus and really really love the C-max and was about to purchase a 2015 model but went with the Golf instead. When push came to shove, the smaller Golf was the perfect size for me and felt the C-Max was too close to the Tucson that I traded away. And to be honest, I haven't looked back even once or had second thoughts about trading out so early on the Hyundai. I got it out of my system once and for all and will never do that again because trading out after a year is just plain dumb unless one has unlimited funds. Think even if I had gotten the Outlander Sport which was my 1st choice in crossovers, I would've done the same exact thing. And maybe I should've leased the Golf but figured I drive too much and we've never leased before. Time will tell as I did go in with my eyes wide open knowing any German brand is not "cheap to keep" like the Far East vehicles are. Don't mind some issues but not looking for a drama queen to be honest...and have had a few unplanned dealer visits including another one on Monday to replace the lumbar support handle. After this. will not tolerate any more mishaps!! Are you listening VW!!! :@

The Sandman

xwesx

sandman_6472 said:

and have had a few unplanned dealer visits including another one on Monday to replace the lumbar support handle. After this. will not tolerate any more mishaps!! Are you listening VW!!! :@

Ah, so the visit to reattach the handle did not quite go as planned?

corvette

Got a lucky break on the Yukon. Apparently, the two front power outlets are on different circuits. The passenger side one didn't work. The fuse was blown, which meant that one plus the one in the console, the one in the back seat, and the one in the cargo area were dead. Used the spare 20A mini fuse. Now I need a new spare fuse, but Target and Kroger don't carry them, so it's on the Autozone list.

I say it was a lucky break because I was afraid I'd have to disassemble the dash to replace the other front power outlet--a real PITA. I replaced the driver's side one because the cover was broken off, and don't want to do it again!

stickguy

speaking of VW MPG, the 1.8l engine really is sweet. Filled up the new Jetta this AM since my daughter was running down to the shore today (about 35 miles from us I think to where she went). When she got back, she said the car was reporting she got 34.9 MPG.

that was some local running around (picking someone up), a lot of traffic on the local highway part, a 30 minute stop and go clog on the AC Xway, some local at the beach, then the trip home (no traffic issues).

pretty impressive, especially on a brand new engine. Really should not have trouble getting 38-40 on a straight highway run, if you can keep to a reasonable speed! I know one drive I did in my son's Jetta, it was showing 37+ IIRC, with a full car and hilly roads.

cdnpinhead

Any significant differences between the '15 & '16 Foresters & Outbacks? Tending toward Forester, but need to look at both. Since we usually drive our vehicles into the ground, buying a '15 to save a few bucks might work for us.

Mr_Shiftright

2016 Outback Changes from 2015 Model

2016 Forester Changes from 2015 Model

cdnpinhead said:

Any significant differences between the '15 & '16 Foresters & Outbacks? Tending toward Forester, but need to look at both. Since we usually drive our vehicles into the ground, buying a '15 to save a few bucks might work for us.

carnaught

Fellow car nuts, wanted to report a punch today. Lexus made me a deal a couldn't resist. They bought out the last three months of my ES lease, and replaced it with a much higher MSRP'd car for a few dollars a month more, 24 mos. lease. They also payed the first month's payment. It's an atomic silver with playa interior RC350 F-Sport Lexus coupe, sporty but more luxury, and gas mileage be d*mned.

iluvmysephia1

If I even test drove a 2015 Ford Focus ST I'd insist on a stick. An automatic tranny would sap the fun meter by about 80%. The 2015 Ford Focus ST is only offered with a six-speed manual transmission! Enthusiast alert! Power supplied by a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine that pushes 252 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 270 pound-feet of torque at only 2500 rpm to the front wheels. The car will run on regular unleaded but 91 octane fuel is recommended.

If I ever do return to the domestic car market this is the way I would return.

corvette

Congrats on the punches, carnaught and akangl! If my math is correct, we are up to 19 for the year. Get cracking, people!

I am using my iPad mini with a keyboard on vacation but really wish I had brought the laptop instead. Lesson learned!

roadburner

iluvmysephia1 said:

If I even test drove a 2015 Ford Focus ST I'd insist on a stick. An automatic tranny would sap the fun meter by about 80%. The 2015 Ford Focus ST is only offered with a six-speed manual transmission! Enthusiast alert! Power supplied by a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine that pushes 252 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 270 pound-feet of torque at only 2500 rpm to the front wheels. The car will run on regular unleaded but 91 octane fuel is recommended.

If I ever do return to the domestic car market this is the way I would return.

I actually looked at one; nice car but the only thing that I prefer over my 2007 MS3 is the heated Recaros. It doesn't have a mechanical LSD(a major liability in my book) and it is almost a second slower both from 0-60 and in the 1/4 mile(and FOUR seconds slower to 100!). And, according to Car and Driver, the ST is 1.6 seconds per lap slower around VIR. My car-after a $400 tune and a $300 Mazdaspeed intake- makes 320 hp and over 320 lb-ft of torque(311 lb-ft from 3000 rpm). So the ST, while definitely a true hot hatch, is definitely NOT on my radar- especially since I'm almost certainly one and done with FWD.

Now the RS? That's a Focus I could actually see myself owning- especially since it will pack 345 hp, AWD, and be built in Germany!

cdnpinhead

Mr_Shiftright said:

2016 Outback Changes from 2015 Model

2016 Forester Changes from 2015 Model

Wow -- what a batch of useful information! That dealership really has their stuff together. I'm not going to find anything like that in the Phoenix area, sadly. Denver maybe, or Minneapolis, where I travel from time ot time.

Thanks much.

stever

@corvette, you may want to play with the voice thingy. Works pretty well when I use my wife's iPad 3.

nyccarguy

carnaught said:

Fellow car nuts, wanted to report a punch today. Lexus made me a deal a couldn't resist. They bought out the last three months of my ES lease, and replaced it with a much higher MSRP'd car for a few dollars a month more, 24 mos. lease. They also payed the first month's payment. It's an atomic silver with playa interior RC350 F-Sport Lexus coupe, sporty but more luxury, and gas mileage be d*mned.

Nice! Congrats on the RC350 F-Sport punch! Enjoy for the next 2 years! Now is a fantastic time to lease & be a Chronic Car Buyer (with the right car of course). Money is cheap & residuals are high (& inflated).