Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

kyfdx

@nyccarguy Bradd.. are you near Riverside?

https://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/5153080681.html

au1994

kyfdx said:

@nyccarguy Bradd.. are you near Riverside?

https://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/5153080681.html

Yummy!!!

Michaell

au1994 said:

Michaell said:

After 6 months and over 7000 miles, I'll agree that Subaru makes a darn good car.

So, a buying and selling story from me today. Closed on the sale of my house as well as the purchase of our new home. Selling side went off without a hitch at 9:30 this morning.

The buy transaction, however, was a little dicey. We were scheduled to close at 1PM, but there was a problem with our lender sending the paperwork to the wrong title company. Our realtor said this was the first time she'd seen this happen in more than 20 years on the job. Once we got that straightened out, we signed our paperwork and expected the lender to release the funds electronically to the title company. Realtor got confirmation that it had been done. Title company didn't see the money. Back on phone to lender, who confirms wire transfer was sent. Nope - still no money. After 20 gut wrenching minutes, the money finally shows up and everybody gets paid.

So, flush with enough money to buy a stripped 2015 Mustang GT, the wife and I start shopping. Ordered 1700sf of ceramic tile, a new over the range microwave and a new front storm door. Wife and daughter have paint colors picked out and will get paint later this week. We take possession of the new house on Saturday, but aren't moving into it until the 21st. Plan to rip out all the flooring (currently a mix of hardwood and carpet) and replace with tile and hardwood, heating the main floor tile. Labor Day weekend will be spent painting, installing the storm door and microwave, replacing all the locks and getting the bedrooms and stairs measured for new carpet.

Next few weeks looks to be quite busy to prepare the house. If the budget allows, we plan to replace the countertops, which are currently Formica and in horrible shape. If you've upgraded your countertops, I'm interested in your stories about pros/cons - granite, engineered surfaces, quartz, etc.

I took the day off of work, but ended up more mentally exhausted than usual. Good thing we don't buy houses as often as we buy cars.

Congrats! No matter how easy the realtors tell you its going to be, its always a stressful process. I bought my 3rd house in 2013 from the proverbial little old man. He was selling b/c he could not longer keep up with it so I got a bargain in the area I wanted but it came with work.

One of those tasks I had done last year was replacing the Corian in the kitchen and bathroom counter tops. Went with granite in both spots and could not be more pleased. Zero problems with fit, staining, scratches etc. The kitchen granite is black and the only caution there is it makes it difficult to see spills sometimes and if you don't do a good job cleaning those up, smudges and smears stick out like a sore thumb.

Thanks for the feedback - we've tried to sell our home several times over the years but the timing (and pricing) were never right until this last go-around. I like to tell our realtor that with all the houses she's showed us over the years, her commission check works out to about minimum wage.

nyccarguy

kyfdx said:

@nyccarguy Bradd.. are you near Riverside?

https://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/5153080681.html

Yes. It is the next town over. Part of Greenwich.

nyccarguy

@Michaell - We are 75% done with our kitchen renovation. We decided to go with Granite for our counter tops. It was recommended by our contractor, the cabinet guy, & the stone yard (who also sells ceaserstone & marble). I'll post pictures hopefully by the end of this week!

qbrozen

We aren't having much luck with our house. I'm a bit surprised that, with all of the response we received almost immediately on renting our house, we still have no renters or buyers on the line. Meanwhile, the sellers of the house we are in the process of buying have not responded in more than a week to our repair requests based on the inspection. hmmm...

kyfdx

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

@nyccarguy Bradd.. are you near Riverside?

https://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/5153080681.html

Yes. It is the next town over. Part of Greenwich.

No reason... lol

au1994

kyfdx said:

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

@nyccarguy Bradd.. are you near Riverside?

https://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/5153080681.html

Yes. It is the next town over. Part of Greenwich.

No reason... lol

Punch, Punch, Punch!!

stever

Funny, I've always liked Formica. The last house had antique Formica but it was badly worn so I replaced it with glass tile. Fun but not likely very durable. Down here a lot of houses have "Mexican" tile countertops. I love ours. Don't recommend concrete. You know about Houzz, right?

Maybe we'll hit the Kia dealer today for a revisit....

nyccarguy

kyfdx said:

@nyccarguy Bradd.. are you near Riverside? https://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/5153080681.html

Yes. It is the next town over. Part of Greenwich.

No reason... lol

Do you want me to casually go and check it out for "no reason?"

stickguy

We did granite. Hard to go wrong. But Quartz has a lot of positives too.

Stick with a standard line granite and it is probably best bang for buck. Some of the exotic ones get very pricy.

Also do undermount sink, unless you want to get fancy and install a farm sink. I love those, but definitely more expensive.

stever

My wife likes those too. All I see is another two square feet of highly visible porcelain to try to keep clean. They're the minivans of sinks

breld

We went with quartz in our kitchen. From a durability standpoint, I don't see much difference between granite and quartz. And neither seems to offer a price advantage, though there certainly is a lot of variance in both between the "high-volume" choices and the rarer patterns. We simply liked the more uniform pattern inherent in quartz.

Michaell

I'll need to measure how much countertop we have and start pricing. There is s big island as well. 

My my wife also likes farmhouse sinks. 

corvette

I have concrete countertops in my kitchen. Not what I would pick but it's what the previous owners picked. They are a little uneven and there is some sort of tinted coating that is starting to flake and peel off. It's not terrible but I would go with one of the other choices. 

stever

Our Taos friends aren't happy with their concrete counters. Keep telling them to put tile in over it. Another friend up north has made several for himself and friends (often with halibut hooks embedded in them) - he recommends the clear garage floor epoxy sealer stuff as the topcoat. Who cares if it's food grade.

Chatted up the local Kia dealer and they have 2016 Souls in town but they haven't processed them or something. Expecting an email with details "any day now". Ah, there it is now - nothing but base models in the pipeline. Just like Albuquerque, another college town full of students who need cheap transport.

kyfdx

Countertops..

Concrete is really cool.. but, I would probably pass
Tile? Not in the kitchen
Granite: Easy choice.. looks good, everyone who sees it goes, "ooooh... granite"
Corian: Seemed like a good choice in 1998... dang it!

kyfdx

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

@nyccarguy Bradd.. are you near Riverside?

https://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/5153080681.html

Yes. It is the next town over. Part of Greenwich.

No reason... lol

Do you want me to casually go and check it out for "no reason?"

I'm thinking about it... the '08 model in NC is already pending. Found this one, once I realized I was thinking about a 135i. Seems like a good price (you know, once I get it for $2K less..lol).

Has every single thing I'd want, other than Comfort Access. Favorite color combo, too. Better engine than the '08 (N55 vs. N54).

But, I wasn't really looking..

Michaell

kyfdx said:

Countertops..

Concrete is really cool.. but, I would probably pass
Tile? Not in the kitchen
Granite: Easy choice.. looks good, everyone who sees it goes, "ooooh... granite"
Corian: Seemed like a good choice in 1998... dang it!

My folks have Corian in the kitchen and both bathrooms. Does look a bit dated...

nyccarguy

kyfdx said:

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

nyccarguy said:

kyfdx said:

@nyccarguy Bradd.. are you near Riverside?

https://newhaven.craigslist.org/cto/5153080681.html

Yes. It is the next town over. Part of Greenwich.

No reason... lol

Do you want me to casually go and check it out for "no reason?"

I'm thinking about it... the '08 model in NC is already pending. Found this one, once I realized I was thinking about a 135i. Seems like a good price (you know, once I get it for $2K less..lol).

Has every single thing I'd want, other than Comfort Access. Favorite color combo, too. Better engine than the '08 (N55 vs. N54).

But, I wasn't really looking..

So as long as you aren't really looking, let me know if you want me to go check it out for you. I'd be happy to.

ab348

stever said:

Don't recommend concrete.

Yes, a friend splurged for concrete counters in her megabucks home a few years ago. Maybe she just got a doofus contractor but I thought they looked like crap from day one, and soon the cracks started appearing. She had Quartz put in her bathrooms though and they looked spectacular.

stickguy

Nice BMW. Fuzzy math. 25 is half of 42? And that was MSRP, not what you could buy new for today!

stickguy

Michaell said:

I'll need to measure how much countertop we have and start pricing. There is s big island as well. 

My my wife also likes farmhouse sinks. 

For the island, if it is dry (and not really for food prep) consider butcher block. Looks cool, and can be way cheaper.

stever

We drug a small butcher block here from MI. Stuck it in the storage closet for two months. The size of the new cracks are amazing. Still looks good, just a 10 footer now. Don't think a Woody would make it here - even steel goes "ah" when you sprinkle water on it.

Michaell

stickguy said:

Michaell said:

I'll need to measure how much countertop we have and start pricing. There is s big island as well. 

My my wife also likes farmhouse sinks. 

For the island, if it is dry (and not really for food prep) consider butcher block. Looks cool, and can be way cheaper.

Yes, the island is dry, but the wife is not a fan of the butcher block look.

We take possession on Friday night, so we'll measure first then see what it'll cost.

suydam

We tiled over a butcher block on our island. Impossible to keep clean.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

Nice BMW. Fuzzy math. 25 is half of 42? And that was MSRP, not what you could buy new for today!

I think it's more half-price of the new replacement model, which is the M235i. And, that is around $50K.

If I could actually get that for half of original MSRP, I'd be there.. (well, once Bradd looks at it.. lol). $21K would be a steal!

It's been on CL for 30 days..

cdnpinhead

Michaell said:

Does look a bit dated...

Here's something from another board:

There's no money to be made off people who are satisfied with what they've got.

"Open concept" any (every) one? I occasionally watch perfectly beautiful and serviceable kitchens ripped to shreds on more than one TV series and replaced with stuff that often, to me, looks worse, at huge expense. But at least it's not "dated". . .yet. It will be in 10 years, though (maybe sooner if the marketing mavens are successful), and the beat goes on.

robr2

We did sapphire blue granite (more brown than blue) in the kitchen and carerra marble in the master bath.

We are looking to spiff up the guest and kids' bath and recycled glass counters are hot right now.

corvette

Michaell said:

My my wife also likes farmhouse sinks. 

I like farmhouse ales. Does that count?

roadburner

Michaell said:

Next few weeks looks to be quite busy to prepare the house. If the budget allows, we plan to replace the countertops, which are currently Formica and in horrible shape. If you've upgraded your countertops, I'm interested in your stories about pros/cons - granite, engineered surfaces, quartz, etc.

We went with granite when we remodeled our kitchen in 2007. Absolutely no regrets!

roadburner

Another punch that wasn't- read all about it in the Buying and Selling Cars: Post Your Experiences topic... :@

kyfdx

corvette said:

Michaell said:

My my wife also likes farmhouse sinks. 

I like farmhouse ales. Does that count?

Yes.. yes it does.

berri

Homes are money pits. Sellers always seem to forget how much they spent on them; taxes, interest (both paid out and lost investment opportunity), insurance, maintenance, repairs and updates, realtor fees, etc. when they tell you how much they made on it. But there is a satisfaction in controlling your living space and environment.

Michaell

For all of us Chronic Car Buyers, this is the house we all want:

https://www.facebook.com/SpeedSociety/photos/pcb.1216491678368132/1216491061701527/?type=1&theater

corvette

kyfdx said:

corvette said:

Michaell said:

My my wife also likes farmhouse sinks. 

I like farmhouse ales. Does that count?

Yes.. yes it does.

Cheers!

kyfdx

Okay.... so, I've replied to the CL ad for the 2011 in Connecticut.

Because, you made me do it.

breld

Before I had a legitimate thought of actually purchasing an S4, my wife and I had been admiring this ever so slightly used one at a large Audi dealership in Denver. I even sat it in when I started shopping seriously. It's some special "exclusive" color combination offered by Audi - it's used with 800 miles. Not sure what the story was there.

Nogaro Blue S4

Anyway, dealer was asking a laughable price for it several weeks ago of $62k. Today, it's been dropped to $53k. I do like the blue exterior - it's sort of akin to some of the "special" blues BMW tends to offer on their M3/4s. But that interior! It's certainly exclusive...for a reason. Blue velour (alcantara I suppose) screams bachelor man-cave to me .

breld

@roadburner - perhaps this was already asked and addressed, but with your current search for a Mustang, it seems you're interested in slightly used ones with perhaps a savings over new of about $3k-4k?

I was just curious - given the specific nature of what you're looking for, and considering how long you keep your cars, why not spring for a new one exactly the way you want it?

au1994

breld said:

Before I had a legitimate thought of actually purchasing an S4, my wife and I had been admiring this ever so slightly used one at a large Audi dealership in Denver. I even sat it in when I started shopping seriously. It's some special "exclusive" color combination offered by Audi - it's used with 800 miles. Not sure what the story was there.

Nogaro Blue S4

Anyway, dealer was asking a laughable price for it several weeks ago of $62k. Today, it's been dropped to $53k. I do like the blue exterior - it's sort of akin to some of the "special" blues BMW tends to offer on their M3/4s. But that interior! It's certainly exclusive...for a reason. Blue velour (alcantara I suppose) screams bachelor man-cave to me .

Oh my...That's certainly...different...

graphicguy

kyfdx said:

Okay.... so, I've replied to the CL ad for the 2011 in Connecticut.

Because, you made me do it.

Wow...and we didn't even get to the arm twisting yet.

stickguy

That interior. Just nasty.

slorenzen

stickguy said:

That interior. Just nasty.

Reminds me of "Elvis", painted on velour...

roadburner

breld said:

@roadburner - perhaps this was already asked and addressed, but with your current search for a Mustang, it seems you're interested in slightly used ones with perhaps a savings over new of about $3k-4k?

I was just curious - given the specific nature of what you're looking for, and considering how long you keep your cars, why not spring for a new one exactly the way you want it?

My wife and I agreed on a maximum amount we wanted to spend- I could get a new base GT with the Performance Package and Recaros, but neither of us can tolerate the '80s Hyundai cloth trim and I can't abide the awful base sound system. At a minimum I would want a GT Premium with the "Shaker Pro" sound system and the Performance Package- and a new one exceeds our limited budget by at least $5,000.

nyccarguy

@roadburner - I know you've got a budget.  I know you've got a child in college.  I even know your position on taking loans out to pay for cars (take out a 5 year loan & pay it back in 2 or 3).  I also know that you are absolutely crazy about cars & you could probably fill in for The Stig on BBC's TOP GEAR if he ever got sick or went on strike.  It has also been a long time since I've seen car magazine editors (who are as jaded as they come) gush over a long term test car like this:

http://m.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-porsche-cayman-s-long-term-test-update-review

You should at least go and test drive one, spec it out how you'd order it and see what you can do.  Money is cheap right now & these Cayman S' seem to hold their value exceptionally well.

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

@roadburner - I know you've got a budget.  I know you've got a child in college.  I even know your position on taking loans out to pay for cars (take out a 5 year loan & pay it back in 2 or 3).  I also know that you are absolutely crazy about cars & you could probably fill in for The Stig on BBC's TOP GEAR if he ever got sick or went on strike.  It has also been a long time since I've seen car magazine editors (who are as jaded as they come) gush over a long term test car like this:

http://m.caranddriver.com/reviews/2014-porsche-cayman-s-long-term-test-update-review

You should at least go and test drive one, spec it out how you'd order it and see what you can do.  Money is cheap right now & these Cayman S' seem to hold their value ex Either one exceeds myceptionally well.

I do like the Cayman S; built to my specs it would have an MSRP of $72k. Still, I think I'd much rather have a GT350- one with the options I'd want would run around $56k, or a GT350R, which is only $10k more....

nyccarguy

Drive my Prelude to work today. Life is good

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

Drive my Prelude to work today. Life is good

Yep; I've been driving the Club Sport a lot lately. I really like how it feels compared to most new cars.

akangl

Returning the rental tomorrow, only have 30 days total and hubby's car is home for a couple weeks so I'll drive that. The body shop JUST took the Focus in last night to start working on it, they are estimating beginning of next month before I have it back. I am beyond frustrated with this whole thing. The at-fault driver lied to his ins company, said he had a green light and Alyson ran the read, turned in front of him. Neither ins company has the police report, but I do, so I'm sending them what I have.

According to the Ford dealer where I bought the Focus the estimated diminished value is approx $3000, I'm going to push for $5k from the ins company.

Sandman6472

Just got back from VW, service went well and all is fine. They have the part I need in the parts department, I saw it, so when I'm ready, I know where one is. They wanted $43.00...will check amazon.com and then decide. Luckily I'm in no hurry here.

The Sandman