Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

nyccarguy

@Michaell & @kyfdx - I know you guys say Honda Finance doesn't offer 10K per year leases, but every Honda dealer around here seems to offer them.  Do they use a different bank?  Every dealer in NYC & the suburbs?

I got an email today from a Honda Dealer I've serviced the Pilot at before:

$0 Down $165/month plus tax for a Fit LX 36/10K

$0 Down $275/Month plus tax for an HRV LX AWD 36/10K

$0 Down $225/Month plus tax for a CRV LX AWD 39/10K

kyfdx

nyccarguy said:

@Michaell & @kyfdx - I know you guys say Honda Finance doesn't offer 10K per year leases, but every Honda dealer around here seems to offer them.  Do they use a different bank?  Every dealer in NYC & the suburbs?

I got an email today from a Honda Dealer I've serviced the Pilot at before:

$0 Down $165/month plus tax for a Fit LX 36/10K

$0 Down $275/Month plus tax for an HRV LX AWD 36/10K

$0 Down $225/Month plus tax for a CRV LX AWD 39/10K

I think it's a regional thing for Honda Finance. They are definitely offering 10K/yr in the NY/NJ area. We know, because we see so many offers from there. But, for real Americans in the rest of the country, it's 12K/yr, at the least.

stickguy

putting aside the flyover jokes, that is a crazy lousy offer on the HRV, considering it is a glorified Fit and no where near as much car as the CRV. Even if the CRV is 3 month longer lease (and that is pretty cheap for a lease offer on one of those, since in my experience, they don't tend to lease well).

corvette

stickguy said:

putting aside the flyover jokes, that is a crazy lousy offer on the HRV, considering it is a glorified Fit and no where near as much car as the CRV. Even if the CRV is 3 month longer lease (and that is pretty cheap for a lease offer on one of those, since in my experience, they don't tend to lease well).

Exactly what I was thinking. I'm sure the HR-V is a great vehicle and all, but you'd have to be nuts to pay close to $2,000 more for the privilege of leasing that over a CR-V.

nyccarguy

No doubt.

tifighter

andres3 said:

Plasmas are not obsolete, they have the very best picture money can buy. However, the eco-nanny state says they use too much electricity, and the market says they prefer cheapo TV's that have poorer picture quality and break down much more often to the best in quality available out there.

My Plasma is a recent model Samsung 60" (their high 8500 line; yes, they made cheapo plasmas too). They don't make them anymore, I got one of the last ones. It is probably barely out of warranty though.

I don't know about the very best picture anymore. I have a plasma Panasonic that was highly regarded when launched, but it doesn't hold up to the new OLED LG sets I've seen in the past few weeks.

breld

stickguy said:

what's the matter with the A3? Seems like a perfect car for a teenage girl, much more so than an X3.

Nothing wrong with the A3, other than a dented in bumper from the daughter not negotiating a snow bank very well.

AWD in the X3 would be nice in any inclement weather going from college to home and back, but certainly not necessary.

Like anything else, "need" doesn't really play into it. Just something different.

fintail

I bought a Samsung LED TV almost exactly 6 years ago. It has been flawless, and I think the picture is fine. It is only a 40", as that is the size of my cabinet. They cost a lot more then.

Speaking of HD, I wonder who put the first fine quality (I call it HD) navigation screens in a car. MB W212 had them from the beginning, making some others look like 90s era kids toys.

suydam

I have a Samsung LCD as well -- probably around that age -- and it has been problem free with amazing picture quality.

corvette

roadburner, did you make it to the Louisville auto show? BMW had a bunch of M-sport models there, all in white... At least one of them had a garish pinstripe job. I sat in the 550xi M-sport and was kind of impressed that the shapes of the gauges, HVAC vents, and other interior parts were actually similar to my old 540i. If you go, try the mints at the Mercedes display, they were great.

Also, they claim you will save money by pre-purchasing tickets online, but they charge a convenience fee for doing so. Savings are less than $1 per ticket after the fee. What a waste of time!

Michaell

I've come to a decision about the Malibu.  

I'm going to hold tight for now and wait until the end of my E-GT lease. 

While the bonus points are nice, I think the negative equity I have takes a great deal to just an ok deal. If I wait a few more months, I feel there will be a lot more choices available for the same payment, give or take. 

Mr_Shiftright

You see? We leave him alone for a day and he lapses.

stickguy

Slacker.

Did you ever actually get a real # though (trade vs. payoff) to figure out the actual negative equity?

anyway, this way you keep the spectrum of options open, not just limited to GM. So more shopping fun!

Michaell

stickguy said:

Slacker.

Did you ever actually get a real # though (trade vs. payoff) to figure out the actual negative equity?

anyway, this way you keep the spectrum of options open, not just limited to GM. So more shopping fun!

No actual quote on trade. Anything over $1000 negative equity would make it just an ok deal.

Sandman6472

Our Samsung 32" LCD set is also flawless so figure getting another one should work out fine, though it'll be a LED unit. Have the o k to do "whatever I want", something every husband has heard and knows the meaning of. Am still looking and that's about it, for now. If I can find that 50" Samsung LED for under $400, think I'll jump as have never seen the price on that size Samsung that low. Thinking if it's ever gonna happen, the next two weeks will be that time...so I wait to pounce!

The Sandman

roadburner

corvette said:

roadburner, did you make it to the Louisville auto show? BMW had a bunch of M-sport models there, all in white... At least one of them had a garish pinstripe job. I sat in the 550xi M-sport and was kind of impressed that the shapes of the gauges, HVAC vents, and other interior parts were actually similar to my old 540i. If you go, try the mints at the Mercedes display, they were great.

Also, they claim you will save money by pre-purchasing tickets online, but they charge a convenience fee for doing so. Savings are less than $1 per ticket after the fee. What a waste of time!

s, we went; those convenience fees for online tickets reall p*ss me off- if anything we are saving the ticket seller some money.

As for the show, yes- that 3 Series with all the M striping looks cheap- and it actually came from the factory with that stuff on it. Really only stopped by the BMW stand to see the sales guys I know. As for the rest of the show?

Chevrolet: One new Camaro- a 2LT(V6) still pushing close to $40k. Seriously?

Dodge: Sat in a Plum Crazy Charger R/T. Great interior with very comfortable seats. Just too big for my tastes. Funny thing: a guy who had to weigh as much as a Honda Fit was complaining that he couldn't fit in the Challenger. I wanted to suggest that if he cut out about 5000 calories a day that wouldn't be an issue...

Ford: Two base Mustangs- an EcoBoost and a GT; yawn. Although my wife did say the cloth interior didn't look as low-rent as she remembered. I'm still not too sure. They did have a Focus RS- locked with no info about it. Sat in a Fiesta ST- no Recaros but with a hole in the roof. Dearborn Purgatory.

Jeep: I liked the Renegade Trailhawk, as well as a purple Wrangler in Backcountry trim. Still have a problem wrapping my head around a $37k Wrangler

Mazda: The CX3 is really nice. They also had a Miata Club with the Brembo package. Some skinny wuss about half my age was complaining that the Miata was hard to get in and out of. If my bride hadn't been with me I would have told him to man up and grow a pair.

Mercedes: Nothing caught my eye.

MINI: Most every one was a slushbox and had a hole in the roof- and several were priced over $35k. Might want one if I ever start smoking crack.

Nissan: One interesting car- a NISMO 370Z. The rest was a montage of Nissan ugliness.

Scion: Sat in an FR-S. Not feeling it.

Volvo: See: Mercedes

VW: Had a Tornado Red GTI S. Love the plaid seats. Had the lighting package and DSG but no Performance Package.

Subaru: One WRX, no STI...

The following brands were also present but I didn't check them out because they don't build anything that I would seriously consider owning:
Acura, Buick, Chrysler, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Lexus, Lincoln, Ram, and Toyota

stickguy

I look at everything when I go. I figure I won't see it elsewhere, and I paid too much ($15 now? Plus cost to get into Philly) that I might as well get my monies worth!

Well, I do skip a couple. GMC, most of Buick. Suzuki/Mitsubishi (they still exist?). Other than that, I scope!

I think Philly gets a lot more on display though. Takes quite a while to get through the whole thing.

corvette

Oh yeah, Infiniti. When did they start putting badges on the front fenders showing the engine size? Very tacky.

There was a $50k Titan XD there with no running boards. I ascended into it and can confirm you definitely need running boards on that thing.

The Opel/Buick convertible thing was there. Just looked it up, it's called Cascada. Could they just have named it the Buick Dishwasher Detergent? Unbelievably, there was a slot in the steering column and no start button. No keyless ignition on a new luxury vehicle in 2016.

Other than the grille, I can't tell the difference between the new Toyota Tacoma and the old one. Lexus' full-size SUVs are looking pretty dated.

carnaught

Anyone see the new Lincoln Continental, not that I'm personally interested in it? Just curious.

The Buick Cascada, shameful. My Korean Buick, nice little CUV, but the dash/instrumentation is 5-10 yrs. behind times.

breld

Doing some lot browsing while my boys are in baseball workouts this morning.

Dodge - Durango still appeals to me for a 3 row suv, especially if you can get over the low gas mileage on the Hemi model. Also saw a Charger SE AWD with a sticker of $32k. Not knowing much about the model, seems like a lot of car for the money.

Toyota - @corvette you're right, looked at a couple used Tacomas and there isn't much difference with the new model. There also is little difference between cost - used 2013 sport model with 40k miles was listed for $32k! Pretty sure a brand new one would only be a few grand more? And...I respect the Prius and have considered them. But the new model is really ugly.

carnaught

breld said:

Toyota -.......I respect the Prius and have considered them. But the new model is really ugly.

The Prius' are (always) ugly but are a reliable satisfying little package, and surprisingly fun to drive, though not in a sporting sort of way.

Mr_Shiftright

You mean fun after the 10 minutes you spent looking at the display?

carnaught

Mr_Shiftright said:

You mean fun after the 10 minutes you spent looking at the display?

Yup, not just looking.

ab348

carnaught said:

The Prius' are (always) ugly but are a reliable satisfying little package, and surprisingly fun to drive, though not in a sporting sort of way.

I have read just the opposite, that the Prius is remarkably unsatisfying to drive. No direct experience though.

stever

The '13 Prius rental I had for a week recently was better than I had expected, especially after reading the comments around the forums. Used "sport" mode a lot in the big cities to avoid any merging issues.

graphicguy

Shame Panasonic and Pioneer couldn't weather the storm of TV wars. They made some of the best flat panels on the market. The plasmas the made offered some of the most lucious pictures you could find anywhere. Plasmas are very expensive to make, though...and they couldn't make any money selling them.

Even Sony, the top of the heap of tube displays, has had a problem returning to their former glory in the world of LCDs. Sharp just pulled out of the big screen business, and they were in the mix as some of the best panels on the market just a couple of years ago.

And, the public became focued on display inches/$ instead of quality of picture.

Now, Samsung and LG are at the top with LCD/OLED panels. Even Vizio is making some nice TVs putting price in the equation.

Sandman6472

Haven't been to the shows, Miami and Lauderdale, since my accident back in 2005, just too hard to get in and out of so many vehicles. And I would look at all the models at every display. Took the wife once but after 10 minutes, she got bored...yet when I took my m-i-l, she kept up with me the whole time! Had planned to finally go this year but we both decided that since we're set for the next few years, why bother. This year, will take my oldest in November sine she'll be in the market come 2017 or 2018 and do not want her to get a Versa Note, in fact, not sure I want her to get another cvt tranny this time. She definitely wants small but there are so many good reliable choices now, she needs to see them all to make the best decision.

The Sandman

stickguy

Did not know Sharp was out of the business. I am watching the football game on our 4 YO 53" Sharp (LED? I have trouble remembering). It was toward the top of the line at the time. Never a problem, and still a real nice picture.

have a 42" LG hanging on the wall in the bedroom now. Also a nice picture, and that was much cheaper.

BJs had a nice looking, well loaded, 60" Samsung smart TV this week for $899. I wish I had waited a little!

carnaught

ab348 said:

carnaught said:

The Prius' are (always) ugly but are a reliable satisfying little package, and surprisingly fun to drive, though not in a sporting sort of way.

I have read just the opposite, that the Prius is remarkably unsatisfying to drive. No direct experience though.

Auto pundits would never be a fan of the Prius, but a 2 1/2 yr. ownership experience gave us unexpected enjoyment and appreciation of it, and fun....again, not in the sense of, say, an S2000.

roadburner

graphicguy said:

Shame Panasonic and Pioneer couldn't weather the storm of TV wars. They made some of the best flat panels on the market. The plasmas the made offered some of the most lucious pictures you could find anywhere. Plasmas are very expensive to make, though...and they couldn't make any money selling them.

And, the public became focued on display inches/$ instead of quality of picture.

Precisely; I still love my Kuro Elite- even today it's very hard to beat from a PQ standpoint.

berri

I think Panasonic scored high in plasma. Toshiba was an early innovative name in LCD, but then financial trouble at the parent has kind of cast them to the side. I think Sony and Samsung generally have the very best picture, but I also think Sony tends to way overprice their sets. Must think they are still living in the Trinitron age. But picture quality is totally an individual thing. Remember not all that long ago about the "was it a gold or blue dress"? Lots of differing opinions. Same goes for TV picture quality. I tend to look at how realistic the skin tones appear to me.

tjc78

corvette said:

Oh yeah, Infiniti. When did they start putting badges on the front fenders showing the engine size? Very tacky. There was a $50k Titan XD there with no running boards. I ascended into it and can confirm you definitely need running boards on that thing. The Opel/Buick convertible thing was there. Just looked it up, it's called Cascada. Could they just have named it the Buick Dishwasher Detergent? Unbelievably, there was a slot in the steering column and no start button. No keyless ignition on a new luxury vehicle in 2016. Other than the grille, I can't tell the difference between the new Toyota Tacoma and the old one. Lexus' full-size SUVs are looking pretty dated.

Our Enclave at 47k and a 2015 model has a key.... Wasn't a deal breaker but really?  Our 2012 Lacrosse had keyless start.  

tjc78

roadburner said:

Shame Panasonic and Pioneer couldn't weather the storm of TV wars. They made some of the best flat panels on the market. The plasmas the made offered some of the most lucious pictures you could find anywhere. Plasmas are very expensive to make, though...and they couldn't make any money selling them. And, the public became focued on display inches/$ instead of quality of picture.

Precisely; I still love my Kuro Elite- even today it's very hard to beat from a PQ standpoint.

My FIL had a Panasonic plasma.  That thing was awesome.  I'm not a fan of some if the newer LED sets. They don't do black / dark scenes all that well.  I'll stick with my 50" Sony and 60" Sony XBR both LCD projection until they die. 

berri

I think plasma does black better too. When your other sets go out you'll probably need to spend a little more money on a higher line LED like premium Sony or Samsung to get a good black image since it is near impossible to get a plasma. I think that may because they tend to cost more to manufacture and consume more electricity.

roadburner

Pioneer got out of the plasma business because they specialized in high end sets; that was good news for me as I was able to pick up my Kuro Elite at Best Buy for 50% off of list price. While not inexpensive, it was a world-class bargain in my book.

graphicguy

Sharp has been selling off inventory for the last 3-4 months. They've been trying to get one of their suppliers to buy the TV business (Foxcon) but have been unsuccessful so far. Biggest issue for Sharp is they failed to provide Apple with smaller LCDs for the iPhones, either in volume, quality or image standards (maybe all 3).

The channel still has their TVs in distribution, but those are being steeply discounted. Maybe not a bad time to buy one of their TVs and get an extended warranty.

I've been into the (expensive) home theater hobby for awhile. I've seen a lot of brands come and go. I remember when Hitachi made the best Rear Projection TVs on the market, Toshiba wasn't far behind. Hitachi is all but gone. Toshiba is now selling budget TVs.

RB...like you, I bought my Pioneer Kuro when prices dropped. Still one of the most robust and best TVs I've ever owned, with great picture quality. It still cost me nearly twice what a good current UHD TV costs today....and the Pioneer was discounted 50%, at the time.

Pannosonic took over the Pioneer plasma technology, and I have one of their plasmas, too. But, they're out of the plasma business, but at least still around if I ever need to contact them about what to do if the TV goes south.

I do have a Samsung SUHD 4K TV and have to admit, the picture is quite stunning once I did my own adjustments to it. But, there is little 4K content out there right now. Netflix has some series in 4K like House of Cards. 4K Blu-Ray players are now on the market (Samsung) but no Blu-Ray disks are being sold (yet).

Back to rental cars, I rent probably 40-45 cars/year. Tried Zip Car once. Car wasn't in very good shape. And, all I could find was a "Smart" Car, which I despised. My company has a corporate account with Herz. As long as I can get to them at the airport, I'm good. Just rented a Kia Optima last week. Not a bad car. Probably a pretty good car if discounted. Wouldn't steer me away from a Honda, Ford or Toyota store, though.

I use a lot of UBER.....love that service.

jpp75

graphicguy said:

Sharp has been selling off inventory for the last 3-4 months. They've been trying to get one of their suppliers to buy the TV business (Foxcon) but have been unsuccessful so far. Biggest issue for Sharp is they failed to provide Apple with smaller LCDs for the iPhones, either in volume, quality or image standards (maybe all 3).

The channel still has their TVs in distribution, but those are being steeply discounted. Maybe not a bad time to buy one of their TVs and get an extended warranty.

I've been into the (expensive) home theater hobby for awhile. I've seen a lot of brands come and go. I remember when Hitachi made the best Rear Projection TVs on the market, Toshiba wasn't far behind. Hitachi is all but gone. Toshiba is now selling budget TVs.

RB...like you, I bought my Pioneer Kuro when prices dropped. Still one of the most robust and best TVs I've ever owned, with great picture quality. It still cost me nearly twice what a good current UHD TV costs today....and the Pioneer was discounted 50%, at the time.

Pannosonic took over the Pioneer plasma technology, and I have one of their plasmas, too. But, they're out of the plasma business, but at least still around if I ever need to contact them about what to do if the TV goes south.

I do have a Samsung SUHD 4K TV and have to admit, the picture is quite stunning once I did my own adjustments to it. But, there is little 4K content out there right now. Netflix has some series in 4K like House of Cards. 4K Blu-Ray players are now on the market (Samsung) but no Blu-Ray disks are being sold (yet).

Back to rental cars, I rent probably 40-45 cars/year. Tried Zip Car once. Car wasn't in very good shape. And, all I could find was a "Smart" Car, which I despised. My company has a corporate account with Herz. As long as I can get to them at the airport, I'm good. Just rented a Kia Optima last week. Not a bad car. Probably a pretty good car if discounted. Wouldn't steer me away from a Honda, Ford or Toyota store, though.

I use a lot of UBER.....love that service.

We have a corporate account with National, I enjoy choosing my own car although I think Hertz is moving more towards that model.

I completely agree on Uber, I use it all the time as well and love it. I'll never take a cab again if I can help it.

imidazol97

All this talk about TVs, and I turned my Sony Wega picture tube TV from ?15? years ago and it turns right back off. Standby light blinks 7 times which is supposed to mean something about an error detected by self diagnosis.

Guess it's time to visit Walmart and see what I can buy to fit in the cabinet in the living room!

cdnpinhead

We've got a Sharp that we purchased about four years ago, and it's been flawless. Sorry to hear they're getting out of it.

suydam

Sadly probably nothing will fit in your cabinet. Cabinets have gone the way of the dodo because the flat screens can be so much larger without distortion. 

andres3

A 32" widescreen will probably fit, but that's considered tiny by today's standards. Also, manufacturers seem to only cater to the "cheap" crowd with 32" sets. Very hard to find high quality high connection counts in 32" sets. I bought one a few years ago and went with Toshiba because they weren't too cheap to include an analog audio out connection without requiring an added expense and quality degradation of a single 3.5 mm plug adapter. Analog rules; recently got a good record player to add to my "system." Vinyl's back with a vengeance! I bought a mid/hi quality record player focusing the dollars on sound quality, but it's competing against a top of the line, however old, OPPO Blu-Ray universal player. That is some tough competition, but there is something warm and natural to analog.

andres3

ab348 said:

carnaught said:

The Prius' are (always) ugly but are a reliable satisfying little package, and surprisingly fun to drive, though not in a sporting sort of way.

I have read just the opposite, that the Prius is remarkably unsatisfying to drive. No direct experience though.

My mother isn't happy with the new Prius. She prefers driving the old ES300, or would prefer her old Camry too. She likes the "feel" of a larger car, the Prius gives that compact feeling. She also says the Air Conditioner is bad when it is over 90 degrees; which is often in Sacramento.

andres3

berri said:

I think Panasonic scored high in plasma. Toshiba was an early innovative name in LCD, but then financial trouble at the parent has kind of cast them to the side. I think Sony and Samsung generally have the very best picture, but I also think Sony tends to way overprice their sets. Must think they are still living in the Trinitron age. But picture quality is totally an individual thing. Remember not all that long ago about the "was it a gold or blue dress"? Lots of differing opinions. Same goes for TV picture quality. I tend to look at how realistic the skin tones appear to me.

Sony used to have longer 2 year warranties on their higher end TV's. It is a shame they've rolled those back. I think they rolled them back to standard 1 year fair precisely because their stuff is no longer superior in quality. In my opinion, higher end TV's are too expensive not to come with 2 or even 3 year warranties. I don't pay extra for a warranty.

stever

That AC could be a big issue here - liked the HR-V we tested but it couldn't keep up with the Las Cruces heat in July. Did your mom comment on the ride height? The '16s seats are a bit lower than the old ones, supposedly.

ab348

imidazol97 said:

Guess it's time to visit Walmart and see what I can buy to fit in the cabinet in the living room!

Probably not a bad place to buy an aquarium. That might be all that fits.

carnaught

A/C on my former Prius was phenomenal in the desert with 110+ temps, in fact much better than a friend's Mazda and an FX Infiniti I had. Make sure she's not driving it in ECO setting.

andres3

carnaught said:

A/C on my former Prius was phenomenal in the desert with 110+ temps, in fact much better than a friend's Mazda and an FX Infiniti I had. Make sure she's not driving it in ECO setting.

That might be the problem, the Eco setting. I preferred my test driving during the "power" setting mode regardless.

houdini1

I like the looks of Hyundai's new hybrid, the Ionq. Weird name, but nice looking car.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, was that the "Ioniq"? Are they really going to use that name in the USA, or is that only Korea?

fintail

I bet it will be here. Hyundai likes weirdo names, think Equus.

It looks better than a Prius anyway.