Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

brian125

@Michaell

Sorry to hear about dad. My thoughts and prays with you and your family .

Michaell

brian125 said:

@Michaell Sorry to hear about dad. My thoughts and prays with you and your family .

 Thank you, Brian 

rayainsw

Michaell - very sorry for your loss!
- Ray
No postscript

Michaell

rayainsw said:

Michaell - very sorry for your loss! - Ray No postscript

 Thanks, Ray 

rayainsw

roadburner -
I have driven 2 M235i coupes.
I was impressed.
Enjoy !
Good luck !
- Ray
Not in that market, right now...

fintail

Condolences, michaell. I hope the truck fight isn't too bad. My dad passed away several years ago - fortunately, nobody fought over his vehicles.

And congrats on the coupe, rb - does it have the turn signal and launch-under-5K rpm packages?

Michaell

fintail said:

Condolences, michaell. I hope the truck fight isn't too bad. My dad passed away several years ago - fortunately, nobody fought over his vehicles. And congrats on the coupe, rb - does it have the turn signal and launch-under-5K rpm packages?

 Thanks, Fin.  My sister and I will have to figure out how this will all play out.   I suspect we will have to get an  valuation  on the Chevy and go from there 

xwesx

stickguy said:

nice looking for sure. and low 4's still needs a tune?

a slushbox. Another old guy bites the dust!

Needs? What is this, "needs...?"

xwesx

Michael - condolences. It sounds like your father lived a good life and left a solid legacy in those with whom he shared it (even if his good driving was not part of it!). Best wishes, strength, and courage as you mourn and remember him.

Michaell

xwesx said:

Michael - condolences. It sounds like your father lived a good life and left a solid legacy in those with whom he shared it (even if his good driving was not part of it!). Best wishes, strength, and courage as you mourn and remember him.

Thanks 

breld

Just catching up on the weekend's posts.

@Michaell - so sorry for your loss. As you well know, it wasn't long ago my dad passed away, so I certainly understand what you may be feeling.

Best wishes for you and your family.

breld

@roadburner -

Very nice choice. That vehicle is in the right hands!

Michaell

breld said:

Just catching up on the weekend's posts.

@Michaell - so sorry for your loss. As you well know, it wasn't long ago my dad passed away, so I certainly understand what you may be feeling.

Best wishes for you and your family.

Thanks, @breld

iluvmysephia1

I am very sorry to hear of the loss of your Dad, Michaell. I lost mine several years ago and think of him often. I think of all the things he taught me and I think about how much time and love he showed all 4 of his children. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

au1994

@michaell my condolences on your loss.

au1994

@rb... Congrats on the punch. The 235i is a heck of a car. Happy tuning!

Michaell

iluvmysephia1 said:

I am very sorry to hear of the loss of your Dad, Michaell. I lost mine several years ago and think of him often. I think of all the things he taught me and I think about how much time and love he showed all 4 of his children. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Thanks, iluv. Appreciate the kind words.

Michaell

au1994 said:

@michaell my condolences on your loss.

Thanks so much.

andres3

qbrozen said:

oh boy, top 5... good question.

Interesting that both kyfdx and I have a CJ on our lists. This is really tough. The top 3 are standouts (although the CJ more for nostalgia than anything else), but then I've got 4 in mind for the remaining 2 spots. Surprisingly, the 135 doesn't make the list only because, as badass as that was on the track, the unreliability really kills the memory of it. So I'm listing 7 in the order I feel like this moment.

1. Caddy CTS Vsport (I mean, why else would I have it right now?)
2. '98 S70 T5 (auto)
3. '78 CJ7 (6-cyl 3-spd)
4. '07 GTI (6-spd)
5. '04 350Z (6-spd)
6. '97 Dakota v8 (auto)
7. '87 4runner (4-cyl [22RE] 5-spd)

So the 200 HP VW makes the list and the 300 HP 135i doesn't due to reliability and durability? That's going to gall some BMW fans.

Of course, how many years and miles did you have the '07 GTI again? Was it easy to sell being a manual?

breld

Here's my list, along 28 years of driving age. Includes my current wife's and step-daughter's rides:

1985 Chrysler Laser Turbo
1990 Honda Civic Si (manual)
1993 Honda Prelude Si (manual)
1998 Subaru Legacy GT (manual)
1999 Infiniti G20t
2000 Toyota 4Runner
2000 VW Passat GLX (manual)
2004 Acura TSX (manual)
2007 BMW 530xi (manual)
2007 VW Jetta (manual)
2007 Toyota Highlander
2010 Mazda CX-9
2009 Mazda Miata (manual)
2010 Honda Insight
2008 BMW 328xi
1995 BMW 318ti (manual)
2012 VW GTI (manual)
2002 BMW 530i (manual)
2012 BMW X3
2009 Honda Odyssey
2011 Audi A5
2007 VW New Beetle (manual)
2011 BMW 335i xdrive (manual)
2010 BMW 328i xdrive wagon (manual)
2013 Hyundai Veloster
2004 BMW 330ci (vert)
2008 Audi A3
2014 VW Passat
2008 Audi TT
2011 BMW 535i xdrive
2015 VW GTI
2015 Kia Sedona
2015 Mazda Mazda3 (manual)
2005 BMW 330ci (ZHP vert) (manual)
2015 Audi S3
2016 Audi S4 (manual)
2012 BMW X5 35d
2016 VW Jetta

My favorites?

The current S4 - most balanced car I've owned
The 335i xdrive - M-sport, manual, LeMans Blue with the "reddish" interior; why did I get rid of it?
My first GTI (2012)
The CX-9 - great 3-row SUV
The '93 Prelude Si
And, the 530xi - first BMW, special ordered to get the sport package and manual.

stickguy

So how does your daughter like the Jetta? My princess was pleased to know she is a trend setter.

Get rid of the A3 yet? Don't forget to update your signature line!

andres3

Michaell said:

And a hole in the roof!

Congrats, RB. I'm sure you'll have many enjoyable miles with it.

That's the exact reason I think I prefer the Golf R to the S3, well, the lack of a heavy hole in the roof, the lower price, the preferred hatchback style to sedan, and of course, partly due to the lack of a hole in the roof, a lighter curb weight of just over 3,300 lbs. as compared to about the 200 lb. heavier S3 (DSG vs. DSG). Getting a manual loses a bit of weight but the DSG is so good it easily beats the manual by over a half second to 60.

I like Audi's bumper to bumper warranty better, but VW has a long power-train warranty to make up for it (doesn't really make up for it though).

CA doesn't refund registration costs so I want to get at least a couple more months out of my last registration before I make any punches. Of course, there's always the option of not trading-in and just adding to the stable. That's a pricey option though.

breld

stickguy said:

So how does your daughter like the Jetta? My princess was pleased to know she is a trend setter.

Get rid of the A3 yet? Don't forget to update your signature line!

She is loving the Jetta. It's a lot quieter and smoother than the A3 - I don't think she realized that until she got to spend some time in it. One of her friends at school just recently got a new Jetta as well, so they think it's pretty cool to park next to each other!

The A3 is listed for sale, but no real interest yet.

stickguy

My daughter loves her Jetta. Getting plenty of use out of it too. Gets great highway mileage. Has gotten above 39 on trips up froM VA or NC.

breld

I want to be like @roadburner

m235i near me

Well, I couldn't come close to his driving skill and knowledge, but I could look the part.

andres3

All you need to do is go Stage 1, put sport brake pads on, use 600 brake fluid, and your good to go in the S4 you got. Lightweight wheels with 255 rubber will do you good too.

The caveat is you'll need to increase your rotor and brake pad & fluid budget as 4,000 lbs doesn't stop quickly cheaply.

stickguy

Now that BMW I like. Wow.

But 2 owners already and 4th dealer selling? This one has been passed around like the keg at a frat party.

Mr_Shiftright

It's in Boulder Colorado---land of instant gratification.

stickguy

Started in Georgia though. Been around in 14 months.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

Started in Georgia though. Been around in 14 months.

Red leather and a stick! I'm okay not being the first guy to put my hands on it..

stickguy

well, you have had your BMW for a while. Must be getting kind of out of date. That one is not too far from you. Buy it, fly out and drive it home.

tifighter

kyfdx said:

Red leather and a stick! I'm okay not being the first guy to put my hands on it..

I admit that I'm a fan of white over red with BMWs.

roadburner

Me too...

stevedebi

How about listing the WORST car you had?

Mine would be a 1984 Tempo, what a piece of garbage. Left me by the roadside a couple of times, and that was it. I had it a year or so.

However, let me put in an honorable mention for my dad, who doesn't blog. A 1968 Dodge Coronet 440 station wagon with the 383 engine. He got it to pull a trailer, and it just wasn't a good car. He put a couple grand into the car within 2 years. My favorite memory of this car (in Lemon Yellow color, no less) is going up Rattlesnake mountain pulling a 21 ft trailer. The road was about 1/4 mile, and the tank went from full at the bottom to 3/4 at the top. That car used to drip gas from the tailpipe.

Funny thing is, my aunt got a Coronet 440 station wagon with the 318 at the exact same time, and she kept it 10 years. Must have been the green color, so it wasn't a lemon.

stever

'59 Chevy but it wasn't really mine. I guess if I had asked for it, my folks would have given it to me though. My brother gave it back to them!

suydam

'79 Ford Fiesta. First car was the worst. Went through a water pump every year ("design flaw" said the mechanics as they replaced each one). Stiff 4 speed manual transmission that made stopping on a hill a nightmare. No power. Oh and it had no AC and a black interior.
REALLY tiny for 4 people even though two of them were kids. But it was cheap!

xwesx

The worst. Wow. I am such a forgiving bugger, it hard for me to choose even though I've had plenty of incredible automotive misadventures in my short twenty-something years of driving. Those things are endearing, you know?

From a mechanical perspective, the worst one is my F250. I've had more issues with that truck.....

My Pinto, though. I put about twenty hours of work into it to get it driveable, used it two weeks, then it threw a rod while my brother was driving it to college. So, I drove my dad's pickup, along with a car dolley, half way across Oregon, retrieved it, pulled it home, and parked it in the quonset hut where it sits to this day. But, other than the work and expense of parts involved, it has cost me nothing, so I can't be too sour with it.

stickguy

worst? I will go with the 1975 Opel Manta. A revelation after a string of domestic "compacts" (Duster, Gremlin, Hornet) for how it drove. But, it had issues. The biggest being, it was a 1 year only run of FI. And back in the early 80s, no one knew what to do with it, and parts didn't exist. Took a while before I found a Buick dealer in Jersey that knew it needed a new cold start sensor of some sort.

before that, it spent a semester at college getting towed. Often. Cold starts were a problem, and the plugs would foul. So on the hook, new plugs, lather rinse repeat.

also had a rusted out area under the battery (against firewall on drivers side). If I parked pointing uphill at all in the rain, the car flooded. Once in the winter, I found about 6" of ice in the rear footwell. Eventually sort of fixed that with some combo of a roof shingle and a lot of putty.

was not sorry when I finally got rid of it, and replaced with a 75 Corolla. not quite as sporty, but way more reliable!

qbrozen

andres3 said:

Of course, how many years and miles did you have the '07 GTI again? Was it easy to sell being a manual?

I traded the GTI in on the 135i, so, yeah, it was easy.
I had the GTI for 17 mos and the BMW for 18. Not sure of the number of miles on each.

qbrozen

nyccarguy said:

@qbrozen - all the talk spawned by your wife hitting a deer with the LR2 almost jinxed me.  Someone told me when I moved to CT 5+ years ago, that you aren't an official resident of the state until you hit a deer.  Last night on my way home with my family and a deer ran right out in front of us.  I slammed on the brakes and missed this really big deer by inches!

oh, man, don't go blamin that on me!

qbrozen

The worst car on my list?

well, that really depends on how you look at it. I had a few that were never on the road, therefore the worst if you base it on condition. I had a $1200 Mercedes 190E and used that as my only car for a while. That was pretty atrocious, as you can imagine. BUT, if I take everything into account, including, most importantly, my feelings about the car, I'm going to say something a bit controversial: my worst car was my Accord. I grew to hate that car, and I can't say that about any other on my list.

roadburner

Worst?

Hands down, the 1973 Bronco V8 I inherited from my father; he bought it new in 1973. The steering, brakes, handling, acceleration, fuel economy- all were unadulterated cr*p. Both rockers and the floor needed to be replaced less than six years later. Below 20F frost formed on all the interior windows save the windshield. I honestly don't understand why they have become so popular. I wouldn't trade my Wrangler for a perfectly restored Bronco- the TJ is a Lexus compared to the Bronco.

Sandman6472

Used 1976 Izuzu Opel, bought used with under 2K on the clock at a Buick dealer. First year of the Japanese Opel and a piece of crap! A/C crapped out every month or so and they never could fix it right. The tranny fell out in pieces on the entrance ramp to I-95 in West Palm Beach...my first day at the postal service coming home from training. Couple weeks later, the front right axle fell out on way to work. Had enough by that point and traded it for a 1979 Datsun 210 hatch with 16K, a previous rental I later found out. Turned out to be a pretty o k vehicle.

The Sandman

au1994

Worst...the 89 Beretta. I got it in the spring of 90 and it too was a former rental. No signs of abuse but paint was already orange peeling on top, 2.0l engine was anemic. Went through an alternator, a couple of manual window tracks and a ecm or whatever passed for that in the 60k miles I put on it. That was my college car so it often sat for days at a time.

tjc78

Worst car was my 1998 Olds 88.  Leaked water inside from day 1, two different dealers couldn't fix it. Traded it at a loss after 11 months.  Interior of car was basically destroyed from being taken apart so many times.  It rattled like a 20 year old car and smelled.  

sda

Worst car: 71 Chevy Vega GT, surprise? I bought it used in 78, little rust which was rare, very clean, Sunflower yellow with black stripe and base black interior. Not my favorite color at all. Bought cheap knowing the engine was shot. Bought a wrecked 73 Vega to do an engine transplant that didn't go well. It burned as much oil as the 71, literally about a quart every 150 miles or so. It was a smog machine yet it never left me stranded. Just needed to keep the oil topped up and clean the #3 plug every month. When it started to misfire that was my clue. I was a senior in high school, thrilled to have a car and monetarily broke.

Runner up: 98 Cadillac Catera. Really nice car, fully loaded, drove nicely, weak (very Un-GM) a/c. Shop queen. Was at the Cadillac shop every 4 weeks or so. Three heater bypass valves, sunroof rebuild, new mother board for climate control, traction control sensor, check engine light triggered at least 5 times that wasn't caused by a loose gas cap which required some type of repair and those are what I remember! Luckily all covered by warranty, and they gave me a new Cadillac loaner, but enough! Sold to Car Max at 41k with 9k still left on the 4/50 warranty.

Best car: 13 Accord. No issues in 2.5 years and 53k. Not the most expensive, best equipped, luxurious, powerful or best handling car that I've owned but a good balance of features, ride and handling. And no grief!

ab348

roadburner said:

Worst?

Hands down, the 1973 Bronco V8 I inherited from my father; he bought it new in 1973. The steering, brakes, handling, acceleration, fuel economy- all were unadulterated cr*p. Both rockers and the floor needed to be replaced less than six years later. Below 20F frost formed on all the interior windows save the windshield. I honestly don't understand why they have become so popular. I wouldn't trade my Wrangler for a perfectly restored Bronco- the TJ is a Lexus compared to the Bronco.

Current-day popularity makes little sense in many cases. Look at the money achieved at B-J by Dodge Power Wagons and VW Microbus 21-window vehicles. It would be hard to find two vehicles that would drive worse than either.

nyccarguy

Best cars:  after almost 14 years & over 156K miles, my Prelude is still king of the cars I've owned.  Still puts a smile on my face when I depress the clutch pedal & fire it up.

Next would have to be our 2007 X3.  Smooth & Powerful.  Fantastic handling for its size & weight.  Lots of interior space in a not so big package.  It is probably "the one we should've kept."  If it wasn't for that X3 I probably wouldn't have a CCBA membership card.

I liked my 2000 Saab 9-3 as well.  Turbo - Hatchback - European ride & handling.

Worst would have to be my 1992 Beretta GT.  3 Speed Automatic.  Windows that would fall off the track and into the door.  Power windows that wouldn't work when the rear defroster was turned on.  It sounded good & had good pickup from the 3.1L V6.  61K miles and I had to have the camshaft replaced.  The 2nd loeb down wore out.

jpp75

My worst car was my 1992 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24, which was probably even more of a disappointment because it was the exact car I wanted when I got my driver's license. I got it brand new and somehow managed to get 100k out of it, but they were a painful 100k. The dash and door panels rattled from day one, alternator failed at 70k, electrical issues with the A/C system that caused it to keep blowing fuses, cooling system issues that they never could fix, the radio was replaced twice, Brake and ABS warning lights on the dash they never could diagnose but liked to come on randomly every couple of weeks. It left me stranded a couple of times with the cooling system issues and the alternator. I've never been so disappointed in a car and couldn't wait to get rid of it when I graduated college and got my first job. I replaced it with a used 1996 Accord, which I never loved but never had any issues out of in its 100k miles.

houdini1

breld said:

I want to be like @roadburner

m235i near me

Well, I couldn't come close to his driving skill and knowledge, but I could look the part.

I read a really positive review on the M235 about a month ago, I believe it was in C&D. I posted at the time that RB should take a look at it. It should be a great car for him.