Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

Michaell

ab348 said:

Michaell said:

There is a stretch of I-70 in Utah that is 100+ miles long with no services.

Sounds like a prime business opportunity for someone.

Not sure there is any privately owned land along that stretch. I think there may be one or two interchanges to ranches. Green River is the biggest town on the east side and Richfield to the west.

Mr_Shiftright

You could open up a roadside Rock and Sand stall.

stickguy

Depends where you are. On some roads like the jersey turnpike, they do have rest areas if you need a bathroom (and for them, you better really be desperate!) so potty and stretch is easy. But the gas lines tend to be horrendous. And in some areas, getting off and searching is time consuming and/or scary.

breld

Feeding off @roadburner's recent purchase, this seems to be priced well.

m235i (non-CPO)

This dealership is right next door to the BMW dealer that I have to go back to this afternoon to pick up the wife's X5. Mildly considering checking it out.

stickguy

Now that one, I like. Would consider for my next car when time comes. I could get away with a little coupe like that.

Michaell

breld said:

Feeding off @roadburner's recent purchase, this seems to be priced well.

m235i (non-CPO)

This dealership is right next door to the BMW dealer that I have to go back to this afternoon to pick up the wife's X5. Mildly considering checking it out.

Tempting ... for you.

You use Schomp for service as it's closer to work?

breld

Murray (or BMW of Denver or whatever it's called these days) is closer to our work, but getting in and out of that dealership is a pain with how Colorado Blvd can be.

I just like Schomp in general, so it's worth a little drive down south to get there (from work that is). COs BMW would be closest to home, but definitely going in the wrong direction from our work commute.

Michaell

breld said:

Murray (or BMW of Denver or whatever it's called these days) is closer to our work, but getting in and out of that dealership is a pain with how Colorado Blvd can be.

I just like Schomp in general, so it's worth a little drive down south to get there (from work that is). COs BMW would be closest to home, but definitely going in the wrong direction from our work commute.

+1 on Colorado Blvd.

Schomp is much easier to get to with C-470.

Which vehicle will I see you driving tomorrow?

roadburner

breld said:

Feeding off @roadburner's recent purchase, this seems to be priced well.

m235i (non-CPO)

This dealership is right next door to the BMW dealer that I have to go back to this afternoon to pick up the wife's X5. Mildly considering checking it out.

It's priced pretty well, but I like having the CPO warranty, even though my car had 3000 more miles on it. It's also missing the H-K audio, which actually sounds decent if you take the time to mess with it a bit.

tommister2

stickguy said:

Yes I do. But I hate having to deal with gas too, especially when have to get right back in car with smelly hands.

All kinds of visuals flashed through my head when I read this. What the heck are you touching when you put gas in your car?

stever

I'm lucky to get an hour after I empty my tank. There's plenty of POI lists for McD's or rest areas that you can download for free and add to your GPS. One benefit of a Garmin I suppose, not sure if you can add those lists to your built in nav.

breld

Michaell said:

breld said:

Murray (or BMW of Denver or whatever it's called these days) is closer to our work, but getting in and out of that dealership is a pain with how Colorado Blvd can be.

I just like Schomp in general, so it's worth a little drive down south to get there (from work that is). COs BMW would be closest to home, but definitely going in the wrong direction from our work commute.

+1 on Colorado Blvd.

Schomp is much easier to get to with C-470.

Which vehicle will I see you driving tomorrow?

Friday, right? You're ready for the week to be over, huh?

Probably the S4, as it sounds like Schomp will still have the X5 for a recall repair.

henryn

sandman_6472 said:

Glad it has the hatch as I had to pick up many bags of lava rocks to put in the beds in front of the house. The city came by Saturday and left me a notice to clean the roof and fill in the flower beds and cover up the trees roots which have started to show.


The Sandman

"The city" ?? Not the homeowner's association? I have only had to deal with one homeowners association, and I hated it.

stickguy

My navi in the sonata has all the pois built in. Can search by category or name. Comes in handy when you are in a strange area. Can see what is around, and guide right to it.

As to gas, the pump and nozzle?

Michaell

Michaell said:

Murray (or BMW of Denver or whatever it's called these days) is closer to our work, but getting in and out of that dealership is a pain with how Colorado Blvd can be. I just like Schomp in general, so it's worth a little drive down south to get there (from work that is). COs BMW would be closest to home, but definitely going in the wrong direction from our work commute.

+1 on Colorado Blvd. Schomp is much easier to get to with C-470. Which vehicle will I see you driving tomorrow?

Whoops, meant Friday. 

breld

roadburner said:

breld said:

Feeding off @roadburner's recent purchase, this seems to be priced well.

m235i (non-CPO)

This dealership is right next door to the BMW dealer that I have to go back to this afternoon to pick up the wife's X5. Mildly considering checking it out.

It's priced pretty well, but I like having the CPO warranty, even though my car had 3000 more miles on it. It's also missing the H-K audio, which actually sounds decent if you take the time to mess with it a bit.

CPO would be nice, but certainly is more significant to your expected length of ownership than mine, considering it probably has around 2 years left on the original warranty. [EDIT] - just checked the carfax, it was originally sold just under 2 years ago, so it has lots of warranty left. And it's been for sale here since 1/23 - surprising it hasn't moved yet, especially since it's parked right next to a large BMW dealer.

Didn't notice the H-K wasn't on it - otherwise pretty well equipped. So, you think it's priced pretty well?

Not gonna lie, there's a part of me that is thinking about it.

stickguy

Well, you are down 1 at the moment.

stever

stickguy said:

My navi in the sonata has all the pois built in. Can search by category or name.

Does it list, say, every historical marker you pass?

Not that you'd want it - I grabbed that one a while back and you'd be amazed at the number of markers out there. If you set it to chime, the bell would go off every minute!

You can also grab one for every red light camera, free wifi spots, or UP waterfalls. Even one for Arizona Lighthouses. The POI Factory has tons of them.

stickguy

No it does not do that. V thankfully.

stever

Loading them is optional, lol.

28firefighter

Over/under that @breld has that M235i by the end of the week?

roadburner

Didn't notice the H-K wasn't on it - otherwise pretty well equipped. So, you think it's priced pretty well?

Not gonna lie, there's a part of me that is thinking about it.

It's a good starting point for negotiation; based on what I paid for mine I'd think you could get $1k-$2k off that price.

au1994

breld said:

Feeding off @roadburner's recent purchase, this seems to be priced well. m235i (non-CPO) This dealership is right next door to the BMW dealer that I have to go back to this afternoon to pick up the wife's X5. Mildly considering checking it out.

That's nice. I love that blue!

Sandman6472

Have blue on my Golf and really liked it over all the other colors they had except white and red. The wife got her A3 in white so that was out and the red was a bit too red for me, at this point. The blue wasn't that in your face, a somewhat calmer blue and I was sold. My one kid has a light blue and the other kid has a charcoal, so no duplicate colors.

The Sandman

breld

au1994 said:

breld said:

Feeding off @roadburner's recent purchase, this seems to be priced well.

m235i (non-CPO)

This dealership is right next door to the BMW dealer that I have to go back to this afternoon to pick up the wife's X5. Mildly considering checking it out.

That's nice. I love that blue!

I loved the Estoril Blue when it first came out (in the current 3), then it seemed to become fairly common. But it still always catches my eye.

The m-sport package was much more exclusive on the E90 - it seemed it was more of an intentional special order. When they went to the current series 3 (and 5), seems BMW marketed the m-sport "line" more and it became much more common.

I still like and prefer it, but it's just not as unique.

Just a random thought.

au1994

I think Estoril Blue is a color BMW "brought back" a few years ago and yes, it does seem that they flooded the market with it a bit.  

qbrozen

more pics and a lower price now on that 164LS. Man, it is SOOOO tempting. I just got a bonus, too. Ugh. BUT, I just booked 2 vacations, and I think maybe that's a better way to spend money right now. My family never traveled much and I have seen very little of this world, so it feels good to experience all this stuff for the first time with my kids.

Michaell

qbrozen said:

more pics and a lower price now on that 164LS. Man, it is SOOOO tempting. I just got a bonus, too. Ugh. BUT, I just booked 2 vacations, and I think maybe that's a better way to spend money right now. My family never traveled much and I have seen very little of this world, so it feels good to experience all this stuff for the first time with my kids.

In the long run, experiences are much better than possessions.

I vividly remember the trip my family took to Washington, DC in 1975.

Mr_Shiftright

qbrozen said:

more pics and a lower price now on that 164LS. Man, it is SOOOO tempting. I just got a bonus, too. Ugh. BUT, I just booked 2 vacations, and I think maybe that's a better way to spend money right now. My family never traveled much and I have seen very little of this world, so it feels good to experience all this stuff for the first time with my kids.

Is that an LS? Doesn't seem to say it anywhere, unless I missed something?

stickguy

Live it up. Do both. Heck, pile the family in the Alfa and drive cross country. That will likely be an experience none of you ever forget!

Mr_Shiftright

Should they ever return, you mean

nyccarguy

I'm with you @qbrozen.  We recently booked a summer trip to Disney.  My kids constantly talk about the trips we've taken to DC, Cape Cod, Saint Simmons Island, GA.  I keep pondering a punch, then realIze it will get me further into debt and probably a couple of speeding tickets.

stever

You can have both - Road Trip!

Here's a good day trip experience you can have - one kiddo at a time though.

stickguy

Shifty, I did not say why they would never forget the experience.

Bradd, for the price of airfare and rental car, you can buy the Alfa, and drive the clan down! Skip TSA, all that good stuff. And have the car as a souvenir.

Mr_Shiftright

That's true, Stick, my father often said his war experiences were the high point of his life

nyccarguy

@stickguy - we are driving to Disney.  Stopping in VA for a night, then in Charlotte for a day & a half to see family, then it's off to Disney.

rayainsw

The BMW I picked up in Germany
is the best souvenir ever...
- Ray
Plus memories of touring with The Daughter !

au1994

Well, we have a rather surprising punch.  The background...job changed took the commute from 34 miles a day to double that and through the best (worst) traffic Atlanta has to offer.  The ZHP went in for a round of maintenance at the end of the year to the tune of 600, not too bad all things considered.  But an additional 1200 of work was discovered to be needed. Control arms, bushings front and rear and had developed an awful shake in the steering under braking. Warped rotors had been ruled out but nothing else fully diagnosed.  Tires would have been needed before the middle of summer too.  Not long after buying it I put an H&R touring cup kit on it and while great for a weekend fun car, the ride was awfully stiff day to day especially when the commute doubles. Loved the car and still will but with the above issues, a growing kid with growing sports equipment and tax return and bonus in hand, I found a CPO 2013 E350 cabriolet. Lunar blue over almond and beige.  Loaded up with premium 2 package, AMG appearance pkg and lane tracking. Good deal, fair trade and got one payment waived and 2 services as part of the CPO sales event that was going on.

I really love it so far. Bigger than the 3 which is what we were looking for and I am enjoying the more luxurious ride than sporting ride of the ZHP.   Tough decision to let it go but I am going to be very happy with my first Mercedes.

Mr_Shiftright

What's not to like? Congrats!

Will the Secretary of the CCBA record a punch please?

nyccarguy

@au1994 - WOW!  Congrats on the punch!  Those E350 drop tops are beautiful!  Please post pics when you can!

au1994

Thanks all! I have to say, it is beautiful and the car has a real presence.

qbrozen

Mr_Shiftright said:

qbrozen said:

more pics and a lower price now on that 164LS. Man, it is SOOOO tempting. I just got a bonus, too. Ugh. BUT, I just booked 2 vacations, and I think maybe that's a better way to spend money right now. My family never traveled much and I have seen very little of this world, so it feels good to experience all this stuff for the first time with my kids.

Is that an LS? Doesn't seem to say it anywhere, unless I missed something?

Its what the badge on the trunk says.

xwesx

au1994 said:

Thanks all! I have to say, it is beautiful and the car has a real presence.

Don't forget to update that signature line!

roadburner

au1994 said:

Thanks all! I have to say, it is beautiful and the car has a real presence.

As I always say, drive what makes you smile- congrats!

stickguy

Sounds nice. Those are attractive. Should make the commute less painful!

breld

@au1994 - congratulations on the trade! I'm finding myself drawn more and more to trying out an MB myself.

Having a long commute, especially if it's through some rough rush hour spots, can definitely change your priorities on the type of car you drive. We have a 30 mile each way commute with some frustrating rush hour congestion (though probably not as bad as Atlanta), and my wife was commenting recently on how much she's enjoying the comfort of the X5 for that ride.

Oh, by the way - PICTURES please!

corvette

Mr_Shiftright said:

What's not to like? Congrats! Will the Secretary of the CCBA record a punch please?

Done. Congrats! How many miles? Did nobody buy anything in February?

ab348

qbrozen said:

more pics and a lower price now on that 164LS. Man, it is SOOOO tempting. I just got a bonus, too. Ugh. BUT, I just booked 2 vacations, and I think maybe that's a better way to spend money right now. My family never traveled much and I have seen very little of this world, so it feels good to experience all this stuff for the first time with my kids.

Heck, that's almost sofa cushion money, and they obviously want it gone, so there might be a little more of a deal to be made.

au1994

corvette said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

What's not to like? Congrats!

Will the Secretary of the CCBA record a punch please?

Done. Congrats! How many miles? Did nobody buy anything in February?

Thanks...it has 34k miles

au1994

@breld, thanks! You and I seem to be cut from a similar vehicular cloth so I have no doubt you'll give the 3 pointed star a whirl at some point.