Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

Also, I agree with @fintail - I fully expect that the house market here is going to burst again and I'm going to be left in a lurch. Every "expert" says that it is supported by the jobs market, lack of inventory, and population increase and that this is how it is going to be.

Seems ridiculous.

I think it's smart to pay extra, to cut down on a long commute.

Time is a precious resource.

stever

We've only been out to visit my BIL once in the last 4 or 5 years, but made a lot of trips out when we living closer. Seattle has always seemed like a boom town to an outsider and the traffic has always seemed terrible to me. He has it figured out and just rents close in and doesn't drive period.

28firefighter

If I didn't drive at all, I wouldn't be here

When I really want to go for a good cruise, I'll typically drive east out I-90 and into the Issaquah Highlands. Sometimes I'll head up to Highway 2 and drive out over the pass, though that is more of a gamble given the number of accidents.

fintail

And look how many transactions are to offshore cash buyers, at least where I live on the east side. This isn't truly natural demand, and the origins of the money aren't always on the up and up. The coddled real estate industry doesn't like to talk about it, and the PC police won't touch it. It's fun seeing the half vacant "sold out" high rises in Bellevue, or the empty "sold" mansions. It may burst sometime, or emulate Vancouver or SF, where the only way to go is up. Have fun, younger generations.

For driving, definitely get out of the area, and try to get out early on a Sunday. Weekdays are usually disasters, and Saturdays can be similar lately.

I live close to work too, as I am not looking to spend 90 minutes each way driving back and forth to a cardboard 'n plywood tract house that cost me "only" a quarter mil.

28firefighter said:

Also, I agree with @fintail - I fully expect that the house market here is going to burst again and I'm going to be left in a lurch. Every "expert" says that it is supported by the jobs market, lack of inventory, and population increase and that this is how it is going to be.

Seems ridiculous.

stever

Funny, my wife and I were just talking about the reflection pool on the UW campus and how neat it is to see Rainier's reflection in it. Seattle reminds me of a big Juneau - most beautiful place on earth when the sun shines.

/road trip jonsing

fintail

And it's beautiful right now, about 80F yesterday and not much cooler today. The environment here is a big draw, even with some of the "Freeattle" issues lately. Still haven't found a place that is as overall livable (job market + climate).

nyccarguy

"Friends" & a 70 hour work week?  Lol!

I work about 55 hours per week (7:30 am to 5:30 pm M-F & 7:30 am to 12:30 pm Saturday).  My 30 plus mile commute takes about 45 minutes in the AM as long as I leave my house by 6:30 AM.  The ride home takes a little longer.  It is still less than an hour on average.  There are a number of getaway days (long weekends, Wed & Thursday during the summer) where the traffic is just atrocious.  It takes me between 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get home.  

Our housing costs are massive.  We refinanced a year ago & our mortgage payment (P&I, Insurance, and Taxes) is still between 40 & 45% of our take home.  We live in a 1431 Square Foot Ranch built in 1955 with a fully finished basement.  One of the reasons I'm so excited to pay the Pilot off in May.  $678.66 per month I can put away.  Let's round it up to $700.  I'm going to put $200 per month towards my Legacy (which I already pay an extra $200 per month towards & will double my payments starting June), $250 per month towards the principal of my mortgage, & putting $250 per month towards home improvement projects.

28firefighter

nyccarguy said:

"Friends" & a 70 hour work week?  Lol!

I know I know. Sounds as funny to me writing it as it does to you reading it...but the reality is that even though I work a lot, I do it at off hours. I'll work 10 hour days, go home, spend time with the wife, dog, and friends, and then pickup working from 11pm-2am many nights. I enjoy what I do, so it does not bother me that much - but a long commute would suck the life out of me.

Your property taxes though are super high, right? I would imagine that contributes a good bit. For better or worse, our property taxes are less than 1% of our home value each year.

stickguy

If I paid off my mortgage tomorrow, I would still have to lay out 1k per month for taxes and homeowners insurance.

henryn

I have no mortgage, and my taxes and insurance run about $350 per month.

I have to agree with @kyfdx , time is a precious resource. And I hate commuting. I still enjoy driving, one of my favorite things to do on a nice Sunday is a drive in the country. But absolutely not commuting in rush hour traffic.

I moved to this house in 2011. Previous to that, my commute was around 50 to 55 minutes in the morning, and 60 to 70 minutes in the afternoon. Now, 12 to 15 minutes in the morning, and 20 to 22 minutes in the afternoon.

The way I look at it, I bought nearly 1.5 hours per day. Time to be spent doing what I want to do, not looking at someone's bumper in stop and go traffic.

Yes, time is a precious resource. And the older I get, the more I want to spend that resource doing things that I enjoy.

nyccarguy

My property taxes are a little over $9300 this year.  That's approximately 1.5% of my home's current value.  That's not how they are calculated though.  It's complicated.  Each city or town in CT has a "Grand List." Your home's value is based on a percentage or Mill Rate (Same with the car taxes).  Our taxes in Stamford are relatively low compared to neighboring Westchester County in NY.  Depending on the city or town, my taxes would easily be doubled.  

I don't mind the commute.  The hardest part is actually getting to the highway in the afternoon.  There is a Dunkin Donuts I stop at for coffee every day.  It is a mile from my store to the DD.  Sometimes it takes a half hour just to get there, then I've got to drive 30 miles home.

I couldn't move any further north into CT than I already am.  Just 2 exits north (where my house would cost over a million dollars) and my 45 minute commute would turn into a 90 minute ordeal.

andres3

nyccarguy said:

"Friends" & a 70 hour work week?  Lol!

I work about 55 hours per week (7:30 am to 5:30 pm M-F & 7:30 am to 12:30 pm Saturday).  My 30 plus mile commute takes about 45 minutes in the AM as long as I leave my house by 6:30 AM.  The ride home takes a little longer.  It is still less than an hour on average.  There are a number of getaway days (long weekends, Wed & Thursday during the summer) where the traffic is just atrocious.  It takes me between 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get home.  

Our housing costs are massive.  We refinanced a year ago & our mortgage payment (P&I, Insurance, and Taxes) is still between 40 & 45% of our take home.he reasons I'm so excited to pay the Pilot off in May.  $678.66 per month I can put away.  Let's round it up to $700.  I'm going to put $200 per month towards my Legacy (which I already pay an extra $200 per month towards & will double my payments starting June), $250 per month towards the principal of my mortgage, & putting $250 per month towards home improvement projects.

1,431, that's the exact SF of the house we bought in SD last November! Got a floor plan drawing you could share? It's actually enough space for me, though I wouldn't mind larger for the home theater. My main complaint is The so-called two car garage that is about 20" narrower than it should be to be a true 2-car garage where you don't bang up each others cars with the doors because you have a car seat to use on the right and your driver's door on the left; doesn't matter which side you go (safety study came out showing it's better to put a car seat where there is no front passenger; at least most of the time). Therefore, so far, it has been a 1 car garage and a storage area for moving boxes we still haven't fully found a home for yet. We do have a roofed sort-of car port side area by the attached garage, but that's also about 12 to 18" narrower than it should be to avoid having to squeeze out of your door without hitting the walls. Maybe some foam strips on the stucco and retaining wall on the other side would help make it more usable.

Maybe a major league garage remodel losing the carport area for an extra wide and spacious 2-door garage is in my future? Of course I just paid about $1,500 for a new garage door and opener motor so I'd be stuck with that (I think it's only 14'-8" wide). If only I could win the lottery! Next project is a new roof. With El Nino this year I think my 4 year max remaining lifespan per roof inspection has shrunk to 1.

stickguy

1,431 should be fine for me at this point (empty nested). We are about 2x that, not counting the finished part of the basement (where we never go). Yet somehow, whenever we discuss it, my wife seems to think that there is no way we could/should get into a house with less space. That will be an interesting debate when the day finally comes. If we could design the floorplan I want, we could probably get more usable space out of about 1/3 less SF.

Andres, at least you live in the land of perfect weather. not such a hardship to have to park outside.

kyfdx

@nyccarguy

I wouldn't bother putting more money towards the principal of your mortgage, as long as you have a fixed rate. Interest on mortgages is cheap, and inflation will mitigate that cost, over time. Much better to put it towards your installment debt.

At your relatively young age, more cash on hand could come in a lot handier than more equity.

stickguy

I agree with Ky. paying off cars, credit cards, student debt, etc. should come first. After that, stash it in retirement funds.

you aren't planning to ever move, so not really important to pay it down early, certainly not if you are on a non-PMI low fixed rate.

Also good to have a HELOC set up, even if you don't plan to use it right away. Always handy to have in a pinch. Hopefully appreciation has given some equity at this point to put it against.

andres3

kyfdx said:

@nyccarguy

I wouldn't bother putting more money towards the principal of your mortgage, as long as you have a fixed rate. Interest on mortgages is cheap, and inflation will mitigate that cost, over time. Much better to put it towards your installment debt.

At your relatively young age, more cash on hand could come in a lot handier than more equity.

That's the advice I took more than 10 years ago and it's how I ended up in a '14 Audi S4. I also got $8K for the '06 A3 which helped bolster the bank account for the "big" home purchase. Also, my Audi's having given me full red-dot-like reliability which put lots of money away towards "performance part enhancements", track days, tires, and savings towards the next car rather than tow trucks and unexpected repair bills.

I keep high deductibles and fight just about every traffic ticket to the hilt to keep my insurance costs low. Saving on the fines is peanuts compared to that. Driving carefully and safely goes a long way towards avoiding ever having to pay a deductible after all. I don't waste money on extended warranties and insurance products, as I just buy from companies that either extend warranties voluntarily, or don't need them in the first place.

Sandman6472

No mortgage here and property taxes around $2700/year, insurance about $2350/year. Putting as much into our retirement accounts as possible since we plan to retire within the next 3 to 4 years. Empty nesters also but the middle kid graduates pharmacy school in about a month. Come July, she'll move home and find a job as there's no sense keeping her apartment if she ends up on the west coast of Florida. Would like her to stay on the east coast until we retire but all depends on the job market.
Don't forsee any automobile purchases for the next few years, maybe around 2020 for the A3. Hopefully my Golf will behave itself and get me past 100,000 miles, if not more. I'd like to purchase a newer vehicle right before I retire so it will last a long time since I know I'll be driving less then.
Looking at the home prices and taxes they pay in my hometown in Westchester County, no way could we ever move back there. Even the smaller condos I've been looking at start around $400K, a lot in my book. But living back there appeals to me now for some silly reason. Florida's nice but I've been here way too long now!

The Sandman

stickguy

once we left the Rockland/Bergen area, there was pretty much no going back. Turns out would have been better off buying a dump that we could afford back in the day, and rode the appreciation train up! Oh well.

corvette

I'm one year into a 30 year fixed mortgage on my new house, putting all extra money into investments (as well as my car habit, vacations, and fine dining). Like the house, love the neighborhood, no plans to move at this point.

rny421

Ahhh property taxes. It's amazing how different they are across the United States.
We're currently keeping our eye out for our "forever home" here in upstate NY, but it's going to take the perfect house to get us to move. We're currently in a smaller house in the city. Mortgage is very reasonable, and our taxes are "cheap" for here at $5,400/yr. The $300k range will get you a 2,700 - 3,000 SF house in the suburbs with nationally ranked public schools, but the property taxes for a $300k house are $10,500 per year. You can bet they're going nowhere but up over the next 30 years too.
Needless to say, it's going to take a lot to convince us to spend $5,000 more per year in property taxes than we're currently spending.
How do I relate this back to cars? What I'm getting at is those high property taxes could sure make a great monthly payment on another fun car!

28firefighter

So BMW has launched their car sharing service here in the US with Seattle as its first city. 370 vehicle fleet made up of a few BMW Group models - BMW i3, Mini Cooper, and BMW 328xi. 

Me being me, I signed up immediately and used it tonight. Took a BMW i3 to dinner in Capital Hill - I never park either of our cars up there due to the density and very poor parking skills that have cost me way more than the cost of a cab in damage. Took a Mini Cooper home. I'll post more in depth reviews of both, but I'm not a fan of the i3 and really really liked the Cooper. 

The ridesharing component outs ZipCar, Car2Go etc to shame. Fully loaded cars that are brand new (for now) for the same cost to use. They all have Sunroofs, Nav, Auto Climate Control and Keyless start. 

I hope they succeed. So far I'm fairly impressed with the exception of very little instruction or documentation as to how to get started with the i3. Took me 10 minutes to get started and out of the spot, which is nuts for a car sharing service.

More to come...

nyccarguy

kyfdx said:

@nyccarguy I wouldn't bother putting more money towards the principal of your mortgage, as long as you have a fixed rate. Interest on mortgages is cheap, and inflation will mitigate that cost, over time. Much better to put it towards your installment debt. At your relatively young age, more cash on hand could come in a lot handier than more equity.

Yes, my mortgage rate is fixed.  4.125% for 30 years.  We were close to the 5 year mark when we refinanced last March, so we essentially reset the clock.

nyccarguy

stickguy said:

I agree with Ky. paying off cars, credit cards, student debt, etc. should come first. After that, stash it in retirement funds. you aren't planning to ever move, so not really important to pay it down early, certainly not if you are on a non-PMI low fixed rate. Also good to have a HELOC set up, even if you don't plan to use it right away. Always handy to have in a pinch. Hopefully appreciation has given some equity at this point to put it against.

We have zero credit card debt & we paid my wife's student loans 11+ years ago.  We only owe money on our 2 cars & the house.  2 payments of $678.66 left & The Pilot is all ours!  I started to pay more towards the Legacy back in September, an extra $200 per month towards principle.  My payment on that us $405.07, so ive been making close to 1 1/2 payments for now.  Starting in June, I'm going to make double payments on it.

benjaminh

Just two more years of payments on my wife's 2013 Accord, and just 6 more years of payments on our house. Hmm. Wonder if my 2008 Accord would last until the house is paid off....

stickguy

every month my wife gives me grief about 3 car payments. That was never what I wanted to do. Just a combination of cash flow, tuition, and need hitting. That and I got a new car for myself instead of a chap old one! And wanting my princess in something newer since she has pretty much relocated to the south at this point, and I am going long stretches without seeing her car.

thankfully next summer payments start dropping off. The RDX is done in about 15 months, then my car goes back a few months later, and the biggie, in December 2017 the last tuition payment gets made! Hopefully she has a good job right out of school, so summer 2018 the princess and her car go out on their own too.

there is a dim light at the end of a long tunnel, and it just might not be a train this time.

kyfdx

@nyccarguy Still, no point in making extra principal payments on the house. Unless you are going to refinance to 15 years and couple it with a lower interest rate. With the kids, you'll have a lot ahead of you. Better to sock the money into retirement accounts, or even pay cash for the next vehicle.

Also... paying off car notes early is a double-edged sword. It frees you up to trade and do it all over again, that much sooner.

corvette

Changed the wiper blades (front and rear), engine air filter, and cabin air filter on the Murano today. I think it had the same cabin air filter from when it left the factory 53,000 miles ago:


Not the easiest thing to change and it made a real mess on the carpet when I took it out. I should be good to go for my road trip in a couple of weeks!

tjc78

Cabin filters get.... Really nasty.  Our Enclave is about 18
months old and as soon as pollen season is over I'll change it.  I always put a towel down on the passenger floor.  

stever

Enjoyed that report @28firefighter. When you read the news blurbs on stuff like this you never think that you may actually "know" one of the early adopters.

I need more coffee - when I read "real mess on the carpet" I was wondering if your garage was carpeted.... Was thinking of the air filter under the hood.

stickguy

now I need to check when I did the RDX cabin filter. Might be due again! No clue where the one in the Hyundai is, but I suspect that it is going back at the end of the lease with the original one in it!

I can't be sure, but I think when I sold my Volvo (8.5 YO, 111K on it) it probably had the original cabin filter in it. Not referenced on the carfax service history, and I did not do it in the 3.5 years I owned it. total pain to do (an hour labor at the dealer) because you had to remove the brake pedal of all things to get at it, and parts of the dash. Not way was I paying $100+ for it, or contorting myself into the footwell to try it myself.

slorenzen

stickguy said:

now I need to check when I did the RDX cabin filter. Might be due again! No clue where the one in the Hyundai is, but I suspect that it is going back at the end of the lease with the original one in it!

I can't be sure, but I think when I sold my Volvo (8.5 YO, 111K on it) it probably had the original cabin filter in it. Not referenced on the carfax service history, and I did not do it in the 3.5 years I owned it. total pain to do (an hour labor at the dealer) because you had to remove the brake pedal of all things to get at it, and parts of the dash. Not way was I paying $100+ for it, or contorting myself into the footwell to try it myself.

If your RDX is typical of Honda, the filter is right behind the glovebox door, yes?

The dealer always wanted to charge me an hour labor to replace the filters in our Hondas, yet I can do it in less than a minute myself.

Thieves, all of 'em...

stickguy

Yeah, the RDX is back there. I think I still have to unhook the box and drop it out of the way, but I have had a few different Honda products, and they are all slightly different. Usually though the biggest hassle is emptying all the crap out so it doesn't dump onto the floor!

Actually, thinking more, this one might just be behind the top shelf, so no drop needed. Need to dig out my files. I usually save the boxtop and write the date on it, and put it in my paperwork folder.

28firefighter

My wife and I are closing our refinance on Tuesday. Just under 2 years in we are dropping it from 4.5% to 3.5% fixed for 30 years - jumped in when the markets were low at the end of February.

 I'm going to be paying down some additional principal monthly, only to make sure we don't extend the mortgage beyond what we originally signed up for when we bought the house. We have no other debt except for the house, her Escape lease and my GTI note.

Sandman6472

Have seen a bunch of new Mini Coopers lately and like the look. Could definitely see myself in one eventually because once I stop my Hertz gig, my driving will be cut by 2/3 so any vehicle I own will have less miles per year. Luckily we live right near all the major car dealers with the BMW/Mini store being maybe 5 miles away. Probably should've tried a Mini before I bought the Golf but since I was so happy with it, ended my search there. To be perfectly honest, was very surprised I did what I did because it was so unlike me, totally illogical and not the best financial move. But, so glad I did it and have not looked back!

The Sandman

berri

Last time I rode in a Mini it felt like riding in a truck

Mr_Shiftright

Nowadays trucks ride much better.

berri

Oh, I was talking a commercial truck, not an F-150 or Silverado. The Mini just seemed rough riding to me. Sporty is one thing, kicking your butt around is another.

Mr_Shiftright

It does get wearisome. These low profile tires don't help the situation.

roadburner

I don't have a mortgage payment but I do set aside $1300/month for taxes and insurance on the house and cars. I have two 0% loans for a couple of sets of glasses and a new watch. The only other debt is the loan on the 2er. That's the maximum amount of debt that I feel comfortable with.

tommister2

corvette said:

Changed the wiper blades (front and rear), engine air filter, and cabin air filter on the Murano today. I think it had the same cabin air filter from when it left the factory 53,000 miles ago:


Not the easiest thing to change and it made a real mess on the carpet when I took it out. I should be good to go for my road trip in a couple of weeks!

Wow, that seems like something the Carmax reconditioning would have addressed. That filter looks all used up!

toomanyfumes

When I bought the ^03 Sonata from a local lot I checked the cabin filter-someone had pulled the old one out and never replaced it- the spot was empty!

kyfdx

tommister2 said:

corvette said:

Changed the wiper blades (front and rear), engine air filter, and cabin air filter on the Murano today. I think it had the same cabin air filter from when it left the factory 53,000 miles ago:


Not the easiest thing to change and it made a real mess on the carpet when I took it out. I should be good to go for my road trip in a couple of weeks!

Wow, that seems like something the Carmax reconditioning would have addressed. That filter looks all used up!

Yeah.. I don't buy the "get your used car from a dealer, because they've been fixed up and reconditioned" thing. They'll have a lot boy clean it up, and stick it out there.

corvette

kyfdx said:

tommister2 said:

corvette said:

Changed the wiper blades (front and rear), engine air filter, and cabin air filter on the Murano today. I think it had the same cabin air filter from when it left the factory 53,000 miles ago:


Not the easiest thing to change and it made a real mess on the carpet when I took it out. I should be good to go for my road trip in a couple of weeks!

Wow, that seems like something the Carmax reconditioning would have addressed. That filter looks all used up!

Yeah.. I don't buy the "get your used car from a dealer, because they've been fixed up and reconditioned" thing. They'll have a lot boy clean it up, and stick it out there.

Yes. The salesman said something vague about the "fluids" having been changed. Truthfully, I think they changed the oil, put new tires on it, and put it on the lot. The engine air filter wasn't new either. I plan on getting a brake flush done at the next oil change (Nissan says every two years on that, and I doubt it's ever been done). Nissan says the coolant is good for seven years and the CVT is a lifetime fluid.

Sandman6472

Good idea on the brake fluid as it probably was never done yet either. A shame that they cut corners on important things that one can readily check. Just makes them look silly and will do nothing to help their reputation as folks do talk. Word of mouth is a powerful tool especially with social media being everywhere now!

The Sandman

nyccarguy

I'd say be careful of "lifetime fill" transmission fluid, but we need to be realistic about what forum we are in here:)

Mr_Shiftright

OK, lifetime of a May fly then.

28firefighter

Alright. Been a long weekend but finally have some time to review the BMW i3 and the Mini Cooper. 

BMW i3
I have no intention of offending anyone here with what I am about to say, but....the best way to describe driving this car is that it feels like a very fast golf cart. It had very good acceleration and handled relatively well for city driving. It took some getting used to the driving dynamics, specifically the fact that the brake pedal is an afterthought and not really necessary. You can control everything using the accelerator only. 

The interior is exactly what I've come to expect from BMW, though as a nearly base i3, it did have quite a bit of plastic. 

My biggest complaints are that this car had some huge blind spots in the rear, particularly while trying to park, and the cost. The window sticker for this car was in the glovebox and with an MSRP north of $45k, to me, it's a tough sell. 

Mini Cooper 
Now this car, I liked. It was a 2 door Cooper with Auto transmission, leather, keyless start, navigation and sunroof. Brand new with less than 100 miles on the odometer. 

Many first impression is that the auto transmission was well paired with the base engine. Very peppy and lively and the transmission did a good job of keeping the car in the sweet spot of its power band. The handling was not unlike my GTI and it took turns incredibly well. The 4 cylinder is not as refine as it could be and sitting at traffic lights, it let you know it was there, vibrating throughout the interior like an old Mack truck. 

Interior fit and finish was outstanding. Soft touch plastics, leather wrapped everything and very well laid out gauges and controls. I also noted there was not a single interior rattle, which is very unusual. 

Only complaint here was the top windshield line cutoff a lot of overhead visibility. I found myself crouching down to see traffic lights if I was first in line. 

I think the Cooper S 4 door would be the sweet spot for me. 

Michaell

I agree with you about the visibility in the mini. Both of my daughters suffered from that when I drive it.

Mr_Shiftright

You can lower the seat considerably in a Mini, and side and back vision is quite good. But yeah, I also find myself craning my neck to see a red light or street sign now and then.

fintail

I don't like how Mini uses the word "hardtop" - see that B pillar? If it's there, it's not a hardtop