Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

[Deleted User]

Hmmm, not sure why I thought you were in CO, but definately not 70 here! Still freezing cold with tons of snow on the ground. Oh well, glad the LR3 is working well for you and excited to see pics of the new toy

gogiboy

"They make lousy cup holders though just like the germans."

Rover-- I remember reading an article in the NY Times some years ago where American Volvo was complaining bitterly to Corporate Volvo in Sweden about the lack of cupholders. The corporate response was something like, "for God's sake, you supposed to be driving not drinking while driving!" Their pleading fell on deaf ears for quite a while.

Later, one of my colleagues gave me a ride in his early 90s Volvo wagon. I couldn't resist so I said "how do you like the cupholders?" I can't repeat his response without losing my forum privileges.

Gogiboy

british_rover

Yeah us silly americans and our cup holders...

One of the reasons the MINI scored so poorly on the JD Powers IQS survey was because the MINI had very poor cup holders. :confuse:

PF_Flyer

Just an aside here, but in editing car reviews that are submitted here, I'd say complaining about cupholders and their size or location is in the top three of things people make sure they get into their reviews.

guss

worse than the cupholder in the Jetta . It was basically a CD tray that came out of the dash . I had to get one of those window hangers because I was afraid it would break and spill inside the dash.

rayainsw

What is important to us is what is important to us. Not what anyone else suggests OUGHT to be important to us.

I am visiting my Daughter ( 25 & expecting to have to buy a car late this Summer or early this Fall ) in NYC over 1 weekend of the Auto Show. I expect that she will sit behind MANY steering wheels. I will be watching & listening closely to her responses & comments. This will be part of a “first cut” to see who’s still standing & worthy of further consideration as the process plays out.

I’ll suggest that she bring whatever she expects to typically travel with – including a bottle of water & possibly a purse.

The first time I was impressed with Volvo seats was in the late 1960s. The seats in the ( used ) 1967 122S I bought were so far ahead of anything else in a ‘popularly priced’ car at that time, I found it quite amazing.

- Ray
Bought a 144S and a 164E Volvo before leaving my “Volvo Phase” . . .

Kirstie_H

Amen to that. That was the only complaint about the Jetta interior that I had. Cupholders looked like they were fashioned out of leftover CD case interiors. Just a micro-thin piece of black plastic that you wouldn't dare trust to hold up a cup of scalding hot coffee.

akangl

Not for me! A friend of mine asked me to go with her. She's never dealt with a car dealer before and said she felt taken advantage of. Its strange the dealer went through and got her approved for a truck that she's never driven or even gotten to look at. That raised major flags for me, that and they told her that she had to pay $16,995 for it.......its a $12k truck max. So, we'll see, I think she'll come out of it ok in the end. Then I'm going horse shopping, which has proved to be more challenging than car shopping!

growwise

Not for me

Nobody will stop you. This is a free country you know? :P

akangl

Nobody will stop you. This is a free country you know?

LOL, I drove hubby's truck just to keep temptation at a minimum. I'm happy to report I never even looked at a single vehicle except the one my friend was buying. Wow, could I be cured??

My friend got her truck, she was happy with the deal, but I'm still kind of miffed, I wanted more off the truck but she was unwilling to walk away. She wanted it BAD, that's not a good way to car shop, lol. Ah well, I got them down further than she would have, she would have paid whatever they said! She's too sweet to try to argue with them, not me, I'll argue all day long, lol.

The salesguy really rubbed me the wrong way and I know for sure he didn't like me one bit, lol. I must have bit into his profit......awwww, the poor baby!

geo9

Up early to snowplow ! Got another foot of snow last
nite !

Anyhoo.........As they say "You can take the girl outta
fulton...........BUT ya can't take the Fulton outta the
girl!"

Good for you not letting your friend overpay !!!!

zodiac2004

I'm picking up a 2000 Integra SE (in canada, it's kind of between an RS and LS)
5-sp, alloys, PW, CD etc. No power doorlocks or sunroof.
Silver, with black cloth, spoiler.
Also an aftermarket satellite radio.
125000 kms
I'm paying 7600 CDN. This is near the Toronto area.
Any idea how I did?

growwise

IMHO, pretty much retail price. That car was probably traded in for no more than 2-3 grand.

zodiac2004

IMHO, pretty much retail price. That car was probably traded in for no more than 2-3 grand.

2-3 grand????

That would be the auction price of a 94 or 95 with twice the kms.

Are you positive?

This isn't at a dealer though. Single owner private sale.

grandtotal

I'd agree with growwise - about $3k without A/C and maybe $3.5k with A/C as a trade-in. I don't think I'd want to pay more than double that.

zodiac2004

I'd agree with growwise - about $3k without A/C and maybe $3.5k with A/C as a trade-in. I don't think I'd want to pay more than double that.

I don't know of any Honda or Acura that depreciates to 15% of original selling price within 7 years - with the exception of the 3.5 RL

woodyww

I think I posted here about the "deal" my EX got on an '06 V50 Volvo. She didn't even know about the $3500 rebate at the time (that people here who were volvo shopping told me about), or get the rebate, or care(??). When I asked her about the car later, she didn't even know whether it was a T-5 or not (?).

Her car-buying "strategy" is to get an idea in her head every 3-10 years for a new Volvo, drive into the nearest dealer, test drive one model, & buy it that instant, based on whatever the dealer tells her to pay with her trade (I guess?).

Like it's splurging on a new pair of shoes or something. You'd think--when a couple of hours on the internet can save one $$thousands on a new car, people wouldn't be making incredibly lousy car deals so much anymore.....

grandtotal

Did you pick up the word "trade-in" in my post? In any case, don't shoot the messenger just because you don't like the message.

corvette

My understanding is that psychological studies have shown that people who limit themselves to very few choices are happier with their decisions than those who are on the research-and-agonize treadmill (I fall into that camp, as do most "car nuts")... She still should have haggled, but by limiting herself to one make or model, she will probably be happier.

zodiac2004

I'm not shooting the messenger - or any such thing. I'm just questioning your numbers.

I think in this part of Canada, these cars would fetch ~5000 at the auction - minimum. Do you have any data to backup your numbers. Mind you - I'm not being confrontational - just looking for some first hand auction info if possible.

grandtotal

Canadian Black Book.

zodiac2004

Canadian Black Book.

Really!!

The UVIP is really out to lunch, then.
It pegs Wholesale at $7545 and retail about 2000 more.

grandtotal

You can check it for yourself pretty easily. Go to Toyota Canada's website (or GM or Daimler Chrysler) to get a link to Canadian Black Book.

zodiac2004

I did - comes between 3667 and 5167.

Any canadian dealers out here - can you please validate auction prices of the following

2000 Acura integra SE
Standard equipment:
5-sp, AC, PW (no PDL,remote or Sunroof)
15 inch Alloys
Brand new tires, brakes and timing belt
125000 kms
Silver, with black cloth, spoiler
Aftermarket satellite radio
No visible signs of scratches
Interior looks hovered in
Single owner, all maintenance records from the same Acura dealer
Toronto area.

grandtotal

What about A/C does the car have it or not?

You must also subtract a few hundred for reconditioning costs and bear in mind that dealers usually hit the bottom of the range because there is a ready supply of vehicles from auctions.

nippononly

I don't think $7600 CDN is too bad. That's about $5000 US isn't it? Maybe $4500? For a 7-year-old car with 75,000 miles? Even if it's the Candian Integra, which I understand is as much four-door U.S. Civic as it is Integra, $4500 for a 75K 2000 Civic LX (not a straight comparison, but roughly the same in value I would imagine) isn't too bad a price. Certainly not getting hosed at that price, with only 75K miles. In my neck of the woods, such a Civic would retail at about $7000 US. Subtract at least $500 if it doesn't have A/C, which would also make it infinitely more difficult to sell here in California.

zodiac2004

It does have AC. And 7600 CDN - is about 6400 USD these days.

If there's someone frequenting Canadian auctions here, it would be nice to get their opinions.

The Canadian SE is similar to the American RS - plus 15 inch alloys - plus something else that I can't remember.

Civics have got to be cheaper than the Tegs

Even if it's the Candian Integra, which I understand is as much four-door U.S. Civic as it is Integra,

You must be thinking about the Acura EL - that's the 4 door Civic EX's equivalent. Th Integras here are the same as the US - except for some trim level nomenclature.

nippononly

"Th Integras here are the same as the US - except for some trim level nomenclature. "

Well yeah, except that by 2000 we didn't have an RS here. Your car is like the 50-state Integra LS (our lowest trim), minus part of the power package and one or two other things? Which means that a Civic LX was actually better equipped. Those Civics hold their value well.

An Integra LS, MY 2000, 75K miles, in good condition, would be worth around $8000 retail, I should think, so an actual transaction price of $6400 US again doesn't seem like an awful deal to me. But we are kind of Integra-happy in California. The car's value might be lower in other states.

boomchek

Zodiac, what you paid for your Integra is about right. We (westcoast) would have paid about $4-6k on trade in for the vehicle depending on it's condition and retailed it for about $8-10k.

If it's well maintained then that's about the price for it.

On vancouver's craigslist people are asking crazy money for these cars, usually in the $6k range for something with 200k.

Enjoy your new ride.

boomchek

I am eyeballing a 93 Accord EXR that came in on trade a few months ago. It's white, 4 doors, and 5 speed manual. I'm thinking of getting a second car and parking my '01 C240 that I picked up recently for a few months until the summer.

I need to start saving some more dough for my upcoming wedding in september and don't want the Benz to bankrupt me. I figure if it stays still it can't do much harm to my pocketbook.

So far I still haven't done the power steering pump, as my mechanic found a new one for about $400 instead of the usual $1000.

When I picked up the car in November the brakes were 60% front, 50% back. The HAL computer on the dash is going off about my brake pads need replacing already.

Plus my big 160k (100k miles) service is coming up in which the sparkplugs need to be changed (two plugs per cylinder), and that isn't going to be cheap.

So...... who was the one advising me against getting the Benz here

Anyways I still like the car, but I don't like the money I'm about to sink into it.

The Accord EXR came in for a hundred bucks, so I figure I can get it for a little bit over cost. It does have half a million kms on the odo (350k miles), and another reason that I do want it is to see how long it can keep on running as is.

Will take it for a spin tommorow and see...

kyfdx

You are definitely in the right discussion.... Buying a car to save money...

PF_Flyer

Picking up my 2007 6-speed Nissan Versa this morning. So that's two cars in 4 years. Do I qualify?? :P

guss

Getting close, but to be true CCBA you need to do one a year. Including my wife's one car purchase we have bought 6 cars in 5 years.

If I can make it another 35 days I will not have bought anything for one full year. I know I am not cured by any stretch of the imagination, but just curious to see how long I can hold out.

anonymousposts

will be in June. We picked up the TSX the day before Father's Day 2006.

michaellno

We've got you beat by a week ... we got our daughter's ION on 6/10/06.

Do I get to count the Subaru? My FIL passed away on 1/2/06, but we (wife and I) didn't take possession of it until last September, and it wasn't fully licensed until just a couple of weeks ago.

qbrozen

My new-car anniversary is coming up on May 22nd. I was just thinking this morning that maybe I should celebrate by getting it washed for the first time since I got it. ;b

My used-car anni is not until September (or was it october?). That one hasn't even been started in a couple of months. I feel bad for it, but its just too darned cold out to deal with it.

kyfdx

Dang... I'm behind... My last car was 14 months ago!!

akangl

Our Rams are 7 months old, mine has 19k hubby's 15k. We've had the Ford for 5 1/2 months.

Do trailers count? Have had the horse trailer for just over a month.

grandtotal

So...... who was the one advising me against getting the Benz here

If I remember correctly, almost everybody advised against it. Quite astonishing in this forum.

sandman46

Love my Civic and I bought it an early birthday present. 16" alloy wheels from a '05 Civic Si that I won on EBAY last friday. Hopefully they will be installed by the end of next week.

The Sandman

kyfdx

Yup... I believe we all did...lol.

corvette

Sounds nice--I tend to prefer the look of factory wheels, even if they're from a different model. I put larger VW wheels on the Jetta I had, because I liked them better than aftermarket ones.

guss

The best thing about my Jetta was the factory wheels. Pretty nice 17 inchers.

I l always liked the factory wheels. even if from a different model. Too much bling from an accountant does not look good.

nj2pa2nc

we bought two cars in 2002, two cars in 2003, one car 2004, two cars in 2005 and one car in 2006. We are already planning on this years purchase- the end of the year. Leaning towards either a mazda-speed 3 or mazda-speed 6.

sandman46

How long do y'all keep your cars four?

The Sandman

boomchek

Well the good thing is that even if I put a few grand into the Benz for maintenance I'll still break even if I sell it for market value, so I'm not too worried and my payments are a manageable $380 for two years and not some crazy $700/month lease for 4 or 5 years.

And it's always nice to have a Benz sitting there waiting for the warmer weather.

A coworker has a Boxter that he drives mainly in nicer weather. Other times he has an old Integra he uses. I think it's a smart idea that if you have a high maintenance car that you use it occasionally and not as a daily driver, otherwise the cost of running it will bury you.

kyfdx

I just thought it was funny.. I try to make the same argument to my wife... never works..

I agree about doing it with the Boxster... Not sure if it applies to a C-Class...

boomchek

Funny enough my finacee is totally fine with me getting a second car. We use my car the most and she sees how much I spend on gas compared to hers.

I think that as long as I have the C240I have a green card with her to have a second cheap car just in case.

grandtotal

So, to sum up, you used to have a nice 2004 Civic which you drove every day and it cost you very little. Soon you're going to be driving a 1993 Accord and paying for a Benz that you don't use. I think I'd be trading the Benz for a nice 2004/5/6 Civic, which has the advantages of saving you money with your large upcoming expenses and enhancing your CCBA membership.

nj2pa2nc

some of the cars were purchased as replacements, thanks to the other drivers, that run red lights and such. We also average at least 30,000 miles a year on a car- we never do buy a car with negative equity. We do like to upgrade tho, hyundai, honda and now acura