Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

au1994

corvette said:

It’s sounding more and more like GM defecated in the bed with the new 2.7 liter four cylinder engine in their full size pickups. The reviews I’ve read indicate the gas mileage is very poor, and the performance figures are far worse than the 2.7 liter F-150. 

That would be a surprise. GM usually does the drivetrain pretty well and the styling too for that matter. The interior is a different story.

If it turns out to cost them sales and revenue in one of the highest margin segments, heads will roll.

Would not want to be in engineering or product management right now!

henryn

Very interesting. Chevrolet really needed to come up with a more modern engine for the Silverado, the Ford ecoboost engines really clean their clock. But it sounds like this ain't it.

Mr_Shiftright

corvette said:

It’s sounding more and more like GM defecated in the bed with the new 2.7 liter four cylinder engine in their full size pickups. The reviews I’ve read indicate the gas mileage is very poor, and the performance figures are far worse than the 2.7 liter F-150. 

Yes I saw that. The V-8 delivers better fuel mileage than the 4. Go figure.

ab348

The entire new GM pickup line seems a disappointment. Not just that engine but the styling is odd and the interior looks dated, being an awful lot like the last one. I can't believe I'm saying this but if I was in the market for a mastodon pickup I'd start with the Ram.

Mr_Shiftright

The Ram is getting some excellent reviews, especially the Big Fella. 35,000 lbs towing? Wow.

corvette

I’d still consider the Sierra Denali with the 6.2, but the mid-range trims seem underwhelming. I really liked the 2.7 Ecoboost F-150 I drove. It will be interesting to see what Toyota does when they redesign the Tundra, as despite its age, they’ve added a lot of active safety features that aren’t standard on any other full size. 

stickguy

stylistically (in and out) no question to me if I was getting one. Ram. One of the car magazines last month tested them, and the Ram won IIRC, but the Ford had a few advantages (lighter, better braking, and a few inches narrower, a plus to me!) But the Ram blew it away in driving dynamics and interior.

The Chevy I think was a distant also ran.

xwesx

I don't think any of them can best the Tundra in terms of terrible fuel economy, though. Those things drink it down like a parched sailor.

stickguy

if you even have fuel economy on your list, probably should not be buying one of these beasts in the first place.

omarman

Well even a beastmaster has to support redheaded slave girls.

henryn

Here in my neck of the woods (Texas), you can get some really big discounts on half-ton Ford and Chevy pickups. Not so for Dodge. I'm not sure why that is, but it is what it is. You will pay several thousand more for a similarly equipped Dodge.

mjfloyd1

henryn said:

That's one thing I would not do, pay $60k for an Audi. Obviously some will. Makes life interesting.

I plead guilty

breld

mjfloyd1 said:

henryn said:

That's one thing I would not do, pay $60k for an Audi. Obviously some will. Makes life interesting.

I plead guilty

Me too.  

au1994

If, and its a big if, I wanted a full sized truck I’d go with the Ram

ab348

I wonder what the thinking internally at GM was that convinced them that a turbo 4 (albeit a big one) was a good move in the Silverado. Especially since GM just until recently built a couple of turbo V-6s that produced good power, a 2.8 and a 3.0 IIRC. I suppose a 4 is less expensive to build than a V6 so the bean counters probably won again, as they often seem to do at GM.

corvette

I read the C&D comparison just now... We live in an interesting world where the Ram’s 0-60 time of 6.2 seconds is the slowest of the domestic three. It does have a really nice interior. I think the 6.2 in the Chevy would have tied or even beat the Ford, had it not been an F-150 Limited that has the souped up 3.5 liter from the Raptor instead of the regular 3.5 Ecoboost. I can live with a cheap interior, but the driving characteristics of the Silverado sound disappointing. 

suydam

When I lived in the rural Midwest pretty much every truck I saw was a Silverado. I doubt folks there worried very much about driving dynamics or interiors.

corvette

suydam said:

When I lived in the rural Midwest pretty much every truck I saw was a Silverado. I doubt folks there worried very much about driving dynamics or interiors.

Probably. I tried to pull up the configurator on Chevy’s website in both Firefox and Edge on Windows 10 and it didn’t work. 

Michaell

au1994 said:

If, and its a big if, I wanted a full sized truck I’d go with the Ram

+1

Though, I'm stunned at how expensive they've gotten. Was at the CJDR dealer and saw a black on black Limited crew cab, with a $66K sticker price.

au1994

Michaell said:

au1994 said:

If, and its a big if, I wanted a full sized truck I’d go with the Ram

+1

Though, I'm stunned at how expensive they've gotten. Was at the CJDR dealer and saw a black on black Limited crew cab, with a $66K sticker price.

And they are as feature rich as a Q7 or X5.

Michaell

au1994 said:

Michaell said:

au1994 said:

If, and its a big if, I wanted a full sized truck I’d go with the Ram

+1

Though, I'm stunned at how expensive they've gotten. Was at the CJDR dealer and saw a black on black Limited crew cab, with a $66K sticker price.

And they are as feature rich as a Q7 or X5.

I didn't take a very close look at it, TBH.

breld

One of the current issues of the car mags has a feature on the Lincoln Blackwood, and how it was a good idea ahead of its time. I'd tend to agree.

au1994

breld said:

One of the current issues of the car mags has a feature on the Lincoln Blackwood, and how it was a good idea ahead of its time. I'd tend to agree.

I’d agree as well. With todays tech in it and a refreshed design based on the latest F-150 it would probably be a hit since most pick ups carry nothing heavier than a laptop case these days!

That Ram that @Michaell referenced probably has heated and cooled seats, heated wheel, a nice sunroof, full suite of electronic assistants etc. The interior on the Ram is extremely well done.

henryn

I read that review in Car & Driver:

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a22984237/2019-ford-f-150-vs-chevrolet-silverado-vs-ram-1500-pickup/

Those were really top-of-the-line, maxed out pickups, $67k, $69k, and $74k. The MSRP on the Ford ($74k) is 72% more than the MSRP on my 2018 F150. Yeah, it’s nice, but to me it couldn’t possibly be worth 72% more. It has leather seats (I really don’t care), a sunroof (which I don’t want, even if free), and a more powerful engine (yeah, I’ll admit, 450 horsepower is appealing). But any one of those trucks will set you back more than my first two houses, combined.

And for those of you saying you would only buy the Ram – at the medium trim level, that Dodge will set you back a good $5k more than a comparable Chevy or Ford. And $5k will buy a lot of tacos!

As always, YMMV.

pensfan83

Thought I'd share this story since it involves cars...and dealers. An individual walked into one of our branch offices to open a deposit account, SSN immediately flagged as belonging to a deceased individual and the account was closed within 3 days with no loss to us. The file comes to my team to review and as with anyone who uses or attempts to use an SSN belonging to a deceased individual is flagged for identity theft.

When reviewing our internal records my investigator found a denied credit application for a vehicle installment loan submitted 3 weeks ago. The dealer, in an epic blunder, did a spot delivery for this person because the first bank that conditionally approved the loan rescinded the offer a few days later, presumably once they did their due diligence on this person and KYC information. There was correspondence between the dealer's F&I manager and us and apparently they were hoping the first bank, which is smaller and they assumed does not have the vendor and technology resources we do, erred. Nope, we told the dealer....it's not her SSN and there is no way we're underwriting a loan for that car. The F&I manager indicated they'll be getting LE involved to aid in the recovery of the vehicle Definitely not a good day for that store.

venture

henryn said:

I read that review in Car & Driver:

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a22984237/2019-ford-f-150-vs-chevrolet-silverado-vs-ram-1500-pickup/

Those were really top-of-the-line, maxed out pickups, $67k, $69k, and $74k. The MSRP on the Ford ($74k) is 72% more than the MSRP on my 2018 F150. Yeah, it’s nice, but to me it couldn’t possibly be worth 72% more. It has leather seats (I really don’t care), a sunroof (which I don’t want, even if free), and a more powerful engine (yeah, I’ll admit, 450 horsepower is appealing). But any one of those trucks will set you back more than my first two houses, combined.

And for those of you saying you would only buy the Ram – at the medium trim level, that Dodge will set you back a good $5k more than a comparable Chevy or Ford. And $5k will buy a lot of tacos!

As always, YMMV.

Many people don't understand the law of diminishing returns or a fool and his money...

fintail

Ten of those trucks is less than the price of a vacant postage stamp lot in my zipcode. I'd rather have the truck (the Dodge really does look nice, and I have to put the weird looking Chevy in 3rd place).

cdnpinhead

venture said:

Many people don't understand the law of diminishing returns or a fool and his money...

Yes, but we (well, mostly) do. The others can pay the freight.

henryn

fintail said:

Ten of those trucks is less than the price of a vacant postage stamp lot in my zipcode. I'd rather have the truck (the Dodge really does look nice, and I have to put the weird looking Chevy in 3rd place).

I do get what you're saying. There are neighborhoods around Houston where a small vacant lot will bring $500k.

Which reminds me of the famous (or infamous) quote attributed to J. P. Morgan: "If you have to ask, you can't afford it." Unless you're as rich as J. P. Morgan, why would you buy such a lot? I suppose an exception could be made if someone were willing to pay you a bloody fortune to work in that area (Silicon Valley comes to mind).

xwesx

henryn said:

I read that review in Car & Driver:

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a22984237/2019-ford-f-150-vs-chevrolet-silverado-vs-ram-1500-pickup/


As always, YMMV.

Darn it all! I just about shot hot tea into my nose as I read the article.... Disclaimers necessary!!!!

It's staggering just how stark the difference is between the Silverado and the two other trucks here. One logbook note called the Chevy "a $70,000 kick in the nuts." Technical editor David Beard wrote, "I like the engine in this truck, and that's it."

cdnpinhead

If no one bought it, they wouldn't sell it Go figure.

stickguy

for those interested, I saw my old Elantra on Carvana yesterday, as pending purchase. I was sure it was going to sit for a long time at that price (more than I paid for it). I guess somebody really wanted the wax job I put on it!

fintail

And even there, most people can't afford a detached house.

It's the reality here. In a way, not so bad - if I can't have an actual house, I want nothing more than a basic condo or even apartment, so less money for maintenance, more money for cars

henryn said:

I do get what you're saying. There are neighborhoods around Houston where a small vacant lot will bring $500k.

Which reminds me of the famous (or infamous) quote attributed to J. P. Morgan: "If you have to ask, you can't afford it." Unless you're as rich as J. P. Morgan, why would you buy such a lot? I suppose an exception could be made if someone were willing to pay you a bloody fortune to work in that area (Silicon Valley comes to mind).

qbrozen

You reminded me to check for my Alfa. They are asking way more than I paid.
https://www.vroom.com/inventory/alfa%20romeo-stelvio-2018-ZASFAKNN8J7B99371

breld

Almost ready to file my taxes, and should be no hiccups in getting the $9,500 in tax rebates for the Prius Prime purchase.

So...noticed today that there's an offer on Nissan Leafs here in CO. If you finance through Nissan, you can assign the $5,000 state credit to them, and they'll just pass it on directly to the sales price. Then there's some $3,000 (or may be $3,500) credit for an Xcel energy rebate that they can apply to the price. Then they have their own discount of $3,000.

So they're advertising $11,500 off all Leafs. And that's before the $7,500 federal rebate.

Hmm....so a decently equipped Leaf off the lot for about $22k, then you get $7,500 rebate off 2019 taxes.

Could be fun to play around with a bit.

Michaell

breld said:

Almost ready to file my taxes, and should be no hiccups in getting the $9,500 in tax rebates for the Prius Prime purchase.

So...noticed today that there's an offer on Nissan Leafs here in CO. If you finance through Nissan, you can assign the $5,000 state credit to them, and they'll just pass it on directly to the sales price. Then there's some $3,000 (or may be $3,500) credit for an Xcel energy rebate that they can apply to the price. Then they have their own discount of $3,000.

So they're advertising $11,500 off all Leafs. And that's before the $7,500 federal rebate.

Hmm....so a decently equipped Leaf off the lot for about $22k, then you get $7,500 rebate off 2019 taxes.

Could be fun to play around with a bit.

These are the new ones with better range?

28firefighter

My folks are in town this weekend and my Dad took the Viggen for the night. Parked it at the hotel overnight in the garage and reported that it barely cranked over and started this morning. Sigh. 

So, $194 later I replaced the apparently 5 year old, AAA 600 CCA battery with a 760 CCA with 120 minute reserve Duralast Platinum from AutoZone. 

I’d never noticed how mean the Viggen sounded until hearing my Dad drive off with it. Pretty cool. 

kyfdx

I never notice how good the exhaust note is on my car, until my son borrow it, and fires it up in the garage.

omarman

I never noticed that my car needed a new catalytic converter until it began rattling like a subaru. And that's never good.

Mr_Shiftright

Been there, done that. The catalytic death rattle. I had to get REAL creative on that one!

marcogallo1986

 Hey guys using my Facebook account, does give me a lot of problems the first few days we love him with my normal email and password that I have, so decided to just go with Facebook all is going well here, still jobhunting. 

marcogallo1986

 All this talk on how expensive cars more, best to lease or buy used. Trying to catch up on the past few days in here. Type your comment

marcogallo1986

 Ram does sound really nice, and the Ford. Chevy or GMC I have been set in yet so won’t see anything like that we used to that. Photo shows coming in April can’t wait, this is Merkel everybody visually impaired guy with the 1961 Ford Thunderbird ha ha hope everyone had a good week, have a good weekend everybody. 

marcogallo1986

 28FF, that’s cool your parents are in town, and your dad took the vision for the night. Wow battery I guess was due for a change anyway. Guess it’s better it happened with him them if you were out running errands or something and left you stranded at the store or wherever you might’ve been. 

marcogallo1986

 No I mentioned last week in here, last Saturday, a week ago today, had gone to the Chevy dealer with my cousin in Astoria queens. And sat in the new blazer, when I Benchley go with someone and test drive one but had a nice feeling inferior. Anyone doing any type drives or car looking this weekend? 

tjc78

I got one of those $50 test drive offers from Buick.  So.. since I was picking up the Enclave from service anyway I figured I would test drive a Regal and redeem the card.  

They were pretty busy with no available sales reps so I just had them enter it as if I did drive one.  Made $50 for a 3 minute conversation.  I’ll take it  

kyfdx

Dang... I really wanted to know what you thought of the Regal!

marcogallo1986

Man TJC, I also wanted to hear your impressions on the regal to, or well can always drive it another time.g ma’am TJC, I also wanted to hear your impressions on the regal to, oh well can always drive it another time. 

breld

Had lunch with @jpp75 and @Michaell this afternoon.  We also went to check out the new Ranger, but they weren’t on the lots yet.  

They were nice enough to indulge me though in going to the Hyundai dealer to look at the Veloster N.  I liked it - not as interesting to look at as the Type R, but there’s a positive to that as well.  Other than the “ice blue” color, it was pretty subtle.  

The $5k markup they have in it won’t last.  I understand why they may think they can do that, but it has none of the pent up demand and heritage that the Type R had.  

I look forward to the inevitable Hyundai level of depreciation on these.  

Michaell

I think we were able to help @breld decide on both his next car - after the Miata - and the one after that. 

Looking more and more like there won’t be a replacement for the Jetta when the lease is up this summer. Likely drive the Outback as my primary vehicle.