Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

tjc78

@sda
Great minds.....

benjaminh

andres3 said:

....Edmund's is making pics difficult. Can no longer attach them easily. Advise on setting an easy hub for photos without cost for a "URL?" ....

+1
Would like to see this fixed.

My wife and I took the TLX on a trip to Dayton, Ohio, to see the Dayton Institute of Art, the National US Air Force Museum, and America's Packard Museum. All fascinating! Stayed at a B & B and went out for some nice meals. On the drive back the TLX got 39 mpg with the AC on going c.60-75.

rayainsw

Congrats andres3 on your PUNCH !
- Ray
Color combo sounds similar to my BMW - dark blue over tan hides - lovely !

jmonroe1

stickguy said:

for those following along on the great house remodel project, big progress so far this weekend. Yesterday got the final coat of pain on the main living areas. very glad to be done painting (just touch up left, will do that after the floor refinishing happens.).

Today, installed the wire shelves in the main bedroom closet, and got the entire kitchen floor (nasty wood) ripped out, all cleaned up and cat pee corner treated, rolled out underlayment pad and got the first row of snap together vinyl tiles laid. then I was too gassed to continue so called it a day. But even better, electrician came and finished the big projects (main line into the house to a new meter), and put in new box for the new light and cleaned up an outlet in the bathroom, and installed a new dining room light (that wiring was odd). Also replaced a few switches while he was at it. so the place is slowly being modernized. and smelling way less stinky!

tomorrow, finish installing the rest of the kitchen floor, then get the new vanity and faucet installed, and my big projects will be done. just some smaller odd jobs left (caulking, stuff like that). The end, might be in sight!

Congrats on seeing the end of the job coming up. Just remember what I said in the other Edmunds forum about you now being "The Guy" in your family from this point on. It's not as bad as it could be. Do you really want to hear your daughter and son tell you about how badly they were gouged when they had to call "A Guy" that they found in the Yellow Pages or on Angies or Craig's List?

Just curious, how much of a workout did you give that multitool that you just recently bought? Doing work on floors in the corners and at the edge of the floors at the walls had to make you glad you sprung for that beauty. More than likely you feel it has already paid for itself without making another spec of saw dust again.

jmonroe

stickguy

TJC, the couple of times I test drove an Escape (before getting the RDX, and before leasing the daughter's 2015 Jetta) I remember enjoying it much more than I expected. If your baseline is a prior generation RAV4, should be just fine. Mom sounds like someone that won't appreciate the fine dynamics, but if she likes how it looks, and rides, go for it. I can walk to the place you were looking at, but never had any luck getting decent offers there.

stickguy

jmonroe1 said:

stickguy said:

for those following along on the great house remodel project, big progress so far this weekend. Yesterday got the final coat of pain on the main living areas. very glad to be done painting (just touch up left, will do that after the floor refinishing happens.).

Today, installed the wire shelves in the main bedroom closet, and got the entire kitchen floor (nasty wood) ripped out, all cleaned up and cat pee corner treated, rolled out underlayment pad and got the first row of snap together vinyl tiles laid. then I was too gassed to continue so called it a day. But even better, electrician came and finished the big projects (main line into the house to a new meter), and put in new box for the new light and cleaned up an outlet in the bathroom, and installed a new dining room light (that wiring was odd). Also replaced a few switches while he was at it. so the place is slowly being modernized. and smelling way less stinky!

tomorrow, finish installing the rest of the kitchen floor, then get the new vanity and faucet installed, and my big projects will be done. just some smaller odd jobs left (caulking, stuff like that). The end, might be in sight!

Congrats on seeing the end of the job coming up. Just remember what I said in the other Edmunds forum about you now being "The Guy" in your family from this point on. It's not as bad as it could be. Do you really want to hear your daughter and son tell you about how badly they were gouged when they had to call "A Guy" that they found in the Yellow Pages or on Angies or Craig's List?

Just curious, how much of a workout did you give that multitool that you just recently bought? Doing work on floors in the corners and at the edge of the floors at the walls had to make you glad you sprung for that beauty. More than likely you feel it has already paid for itself without making another spec of saw dust again.

jmonroe

well, I did not end up pulling out the multi tool, though I probably should have figured out if it would have been good for cutting the vinyl tiles! Turns out that when the last floor was put in, they undercut all the jambs. so did not need it for that. the only cutting was the tiles, and that was mostly done by scoring and snapping, and little trimming with knife and nippers. Took longer than I expected because of the detail work (angled cabinet, support pieces to notch around, and doors to pull transitions, etc.). Plus had to move the fridge to the DR and get the range pulled out to get underneath it. Probably should have pulled out the various tools but really didn't have a good place to use them. Oh well.

good news, even though took most of the afternoon too, got it done. Around 100 SF total laid down, and once we got the "feel of the vinyl" we could fly in the open field! And it came our really well. I need to get a picture of it to go with the before. Looks 1000x times better. and thank goodness, after peeling back a few layers of old stuff in the bad corner, a few products like natures miracle, and a lot of oil based Kilz spray cans, the cat pee smell is basically eradicated. Nice to be able to actually go in the kitchen without a breathing apparatus!

daughter is very excited by the result. She wanted to stop back this evening when we were out running errands to see it in a different light!

and due to time (as in, not enough left), and the fact that a guy that sits at a desk for a living and is pushing 60 can only be beaten so hard before he wears out, and the kitchen floor was not even supposed to be on the list, I waved the white flag on installing the vanity and faucet in the bathroom. I am not big on plumbing, and the existing pipes/valves are pretty old and crappy, so if something breaks or doesn't work as expected, I stop and call in the pros. so they are just having the plumber friend of his do it (getting new shower controls at the same time). at least if he snaps off the shutoff valve, he can replace it!

stickguy

I think the wife really wants a new car. had hers today (hauling stuff to the construction zone!) we got in at the end of the day when it had been sitting outside in the heat, and she said "this car smells old". So we compromised with promising to get a vent mounted air freshener. Cheaper than a new one!

nyccarguy

@andres3

I completely misread your post! You got an A4, not an S4. Seems like you got a sweet deal on a car you are going to thoroughly enjoy!

sda

I think my wife is starting to get the itch as well. Took the Pilot for service, needed rear brake pads replaced and I went ahead and had the oil changed a little early at 4700mi. Saves me a trip in the next few weeks. She cautioned if they find anything wrong that will cost $$, I think we need discuss its replacement.

stickguy

she would love it I think. But would not want to spend the money now. so it will have to wait. We take my car whenever we go someplace together and on trips, other than stuff like vacation to the beach.

only way it would happen is if one of these lease deals of the century fell into my lap, and Carvana decided they desperately wanted my RDX at the same time. Even then, probably not.

2 years from now,will be into Acura pull ahead territory so all bets are off! Plus, even though it turns 7 in 2 months, we still have not cracked 55,000 miles on it.

sda

Speaking of replacement my wife has taken a liking to the Audi Q5. I drove a very nice 16 Premium Plus yesterday, white with beige interior and wood trim, 21000 mi. I think it is a bit overpriced at $26.8k. I liked it but had a constant vibration above 50 mph. Not sure if it was tire related or worse. Quick question as I didn’t get to demo it, is the Bang &Olufsen stereo that much better than the standard Audi stereo? The B&O, as I understand it is an option on the Premium Plus. I will include that in my search if it makes a nice difference. I think I may have a punch later this year.

tjc78

I was talking to my wife about the Enclave. If we get a GM pull ahead again I think if the deal is right I may do one more Enclave for the family truckster. At least this one is a new design.

Reason being is that part of the pull ahead included a $1500 damage waiver plus obviously no disposition fee. This should nearly wash out the uh-oh my wife did to the passenger door.

Obviously is the lease on Enclave is stupid (which is very possible as the one I have isn’t that great) all bets would be off.

Still have plenty of time for that one, have to deal with replacing the Hyundai first.

sda

tjc78 said:

I was talking to my wife about the Enclave. If we get a GM pull ahead again I think if the deal is right I may do one more Enclave for the family truckster. At least this one is a new design.

Reason being is that part of the pull ahead included a $1500 damage waiver plus obviously no disposition fee. This should nearly wash out the uh-oh my wife did to the passenger door.

Obviously is the lease on Enclave is stupid (which is very possible as the one I have isn’t that great) all bets would be off.

Still have plenty of time for that one, have to deal with replacing the Hyundai first.

Have you had an estimate made for the uh oh damage? I was floored when a minor scrape on the driver rear quarter and bumper caused by a hit and run parking lot bump up ended up costing near $3k. The only part replaced with the tail light which only had a minor scratch and was not broken in anyway. This was on the Pilot almost 3 years ago.

pensfan83

In the Garden State all week for work East Brunswick through Wednesday then Cherry Hill until Friday.

stickguy

I live next door to CH. wave if you see a red TLX!

tjc78

sda said:

tjc78 said:

I was talking to my wife about the Enclave. If we get a GM pull ahead again I think if the deal is right I may do one more Enclave for the family truckster. At least this one is a new design.

Reason being is that part of the pull ahead included a $1500 damage waiver plus obviously no disposition fee. This should nearly wash out the uh-oh my wife did to the passenger door.

Obviously is the lease on Enclave is stupid (which is very possible as the one I have isn’t that great) all bets would be off.

Still have plenty of time for that one, have to deal with replacing the Hyundai first.

Have you had an estimate made for the uh oh damage? I was floored when a minor scrape on the driver rear quarter and bumper caused by a hit and run parking lot bump up ended up costing near $3k. The only part replaced with the tail light which only had a minor scratch and was not broken in anyway. This was on the Pilot almost 3 years ago.

No, but it’s really just one door and a little ding. I know body work is crazy but I can’t see it being more than 2k.

Michaell

tjc78 said:

sda said:

tjc78 said:

I was talking to my wife about the Enclave. If we get a GM pull ahead again I think if the deal is right I may do one more Enclave for the family truckster. At least this one is a new design.

Reason being is that part of the pull ahead included a $1500 damage waiver plus obviously no disposition fee. This should nearly wash out the uh-oh my wife did to the passenger door.

Obviously is the lease on Enclave is stupid (which is very possible as the one I have isn’t that great) all bets would be off.

Still have plenty of time for that one, have to deal with replacing the Hyundai first.

Have you had an estimate made for the uh oh damage? I was floored when a minor scrape on the driver rear quarter and bumper caused by a hit and run parking lot bump up ended up costing near $3k. The only part replaced with the tail light which only had a minor scratch and was not broken in anyway. This was on the Pilot almost 3 years ago.

No, but it’s really just one door and a little ding. I know body work is crazy but I can’t see it being more than 2k.

Now you've got me thinking about the ding on the Jetta.

28firefighter

I doubt they're going to hit you for a small ding on it's own. Now, a multi-inch ding with missing paint or a large scratch? Yes.

Also, I think it was @sda who asked about B&O stereo - it was a relatively inexpensive option back when they first started offering it (I want to say $875) and it is money well spent. It is that good.

pensfan83

stickguy said:

I live next door to CH. wave if you see a red TLX!

Will do. If you see a gray Equinox driven by someone with a scowl give him a look of pity.

pensfan83

I remember my lease end packet from Audi came with a credit card type device that allowed you to measure for dings/dents and tread wear to see if they were within allowances.

Michaell

pensfan83 said:

I remember my lease end packet from Audi came with a credit card type device that allowed you to measure for dings/dents and tread wear to see if they were within allowances.

I've got my inspection on Thursday afternoon; I did receive correspondence from VW credit, but nothing to help measure dings, etc.

andres3

sda said:

Speaking of replacement my wife has taken a liking to the Audi Q5. I drove a very nice 16 Premium Plus yesterday, white with beige interior and wood trim, 21000 mi. I think it is a bit overpriced at $26.8k. I liked it but had a constant vibration above 50 mph. Not sure if it was tire related or worse. Quick question as I didn’t get to demo it, is the Bang &Olufsen stereo that much better than the standard Audi stereo? The B&O, as I understand it is an option on the Premium Plus. I will include that in my search if it makes a nice difference. I think I may have a punch later this year.

I can attest to this with recent experience driving the faulty colored bumpers S4 around that had the "base" audio system. It wasn't bad, certainly much better than Kia's "base" sound system in the Optima, and I have high sound quality standards. The B&O is significantly better though, and I do believe there are more speakers and probably more amperage to power them as well. I'm glad my A4 has the B&O. It wasn't an expensive option when new, kind of silly to not select it at the time.

28firefighter

Do any of you have any experience with Ceramic Pro? I've heard some great things about it and thinking it might make sense to protect the Subaru from its primary driver...

andres3

So no one commented on my question to the group before; it was buried in a bigger post, so I'll extract it here:

If you have one car at 16,500 miles, and another at 28,500 miles, but the lower miles is a '15 and the higher miles is a '16, would you consider that a tie and base your decision solely on price and condition if they are otherwise equal cars?

Note, the '16 would have 10-11 months more warranty (unlimited mileage in Audi CPO).

nyccarguy

andres3 said:

So no one commented on my question to the group before; it was buried in a bigger post, so I'll extract it here:

If you have one car at 16,500 miles, and another at 28,500 miles, but the lower miles is a '15 and the higher miles is a '16, would you consider that a tie and base your decision solely on price and condition if they are otherwise equal cars?

Note, the '16 would have 10-11 months more warranty (unlimited mileage in Audi CPO).

Yes. I'd consider those equal cars. The dealer with the '15 might dig it's heels in on the price due to the "low miles."

xwesx

andres3 said:

PUNCH

CPO 2015 Audi A4 quattro 8-speed with tech and premium packages, including B&O Audio.

Midnight Blue Metallic (very dark blue). Tan/Beige/Brown interior leather and headliner, aluminum accents (as opposed to wood which is popular and good match in beige interior cars, but I don't mind the aluminum.

16,4XX miles for just under $22K, $24,090 out the door.

9.5 out of 10 condition, easily and solid. Brand new rotors and pads (sat too long I guess since so low mileage for 4 year old car).

The CPO is only good till January 2020, but that's good enough for me to work the kinks out.

Congrats, Andres! Did you drop the Alltrack already, or sill working on that? Don't forget to update your sig line!

Color combo is fantastic, and the car is basically brand new... 16,000 miles in four years?! That's just silly.

As for photos, last time I posted here I had also posted the pics on Facebook, so I just provided direct links (allows view without login and friend requirement).

coldinohio

28firefighter said:

Do any of you have any experience with Ceramic Pro? I've heard some great things about it and thinking it might make sense to protect the Subaru from its primary driver...

i looked into ceramic pro (nanotech) at an indie shop as dealer used LLumar and was quite expensive; also looked at PPF; my new CPO has some paint swirls and windscreen issues...

I think on a new car ceramic pro will make finish last for 5-10 y; you will still get road rash that PPF may prevent; on a dark color, the nanotechnology is really fantastic in appearance....

both PPF and ceramic pro will require car washing etc; not maintenance free

most ceramic pro, etc have yearly 'require' maintenance to keep warranty for the 5-10 years...

hope that helps

xwesx

28firefighter said:

Do any of you have any experience with Ceramic Pro? I've heard some great things about it and thinking it might make sense to protect the Subaru from its primary driver...

None. What is the coating supposed to do? Just generally protect the paint underneath, or does it have more tangible benefits, such as better ding/chip/etc. resistance?

xwesx

I gave the 2008 Focus to my friend yesterday, and I now have my 2008 Forester back. He took great care of it. Two years later, and it looks/feels/smells exactly like it did when I gave him the keys. Only 16,000 miles over that time, too, including a trip to Idaho and back. Almost makes me wonder why he needs a car!

The only issue is a light pulsing in the brake pedal when I slow, so I'm thinking the front rotors are warping. People often say that Subaru rotors are "prone" to that, but funny how I have never had it happen on my watch. That said, the 2013 Forester had that issue when I purchased it two years ago (less than 55K miles at the time), and they were bad enough that taking a major grade in BC was somewhat scary. I ended up swapping them out as soon as I got home.

tjc78

pensfan83 said:

In the Garden State all week for work East Brunswick through Wednesday then Cherry Hill until Friday.

My ‘hood too.

If you are hungry while in East Brunswick you are only a stones throw (one TP exit) from Harold’s Deli. Check it out if you have time.... amazing.

While down in CH if you need dinner suggestions here to help.

tjc78

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:

sda said:

tjc78 said:

I was talking to my wife about the Enclave. If we get a GM pull ahead again I think if the deal is right I may do one more Enclave for the family truckster. At least this one is a new design.

Reason being is that part of the pull ahead included a $1500 damage waiver plus obviously no disposition fee. This should nearly wash out the uh-oh my wife did to the passenger door.

Obviously is the lease on Enclave is stupid (which is very possible as the one I have isn’t that great) all bets would be off.

Still have plenty of time for that one, have to deal with replacing the Hyundai first.

Have you had an estimate made for the uh oh damage? I was floored when a minor scrape on the driver rear quarter and bumper caused by a hit and run parking lot bump up ended up costing near $3k. The only part replaced with the tail light which only had a minor scratch and was not broken in anyway. This was on the Pilot almost 3 years ago.

No, but it’s really just one door and a little ding. I know body work is crazy but I can’t see it being more than 2k.

Now you've got me thinking about the ding on the Jetta.

The door needs a repaint. When she swiped the pole it scratched the paint and actually broke it away slightly from the surface due to the body line. It's one of those things that actually is worse than it looks.

I'd post a pic, but....

pensfan83

tjc78 said:

pensfan83 said:

In the Garden State all week for work East Brunswick through Wednesday then Cherry Hill until Friday.

My ‘hood too.

If you are hungry while in East Brunswick you are only a stones throw (one TP exit) from Harold’s Deli. Check it out if you have time.... amazing.

While down in CH if you need dinner suggestions here to help.

Thanks. Staying at a Marriott off the NJ Turnpike in Mt. Laurel. The office I work out of is a 10 minute drive away.

pensfan83

andres3 said:

sda said:

Speaking of replacement my wife has taken a liking to the Audi Q5. I drove a very nice 16 Premium Plus yesterday, white with beige interior and wood trim, 21000 mi. I think it is a bit overpriced at $26.8k. I liked it but had a constant vibration above 50 mph. Not sure if it was tire related or worse. Quick question as I didn’t get to demo it, is the Bang &Olufsen stereo that much better than the standard Audi stereo? The B&O, as I understand it is an option on the Premium Plus. I will include that in my search if it makes a nice difference. I think I may have a punch later this year.

I can attest to this with recent experience driving the faulty colored bumpers S4 around that had the "base" audio system. It wasn't bad, certainly much better than Kia's "base" sound system in the Optima, and I have high sound quality standards. The B&O is significantly better though, and I do believe there are more speakers and probably more amperage to power them as well. I'm glad my A4 has the B&O. It wasn't an expensive option when new, kind of silly to not select it at the time.

The B&O is a significant upgrade over the stock sound system, definitely worth the premium. I would however rate Acura's ELS system above it though.

jmonroe1

@andres3, waay late on the congrats but I like your color combo. A beige interior is better looking than black but it takes a little work to keep it looking good but it's worth it in my opinion.

How did you decide to go with Carvana? Did any of us in here talk you into it. I know I sure liked them. Don't know how they beat my dealer by more than $2200 but I'm glad I gave them a try. I damn near gave myself a bald spot trying to figure that out.

Give us a report after you give it the ole @andres3 break in or after the first ticket, whichever comes first.

jmonroe

stickguy

pensfan83 said:

tjc78 said:

pensfan83 said:

In the Garden State all week for work East Brunswick through Wednesday then Cherry Hill until Friday.

My ‘hood too.

If you are hungry while in East Brunswick you are only a stones throw (one TP exit) from Harold’s Deli. Check it out if you have time.... amazing.

While down in CH if you need dinner suggestions here to help.

Thanks. Staying at a Marriott off the NJ Turnpike in Mt. Laurel. The office I work out of is a 10 minute drive away.

Lots of food around there. Try iron hill. Just up the road a couple miles.

tjc78

stickguy said:

pensfan83 said:

tjc78 said:

pensfan83 said:

In the Garden State all week for work East Brunswick through Wednesday then Cherry Hill until Friday.

My ‘hood too.

If you are hungry while in East Brunswick you are only a stones throw (one TP exit) from Harold’s Deli. Check it out if you have time.... amazing.

While down in CH if you need dinner suggestions here to help.

Thanks. Staying at a Marriott off the NJ Turnpike in Mt. Laurel. The office I work out of is a 10 minute drive away.

Lots of food around there. Try iron hill. Just up the road a couple miles.

Agreed Iron Hill is great

You could also try PJ’s if you are in the mood for wings and bar food

The Yardhouse in the Moorestown mall is also a good spot.

If you want a taste of Philly you can hit Chickies and Pete’s for some crab fries and mussels.

28firefighter

I believe the first question for @pensfan83 is: what does your meal reimbursement look like? Or are you on a per diem?

stickguy

He drives a TLX so he’s obviously a rich guy with good taste, so who cares?

tjc78

28firefighter said:

I believe the first question for @pensfan83 is: what does your meal reimbursement look like? Or are you on a per diem?

None of those places aren’t expense account friendly.

Now if he is entertaining clients and wants to splurge...

I have recommendations for that too!

28firefighter

Hey - I'm hoping that (unlike myself) he gets a healthy meal allowance that we can spend for him.

pensfan83

Ha, thanks everyone.

I don't have a per diem or cap. Breakfast and dinner covered. Receipts required for anything $50 or over (used to be $75) I generally am around $30 to $40 for dinner and even though I am not restricted from going higher I generally like to stay under the radar and not have to turn in a weeks worth of receipts for dinners.

The only time that doesn't happen is for my annual conference in Las Vegas because....Vegas.

28firefighter

$30-$40 for dinner in that area will go a long way.

tjc78

Oh yeah you’ll be fine at any of the places stock and I mentioned.

pensfan83

Awesome, thank you. A buddy from college that lives in Wilmington is supposed to meet me for dinner one night.

I'll be back in August so I'll have a chance to try them all.

qbrozen

andres3 said:

So no one commented on my question to the group before; it was buried in a bigger post, so I'll extract it here:

If you have one car at 16,500 miles, and another at 28,500 miles, but the lower miles is a '15 and the higher miles is a '16, would you consider that a tie and base your decision solely on price and condition if they are otherwise equal cars?

Note, the '16 would have 10-11 months more warranty (unlimited mileage in Audi CPO).

The ‘16 is worth a little more. 1 yr newer at this age/pricepoint is worth about $2k-$2500. The 12k extra miles is about a $1500 deduct. Add in the extra warranty, and there is a clear winner.

Sandman6472

This website is crazy, been locked out for weeks!!! On my tablet now and finally after like 40 tries, it worked.
Anyways, Golf is all fixed but they charged me a little over $600 to fix it over two different days. Since they had to order the part, took it home on a Tuesday and had it fixed on Thursday. But they charged me $138 and change on both visits which I found to be obsessive. I questioned my service advisor about the duplicate charge and she said it's correct. I'm quite pissed off because it seems to be a bit much. Not sure what to do about this? Needed a new actuator and a new cable as they said the original cable got twisted which I have no clue as to how that could've happened.
Car works great again but think I was overcharged.

stickguy

file a complaint. you should not have to pay a 2nd diagnostic charge because they could not do it the first day. Or did they charge you to put it back together then take apart again?

breld

I've been out of touch for the last week or so - traveled up to Olympia WA for a baseball tournament and then spent the day in Portland yesterday for work.

Congrats @andres3 on the A4 - the S4 is certainly intoxicating, but given you have the TTS, I'd say the A4 is a perfect complimenting daily driver.

For my rental up in WA/OR, I went with pretty much the cheapest rental deal I could find - ended up with a Sentra. And one with over 30k miles and naturally a stripped model. That was not worth saving the money given all the driving I did over the 5 days I had it.

I have an upcoming trip to San Diego for another baseball tournament, and made a reservation for a "premium" car (like a Maxima). That should be much better.

corvette

breld, you should try using the Autoslash website for car rentals. I got a great deal on a one way rental in Utah last year - the best deal was on an SUV and I ended up with a very loaded Jeep Cherokee with leather seats, V6, AWD, etc.

28firefighter

Should've let @fintail and I know you were coming! Olympia isn't that bad of a drive if you catch it at the right time of day (like midnight).