Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

corvette

ab348 said:

It appears to be an easy DIY job according to this video:

I would look into whether Jaguar revised/improved the part before buying a used one. VW went through several revisions of brake light switches and window regulators on the first Jetta I had.

28firefighter

In the 28FF house of german vehicle ownership, you can rest assured that whatever the tune would ruin in terms of warranty is exactly what will break 48 hours after I do it.

corvette

breld, nice! What is the P + steering wheel button? If it has parking assist with a manual transmission, I'm really impressed. Also, is that a 2019 or 2020?

benjaminh

28firefighter said:

This does look nice though...

https://www.cartervw.com/vehicle-details/new-2019-volkswagen-golf-alltrack-sel-6speed-manual-seattle-wa-id-28883166

I like it. With the 6-year warranty might be a good choice. A unicorn.

stickguy

sharp looking wagon FF. I would not mind having it, but no way I could sell that to the wife as an upgrade for her!

andres3

mjfloyd1 said:

28firefighter said:

Mercy mercy you folks move fast! Nice choice though - if that thing had a bit more kick (legally, without a tune), I think I'd be all over it.

Tunes are legal, you just trash your drivetrain warranty

Unless you find a "don't ask don't tell" dealership service guy.

28firefighter

It’s slow without a tune. And I won’t tune it.

andres3

28firefighter said:

It’s slow without a tune. And I won’t tune it.

Can't argue with that. Europe might have something called an Alltrack R. Lobby for the States to get it.

corvette

RIP, Ferdinand Piech. Looks like he was involved in some capacity with VWAG at the time all four of the VW/Audi products I've owned were produced.

laurasdada

Thanks for all the Jag tail light help! I've done similar research, found inexpensive used units and videos on replacement. New OEM replacement is going to be expensive, no surprise. So, I just have to decide to invest more $ into the XF and keep it a bit longer, or move on.

I know I'm a broken record, but since I need a somewhat sensible pair of shoes, nothing really turns me on at the moment as far as a replacement. There are plenty of desirable cars out there, in the ~$50k range, but I'm not moved. I should definitely test drive a few, of course. That may change my mind!

breld

corvette said:

breld, nice! What is the P + steering wheel button? If it has parking assist with a manual transmission, I'm really impressed. Also, is that a 2019 or 2020?

We saw that as well and don't know for sure - we'll have to look it up, but I assume it's a parking assist function as you suggest.

Not entirely sure how that and the adaptive cruise control works with a manual trannie.

And it's a 2019 - last year for the wagons.

benjaminh

breld said:

....

Congrats!! Amazingly rare AWD station wagon with a 6-speed manual.

coldinohio

congrats on the new VW and Audi...

graphicguy

@andres3 and @breld.....well done. Congrats to you both!

fintail

Nice color on that wagon, I wish MB hadn't virtually discontinued lighter blues in this market anyway.

au1994

breld said:

So it's a new 2019 Alltrack. Would have been happy to buy used, but would have wanted at least a 2018 for the warranty, a manual was a must, and the SEL was strongly desired. So...not too many options.

We've been eyeing inventory for awhile, and this dealership has had several of them (SEL Manuals), they were down to 3 of them, one of them being the Silk Blue my wife likes.

They were pricing them pretty aggressively to start with, but ended up offering a bit extra, and the sales manager was extremely thoughtful in offering the trade on the Q7 (meaning, he was familiar with Audi's, valued the upgraded wheels and adaptive suspension, and was very transparent on how he arrived at the value). They offered about a grand higher than expected (based on Q's assessment) and about $5,500 off the Alltrack, so we were very happy.

Didn't see this one coming but thats a very nice wagon.

mjfloyd1

andres3 said:

mjfloyd1 said:

28firefighter said:

Mercy mercy you folks move fast! Nice choice though - if that thing had a bit more kick (legally, without a tune), I think I'd be all over it.

Tunes are legal, you just trash your drivetrain warranty

Unless you find a "don't ask don't tell" dealership service guy.

That works fine for routine service but if you have a drivetrain issue and they hook up to your OBD2 port, it’s a TD1 - bye bye drivetrain warranty

28firefighter

mjfloyd1 said:

andres3 said:

mjfloyd1 said:

28firefighter said:

Mercy mercy you folks move fast! Nice choice though - if that thing had a bit more kick (legally, without a tune), I think I'd be all over it.

Tunes are legal, you just trash your drivetrain warranty

Unless you find a "don't ask don't tell" dealership service guy.

That works fine for routine service but if you have a drivetrain issue and they hook up to your OBD2 port, it’s a TD1 - bye bye drivetrain warranty

This guy knows.

qbrozen

I have discovered that sending messages through cargurus gets you NOWHERE. No responses to any of my requests, of which I have probably sent 5 on 5 different vehicles.

pensfan83

Go directly to the sales manager of the stores you want to reach.

28firefighter

Dealers hate Cargurus because they scrape information and then hold leads through the site hostage unless you pay them. Most places are not signed up with them.

tjc78

@breld
Congrats! I like the color as well.

stickguy

I’m getting really antsy to just trade the RDX in soon and upgrade the wife’s ride. Then just deal with my car when the lease ends. Save me the trouble of selling it then, when I don’t feel like driving a 10 YO car!

pensfan83

Is the offer from Carvana still valid?

stickguy

It was for a week. Might have expired. It’s my wife’s car and we haven’t even looked yet or made decision to move forward, so I will be in big trouble if I sell it on her!

Actually, I can’t. Title is in her name.

Plan is, if she sells OK to by, and we find what we want,I’ll get a refreshed quote.

laurasdada

I like the cargurus site, but at a minimum surf it and cars.com when daydreaming...

stickguy

Actually sorry I missed this one. Could have swapped this one for exactly $10k, plus tax and moving over plates. Short term loan, that would be done the same time as my lease, at which time I’d inherit the Volvo, wife gets a new whatever she wants!

https://www.carvana.com/vehicle/1209258

carnaught

tjc78 said:

@breld
Congrats! I like the color as well.

Yes, @breld, I would be remiss if I did not congratulate the Grand Poobah here on the two new cars!

xwesx

andres3 said:

stickguy said:

is that the dark blue, or black? Either way very sharp looking. I always thought the generation A4 was a perfect size and classy design.

It's the midnight blue, which might as well be called black with blue sprinkles of metallic. It is about as dark as a blue can get, without being mistaken for black 100% of the time.

Similar to black, it looks great when it's clean and shiny!

It does soak up the heat though, my next car needs to be lighter, without being white or gray.

Such a clean, elegant design. Very classy. It makes me yearn for my Passat again.

xwesx

breld said:

Okay, one step in our reallocation of overall debt - increase house debt, decrease car debt.

Q7 is out, wife got the Alltrack she has pined for, and I take over the A5 Sportback to go with the GTI.

A few poor quality pictures. I’ll get some better ones when the two Golfs are sharing space.

Very practical move! Looks nice, too, and definitely the best transmission choice.

xwesx

corvette said:

RIP, Ferdinand Piech. Looks like he was involved in some capacity with VWAG at the time all four of the VW/Audi products I've owned were produced.

Fortunate man! He led a helluva life, and he went quickly when it was his time.

marcogallo1986

@breld nice. Nice. Congrads. To you and the wife

stickguy

showed the CC to my wife. "I don't want a wagon" Followed by me explaining it is a cross country CUV. Unfortunately, in the listing they call it a CC wagon! I might lose this battle, but would need to get our out to look in person.

suydam

So she doesn’t like it, move on!

28firefighter

suydam said:

So she doesn’t like it, move on!

This

stickguy

I don't give up that easy! Just need to work the "'it's for me" angle. She just gets to drive it for a couple of years until I am ready.

stickguy

If I have to give up on this dream, so be it. Just makes me worried about selling her on the OB.

28firefighter

OB comes across a lot differently, to me, than the V60. Semantics, I realize.

qbrozen

28firefighter said:

Dealers hate Cargurus because they scrape information and then hold leads through the site hostage unless you pay them. Most places are not signed up with them.

Ah. Good to know. Guess I’ll have to try the direct approach.

suydam

stickguy said:

I don't give up that easy! Just need to work the "'it's for me" angle. She just gets to drive it for a couple of years until I am ready.

Hmmm. I thought this was going to be her vehicle. Didn’t you get one already?

stickguy

My next vehicle. when the TLX lease is up, she gets the new one, and I get the old one. I was just going to upgrade that car early, but she would drive it the next couple years.

so RDX becomes the V60. She drives Volvo. In 2 years I get the Volvo, tlx does away, and she gets a new car.

only thing that changes from the current plan is that she drives a nicer car the next 2 years! Seems like a win-win to me.

benjaminh

In c. 2.5 years when the lease on your TLX is up you'll be able to buy your TLX for c.$20k. Given how little you drive it'll probably only have 15,000 or so miles on it, and so it'll be in close to mint condition. Do you really think you'll be able to find a better car for 20k than your own babied A-spec TLX in that great color combination? As you've said, it's kind of a Goldilocks car with good handling, very nice engine and transmission, luxurious interior, great features, and highway mpg of 35+. What is your TLX lacking that you are looking for? The greater cargo space of a wagon? More power?

stickguy

more like 25K miles probably.

will likely be ready for a change, and looking for something taller with more sidewall!

could end up keeping it of course, but not likely to want to buy that out at the same time as getting something fancy and new for the wife. That was the point of keeping the old, paid off car. Otherwise, 2 payments again. If we are willing to do that, might as well do it now!

actually, if I did plan to keep the TLX, we absolutely would be looking to trade out the RDX now while the value is still high. No real reason to keep it if it is just temporary anyway.

once the school loan is paid off, more likely to do something.

benjaminh

If she doesn't want a wagon my guess is that the Outback is going to be a tough sell.

benjaminh

Right now I think I want to buy out my TLX. But 2 years is a long time in the car biz, and I'm wondering if Acura has an cool electric car with a full federal rebate of $7500 in July of 2021 if that might somehow work financially. Today's NY Times says that Cadillac is planning to add electric vehicles to compete with Tesla in the next few years, and I'm guessing Acura will do the same.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/27/business/cadillac-brand.html

breld

Thanks all for the kind words on our newly acquired Alltrack.

I’ve had fun today driving my “new” A5. 😀

rny421

Rental Car Review:
VW Atlas SE AWD. I reserved an Intermediate Car, but they upgraded me to the Atlas, as that was all they had. Long story short I’m unimpressed.

The Good: This thing is huge, but it doesn’t drive as big as it is. The touchscreen interface is pretty good and the controls are easily laid out. It got decent gas mileage for what it is.

The bad: It feels quick off the line, but when you really need it, like in a merging situation, it feels gutless. The auto stop is one of the worst I’ve experienced. It lurches the car forward, almost like someone who’s learning to drive stick. The interior materials are hard, and build quality is questionable. During my 5.5 hour road trip, the door panels rattled as I listened to certain songs at regular volume, which drove me nuts. The turn signals integrated in the side mirrors are poorly designed, because you can see them when driving, and they can be confused with the blind spot indicator, constantly making you do a double take.

Unless you got it for pennies on the dollar, I see no reason to go with this over the competition like the Explorer, Pilot, Telluride, etc.

marcogallo1986

@Breld you are welcome!

nyccarguy

I had dinner with a friend tonight. He picked me up in his new 2018 lifted JL Unlimited Rubicon with massive 37” tires. It’s also green. Not dark green, THAT green. Subtle it is not. After dinner, he let me drive home. I can really see the appeal of these Jeeps. It was a beautiful summer night, on the chilly side. We had the soft top down and the windows up. I was impressed. The 37” tires are a little much for my tastes & you can feel their weight when you brake & turn. Besides that, it was a nice, solid ride. I’d definitely take a look at one of these at some point.

He took it Off Roading somewhere in PA and said it was incredible. He even said the ride wasn’t that bad getting there, but after a full day of off roading and then a 3 hour drive home he said it was rough.

stickguy

A Wrangler, that I know will never be on our list! I think that list is going to be much shorter. maybe I can sell the OB, if not, might have to just wait longer until have the money for a new RDX! At least in a year or 2 there might be some CPOs.