Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

Sandman6472

This website is f’ing nuts!!! I changed my password on my tablet and all is well and good. On my laptop, totally different story. After 10 attempts, it won’t recognize me like my tablet does. W T F!!!
Have no clue as to why this is the only website that my laptop refuses to recognize me. I’m about to just say adios, thanks to my Latin co-workers, because it shouldn’t be so hard to get recognized on any device, and mine are all Apple. Very frustrated here!

kyfdx

ab348 said:

kyfdx said:

So, looking for hatchback, CUV or wagon.
Under 100K miles
Stick-shift preferred
FWD or AWD
Under $6K (so, no collision or comp. insurance)
I would take a sedan, under duress, or an automatic

When I was reading your criteria I immediately thought of a Volvo C30. Dunno if they fit under your price ceiling though.

I like the “cool” choices, but think I’ll get more bang for the buck with a utilitarian choice. 9-2X and C30 are both right up my alley, but probably won’t meet my goal of being cheap enough to forego collision/comp.

Sandman6472

Got new sneakers for the Golf on Monday, Eagle Sports by Goodyear. So far...so good. They said my alignment was out on three of the wheels so Tires Plus just did a new 4-wheel one this morning. Drives great now! The installation bonus at Goodyear was supposed to be $25 but it changed on Monday to $60, taken right off the bill. There’s also a $100 rebate in the form of a Visa gift card that I need to apply for later today. Only reason I went with Goodyear this time as Tires Plus couldn’t touch the rebate so saving $40 overall on each tire was to good to pass up. I also got the road hazard and all that crap so it was nice to have the rebates to be honest. And praying that this I’ll be the last set of sneakers I ever buy for this vehicle!
The wife and middle girl are taking a road trip tomorrow to Georgia so the Accent is at T P getting an oil change/rotation and a general look see at the belts and hoses as the vehicle is 11 already and they might leave the A3 at home for this trip. Since the A3 has cruise control and has XM, think the Accent will eventually stay in the garage at home with me. Makes more sense to take the Audi really as it had a recall done yesterday plus the 55K service at Ft. Lauderdale Audi, so it’s all set for road trip. I’m staying out of this as it’s the smart thing to do. All I know is I’ll be home alone for a week. But getting the driveway done and hopefully the side walkway repaired. The painting of the garage floor has been postponed till next year. First things first.

breld

We're pretty much all settled into our new house - the official move date was almost two weeks ago now. The rather unfortunate circumstance of owning both homes for about six weeks at least gave us time to do a gradual move and get things ready at the new house prior to the whole family moving in.

The biggest thing was getting the landscaping all done prior to move-in. We went from no yard to half an acre - at first, we were intimidated but once we got some ideas from our landscaper, we now see it as an extension of the home.

breld

And of course, I was anxious to get the garage all organized right away to house the vehicles and other "garage" stuff.

breld

And I really like our new dog kennel and dog run. We've done this in three houses now, but I have to say, I really put thought into this one and took the time to build it the way I wanted it.

stickguy

Nice. But you appear to be way out on the prairie, and that isn’t a little house!

marcogallo1986

@breld Nice play to move into your new house is finally complete, are you done with the other house probably a lot less stressful now having one house instead of two. But yes at least you were able to gradually moving. You’re nice you have a lot more land now I’m sure yes was there for me overwhelming at first until the landscaper gave you some good ideas. Thanks for giving us an update. Do you have more room for a bigger driveway there more pours ha ha Ha. Trying to get my cousin to go with me and look at a 5.0 Mustang green 1991 automatic. Tempted to try to trade my car for that or some kind of deal like that but he won’t go look at the car with me he supposed to Let me know for sure, but he’s superstitious and got a green card from auction it was a lot of problems so any green car he doesn’t want to go near I told him that’s ridiculous you just got a bad car it’s an auction that’s what happens sometimes. You get the lemon drop in to anyone I said I really want to go check out this mustang he told me a stock and clean in the box of things so want to check it out thoroughly. But I’m asking or with someone else that knows what they’re looking at I don’t know happened to find it last night while on cars.com looking at local dealers when I was wide awake until six this morning couldn’t sleep.

marcogallo1986

@sandman Nice I’m getting the new tires for the golf, nice I’m having some alone time for a week and getting things done at the house that’s awesome.

breld

And finally, a quick pic of the house itself. We went from a 3 story (plus basement) contemporary home near the city to this large ranch in the suburbs. There are a few things we miss about the old place, but it's all overshadowed by the great advantages of our new area and house. Not the least of which is being closer to my high school age boys' high school and all their activities. Well, in fact, that's the whole reason we did the move, and just in the couple weeks we've been here, my wife and I can't believe we didn't do it sooner.

It's been a long process - we put our previous home on the market in January, hoping it would sell in the Spring.
We ended up closing our new home in early July without a buyer for the old home. But it all worked out with the closing on the sale last Friday. The sense of relief is hard to quantify.

Thanks for letting me share with my CCBA family!

Sandman6472

Since I turn 65 come November 1st, deciding on what to do about Medicare. I’m a retired federal employee under civil service, so we have a federal backed health plan. It’s a “ secondary insurance” not a “supplemental insurance” as there is a difference from what I’ve been told. Since I’m already getting social security, another crazy story, I’m already signed up for Part A & Part B.
I only get $100/month for my s s due to the Windfall Provision Act Reagan passed, which basically says I can’t get my full s s due to my getting a government pension. If I keep both Part A & Part B, it’ll cost me an additional $135/month payment plus the $245/month I pay for our secondary. But the $30 co-pay I give to my pain doc every 3 months will be taken care of by both. Since that’s my only outlay besides the $10 co-pay for my two medications every month, thinking keeping Part B isn’t worth it. I’m relatively healthy and my gall bladder surgery and allergy surgery these last 12 months were the only things I’ve had in like 35 years.
Spoke with a few others I used to work with and they also only kept Part A plus their secondary insurance. Have done the math and better to just keep Part A if I think the next few years will be healthy ones. And that’s my dilemma here, what should I do?? Since my wife is a year younger that I, she doesn’t know what I should do.
So, anyone here in a similar situation, please give me a holler in here and maybe we can compare notes. My cards were sent back since they had the wrong street address for us, government...go figure!! So, sending me new cards and a form to get out of Part B if I decide to go that route. The lady I spoke with at Medicare was very smart and logical and made me see things both ways. But still, not sure which fork in the road to take right now. Is having more money each month the better option than losing all my s s plus paying out an additional $35/month? I just don’t know????

kyfdx

@breld Nice!

28firefighter

Looks amazing, @breld! Congratulations and enjoy in good health!

marcogallo1986

@qb Love the color of the Challenger red blue and orange are my favorite colors on the car. Use like yellow when I was a kid but no can’t stand it.

Sandman6472

Gorgeous house and area!! I’m am so ready to leave Florida and try something new. Colorado looks to be almost perfect except for the winter cold. Not sure I could do snow again, but do know one thing, I can’t do anymore hurricanes either. Doubt my family would ever consent to moving out west but I’d sure like to give it a try.
Looks absolutely breath taking with all those mountains. And I wouldn’t mind some “cooler” weather to be honest. Moderation is the key.

marcogallo1986

@MB enthusiast praying that your dad‘s surgery went well and he recovers quickly, thank you for the update on your dad.

marcogallo1986

@ New York cargo sorry I’m late to the party I guess I haven’t checked in here since Monday or something congratulations on the punch of the new truck. Sounds like using a broker might be the way to go next time next year when my mom has to look the thing is getting her test drive stuff very important still so then Luis can have a broker get the white car she wants even maybe my dad next year to supposedly he’s going to get rid of his car and do something with me to lease or buy used I don’t know. But to try out soon or definitely in order. I keep mentioning it to him ha ha Ha and I mentioned to my mom to I’m only looking for the next car no more Nissan get something different.

marcogallo1986

Even mentioned to the neighbors about going to a broker but they haven’t test drive anything in their lease is up October 15 and was in a month I give up it’s on them and every time I try to talk to them about it they change the subject especially the arrogant husband he’s an arrogant Indian guy starting to sound racist but just the way he personally is. He’s nice to me and all but very frustrating it’s like his way or the highway one of those people take me seriously oh well it is what it is. You’re probably gonna go with another boring see RV again oh well. They’re not car people so I guess that’s fine ha ha Ha.

stickguy

I gave up on moving south (NC). But Florida was never a consideration. I just want to finally get out of NJ at some point. Just not back to NY. Which doesn’t leave many options! Probably NH, but I don’t want snow. So maybe PA or DE.

Or give up and move to Saratoga and make my wife happy, but hate the winters!

pensfan83

Nice @breld!

marcogallo1986

@ he JC, glad the campground is coming along and you just got it two weeks ago. If you’re interested my cousin is selling his 2005 Ford Crown Victoria I think he’s asking $3000 has 68,000 miles I believe, he’s had it over three years. One is good, just want the tires soon. He has two empowers also that you got it auction will be for sale in the coming weeks. Then I went with him last week to pick up.

nyccarguy

@breld - Wow! It is beautiful. I LOVE the 3rd garage separate from the 2 car. Are those stones on both sides of the driveway for aesthetics or do they aid in drainage?

pensfan83

marcogallo1986 said:

@ New York cargo sorry I’m late to the party I guess I haven’t checked in here since Monday or something congratulations on the punch of the new truck. Sounds like using a broker might be the way to go next time next year when my mom has to look the thing is getting her test drive stuff very important still so then Luis can have a broker get the white car she wants even maybe my dad next year to supposedly he’s going to get rid of his car and do something with me to lease or buy used I don’t know. But to try out soon or definitely in order. I keep mentioning it to him ha ha Ha and I mentioned to my mom to I’m only looking for the next car no more Nissan get something different.

You aren't far off @marcogallo1986 ! With his Tacoma already being pressed into hauling duty motion to change @nyccarguy's handle to @nyccargoguy

laurasdada

stickguy said:

I gave up on moving south (NC). But Florida was never a consideration. I just want to finally get out of NJ at some point. Just not back to NY. Which doesn’t leave many options! Probably NH, but I don’t want snow. So maybe PA or DE.

Or give up and move to Saratoga and make my wife happy, but hate the winters!

New Hampster is on my list, beautiful mountains and lakes. Not as onerous financially for retirees as Vermont (my first true love). Plus, I dig snow! Not as much as I used to, but it wouldn't be a deterrent.

xwesx

qbrozen said:

hahaha. Wife is home today, so it will have to wait.

Another topic of interest: insurance. Geico is actually charging me LESS for these 2 vehicles together vs the one BMW. And, no, I didn't change coverage. For once, insurance actually makes sense since covering one driver between two cars totalling $15k SHOULD be cheaper than that same one driver in one $50k car. Just a data point for those of you who have considered two for one and worry about added costs. The extra insurance was one of my wife's arguments, which I have now proven incorrect. The other was maintenance, but as I always point out, you aren't driving more miles, so the maintenance doesn't theoretically increase (unless you are battling age-related issues, but don't tell me wife that).

Maintenance is one area that does cost more, miles be darned, for more cars. However, it might not in this case when you consider all costs. Obviously, lease maintenance is minimal, but it takes a lot of Mopar maintenance to add up to a little BMW maintenance.

xwesx

cdnpinhead said:

"Arrived at 2 am last night. Thankfully, it still looks good in the daylight."

Nice looking car -- I'll add my belated congratulations to all the others. Use it in good health.

I really like orange cars, and it looks like yours is the same shade as my beloved '73 240Z that I drove out of the showroon with 3.4 miles on it in Edmonton; it served me for 224K miles. Hope you have similar good luck with yours, though I know no one on this board (except for RB) would be caught dead driving the same vehicle anywhere near that many miles.

*raises hand* Same vehicle? I haven't made it yet in terms of putting all those miles on from our household, but that's because other drivers out there simply refuse to behave themselves.

stickguy

When you DIY it makes the $ hit less of a problem. Plus, if an old car breaks, you really want a spare so not left hanging.

xwesx

breld said:

We're pretty much all settled into our new house - the official move date was almost two weeks ago now. The rather unfortunate circumstance of owning both homes for about six weeks at least gave us time to do a gradual move and get things ready at the new house prior to the whole family moving in.

The biggest thing was getting the landscaping all done prior to move-in. We went from no yard to half an acre - at first, we were intimidated but once we got some ideas from our landscaper, we now see it as an extension of the home.

Looks nice. Perhaps you'll be there long enough to watch it mature a bit.

ab348

xwesx said:

breld said:

We're pretty much all settled into our new house - the official move date was almost two weeks ago now. The rather unfortunate circumstance of owning both homes for about six weeks at least gave us time to do a gradual move and get things ready at the new house prior to the whole family moving in.

The biggest thing was getting the landscaping all done prior to move-in. We went from no yard to half an acre - at first, we were intimidated but once we got some ideas from our landscaper, we now see it as an extension of the home.

Looks nice. Perhaps you'll be there long enough to watch it mature a bit.

So far, he doesn't swap houses at the same rate at which he swaps cars, so he's got that going for him, at least.

pensfan83

Speaking of old cars and maintenance the intermittent failure of the power windows/locks/mirrors on the drivers door of the Prelude was traced to a pinched wire, as I originally suspected. However when putting things back together the shop found the wires were brittle enough that they noted it would be only a matter of time until things broke down again. Instead of taking my chances with harnesses from a pull-a-part yard the shop is going to rewire the harnesses in both doors with new wiring. Will be about $250 for parts/labor.

qbrozen

nice @breld. My wife would never be able to handle that single-car garage entry/exit without hitting something.

So am I right in assuming the 2-car has an entry from within the house, while the single-car has an entry from the covered porch?

qbrozen

@stickguy. I think you jinxed my car. The touchscreen for the uconnect works about 20% of the time, and the BT doesn't work. Connects to the head unit, but I can't hear the caller and they can't seem to hear me. Dangit.

stickguy

Dump it. Time to move on.

Plus it’s an 11 YO car that was traded in for some reason!

qbrozen

Oh, you don't even want to know all the things needing doing on the Equinox. And I'm discovering that someone has already rooted around trying to fix things and evidently gave up. LOL.

stickguy

Hope you needed a hobby.

This is a big part of why I gave up on trying to get an affordable used car. Rare to find, and good deals get snapped up, with the rest having “stories”. And I’m not good enough to figure them our before hand, or fix most afterwards.

28firefighter

And with super cheap leases...why take the gamble? Unless you're @qbrozen and can and like to wrench your own cars.

stickguy

I also have no stomach for trying to private sale older cars. Or any cars. That ship has sailed. Next car will be a buy (no or loaner) for the wife, and if I flip the RDX it will be for something no more than 2YO most likely. Then just hang on, unless it’s another cheap lease.

ab348

qbrozen said:

@stickguy. I think you jinxed my car. The touchscreen for the uconnect works about 20% of the time, and the BT doesn't work. Connects to the head unit, but I can't hear the caller and they can't seem to hear me. Dangit.

Time to re-aquaint yourself with the friendly proprietors of your local junqueyards. :laughing:

xwesx

pensfan83 said:

Speaking of old cars and maintenance the intermittent failure of the power windows/locks/mirrors on the drivers door of the Prelude was traced to a pinched wire, as I originally suspected. However when putting things back together the shop found the wires were brittle enough that they noted it would be only a matter of time until things broke down again. Instead of taking my chances with harnesses from a pull-a-part yard the shop is going to rewire the harnesses in both doors with new wiring. Will be about $250 for parts/labor.

That's the best way to do it, though. If you're going to go through the trouble of the process, might as well get the best benefit!

xwesx

@qbrozen - A new head unit is likely the best way to go on that one. Least headache and you know what you're getting. Just don't go too far overboard by adding amps and new cones, and it shouldn't be too terrible of a project nor too expensive.

stickguy

I expect to see soon pictures of a Daytona dashboard completely dissembled.

Michaell

stickguy said:

I expect to see soon pictures of a Daytona dashboard completely dissembled.

And parked next to the disassembled Coronet.

Michaell

The pictures @breld posted of the new house do not do it justice. I had a chance to tour it when it was fairly empty.

Huge! Both the house and the lot.

And, I'm not ashamed to take credit for the idea to park the Audi in the 1 car garage - he was going to put the GTI in there, but I convinced him that the two VWs in the "big" garage would mean more room for other stuff.

The basement is full size, and contains what Mrs. @breld calls the "JonBenet" room - quite the macabre reference, but the name fits the space, for sure.

The main basement space is large enough for a batting cage - something @breld and I talked about during the tour, what with both of his boys involved in baseball.

marcogallo1986

@lorastata. Where is new hamster, Ha ha ha I knew what you meant just had to bust chops.

marcogallo1986

@pensman. I know I know, didn’t take him long to put that new truck into service. What ended up happening with the infinity? Didn’t read any postings about that maybe I missed them.

qbrozen

Ordered a head unit and backup cam for $150. Coming from China. Haha. Found through an article I found when I googled “cheapest carplay stereo.”

The Chevy had 3 warnings when I bought it: service TPMS, service power steering, and service stabilitrak. The TPMS I sorted rather quickly. The tires are fairly new, so I surmised they just didn’t know or didn’t bother relearning the sensors. Went through the motions and problem solved. The others are eluding me thus far. I have pulled 3 codes and all are regarding lack of signal from the BCM, so they are most certainly related, and everything I have read points to a break in a wire somewhere. There have been several TSBs all for this very thing. I have checked 4 of 5 likely culprits so far (2 under the carpet and 2 under the hood) and found no fault. The last is done under the car and I just haven’t had the time yet.

The car still drives perfectly fine. The messages are nothing more than a minor irritation at startup.

corvette

qbrozen said:

@stickguy. I think you jinxed my car. The touchscreen for the uconnect works about 20% of the time, and the BT doesn't work. Connects to the head unit, but I can't hear the caller and they can't seem to hear me. Dangit.

I'd check the model specific boards to see whether it's a known issue or if a firmware update is available. Edit: never mind, I see you're going to replace the head unit. Let us know how it goes!

tjc78

@breld
Simply beautiful !!

breld

qbrozen said:

nice @breld. My wife would never be able to handle that single-car garage entry/exit without hitting something.

So am I right in assuming the 2-car has an entry from within the house, while the single-car has an entry from the covered porch?

For right now, I’m handling the extra offset garage...remember, the A5 is now mine. 😀

And you’re exactly right on the entrances to and from the garages. It’d be nice to have all 3 spaces be directly accessible from the house, but the “separate” 3rd car garage is fun in its own right ...and more than I had at the last house.

breld

Thanks everyone for the kind words on the house. It is so wonderful to feel settled again on the home front.

More mental capacity for cars again. 😉