Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

mjfloyd1

@Sandman6472 said:

"L2"? Not sure what that means to be honest. But am sure there must be a Wawa or other place near that has free charging.

L2= level 2 (240 volt) charger with higher amperage

oldfarmer50

benjaminh said:

Getting access to the spare tire in the Maverick. The spare for our 1986 Mazda B2000 was in the same place, and getting it out was a similar process.

Wasn’t the Mazda a rebadged Ranger? You would expect a similar design.

I’m not sure who came up with that spare placement on trucks. The first time I needed to use the spare on my 86’ Toyota truck it was so rusted they had to cut it out with a torch.

benjaminh

fintail said:

Now that I have a house with a ~600 sq ft car hole, I wonder if I will be tempted to get on the EV bandwagon.

Got an offer from Carvana on the wagon last night, just for kicks - just a fancy dinner shy of 58K. Residual is 45K.

Does this mean you could make a 12k gain by trading it into Carvana? Might be a good move.

Although it's still challenging to make an economic case for getting a Tesla if you have a Toyota, Honda, or even an Acura, coming from a MB I imagine you'd do quite well.

benjaminh

oldfarmer50 said:

Wasn’t the Mazda a rebadged Ranger? You would expect a similar design....

The B2000 of the 1980s was a Mazda design.

Sometime in the 1990s it became a restyled Ford Ranger iirc.

stickguy

The Courier was a rebadged Mazda, so it started going that direction. B series stayed a Mazda design until 1994, then thanks to the infamous chicken tax, they started selling rebadged Rangers instead.

tifighter

28firefighter said:

My wife tonight: “I’m never driving a gas car again.”

…that didn’t take long.

This sounds familiar. Does she know my wife?

stickguy

I don't see my wife doing that. She probably wouldn't like the radically different tech experience. And the only other thing it offers is never having to pump gas, which she never does anyway.

Sandman6472

Ditto here though she occasionally does pump gas. Think the driving experience might be problomatic as once one takes their foot off the accelerator, that "falling like a rock" sensation can be troubling for some. No one alerted me about it the first time I drove an EV and in that split second, just did what felt natural and feathered the accelerator, and it seemed to work. Fear is something that makes one do things without thinking as it just made sense to me at the time.
No, doubt she'll want one, much less drive one, but I'd be game once they come out with one that has at least a 300 mile range and with a price around $26K to $28K. Make it reliable with some fun factor and I'm in. But until then, I'll just keep what I've got.

stickguy

got to consult this week on tires for my son. His S4 came with summer performance tires, and since he lives up near Old Farmer (where they had snow last year on Halloween) that was not going to work. So after some browsing on Tirerack, he has a mounted set on the way. Nice looking alloys in the stock 18" size (didn't save any money dropping to 17" so he didn't bother), with a set of Vredestein snows. Should be more than fine with the Quattro. The 2 winters before that he just used the all season tires on his G70 without an issue.

offset some of the cost by selling the set he had left over from his A3. And in a couple of years if the S4 goes back, he can always sell the new set if he doesn't get something to replace it that they will fit.

good chance that they pay for themselves largely by getting the summers to last the lease so he won't have to replace the tires to turn the car back in.

roadburner

28firefighter said:

My wife tonight: “I’m never driving a gas car again.”

…that didn’t take long.

Funny thing; my wife said she'd get another i3 in a heartbeat- if it had a gas engine.

28firefighter

Imagine shaving 2.5 seconds off the 0-60 of an i3. Might change her tune.

corvette

28firefighter said:

Imagine shaving 2.5 seconds off the 0-60 of an i3. Might change her tune.

LS swap.

28firefighter

@corvette said:
LS swap.

Sounds like something for rich rebuilds.

stickguy

I’m loving his LS Tesla. Insane amount of work to basically create a Chevy SS

xwesx

qbrozen said:

@xwesx so what is in the trailer and what do you normally pull it with?

Oh, it has a bunch of furniture that I brought up from Oregon last month. My wife wants us to finish the room into which we are supposed to be unloading it, so we're working on it, but that space is still pretty raw. I used the Q7 to pull it home.

I unloaded a few things from it, like the two sets of mounted Subaru tires and a few totes of tools that I took down south with me back in July, but most of the bulk (and weight) is in the oak furniture (and all that stuff remains in the trailer for now).

Below is the day before our departure from the Salem (OR) area (Crosstrek in the background):

explorerx4

I wonder if the trans in the Forrester us up to pulling that trailer for long.

xwesx

explorerx4 said:

I wonder if the trans in the Forrester us up to pulling that trailer for long.

Well, it has the manual transmission, so I'm sure that will help with the accumulation of heat. However, I don't have any intention of pulling that trailer any real distance with the Forester unless it was empty (or nearly so). I suppose I could haul ATVs with it or similar; that definitely wouldn't be an issue. The car is rated for 3,500#, and the trailer, empty, is only 2,200#, so there's some space before I'm even threatening to overload it in terms of drag.

My son said last night, "we should put a brake controller on the Forester next summer during your maintenance weekend. That would solve any concerns I have with hauling the new trailer." Haha; that kid is good at spending my money!

fintail

I am not sure how all situations would work out with tax (9-10% here depending on county), but it appears I would be thousands ahead no matter what.

Problem is, what to do about it. I am not a huge fan of Tesla design language or its dear leader, although maybe I would be more informed to sample a recent offering. I would need my own charging setup, as there's not a ton of convenient charging infrastructure where I live. 45K or so is roughly the max I want to spend right now, with the house tugging at my wallet. The wagon is an immaculate lowish mileage rare car, which might support just buying it out and enjoying it.

benjaminh said:

fintail said:

Now that I have a house with a ~600 sq ft car hole, I wonder if I will be tempted to get on the EV bandwagon.

Got an offer from Carvana on the wagon last night, just for kicks - just a fancy dinner shy of 58K. Residual is 45K.

Does this mean you could make a 12k gain by trading it into Carvana? Might be a good move.

Although it's still challenging to make an economic case for getting a Tesla if you have a Toyota, Honda, or even an Acura, coming from a MB I imagine you'd do quite well.

tifighter

28firefighter said:

Imagine shaving 2.5 seconds off the 0-60 of an i3. Might change her tune.

I was going to say...not visiting gas stations wasn't the only reason my wife said she wouldn't go back.

benjaminh

A Mercedes Benz station wagon would definitely be one of my dream cars. And did you special order this one exactly as you like it? Seems like at the residual price it's a great deal.

Like most high-powered executives Musk has his flaws, but as we know he has really helped make the electric car a viable alternative. Along with the great performance Teslas have impressive savings compared to gas on a ten year time horizon. I kinda like the minimalist design of Teslas, but luxury cars do have lots of extra touches that are also nice.

Anyway, the dream of the $35k Model 3 has seemingly vanished for the time being. Back in 2019 it was briefly available, but looking today the lowest cost Model 3 is now slightly more than $45k with destination, and wouldn't be delivered apparently until July of 2022. If someone orders the 60k performance model it might be available as soon as November of this year.

stickguy

you probably have to buy it out anyway. so whether you trade it immediately or hold a while, probably won't matter. At least in my state, you don't get a sales tax credit for trading in a lease (I would if I owned it).

explorerx4

@tifighter,
You pay the electric bill?

fintail

Not sure I can do better in the market right now than this deal, and it's a car I like. Not a special order, but maybe close to how I would have built it (some options I want are pretty obscure and something to my special order spec probably doesn't exist).

But an EV has more realistic appeal now that I could charge it at home. With so many slated new entrants in the coming years, even from legacy makers, it could happen. It might even pair with advancements in tech - more range etc.

benjaminh said:

A Mercedes Benz station wagon would definitely be one of my dream cars. And did you special order this one exactly as you like it? Seems like at the residual price it's a great deal.

Like most high-powered executives Musk has his flaws, but as we know he has really helped make the electric car a viable alternative. Along with the great performance Teslas have impressive savings compared to gas on a ten year time horizon. I kinda like the minimalist design of Teslas, but luxury cars do have lots of extra touches that are also nice.

Anyway, the dream of the $35k Model 3 has seemingly vanished for the time being. Back in 2019 it was briefly available, but looking today the lowest cost Model 3 is now slightly more than $45k with destination, and wouldn't be delivered apparently until July of 2022. If someone orders the 60k performance model it might be available as soon as November of this year.

stickguy

not unexpected, but just got another build date reschedule from Ford. 1st date was 10/25, a few weeks ago they pushed that to 11/1, and today bumped it back again to 11/8. Why they do it a week at a time is a mystery. Not really expecting they meet that date either.

I should have just bought one of the few used cars I saw to have while waiting out the supply crisis!

fintail

Yeah I don't know how it would work here, I assume I would have to buy it too = tax. Worst case, I end up with a bit of positive equity in a used car, not something that happened a lot in prior times.

Oh yeah that reminds me, heading for time to have the snow wheels/tires switched on, maybe another incentive to keep it.

stickguy said:

you probably have to buy it out anyway. so whether you trade it immediately or hold a while, probably won't matter. At least in my state, you don't get a sales tax credit for trading in a lease (I would if I owned it).

tifighter

explorerx4 said:

@tifighter,
You pay the electric bill?

Yes. My home rate in WA is 8 cents per kWh. Our Y is averaging 3.6 miles per kWh. That's $8.00 for every 100 miles of driving. I'll compare that to any Explorer

28firefighter

Yours is a bit cheaper than mine (10.6 cents per kwH). To charge the Model 3 will cost us $5.80 and we expect that to be about a week of driving. So, on average, $23 a month plus or minus.

explorerx4

@tifighter,
I guess my attempt at levity failed.
Locally, I never see any electric vehicles on the road in the winter, they are still 3 season vehicles.
I want one that is good for all four.

benjaminh

A 10-minute test drive of a 2021 Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus. The guy loves it.

ab348

fintail said:

Not sure I can do better in the market right now than this deal, and it's a car I like. Not a special order, but maybe close to how I would have built it (some options I want are pretty obscure and something to my special order spec probably doesn't exist).

What is the distance to drive from your new location to the Seattle area? Would an electric be viable for that?

benjaminh

Hasn't Mercedes Benz announced that they are no longer bringing their wagons to the US? That for me would be a reason to keep it.

qbrozen

oh no. Vroom offered $53,274 on my Jeep. That would be more than $6k profit. Dammit. How do I turn that down?

benjaminh

If you have enough vehicles to live without it then it might be a good idea take the 6k profit. Can you just order another one and wait 2-6 months for it?

benjaminh

Chapman Ford in Philadelphia has been offering for the last four months or so a great deal on Maverick orders—4% below invoice. Seems too good to be true, but apparently they're actually doing this. With all the many orders they've gotten there are a few people, of course, who don't actually take delivery for whatever reason—changed their minds, got another vehicle, financing didn't go through, etc. And so that seems to be Chapman's strategy, to scoop up these Mavericks that aren't claimed and then sell them at a profit. Here's what appears to be maybe one example of this....

https://www.chapmanfordsales.com/new/Ford/2022-Ford-Maverick-846757250a0e09a82ebbf2e4252c8806.htm

28firefighter

qbrozen said:

oh no. Vroom offered $53,274 on my Jeep. That would be more than $6k profit. Dammit. How do I turn that down?

Close the window and realize it is much nicer than the Escape?

stickguy

Might be more of an issue if Mrs. QB is driving the Jeep. My experience, flipping my cars gets an eye roll. Trying to take hers, gets much worse.

And these days, have to fight the replacement battle.

28firefighter

Alright, so two days of ownership and one 12 hour power outage later, and I have some preliminary thoughts on the Tesla.

Features:
Generally I find the base 3 SR+ to be very very well equipped for the price point. On par with or even a step above where I would expect a base 3 series to come with for very similar $$ - that includes the base stereo, wireless charging pads, USB-C ports, rear vents, power lift gate, adaptive cruise, blind spot monitoring, 360 cameras, etc. I also really like the open glass pano roof and especially enjoy that it doesn't actually open (not sarcasm - I hate sunroofs).

There are a couple of really strange choices for a car of this caliber that I really don't understand to the point that it almost seems petty - first the lack of fog lights, second the lack of interior, and third the lack of floor mats as standard. My understanding is that the underlying hardware is there on the interior and exterior lighting, it just isn't activated. Floor mats are silly but I was going to replace them with all weather mats anyway. None of it is a dealbreaker, it is more just surprising given how nicely done it is otherwise.

I do wish we had the upgraded audio and fog lights, but not for effectively $9000 more than we paid.

Build Quality
I find the build quality, generally, to be very good. The interior materials are very very nice - soft touch materials, alcantara, and wood grain on the dash. It has no rattles whatsoever and everything is put together tightly.

On the outside we had a couple small issues that I noted the other day - we have one small panel alignment issue on the trunk and the driver side fog light cover has condensation on the inside that isn't clearing up. Also, I'm guessing due to supplier issues, that the mudflaps and PPF that is supposed to come on PNW cars. We have an appointment on Friday and I fully expect that all to be resolved.

The doors also have the vault-like thud that I've come to appreciate from the european cars.

Driving Experience
This thing is an absolute rocket, even in base form. Being rear wheel drive, it handles like it is on rails basically all the time. It is tight and planted, yet also not punishing - even with the upgraded 19" wheels we have.

The technology is unparalleled and definitely takes some getting used to - though after about a day we both had the hang of it. Big hits so far are the phone key (and auto configuring to your profile when you get in) and ease of navigation factoring in charging stops. Also it is pretty neat to see what the vehicle detects as you're driving in terms of other cars, people, etc. We have not used autopilot and did not pay for FSD because I hate that kinda stuff, but nice to know it is there for the $$.

Finally, the car was home delivered to us with about 80% charge. We haven't touched it in terms of charging and it still has 160 miles of range left.

All told, my wife is very happy and I am too!

qbrozen

Mrs QB said I should take it, but pointed out my little one will be upset with me. She admitted she should have let me order another. Nothing I didn't already know. haha. She said I could just drive the "mazda" for the winter. Yes, she meant the Escape.

28firefighter

qbrozen said:

Mrs QB said I should take it, but pointed out my little one will be upset with me. She admitted she should have let me order another. Nothing I didn't already know. haha. She said I could just drive the "mazda" for the winter. Yes, she meant the Escape.

If I sold the Jeep right now I'm pretty sure my little one would need therapy. He sleeps with a mini Wrangler Rubicon diecast next to his bed.

Michaell

28firefighter said:

qbrozen said:

Mrs QB said I should take it, but pointed out my little one will be upset with me. She admitted she should have let me order another. Nothing I didn't already know. haha. She said I could just drive the "mazda" for the winter. Yes, she meant the Escape.

If I sold the Jeep right now I'm pretty sure my little one would need therapy. He sleeps with a mini Wrangler Rubicon diecast next to his bed.

Gotta update that signature line!

au1994

I couldn’t part with my Jeep so I don’t even want to run the numbers.

stickguy

Maybe I should have ordered one when the early deals were such a rage. Seem to be a lot higher now.

tjc78

@qbrozen said:
oh no. Vroom offered $53,274 on my Jeep. That would be more than $6k profit. Dammit. How do I turn that down?

You don’t! Pays for the Escape!

stickguy

So Q drives a clapped out escape and Mrs Q drives an 8 YO Chrysler minivan all winter?

Somehow, this seems like going backwards.

nyccarguy

@qbrozen - I thought VROOM doesn't buy out leases anymore. You mean you'll clear $6K after buying it out and paying the sales tax?

laurasdada

Just a thought for those considering going EV and using public charging (if NA at your residence, or you only have an L1 setup): Even though it may be convenient to your home, it doesn't mean it will be available, or functioning when you want it!

I did a road trip to the Greenwich Concourse this weekend, no convenient charging stations for my car anywhere close to where I was parking/staying. Had to rely on dead dinosaurs, which served me well. Still impressive overall MPG for my big as a whale A7e.

The usual suspects (and more), "I failed epically in my career and investing life" cars. Wayne Carini and Ralph Gilles a couple of "celebrity" judges. Tribute to 1920s era Rolls Royce built in Springfield, MA was quite a display. Saturday was the Concours d'Lemons, a smile inducer. Worst of show was a pristine, screaming orange/white vinyl roofed Ford Pinto.

Oris watches had a travelling display in an (well-heated!) Airstream trailer; I was quite tempted to buy as there was a bit of a discount as well as a lovely leather travel case and wooden 5 slot watch box they would have gifted me with purchase. But, I heard the wife's voice in my head (as always), "Really, Laurasdada? Really? Another watch..." Got a hat and a coffee mug, though.

tifighter

I see today that Hertz is buying 100,000 Model 3's. I wonder if they just ordered through them through the website, and used their credit card for the deposit. They could earn a lot of miles that way.

stickguy

I didn’t catch all the details but I think there is some sort of partnership. At least to do with setting up a charging network.

Dada, I worry about that too. Maybe less with Tesla, but if it is going to be a chronic problem (especially as chargers age) that will be a huge problem. At least for the full EV cars

au1994

stickguy said:

I didn’t catch all the details but I think there is some sort of partnership. At least to do with setting up a charging network.

Dada, I worry about that too. Maybe less with Tesla, but if it is going to be a chronic problem (especially as chargers age) that will be a huge problem. At least for the full EV cars

Yep, I’ve run into inop chargers during my brief time as a PHEV owner. Yesterday Chargepoint said there was an available spot so we pulled up only to find a Tesla occupying one of the slots but not plugged in.

tifighter

$4.2 billion for 100,000 units implies there wasn't much of a discount. Sounds like they will have access to Superchargers, which is pretty key. I also see that the CEO of Hertz is Mark Fields, former CEO of Ford.

You have to think VW would have killed for this deal. It will pay for a lot of new Gigafactory, that's for sure.