Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

andres3

stickguy said:

breld said:

qbrozen said:

I hadn't been keeping up on the '22 Civic Si info. Occurred to me last night to see how that stacks up to the sporty compacts I'm looking at. Dealer close to me even has my preferred color in stock (orange). $28k seems not too bad these days. But then I read up on it. Very disappointed to find out they have stepped backwards in a big way performance-wise. Scratch that off the list.

If you can find a dealer to sell you an Si at MSRP, may as well buy it, enjoy it, and flip it.

I would.

mine wanted $2,500 over sticker. Plus their usual (on all cars) $795ish accessories package (mud flaps, trunk tray, wheel locks).

I watched a lot of reviews on the Si when they all dropped. I think it is getting a bad rap from people that just looked at a few specs, because it dropped something like 5HP, even though the torque curve improved. No, it will not beat a C8 in a drag race, but it is still a quick car, designed to hustle along on windy roads. And it does that really well (especially considering the MSRP in the 20's). Ride, handling (LSD), gearbox are all very well done and everybody that drove it loved the experience. On the road it scoots.

Maybe I am the only person that does not drag race my cars? Doing 4K clutch dumps from a dead stop is not part of my normal driving. Merging and going from 30-60 quickly (stuff like that) is of interest though.

If you can go fast from 0-30 you won't be in as much of a rush from 30-60

tifighter

28firefighter said:

nyccarguy said:

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

No worries - I've got you covered...
You can even keep your Jeep keychain.

Eliminator addition. Audition. Whatever, you get the point.

Nope. His little guy isn't old enough for the front seat yet.

This is correct. And also $10k? Sheesh.

Fine. Fine. How about a European, rear-engined, RWD two door with a manual transmission?

The things I find for you guys...

28firefighter

tifighter said:

nyccarguy said:

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

No worries - I've got you covered...
You can even keep your Jeep keychain.

Eliminator addition. Audition. Whatever, you get the point.

Nope. His little guy isn't old enough for the front seat yet.

Actually, as a not-parent, I'm curious about this?

Technically if a car does not have a rear seat, by law in WA, they can ride in a carseat in the front seat as long as any airbags are disabled. Pragmatically, the only safe place for a young kid to sit is in the back seat in an appropriately sized and facing car seat. Outcomes are dramatically worse in the front seat.

28firefighter

Also re: the ZHP, beyond being improperly weather situated right now, I don't want to expose it to the wintery/rainy mess that is the PNW roads this time of year. Further I'd have to cancel my classic car policy on it and move it to a regular one which would mean it is no longer a guaranteed value policy. I don't want that, either - because as a regular E46 3er, insurance would reimburse near nothing in the event of an accident.

sda

Interesting factors concerning insurance coverage and certainly valid concerns. Are you limited to when you can drive it, i.e. a favorable weather forecast, mileage limitations?

tifighter

28firefighter said:

tifighter said:

nyccarguy said:

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

No worries - I've got you covered...
You can even keep your Jeep keychain.

Eliminator addition. Audition. Whatever, you get the point.

Nope. His little guy isn't old enough for the front seat yet.

Actually, as a not-parent, I'm curious about this?

Technically if a car does not have a rear seat, by law in WA, they can ride in a carseat in the front seat as long as any airbags are disabled. Pragmatically, the only safe place for a young kid to sit is in the back seat in an appropriately sized and facing car seat. Outcomes are dramatically worse in the front seat.

I actually am up to speed on some of this, I just wondered since a 1990 pickup was pre-airbag. Now you know why it was called the Eliminator.

andres3

28firefighter said:

tifighter said:

nyccarguy said:

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

No worries - I've got you covered...
You can even keep your Jeep keychain.

Eliminator addition. Audition. Whatever, you get the point.

Nope. His little guy isn't old enough for the front seat yet.

Actually, as a not-parent, I'm curious about this?

Technically if a car does not have a rear seat, by law in WA, they can ride in a carseat in the front seat as long as any airbags are disabled. Pragmatically, the only safe place for a young kid to sit is in the back seat in an appropriately sized and facing car seat. Outcomes are dramatically worse in the front seat.

Regarding car seat "facing" direction the problem is the type of collision and direction of impact force. The recommendations are playing the numbers for the average driver. Many here would consider the average driver a farce.

You don't want to overestimate your driving skills, but then again, why slum it if you are pretty good?

28firefighter

sda said:

Interesting factors concerning insurance coverage and certainly valid concerns. Are you limited to when you can drive it, i.e. a favorable weather forecast, mileage limitations?

Mileage limits I have are 3000 miles a year and generally should only be used in "nice weather" with some interesting carve outs and caveats. Bottom line is they aren't insuring it to be daily driven year round.

28firefighter

andres3 said:

28firefighter said:

tifighter said:

nyccarguy said:

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

No worries - I've got you covered...
You can even keep your Jeep keychain.

Eliminator addition. Audition. Whatever, you get the point.

Nope. His little guy isn't old enough for the front seat yet.

Actually, as a not-parent, I'm curious about this?

Technically if a car does not have a rear seat, by law in WA, they can ride in a carseat in the front seat as long as any airbags are disabled. Pragmatically, the only safe place for a young kid to sit is in the back seat in an appropriately sized and facing car seat. Outcomes are dramatically worse in the front seat.

Regarding car seat "facing" direction the problem is the type of collision and direction of impact force. The recommendations are playing the numbers for the average driver. Many here would consider the average driver a farce.

You don't want to overestimate your driving skills, but then again, why slum it if you are pretty good?

To each their own - I kept him rear facing as long as possible and now he is front facing. He doesn't ride in the front seat of any of our cars and we have top of the line seats in each car. I trust people who are way smarter than me on this one and am not going to risk my son's life based on my own fuzzy mathematical analysis of whether I'm a "better" driver than others. If something godforbid happens I need to be able to tell myself that I did everything I reasonably could to protect him.

andres3

28firefighter said:

andres3 said:

28firefighter said:

tifighter said:

nyccarguy said:

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

No worries - I've got you covered...
You can even keep your Jeep keychain.

Eliminator addition. Audition. Whatever, you get the point.

Nope. His little guy isn't old enough for the front seat yet.

Actually, as a not-parent, I'm curious about this?

Technically if a car does not have a rear seat, by law in WA, they can ride in a carseat in the front seat as long as any airbags are disabled. Pragmatically, the only safe place for a young kid to sit is in the back seat in an appropriately sized and facing car seat. Outcomes are dramatically worse in the front seat.

Regarding car seat "facing" direction the problem is the type of collision and direction of impact force. The recommendations are playing the numbers for the average driver. Many here would consider the average driver a farce.

You don't want to overestimate your driving skills, but then again, why slum it if you are pretty good?

To each their own - I kept him rear facing as long as possible and now he is front facing. He doesn't ride in the front seat of any of our cars and we have top of the line seats in each car. I trust people who are way smarter than me on this one and am not going to risk my son's life based on my own fuzzy mathematical analysis of whether I'm a "better" driver than others. If something godforbid happens I need to be able to tell myself that I did everything I reasonably could to protect him.

Does WA have a law to keep them rear-facing 2 years minimum? How long is "as long as possible?"

I guess it depends on the way you look at it. I read some of the research these "laws" were based upon and I wasn't convinced it was the best I could do to protect my daughter. The government likes to say things like "it was the best advice on available information at the time." That doesn't do the trick for me when the "information available" seems thin.

Fortunately and thankfully were both past the rear-facing phase without incident.

28firefighter

He was rear facing until he was nearly 4 and had maxed out the limitations for rear facing in his seat.

mjfloyd1

@andres3 said:
Does WA have a law to keep them rear-facing 2 years minimum? How long is "as long as possible?"

I guess it depends on the way you look at it. I read some of the research these "laws" were based upon and I wasn't convinced it was the best I could do to protect my daughter. The government likes to say things like "it was the best advice on available information at the time." That doesn't do the trick for me when the "information available" seems thin.

Fortunately and thankfully were both past the rear-facing phase without incident.

🤦

stickguy

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

nyccarguy said:

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

No worries - I've got you covered...
You can even keep your Jeep keychain.

Eliminator addition. Audition. Whatever, you get the point.

Nope. His little guy isn't old enough for the front seat yet.

This is correct. And also $10k? Sheesh.

Fine. Fine. How about a European, rear-engined, RWD two door with a manual transmission?

The things I find for you guys...

Not sure what’s more amazing. Asking $16k for that, or somebody drive it 20,000 miles.

stickguy

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

No worries - I've got you covered...
You can even keep your Jeep keychain.

Eliminator addition. Audition. Whatever, you get the point.

I love that Jeep. If I hadn’t bought already I would absolutely have taken something like that, and just spent the real money on a sporty car like a BRZ.

qbrozen

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

Go git yerself one of them Frontier deals. ~$225/mo for 18 mos = $4050. How much profit you gettin from the Jeep?

28firefighter

I thought about it- but I can't get rid of it! What am I supposed to do with a 4th car for 18 months? lol

jmonroe1

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

Another first world problem. When will it ever end?

jmonroe

jmonroe1

nyccarguy said:

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

No worries - I've got you covered...
You can even keep your Jeep keychain.

Eliminator addition. Audition. Whatever, you get the point.

Nope. His little guy isn't old enough for the front seat yet.

I guess you missed it but that Jeep has a bed. It’s even covered too so Jr. will be nice and warm and dry.

jmonroe

tjc78

@28firefighter said:
He was rear facing until he was nearly 4 and had maxed out the limitations for rear facing in his seat.

4! My son didn’t make it to 2.

Long story short I got stuck when moving out of our campground home (too much stuff) and my son had to ride in the front seat. I moved the front seat back as far as I could. He is 7, tall for his age and a solid 85 pounds. He loved it, but I was nervous.

I remember being younger than him in the front seat. How times have changed.

28firefighter

tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

He was rear facing until he was nearly 4 and had maxed out the limitations for rear facing in his seat.

4! My son didn’t make it to 2.

Long story short I got stuck when moving out of our campground home (too much stuff) and my son had to ride in the front seat. I moved the front seat back as far as I could. He is 7, tall for his age and a solid 85 pounds. He loved it, but I was nervous.

I remember being younger than him in the front seat. How times have changed.

Me too! I remember my mom putting my car seat in the front seat of our volvo wagon. Go figure.

tifighter

stickguy said:

tifighter said:

28firefighter said:

So I have a standing offer for $55k on my current Jeep. I'd love to cash out today, but really need it until a replacement arrives. Rental rates are through the roof up here in the PNW.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

(ZHP not an option - on summer tires, sitting in the garage)

No worries - I've got you covered...
You can even keep your Jeep keychain.

Eliminator addition. Audition. Whatever, you get the point.

I love that Jeep. If I hadn’t bought already I would absolutely have taken something like that, and just spent the real money on a sporty car like a BRZ.

Someone has a red Comanche a few blocks from my house. Every time I walk past it, I think, man, that's a nice little truck. I'll have to snap a pic sometime.

EDIT - weird angle, but thanks google maps

au1994

I can’t remember not riding in the front seats as long as there wasn’t another adult in the car. You used to race your buddies to the car to claim the front seat! That includes riding with my dad in a 66 Mustang with only lap belts that were never used. This was mid 70’s timeframe.

I was in the 3rd grade before seatbelt use became a real thing and even then it was mostly for the front seat. I had a classmate that tragically died in a crash because she was unbelted. The school started a push after that since there wasn’t a law requiring belt use. The year was probably 79-80.

Times have changed and sometimes for the better!

28firefighter

You know, if it wasn't so many transactions I think I could pick up something as simple as a CR-V AWD new and probably break even or even make a profit if I sold it after 3 months...

explorerx4

My grandson is underweight for his age, at 2 he just made it out of the bottom 5 percent(just over 4lbs at birth).
He's going to be in a car seat for a long time.
Way different than when I grew up. My parents had an old Nash wagon where the 2nd row would not fold up. My sister and I sat in tires. Pretty sure my mom made sure that car didn't stay with us very long.

au1994

Those Comanche’s never sold well but have a cult following now much like the XJ Cherokee’s. The latter of which sold like hotcakes but finding one not modified and thrashed to within an inch of its life is difficult.

au1994

28firefighter said:

You know, if it wasn't so many transactions I think I could pick up something as simple as a CR-V AWD new and probably break even or even make a profit if I sold it after 3 months...

I can almost guarantee you wouldn’t lose money on a 3 month old Honda. If you could find one of course.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

He was rear facing until he was nearly 4 and had maxed out the limitations for rear facing in his seat.

4! My son didn’t make it to 2.

Long story short I got stuck when moving out of our campground home (too much stuff) and my son had to ride in the front seat. I moved the front seat back as far as I could. He is 7, tall for his age and a solid 85 pounds. He loved it, but I was nervous.

I remember being younger than him in the front seat. How times have changed.

I remember when I was young there were no car seats or seatbelts. That’s what I’d call a real change from today.

jmonroe

28firefighter

jmonroe1 said:

I remember when I was young there were no car seats or seatbelts. That’s what I’d call a real change from today.

jmonroe

Is that because there were no cars?

*backs away slowly*

I kid I kid.

corvette

28firefighter said:

You know, if it wasn't so many transactions I think I could pick up something as simple as a CR-V AWD new and probably break even or even make a profit if I sold it after 3 months...

Smaller than I'd like, but I'd be interested in one as a potential Tundra replacement if I could locate a performance chip which I thought would be reliable and would get the 0-60 time down to the low 6-second range.

mjfloyd1

Performance chip with CVT???? Brave man

corvette

mjfloyd1 said:

Performance chip with CVT???? Brave man

I thought they used the same transmission in the Accord 2.0T, but it appears to have a ten speed auto. *shrugs* A Maverick with a bed cover would be cheaper anyway.

stickguy

Seems like a lot of people needing Mavericks in here. Don't forget Sticks Mavs R us when you are serious.

stickguy

speaking of the Maverick, I had my first stalker encounter this evening. Stopped to pick up something for dinner at a place in a strip mall, and after I parked and was walking away, a guy that had parked next row over came over and asked what it was. He knew about it when I told him, just didn't realize it was one.

he had gotten out of a newer Tacoma. But after chatting about size (he thought the taco was too big) turned out he has a 2008 Ranger that was in the shop, and the Taco was a rental. So I told him that yes we liked it, and it was actually just about the same footprint as the old ranger.

mjfloyd1

corvette said:

mjfloyd1 said:

Performance chip with CVT???? Brave man

I thought they used the same transmission in the Accord 2.0T, but it appears to have a ten speed auto. *shrugs* A Maverick with a bed cover would be cheaper anyway.

CRV has had a CVT since 2018 IIRC. My daughter has a 2020 CRV touring AWD with CVT

corvette

stickguy said:

Seems like a lot of people needing Mavericks in here. Don't forget Sticks Mavs R us when you are serious.

He doesn't have an XL 2.0T AWD on order yet, does he? I think that's my preferred spec.

stickguy

well, I could...

though it might ruin my reputation ordering a poverty spec!

seriously though, the one I test drove a few months ago was a weird spec. XL AWD, but with a moonroof. And I was impressed how nice it was for the cheap model.

just make sure you can live with no cruise control (not just no ACC, no CC at all).

tjc78

@28firefighter said:
Me too! I remember my mom putting my car seat in the front seat of our volvo wagon. Go figure.

Forgot the best part of the story. Wife called and I had her on speaker. Kid dimed me right out… “mommy, guess what? I’m in the front seat”.

corvette

stickguy said:

just make sure you can live with no cruise control (not just no ACC, no CC at all).

I probably *could*, but Rostra has a kit to add it, which I'd probably do. I'd also like the orange accents of the XLT interior, but not worth the $$$ just for that.

xwesx

tjc78 said:

Forgot the best part of the story. Wife called and I had her on speaker. Kid dimed me right out… “mommy, guess what? I’m in the front seat”.

Haha! Mine did the same thing. I didn't have a phone at that time, but she was sure to tell on me as soon as she entered the house....

sda

xwesx said:

tjc78 said:

Forgot the best part of the story. Wife called and I had her on speaker. Kid dimed me right out… “mommy, guess what? I’m in the front seat”.

Haha! Mine did the same thing. I didn't have a phone at that time, but she was sure to tell on me as soon as she entered the house....

Yes, my daughter rats me out at every chance and she is 20 now! Careful what you say or do.

qbrozen

Dare I say this?

I think our personal garage will be settled come April.
Sprinter and Fiat for the wife; Charger and WRX for me; Jeep to be shared. Coronet ... who knows. I mean, it will still be here. Just don't know what state it will be in.

Now, this is not to be confused with no punches. But any others would be for resale only. I feel fairly confident that the above will be OUR fleet for quite a while. The only possible change would be if something like a great XC60 or XC90 or even V60CC lease deal happened, at which point the Jeep would get swapped out. But that is certainly not going to happen this year.

BTW, I'm starting to spread word around the house that Dad's WRX should be henceforth known as the "free car" because he paid for it by buying and selling other cars.*

*contingent on the upcoming TRX deal.

stickguy

corvette said:

stickguy said:

just make sure you can live with no cruise control (not just no ACC, no CC at all).

I probably *could*, but Rostra has a kit to add it, which I'd probably do. I'd also like the orange accents of the XLT interior, but not worth the $$$ just for that.

I'm not willing to mess around with add on electronics on a modern car. Too many horror stories. Never heard of doing cruise (since damned near everything comes with it now) but stuff like remote starts, no way!

some dude on the Maverick site actually got a steering wheel and a couple minor parts from an Escape and swapped them into an XL, then used the programming software to activate it. Works just like the factory cruise. I saw a picture of the one you are talking about. Looked like a weird extra stalk halfway down the steering column. that would bug me to no end!

Though I probably am the best candidate for the XL otherwise, since I don't really care about having Cruise anyway.

stickguy

Good job Q. And something to be said for a car you can settle in with. When you find one you love, keep it!

Who knows how long the flipping will work anyway. Seems a lot of that was purely due to the abnormal market conditions. Once that stabilizes could be much harder to come up with worthwhile deals.

tjc78

Adding to cruise to many modern cars is very easy as there isn’t any hardware required other than the switches. Everything is already electronic.

The Panther guys have been doing it since 2006. They take a police spec Vic with no CC, swap a civilian steering wheel and then take it to a dealer to program (or borrow the tool to do it).

tjc78

Just saw a video on the new King Ranch Explorer. Pretty sharp. They said 57K MSRP. I would have thought a bit more.

corvette

stickguy said:

I'm not willing to mess around with add on electronics on a modern car. Too many horror stories.

Well, Rostra is a respected brand. And I'm 3 for 3 on doing aftermarket remote starts on my Nissan Murano, Ford Mustang, and Infiniti G37. No issues on any of them, and the Infiniti even had an iPhone app to activate it, along with GPS, which bailed me out once when I forgot where I parked!

corvette

Here are my guesstimates for the options I'm considering as things sit today:

• Buy out Tundra lease and finance for 60 months: $724/month (PenFed 2.59% financing)
  
• Lease a similarly equipped new Tacoma for 36-ish months: $400/month, possibly less
  
• Order and lease a 4xe for 36 months: $484 / month
  
• Order and buy a Maverick XL 2.0T AWD with accessories: $467/month (Ford 1.99% financing)
  

stickguy

for around the price of the Tundra can get the Maverick and 3 year 0% financing with nothing down.

Sandman6472

Go for the new Tacoma lease! Think you'll be happier in the Taco than any other truck. Not sure you like the current Tundra that much to be paying it off for another 5 years. Maybe you are, but if it were me, I'd start fresh with the Taco and just see how it goes. The $400 payment is the lowest option there and you can put the extra cash aside in a special account so you'll have it once you decide what's next in 36 months. I'd stay with Toyota over a Ford any day of the week, I like Toyota a lot and am hoping to go back once this chip issue is over.
I did see a new Hyundai Santa Cruz on the road today and it was sharp looking to say the least. Like it's looks and it seems like it would be a hoot to drive. Not being a truck kind of guy, I still like both the Tacoma & the Santa Cruz.

corvette

The buyout on the Tundra is a fair deal for what it is, would likely have positive equity the whole time, but even with the Prius, there are situations where I unexpectedly have to park it in cramped quarters.

Hoping to sell one of my rentals this year, which would provide a chunk of change to put towards either a vehicle purchase or savings (if I lease). So the finance figures represent a worst-case scenario. In that scenario, I'd probably still finance the Maverick on a 60 month term and throw extra money at it when I could, as I have with other cars I've financed.