Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

Sandman6472

That blueish/green liquid on the floor came back again after a few days so think we'll give it a few days. No lights have come on and it drives like normal. Mechanic told us to just monitor the situation so that's what we're doing. Not happy to be honest but in the current times, best we can do. Just wish this chip situation will end sooner than later so we can all move on as I think we'll both be serious about replacing the current fleet with "cheap to keep" vehicles.

Sandman6472

OF, just wondering if you got your profit sharing check into your 401K account? I did with the last paycheck so assuming you got yours to. A co-worker told me that it depends on the length of time we've all been at Enterprise which determines how much we each get. Guess it makes sense. Guessing it was a good year financially for the company but have no idea what the others got. Since I've never gotten any profit sharing before, I'm happy with whatever I got!!

dad23

Possible bargain here?

https://www.jfrcars.com/inventory/2021-ford-bronco-black-diamond/466597

breld

dad23 said:

Possible bargain here?

https://www.jfrcars.com/inventory/2021-ford-bronco-black-diamond/466597

About $25k over MSRP.

dad23

breld said:

dad23 said:

Possible bargain here?

https://www.jfrcars.com/inventory/2021-ford-bronco-black-diamond/466597

About $25k over MSRP.

Interesting, I see a few here that are in that range, $25k underpriced according to CarFax!

stickguy

Sandy, monitoring your puddle is free. That’s definitely cheap keeping!

What exactly is blocking your side of the garage? Just the hot water tank? If so, just replace it with a tankless one mounted on the wall, free up all the space, and get whatever car you want.

YOLO!

And if you love the Corolla, just tell them to increase your trade value by $6,200 also. Remember, the only difference, is the difference!

jmonroe1

@sda said:
Longer post

On Monday I was afraid I might be suddenly in the market to buy another car. My daughter had a broken hearted Valentine's day. After taking lunch to her boyfriend at his workplace, she partially ran a STOP sign, she did stop but the front of the car poked out too far and bumped a passing car. No injuries other than pride. A panic call to her mom. We asked if she was OK, yes, but the car was destroyed. Front bumper essentially ripped off. Yikes. Being somewhat positive and good Boy Scout I took heavy duty duct tape and a utility knife with me. When I got there I noticed no damage to the hood, fenders, headlights, a/c condensor, radiator. Just a mess. I was able lift what remained of the bumper, click it partially in the clips to secure it. All of the plastic plug fasteners used to hold the bumper popped off. She was able to drive it home. I took it yesterday to get a damage estimate. The bumper cover and all associated fasteners needed, but otherwise all ok. Estimate of $1100. My daughter was lucky she didn't receive a ticket and the police that helped her were great. I am not looking forward to the increase in our insurance premium! To boot, I just had the car serviced and a new battery installed last Saturday! We have to wait until 2/25 to take the car in to be repaired and then 3-4 days for the repair. This was her first real incident in almost 4 years.

I missed this part earlier.

So, what were some of her NOT real incidents?

jmonroe

breld

dad23 said:

breld said:

dad23 said:

Possible bargain here?

https://www.jfrcars.com/inventory/2021-ford-bronco-black-diamond/466597

About $25k over MSRP.

Interesting, I see a few here that are in that range, $25k underpriced according to CarFax!

Yeah, pricing on pretty much any Bronco sitting on a lot tends to be nuts. That's how this whole thing started for us - @michaell and I were browsing a Carmax lot that had two of them, priced upwards of $80-90k. I knew that was a considerable markup, but that prompted my wife and I to look up the actual MSRP and that's when we discovered these things start in the $30k's.

That Black Diamond model in the listing you posted is identical to what we have on order, other than it being 4 doors vs. our 2 door. And the sticker on ours is $38k.

explorerx4

That Bronco is not at a Ford Dealer.

dad23

explorerx4 said:

That Bronco is not at a Ford Dealer.

You're right @explorerx4, it's a local broker. I'm just wondering if they ordered it, it was taken in on trade or possibly a consignment vehicle.

kyfdx

dad23 said:

explorerx4 said:

That Bronco is not at a Ford Dealer.

You're right @explorerx4, it's a local broker. I'm just wondering if they ordered it, it was taken in on trade or possibly a consignment vehicle.

This is probably @breld 's vehicle. He's already sold it...

andres3

https://media.audiusa.com/en-us/releases/502?csref=CRM_MX_PRRE_InsideRings_20220216_NA_Lapsed Owners_SMB_Q1February_NA_20#gallery

I really like the blue, the red, and the green. Wonderful colors; why only in a limited edition run Audi?

And why in a limited edition run did you have to include boring white and old man gray/silver?

tifighter

That TC ended up at a little over $13K. And it's going to the Netherlands...

explorerx4

@kyfdx,
His wife had to call him for a ride home after selling it.

breld

explorerx4 said:

@kyfdx,
His wife had to call him for a ride home after selling it.

Why would she have to call me for a ride? She just bought another car on the way home.

venture

stickguy said:

Sandy, monitoring your puddle is free. That’s definitely cheap keeping!

What exactly is blocking your side of the garage? Just the hot water tank? If so, just replace it with a tankless one mounted on the wall, free up all the space, and get whatever car you want.

YOLO!

And if you love the Corolla, just tell them to increase your trade value by $6,200 also. Remember, the only difference, is the difference!

It would be great to see what's in the way. A picture maybe?

corvette

henryn

Story in the Houston Chronicle today, probably behind a paywall:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Instead-of-buyers-auto-dealers-are-scouring-the-16926182.php

But higher prices have allowed car dealers to make more money as they sell fewer cars. Houston-based Group 1 Automotive reported earlier this month that it nearly doubled its annual profit to a record $552 million last year from $286 million, even as the volume of new car sales fell 3.5 percent. Revenues jumped 27 percent to $13.5 billion from $10.6 billion in 2020.

stickguy

they are probably very happy to have cut way back on salespeople they need to pay.

sda

@jmonroe1 Other than curbing a wheel which required a replacement rim, my daughter has been driving 4 years and until last Monday hasn’t been in an accident. No tickets yet. I think that’s pretty good.

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

OF, just wondering if you got your profit sharing check into your 401K account? I did with the last paycheck so assuming you got yours to. A co-worker told me that it depends on the length of time we've all been at Enterprise which determines how much we each get. Guess it makes sense. Guessing it was a good year financially for the company but have no idea what the others got. Since I've never gotten any profit sharing before, I'm happy with whatever I got!!

Did I ever. It came in at almost 10% of gross! That’s about 51/2 times what we got last year and nearly double my best previous PS.

If I understand it right, it’s determined by a percentage of last year’s gross income so in this case if you worked 1000 hours in 2021 and made $10k you’d get about $990+-. In talking to coworkers who have a lot more seniority than me, longevity doesn’t enter into the calculation. It’s simply a portion of company profit divided by the number of employees. Since not all the employees laid-off in the 2020 bloodbath were rehired the available pot of money was divided among a smaller pool of people.

I still can’t believe that we get all these benefits for a job where you get paid to sleep in the back of a van half the time. with the company 401k match we get an extra 12% on our salary.

Time to go car shopping.

explorerx4

@breld,
I underestimated the power of the tag team.

Sandman6472

We have the hot water heater and the air handler for our a/c unit in front of where I park. Relocating any of that stuff would be quite costly & since prefer a smaller vehicle anyways, I just look for vehicles that will fit in the space without leaving much room. Really has never been an issue choosing what to buy but each vehicle I consider has to be driven to the house for the ultimate test and so far, no dealer has refused us here. I tell them up front about my size constraint and has never been an issue. The Ford Escape was just too close of a fit even though the sales guy disagreed. The VW Jetta was just too long, so we went back and got the Golf which fit like a glove. I know the Kona will fit. My kids Accent fits nicely though I think the Elantra will be close. Confident the Corolla Cross will have no issue either but we shall see in time.
On another note, just got home from BJ's as the A3 needed petrol and it really is a nice vehicle, I don't get to drive it much but I sure like it. Saw a new 2022 A3 in white at work yesterday and really liked the changes Audi made to it. The new alloys are really sharp and the dash is outstanding. The infotainment system is nicely integrated into the dash and no more of the goofy screen that pops up from the top of the dash. Have always hated that. Not sure if they still kept the controls down on the console like the Mazda3 does but it's simply an awful design...the feature I most hate about her A3. It's really ludicrous to have it down there and could be a potential safety hazard. Just hope they fixed this faux pas with the 2022 refresh!

tjc78

Your garage must be a little smaller than mine. On the side with the steps (3 standard front facing) my wife’s XC90 fits with enough room to still walk up the steps. My S60 fits with ease.

If it was only the water tank.. I’d say go tankless but moving the air handler is a big deal. They make units that can go sideways and hung, if you ever need to swap it.

stickguy

longest vehicle I ever had in the garage was actually the Odyssey (a couple inches longer than the Maverick). But that was on the right (the wife's side) and the door into the house is in front of that so nothing deep on the wall on that side. It fit with plenty of room to get around the front (the RDX has tons of extra space).

the Maverick lives on "my" side (left). there are a couple of deeper (20") shelves in front of it, and in the center is the spare fridge. Also have my rolling wash bucket cart in front of the shelves and my power washer. But, still enough space to clear the garage door by a few inches, an easily walk in front of truck. I just have to stop exactly on my mark on the side wall! Biggest hassle is actually the fridge door. That swings open from the left (handle left, hinge right as you look at it) so barely clears my bumper. You have to work the logistics right to be able to open the door, and get at the fridge. Really should just reverse it, but that sounds like a lot of work!

Sandman6472

Got some kind of recall notice in the mail for the Golf last week, some kind of trim ring around the shifter will be replaced gratis, so made an appointment for next Thursday to have it done. Says it will take about an hour so will just wait around. Like to see what stuff they have in the used department and now, my dealer also has added Volvo & Mitsubishi at this location. Fun to walk around and see what they have. Am also going to try & see if I can bring home a Corolla Cross for the garage test if the local store has one I can try. I'm super curious myself to be honest and a god day to see. Betting if they have the model, color and options I want, and if they take off their ridiculous ADM fee, if they match their inflated price by giving my trade the same inflated amount, it could be a wash and a deal might get done. Charge me $500 over your normal price but give me that same $500 over on my trade, and it's kind of like a wash. They move a unit and I get myself something new, seems like a plan to me.
So, we'll just have to see how things play out. No real reason to do anything yet as am also curious about the new Honda HR-V also coming out later sometime in 2022. It's just that I'm finally ready to let the Golf go and enjoy something new. That's taken a long time to happen as must say, the Golf has been my most enjoyable vehicle to date but don't want to deal with anymore issues honestly. Besides dong another oil change, really don't want to sink anymore money into it to be honest. Come December, it'll be 8 years since we bought both vehicles, which is kind of average for us. As much as I think about it, leasing just isn't for us, our miles each year are really just too low. Just finally at that point where for the right vehicle, I'd give up the Golf. And for me, that's a major step! And I'm making a vow here to not get too much "analysis paralysis" as I've been accused of. It really is a major waste of time but up to now, making a major financial investment usually involves some "analysis paralysis" and it really is unnecessary honestly. I'm over it!!

qbrozen

Not sure if I shared this, but, this past weekend, I finally popped the hood of the Benz to take a poke around. Spraying some carb cleaner around to see if I could find any leaks. Touching things with a concerned look on my face. That sort of car-guy stuff, ya know? Anyway, as I'm checking all the hoses I can find, I come upon one that isn't attached to anything. Huh. Poke around some more trying to find its home and I come upon another one not attached to anything. Double huh. I take some video, put the engine cover back on, and pop back in the house to my trusty computer. Start perusing photos online of the engine bay and find a pic that would indicate those 2 loose hoses actually connect to each other. So I send the video to the mechanic and say "hey, do you know what these are and can they cause the CEL I'm getting?" A little while later he says, "ahhhh yeah. That might be it. That's the intake changeover valve." Gee, ya think that might be a problem? lol. Oh, and I also saw the dipstick had popped out yet again, which has been a common occurrence since day 1 and, apparently, that stupid thing can also cause a CEL.

While I was at it, I asked if he had gotten the TPMS receiver module we had discussed a month or more ago. Nope. Ok, so I hit ebay and pretty quickly find one for under $30. That arrived yesterday, and today was pretty nice out, so I go out and get to work. Turns out the hoses actually fit together without me needing to add anything. Nice. And the module was 2 clips and one wire harness. Nice again. Literally spent 10 mins with the car. I went to start her up and, magically, without the use of any special computers or wires, all warning lights are gone! I would have bet anything I would have had to take it to get all this garbage programmed. Nope. Nothing. TPMS said it was active and the CEL was just gone. Wow. Took it for a test drive and the dipstick held in place, so even better, although I did order an "upgraded" stick that holds better.

I come back in and the wife says "I don't want to sell it NOW." I asked why she thought I was selling it now, and she said I was obviously obsessed with making it work so I could sell it. haha. No, that really wasn't my intention. But I do want to sell it when the Jeep arrives. She says no, she doesn't like the Jeep and wants to keep the benz. SIGH. But, hun, you hate when cars break and the benz WILL break. A LOT. You liked the Jeep enough to steal it from me every darned day. She won't cop to that. Sigh, again.

So, I'm thinking maybe, just maybe, I can find her a suitable Volvo for the same or less than the value of the Benz. I mean, for the same age and mileage, we're talking half the value. Or spend the full value and get something much younger. Spent some time perusing and not really finding much that floats my boat. Best deal is a V60 ... in Hawaii. Dangit! I did come upon a rather nice '06 V70 2.5T with 52k miles for $9k. Her response is "those seats look terrible for those miles." I'm not going to argue because I know, even if I win, I lose.
https://www.burnsautomart.com/vdp/18284276/Used-2006-Volvo-V70-25L-Turbo-Auto-for-sale-in-Louisville-KY-40219

I'll keep looking. Doubtful I'd find anything in this market that will make her happy. Yes, I should just keep the Benz. But, goddam, that thing will bite us in the end, especially if she is driving it.

explorerx4

@qbrozen,
How does this fit in with the Sprinter?
I would drive the Benz and set the seat to my position then pull the fuse that controls the seats.
Problem solved next time she goes to drive it.

qbrozen

She'd probably take it to the dealer to get fixed if I didn't fix it. lol.

She is of the opinion the Sprinter needs a dinghy.

Sandman6472

I saw a Sprinter the other day and damn, that's some big vehicle! Is she really wanting to drive something that big as her d d? I've seen many ladies getting out of these large SUV's so guess they must not have a problem with the large size. Guess we're different as we both prefer smaller vehicles as our d d's and that's what we own. Going to be interesting as in the not to distant future, either one or both of us are going to switch out of our current vehicles and not totally sure into what. I kind of already know what I'm going to end up with but for her, have no clue. Doubt she'll get another Audi and honestly think she'll also go back to either Korean or Japanese like myself. Our one daughter is on her second Hyundai with the first only having one issue in the eleven years she owned it. Was pretty flawless except for things everyone needs every few years...tires & batteries. If that idiot hadn't hit her a couple years back, bet she'd still have it. Her current Hyundai is just over two years old and we hit 10K in it on Monday morning. But we all don't really drive that much since the pandemic started and now, we mostly work very close to our jobs. I've been averaging just about 3K/year.

stickguy

just let her drive the thing after you spent all this time getting it sorted out. Will only be until she gets tired of it or it strands her, whichever comes first. So should not take all that long! And if it breaks hopefully just one easy repair (that you will of course blow up into something major!)

Has she really spent time with it? I assume it is missing creature comforts that she is used to. Good navi? Carplay? Bluetooth? Must be something modern that old thing doesn't have!

stickguy

qbrozen said:

She'd probably take it to the dealer to get fixed if I didn't fix it. lol.

She is of the opinion the Sprinter needs a dinghy.

so the Sprinter is going to just sit in the driveway between trips to SC, unless she needs to transport a sports team or something?

xwesx

qbrozen said:

I finally popped the hood of the Benz to take a poke around. Spraying some carb cleaner around to see if I could find any leaks. Touching things with a concerned look on my face. That sort of car-guy stuff, ya know?

You had me laughing out loud.

That popping dipstick sounds like excess crankcase pressure. It might just be a clogged vacuum line or sticking PCV valve. Granted, that's for when it pops again or you get another light, but just throwing them out there.

stickguy

tapping on parts and giving them a jiggle is my primary diagnostic tool.

explorerx4

qbrozen,
Nothing beats a matching dinghy!

ab348

stickguy said:

qbrozen said:

She'd probably take it to the dealer to get fixed if I didn't fix it. lol.

She is of the opinion the Sprinter needs a dinghy.

so the Sprinter is going to just sit in the driveway between trips to SC, unless she needs to transport a sports team or something?

I’m sure there are plenty of hotels that would welcome some additional shuttle bus capacity.

corvette

@qbrozen - nice looking low mileage V70. It's right in my backyard, let me know if you want me to take a look at it. The color looks similar to the 2002 S80 my parents used to have.

Those cars shared a lot of interior bits, and although our seats held up okay, I was not impressed with the way that the coating chipped off of the lower dash. It looked like dirt, so I scraped it with my nail, only to be rewarded with even more of the coating chipping off. The coating was ivory, and whatever was under it was a dark grey, so not very subtle.

fintail

Just for kicks got offers for the wagon from Carvana and Vroom today. 53K and 56K respectively, the former having fallen maybe 3K since I checked last. 6 weeks left in the lease, residual is 45K.

qbrozen

@xwesx said:
You had me laughing out loud.

That popping dipstick sounds like excess crankcase pressure. It might just be a clogged vacuum line or sticking PCV valve. Granted, that's for when it pops again or you get another light, but just throwing them out there.

Yup. But PCV was replaced. I’ve read of others fixing the issue by replacing with this upgraded dipstick. And since it didn’t pop out during my test drive, I’m thinking it is not serious. It does fit very loosely.

qbrozen

@stickguy said:
so the Sprinter is going to just sit in the driveway between trips to SC, unless she needs to transport a sports team or something?

Sounds like it.
Who am I to judge?
AWD diesel? I may like driving it more than her!

stickguy

qbrozen said:

@xwesx said:

You had me laughing out loud.

That popping dipstick sounds like excess crankcase pressure. It might just be a clogged vacuum line or sticking PCV valve. Granted, that's for when it pops again or you get another light, but just throwing them out there.

Yup. But PCV was replaced. I’ve read of others fixing the issue by replacing with this upgraded dipstick. And since it didn’t pop out during my test drive, I’m thinking it is not serious. It does fit very loosely.

sounds like another job for duct tape!

stickguy

Volvo wagon looks nice. Kinda old man colors though (hey, I am qualified to know!) And those are pretty dated at this point tech wise.

corvette

@stickguy - IIRC, those had a timing belt, which is a negative. No backup camera, and Volvo was late in making stability control standard, so not sure whether that one is likely to have it. But, it should be a nice driver, if it was well maintained.

stickguy

great seats of course. and at least it was from the era when you still had a view out. Low beltline, and huge rear window. Yes, timing belt so unless it has a sticker budget that job. Plus an assortment of other basics like a PCV system.

corvette

I think Honda/Acura are the only makes I trust to only need a timing belt. VW definitely needs a tensioner, even though VW officially says only the belt needs to be replaced.

jmonroe1

@sda said:
@jmonroe1 Other than curbing a wheel which required a replacement rim, my daughter has been driving 4 years and until last Monday hasn’t been in an accident. No tickets yet. I think that’s pretty good.

No tickets is good. I remember my Father having only 3 rules for me when I got my license:

(1) Don’t get into any accidents.

(2) Don’t get any tickets.

(3) If you’re not in bed by midnight, come on home.

I past all 3 with flying colors.

jmonroe

qbrozen

@corvette said:
@stickguy - IIRC, those had a timing belt, which is a negative. No backup camera, and Volvo was late in making stability control standard, so not sure whether that one is likely to have it. But, it should be a nice driver, if it was well maintained.

Carfax shows tbelt done in 2019.

Oh, and, @stickguy , you had asked me about the benz tech. It has backup cam, bluetooth, and heated and cooled seats. That’s enough.

stickguy

pretty fancy for 2007. But I guess MB tended to be early adopters on new tech.

keep it. sounds nice!

jmonroe1

@tjc78 said:
Your garage must be a little smaller than mine. On the side with the steps (3 standard front facing) my wife’s XC90 fits with enough room to still walk up the steps. My S60 fits with ease.

If it was only the water tank.. I’d say go tankless but moving the air handler is a big deal. They make units that can go sideways and hung, if you ever need to swap it.

I think it’s time to draw straws to see who get the shorty side for say the next 4 years. Something like our democratic society voting every 4 years. No one should have to live under dictatorship rules in our country.

jmonroe

stickguy

corvette said:

I think Honda/Acura are the only makes I trust to only need a timing belt. VW definitely needs a tensioner, even though VW officially says only the belt needs to be replaced.

I'm a big "while you are in there" proponent. and "parts are cheaper than labor". Put the 2 together, and on a major time consuming job like that, I am replacing every relatively cheap part or seal that either has to come off anyway, or can be replace in a couple of extra minutes. Tensioners, cam seal, whatever is in there. And of course the water pump (still can't believe some people reuse those). getting to any of those bits is such a pain I don't want to pay the labor twice!