Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

fintail

Hmm...I see on the new inventory list of the local MB dealer, they received a white pano P2 E350 Bluetec. Sadly, it has a black interior - I want a lighter color. But, if they could give me the same deal offered on the black pano P1 car on the showroom floor...I just might do it. I also get a 1K discount for being a MBCA member, would help iron out the price difference. I might have to take a look this weekend.

ateixeira

We should demand a CCBA discount as well.

corvette

That might work, but it seems like a lot of us aren't loyal to any one brand! :P

ateixeira

Then let's also have a disloyalty rebate.

fintail

A conquest rebate - many highline makes offer them.

I don't think I can use a CCBA punch as a negotiating tool :shades:

ateixeira

Hyundai offers loyalty and conquest rebates on the Elantra GT.

Funny, just call it a rebate! I guess if you don't own a car at all you can't get it. But then I bet they have a first time car buyer rebate for the same amount!

fintail

I laughed at that not long ago too - offering both a loyalty and conquest deal. Makes the customer feel special, I guess. Marketing, there's little it can't do.

On the highline lease theme, it seems Infiniti has some of the best deals out there - just no cars that make me want to jump.

jpp75

Remind me, what's the P2 stand for?

My Jeep was white with black interior, I grew to like it even though it wasn't my first choice.

fintail

P2 is the second level of MB option packages. Includes xenon/keyless go/power trunk close/etc. P1 is nav/bluetooth/camera/heated seats/shade/etc.

Black would be easy to keep clean, but it just gets gloomy.

boomchek

Would you keep your E55 or are you going to trade it?

fintail

I'd sell it - just don't have room, I don't want it to live outside. In the past, 2 salespeople at the local MB dealer have told me they'd be interested in it - to not trade it in elsewhere. So if the crazy deal I want is possible (only way I would buy), I should be able to find a new home for it easily enough.

jpp75

Gotcha. Sounds like P2 has everything you need.

Up in the pacific NW I'm sure it would get gloomy. Here in the south it was a pain because it got so hot in the summer but you wouldn't really have that problem. My Jeep had the ventilated seats which helped some but they still held heat pretty well.

fintail

I really just want the xenons.

My current car has ventilated seats, but as it is seldom hot here - you can barely tell when they are on. Don't need it. I love heated seats though. I usually drive with the sunroof cover open just to let light in the car - it can be dreary without it.

jpp75

The crazy deal is a lease, right? If I remember correctly the deal you posted a day or two ago was a lease and not a purchase.

Don't blame you for not keeping the E55, no real point in having 3 cars and it would sit too much. Better to get the cash out of it and just enjoy a new car.

fintail

Yeah, it's a lease, cheapest I have seen on something like that. The 2014 E will be heavily facelifted and there's a bit of 2013 model stock hanging around, so there should be deals to be had. I actually prefer the 2013 design, and I've been wanting to try a bluetec. This could be a good chance. Nothing particularly wrong with the old car, but I've had it since 06 so I might be a little bored with it, and I don't feel like I drive it as I should. It might work. I might go in and talk numbers when I have time, this Sunday. It'll have to be a fairly specific car (I really only want a couple colors, and want P2/pano) and good deal though.

jayrider

Whenever I go out in the garage to check and top up air in the tires, the valve stem on all 4 wheels is on the bottom. It's too cold to pull it out so I've got to strain every ligament in my knees and hips to get the job done.
I wonder if it's related to the fact that when golfing, the pin placement is never anywhere near the spot on the green where my ball ends up. :mad:

Sandman6472

My uncle and his family live in Westport, with just my aunt and uncle and their daughter and her family still there. But they've been there since the late '60's as I recall. Their place is right next to the water on an island just north of the train station...a real nice place. Wish I could get up there more often but life gets in the way sometimes.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

Sandman6472

What source do you use for the air? Wish I had something in the garage to top off the air in our tires as I now have to go see my guy at the tire store and then he gets an employee to check and fill 'em for me. He's nice this way but I do service 4 vehicles with him so he does take care of me.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

Sandman6472

Looks like The Sandman is on his way to Orlando in the a m...yay! Looking forward to this trip as we were off today. A good thing as I am now well rested and the back isn't hurting like it did after the Key West trip. The boss did let me know that next Sunday through Friday we are going to be quite busy and he wanted to know who had days they couldn't work. Like they told me...feast or famine...luckily I've got a clear calendar for the next couple of months, at least until tax season is over. I know we're doing Daytona again in April or May for the wife's continuing education classes and then in June for the IRS classes in Orlando. Now that I've taken a tax class, I can sit in and understand some of what they're talking about but I'll be at the beach!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

jayrider

I have a tire inflator I bought at Sears years ago. It plugs into a 110 outlet and does the job fast but noisy. You can find them at any big box or autoparts store. I have another one that plugs into the cars 12 volt system. Way too slow but it is handy to have on the road if you need to add air in an emergency.

stever

Sounds similar to mine; have to wear my earplugs when I use it. And my inflator works better for me if the valve stems are near the bottom, but naturally mine are always up top. :shades:

Sandy, I know you live in Florida and all, but I'm wondering if a hot pad would help on the drives, at least for those cars that don't have heated seats.

fintail

I kind of like Daytona Beach and the area north to St Augustine - might be a good place to open up that Sixt branch :shades:

jpp75

Let me know when you're hiring.

kyfdx

When fintail gets to be the fat cat owner, you peons will make diddly..!!

fintail

It's Florida, low cost of living :shades:

fintail

Hmmm...I notice Edmunds TMV is way under invoice for the E Bluetec, and that what I was thinking for a potential E55 sale was just a few hundred over Edmunds trade-in. I wonder if that's accurate. Will be interesting to see if they go along with the deal I'd want - been a long time since I've punched the card.

And might do it twice, as the difference would be enough to buy a nice bike and new gear. Either that or just save/invest it and use a very low interest line of credit.

Sandman6472

I have a cushion that I sit on in the van on the way home and it's quite comfortable. I went to Walmart and bought 2 outdoor cushions which are soft and put them together in a pillow case protector and than into a pillow case. Works like a charm on the cheap. I don't want to use the really nice Relax The Back unit I have in my personal car for fear of losing it as I leave mine in the van...the 2 cushions cost $5 bucks each plus the pillow protector which was $2 bucks...if I loose it, I won't be super upset. But it does the trick...I've been sitting on cushions at my computer and the dinner table for years, well since my accident as I herniated my 3 lowest discs and my butt really hurts sitting on a hard surface for a extended period of time.

Over the years, I've had to adopt to being in chronic pain and do things accordingly. I'm just glad this outfit gave me a chance to work again as I'm only partially disabled at this point. I know in time I'll end up totally disabled but...such is life. I could be dead next week!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

ateixeira

Could it be green incentives on the diesel? Or was that BMW?

ateixeira

Stay active, you'll live longer than if you were a coach potato.

Sandman6472

And no state income tax...a good thing! But we've got crazy voters and a wacked out governor! I can come up with the down payment for the Sixt franchise and I think the North Florida area would work just fine. You'd be in charge of the fleet of course especially the German makes since that's your specialty. I'll take the imports and call it a day. How much do ya think we'd need...$100k or somewhere south of there? I'll need a few months but sounds like a plan!

Got a question though. Just got home from Walmart and parked next to me was a pristine 2006 or 2007 C Class in a beautiful taupe color with the word "Kompressor" on the rear...what kind of animal is this? I was drooling over the color...was absolutely gorgeous and just the right size vehicle. I think I'm in love Fin!

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

Sandman6472

Agreed, that's why I finally did get up and find this new job. After 18 months, I figured it was about time to do it. I know the wife and kids were very worried about me and didn't quite understand that I'd know when the time was right to change things. That time came about 6 weeks ago when I really got active in my job search. I knew that I wanted something in the auto industry and here we are. Thanks for the concern though...58 is just plain too young to stop everything. Luckily I've kept my weight at an o k place but could stand to loose about 10 now which will happen as I get more mobile.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

fintail

No state income tax here in WA either, but high living costs in most places. And some wackos, too. I'd get along with the desired Sixt fleet. I think they wanted 150K to get into the franchise, and something like 750K in (presumably liquid) assets. A little out of my league.

The "kompressor" C-class first came around in 1998 with the old W202 style. It stopped in 2005. These were all C230s. Even the latest ones can be picked up for not a lot today - maybe low-mid teens for genuinely nice cars. Maintenance will be expensive and they can be finicky. I'd definitely go after a 2004-5 car, and get the nicest you can afford.

There was also the C32 AMG, a higher performance kompressor car made from 02-04.

fintail

I think that was the E90 diesel, yeah.

I think these late pre-facelift W212s just aren't moving as fast as desired, people are waiting for the 2014 model. I prefer the current design, too.

steine13

In German, turbo is "Turbo" or "Turbolader," [turbo charger]... which one might figure out on one's own... supercharger becomes "Kompressor," which is a little less obvious.

In this case, it's probably a supercharged 4cyl on the lower-end Benzes.

As to whether they are any good, I have no idea....

Cheers,
-Mathias

28firefighter

I am still adjusting to the cost of living here in Seattle. It isn't as substantial right now while we are still in renter mode, but the whole home buying thing is going to be an adventure for us. The cost to buy a comparable home like we would have bought in Pittsburgh is triple, give or take a bit.

I will say though, it is nice not having 3% of my paycheck taken out every couple of weeks for state taxes...

To keep this auto related, my Volvo officially became a citizen of Washington. I have the newly installed front license plate bracket to prove it. :sick:

stever

I'm working on my Michigan taxes tonight, so thanks, I needed that comment about house prices. True, I'm in the UP boonies, but you can get a decent 2,000 sq. ft. house with a detached two car garage for under $50,000, just a couple of blocks from the beach. Just bring your own job. Almost makes the taxes tolerable. :shades:

Lots of used cars to buy and sell here too; you just need to like the Big 3 and rust. And patience - when I put my in-law's old F-150 on craigslist late one night a year ago, a buyer came knocking the next morning at 8 am. Nothing in the ad but an email, but he recognized the truck and knew who was selling it, so he went to their house.

They sold it to him and then had to wait two weeks for him to cut enough logs on his property to raise the cash.

ateixeira

Early ones were 2.3l supercharged, later they downsized to 1.8l. I recall the later ones as being smoother.

In the light C "coupe" they actually moved along decently.

Sandman6472

All I know is the sedan I saw earlier was beautiful in that rose like color and was the perfect size car...same as my Civic. I feel real comfortable in this size car and will definitely prefer to stay in a compact next time. I keep trying to tell the wife that she might be very unhappy down sizing to a sub compact with a much smaller engine...it'll get real loud when she floors it if she needs to make a quick move into traffic on the interstate. Her 2.3 engine in her current Mazda3 is real quick mover whenever a sudden burst of power is needed...no fuss and not much engine noise as it just delivers seemless speed. I tend to drive a bit more aggressively when ever I'm alone in it as it's a real hoot to drive. And now that we've fixed the broken motor mounts, it's like a bat out of hell! It's just a wee bit thirsty and always has been but Mazda does make a very good vehicle and I will miss it once we cut it loose from the herd next year.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

breld

I was just in your neck of the woods yesterday Sandy - we just got back from Ft. Lauderdale yesterday after a cruise to Cozumel (Royal Caribbean, not Carnival - those poor souls). It was a bit tough leaving 80 degree weather and landing in the 20's here in Denver.

On a car note - I got to register the plates on my 335xi today. I still have several more weeks before expiration, but I hate having temp tags on the car. Wife's wagon should follow shortly.

boomchek

You guys are in a way lucky with the dirt cheap housing prices. When I watch some real estate shows on TV and see people touring huge newer houses with an asking price of what my Vancouver suburb condo is worth I get the itch to almost move south to the US.

Here you need about $400k to get into a livable older detached house. :surprise:

Sandman6472

Didn't get too much sleep last night so I just got up about 5:45 and got all my stuff ready. Decided to pack a lunch today since I don't know the exact route and don't want a replay of last Friday. Once I get familiar with where we're going, I can stop for a quick bite. A lot of the others say they just eat while driving and I did try this on Sunday and found it a bit dangerous so I think I'll just pull over and take the few minutes to eat. Did learn a lesson though, don't eat a ice cream sundae while driving...it dripped a bit on my shirt but I had plenty of napkins to clean it up. Would hate to get the cars dirty.
Should be a nice sunny day for driving and about 86 out...I'll just put on the cruise and a/c and off into the wild blue yonder aka Orlando. I'll report back later tonight. Hoping to snag either a Verano or a Jetta today...getting a bit tired of the Focus already! And I'd also like a car with SAT radio for a change.

The Sandman :sick: :shades:

ateixeira

The new 2l SkyActiv engine makes similar power and does a lot better on gas.

The next gen 3 is starting to pop up so we may see deeper discounts on those soon.

fintail

And the lower mainland is just entering into "correction" stage as well - watch out. My old condo, sold 7 years ago, is still worth 25% less than that selling price.

fintail

Buying in nicer areas of Puget Sound is daunting, as there is a huge disconnect between rent and mortgages. If you're going to be in the area for under a decade, buying might not pencil out very well. But better than the suckers who bought in 05-06, who might have to wait a decade or more to break even. Things were insane here then. Property taxes in some areas of King County aren't cheap, either.

I don't like front plates either. Amusing how the country doesn't have a unified yes/no stance on them.

fintail

The later one is the one to get - the later cars also had better quality.

xwesx

Welcome back! I imagine you and your wife needed that vacation after all that car buying! :P

boomchek

Yeah we paid what was to us a decent price for our condo 3 years ago. Regardless of what the market does our mortgage is still cheaper than if we were renting, and that's with minimal cash out of our pocket. So either way since we have to pay to live somewhere and we're not stretching our budget or paying more than if were to rent we're not worried right now.

It would be nice to get into a townhouse or house though so if prices to drop significantly we'd definetly start looking but would keep the condo as well I think.

fintail

What do you do about garage space?

In my immediate area, carrying costs of a mortgage seem to be twice rent or more - and that's for condos that won't appreciate like houses. Makes it hard for me to want to buy. There are deals to be had in lesser locations, but hour + one way commutes don't endear me.

boomchek

Yeah we're central to everything and only 15 minute drive to the border where we get gas and buy groceries (meats and cheeses and dairy are much cheaper).

We only have 1 parking stall and sometimes you can get away with parking in visitors for a night.

Otherwise street parking is free, there's lots of space, and no city permits are required to park on the street.

It helps living in a not too congested neighbourhood because I have 2 cars out on the street right now, the MDX I bought for winter/new years, and my daily driver Echo RS 5 speed 4 dr hatch. Wife's BMW sits in the garage.

I'm trying to sell both the MDX as we don't need it anymore and the Echo and get something more interesting for my dd duties but it's hard to beat the Echo's superb fuel economy.

By the way I sold the Accord Wagon I had. It wasn't giving me very good fuel economy and I got offered a lot of money for it so although I miss it, it's gone. If I can find one like that in stick I'd buy it immediately.

I went through a lot of cars lately, my Echo and MDX are #27 and #28 since 1994 when I got my license. :surprise:

fintail

I have one garage spot too - I have to rent a second for the fintail, and anything else, I am out of luck. Might be a good thing, keeps the herd small. I am generally OCD clean with my cars, so parking them outside doesn't appeal to me.

I haven't bought a car since 2006. Maybe it's coming time to look again.

What do you want to replace the Accord with? Sell the MDX first, at least - you don't want to appear on "Hoarders" :shades: