Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

au1994

qbrozen said:

I wish there were more pics of this. Or, maybe I don't wish for it. I just can't buy another car right now.

Mamma Mia! That would be fun. Must own an Alfa one day. Inevitable pain and suffering aside, as Jeremy Clarkson said you are not a true petrol head until you have owned one.

stickguy

Looks nice. definitely be the only one on your, or any other, block! Wonder how parts availability is?

rayainsw

Rental car story.
I was on a business trip earlier this week and decided I needed a rental car. Looking at Hertz, their ‘Premium’ class cars [ this was San Antonio, Sunday thru Wednesday – YMMV ] were priced nearly the same as ‘Economy’ for the days I would need one. So I arrived at the counter – and after the obligatory attempted ‘upsell’ to a Mercedes SUV [ no, thank you ] the nice lady offered me a nearly new 2016 Dodge Charger. I agreed – thinking this would be an opportunity to try out the V6 \ 8-speed automatic version of what I currently drive.
Nope. It was a silver Charger R/T, and – yup, it had a Hemi. In fact, I saw a number of other R/Ts on the line. I was rather surprised to see V8 sedans in a major rental car fleet – when a V6 version is also available!
Still had a bit of that ‘new car smell’ – at just over 700 miles on the odometer.
It was a relatively low equipment version [ no Nav, no leather, no sunroof, etc. ] but it did have XM. I did not drive it as much as I had expected, but here are a couple of random observations:
Suggestion - Check the tire pressures when you rent – this one had 50 PSI in all 4 !
I do this these days whenever I rent – like when I test drive. Generally new cars seem to be delivered with very high tire pressures – for transport.
Even with those very high pressures, the ride [ on generally well maintained streets and highways ] was surprisingly good! and also quiet.
The cloth seat bolsters did not seem to grab me like the ones in mine – mine are leather .
The drivetrain behaved exactly as in my 2015.
- Ray
Still happy to drive my 2015 on returning to Atlanta . . .

nyccarguy

That 164 is FWD, right?

can you sell the Volvo & buy that?

Mr_Shiftright

qbrozen said:

I wish there were more pics of this. Or, maybe I don't wish for it. I just can't buy another car right now.

I used to own one of those--briefly, for about 6 months, then flipped it.

Mr_Shiftright

CARFAX says the Alfa had an accident in 1997--so that's old history---started life in NY, moved to CA around 22K, failed emissions testing 5 times in a row at 79K, then passed, then back to NJ and....here we are! No service notations.

You know this is a FWD car, right? No matter, you'd hardly notice it. Fabulous engine sound, good handling, very comfy car to drive, 210HP but feels like more. A really nice driving experience.

Downside? Fortunately, the one you posted doesn't have the automatic transmission, so that's good. Mostly the downside is finding someone who knows these cars, can get the parts, and loves what he does. If you can't hook up with a trusted Alfa guy to do the maintenance and give it a good PPI, don't go there.

From what I recall, the only problems I had were electrical. The car never failed me, though.

jpp75

qbrozen said:

I wish there were more pics of this. Or, maybe I don't wish for it. I just can't buy another car right now.

Wow, that's the first Alfa of that vintage I've ever seen. Intriguing for sure.

tifighter

Was 95 the last year for the 164 in the US? Had to be close. I always liked the early 164L, great looking cars, The S model with the tacky body kit really killed the lines.

corvette

Wow, is that a grey market import or did they actually sell those here? Seats look "hovered in," as Terry would say. I love the HVAC vents. 

ab348

That 164 is a sweet-looking car inside and out. The Wiki entry gives some idea of what problems you might expect.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_164

qbrozen

I believe '95 was the last in the US.

I knew that one would get your attention, shifty. Yes, I'm aware it is FWD. I got to test drive one once. Really enjoyed it but was not in a place at that time that I could make a deal. Trying to remember what my daily driver was at that time, but I did still have my Spider in the garage. Anyway, the power certainly felt adequate.

My Spider never failed me, either, so I have confidence in Alfas. As you know, I don't use anybody else for mechanicals. Its all on me. Doesn't scare me one bit.

Stick, I mean, COULD I? Yeah, I guess. No idea what I could get for my volvo at this point. Nowhere near enough to pay for the Alfa, though, that's for sure. I wouldn't be willing to fix up the bodywork, and I have about $500 worth of parts sitting in the garage right now waiting for me to get to work on it. After I complete that work, maybe I'd get $2500 for it, I suppose, given the miles. Maybe $2k. Tough call.

Not sure that Alfa is worth all of $5k. Feels a little high, although there really isn't a market to judge it against.

Anyway, I just happened upon a couple of really interesting Ebay finds that have me intrigued as well.
This doesn't seem to be getting much bidding attention. Not really sure why. I really really dig it. Anybody know how to import a car??

And here is another interesting one. I don't find it as attractive as the Rover, but at least its a manual. ha.

ab348

Run, do not walk, away from that Lada.

My brother owned one new - I think it was an '85. They imported them into Canada in the '80s as a way of getting some Western currency, and they were pretty cheap here compared to most any other new car. My brother, being an absolute cheapskate and aware of the Fiat ancestry, was intrigued because he was a sports car guy in the '60s and early '70s, so he bought one for family transport. What a disaster. It never ran right, the dealer/parts network was a joke, and they rusted like nobody's business despite using heavier-than-usual gauge sheetmetal - I seem to remember they made a big deal of touting the "hot-rolled steel" they used, but I never knew if that was a good or a bad thing.

I remember one Saturday afternoon in his driveway helping him try to fix a leaky gas tank. He was pretty handy and a good mechanic, and even getting the tank out was several hours work. It was in the right rear corner of the trunk - Pintos had nothing on these - and I forget why it was so tough to remove, but it was a chore. I seem to recall that eventually we figured out that the trunk leaked water into the well where the tank sat and rusted it out at the bottom. Oh joy.

cdnpinhead

rayainsw said:

Rental car story. . . . It was a silver Charger R/T, and – yup, it had a Hemi. In fact, I saw a number of other R/Ts on the line. I was rather surprised to see V8 sedans in a major rental car fleet . . .

National rents GM & Hertz rents Ford products, unless there's been a major shakeup recently that no one bothered to tell me about. I've always found it interesting when a rental company has a batch of some other brand of car on offer. Tells me they can't be sold any other way -- fleet sales to a competiting rental agency. Any port in a storm, I guess.

That said, I've been able to drive lots of different cars during rentals for my company. Some were actually a pleasure.

stickguy

Wheeler dealers just did a slightly earlier version of the rover. Kind of cool. And usually rust buckets.

Is that a nitrous tank in the trunk?

qbrozen

hahaha.
fire extinguisher.

I think WD did a P8?? I did see that one, but the details are sketchy in my memory.

graphicguy

cdnpinhead said:

rayainsw said:

Rental car story. . . . It was a silver Charger R/T, and – yup, it had a Hemi. In fact, I saw a number of other R/Ts on the line. I was rather surprised to see V8 sedans in a major rental car fleet . . .

National rents GM & Hertz rents Ford products, unless there's been a major shakeup recently that no one bothered to tell me about. I've always found it interesting when a rental company has a batch of some other brand of car on offer. Tells me they can't be sold any other way -- fleet sales to a competiting rental agency. Any port in a storm, I guess.

That said, I've been able to drive lots of different cars during rentals for my company. Some were actually a pleasure.

I think the days of Avis renting GM and Hertz renting Ford are long gone.

I know I usually rent from Hertz and have been in everything from Kia, to Hyundai, to Toyota (and yes, Ford) on their Hertz Gold Preferred rows.

At Avis, they had a Mustang 6 cyl and a Camaro SS side by side to rent last week when I was in San Jose.

cdnpinhead

I never needed to know what Avis rented; only Hertz and National. Either way, fleet buys in large numbers don't spell success for a model, given what those cars do to used car prices when they're dumped on the market a year (or two) later. Smells like overproduction to me, but what do I know?

Mr_Shiftright

ab348 said:

That 164 is a sweet-looking car inside and out. The Wiki entry gives some idea of what problems you might expect.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_164

I recall that valve adjustments were pretty difficult on the 164, (don't they adjust with a spacer kit you have to buy?) and head gasket issues were possible. I did have an oil leak but it was minor and never tracked it down. These have a timing belt I think, so that's something to consider when shopping.

I liked the 164 quite a bit. It would feel dated now I suppose. Mine was only a few years old at the time.

I'm not sure what the market is--I think the 164 has completely bottomed out, so the "market" is probably the same as what you'd pay for the most common decent old used car....$2500--$4000 ??

Loved that engine note, though. Much sexier than the Spider's noises. But yeah, my Spider was absolutely reliable---drove that little sucker all over the country. God bless Bosch fuel injection.

ab348

stickguy said:

Wheeler dealers just did a slightly earlier version of the rover. Kind of cool. And usually rust buckets.

Is that a nitrous tank in the trunk?

I just watched that from the DVR a couple of hours ago!

That is a neat car but I was surprised to hear them say it was introduced in 1967. From the styling I would have thought late-'50s. Handsome old-school thing though. I found their carpet color choice interesting, though we are talking a light gray over dark blue car with dark brown leather inside. What they spent on a set of custom headers on a car like that baffled me. Surprised at the amount of money they were able to get for it in the end.

Mr_Shiftright

Trivia: That Rover was the car Grace Kelly crashed (and was killed in as you may recall).

Not to disparage the car because of that. After all, James Dean died in a Porsche 550 Spyder and who wouldn't want one of those?

qbrozen

I wouldn't be surprised if the 164 needs a valve spacer kit because the Spider did, too. I never did do that job, though. The kit was pretty expensive, as I recall, and the job did seem daunting at the time. Probably well within my means these days, though. That V6 would be doubly difficult, though.

I really like that Rover. Very attractive car. I guess the Alfa would be easier to live with in the long run, but not exactly a classic. (although, technically, at 21 years old, I could get classic insurance)

Mr_Shiftright

The Alfa would certainly be a much better car overall. As I recall, access to the rear bank of lifters was pretty challenging.

kyfdx

Every time I see a 164, I see it over and over and over.. As long as I drive by the place that it's (permanently) parked. Haven't seen one moving in this century.

Seem like most of them were automatics

graphicguy

kyfdx...going to the car show this weekend?

kyfdx

graphicguy said:

kyfdx...going to the car show this weekend?

Some time during the day on Saturday... is the plan.

Hopefully, they've cleaned up all the beer I spilled at the Beer Fest, last Saturday.

fintail

Neat Lada - iffy as a car and ridiculous price once it is delivered, but cool no less.

berri

These days it seems you are more likely to get Asian or FCA rental than either Ford or GM (other than SUV's).

corvette

kyfdx said:

Hopefully, they've cleaned up all the beer I spilled at the Beer Fest, last Saturday.

The Wine Festival is in a couple of weeks. I went there on a Saturday night a couple years ago. Got there when the evening tasting opened, and there were some people there who appeared to have attended the early afternoon tasting, tasted numerous wines, and then came back to the evening tasting to re-taste those wines.

I'm not sure I was much better, the group I was with went to a wine bar afterwards and then to the hotel bar to split appetizers before staggering back to our rooms.

Michaell

Golf expo for me here in Denver this Saturday. Meeting up with some former co-workers.

Dinner with the family Saturday night to celebrate the wife's birthday.

Denver auto show is next month.

kyfdx

corvette said:

kyfdx said:

Hopefully, they've cleaned up all the beer I spilled at the Beer Fest, last Saturday.

The Wine Festival is in a couple of weeks. I went there on a Saturday night a couple years ago. Got there when the evening tasting opened, and there were some people there who appeared to have attended the early afternoon tasting, tasted numerous wines, and then came back to the evening tasting to re-taste those wines.

I'm not sure I was much better, the group I was with went to a wine bar afterwards and then to the hotel bar to split appetizers before staggering back to our rooms.

Instead of just my son, two of his friends went with us, this year. More people will slow you down, which is a good thing. I tasted more varieties this year. They give you more sample tickets than you could possibly use, so if I didn't like it, I'd just pour it out. That worked out better than just drinking 20 different IPAs.

They tell me I had a good time.

graphicguy

Missed the beer and the wine tasting. Not sure how.

I'm taking a gaggle with me to the carshow, but going Saturday night with a follow on visit to the BoatHouse for BBQ. Then, we'll head to kyfdx's side of the river to go to the Prohibition Bar to try one of what's supposed to be the largest broubon selection in the world.

Should be a fun time.

Really interested in looking at Jaguars (whic I will seriously consider for my next ride). Plus, always fun to see the cars I either won't, or can't buy.

kyfdx

graphicguy said:

Missed the beer and the wine tasting. Not sure how.

I'm taking a gaggle with me to the carshow, but going Saturday night with a follow on visit to the BoatHouse for BBQ. Then, we'll head to kyfdx's side of the river to go to the Prohibition Bar to try one of what's supposed to be the largest broubon selection in the world.

Should be a fun time.

Really interested in looking at Jaguars (whic I will seriously consider for my next ride). Plus, always fun to see the cars I either won't, or can't buy.

We'll be downtown Saturday night for dinner at Mita's. Maybe, we can hook up the next time..

Didn't realize that Newberrys had named their bar. We eat at Pompilio's across the street from them, occasionally. You really are pretty close to me there... About two miles.

qbrozen

That Rover is still only $2200. That just seems crazy to me. Are they really THAT undesirable? That's a heckuva lotta style for little money.

breld

Just scored a winter set of wheels for the S4 off Craigslist.  It'll be nice to not have to leave the Audi in the garage when it gets slick outside.  Seemed a bit silly!  

I'll post pictures when they're on, but picked them up from a guy who had his own storage garage with a lift and an old Porsche 911 he was working on.  Very legit.  

stickguy

Isn't it kind of late in the season to matter now? And not like you will need them next winter.

Mr_Shiftright

qbrozen said:

That Rover is still only $2200. That just seems crazy to me. Are they really THAT undesirable? That's a heckuva lotta style for little money.

Retail value for the Rover in "fair" condition (complete, driving, some rips and tears, a few little dings, some minor mechanical recon. necessary) is about $3,000.

For Pebble Beach quality, preserved in amber, best one in the immediate Milky Way galaxy, maybe $9000.

qbrozen

well, the bidding just breached $3k, so I feel better about it.

ab348

I guess eBay is popular among masochists.

graphicguy

kyfdx said:

graphicguy said:

Missed the beer and the wine tasting. Not sure how.

I'm taking a gaggle with me to the carshow, but going Saturday night with a follow on visit to the BoatHouse for BBQ. Then, we'll head to kyfdx's side of the river to go to the Prohibition Bar to try one of what's supposed to be the largest broubon selection in the world.

Should be a fun time.

Really interested in looking at Jaguars (whic I will seriously consider for my next ride). Plus, always fun to see the cars I either won't, or can't buy.

We'll be downtown Saturday night for dinner at Mita's. Maybe, we can hook up the next time..

Didn't realize that Newberrys had named their bar. We eat at Pompilio's across the street from them, occasionally. You really are pretty close to me there... About two miles.

Been a year or so since I've been to Pompilios. Good Italian food. Not sure how that works with Newberry's...if the part where they serve food is separate from their Prohibition Bar. Been about a year since I was there, too.

Mita's? Where is that? Food type?

Mr_Shiftright

qbrozen said:

well, the bidding just breached $3k, so I feel better about it.

Now bid to $5100 with 2 hours to go. Seems like about a #3 car, so better than "fair". I'm thinking smart money should absolutely stop at around $5750 or you're bottoms up until the grave.

kyfdx

graphicguy said:

kyfdx said:

graphicguy said:

Missed the beer and the wine tasting. Not sure how.

I'm taking a gaggle with me to the carshow, but going Saturday night with a follow on visit to the BoatHouse for BBQ. Then, we'll head to kyfdx's side of the river to go to the Prohibition Bar to try one of what's supposed to be the largest broubon selection in the world.

Should be a fun time.

Really interested in looking at Jaguars (whic I will seriously consider for my next ride). Plus, always fun to see the cars I either won't, or can't buy.

We'll be downtown Saturday night for dinner at Mita's. Maybe, we can hook up the next time..

Didn't realize that Newberrys had named their bar. We eat at Pompilio's across the street from them, occasionally. You really are pretty close to me there... About two miles.

Been a year or so since I've been to Pompilios. Good Italian food. Not sure how that works with Newberry's...if the part where they serve food is separate from their Prohibition Bar. Been about a year since I was there, too.

Mita's? Where is that? Food type?

Newberrys doesn't really have much in the way of food, but it's a coffee shop during the day, and a bourbon bar the rest of the time (I think). Didn't realize they had a name for the bar. Just thought the whole place was Newberrys. (had to google Prohibition Bar)

Mita's is in the new 84.51 building, a block from the convention center. Owned by Jose Salazar, the chef/owner of Salazars in OTR. Spanish/Columbian comfort food? Something like that. I've never been there, but ate at Salazars, last month. Incredible food. Mita's should be cheaper, I hope.. lol

kyfdx

Crap.. just looked at the menu. So much for cheap.

coldinohio

breld:
really like 17in blizzak's for my winters for the A4

qbrozen

Closed out at $5100. If the buyer is in the US, they'll definitely be buried in it.

for the same $5k, I'd have the Alfa.

Mr_Shiftright

Fortunately, eBay bids are not legally binding, so maybe the bidder sobered up.

iluvmysephia1

Fortunately, eBay bids are not legally binding, so maybe the bidder sobered up.

Are you saying that eBay bids only hold up in eBay court? Once you pull up eBay stakes, you're "free" and under Kansas statutes and Federal US law? That's assuming that you live in Kansas, like I do, of course. Insert your particular state.

Mr_Shiftright

That's right if I understand what you are asking. You can go to eBay right now and bid $150,000 on a used Ferrari, win the auction and just walk away. There are no legal consequences. Same goes for real estate on eBay--so you can also bid on the house that the Ferrari is parked at.

stever

EBay Non-binding bid policy.

"In most cases, a bid on eBay is a legally binding contract between the buyer and the seller. Due to state laws and the complexities of real estate and vehicle transactions, bids in those categories are non-binding."

fintail

Ooh "not allowed", I bet that stops people

iluvmysephia1

Yikes. Sounds like we need Bill Nye the Science Guy ta sort this one out.