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Comments
before you try clay bars and all that other stuff, buy some rain-x car wash/wax with carnuba wax beads(about $5). i think you will like it and if not, you can move the cleaning up to another level. i have not waxed my fusion since i got it, over a year ago and it looks great. just got done washing it.
for the first time in her life, ny wife is suffering from spring alergies, and does not feel good. i am going to try to get her to take some test drives tomorrow, anyway.
He & my mother wanted a smaller car at a certain point & ended up with a Vega, when far better Asian alternatives were available.
I respect his choice.
The car, not so much.
Richard
I need to warn you that taking a sick wife to test drive cars is a lesson in how to fail. Be patient. Wait for a pretty day when the pollen rates are down and when she feels better. You do want new wheels, don't you?
Richard
we had our first high school regatta today.
my daughter rows on the varsity 'A' boat and they came in second out of 3 today.
2 of our neighbors kids are on the same boat, and we parents all agreed that the kids would be miserable after losing on their home course.
to my surprise, and the other parents, i am sure, they were pretty happy with second. it was the first time they had ever beaten the team that ended up 3rd.
we forget they are competing against prep schools, now.
anyways, i feel like i made a bit of a sale last year.
last year at the state final meets, i was admiring greenwiches hospitality trailer.
i was talking to another parent about it, and they mentioned they had a trailer at work that was not being used.
i tried to figure out how to get a trailer for the town and had a vision of what i thought it could look like, but i just couldn't work out how to finance it.
recently, i had heard the team had a new trailer and today i saw it.
wow! it's a 10 x 15 double axle painted up in school colors with the team logos on all 4 sides!
i still didn't connect it with the guy i talked with last year, until someone mentioned it was attached to his suburban.
there are some completely crazy giving people in our town!
back to the new wheels, they are for my wife. i am pretty happy with my fusion.
Let me know how the test drives go tomorrow. Good luck.
Richard
Ahh, he's in Norway, not a former Communist country.
Be clear that I like seeing pictures in the discussions. It breaks up the monotony of text only discussions which are sort of like the early internet.
Grad studies 502, lab assignment:
The picture in Wiki was actually clickable and linked to a larger picture of the same car. That picture is 750x449. Wiki and some other sites often do this. The smaller picture allows a better page layout but afficianados can click to see the larger, clearer picture.
Using the larger picture I reduced it to 640x382. I used a reduction factor of approximately .85. Apparently a width of 640 pixels can be used here in the forums without bumping the advertising (which we love because it supports having Edmunds).
I got this picture.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Richard
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
would look like this.
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Richard
And, it looks like it would have great cornering ability. Might be a little difficult for some of us to get in and out of it though. You do get credit for creativity though.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Yeh, and so would this little Ford Focus,
Are these available in the U.S.....I haven't seen one in Canada?
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
It certainly is handsome, & I might consider it for my next car if Volkswagen's dealer network didn't have such a poor reputation.
I should have known that, I was thinking he was in the Czech Republic, but I think you did say Norway before. So, this V W Passat convertible is for you,
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Yes, I did see it on the U.S. website. Then I tried the Canadian sight and if you look for Passat it showed the regular model. Then if you look for Passat CC you see one of these. I haven't seen any on the road and no advertising for this model, but it is supposed to be available. I don't see a convertible model available though. They are sharp, when I saw one here I thought it was a baby Maybach.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
But, it is also possible the buyer bought an extended warranty, new tires, some etch a sketch, mop and glow, and still paid less than asking price. So, difficult to say for sure if he was clubbed like a baby seal.
There is a big demand for used cars so dealers are getting good prices for them. What I don't see is when the 2009 Sonata's (I was tempted to call them Snottas, but I won't) came out, they were selling the last of the 2008s for $15000 U.S ($17,000 Cdn). So, I think that would have been a smarter buy, but I don't know if most people know that.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
So he lists it for 13k.With TTL+fees of 1k the total he is asking is 14k
So if the guy who bought it at this price-- well he overpaid by about 1000-1500.
But if an ext warr was included in this---then it was a great deal!!
If not,, then he did overpay by 1-1.5k but again ,,not by an exorbitant amount..
So I dont think he was totally,ruthlessly,mercilessly,cruelly clubbed.
So if ext warr was included--great deal;;
if total with tax is 14k --he slightly overpaid by 1-1.5k;;
but if he paid14k without tax---Then he got Totally hammered,,clubbed!!!!
the sales rep was a total greenpea, although i liked him ok because he did have enough product knowledge to point out what the edge did not have versus the lincoln.
she liked both, so we went to the showroom to get some numbers.
we start out with let's get some numbers on the mkx to see if we should go any further with that vehicle.
the mkx listed for 46k. he comes back from the desk and shows us a discount of 2k from 44k. we talk for a mimute or so, and i say the lincoln at the price although good, is more than we were looking to spend.
meanwhile my brain says, something does not add up.
while he was getting a price for the edge, i walked out to the lot and found an identical mkx, except for the $1900 vista roof.
this feature is 'must have' for my wife.
we go onto the edge and get a price. it didn't appear to be anything great, although it was supposed to be their 'relaxed sunday' price.
i pointed out to him that the lincoln price was out of line with the one we drove.
he says ' i checked the vin', there must be a mistake, i'll have to go back to see what happened.
at that point, i walked out to the lot.
i feel bad the guy at the desk threw the sales guy under the bus, so i am going to email him that he should make sure the vehicle he gets a price from has the same msrp as the one the customer is looking to buy.
my 17 year old daughter was with us, so i told her you just learned and important lesson about buying a car and she said i am going to remember that.
she is a smart kid, so i don't doubt it.
May I respectfully recommend doing it right the first time? I have never been convinced that a wax in a car wash can actually work to wax a car effectively for a period of time. With car waxing as in other things, I'm too poor to be able to afford to buy cheap. It will end up costing more in the end by trying to just "get by."
Get a brand of clay bar in the polish section at your local car store, or walmart/Meijers/etc may sell them. Pick up a carnauba wax in liquid form or paste wax. Make sure it have no cleaner. Or pick up a more expensive bottle of one of the sealers that some say are better.
The clay bar will do to the wax what 00 steel wool does for the windshield. It will level down the goop that gets adhered to the paint. Clean your windshield with your normal good stuff. It will be nice and clean, right? Then try using water on the windshield and rubbing lightly with an SOS pad (it will not scratch the glass). I do this when it's raining. You will feel the slight roughness strip off the glass. Your older wiper blades will clean much better because the glass does not have other matter affecting the surface tension of the water as the rubber blade tries to strip the water off the glass. The clay bar will do this for your paint. Even using a wax with cleaner does not remove the gunk. Even a pure cleaner (such as Mother's Cleaner) doesn't do the job.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
And, what difference does it make? Whoever bought the car must have felt they received good value or they wouldn't have bought it.
It's almost like some here want to dictate how much profit a store should make on a transaction.
Anybody have any idea about the amount of overhead it takes to peon the doors every month.
Of course you have no idea and that's the way that should be too!
I'd have to see the Focus in person.
I do think if our Accord (00 - woith 160K+ on the clock) were going to get ditched I'd likely pick up a late model Mustang convertible to replace it because it's my wife primary vehicle and and a Mustang would make her a happy camper.
She, however, is in my camp for what to do now. The Accord long ago achieved practically free car status. Until it odes something terrible we'll keep it.
Me too. For a couple grand more the guy could have had a new car instead of one 3 years old. But, jmonroe probbably had that Snotta blinged out with all manufacturer options, all dealer options... and 24 inch spinners. :surprise:
Trying to determine the dealer`s profit--it doesn`t serve any purpose.
There is a huge overhead cost with bills,maintenance,,etc.We dont see all of that.
I have seen the lights left on at dealerships at night.The electricity must cost a fortune.A small town can survive on that electricity!!
And when servicing my car--at a regular mechanic--well there are no perks,no plasma tv`s,coffee,no sitting lounge area,,,and if lucky a chance to start a conversation with a pretty woman or good looking guy!!!
There is no excuse nowadays for the buyer to get ripped off at a dealer,,absolutely none..Why?? Well,, all the info is available online nowadays--invoice,trade in values,,car reviews,user reviews,reliability info,,,even financing options with interest rates and online auto loan approvals,,and stress free Online buying-- cant beat that!!
So ,a buyer who gets clubbed --well he did not even do a basic research---U cant just walk into a showroom with no research---just shows u are very lazy or very rich! :shades: No excuse for laziness--- Folks have time to go to restaurants,,drink,,plus discuss endlessly about manicures and pedicures
If I was such a buyer ,then ,,I dont have an excuse whatsoever!!
So would I - the Mustang is primitive by comparison (a live rear axle in this day & age?) - but I have misgivings about VW's dealer network.
For just $1k more, the customer could have had a newer car. It does seem like a much better deal.
Richard
Richard
Richard
I was amazed to hear you speak of an SOS pad for windshields. I never knew people cleaned their windshields with those. I have always just used Windex or another glass cleaner. If you're sure that the pad won't scratch my windshield, I'll certainly give it a try. The cleaner the windshield, the better vision, especially at night. Thanks for the tip.
Richard
We want you to make profit on top of profit. It is my opinion that you're paying too much for your product.
Folks are not making what they were 2 years ago, credit sucks and 401ks are reeking. I retired and managed to escape with most of my 401k (timing and trend watching), but even that is losing value.
Think about it like this. What if the cheapest car in the USA was $42k. Would you sell any? Yes, but not many. That's what it feels like from a buyers perspective with dollars losing value and auto prices climbing. Houses lost value. It just makes sense cars should as well. Dave
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Richard
Richard
Richard
Richard
I don't have any statistics, but I would go out on the limb and say it's quite possible that actual transactions for new and used cars already reflect similar avearge (outside of the "boom and bust" areas) drop in prices than houses. Think about it - practically nobody sells anything at sticker, most cars sell at/below invoice, cash incentives are as high as ever. BMW added dealer's cash and lower financing on face-lifted 3-series just few months after introduction (they rarely had any cash incentives on other than clearance models, let alone new face-lifts).
Of course, I would also like to get a new car at half price, but do you think it is realistic? Where do you think that money would come from (that half price-cut you would like to see)? 50% workforce cut? 50% supplier's order cuts? 50% material cost cuts? All of that means somebody gets paid even less than they do today.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
With that much depreciation JD Power should rate initial value instead of initial quality.
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
You're quite right, but that's always been true. That's why the seller of a lightly used & nearly new car is considered to be a financial dummy while the buyer of the same car is thought to be a smart guy. Nothing new there.
Agreed. Back in CT my dealer wasn't that great. Here in Sacramento, I really like my dealer. I would buy there again.
You would think V W would get their act together. My brother got a Jetta about a year ago, after trying out all the comparables. He likes the handling and the extras (ABS, Stability control etc), but he has a real problem with the dealer. Weather stripping was coming off the door jamb areas and it took a long time before they could replace it.
Having said that, I would still chance a V W over the competition, if I was more concerned about the "joy de driving" than reliability..
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
the mkx listed for 46k
Now your in Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Lexus, Infinity, Accura, Passat, territory! Why not just compare, just for the fun of it?
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250