Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

roadburner · June 22

@oldfarmer50 said:
I share your outrage but usually uninsured deadbeats have no assets worth chasing. I’ve mentioned two cases personally where that would be futile. One fled the state before I could enforce the judgement, the other might flee the country. Frustrating, I know but some people are just judgement proof.

Even if I can’t recover any money I can use every legal means to make the deadbeat’s life miserable for as long as possible.

kyfdx · June 22

I think they look great. Not a lot for the money, though.

nyccarguy · June 22

@28firefighter said:
I was going to go all in on stonks. 🚀

Is that the company that makes the bunker busters?

"They say that the best weapon is the one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once,"

T. Stark

corvette · June 22

28firefighter said:
I was going to go all in on stonks. 🚀

I hear TSLA is going to the moon!

jmonroe1 · June 22

roadburner said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

I share your outrage but usually uninsured deadbeats have no assets worth chasing. I’ve mentioned two cases personally where that would be futile. One fled the state before I could enforce the judgement, the other might flee the country. Frustrating, I know but some people are just judgement proof.

Even if I can’t recover any money I can use every legal means to make the deadbeat’s life miserable for as long as possible.

————————————————
I’d do the same. And I’m sure you know a few illegal means too that won’t get you time.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · June 22

corvette said:

28firefighter said:
I was going to go all in on stonks. 🚀

I hear TSLA is going to the moon!

————————————————
I’m pretty sure I just saw last week, the last time they tried that they couldn’t get off the pad on Earth.

That had to cost plenty.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 · June 22

Yeah, I had several people suggest I visit the tree killer to make his life difficult.😥

kyfdx · June 22

Life is too short for that crap.

explorerx4 · June 22

Maybe some of those projectiles were getting close to their 'Use By' date.
Weird thing is, I watched TopGun Maverick, 2nd time, last night and saw the news after that.

pensfan83 · June 22

@28firefighter said:

Sigh. Uninsured driver. Of course.

Oh man, how frustrating. Hope all works out.

explorerx4 · June 22

I'm pretty sure that's the offending car in the background.
Wife and daughter took the grandkids up to Wisco for my other daughter's company picnic.
Big fun for all of them.
They were gong to take my son in law's 2017 Explorer but I offered my ST since it doesn't have a lot of miles on it.
After the trip, my daughter wants to buy it.

nyccarguy · June 22

Warning. Gas mileage post. My 18 year old son has a friend whose Aunt has a house in The Hamptons (out east on Long Island). I told him to steer clear of Diddy’s house, He took the Highlander with him and returned it in 1 piece after driving 3 ish hours there on Wednesday and 3 hours back on Saturday. Then my wife and I took our 13 year old daughter up to camp this morning. I had to fill up before we hit the road on the way back. 26.65 mpg average. Usually when my wife drives we average somewhere between 17-19 mpg.

nyccarguy · June 22

Thursday was my 1st experience at a carmax. Made an appointment online and showed up a few minutes early. While they evaluated my Tacoma, I decided to walk the lot and check. Out what they had. Ultimately things looked a little too pricey for my tastes. They did have a few vehicles that I found interesting.

https://www.carmax.com/car/27203113
2017 Honda Fit EX - Manual - 98K miles. The car looked to be in good shape and well taken care of. All 4 tires looked to have a lot of tread life left in them and were the same. Was the sticker price on this car even $18K back in 2017? Even if it was $20K, I know it is a Fit, but at 8+ years old and almost 100K miles is too expensive for my blood at $14K.

https://www.carmax.com/car/26854494
This 2017 Jetta S has a 5-Speed manual and under 60K miles. Looked to be in immaculate shape. It looked like a good buy at under $15K. It’s already reserved.

https://www.carmax.com/car/26723138
https://www.carmax.com/car/27240017
These 2 very close WRXs were parked right next to each other. Both White. Both 6-Speeds. The 2018 is a base that has 70K miles and the 2020 is a Premium that has 76K miles. The ‘18 looked to be in much better shape. The ‘20 had curb rash on every wheel. The ‘18 was $2K cheaper and I thought a better buy. The ‘18 is currently reserved.

I’m holding off on posting the winner of the 2023 Tacoma SR V6 4WD Double Cab Short Bed sweepstakes until I have a check in my hand. To be continued…

qbrozen · June 22

The Fit would be worth $11.5-$12k retail if it was immaculate.

I didn’t look up any others.

stickguy · June 22

I assume you did the Carvana first.

tjc78 · June 23

nyccarguy said:
Warning. Gas mileage post. My 18 year old son has a friend whose Aunt has a house in The Hamptons (out east on Long Island). I told him to steer clear of Diddy’s house, He took the Highlander with him and returned it in 1 piece after driving 3 ish hours there on Wednesday and 3 hours back on Saturday. Then my wife and I took our 13 year old daughter up to camp this morning. I had to fill up before we hit the road on the way back. 26.65 mpg average. Usually when my wife drives we average somewhere between 17-19 mpg.

Is your Highlander the 2GR V6? If so that 26.65 is pretty good.

My wife drives so little there would be no way to log her mileage as I would represent 95% of the tank.

If she has driven 300 miles so far this year I'd be surprised.

28firefighter · June 23

So. Fun fact, the GLI is a unibody construction and this landed smack in middle of one of the unibody panels. Significant cutting, welding, etc to get it back to spec. First estimate is a mind blowing $15-$20k. We'll see what the Safeco adjuster comes back with (this was a VW Collision shop).

jmonroe1 · June 23

28firefighter said:
So. Fun fact, the GLI is a unibody construction and this landed smack in middle of one of the unibody panels. Significant cutting, welding, etc to get it back to spec. First estimate is a mind blowing $15-$20k. We'll see what the Safeco adjuster comes back with (this was a VW Collision shop).

————————————————
WOW, rear quarter panels are always expensive but $15/20K is a lot more than I would have guessed.

It seems like nothing is reasonable anymore.

Let us know how it goes.

jmonroe

28firefighter · June 23

It's because there is no rear quarter panel - it's all one body part with no seams. Apparently there is a high likelihood Safeco totals this because they don't like welding unibody.

explorerx4 · June 23

@28firefighter,
Did you even get through your first tank of fuel?

jmonroe1 · June 23

28firefighter said:
It's because there is no rear quarter panel - it's all one body part with no seams. Apparently there is a high likelihood Safeco totals this because they don't like welding unibody.

————————————————
It looks like there is a seam about mid way aft of the wheel opening. But the panel probably gets welded somewhere up the C-pillar like they do it at the factory.

Years ago they used to spread lead at that joint vs. welding but with robot welders today that art is probably lost now.

jmonroe

28firefighter · June 23

That's actually the rear bumper wraparound. That'll need replaced, too. Above the seam is the problem.

28firefighter · June 23

explorerx4 said:
@28firefighter,
Did you even get through your first tank of fuel?

In the middle of the second (I told you it was fuel efficient!)

au1994 · June 23

28firefighter said:
So. Fun fact, the GLI is a unibody construction and this landed smack in middle of one of the unibody panels. Significant cutting, welding, etc to get it back to spec. First estimate is a mind blowing $15-$20k. We'll see what the Safeco adjuster comes back with (this was a VW Collision shop).

Jeebus

jmonroe1 · June 23

28firefighter said:
That's actually the rear bumper wraparound. That'll need replaced, too. Above the seam is the problem.

————————————————
I realize above the seem is the quarter panel. How far up the C-Pillar it goes is not important. But wherever the replacement quarter panel ends that is where the welding and bondo will be on the C-Pillar.

The bumper cover looks like it can be repaired with a little bondo and paint.

jmonroe

stickguy · June 23

yowzers. that is why if I ever get hit (and not hoping for it of course) I want them to hit me hard enough, in the right location, that it gets totaled out since I don't want a major repair job.

You found that one. They can find you an identical replacement easy enough (is new car replacement coverage still a thing?)

$15-20K sounds like a Rivian quarter.

nyccarguy · June 23

@28firefighter said:
So. Fun fact, the GLI is a unibody construction and this landed smack in middle of one of the unibody panels. Significant cutting, welding, etc to get it back to spec. First estimate is a mind blowing $15-$20k. We'll see what the Safeco adjuster comes back with (this was a VW Collision shop).

Good lord! That’s crazy! Good job taking it to a VW certified body shop! Please keep us informed!

mjfloyd1 · June 23

@28firefighter said:
So. Fun fact, the GLI is a unibody construction and this landed smack in middle of one of the unibody panels. Significant cutting, welding, etc to get it back to spec. First estimate is a mind blowing $15-$20k. We'll see what the Safeco adjuster comes back with (this was a VW Collision shop).

Is that unibody “frame” damage?

sda · June 23

Wow, I was SO wrong in my assessment. That’s incredible something that appears moderately damaged is that severe. I hate that.

oldfarmer50 · June 23

Sounds like an opportunity to buy it back after they total it and get a new, if somewhat cosmetically compromised daily driver. Sure it would have a salvage title but who cares if you drive it until the wheels fall off.

explorerx4 · June 23

Sometimes contractor's price things high if they don't want the job.

28firefighter · June 23

@mjfloyd1 said:

@28firefighter said:
So. Fun fact, the GLI is a unibody construction and this landed smack in middle of one of the unibody panels. Significant cutting, welding, etc to get it back to spec. First estimate is a mind blowing $15-$20k. We'll see what the Safeco adjuster comes back with (this was a VW Collision shop).

Is that unibody “frame” damage?

That’s what the suspicion is.

corvette · June 23

@28firefighter - if it really is that bad and they refuse to total, you may be better off to "take the check and sell the wreck," especially if they will pay you the repair cost plus inherent diminished value.

28firefighter · June 23

We’ll see. One step at a time.

roadburner · June 23

I'm beginning to think that eliminating Debtors' prisons was a bad idea.

mjfloyd1 · June 24

@28firefighter that stinks. But it falls into my “the GLI is tainted, this is a buying opportunity” plan. I’d actually be happier with a new vehicle than a repaired possible unibody frame damage vehicle that I own rather than lease.

I changed our car insurance to replacement value after the Audi Q7 before the lemon-ish Q7 was totaled since it was such a hassle to get a reasonable actual value for it during the really high price COVID days. Thankfully @qbrozen came to my rescue and sent complete Manheim comparable data that I could submit. It also helped that I was in the position to go ahead a buy a new vehicle and tell the insurance company to pound sand while I waited impatiently.

kyfdx · June 24

28firefighter said:
We’ll see. One step at a time.

If your insurance allows you to collect DV (not a thing, here), then that has to increase the chances they will total it, right?

stickguy · June 24

Sounds logical. But never know with an insurance company.

au1994 · June 24

28firefighter said:
We’ll see. One step at a time.

Glad you were not hurt and I hope your son was not with you. An idiot driving like that and it could have been worse for you and other cars around you.

Any idea when the insurance company will make their ruling?

xwesx · June 24

oldfarmer50 said:
Sounds like an opportunity to buy it back after they total it and get a new, if somewhat cosmetically compromised daily driver. Sure it would have a salvage title but who cares if you drive it until the wheels fall off.

Wrong group, my friend!

(But, for the record, I totally agree with your assessment!)

xwesx · June 24

That's a funny thing about brand new cars....

In a matter of weeks after my father bought his 1992 Toyota Camry, my brother was driving (on a learner's permit at age 15) our parents to their weekly bowling night. These are dark, skinny, country roads in Oregon: no shoulder (no white line) and deep ditches. He is heading down a long straight stretch with rolling hills, about 55 mph, and there are headlights approaching him. As the car gets closer, he is starting to think that maybe that car is *in front* of him rather than in front and to the side....

As it gets really close, he is pretty certain that the car is going to hit him, so he does a quick swerve to the right with the 18" or so of room he has to the ditch line. ***BAAAAAMMMM!!!!!***** He said it sounded like someone fired a shotgun by his ear. My dad immediately yells, "Stop the car!" My brother stops. My dad runs around to the driver side and opens the door.... "Get out!" My brother gets out. Dad jumps in and shuts the door. Through the glass.... "What are you doing?! Get in!!!" Brother runs around the other side and jumps in the vacant passenger seat.

My dad whips the car around and chases the other driver all the way back to our little town. Turns out, the guy, who was driving a 1974 Charger, lived just a few houses away from us. But, he'd been drinking that night, and he was about three sheets to the wind. I'm pretty sure my dad was on the brink of killing the guy just for the satisfaction of it, but managed to restrain himself and worked out a deal with the guy instead.

Damage? An exploded driver side mirror (1974 steel beats 1992 plastic), a fine pinstripe to bare metal all the way down the driver side from the wheel arch on the Charger, and severely pitted glass down the side of the car due to all the mirror pieces hitting it.

We had that car in the family another fifteen years and 220,000 miles.... and that cold night in December of 1991 was the only time it ever took body damage. So, if you can make it through the first six months, it seems the chances of someone hitting you go down dramatically!

nyccarguy · June 24

Those 3W mats came in that I ordered a while ago. The fit is perfect!

xwesx · June 24

Nice! I like the rear mat design/fitment far better than the Weathertech. That has definitely been a long-standing weakness of theirs!

oldfarmer50 · June 24

xwesx said:
That's a funny thing about brand new cars....

In a matter of weeks after my father bought his 1992 Toyota Camry, my brother was driving (on a learner's permit at age 15) our parents to their weekly bowling night. These are dark, skinny, country roads in Oregon: no shoulder (no white line) and deep ditches. He is heading down a long straight stretch with rolling hills, about 55 mph, and there are headlights approaching him. As the car gets closer, he is starting to think that maybe that car is *in front* of him rather than in front and to the side....

As it gets really close, he is pretty certain that the car is going to hit him, so he does a quick swerve to the right with the 18" or so of room he has to the ditch line. ***BAAAAAMMMM!!!!!***** He said it sounded like someone fired a shotgun by his ear. My dad immediately yells, "Stop the car!" My brother stops. My dad runs around to the driver side and opens the door.... "Get out!" My brother gets out. Dad jumps in and shuts the door. Through the glass.... "What are you doing?! Get in!!!" Brother runs around the other side and jumps in the vacant passenger seat.

My dad whips the car around and chases the other driver all the way back to our little town. Turns out, the guy, who was driving a 1974 Charger, lived just a few houses away from us. But, he'd been drinking that night, and he was about three sheets to the wind. I'm pretty sure my dad was on the brink of killing the guy just for the satisfaction of it, but managed to restrain himself and worked out a deal with the guy instead.

Damage? An exploded driver side mirror (1974 steel beats 1992 plastic), a fine pinstripe to bare metal all the way down the driver side from the wheel arch on the Charger, and severely pitted glass down the side of the car due to all the mirror pieces hitting it.

We had that car in the family another fifteen years and 220,000 miles.... and that cold night in December of 1991 was the only time it ever took body damage. So, if you can make it through the first six months, it seems the chances of someone hitting you go down dramatically!

Oh oh, I had a 1974 Charger. Now where was I that night?🤪

jmonroe1 · June 24

oldfarmer50 said:

xwesx said:
That's a funny thing about brand new cars....

In a matter of weeks after my father bought his 1992 Toyota Camry, my brother was driving (on a learner's permit at age 15) our parents to their weekly bowling night. These are dark, skinny, country roads in Oregon: no shoulder (no white line) and deep ditches. He is heading down a long straight stretch with rolling hills, about 55 mph, and there are headlights approaching him. As the car gets closer, he is starting to think that maybe that car is *in front* of him rather than in front and to the side....

As it gets really close, he is pretty certain that the car is going to hit him, so he does a quick swerve to the right with the 18" or so of room he has to the ditch line. ***BAAAAAMMMM!!!!!***** He said it sounded like someone fired a shotgun by his ear. My dad immediately yells, "Stop the car!" My brother stops. My dad runs around to the driver side and opens the door.... "Get out!" My brother gets out. Dad jumps in and shuts the door. Through the glass.... "What are you doing?! Get in!!!" Brother runs around the other side and jumps in the vacant passenger seat.

My dad whips the car around and chases the other driver all the way back to our little town. Turns out, the guy, who was driving a 1974 Charger, lived just a few houses away from us. But, he'd been drinking that night, and he was about three sheets to the wind. I'm pretty sure my dad was on the brink of killing the guy just for the satisfaction of it, but managed to restrain himself and worked out a deal with the guy instead.

Damage? An exploded driver side mirror (1974 steel beats 1992 plastic), a fine pinstripe to bare metal all the way down the driver side from the wheel arch on the Charger, and severely pitted glass down the side of the car due to all the mirror pieces hitting it.

We had that car in the family another fifteen years and 220,000 miles.... and that cold night in December of 1991 was the only time it ever took body damage. So, if you can make it through the first six months, it seems the chances of someone hitting you go down dramatically!
Oh oh, I had a 1974 Charger. Now where was I that night?🤪

————————————————
I’m sure you weren’t in our poster buddies old neighborhood about to have your lights turned off for a few hours by @xwesx’s Dad.

jmonroe

sda · June 24

I recall many years ago when I was about 10 or 11 my dad’s friend had a 69 Dodge Super Bee 440 Six Pack. He was giving me a ride to school and I asked why didn’t he have floor mats. His response, and so like him, why should I save the carpet for someone else?

28firefighter · June 24

The Safeco estimate (based on photos) came in at $3100. Hahahaha. The body shop laughed. They’re preparing a supplement.

explorerx4 · June 24

3K + 15K. Divide by 2. You get 8K.

explorerx4 · June 24

@sda,
That meant he was going to crash it before selling it.

sda · June 24

explorerx4 said:
@sda,
That meant he was going to crash it before selling it.

Like so many at the time, when the first gas crisis hit in 73, knee jerk reaction, he traded it for a new red Mazda 808 wagon automatic with ac. It was the piston model, not the rotary. Slow as heck. His daughter promptly ran it into a high curb and bent the suspension. It never drove straight again. A few years later they traded it for an AMC Hornet with the 258 six.

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