Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

mjfloyd1

@Sandman6472 said:
Another punch for 2025 everyone!
Finally folks, the Sandman has bought a new vehicle!!! They're bringing it to the house as I type this. Details to follow. Got the odometer up to 79,996...never made it to 80K! But hey, that's life. Lots for me to learn these next few days!!!

Congratulations. I suspect it is the grey GTI

jmonroe1

roadburner said:

laurasdada said:

I gotta say, while lookey-looing around the BMW lot yesterday, nothing save for the Z4 caught my eye as attractive. Well, maybe the 3 series, but the 2 looks to Lego/Mr. Roboto. The 5 is just awkward, and the new X3 seems to come from the same committee that designed the new 2.

The latest 3er has been uglied up as well- particularly the front fascia. And of course the digital dash is an ergonomic fiasco.

————————————————
Didn’t a couple of top BMW designers leave and go to KIA. Maybe we’ll see ya in a KIA.

jmonroe

mjfloyd1

Welp, the 4Runner that was supposed to arrive in 20-ish days may arrive today. I guess I gotta tell my wife since I may pick it up tomorrow.

He just sent a text that it just arrived

stickguy

Probably got a new Tucson.

nyccarguy

@mjfloyd1 said:
Welp, the 4Runner that was supposed to arrive in 20-ish days may arrive today. I guess I gotta tell my wife since I may pick it up tomorrow.

He just sent a text that it just arrived

Sweet!

nyccarguy

@mjfloyd1 said:

@Sandman6472 said:
Another punch for 2025 everyone!
Finally folks, the Sandman has bought a new vehicle!!! They're bringing it to the house as I type this. Details to follow. Got the odometer up to 79,996...never made it to 80K! But hey, that's life. Lots for me to learn these next few days!!!

Congratulations. I suspect it is the grey GTI

I hope so!

stickguy

interesting color on the Toyota. what was the delay related to? Defective lug nuts or something?

mjfloyd1

Bolts for the front air dam. Apparently they had been falling off. Awkward

Heritage blue. It is apparently a traditional “heritage” Yota color. It looks lighter in the sun and changes with different amounts of light. It’s a polarizing color and that’s ok.

explorerx4

I can picture that color on a Corona.
Not sure if this is it. Pic seems too light.

corvette

@Sandman6472 - I'm stubborn... I'd have driven a few blocks to watch it click over 80k. Congrats on the new ride!

stickguy

i'd be afraid they would deduct for the higher miles.

actually once I have a deal set I want to do it immediately. Not take any chances with my trade in.

Sandman6472

Just not sure how to change the vehicles under my name. I went into the profile and changed something but it's not showing up when I return to the Forums. I'm stumped!!

And yes...it's the Moonstone Grey 2025 VW Golf GTI. Just didn't like the white one, at all. Has a lot of new features but the best for me is that I can manually fold in the side view mirrors before I go in & out of the garage! They fold in when the car is turned off but I can turn them off manually which is a game changer for me! Once I found out this was possible, kinda pushed me over the edge to say o k to purchasing. They ended up waxing it for me and let me put a nice amount on a credit card. Also the first time I had a vehicle delivered to the house & signing all the paperwork here. No finance office to sit through, my sales guy took my check and sent me the email to put the rest on my c c. Super efficient! Comes with 3 year of free maintenance which helps.

Thought about going over the 80K on the odo but after cleaning out all my stuff, I was exhausted to be honest. Had the Sirius/XM account taken off the 2015 Golf & added to the GTI, as they gave a 3 month free trial. Wife walked in around 6:30 and was happy I finally did it as she knew this purchase was coming for awhile. Got my insurance taken care of and just went up $6.00 till renewal time comes. Overall, a decent experience from start to finish with no games which was appreciated. But, the time had come & was finally ready to let the 2015 go.

Sandman6472

I'm sure it's pretty easy to change the vehicle line-up but just can't remember how to do it. I did put some photos on the iPhone but not sure how to upload those either. Tech is not my strong suit by any means!

roadburner

jmonroe1 said:

roadburner said:

laurasdada said:

I gotta say, while lookey-looing around the BMW lot yesterday, nothing save for the Z4 caught my eye as attractive. Well, maybe the 3 series, but the 2 looks to Lego/Mr. Roboto. The 5 is just awkward, and the new X3 seems to come from the same committee that designed the new 2.

The latest 3er has been uglied up as well- particularly the front fascia. And of course the digital dash is an ergonomic fiasco.

————————————————
Didn’t a couple of top BMW designers leave and go to KIA. Maybe we’ll see ya in a KIA.

jmonroe

Audi lost some designers to Hyundai. BMW lost an engineer from BMW M. Not enough for me to head in that direction.

stickguy

sandy, for the pictures, click the drop down arrow on the icon that looks like a picture, and hit "choose files" then follow it to your pictures list and select the one you want and hit enter.

jmonroe1

mjfloyd1 said:

Bolts for the front air dam. Apparently they had been falling off. Awkward

Heritage blue. It is apparently a traditional “heritage” Yota color. It looks lighter in the sun and changes with different amounts of light. It’s a polarizing color and that’s ok.

————————————————
Are you sure the color isn’t Chameleon?

jmonroe

stickguy

the signature takes some looking. click your image to bring up your profile. there is a blue box with a down arrow to "edit Profile" Click that, and it brings up another menu page. On the right side list, look for signature settings and click that. If I got this right and you followed along, that should bring up a text box with your current signature. fix it, and save then back out.

if it doesn't work you don't need to pay my bill.

suydam

@Sandman6472 Congrats! We want pictures!

28firefighter

Well. I can help for now. And yes I know it’s too nice to have the top up, but we’re waiting on parts from the motherland to fix it (dealer is dealing with it) and I don’t want to tempt fate.

28firefighter

Congrats @Sandman6472 !!

nyccarguy

@28firefighter - good god that’s gorgeous!

@Sandman6472 - nice job! I’m so glad you got the GTI! Can’t wait to hear your driving impressions!

roadburner

stickguy said:

now I am curious. need to stop at the BMW store (have not been to one in many years) just to see what the new models look like!

Munich's Vehicle Uglification Program continues to knock it out of the park.
M340i:

X3:

530

Michaell

@roadburner - worse that the Bangle days?

I'm not impressed with the styling, either. But, there will always be those folks who are captivated by the Roundel.

cdnpinhead

Michaell said:

But, there will always be those folks who are captivated by the Roundel.

Well, that's certainly one way to put it.

28firefighter

I like the i5 the way it drives for sure, but not a fan of the style.

oldfarmer50

xwesx said:

A Mustang is a monster, size wise, compared to a Cayman!

The length of the hood takes some getting used too.

oldfarmer50

Sandman6472 said:

Another punch for 2025 everyone!
Finally folks, the Sandman has bought a new vehicle!!! They're bringing it to the house as I type this. Details to follow. Got the odometer up to 79,996...never made it to 80K! But hey, that's life. Lots for me to learn these next few days!!!

Congratulations, I know it’s been a long journey.

tjc78

Congrats Sandy!!

mjfloyd1

@28firefighter said:

Well. I can help for now. And yes I know it’s too nice to have the top up, but we’re waiting on parts from the motherland to fix it (dealer is dealing with it) and I don’t want to tempt fate.

Looks good. I wondered if that was a fried egg headlight year.

kyfdx

28firefighter said:

Well. I can help for now. And yes I know it’s too nice to have the top up, but we’re waiting on parts from the motherland to fix it (dealer is dealing with it) and I don’t want to tempt fate.

It's always nice to have a beater for a 3rd vehicle..

graphicguy

kyfdx said:

nyccarguy said:

@kyfdx said:

That would be a good replacement for the Cayman

The problem being that to get a Mustang GT that handles well-ish, it’s not going to be $40K. It’s going to be a lot more.

I wouldn't be getting it to carve canyons... Just for the big growly noises when I push the GO pedal.

When I had my Mustang Cobra, firing it up and listening to it bark and reverberate off the garage walls, and then pulling it out on to the driveway and giving it some revs before winding it out down the cul-de-sac was one of life's great pleasures.

Interestingly, it was more of a comfort cruiser (albeit a fast one) than a canon carver. I took all day trips in it and was never uncomfortable. Even the seats were heavily padded (with some bolsters just in case you thought about getting a little rowdy).

breld

I still find the 3-series handsome (a new one is out relative soon, right?).

The X3 is bold to say the least. Audi’s approach to the new Q5 is a good example of a solid update with restraint (as was MB’s recent GLC update).

The 5-series…I think it’s just a little plain. It needs the M Sport exterior to look decent. I’m still a little drawn to this used i5 M60. I drove it when it first became available, which was around 6 weeks ago and it’s been reduced almost $10k. So it’s almost $30k below MSRP, but I’m quite sure that’s not nearly enough to cut your losses on a luxury EV, particularly one that has an EPA range of around 250 miles.

breld

In contrast, the smooth styling of the Lucid Air is really growing on me. This example is on the standard wheels and finishes, and yet I find it very attractive. I appreciate styling that doesn’t need to be dressed up to be striking.

au1994

I like the Lucid. The financial viability worries me though.

Congrats on the punches!

tjc78

breld said:

I still find the 3-series handsome (a new one is out relative soon, right?).

The X3 is bold to say the least. Audi’s approach to the new Q5 is a good example of a solid update with restraint (as was MB’s recent GLC update).

The 5-series…I think it’s just a little plain. It needs the M Sport exterior to look decent. I’m still a little drawn to this used i5 M60. I drove it when it first became available, which was around 6 weeks ago and it’s been reduced almost $10k. So it’s almost $30k below MSRP, but I’m quite sure that’s not nearly enough to cut your losses on a luxury EV, particularly one that has an EPA range of around 250 miles.

250 is not enough. Our Mercedes tops out a little over 300 and since I drive like I have feet the size of Shaq's I tend to get under 300. I'd like 350-375 so that an 80% charge will get you 300.

One thing I've noticed is that it seems to get better range around town than all highway. Maybe it is an illusion but it sure seems that way.

On the other end of the spectrum today I was at a 1/4 tank so filled the Ram. 24 gallons... I keep forgetting it has the larger tank.

stickguy

Not an illusion. My hybrid does better around town too.

Michaell

stickguy said:

Not an illusion. My hybrid does better around town too.

Aren't hybrids optimized for in-town driving? Using the EV mode more frequently? I suspect this is why the MPG on my daughters Sportage hybrid is nowhere near the EPA estimates - that, and she has a heavy right foot (confirmed by my wife the other day as she followed her home from the tire store).

stickguy

Hybrids an EVs I think shars the feature that how you drive matters because if regen.

And your battery is analogous to gas. Drive faster and you use it up quicker

ab348

I think most hybrids are much more economical on short relatively slow trips but it seems that some do better on the highway for reasons that are a mystery. Watched a review of the Maverick hybrid that did that.

tifighter

Both EVs and hybrids are happier in city where they can use the regen braking to recover energy and, in the case of hybrids, use the battery more often. That mostly disappears on the highway.

tifighter

@breld said:
In contrast, the smooth styling of the Lucid Air is really growing on me. This example is on the standard wheels and finishes, and yet I find it very attractive. I appreciate styling that doesn’t need to be dressed up to be striking.

I have liked these since launch. But when an acquaintance of mine, who knows more about cars than all of us put together, said to stay far away, it sorta killed it for me. Still like the look though.

sda

@explorerx4 said:
I can picture that color on a Corona.
Not sure if this is it. Pic seems too light.

Our neighbor had this same model and color. It was an automatic with ac.

suydam

tifighter said:

Both EVs and hybrids are happier in city where they can use the regen braking to recover energy and, in the case of hybrids, use the battery more often. That mostly disappears on the highway.

Unless you live in Southern California where the freeways often turn into big parking lots. On our weekend trip it took us over an hour to get from San Clemente to Carlsbad (about 20 miles). We actually gained range!

explorerx4

When we went to CT in the truck, the range when we left was 642 miles.
After 101 miles, the range was 642 miles! It definitley likes the highway better.

stickguy

My experience with maverick hybrid is that no way it gets better mileage hammering in the highway. Sweet spot is local back roads about 40-45 and rolling hills. E en with some stop signs I can push 50 doing that. Hammering down the thruway at 75 is more like mid 30s.

ab348

stickguy said:

My experience with maverick hybrid is that no way it gets better mileage hammering in the highway. Sweet spot is local back roads about 40-45 and rolling hills. E en with some stop signs I can push 50 doing that. Hammering down the thruway at 75 is more like mid 30s.

Are those non-thruway highways not also highways?

tifighter

@suydam said:
Unless you live in Southern California where the freeways often turn into big parking lots. On our weekend trip it took us over an hour to get from San Clemente to Carlsbad (about 20 miles). We actually gained range!

Yeah, because the highway became city driving.

greg1288

breld said:

In contrast, the smooth styling of the Lucid Air is really growing on me. This example is on the standard wheels and finishes, and yet I find it very attractive. I appreciate styling that doesn’t need to be dressed up to be striking.

I saw one on the road I think for the first time. Saw "Lucid" on the rear. NIce looking non-gimmicky conservative exterior with great proportions. I was impressed. Speaking of gimmicky Hyundai-Kia are the worst with the random creases and extraneous plastic pieces all over along with other non-conventional design elements that I think detract from the looks. Also not crazy about the giant black plastic grilles on a lot of new vehicles including the one on my own Toyota Crown.

Congrats @Sandman6472 . Enjoy your new GTI

corvette

The diagonal grille bars on that X3 remind me of what I always assumed is a radiator support on GMT800s:

GM could have painted those black and made the world a more aesthetic place, but they chose not to.

tifighter

The time has come.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2003-mitsubishi-montero-10/