Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

ab348

xwesx said:

Wow. Zero percent interest. Nice. With a catch, I'm sure, but in the current rate environment, that will cover a lot of dollars. Consider, for example, a $40K loan at 6% interest. That's about $5,100 in savings.

Except that they sacrificed whatever the "employee pricing" discount would have been. I have no idea what that is worth but ppl on the internet are saying it is in the area of 10% or so, making it almost a wash.

explorerx4

When I bought my 2020 Explorer, it had $3250 in rebates plus 0% for 72 months.
You had a choice 0% for 72 or $500 cash rebate. Even I was able to figure that one out.

ab348

kyfdx said:

We financed $37K when we bought my wife's 2017 X3. 72 months, 0% APR.

I got almost the identical deal when I bought the ATS. 0% for 72 months and about a $6k discount from MSRP to boot.

benjaminh

Because of tariffs on vehicles made in Mexico the base price of the Maverick XL hybrid without any options is now c. $30,500.

But one of my local dealers has one of the pre-increase models on their lot for $28,500. Financed over 48 months at 0% that would be a monthly payment of about $600, which seems like a fairly good deal these days.

The Maverick gets c. 40 mpg on average. Should be a functional and long-lasting vehicle for the money. The Maverick hybrid is one of those vehicles that was probably designed in part because of CAFE regulations. It's one of the good vehicles to come out of that.

Even though there was a $2k increase in the price of the base Maverick, that's still seems to be only a c. 8% increase if my math is right. But iirc the tariff is now 25%, which would seem to mean that Ford is right now absorbing more than half of the tariff, or am I missing something?

As far as I've heard, Ford isn't planning to move production of the Maverick.

benjaminh

Turns out the Maverick is excluded from the promotion, along with a lot of other vehicles....

"Ford states that the models excluded from this promotion include the following: 2025 and 2024 Raptor models, Mavericks, Rangers, Super Duty trucks (non-XL trims), and Transits (non-ICE cargo and passenger vans); 2025 Broncos, Bronco Sports, Expeditions, and Lincoln Navigators; and 2024 F-150 Lightnings and Mustang Mach-Es."

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a65336256/ford-no-money-down-zero-percent-financing-incentive/

stickguy

what's left? plain F150s and the Mustang?

explorerx4

Seems to include mostly 2024 models.
The best thing to do is wait until August when they haven't sold anything for a month.

stickguy

I got mine from the dealer that takes orders at rock bottom pricing. Even during Covid shortages they were thousands less. Assuming you don’t mind waiting.

corvette

Most finance companies have limits on what they will finance. A percentage of retail book value on used cars (e.g. 110% or 120%), and I think it’s a percentage of MSRP on new cars.

I financed more than I paid for the Maverick and they cut me a check to pay for sales tax and registration. $650/month at 0% for 36 months.

Michaell

@stickguy said:
what's left? plain F150s and the Mustang?

Edge, Escape, Explorer

oldfarmer50

xwesx said:

oldfarmer50 said:

xwesx said:

Wow. Zero percent interest. Nice. With a catch, I'm sure, but in the current rate environment, that will cover a lot of dollars. Consider, for example, a $40K loan at 6% interest. That's about $5,100 in savings.

I just looked it up and in 2008 when I bought a new Mitsubishi, interest rates were about 7% and I got 0% for 60 months. I financed everything including the sales tax.

Nice! If I just spitball that you spent around $25,000 on that car, at that time, that's also close to $5K in savings (back when $5K was worth a lot more than today!). Calculated.... $4,700 over that 60-month term.

Not to mention that I was able to leave the $26k in my investments and earned a few thousand more.

laurasdada

I financed the A7 at 0% in '21 (60 months). Used my Jag XF trade-in as down payment and financed the (a lot) rest. But purchase price included Audi and Costco rebates of $2k each (and $6712 fed tax deduction later). Dealer still made a profit as I was a bit over "invoice."

explorerx4

@michaell,
Edge has been discontinued as of 2024.
How could I forget about the Explorer? HA HA

corvette

Odd they discontinued the Edge, that's a very popular segment in the market. Passport, Venza, Murano, Blazer, etc...

stickguy

corvette said:

Odd they discontinued the Edge, that's a very popular segment in the market. Passport, Venza, Murano, Blazer, etc...

and the escape I think. Just trying to cover the CUV market with the bronco sport and Explorer. Interesting choice.

explorerx4

Discontinuing the Edge was an odd decision, I think it have had something to do with going with more EV's.
Escape is supposed to to away after 2026 MY.

nyccarguy

@corvette said:
Odd they discontinued the Edge, that's a very popular segment in the market. Passport, Venza, Murano, Blazer, etc...

My mother in law had (2) Edges. Leased back to back after a Flex. Very nice vehicles. Competitive compared to a Murano. The Edge Interior and ride were RX350 ish. I test drove an Explorer XLT and liked it a lot. Not enough to pay over sticker plus a max marked up money factor though.

corvette

@nyccarguy - the Murano styling was RX350-ish, they both look like space pods. I drove a comparable used Edge before buying the 2011 (I think?) Murano I had. Really liked it, and the gauge cluster was very nice and had color displays, which was better than the Murano.

corvette

In my feed... not seeing the "stylish" part here. I didn't click over, but the 2014-era C-class in the right margin was also not the best of Mercedes design. (Out of curiosity, I did click on the Leaf, and it's the base model with the lower capacity battery, so rated at 150 miles of range, and would probably go a bit over 100 miles at interstate speeds. But, your only realistic fast charge option is CHAdeMO, which is hard to find. And, it's Old Man Grey™!)

tifighter

Two days left. I hope my sanity can hold out that long.

qbrozen

@tifighter said:
Two days left. I hope my sanity can hold out that long.

I think I missed it. 2 days till…?

Michaell

tifighter said:

Two days left. I hope my sanity can hold out that long.

Following closely.

stickguy

I’m getting updates. Need the bidders to get fighting for it.

stickguy

@qbrozen said:

@tifighter said:
Two days left. I hope my sanity can hold out that long.

I think I missed it. 2 days till…?

Montero is running on BaT

tifighter

stickguy said:

I’m getting updates. Need the bidders to get fighting for it.

I'm pulling for the typical last day activity.

nyccarguy

@tifighter said:
I'm pulling for the typical last day activity.

Fingers crossed!

benjaminh

"No Penalties for CAFE Violations

Because this is a reconciliation bill, Congress could not make changes to vehicle emissions and fuel economy laws. Rather than replace or abolish the Corporate Average Fuel Economy program (CAFE), this bill keeps all the existing rules in place but reduces the penalties for breaking them to $0.00. This means automakers are free to ignore federal fuel economy regulations as the EPA cannot meaningfully enforce them.

This could potentially affect consumers in multiple ways. If automakers stop following CAFE rules, fuel economy could go down and emissions could go up. Any savings on R&D could then be passed on to the consumer. This is unlikely, however. Automakers plan as much as a decade in advance, so vehicles for sale today were engineered years ago and the money already spent. Future iterations of Congress and future presidents could also reinstate the penalties in a few years, which would wipe out any savings and put automakers behind on R&D. Fuel economy regulations elsewhere in the world aren’t changing, so there’s little incentive for automakers to cut R&D spending regardless, meaning no reduction in pricing is likely."

https://www.motortrend.com/news/how-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-will-affect-car-buying-and-ownership

nyccarguy

tifighter said:

stickguy said:

I’m getting updates. Need the bidders to get fighting for it.

I'm pulling for the typical last day activity.

Your Montero is definitely a niche vehicle. Somebody has to be specifically searching for one to find yours. Can you imagine what an '03 4 Runner or Land Cruiser in the same condition as yours with only 37K miles would fetch on BAT?

tjc78

nyccarguy said:

@corvette said:

Odd they discontinued the Edge, that's a very popular segment in the market. Passport, Venza, Murano, Blazer, etc...

My mother in law had (2) Edges. Leased back to back after a Flex. Very nice vehicles. Competitive compared to a Murano. The Edge Interior and ride were RX350 ish. I test drove an Explorer XLT and liked it a lot. Not enough to pay over sticker plus a max marked up money factor though.

I always thought that the Edge was an RX350 knockoff.

nyccarguy

I finally got a confirmation from DRIVEWAY that they received my documents and are going to schedule a pickup tomorrow. It has been a while from the time I accepted their offer to now. Definitely not as efficient as some of the other companies I've used in the past. I have barely driven the truck in the last three weeks-ish. I'm paying insurance on it. My next payment is due on 7/12. I'm sure I'll get that back along with my MSD from Toyota. I want to cancel the plates so the city stops charging me property tax.

au1994

nyccarguy said:

tifighter said:

stickguy said:

I’m getting updates. Need the bidders to get fighting for it.

I'm pulling for the typical last day activity.

Your Montero is definitely a niche vehicle. Somebody has to be specifically searching for one to find yours. Can you imagine what an '03 4 Runner or Land Cruiser in the same condition as yours with only 37K miles would fetch on BAT?

A Land Cruiser would fetch $50k min depending on the series.

kyfdx

My friend bought a Land Cruiser ('98?) with 200K miles on BaT from the PNW. Paid around $18K for it, IIRC. A year or two ago..

nyccarguy

My best friend lives in FL and runs his businesses here (in NY & CT). He comes up every other week. He keeps a car up here. It is a 2017 2 Door JK Rubicon Hard Rock 6MT. It currently has 75ishK miles. There's a guy in Danbury that has a Jeep Top storage, installation, & removal business. People who don't want to be bothered taking their hard tops off, storing them, & installing their soft tops go here. The guy also sells hard tops & soft tops. Last year my friend bought a soft top for his JK from this guy. He's also had him replace the gaskets and seals on his hard top. My friend decides he wants to keep his hard top on and goes to tell the guy to sell his soft top. My friend's Jeep is in amazing condition. The guy says to him: "Do you ever think about selling your Jeep?" To which my friend replied: "Not a day goes by that I don't think about selling at least one of my cars. However usually selling this Jeep is at the bottom of that list."

kyfdx

tifighter said:

stickguy said:

I’m getting updates. Need the bidders to get fighting for it.

I'm pulling for the typical last day activity.

You seem to be getting some pretty good action and comments.

Sandman6472

I would've financed a bit if the rate had been 0% but since it wasn't, and I had the cash in a separate savings account, just charged half and wrote a check for the remainder. Just checked, the money has hit my checking account but they haven't cashed the check yet. The charged portion hit my card on Saturday and still have some time to pay it off. But it will be nice to get 2% of what I charged since I always take the cash rewards with my c c's.
Still hard to believe I finally pulled the trigger. It's something I've agonized over for a long time but I just wanted what I wanted with no remorse. And that's exactly what has happened! Loving the push button start/off button and not having to touch the key fob. Ever since I had that tranny problem back in 2022, the key would get stuck in the ignition without warning more & more. At first I'd just restart the car and hope it came out. After a bit, I just put my foot on the brake, went from "P" to "D" and back to "P", and after a few tries, it would eventually come out. Tried using DW-40 a few times on the key hoping that would help. Last Tuesday after work, the key got stuck again, this time for about 4 minutes or so. Got pretty hot and I got real frustrated! At that moment, seem to remember telling myself that the time had come and tomorrow, last Wednesday, was time to go check out my grey GTI. And the rest...as they say, is history! And a week later, do not regret the decision one bit!!!

Sandman6472

Shame about the Edge, it's the only Ford product I really like! Drives very nicely & put together great. I know it's way to big for our purposes, but if needed such a vehicle, I'd look at one first. Just wish these companies would remember there is a small niche of folks like us that prefer smaller vehicles. Not everyone wants a large SUV or has the room for it. Especially when we both are in our vehicles alone 99% of the time. Seems a waste to drive such big vehicles alone.

tjc78

tifighter said:

Two days left. I hope my sanity can hold out that long.

I love how you did the DD install, relocating the HVAC controls to where the CD changer was. Looks 100% factory.

Nice touch on this picture.

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

My best friend lives in FL and runs his businesses here (in NY & CT). He comes up every other week. He keeps a car up here. It is a 2017 2 Door JK Rubicon Hard Rock 6MT. It currently has 75ishK miles. There's a guy in Danbury that has a Jeep Top storage, installation, & removal business. People who don't want to be bothered taking their hard tops off, storing them, & installing their soft tops go here. The guy also sells hard tops & soft tops. Last year my friend bought a soft top for his JK from this guy. He's also had him replace the gaskets and seals on his hard top. My friend decides he wants to keep his hard top on and goes to tell the guy to sell his soft top. My friend's Jeep is in amazing condition. The guy says to him: "Do you ever think about selling your Jeep?" To which my friend replied: "Not a day goes by that I don't think about selling at least one of my cars. However usually selling this Jeep is at the bottom of that list."

I would have kept the TJ a while longer but it needed an A/C evaporator as well as some rust repair to the frame. Couple that with the decision to downsize to three vehicles and the 4xe was an easy choice- as it could also serve as a DD for either of us and still provide the off-road ability we needed for the farm.
The Ford dealers crossed a Bronco off our list and long-term reliability concerns nixed the Defender (other than that we both liked it a lot).

tifighter

tjc78 said:

tifighter said:

Two days left. I hope my sanity can hold out that long.

I love how you did the DD install, relocating the HVAC controls to where the CD changer was. Looks 100% factory.

Nice touch on this picture.

Looks like I have a missed call.

Yeah, I'm pretty particular about keeping things looking stock. Luckily, it's typically easier to go down with factory wiring than going further up, so the HVAC relocation was super straightforward.

nyccarguy

roadburner said:

nyccarguy said:

My best friend lives in FL and runs his businesses here (in NY & CT). He comes up every other week. He keeps a car up here. It is a 2017 2 Door JK Rubicon Hard Rock 6MT. It currently has 75ishK miles. There's a guy in Danbury that has a Jeep Top storage, installation, & removal business. People who don't want to be bothered taking their hard tops off, storing them, & installing their soft tops go here. The guy also sells hard tops & soft tops. Last year my friend bought a soft top for his JK from this guy. He's also had him replace the gaskets and seals on his hard top. My friend decides he wants to keep his hard top on and goes to tell the guy to sell his soft top. My friend's Jeep is in amazing condition. The guy says to him: "Do you ever think about selling your Jeep?" To which my friend replied: "Not a day goes by that I don't think about selling at least one of my cars. However usually selling this Jeep is at the bottom of that list."

I would have kept the TJ a while longer but it needed an A/C evaporator as well as some rust repair to the frame. Couple that with the decision to downsize to three vehicles and the 4xe was an easy choice- as it could also serve as a DD for either of us and still provide the off-road ability we needed for the farm.
The Ford dealers crossed a Bronco off our list and long-term reliability concerns nixed the Defender (other than that we both like it a lot.

He's got an LJ with a stick in FL as well as a JLU V6 Sport

nyccarguy

@tifighter said:
I'm pulling for the typical last day activity.

Can you send a photo of the bolt holding the front upper tie rod to the frame? The bolt looks like it is from an ‘04, not an ‘03 which makes me think this SUV was in a severe accident.

xwesx

Haha! That's the truth of it, too.


....The '04 has 'WJK' printed on the bolt head as opposed to 'WJJ' in '03, and I'm pretty sure that's a 'K' I see on there....

xwesx

Speaking of bolts, my son and I are working on his 2009 Forester. He's finally getting into his transmission swap project (which also involves swapping the rear differential to keep the front and rear axle ratios consistent), and he decided he wanted to replace a bunch of bushings... including the rear subframe bushings!

Well, I'm thinking no problem. But, after getting into it, it is VERY apparent that Subaru never had any intention at all of those bushings being replaced independently of a new subframe. Anyhow, we're stubborn folk, so we are (slowly) making it happen!

First, we had to cut the center mount out of the rubber bushing (so nasty, that was). After that, we had to cut and hammer out the metal sleeve that had solidly crusted itself against the subframe support. The photos below show our progress after about four hours, but we have a process now, and I think we'll be able to get the remaining three bushings cleared tonight:

xwesx

The subframe supports the rear differential in that middle, open section (left above is toward the rear of the car). As such, we have the rear differential removed as well, so once we get the subframe back under the car, the new differential will go in and we can move to the front to do the transmission along with some of the bushings in the front end.

kyfdx

@tifighter
Did you pay BaT to do the photos, etc? If so, how much is that?

suydam

Sandman6472 said:

I would've financed a bit if the rate had been 0% but since it wasn't, and I had the cash in a separate savings account, just charged half and wrote a check for the remainder. Just checked, the money has hit my checking account but they haven't cashed the check yet. The charged portion hit my card on Saturday and still have some time to pay it off. But it will be nice to get 2% of what I charged since I always take the cash rewards with my c c's.
Still hard to believe I finally pulled the trigger. It's something I've agonized over for a long time but I just wanted what I wanted with no remorse. And that's exactly what has happened! Loving the push button start/off button and not having to touch the key fob. Ever since I had that tranny problem back in 2022, the key would get stuck in the ignition without warning more & more. At first I'd just restart the car and hope it came out. After a bit, I just put my foot on the brake, went from "P" to "D" and back to "P", and after a few tries, it would eventually come out. Tried using DW-40 a few times on the key hoping that would help. Last Tuesday after work, the key got stuck again, this time for about 4 minutes or so. Got pretty hot and I got real frustrated! At that moment, seem to remember telling myself that the time had come and tomorrow, last Wednesday, was time to go check out my grey GTI. And the rest...as they say, is history! And a week later, do not regret the decision one bit!!!

The Blazer EV goes one better — like Tesla, no start/stop button at all. I have to remember to actually turn the car on and off when I’m in the Sportage. Congrats on the new vehicle, and hope you are enjoying all the improvements they’ve made since 2015!

tjc78

My truck has key by phone available. I haven’t set it up yet

nyccarguy

xwesx said:

Haha! That's the truth of it, too.


....The '04 has 'WJK' printed on the bolt head as opposed to 'WJJ' in '03, and I'm pretty sure that's a 'K' I see on there....

And while you are at it, can you post a video of you tightening each lug nut to spec?

tifighter

@kyfdx said:
@tifighter
Did you pay BaT to do the photos, etc? If so, how much is that?

Standard listing is $99. With a photoshoot is $429. I gambled that I’d get it back with a better sale price - time will tell. Photographer was good and came to me. We went for an early morning time for the light, and he spent about two hours shooting the car.

benjaminh

@Michaell
How do you like your 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige so far?