Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

kyfdx

breld said:

Speaking of AI tools, I responded (nicely) on a Lucid forum where someone confidently stated that you only pay interest on the depreciation portion of a lease. I politely said that, to be clear, you are paying interest on the entire cost (or cap cost) of the car, to which he responded that I was incorrect and that would be insane.

He cited “sources” through his AI search that confirmed his opinion. I did go so far as to share an amortization schedule that I use to track my lease balances that clearly reflects how interest is effectively charged. Not that you have to be an accountant to understand a lease, but I do think my 30+ years of being a CPA trumps the online AI results.

To be fair, the lease payment calculation applies the money factor to an average of the Adjusted CAP cost and the residual

So, in effect, the interest amount goes down, as you pay the lease (just like a loan).

tifighter

Out with the old, in with the new.

Montero is off with its new owner.

Sandman6472

For anyone interested, getting a raise in my social security payment due to the spousal benefit clause. Since her benefit is so much bigger then mine, come September when hers starts, I'll be getting a decent bump in my monthly benefit. She waited till 70 to take s s, as she wanted the highest amount she could get. So, 2025 has seen my s s payment rise twice, once to that ridiculous Windfall Provision ending and now this. Just nice that after all these years working, finally seeing the benefits of all that hard work. It can be done with hard work folks and even with my non stop spinal issues, the "Eveready Bunny" in me keeps going...and going! Have been very lucky to have enjoyed my two major jobs though.

stickguy

Did the Montero get sold to someone local, or are you having it shipped?

tifighter

@stickguy said:
Did the Montero get sold to someone local, or are you having it shipped?

Buyer flew up from California to drive it home.

stickguy

nice when that happens!

corvette

@Sandman6472 - my mom started receiving SS this year since they eliminated the GPO and she can now claim on my dad's earning record. Her teacher pension previously disqualified her. I understand the reasoning behind the old rule, but I always thought it was, effectively, a punishment for having taught, because she would have been able to claim SS on my dad's record if she had never worked or worked in the private sector.

stickguy

no clue about years that are good/bad/run away fast on these, and at this miles and conditions it is somewhat of a rat, but dang, I love the colors and spec on this one. Maybe if I had the tools, time and knowledge to wrench on it! or way more money to burn paying to have it done.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rNYa6ZwP/2005-porsche-boxster-s

This is actually local. Pretty sure OldFarmer is digging up coffee cans right now to snag this up.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3yYRwXME/2016-rolls-royce-dawn

Sandman6472

I was also effected by the Windfall Provision which was totally unfair to folks like us as we paid in like everyone else but were denied our full benefit. Personally, think they owe us all the amount we never got once we signed into s s, but that will never happen. Stinks that those on one side of the aisle decided to basically steal what we were entitled to but hey, that ship has sailed.
Just glad that I can get a bit more now since my wife has paid in so much over the years. It'll start with Septembers payment but I have to see it to believe it!!! Just pray that we both live awhile to enjoy our retirement. And this last month has been great with the new GTI. Have had it just a month now and only have like 330 miles on the clock. Took her out in it last night for dinner and she really liked it especially the seats. I'm still getting used to stuff like pairing my cell which I thought we'd done at the dealer but it ain't quite right. Did get the title from Tallahassee yesterday, took just 30 days.

stickguy

Maybe I should stop and see if my wife likes it! Actually a car that could work with the DSG. Still fun, but she should be comfortable driving.

jmonroe1

stickguy said:

no clue about years that are good/bad/run away fast on these, and at this miles and conditions it is somewhat of a rat, but dang, I love the colors and spec on this one. Maybe if I had the tools, time and knowledge to wrench on it! or way more money to burn paying to have it done.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rNYa6ZwP/2005-porsche-boxster-s

This is actually local. Pretty sure OldFarmer is digging up coffee cans right now to snag this up.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3yYRwXME/2016-rolls-royce-dawn

————————————————
You can have the Porsche and all the wrenching that comes with it. But, I think this site is gonna give @oldfarmer50 a battle for the Rolls.

jmonroe

andres3

AI hallucinates a lot. I am impressed at the ability of Google's search engine to use AI to think about a group of words phrased together for a smarter search, but the young folk 18-25 these days seem to think of Google and Google AI as the Bible of authority and can never be wrong.

Pretty sure AI had someone was talking about 1,000' braking distances from 70 MPH simply because the young man has no clue what a foot is, or what 70 MPH is. Part of learning math and having experience and general knowledge is being able to know when you have such an outlier that you KNOW the answer is wrong. I can't help but be condescending to someone posting such nonsense.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

no clue about years that are good/bad/run away fast on these, and at this miles and conditions it is somewhat of a rat, but dang, I love the colors and spec on this one. Maybe if I had the tools, time and knowledge to wrench on it! or way more money to burn paying to have it done.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rNYa6ZwP/2005-porsche-boxster-s

This is actually local. Pretty sure OldFarmer is digging up coffee cans right now to snag this up.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3yYRwXME/2016-rolls-royce-dawn

A Porsche with 131,000 miles? How many engine rebuilds has that thing had?

I like the mileage on the Rolls and I have been looking for a nicer convertible but I don’t think they make coffee cans that big.😳

kyfdx

Porsche engines are pretty famous for being durable.

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

no clue about years that are good/bad/run away fast on these, and at this miles and conditions it is somewhat of a rat, but dang, I love the colors and spec on this one. Maybe if I had the tools, time and knowledge to wrench on it! or way more money to burn paying to have it done.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rNYa6ZwP/2005-porsche-boxster-s

This is actually local. Pretty sure OldFarmer is digging up coffee cans right now to snag this up.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3yYRwXME/2016-rolls-royce-dawn

A Porsche with 131,000 miles? How many engine rebuilds has that thing had?

I like the mileage on the Rolls and I have been looking for a nicer convertible but I don’t think they make coffee cans that big.😳

————————————————
Yeah they do. I have a few but I lost my map as to where they are.

jmonroe

stickguy

the Porsche is the outlier "exotic" car where you are better off getting one that was used a lot, instead of sitting most of the time and having low low miles. They like to be driven.

imidazol97

I keep looking for coffee cans growing in our little gardens. Nothing.
What kind of seeds do I plant?

tjc78

@kyfdx said:
Porsche engines are pretty famous for being durable.

Oh yeah those IMS bearings go forever 😜

28firefighter

@stickguy said:
the Porsche is the outlier "exotic" car where you are better off getting one that was used a lot, instead of sitting most of the time and having low low miles. They like to be driven.

So the 1000 miles I’ve put on mine in a month is a good thing!

jmonroe1

imidazol97 said:

I keep looking for coffee cans growing in our little gardens. Nothing.

What kind of seeds do I plant?

————————————————
The ones I use are called Benjamin’s.

jmonroe

ab348

Given the price of coffee these days you probably won't have much cash left to put into the can.

oldfarmer50

I was behind one of these this morning:



Ferrari Roma Spyder. About $275k. You can tell it’s track season at Saratoga when the big money shows up on the roads. We sometimes bring the big expensive SUVs to the Saratoga airport for when the high rollers fly in on their private jets.

breld

Well, my EV replacement search has come to an end (although you never know until you take delivery).

Audi is already offering crazy incentives on its new A6 E tron, so I went to take a second look this past week with the idea I’d likely have this in my garage by the weekend…



It would serve as a good replacement for my Q8 E-tron, being very comfortable and with improved EV driving dynamics. But then I decided to take the SQ6 Etron out for comparison…



And it was pretty night and day, where the SQ6, partly due to a somewhat smaller size, but also the improved driving dynamics of the “S” version, was much more engaging to drive. So I asked the salesperson to provide a lease quote for that, already knowing it wouldn’t be as strong as the A6.

Knowing I was close to a decision, I had also taken a second drive of the Polestar 3 the day before. Polestar just hasn’t gained any traction in the US market, but the car is really impressive, combining a very comfortable ride with sporting intentions.

breld

…this was all on Thursday around noon, and the salesperson promised a lease quote on the SQ6 within an hour or so (my wife and I went back to work). By around 5:00, I sent a quick text to ask if a quote was coming. I didn’t hear anything back until Friday morning when she apologized and said she got really busy, and that she would have it to me shortly. I finally had to text again hours later (I tried calling, but with no answer) stating I was serious about the SQ6 and was anxious for a quote. She finally had another salesperson get the quote, which had $0 discount and a lease offer that was borderline offensive.

Long story short, I already knew lease incentives on the SQ6 weren’t nearly as strong as the A6, but the dealer also claimed the blue example I liked was pretty hard to find, so they weren’t willing to discount it, blah, blah, blah.

Meanwhile, the Polestar salesperson came back with an updated quote after receiving approval from his manager to apply an on-site incentive to an incoming vehicle that resulted in an amazing lease offer, so I just pulled the trigger on that. Should be here in a week or two.

breld

Sharing some numbers, which I find interesting. All these are for 24 months (27 for Polestar), 10k miles/year with first payment only due at signing, taxes included:

Audi A6 E-tron - $75k MSRP, $620/month

Audi SQ6 E-tron - $80k MSRP, $1,100/month

Polestar 3 - $81k MSRP, $625/month

One of these things is not like the other.

qbrozen

I’ve been quiet lately because we just spent two weeks down in Myrtle Beach.

The sprinter developed a problem. Well, it developed it quite a while ago, but we just did not know it. When it was doing its occasional bucking last time my son and I took it on a long trip down to Myrtle Beach to retrieve the Suzuki, I honestly thought it was the rental trailer doing something weird. Turns out the sprinter started doing it without a trailer attached. My wife noted it a couple of times on the way down, and then on the way home, it really acted up. The first time, it bucked fast twice in a row and then died. The engine was still running, but it was slowly decreasing speed, and the go pedal had no effect. I pulled over and let it sit for a minute and restarted, and everything was fine again. A little later, it happened again. Pulled over restarted kept going. I tried various things, such as manually shifting it, keeping under a certain speed, going over a certain speed, but nothing changed the behavior. It would just decide once in a while to buck and die. Luckily, I was able to pull over every time and restart and keep going. I would estimate it did it 6-8 times over the 600 miles.

It was already due for a service, so I took it in when we got home. They claimed they believe this to be an EGR problem that they have seen before. When I got the paperwork, I see they did the EGR technical service bulletin, but then also found a code for the crank position sensor, so they replaced that as well. Still under warranty, of course. We only have 14,000 miles on it now. But it has been a few years, so the car was asking for a service B, whatever the heck that is. I looked it up and it is apparently the only service it gets after the initial service. So all future services are every 20,000 miles and a service B. This involves changing the brake fluid doing a bunch of stupid little stuff, changing the oil and filter of course, changing the fuel filter, changing the cabin filter, changing the roof, air conditioning filter filters, of which there are three, doing the whole full inspection bit and lubing various things.

$2200!! Yup. That’s crazy. I tried to talk the guy down but to no avail. That hurts. If it wasn’t for needing the repair, I would have just done this all myself. I haven’t looked it up, but I’d bet we’re talking less than $500 for parts. Even if labor is let’s say an insane $225/hr, that’s 7 hrs labor they charging. C’mon now.

carnaught

Punch Coming !

Not enthusiast’s car…

Not a stop-light drag race derby winner…

Not a “exciting” brand…

Not a track car…

No more “clown horn”…

but ?

Burma shave ?

Michaell

…please, let it not be an Altima.

28firefighter

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts, @breld! I love the Audi EVs I just think they’re overpriced right now. But, the Polestar is super nice.

tifighter

@breld Congrats on the deal. Curious, did you ever drive the Lucid?

stickguy

Michaell said:

…please, let it not be an Altima.

everyone needs some big energy occasionally.

corvette

Florida BAE here in Kentucky…

corvette

Also, parked next to a Ferrari this morning.

stickguy

which looks more like a buick.

fintail

Tax dodger plate or actually in MT?

explorerx4

my first impression was Mazda.

stickguy

it does from the rear resemble a Miata RF

tifighter

The Ferrari FF came out 5 years before the Miata RF…

breld

tifighter said:

@breld Congrats on the deal. Curious, did you ever drive the Lucid?

I did drive the Lucid and was really impressed. It was my top choice for a while, but lease deals weakened considerably from June to July (and into August).

au1994

I’m in the minority, I actually like the FF.

carnaught

The HR-V is no more. A few random pics of the new dd, FWIW:

stickguy

Camry?

I like the interior but my wife would never go for a bright red. Looks good with the white exterior though.

Michaell

My favorite color combo for the Camry. Which trim?

nyccarguy

@carnaught - congrats and welcome to the Camry Club. Love the white over red! That’s an XSE?

jmonroe1

Congrats @carnaught, looks good from here. Give us some reports as you break it in.

Good luck with it.

jmonroe

carnaught

Thanks guys; much appreciated !

carnaught

Few other pics. Note the wheels, not black ones even though they look that way. Yes @nyccarguy is correct, it is an XSE.

greg1288

carnaught said:

The HR-V is no more. A few random pics of the new dd, FWIW:

Nice Camry! White is my favorite color. I wish I had an option for an interior other than black on my Crown. I like the red . I actually saw another Crown today...only the second one I've seen around here since I bought mine in Feb. Both were white and probably the same one and looked good. So far in 2025 Toyota has sold 160,000 Camrys (Camries?) and under 4,000 Crowns.

ab348

Not that I’m in the market right now, but my curiosity got these best of me today after hearing countless YT car channels saying what a great deal the Equinox EV is, so I decided to look at them on the Chevy Canada website. I don’t think there is any govt cash towards the purchase of EVs any longer up here. The cheapest one I could find was $48K in worthless Canadian dollars, with optioned-up ones pushing towards $70K. Yoicks! There is a bright blue paint available, and you can get an orange color if you spring for the RS model, but aside from that it is black, white, red, and two shades of grey. You can get a white of black roof at extra cost with certain colors.

Perhaps not a surprise, but according to the GM Canada site dealers around here are awash in inventory of them. GM is offering only a $1000 incentive on them right now, though you can get 0% for 72 months.

corvette

Congrats, @breld and @carnaught!

Sarah-n-Tuned released a review of the SQ6 today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zME3zcOD9mE