Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

jmonroe1

andres3 said:

I could go for a Macan EV as the one negative of the Macan Turbo is that it likes to guzzle gas (though my commute is much less these days). The negative of the Macan EV is that I could get three '18 Macan Turbos for how much they were asking in the showroom.

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Doing a little bit of every day math, that difference could buy a tank truck of gas.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

roadburner said:

graphicguy said:

benjaminh said:

The CX-50 hybrid sounds like a good choice from my pov. Toyota hybrid system without the Toyota price. And iirc your daughter got a loaded one for a couple of thousand off of msrp. Mazdas have nicer interiors than a RAV4.

2020 RDX length: 187 inches, width 74.8

2025 CX-50 length: 186 inches, width 73

Since she seems happy with the size of the RDX this is a nice match up.

But the CX-90 plug in hybrid with the big lease incentive sounds like it might be a nice deal on a bigger and more powerful vehicle.

CX-90 length: 200, width 77.6

nyccarguy said:

fintail said:

nyccarguy said:

My 16 year old son who plays Forza on XBox and always asks me questions about the cars before he modifies the daylights out of them snapped a few pics of this MK4 Supra on our way home from one of his 4 hockey games this weekend.

I like those for the nostalgia and wacky styling - not pretty, but pretty wild at the time. I'd want it to look 100% stock, and IMO a LHD car has more cred as it has survived and is not a new private import. Maybe get a TT Targa with automatic just to upset the shift-yourselfers (probably also a car with a high theft rate).

It is the Bullitt Mustang for late gen X/millennials. The Autos get a lot of hate for sure. Check out the comments on THIS 1995 Toyota Supra Turbo There is a company in TX (I think) that buys Supras, does all the deferred maintenance, fixes and restores broken interior bits & seats, then resells. They will also manual swap the car for a price as well.

The funny thing about all these halo Japanese sports cars from the early - mid 90's (Supra, RX7, 300ZX, 3000 GT) is that for the most part they were driven hard, crashed, modified within an inch of their life. People changed the wheels, lowered the suspensions, installed giant spoilers, gaudy body kits, bigger turbos, and freer flowing exhausts. The ones that have been barely driven and kept in relatively stock form are worth a lot of money.

Guess which cars from that era were maybe not as sexy from a technology standpoint, but were lightweight, RWD, V8 powered, laughed at by the press and most import enthusiasts? Parts are easily available, the cars have been generally well cared and have low miles for because their owners only drove them on Sundays and used diapers to polish them. Late model C4s and C5 Corvettes are reasonably priced in today's market given their condition a miles as well as availability of the 6 Speed Manual Transmission. I dig the C5 Z06!

Here is a 2004 Corvette Z06 that is 9 years newer, has a 6-Speed Stick, less miles, and ends in 2 days just like the Supra I linked above.

Excellent points. I think the popularity of the 2 fast-2 furious movies had something to do with it. Not a good reason, but a reason nonetheless.

Most of the Japanese modded Supras, Zs, 300GTs, etc that I've seen modified were not done well. And, their condition proves it.

Gimme a 'vette or a Mustang any day of the week vs the JDL counterparts. Most 'vettes are or have been owned by "geez.....er....mature drivers". As such, they aren't ratted out and generally well cared for.

Just remember that as a Corvette owner you must budget for the purchase of jorts and Keds or New Balance sneakers.

Big no on New Balance. They got so cheap my toes would wear through. Sketchers is the new cool shoe.😎

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Did you ever think about trimming your toenails?

jmonroe

Yes but then how would I attract women?🤣

venture

corvette said:

I liked the Frontier I had as a rental, other than the extremely firm steering.

That's one feature that sold her.

nyccarguy

@Michaell - looks like your nephew picked a fantastic car! I love the sleek, modern look of the current Accord. The urban grey is a sharp color, very similar to our Camry’s underground. He made an excellent choice going with the Hybrid that will net him phenomenal fuel economy and lower maintenance costs. Just tell him to make sure to have the CVT fluid drained and filled. As others have pointed out, it was good he was able to pivot away from the Black one given its imperfections.

Even with CPO cars, it is buyer beware. My best friend bought his CPO Lexus LX570 a few years ago. I think he’s had it for 4 years already. Yikes that’s a long time for him. He started to notice some imperfections in the paint on the front bumper and one of the front quarter panels. Then he said the paint was flaking off in spots. He took it to a body shop to get looked at. Sure enough, they put it on a lift and there was evidence the car had been in an accident. Parts of the bumper were literally zip tied to the mounting points.

nyccarguy

@venture - the Frontier is a nice looking truck. A good customer of mine is on the third one of this body style. He had a few of the older body styles as well. He gets the Pro 4X. He says they hold their value well, because he leases them and they always have equity and he turns them in early. I like how it is powered by a naturally aspirated V6 as well. I can’t imagine the current generation Tacomas are holding their value as well as the 3rd generations did,

I’m so snobby when it comes to Toyotas. I’d totally get another pickup truck. I’d be happy with a cheapo payment, low optioned SR5. I don’t even think I’d even consider a frontier that wasn’t a Pro4X.

@stickguy - those 18 month leases were killer.

Michaell

Yep, 99% residuals in some cases.

I’ll pass along the thoughts about CVT servicing.

stickguy

got curious so watched a video on the Accord hybrid trans fluid change. Did not realize the ECvt called for that too, but looked very easy to do.

stickguy

I think the residual was more than the cap cost or some weird thing. I should have pulled the trigger when they first popped up on that online lease site (name escapes me at the moment) because they did not last long.

jmonroe1

Michaell said:

Shopping update!

Nephew is still a bit undecided about the white or black accord. White is non-CPO but the priced dropped to $26k. Black is CPO and is priced at $27.1k

Family is split - his brothers like the white but his dad likes the black.

I think he’s going to the Mazda dealer first to look at the white one. Told him to threaten to go to the other dealer if he’s not getting what he thinks is fair.

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Why not get both? It never hurts to have a rolling spare.

jmonroe

Michaell

@jmonroe1 said:
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Why not get both? It never hurts to have a rolling spare.

jmonroe

You need to read the rest of the discussion before replying. He ended up with a grey one.

😉

jmonroe1

xwesx said:

andres3 said:

But the Earth is Flat and Speed Kills! If you just drive the speed limit nothing bad can happen to you

Haha! Well, I'm a big fan of "driving the speed limit" in most situations, as I generally find that number to be reasonable for the area. My "rule" is within 5 mph or 10%, whichever is less. However, I am also a fan of being attentive and adjusting speed to the situation as well as using all options for evading a potential conflict (brake, swerve, accelerate). So, whether I'm driving 40 or 80, there's probably a real good reason for it!

In that particular situation (with the F250 on Wednesday), I definitely popped north of 100 for a brief moment, but I just hit the cruise and settled back to 73 as soon as I was clear of the danger. I hadn't done a legitimate evasion in that truck before, and boy, oh boy, can it scoot! I surely added 50% to my cruising speed in only a couple seconds. My wife only had time to say, "whoa!," before I was already decelerating.

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I’d be willing to bet @roadburner never had a reason of any kind to be going 40.

jmonroe

ab348

jmonroe1 said:

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I’d be willing to bet @roadburner never had a reason of any kind to be going 40.

Don’t be silly. That’s what he does when pulling into a parking spot.

jmonroe1

Michaell said:

@oldfarmer - my sister said the same thing about the windshield and CPO status. But yeah, I'm proud of him for being open minded about color.

When he started this endeavor last weekend, he spotted a new Accord Hybrid in white over black, and that color combo captivated him. I was hesitant about the black/black combo because of how hot it gets where he lives (even though I say San Diego, where they live is probably 15-20 miles inland, and it gets hot in the summer). The Urban Grey is a sharp color, and eminently suitable for a 20-something youngster.

I think he'll keep this car a good long time. He's got a steady girlfriend who I suspect he will marry some day (she's still in school getting her masters degree, and he's got one more year of college, but has landed a nice internship at a company). The Accord is big enough to get them through the early stages of having a family.

Regarding the Frontier, I think they are quite handsome, unlike the redesigned Tacoma, which looks like a Tonka truck. And, the Nissan still has an old school NA V6 under the hood. Congrats on that new purchase as well.

One last note - since my sisters oldest son moved back home last month, they now have, let's see, the following cars at their house:

2019 Volvo XC40
2026 BMW i5
2015 VW Jetta (oh, BTW, the oil leak was nothing more than an improperly seated drain plug)
2018 Kia Forte
2023 Honda Accord Hybrid
1998 Toyota 4Runner 2WD (which is getting prepped for sale)
2003 Hyundai Sonata (this, too, is going to a new home, but details shall remain confidential, for now)

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How do you improperly seat a drain plug? Or does that mean it wasn’t tightened properly? No excuse with either screwup . That oil change kid will probably retire in that job along with a few damaged engines to his credit.

jmonroe

roadburner

jmonroe1 said:

xwesx said:

andres3 said:

But the Earth is Flat and Speed Kills! If you just drive the speed limit nothing bad can happen to you

Haha! Well, I'm a big fan of "driving the speed limit" in most situations, as I generally find that number to be reasonable for the area. My "rule" is within 5 mph or 10%, whichever is less. However, I am also a fan of being attentive and adjusting speed to the situation as well as using all options for evading a potential conflict (brake, swerve, accelerate). So, whether I'm driving 40 or 80, there's probably a real good reason for it!

In that particular situation (with the F250 on Wednesday), I definitely popped north of 100 for a brief moment, but I just hit the cruise and settled back to 73 as soon as I was clear of the danger. I hadn't done a legitimate evasion in that truck before, and boy, oh boy, can it scoot! I surely added 50% to my cruising speed in only a couple seconds. My wife only had time to say, "whoa!," before I was already decelerating.

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I’d be willing to bet @roadburner never had a reason of any kind to be going 40.

jmonroe

Possibly in a corner with a 15 mph posted advisory speed.

roadburner

I looked at the new Frontier Pro 4x; it's a very nice truck but I thought the 4xe suited our needs better.

jmonroe1

Michaell said:

@jmonroe1 said:

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Why not get both? It never hurts to have a rolling spare.

jmonroe

You need to read the rest of the discussion before replying. He ended up with a grey one.

😉

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Yes, I saw that but continuing to look for a rolling spare couldn’t hurt other than the driveway seems to be a little over stuffed already.

jmonroe

Michaell

@jmonroe1 said:
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Yes, I saw that but continuing to look for a rolling spare couldn’t hurt other than the driveway seems to be a little over stuffed already.

jmonroe

Yeah the 4Runner is gone as soon as it’s sold, and the Sonata will be around another week.

graphicguy

Michaell said:

Shopping update!

Nephew is still a bit undecided about the white or black accord. White is non-CPO but the priced dropped to $26k. Black is CPO and is priced at $27.1k

Family is split - his brothers like the white but his dad likes the black.

I think he’s going to the Mazda dealer first to look at the white one. Told him to threaten to go to the other dealer if he’s not getting what he thinks is fair.

I'm biased, but Honda/Acrua's white is a metal flake version. It's really quite nice.

Ooops....just see deal was closed on a grey one. Nice!

tjc78

@graphicguy said:
I'm biased, but Honda/Acrua's white is a metal flake version. It's really quite nice.

Ooops....just see deal was closed on a grey one. Nice!

My favorite pearl white was Toyota’s Blizzard Pearl. Just enough flake to not look ivory. My 2006 Avalon had it

roadburner

So today I was driving the C43 on another fun on-ramp; downhill right, uphill left sweeper transition into a downhill left followed by a right into the merge lane. A G80 M3 was following me pretty closely until the road started to turn. About 5 seconds after I merged the M3 came roaring past in a textbook loser flyby. The funny thing was that I wasn't pushing hard at all. My wife didn't even look up from her Kindle until the M3 passed. She did say she didn't think the M3 looked that bad, but I reminded her that she hadn't seen the atrocious beaver tooth grille- a deal breaker for me.