Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

We tell customers no smoking or a $200-250 cleaning charge. They ignore it. The big problem these days is smoke of a different nature which is even harder to get out.

Nothing worse than weed stench. Rental companies should have a penalty charge sliding scale: x amount for vaping, xx for tobacco (maybe xxx for cigars), and xxxx for weed. Maybe a flag on the account of the latter for impairment too.

stickguy

but if you want a fresh plan to think about, my latest scheme is let the wife have her Acura until she wants something else, trade the truck for a Prelude, and lease a cheap strippo model Chevy work truck PU if really cheap leases pop up (with a Frontier being an alternative, whatever comes cheapest!). That would be the winter beater, and park outside under the pine trees.

this is an update to the real plan of a nice used truck for beater duty, because unless I shop next time I am in Dallas for business, finding a clean older truck up here is next to impossible (and if one turns up, likely going to be very expensive).

ab348

Or you could just lease/buy the Prelude.

qbrozen

@ab348 said:
Or you could just lease/buy the Prelude.

Just get a civic and save some money, most likely. It is sad the prelude evidently won’t keep up its history of being more mechanically advanced than the rest of the Honda lineup.

stickguy

it sounds like an Si/R Coupe with the hybrid powertrain. To me, best all around combo. Should have much better handling/braking/fun factor than a Civic sedan.

stickguy

ab348 said:

Or you could just lease/buy the Prelude.

I would guess a lease on that would be a ridiculous payment. And I don't really need 3 cars worth that much sitting around.

tifighter

@stickguy said:
I would guess a lease on that would be a ridiculous payment. And I don't really need 3 cars worth that much sitting around.

(Tifighter nervously adjusts tie knot and looks left and right)

stickguy

my maverick finally clicked over 10,000 miles last week. only took about 27 months!

Acura sitting at around 28,500 in 66 months. and about 2 years of that it was our only car, and we were making a lot of trips back and forth from NJ to NY which is why that one is run up so high!

Michaell

I’m excited about the Prelude. Nice to see someone introducing a vehicle that isn’t some sort of xUV.

Remember when sporty inexpensive coupes were all the rage? 240SX, Celica, Prelude, Talon, even the Geo Storm and Mitsubishi Cordia? What am I missing?

Be nice if this was the start of a new era.

stickguy

Some Corolla variants. Ford EXP? Subaru SVX (that was an outlier!)

and the "hot hatches" (Colt turbo, GTI, Escort)

stickguy

speak of the devil, this popped up just now. They like it. Maybe a nice hybrid hatch would be fun. Just thinking my wife would want to sit higher.

au1994

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

We tell customers no smoking or a $200-250 cleaning charge. They ignore it. The big problem these days is smoke of a different nature which is even harder to get out.

Nothing worse than weed stench. Rental companies should have a penalty charge sliding scale: x amount for vaping, xx for tobacco (maybe xxx for cigars), and xxxx for weed. Maybe a flag on the account of the latter for impairment too.

My MB GLC rental from a few weeks ago reeked of weed. Seriously thought I might get a contact high.

Michaell

stickguy said:

Some Corolla variants. Ford EXP? Subaru SVX (that was an outlier!)

and the "hot hatches" (Colt turbo, GTI, Escort)

I don't think the 'hot hatch' market ever went away, just pared down a bit (GTI, Corolla GR, WRX).

Forgot about the EXP and its Mercury equivalent, the LN7.

And the Impulse from Isuzu, the twin to the Geo Storm. Plus the first gen Impulse, as well.

Sandman6472

I drove a 2024 Audi A3 today that was really trashed. Drove real nice but it just was so dirty and smelled of smoke. People treat our rentals like crap for some reason while I treat them like my own. Liked the interior better then our 2015 A3 but looks like it grew about an inch. One good thing is that the wife doesn't miss er A3 at al and is quite pleased with her last generation Kona. No complaints with it reaching 7K miles recently.

corvette

I'm having fun making a list of potential Ariya replacements. If lease deals dry up, I could just buy a used EV, PHEV, or a non-hybrid. Can't go wrong with an X3 //M, right?

Michaell

corvette said:

I'm having fun making a list of potential Ariya replacements. If lease deals dry up, I could just buy a used EV, PHEV, or a non-hybrid. Can't go wrong with an X3 //M, right?

Do you need two cars?

stickguy

Of course!

corvette

Michaell said:

Do you need two cars?

Technically, no, but to not get banned from this topic, the answer is always yes...

benjaminh

corvette said:

I'm having fun making a list of potential Ariya replacements. If lease deals dry up, I could just buy a used EV, PHEV, or a non-hybrid. Can't go wrong with an X3 //M, right?

I remember you got a great deal on that Ariya lease. How many months left? What's the real world highway range for the Ariya?

Michaell

One last piece of trivia about mom's Sonata. While it has a total of 60,000 miles on it currently, half of those were accrued since the summer of 2020, when my sister took stewardship of it after we moved mom to her care facility in San Diego.

If I'm not mistaken, every member of her household has driven the car for some period of time, and it did take a couple of moderate length road trips to the central CA coast.

Before that, it was hardly driven at all - it was so bad that it failed to pass emissions one year and I had to give it an "Italian tune up" to blow all the gunk out of the engine so that it would pass. Got it up to 85 MPH on some (straight and flat) back roads close to my hometown.

graphicguy

stickguy said:

Some Corolla variants. Ford EXP? Subaru SVX (that was an outlier!)

and the "hot hatches" (Colt turbo, GTI, Escort)

Trying to remember....when were those Colt Turbo's (Plymouth? Mitsu?) made? I know when I was shopping for a car for my son to take to college, we test drove a well used one of those with a manual that was for sale. It was pretty banged up, but I recall it being a lot of fun to drive.

corvette

benjaminh said:

I remember you got a great deal on that Ariya lease. How many months left? What's the real world highway range for the Ariya?

Three months left, so getting pretty close... I just booked its 7,500 mile service (a tire rotation and inspections, should be free since they gave prepaid maintenance on the 2023s). I've gotten up to 150-ish miles on the highway, starting from 100%, but realistically, I need to plan for a charging stop at around 125 miles.

tifighter

@corvette said:
Three months left, so getting pretty close... I just booked its 7,500 mile service (a tire rotation and inspections, should be free since they gave prepaid maintenance on the 2023s). I've gotten up to 150-ish miles on the highway, starting from 100%, but realistically, I need to plan for a charging stop at around 125 miles.

You have the smaller battery, yes?

jmonroe1

Michaell said:

One last piece of trivia about mom's Sonata. While it has a total of 60,000 miles on it currently, half of those were accrued since the summer of 2020, when my sister took stewardship of it after we moved mom to her care facility in San Diego.

If I'm not mistaken, every member of her household has driven the car for some period of time, and it did take a couple of moderate length road trips to the central CA coast.

Before that, it was hardly driven at all - it was so bad that it failed to pass emissions one year and I had to give it an "Italian tune up" to blow all the gunk out of the engine so that it would pass. Got it up to 85 MPH on some (straight and flat) back roads close to my hometown.

————————————————-
And every time you think of giving the Sonata that tune up you still smile.

jmonroe

corvette

tifighter said:

You have the smaller battery, yes?

Correct. Larger battery was going to be $100 more per month, if memory serves. Definitely would have been worth it, but my entertainment/second car budget was a lot lower at the time.

breld

I think if you’re open to different models and flexible on colors and options, there will be crazy good EV deals this month.

Anecdotally, Audi seems to have done a good job clearing out Q6 inventory. I was paying close attention to my local dealerships, and it seemed most of them had upwards of 30-40 units in stock a couple months ago, and that has dwindled to a handful at each location. When I was last shopping there, they admitted there was a lot of “panic-buying” from consumers.

corvette

I may live to regret this, but I plan on waiting until closer to my lease return date to pull the trigger on something.

breld

I think you’ll be fine, and maybe even better off. I’ll be curious to see what deals there are in December.

tjc78

I think the deals will be similar even without the $7500. They aren’t flying off the lots with the incentive how can they raise the prices?

In all honesty…. I’d wager that the manufacturers knew the $7500 would come to an end so they over priced the newer generation EVs by that $7500 effectively margining up. When it ends they will sell them for the same profit margins they make in other cars.

benjaminh

corvette said:

I may live to regret this, but I plan on waiting until closer to my lease return date to pull the trigger on something.

Seems like a good plan, especially since you have your Maverick. Btw how many miles on your Maverick so far?

corvette

26k and change on the Maverick. Tires are at around 5/32", so I'll probably replace them before winter.

corvette

Browsing some used PHEVs... It seems like the XC90 is far more prevalent than the XC60, even if you restrict the model years to the more recent ones with the larger battery.

benjaminh

corvette said:

26k and change on the Maverick. Tires are at around 5/32", so I'll probably replace them before winter.

That's not many miles for a set of tires these days. What tires came with the Maverick? Is yours a hybrid XLT? Do you have any specific tires in mind yet for your next set?

Sandman6472

The Accent is getting new front tires in St. Augustine as I type this. Two were replaced back in December but they told my kid she still had life left in the other two. But she texted me earlier that she was there doing it today. She uses my c c so she'll just wire me the amount so I can pay the bill before the due date. She still loves her 2020 Accent and it's been treating her well. Had an accident a few years back in th Target parking lot but wasn't her fault. Can't even tell where the damage was now. Had here last Accent for 11 years before an accident totaled it out...someone else's fault again. Next time, she'll have to get a Venue since they no longer make the Accent.

corvette

Continental ProContact TX... They only come with 8/32" of tread depth from the factory, so not much to work with in terms of wear. Mine's an EcoBoost XL with AWD. They wore evenly with no issues, I just beat on it occasionally.

Considering Sumitomos since my company owns a significant portion of their parent company.

Sandman6472

Have gotten used to the 18" alloys on my new Golf. Very similar to the ones on our 2023 Kona actually. Not a fan of all black alloys but both have just enough aluminum that the black is muted a bit. And now, we both have 18" rims instead of the 17's like we used to have. Both are Goodyear tires but different treads as hers are more of an all season tread while mine are definitely sport inspired. She has the 45" sidewall which I prefer while I've got the 40" sidewalls. Hers definitely drives much smoother then mine and we don't feel any road imperfection while I feel almost everything. Both need a good cleaning though!

explorerx4

SInce tires are considered to be ok until 2/32's of tread left, that would be over 50K on the original tires.
I don't let them get that low either.
When I had the wifes's Corsair in for service @25K, they said only 4/32's left.
Just had it in for a repair almost 5K later and they magically grew to 6/32's.

Sandman6472

I usually err on the conservative side and change my tires early. I don't want to get a flat to be honest, so I just do it a bit early. My wife tends to wait a bit too long but she's been lucky. Our daughter finally did the original two left today. The front ones had needed to be changed last January and she overruled my suggestion to just change all four at the same time. I worry as she's so far away now, a 4 hour drive, and drives on I-95 for a bit to get to work in South Jacksonville. It's taken me awhile to realize that she's a capable young woman and can handle her vehicular needs without dear old dad swooping in! I'll be glad when we live real close again just in case something happens.

corvette

A lot of dealers aren't super careful about measuring the tread depth. I have a Fowler X-Tread digital tread depth gauge that I use.

xwesx

corvette said:

26k and change on the Maverick. Tires are at around 5/32", so I'll probably replace them before winter.

I highly recommend Yokohama Geolandar ATs as an excellent all-season, all-purpose tire. Great wear, great grip, great price.

stickguy

Time for her to get her own credit card too!

stickguy

I have those continentals on the Acura. Maybe 5 or 6 32s now at 28k. Work fine, and might age out. If I replace them early it would only be because that’s the car that might drive in the snow.

xwesx

Sandman6472 said:

I usually err on the conservative side and change my tires early. I don't want to get a flat to be honest, so I just do it a bit early. My wife tends to wait a bit too long but she's been lucky. Our daughter finally did the original two left today. The front ones had needed to be changed last January and she overruled my suggestion to just change all four at the same time. I worry as she's so far away now, a 4 hour drive, and drives on I-95 for a bit to get to work in South Jacksonville. It's taken me awhile to realize that she's a capable young woman and can handle her vehicular needs without dear old dad swooping in! I'll be glad when we live real close again just in case something happens.

I'm with you, Sandy! I generally change mine out no lower than 5/32", but I usually plan it seasonally, so it depends on the starting depth more than the ending. If the set is at 7/32 to start a season, then those will be replaced before I put the tires on the car next year. By the time any tire reaches 5-6/32, its performance is markedly degraded. IMO, 4/32" and lower is a ticking time bomb.

ab348

explorerx4 said:

SInce tires are considered to be ok until 2/32's of tread left, that would be over 50K on the original tires.
I don't let them get that low either.
When I had the wifes's Corsair in for service @25K, they said only 4/32's left.
Just had it in for a repair almost 5K later and they magically grew to 6/32's.

I’d be nervous only having 1/8” of tread depth, but 4/32nds sounds safe.

corvette

xwesx said:

I highly recommend Yokohama Geolandar ATs as an excellent all-season, all-purpose tire. Great wear, great grip, great price.

My Tahoe had those and I found I never needed to engage 4WD in the snow.

jmonroe1

ab348 said:

explorerx4 said:

SInce tires are considered to be ok until 2/32's of tread left, that would be over 50K on the original tires.
I don't let them get that low either.
When I had the wifes's Corsair in for service @25K, they said only 4/32's left.
Just had it in for a repair almost 5K later and they magically grew to 6/32's.

I’d be nervous only having 1/8” of tread depth, but 4/32nds sounds safe.

————————————————
That math coincides with the worthless Canadian dollar you’re so fond of.

jmonroe

explorerx4

Started looking for new tires for the Corsair, so I went to Tirerack.
You can get some information overload there.

stickguy

I did too. I shop them for the Acura once in a while, because I like shopping for tires. though at today's prices, paying for them will hurt. But I love having new sneaks on the car! Or with a CUV, hiking boots?

Sandman6472

Totally agree on that score but, she asked to be put on my card for now. Our kids all turned out to be minimalist folks so they prefer to have less "things" which I guess includes credit cards. I'm more of the opposite, more of a pack rat which is causing some excess anxiety right now. Hate to throw things out that I might need later, clothes mostly. Now, with the proposition of moving within the next 12 to 18 months, I have a lot of work I need to do. Think once I start, it'll go quickly but I'm taking baby steps right now. Also think the idea of leaving an area I've lived in basically since 1969 is giving me pause. Moving to a new area I know nothing about is throwing me right now. Really have no reason to stay here anymore as all the family is either dead or moved away. But I like it here and have become quite familiar with it all. But, I want to move closer to the girls and that has to come first. Hoping my daughter will get a 3/2 or a 4/2 place soon so at least we'll have a place to stay temporarily until we buy.

explorerx4

Your adult kid wants you to add them to your credit card? Sorry, but that's a big red flag.