Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

au1994

I’m sure many of us here get trade offers, upgrade offers or appraisal offers on vehicles we haven't had in a couple of years.

stickguy

I get solicitations from 2 Acura dealers on the RDX> the one in Jersey we bought it at, and local where we get it serviced.

stickguy

I don't think rated HP means all that much. Design (including weight and gearing) and balance is what matters. When I was close to ordering a 525i BMW back in 2000 I test drove it a few times. Spritely enough around town, and merging down an on ramp it zipped from 30 to 70 very quickly (and extremely smoothly). This with only a paltry 168 or so HP. Manual of course, which made a huge difference in that car.

au1994

My ZHP was not what you would consider quick off the line but once it got into the revs, it pulled and pulled and pulled some more. And made a great sound while doing it.

xwesx

Just goes to show.... gearing matters!

corvette

I only had one bidder for the Ariya when I did the KBB instant offer thing, but they're still calling and emailing me weeks later.

kyfdx

au1994 said:

My ZHP was not what you would consider quick off the line but once it got into the revs, it pulled and pulled and pulled some more. And made a great sound while doing it.

I’ve seen multiple videos of ZHPs doing an indicated 150+. That’s no joke, and out of my comfort range.

roadburner

xwesx said:

Just goes to show.... gearing matters!

That's another thing about the ti; 5th gear is 1:1- no overdrive. It's easy and fun to keep the motor in its power band.

jmonroe1

kyfdx said:

au1994 said:

My ZHP was not what you would consider quick off the line but once it got into the revs, it pulled and pulled and pulled some more. And made a great sound while doing it.

I’ve seen multiple videos of ZHPs doing an indicated 150+. That’s no joke, and out of my comfort range.

————————————————
@roadburner in his younger days.

jmonroe

nyccarguy

Ok - so we’ve got low miles and a high price. Also, it is an LX. Last year of the 5-Speed Automatic/K24 engine transmission combination (no CVT). No photos yet, but it does have an extensive service history of transmission fluid & differential fluid changes. I think even the timing chain guides were replaced.

https://www.tarrytownhonda.com/used-Tarrytown-2014-Honda-CR+V-LX-2HKRM4H30EH708809

roadburner

jmonroe1 said:

kyfdx said:

au1994 said:

My ZHP was not what you would consider quick off the line but once it got into the revs, it pulled and pulled and pulled some more. And made a great sound while doing it.

I’ve seen multiple videos of ZHPs doing an indicated 150+. That’s no joke, and out of my comfort range.

————————————————
@roadburner in his younger days.

jmonroe

The ti came with a ridiculous 116 mph speed governor; the Turner/Conforti removed it, but the best it can do is only 130 mph.

corvette

@nyccarguy - oh, geez... Low miles, but over a decade old. Base trim with AWD, and it's before they went to a CVT. If it's very clean, Edmunds says that price is in line with dealer retail, but the fact that it's only depreciated about $1k per year from its MSRP is kind of dismaying. All of that said, I think it's reasonable to nitpick any cosmetic/mechanical imperfections, given the depreciation curve.

corvette

roadburner said:

The ti came with a ridiculous 116 mph speed governor[...]

B-b-buttttt... that way you can save money by installing the cheapest T-rated Ditchfinder tires!

jmonroe1

roadburner said:

jmonroe1 said:

kyfdx said:

au1994 said:

My ZHP was not what you would consider quick off the line but once it got into the revs, it pulled and pulled and pulled some more. And made a great sound while doing it.

I’ve seen multiple videos of ZHPs doing an indicated 150+. That’s no joke, and out of my comfort range.

————————————————
@roadburner in his younger days.

jmonroe

The ti came with a ridiculous 116 mph speed governor; the Turner/Conforti removed it, but the best it can do is only 130 mph.

————————————————
That’s only 30 MPH above @andres3s wish list for posted speed limit signs.

jmonroe

stickguy

$15k for a base stippo mobile just seems rude to me. And make me think the dealer is trying to cheese me offering $25k for a 2020 RDX higher level model with only 28K miles!

it might be a good reliable car for a teen. I just couldn't imagine driving it.

benjaminh

The price on that 2014 CR-V LX seems high, but the K24 is probably the longest-lasting engine Honda ever made.

Tough depreciation for a 2020 RDX in great condition. I've lost track. What are the top candidates to replace your Acura?

A while ago people were talking about their car loans. I've got two running at the same time, each one at around $820 a month. Sigh. The good news is that they are only three year loans at 0.9%. Fortunately our modest house has already been paid off. But yeah, I need to keep working for at least the next three years. The silver lining is that we had equity in the wrecked 2024 Outback. The loan on that one was down to 24K, and since the insurance payout was 31k we had $7000 as a downpayment on the new car.

Sandman6472

$820/month seems like a mortgage to me but hey, we've been with no mortgage for so long, guess I forgot. We gave up a lot to pay it off early but it was the right decision at the time. Even today, we tend to live below our means and will probably continue to do so. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few months with the middle child wanting to buy her own place & us planning on moving up there. The wife is now sayin' she doesn't want to move but just think it's the whole task that's getting to her. Sure, it'll be a lot of work but think it'll be worth it no matter where we land. Plan A right now is to get a bigger place with room for us also but to be somewhat separated so we all have our own privacy. Think that'll work the best overall so we can each have our own office like we do now. A dog walker won't be necessary unless we take a small trip as we'd be there when she goes to work to take care of the pup. Since I don't plan to work, I'll have plenty of time to tend to his needs.
Plan B is for us to get our own place very near to hers so we can pop over quickly. But we'd need to bunk with her in the beginning before we buy. Don't matter to me as we all get along great and know when to give each other space when needed.

stickguy

I could see the one place plan going very poorly. Unless it was some sort of duplex with fully separate units. Makes sense if you need care and she is going to be the caretaker, otherwise too much togetherness!

Being nearby seems like a good compromise.

Moving is some work, and my wife thought it was going to be some awful thing but even she admits now it was not that bad, and worth it in the end to be where we are. And that all the stuff we did manage to sort through and get rid of needed to happen (though we still have some more to go, at least it is a lot less and better organized now).

edit to add: staying temporarily while you look for a new house is a great way to do it. We learned the hard way how tough it can be to look for houses long distance. And having your house sold and the money in the bank to be a cash buyer is a great way to go. If we had not found the house we did end up buying the weekend we did, our next step was finding a rental and selling the old place. we could have stayed with our son and (at the time) girlfriend but his house was not that big, and not something we would want to do for more than a week or 2 (not potentially 3 months).

our daughter and hubbie (still weird to say that) are planning to move out this way from Boston in the spring (they rent, at an absurd price per month) and want to buy, but most likely won't have done so before their lease is up so they are going to put their stuff in storage and live here while they look, but we do have a much larger house than we possibly need so it won't be a problem for a short time.

oldfarmer50

nyccarguy said:

Ok - so we’ve got low miles and a high price. Also, it is an LX. Last year of the 5-Speed Automatic/K24 engine transmission combination (no CVT). No photos yet, but it does have an extensive service history of transmission fluid & differential fluid changes. I think even the timing chain guides were replaced.

https://www.tarrytownhonda.com/used-Tarrytown-2014-Honda-CR+V-LX-2HKRM4H30EH708809

They certainly are playing to a particular upscale demographic with their description.😅 How much snow mushing and antique hauling do you do?

If it is as well maintained as you say, the $15k price is what you’ll have to pay in today’s market. As the saying goes, they know what they’ve got. The biggest fear in buying used is that the previous owner abused the car in some way but this one seems to have been owned by someone who took care of it. To me, that’s worth a few thousand extra. Just do a thorough check for rust.

tjc78

@Sandman6472 said:
$820/month seems like a mortgage to me but hey, we've been with no mortgage for so long, guess I forgot. We gave up a lot to pay it off early but it was the right decision at the time. Even today, we tend to live below our means and will probably continue to do so. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few months with the middle child wanting to buy her own place & us planning on moving up there. The wife is now sayin' she doesn't want to move but just think it's the whole task that's getting to her. Sure, it'll be a lot of work but think it'll be worth it no matter where we land. Plan A right now is to get a bigger place with room for us also but to be somewhat separated so we all have our own privacy. Think that'll work the best overall so we can each have our own office like we do now. A dog walker won't be necessary unless we take a small trip as we'd be there when she goes to work to take care of the pup. Since I don't plan to work, I'll have plenty of time to tend to his needs.
Plan B is for us to get our own place very near to hers so we can pop over quickly. But we'd need to bunk with her in the beginning before we buy. Don't matter to me as we all get along great and know when to give each other space when needed.

$820 a month doesn’t even pay my taxes!

stickguy

like at least one of the Lexuses (Lexi?) Bradd found, seeing a local car with all dealer services gives me a pretty good feeling that it was taken care of reasonably well.

nyccarguy

oldfarmer50 said:

nyccarguy said:

Ok - so we’ve got low miles and a high price. Also, it is an LX. Last year of the 5-Speed Automatic/K24 engine transmission combination (no CVT). No photos yet, but it does have an extensive service history of transmission fluid & differential fluid changes. I think even the timing chain guides were replaced.

https://www.tarrytownhonda.com/used-Tarrytown-2014-Honda-CR+V-LX-2HKRM4H30EH708809

They certainly are playing to a particular upscale demographic with their description.😅 How much snow mushing and antique hauling do you do?

If it is as well maintained as you say, the $15k price is what you’ll have to pay in today’s market. As the saying goes, they know what they’ve got. The biggest fear in buying used is that the previous owner abused the car in some way but this one seems to have been owned by someone who took care of it. To me, that’s worth a few thousand extra. Just do a thorough check for rust.

I try to comb through the car fax to see what it says has been done. If I see it has been serviced at a "Valvoline Instant Oil Change" more than once I automatically disqualify it. I look for a little more in depth maintenance other than the standard oil change & tire rotation. What drew me to this particular CRV was the fact that it has had brake fluid, transmission fluid, & differential fluid changes as well as a new timing chain (or timing chain guides).

imidazol97

imidazol97 said:

My son has gotten fed up with his Toyota store on his 21 Venza. The tire bait and switch was last straw.

I had told him he'd likely buy a Lexus next for the better service. He's close to the store.
But he's also talking Cadilla ev! against my suggestions.

suydam

tjc78 said:

@Sandman6472 said:

$820/month seems like a mortgage to me but hey, we've been with no mortgage for so long, guess I forgot. We gave up a lot to pay it off early but it was the right decision at the time. Even today, we tend to live below our means and will probably continue to do so. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few months with the middle child wanting to buy her own place & us planning on moving up there. The wife is now sayin' she doesn't want to move but just think it's the whole task that's getting to her. Sure, it'll be a lot of work but think it'll be worth it no matter where we land. Plan A right now is to get a bigger place with room for us also but to be somewhat separated so we all have our own privacy. Think that'll work the best overall so we can each have our own office like we do now. A dog walker won't be necessary unless we take a small trip as we'd be there when she goes to work to take care of the pup. Since I don't plan to work, I'll have plenty of time to tend to his needs.

Plan B is for us to get our own place very near to hers so we can pop over quickly. But we'd need to bunk with her in the beginning before we buy. Don't matter to me as we all get along great and know when to give each other space when needed.

$820 a month doesn’t even pay my taxes!

My thought exactly!

ab348

Sandman6472 said:

$820/month seems like a mortgage to me but hey, we've been with no mortgage for so long, guess I forgot.

Sometimes just for laffs I like to browse the lease hacker types of web sites locally to entertain myself with the bad purchase decisions local buyers made and from which they are now trying to get out from under. Last week I found a good one. A M-B GLE 450E SUV, leased only about a year ago with a $5000 down payment, not sure of any trade or whatever. It is sitting there with 2 years to run and a monthly payment of $2200. I'm not sure if that monthly payment includes provincial sales tax or not but if it doesn't, then add another $300 or so per month. Yikes! Somebody actually thought it was a good idea to pay somewhere around $80K for 3 years use of the thing. I can't help think it was a young techbro of some sort with an influencer wife and 1 or 2 little kids. Hope he's still employed and isn't trying to pick up pieces of broken dreams.

nyccarguy

This 2020 Subaru Legacy Premium looks promising. Although crazy to think that a 2020 is almost 6 years old. I'm not sure if it has Blind Spot Monitor though. CPO car, although Subaru only gives you a power train warranty to 7/100K from the original inservice date. Looks to be in excellent condition. Price seems decent and especially if I can negotiate a little off it might be a smart buy.

oldfarmer50

suydam said:

tjc78 said:

@Sandman6472 said:

$820/month seems like a mortgage to me but hey, we've been with no mortgage for so long, guess I forgot. We gave up a lot to pay it off early but it was the right decision at the time. Even today, we tend to live below our means and will probably continue to do so. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few months with the middle child wanting to buy her own place & us planning on moving up there. The wife is now sayin' she doesn't want to move but just think it's the whole task that's getting to her. Sure, it'll be a lot of work but think it'll be worth it no matter where we land. Plan A right now is to get a bigger place with room for us also but to be somewhat separated so we all have our own privacy. Think that'll work the best overall so we can each have our own office like we do now. A dog walker won't be necessary unless we take a small trip as we'd be there when she goes to work to take care of the pup. Since I don't plan to work, I'll have plenty of time to tend to his needs.

Plan B is for us to get our own place very near to hers so we can pop over quickly. But we'd need to bunk with her in the beginning before we buy. Don't matter to me as we all get along great and know when to give each other space when needed.

$820 a month doesn’t even pay my taxes!

My thought exactly!

I pay about $500/mo in total school and property tax. In the city a few miles away they pay 2 to 3 times more than I do.

oldfarmer50

nyccarguy said:

This 2020 Subaru Legacy Premium looks promising. Although crazy to think that a 2020 is almost 6 years old. I'm not sure if it has Blind Spot Monitor though. CPO car, although Subaru only gives you a power train warranty to 7/100K from the original inservice date. Looks to be in excellent condition. Price seems decent and especially if I can negotiate a little off it might be a smart buy.

Make sure you know it’s history. The Enterprise wholesale lot is located in Brewster. A 2020 could be a long term lease return.

au1994

nyccarguy said:

This 2020 Subaru Legacy Premium looks promising. Although crazy to think that a 2020 is almost 6 years old. I'm not sure if it has Blind Spot Monitor though. CPO car, although Subaru only gives you a power train warranty to 7/100K from the original inservice date. Looks to be in excellent condition. Price seems decent and especially if I can negotiate a little off it might be a smart buy.

I like it for a new driver.

explorerx4

I am browsing the online inventory of the local MB deale and found this bargain.
https://www.mbzno.com/inventory/used-2014-mercedes-benz-sls-amg®-black-series-rwd-2d-coupe-wddrj7ha7ea010929/

OK, this one seems reasonably priced.
https://www.mbzno.com/inventory/used-2023-kia-telluride-s-awd-4d-sport-utility-5xyp6dgc2pg357088/

benjaminh

nyccarguy said:

This 2020 Subaru Legacy Premium looks promising. Although crazy to think that a 2020 is almost 6 years old. I'm not sure if it has Blind Spot Monitor though. CPO car, although Subaru only gives you a power train warranty to 7/100K from the original inservice date. Looks to be in excellent condition. Price seems decent and especially if I can negotiate a little off it might be a smart buy.

One of the interior photos shows that there's a key in the ignition instead of push-button start, which means this is a Premium without option packages. Unfortunately with Subaru Premium models you almost always need to get the option package to get blind-spot monitoring and cross-traffic alert. That's changed just this year for the Forester Premium hybrid, and it will be standard on the 2026 Outback.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

@Sandman6472 said:

$820/month seems like a mortgage to me but hey, we've been with no mortgage for so long, guess I forgot. We gave up a lot to pay it off early but it was the right decision at the time. Even today, we tend to live below our means and will probably continue to do so. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few months with the middle child wanting to buy her own place & us planning on moving up there. The wife is now sayin' she doesn't want to move but just think it's the whole task that's getting to her. Sure, it'll be a lot of work but think it'll be worth it no matter where we land. Plan A right now is to get a bigger place with room for us also but to be somewhat separated so we all have our own privacy. Think that'll work the best overall so we can each have our own office like we do now. A dog walker won't be necessary unless we take a small trip as we'd be there when she goes to work to take care of the pup. Since I don't plan to work, I'll have plenty of time to tend to his needs.

Plan B is for us to get our own place very near to hers so we can pop over quickly. But we'd need to bunk with her in the beginning before we buy. Don't matter to me as we all get along great and know when to give each other space when needed.

$820 a month doesn’t even pay my taxes!

————————————————-
And it’s because of taxes like that a plumber helper that did some work on flip #2 moved to the Burgh area. Then his parents and a cousin moved here too. He admitted he didn’t like the idea that he wasn’t close to the Jersey beaches but when he returned to Jersey for vacation he could afford to stay for 2 or three weeks vs. just one week when he lived close by.

jmonroe

benjaminh

But a good thing about the Legacy is that the visibility is excellent all around, which is rare these days.

nyccarguy

Nice observation. I didn’t see it listed on the safety features.

sda

au1994 said:

I’m sure many of us here get trade offers, upgrade offers or appraisal offers on vehicles we haven't had in a couple of years.

The dealer we bought the Q5 from sends me an offer to upgrade the Q5 to a new VW Taos S. huh?

oldfarmer50

I like the ad for that Mercedes calls the million dollar+ price tag as “worry free”.🤣.

stickguy

I recently got the school tax bill on the new house (first one at the "real" assessment, 1st year we got lucky and got the builders one so saved about $5k). With the local taxes (pay them separately and at a different time) I am in for about $700/month. Might sound like a lot, but I look at it as an alternative to renting. I know you can rent a house like this for $700/month! Actually, might be able to get a small 1 bedroom in a sketchy neighborhood in the city.

ab348

I’m sure you get fine value for that close-to-five figure bill every year.

roadburner

Today my son and I finally attended the BMW Performance Driving School M Intensive event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed a LOT of track time. We tried drifting in a new M5 and autocrossed the M2. The full course laps were the most fun. We both saw over 150 mph on the front straight in the M3 and M4. The M2 was my favorite, homely interior and all. The M3 and M4 were seriously fast and the brakes consistently slowed the car down from relatively high speeds with no complaints. An instructor led groups of three cars around the course. One time when I was following immediately behind the instructor we were halfway down the back straight and I looked in the rear view mirror and the other two cars hadn't turned on to the back straight yet. My son said something similar happened to him. Hopefully we will make it to an AMG track day next year.

stickguy

I saw out driving around today a newer M3 in what I think was the same purple color of that 230 for sale posted the other day.

roadburner

My real estate tax bill works out to $306 per month. I helps to live in an unincorporated area.

Michaell

I think my property taxes work out to $500-600/mo. My first house was less than $200/mo.

tjc78

Crying here in NJ …..

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

Crying here in NJ …..

Yeah, but we have to pump our own gas...

Sandman6472

Back in 1987, our house was just over 3 months late instead of the 3 weeks we were promised. It was a tight squeeze but the in-laws took us in. So staying with her a month or two would be just fine. A duplex kind of set-up would actually be perfect but we'll have to see what the girls decide. I trust their judgement and all I want is a garage to park our vehicles and a dedicated office for each of us. Like to surf on my computer and listen to music so don't like to disturb anyone else. The "winters" are a bit cooler up in that area so am looking forward to that actually. Everyone I've talked with has said the St. Augustine area is really nice with a lot to do & see. Think we'll also be seeing the kids in St. Cloud once we re-locate there as it's just over 2 hours away. There really are no cons to moving up state and do think the packing up will not be that bad as we've got plenty of time to get it done. I've already started with lots of paperwork shredded as it's no longer valid after all these years.

Sandman6472

A holiday tomorrow for many but down south here, the kids still go to school. We were always off up north. But, no banks or mail delivery.

Got a check in the mail yesterday for an "Auto Parts Settlement" I was involved with. Forgot about it really and was sent just under $300 in a check! I'll take it and glad I filled out the paperwork.

Some co-workers got a small extra payment from social security this month. Has anyone else heard of this? Got a nice bump with the spousal benefit I was entitled to as the wife has always been the higher earner in the family so am super happy about that. Definitely helps with the monthly bills which never seem to go down! Between taxes we pay for owning our house plus the insurance on the house, it is a lot more then ever before. Add in the everyday stuff like cable, internet, power, cell phone, water & sewerage...you get the drift. Our monthly payments get eaten up pretty quickly. And we don't spend a whole lot on things either...still living under our means all these years later! A big reason I finally decided to treat myself to my new GTI as we need to enjoy a bit for working & saving so hard. Gotta reward ourselves a bit also!!!

graphicguy

breld said:

I know not everyone will agree because 1) the styling is polarizing; and 2) it's "just" the 4 cylinder...but I kinda love this...

https://schompbmw.com/inventory/Used-2024-BMW-2_Series-230i_xDrive_Coupe-3MW33CM02R8E66450

Hey....if you like it, what we think doesn't matter.

But, since you brought it up, those always reminded me of a half smoked stogie.

graphicguy

explorerx4 said:

GM wants to harvest your info instead of it going to Apple or Google.

Talk about a company who can't seem to make up their mind what they want to do. Just saw the new Bolt will have wireless Car Play and Android Auto. But, the way more expensive Blazer EV/Equinox EV...no CarPlay for you. Someone at Chevy can't make up their minds. Or, they realized it was a mistake and are reversing course.

stickguy

bulk of the taxes are for the schools. We built in one of the snooty districts up here which helps prop up our property value.

ab348

graphicguy said:

explorerx4 said:

GM wants to harvest your info instead of it going to Apple or Google.

Talk about a company who can't seem to make up their mind what they want to do. Just saw the new Bolt will have wireless Car Play and Android Auto. But, the way more expensive Blazer EV/Equinox EV...no CarPlay for you. Someone at Chevy can't make up their minds. Or, they realized it was a mistake and are reversing course.

I’m really stumped by what use GM would have for knowing an owner prefers to go to Wendy’s over McD’s, but I’m sure they have such diabolical plans that it is beyond us mere mortals.

The reviews I’ve seen of the new version of the Bolt said that it does not have CarPlay/AA just like other GM EVs do not.