Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

Sandman6472 · February 22

I've been a hatchback/5-door lover/driver since my 1979 Datsun B-210. Loved my 1988 Toyota Corolla FX & we can't forget my 2014 Hyundai Tucson debacle. But, I truly fell in love with my current 2015 VW Golf & seem to love it more every day! Crazy as that sounds in this distinguished group of auto aficionados that I am proud to be associated with. And even my wife finally told me at dinner tonight that my next vehicle will definitely be the new VW GTI...it's just a matter of time...so just admit it! And since she knows me better then anyone else, gotta agree... she's right here. Doubt I'll be as happy as I am right now in anything else. Driving almost every vehicle out there in the market place right now at work, I always comparing them all to my current VW Golf. And they all seem to come up short in one way or another. Just can't help it...guess that's why I'm in no real hurry to replace it. I have driven a new 2024 version a few months ago and did like it. Wasn't such a fan of the current HVAC and audio system but those issues has been resolved in the 2025 model, so all I'll need to do is pick out the color and the alloy wheel design & I'll write the check with zero hesitation whatsoever.

It's funny, I have a bet with a close co-worker that he'll go down to working two days a week before I buy something new. We've had this bet since early 2020 & we joke about it every so often. And a bunch of the other drivers tease me about when am I going to break down & replace what I drive now. But then, they compliment me about how good it looks for an eleven year old vehicle. And now, this is the longest I've ever owned a vehicle. So, once the new 2025's come out, I'll just bide my time till the right one comes along. And if that means waiting till 2026, so be it. I'm happy with the current situation as it stands. I know all the stars will align when the time is right and I'll make my move!

nyccarguy · February 22

@28firefighter said:
And so you came home with it, @nyccarguy ?

I haven’t even driven it yet. Not that has stopped me before.

stickguy · February 22

what is the 3-year use plan for this car?

nyccarguy · February 22

@stickguy said:
what is the 3-year use plan for this car?

Teach (almost) 16 year old to drive on it. Have my 18 year old drive it to work over the summer. Use it as a spare car to keep some miles off the truck & Highlander. Eventually (almost) 16 year old will start driving it himself.

corvette · February 22

@nyccarguy - sounds like a reasonable use case, but you'll have to buy this window sticker and teach them how to pass people on the shoulder:

(I jest, I'm on my fifth Nissan/Infiniti product out of twenty cars...)

stickguy · February 22

so not leaving for college in the fall? So a couple of years for HS and summer home from college duty, then figure out a replacement for more HS and college summer duty.

and if you are planning for you and/or your wife to put some real miles on it, the new lease is a lot better idea than a relatively miled-up beater!

Sandman6472 · February 23

Anything pre-owned is going to have it's own issues depending on how it was taken care by the previous owner(s) which could go either way. And when it's in the shop, another set of problems arise. This vehicle should be relatively new & safe for the whole family to use. And a three year lease is not a long commitment if y'all truly hate it. Do what's best for the family & be done with it. Trust me, another "family issue" will take it's place next week & all this will be a distant memory.

Good luck with whatever happens. Try to make this a positive experience for everyone!

nyccarguy · February 23

@stickguy said:
so not leaving for college in the fall? So a couple of years for HS and summer home from college duty, then figure out a replacement for more HS and college summer duty.

and if you are planning for you and/or your wife to put some real miles on it, the new lease is a lot better idea than a relatively miled-up beater!

My 18 year old is currently a freshman in college. He’ll be going back in the fall for his sophomore year. He won’t be taking the car back with him.

stickguy · February 23

I saw another new style WRX today (for some reason I only see them in the Aldis parking lot). I actually really like the way it looks. If spring ever arrives I might go take a look at one.

nyccarguy · February 23

@stickguy said:
I saw another new style WRX today (for some reason I only see them in the Aldis parking lot). I actually really like the way it looks. If spring ever arrives I might go take a look at one.

It has grown on me. I like it a lot too. Just not in that Orange color.

stickguy · February 23

I love orange. My wife hates it. but the medium blue would not be a problem. I just don't think I want to get one with a CVT, though need to drive one to know for sure. Unless I want to trade my truck for one, and I would miss the functionality!

ab348 · February 23

I ‘m trying to get my head around swapping out an Acura for a Subaru.

stickguy · February 23

It's a lot more fun.

nyccarguy · February 23

I had some time this afternoon and found the only Nissan store within Westchester & Fairfield County that was open on Sunday. I took a decent test drive in the Sentra. Besides some wind noise, it drove nicely. The leather wrapped, flat bottom steering wheel is really nice. The sales woman was very nice. Said they didn’t have any ‘25 Sentras in stock. Only ‘24s which don’t lease well. She complimented me o my driving and said that a lot of people scare her when she goes on test drives. She say us down at a table afterwards to go speak with her manager which took a little longer than I anticipated. Came back with a number that wasn’t what I was expecting. Now I didn’t expect to be blown away since they don’t have any cars in stock. She asked what she could do to get me to sign today. I wrote down a number that I knew wasn’t going to get approved. She introduced me to her manager who thanked me for coming in and said my counter was way off. We got a card and brochure and were on our way.

corvette · February 23

nyccarguy said:
...said that a lot of people scare her when she goes on test drives.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0ZhFAsgDKuI

kyfdx · February 23

Mustang in that orangey-yellow color.
Personalized plate:

MACNCHZ

corvette · February 23

My parents' Honda Element was orange. They kept it ten years. I'd own an orange car, but not for ten years.

Sandman6472 · February 23

My folks wanted me to buy their friends '76 Datsun B-210 4-door in that orange color and I refused. Looking back, that was a bad decision on my part. My older sister had just gotten a '76 Datsun B-210 3-door with a stick in blue & really liked it. Taught me to drive a stick on it but I wasn't very good at it. But I should've gotten the orange 4-door instead of that awful '76 Izuzu Opel I ended up getting instead. Issues from day 1 that never went away. It was August of 1977 and needed a more reliable vehicle to drive when I started taking business classes at FAU. By that time, my '67 Olds Cutlass Supreme, now brown, was about to give up the ghost so getting something newer was imperative. But the idea of a 4-door vehicle for a 21 year old just wasn't appealing. But one thing I do know, it would've been a lot more reliable then that Opel ever was!

roadburner · February 23

Back in late 1969 my mother totaled the 1965 Mustang I was supposed to get when I turned 16. That night my dad and I went hunting for a replacement and found a 1969 Cyclone CJ in Competition Orange. My dad took my mother to look at it the next day and she nixed the deal because "it looked like a taxicab."
Needless to say, my mother and I were never close.

jmonroe1 · February 23

I’m sure I’ve said this before. Son #1 bought a 2017 Chevy SS a couple years ago like this. It’s called Orange Blast:

https://media.carsandbids.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=2080,quality=70/da4b9237bacccdf19c0760cab7aec4a8359010b0/photos/3yXPD1Nw-OZwK__2pG3-(edit).jpg?t=168136673121

jmonroe

breld · February 24

Nothing wrong with an orange car.

pensfan83 · February 24

My Mazda 6 was Blazing Copper, aka Orange.

greg1288 · February 24

My wife had one of these many years ago.. Buick Skyhawk hatchback which I kind of liked but she hated the color. We wound up repainting it beige.

qbrozen · February 24

Orange cars are my fave

jmonroe1 · February 24

qbrozen said:
Orange cars are my fave

————————————————
How many in your current fleet?

jmonroe

sda · February 24

greg1288 said:
My wife had one of these many years ago.. Buick Skyhawk hatchback which I kind of liked but she hated the color. We wound up repainting it beige.

That would be a keeper today. It had a nice interior, Buick sport steering wheel, probably full gauges. If ac a plus. A 4 or 5 speed, they were fairly quick for the period. I had a 76 Sunbird, V6, 5 sp, ac. I have a soft spot for that car. It would get 30 mpg on long highway drives.

stickguy · February 24

Sandy, I just saw an update on the VW Taos, and they upped the HP on it to 180+. Is 176" too long for you?

nyccarguy · February 24

@sda said:
That would be a keeper today. It had a nice interior, Buick sport steering wheel, probably full gauges. If ac a plus. A 4 or 5 speed, they were fairly quick for the period. I had a 76 Sunbird, V6, 5 sp, ac. I have a soft spot for that car. It would get 30 mpg on long highway drives.

And barely break 30 mph on an uphill

stickguy · February 24

I would not mind having one of those either. I liked them back in the day. Problem is, if I got anything I wanted back in the old days (or had and want to relive) finding a clean one is hard, and getting a lot of the parts might be impossible. Unless you stick with an early Mustang or an MGB where you can order an entire car out of a catalog!

suydam · February 24

Took the Blazer on a trip to Palm Desert over the weekend. It’s a great time of year to visit, temps in the low 80s and cools down at night. Probably could have got there on one charge but we stopped at a mall each way, charged and got lunch. I like that charging stations are now available in many shopping centers.

tifighter · February 24

I test drove a car and came home without buying it. Ask me anything.

corvette · February 24

tifighter said:
I test drove a car and came home without buying it. Ask me anything.

How does one accomplish such a feat? Also, what car?

stickguy · February 24

How? Test drive lousy cars!

28firefighter · February 24

@tifighter said:
I test drove a car and came home without buying it. Ask me anything.

Is that because you had to order it?

greg1288 · February 25

nyccarguy said:

@sda said:

That would be a keeper today. It had a nice interior, Buick sport steering wheel, probably full gauges. If ac a plus. A 4 or 5 speed, they were fairly quick for the period. I had a 76 Sunbird, V6, 5 sp, ac. I have a soft spot for that car. It would get 30 mpg on long highway drives.

And barely break 30 mph on an uphill

1978 Skyhawk had a 3.8L V-6 with 105HP. I found a 0-60 time of 11.9 sec.. Yeah pretty slow but not terrible in those days. Curb weight was around 2800 lbs. I had a 1977 VW scirocco with 75HP , 1900 lbs and found a Road & Track comparo test with a Honda Prelude and a Toyota Celica. Tested 0-60 had the Celica at 10.4 sec. the Honda at 11.5 and the VW at 11.2. I liked those early Celicas.

nyccarguy · February 25

tifighter said:
I test drove a car and came home without buying it. Ask me anything.

Were you offered way less than you expected for your Model Y?

stickguy · February 25

I liked all those little hatches from that era. My 1985 Colt was very fun to drive. But being non turbo very, very slow. Maybe had 68 HP? But back then, seemed fine. Just had to downshift to 3rd to pull a hill on the parkway.

tifighter · February 25

corvette said:

tifighter said:
I test drove a car and came home without buying it. Ask me anything.

How does one accomplish such a feat? Also, what car?

The name is Type R.

F Type R.

ab348 · February 25

tifighter said:

corvette said:

tifighter said:
I test drove a car and came home without buying it. Ask me anything.

How does one accomplish such a feat? Also, what car?
The name is Type R.

F Type R.

The Jaaaaaag?

Did it leave you stranded on the highway, needing rescue?

au1994 · February 25

tifighter said:

corvette said:

tifighter said:
I test drove a car and came home without buying it. Ask me anything.

How does one accomplish such a feat? Also, what car?
The name is Type R.

F Type R.

Oh my...

laurasdada · February 25

suydam said:
Took the Blazer on a trip to Palm Desert over the weekend. It’s a great time of year to visit, temps in the low 80s and cools down at night. Probably could have got there on one charge but we stopped at a mall each way, charged and got lunch. I like that charging stations are now available in many shopping centers.

My late father loved Palm Desert, he had a condo on a golf course (he wasn't a golfer, but nice view. Only a couple of broken windows!).
And, at least the L2 chargers, the mall chargers are free! At least in my area... last time I looked...

graphicguy · February 25

greg1288 said:
My wife had one of these many years ago.. Buick Skyhawk hatchback which I kind of liked but she hated the color. We wound up repainting it beige.

My college girlfriend had one of those. Her Mom passed it down to her once she needed a car to drive back and forth to work and school.

Hers was silver. But, I thought it was cool looking then, and still do.

I recall her having lots of trouble with the engine, but don't recall particulars. In fairness, I'm sure the miles were high on it, too.

suydam · February 25

laurasdada said:

suydam said:
Took the Blazer on a trip to Palm Desert over the weekend. It’s a great time of year to visit, temps in the low 80s and cools down at night. Probably could have got there on one charge but we stopped at a mall each way, charged and got lunch. I like that charging stations are now available in many shopping centers.
My late father loved Palm Desert, he had a condo on a golf course (he wasn't a golfer, but nice view. Only a couple of broken windows!).
And, at least the L2 chargers, the mall chargers are free! At least in my area... last time I looked...

Palm Desert has changed a lot. My uncle had a trailer there in the early 60s, there weren’t even paved roads. Now it’s all planned out, wide streets, resorts, shopping. It’s a nice place to hang out in February. We were visiting friends who retired there.
New chargers are all DC Fast charge. Not free, but takes less than an hour, and still costs less than filling a tank in California. Would have been free at the hotel but the hardware was broken.

tifighter · February 25

au1994 said:

tifighter said:

corvette said:

tifighter said:
I test drove a car and came home without buying it. Ask me anything.

How does one accomplish such a feat? Also, what car?
The name is Type R.

F Type R.

Oh my...

We all know the reputation. But sometimes you drive a car and it just feels good. This is one of them.

qbrozen · February 25

jmonroe1 said:

qbrozen said:
Orange cars are my fave

————————————————
How many in your current fleet?

jmonroe

How many orange cars currently? zero.
They aren't exactly easy to find.

jmonroe1 · February 25

qbrozen said:

jmonroe1 said:

qbrozen said:
Orange cars are my fave

————————————————
How many in your current fleet?

jmonroe
How many orange cars currently? zero.
They aren't exactly easy to find.

————————————————-
IIRC, I seem to remember you had an orange Daytona at one time.

jmonroe

qbrozen · February 26

@jmonroe1 said:
————————————————-
IIRC, I seem to remember you had an orange Daytona at one time.

jmonroe

Yes. Sold my hemi orange Daytona …. Hmmm… this past summer? I think? Maybe fall.

Not every car would look good in orange, of course. I wouldn’t wrap my QP in orange. I was pondering a maroon, however.

The Sierra would look good in orange. That’s ALOT to wrap, though.

Suzuki would be good but since I’ll most likely sell, I’m thinking of wrapping it in copper.

Michaell · February 26

Nothing wrong with an orange GM pickup:

jmonroe1 · February 26

qbrozen said:

@jmonroe1 said:

————————————————-

IIRC, I seem to remember you had an orange Daytona at one time.

jmonroe

Yes. Sold my hemi orange Daytona …. Hmmm… this past summer? I think? Maybe fall.

Not every car would look good in orange, of course. I wouldn’t wrap my QP in orange. I was pondering a maroon, however.

The Sierra would look good in orange. That’s ALOT to wrap, though.

Suzuki would be good but since I’ll most likely sell, I’m thinking of wrapping it in copper.

————————————————
Since you’re talking about wrapping (not that kind but I think we all know what kind you mean), I take it that you’re comfortable doing that and that wrapping an older car probably doesn’t kill it’s resale value very much if at all compared to a faded/scratched paint job.

I’ve never heard anyone ask this so I will. How do you maintain the appearance of a wrapped car? Just wash or wash and use a potion of some kind? And one more question, if properly maintained how long does a wrap job last?

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · February 26

Michaell said:
Nothing wrong with an orange GM pickup:

————————————————
Or a real pickup with an 8 foot bed. Albeit with the loss of 2 doors.

jmonroe

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