Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

stickguy

Carvana emailed today so I got an update on my truck since we are pulling in to its 2nd birthday. $29,000 today. Not much less than I actually paid for it after my discounts. If I sold for that over 3.5 years of owning 2 mavericks, all in I think I am still net positive meaning I got paid to own it (not counting gas and insurance)

jmonroe1

sda said:

What a menacing face. Not cheap either.

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Yeah, but it’s a Caddy.

jmonroe

qbrozen

Snapped a pic of new crossmember with new shock. This is just rust inhibitor, no undercoating yet.

tjc78

Putting the flame suit on… but I’d 100% drive an EV Escalade.

I’m not joking

ab348

@sda said:
Pics of the 25 Jetta SE loaner. I like the blue two tone interior. A nice change.

Up here in Canada we don’t get that interior, which I would choose in a split-second. We get a different model range too with no SE model.

stickguy

Buy one Tom. And instantly have a loss of about $50k. I could see a 2 year old unit going for 6 figures below sticker.

Looked it up. 6,000# curb weight. I was going to guess closer to 8k

stickguy

Repair looks good. Should last a while. .

laurasdada

sda said:

What a menacing face. Not cheap either.

Ya know, Caddy might just sell one or two of those!

explorerx4

They copied Lincoln with the badging under the A pillar. Was not expecting that.
Plus an addendum sticker on a 150K vehicle, tacky.

nyccarguy

Speaking of Carvana, they sent me an updated monthly offer on my ‘22 4xe that’s going back in a few weeks. It’s up $1,400 to $24,600. My lease buyout is $40K.

stickguy

ouch.

I told my wife they sent me an offer and she gave me the evil eye, and asked why would you sell it? Then I told her how much they offered and she looked thoughtful. I told her too that the last offer on the Acura was similar (26K maybe) and our daughter (who is visiting) piped up with we could get what she has because it is nice. I said that she could get a new car if she wanted, and the wife actually seemed to be considering it. Not that she drives enough for it to matter, so if we do get something, new it would need to be the primary car too.

tjc78

@nyccarguy said:
Speaking of Carvana, they sent me an updated monthly offer on my ‘22 4xe that’s going back in a few weeks. It’s up $1,400 to $24,600. My lease buyout is $40K.

Probably about the same amount my truck and EQE are buried

tjc78

@stickguy said:
Buy one Tom. And instantly have a loss of about $50k. I could see a 2 year old unit going for 6 figures below sticker.

Looked it up. 6,000# curb weight. I was going to guess closer to 8k

I’d never ever own that … lease all the way

corvette

I haven't even looked at the Escalade EV. I'm assuming, from the curb weight, that it's a completely different platform than the non-EV?

corvette

I must be selecting the right (or wrong) options when I get Carvana quotes, because they stop pestering me after about a week.

oldfarmer50

I learned something new yesterday.

We were at the Mannheim auction in Newburgh yesterday dropping off cars and next to our section we came upon a half dozen or so Jaguar I-Pace SUVs. They all looked as if they had been on a car carrier that had gone under a very low bridge as their tops were smashed down to hood level. As we were speculating as to how that could happen we got talking to one of the auction workers who told us these were all 2019 buy backs which had been taken from owners because of the danger of battery fires. As part of the deal these vehicles had to be destroyed. These were in the process of being crushed. They were using a large front end loader to smash them down to a more manageable size prior to (I’m guessing) being hauled away for proper compaction.

The worker told us that his buddy “had a lot of fun” running the loader over these and pointed to a row of about 25 additional vehicles that were due for the same treatment.

The good news is that they removed all the wheels and tires from them first so keep an eye on EBay for some Jaguar parts bargains.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

Carvana emailed today so I got an update on my truck since we are pulling in to its 2nd birthday. $29,000 today. Not much less than I actually paid for it after my discounts. If I sold for that over 3.5 years of owning 2 mavericks, all in I think I am still net positive meaning I got paid to own it (not counting gas and insurance)

Carvana’s current offer on my 10 year old Mustang is $23,800. Taking into consideration that they assume a mileage 7k more than I currently have I might be able to get even a few more pennies. I don’t know how they stay in business paying that much for used cars.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

Snapped a pic of new crossmember with new shock. This is just rust inhibitor, no undercoating yet.

That’s a professional looking job. It must have been difficult considering you couldn’t take the bed off. I could have used someone with your skills on my old Chevy Express van.

Did you use a rust encapsulator or a rust converter?

stickguy

I rushed to get my last maverick to them and the check deposited 2 years ago thinking they were about to go under. Yet they are still here.

stickguy

I watched a video last night. Some guy that searches out the cheapest new 4 door 4WD full sized pickup at a local dealer in Boise. Winner was a Silverado WT with the 5.3. About $39k. Ford STX 2.7 was about 42k.

Interesting that all the models (also Ram Toyota and Nissan) all had 6-10k discounts advertised. I think the Chevy MSRP was about $49k. So discounts are definitely back! Even the tundra (a brand new 2025) had about $6k in discounts. Maybe that was the self grenading engine leading to that!

explorerx4

The STX is one trim level above the XL.

sda

Toyota, with the new engines and transmissions, hasn’t done any favors for them. Are there any manufacturers today that don’t have engine or transmission issues of some sort?

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

The STX is one trim level above the XL.

Yes, I think the 3.3L NA V6 is the base engine in the XL.

stickguy

This wasn't the lowest you could spec one. Just the cheapest one on the lot.

Hey his channel!

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

I learned something new yesterday.

We were at the Mannheim auction in Newburgh yesterday dropping off cars and next to our section we came upon a half dozen or so Jaguar I-Pace SUVs. They all looked as if they had been on a car carrier that had gone under a very low bridge as their tops were smashed down to hood level. As we were speculating as to how that could happen we got talking to one of the auction workers who told us these were all 2019 buy backs which had been taken from owners because of the danger of battery fires. As part of the deal these vehicles had to be destroyed. These were in the process of being crushed. They were using a large front end loader to smash them down to a more manageable size prior to (I’m guessing) being hauled away for proper compaction.

The worker told us that his buddy “had a lot of fun” running the loader over these and pointed to a row of about 25 additional vehicles that were due for the same treatment.

The good news is that they removed all the wheels and tires from them first so keep an eye on EBay for some Jaguar parts bargains.

I hope they removed the problematic batteries first.

jmonroe1

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

I learned something new yesterday.

We were at the Mannheim auction in Newburgh yesterday dropping off cars and next to our section we came upon a half dozen or so Jaguar I-Pace SUVs. They all looked as if they had been on a car carrier that had gone under a very low bridge as their tops were smashed down to hood level. As we were speculating as to how that could happen we got talking to one of the auction workers who told us these were all 2019 buy backs which had been taken from owners because of the danger of battery fires. As part of the deal these vehicles had to be destroyed. These were in the process of being crushed. They were using a large front end loader to smash them down to a more manageable size prior to (I’m guessing) being hauled away for proper compaction.

The worker told us that his buddy “had a lot of fun” running the loader over these and pointed to a row of about 25 additional vehicles that were due for the same treatment.

The good news is that they removed all the wheels and tires from them first so keep an eye on EBay for some Jaguar parts bargains.

I hope they removed the problematic batteries first.

————————————————
I was thinking the same thing. If not we’re going to start hearing about Manhiem yards going up in flames pretty soon. But, let’s give Jaguar credit for doing that since they’re big boys playing big boy games with EV’s.

jmonroe

tjc78

@sda said:
Toyota, with the new engines and transmissions, hasn’t done any favors for them. Are there any manufacturers today that don’t have engine or transmission issues of some sort?

Personally my opinion is that these engines are designed to run on such thin oil that they just don’t get the lubrication the older engines did.

Think of how many absolutely bullet proof engines from the mid 90s to mid 2000s until now. Technology shouldn’t have gotten worse.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

@sda said:

Toyota, with the new engines and transmissions, hasn’t done any favors for them. Are there any manufacturers today that don’t have engine or transmission issues of some sort?

Personally my opinion is that these engines are designed to run on such thin oil that they just don’t get the lubrication the older engines did.

Think of how many absolutely bullet proof engines from the mid 90s to mid 2000s until now. Technology shouldn’t have gotten worse.

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I have to wonder because of the new engines being smaller, with tighter tolerances so that these small engines can crank out the HP they do, are the owners doing oil changes with the proper oil. Synthetic oil is recommended by almost every manufacturer today and it costs more, a lot more, so I think owners are cheapening out even when told not to. Dealers probably won’t do an oil change with standard oil today but there are plenty of garages that will rather than lose business. And, that’s when folks even do oil changes especially with leases.

jmonroe

xwesx

It is all about the fuel economy. 100%

tjc78

@xwesx said:
It is all about the fuel economy. 100%

This

qbrozen

@oldfarmer50 said:
That’s a professional looking job. It must have been difficult considering you couldn’t take the bed off. I could have used someone with your skills on my old Chevy Express van.

Did you use a rust encapsulator or a rust converter?

Converter.

I took a cutting wheel to the tailgate today. Chopped off the bottom half inch or so and plan on liquid-welding a steel plate on the bottom. I probably didn’t mention it, but the skin had come loose enough that it was catching on the bumper when trying to open the tailgate. So it messed up my previous patchwork.

stickguy

Rode in my daughters new CX 50 tonight. It is very nice. Highly recommend. I was going to wash it this weekend but weather will not cooperate so on the way home from dinner tonight we went through the touchless (she has been well trained to never take it into a slap it off wash). I filled up for her (get a discount if you are buying a wash). Even a little local running around in Boston, a trip to Albany vicinity, and a bit of running around today, it only took 6.1 gallons. Gotta love a hybrid!

stickguy

the girls are leaving me alone tomorrow morning to go to a baby shower. I might swing by the Subaru dealer. Wish me luck, but don't tell my wife I am doing it.

graphicguy

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

Carvana emailed today so I got an update on my truck since we are pulling in to its 2nd birthday. $29,000 today. Not much less than I actually paid for it after my discounts. If I sold for that over 3.5 years of owning 2 mavericks, all in I think I am still net positive meaning I got paid to own it (not counting gas and insurance)

Carvana’s current offer on my 10 year old Mustang is $23,800. Taking into consideration that they assume a mileage 7k more than I currently have I might be able to get even a few more pennies. I don’t know how they stay in business paying that much for used cars.

Round these parts, CarMax is usually the "high bidder" on used cars. I know things have shifted from a year or two ago, but the last 3 vehicles I have sold to them, I've made a tidy profit on.

kyfdx

With the X3 trade we had, Carvana was at $14K and Carmax at $10,500.

Dealer started at $11K and we agreed on $13K. With the trade-in tax credit, I was just $220 short of the Carvana offer (plus, I didn't have to get a ride to Louisville)

au1994

In my limited wheeling and dealing, I found it to be a timing thing. The X1 has been hit with several values depending on the inventory algorithm most likely. Same with the 4xe when I would shop that.

Carmax was the winner on the Land Cruiser. I can’t even remember who I sold the Crosstrek to. I think on that went out of business.

explorerx4

@au1994,
Maybe Vroom? Inventory seems to make a difference, which makes sense.

jmonroe1

When I sold Mrs. j’s 2012 Legacy Limited for an almost identical 2018 Legacy Limited in 2019, Carvana’s offer was around $2,200 more than what the used car dealer was willing to give me. One of the best parts of this was that I wanted $500 more than what the dealer offered me for the 2012 but he dug in at his price which allowed me to go to Carvana. And an even better part of this is when I got my check from Carvana I called to see if the 2018 was still there and it was. So I told them if their last offer was still good I’d take it so I did. And by far the best part of this is when I showed the salesman a copy of the check and he told me after I left the first time he talked to the owner about giving me what I wanted because he felt her car was worth what I wanted but like I said the owner dug in and refused, more than likely because their well known policy was not to negotiate.

As we were ready to leave the salesman told me he was upset with the owner because they could have easily sold her car in a matter of just days. He went on to tell me they could have made 2 sales instead of just one.

Digging in on policy isn’t always the best policy.

jmonroe

au1994

explorerx4 said:

@au1994,
Maybe Vroom? Inventory seems to make a difference, which makes sense.

Thats the one!

breld

Beautiful spring day here in the Denver area (it’ll snow on Tuesday), so took the chance to go for a drive in the 911. I had to go to the Genesis dealer anyway to see if they had a pair of sunglasses I had left in the G70 loaner last week. It was sitting right on top of the lost and found pile, so “yay!”

Took the chance to hit some dealerships to check out some EVs, just to “try them on for size” if nothing else.

The MINI Countryman seems like it would be a really fun choice. I will definitely take a closer look this summer.

At Genesis, I like the GV70, but perhaps a little too much like what we already have in the garage. I do like the G80 sedan - could be a unique option.

Stopped at Audi and looked at the new Q6 e-tron and loved it. Everything I like about my current Q8 e-tron, but with nice updates to the interior and the addition of one-pedal driving, which is the primary detractor to the Q8.

Only 7 more payments on the current lease!

laurasdada

breld said:

Beautiful spring day here in the Denver area (it’ll snow on Tuesday), so took the chance to go for a drive in the 911. I had to go to the Genesis dealer anyway to see if they had a pair of sunglasses I had left in the G70 loaner last week. It was sitting right on top of the lost and found pile, so “yay!”

Took the chance to hit some dealerships to check out some EVs, just to “try them on for size” if nothing else.

The MINI Countryman seems like it would be a really fun choice. I will definitely take a closer look this summer.

At Genesis, I like the GV70, but perhaps a little too much like what we already have in the garage. I do like the G80 sedan - could be a unique option.

Stopped at Audi and looked at the new Q6 e-tron and loved it. Everything I like about my current Q8 e-tron, but with nice updates to the interior and the addition of one-pedal driving, which is the primary detractor to the Q8.

Only 7 more payments on the current lease!

Leases were made to be broken.

au1994

Pull ahead? Does anyone do that anymore?

xwesx

stickguy said:

the girls are leaving me alone tomorrow morning to go to a baby shower. I might swing by the Subaru dealer. Wish me luck, but don't tell my wife I am doing it.

Are you going to the baby shower before or after the clandestine dealership visit?

stickguy

I did not attend the shower. Thought about stopping for a dealer visit but when I finished my earlier errands the weather was changing. Starting to rain and briefly turned to snow and temperature was dropping fast (along with winds kicking up). Not nice to be outside.

stickguy

I did assemble the new (brand new in the box) life fitness exercise bike we got for my wife. Man those instructions stunk. mostly the diagrams were close to useless. And I was not a fan of how they had wires in some of the parts with connectors (they had them stuffed in the pipe and you have to fish the connector out of a hole). one was wedged in there so tight it got nicked. not sure is the electric tape I put on is good enough. Especially if more than one wire got damaged. but got it all together finally and it works. mostly.

display works but all the lines show up (not just what is lit up). makes it really hard to read. So Tuesday, the dealer will be getting a call. Hopefully it is a bad display. not thinking it is a connector issue (if those weren't plugged it, it wouldn't do anything)

kyfdx

59 F at this time, yesterday.

Today, 35 F, with a wind chill of 19.

xwesx

On the elliptical we bought a while back, I found that I needed to grease all of the moving parts very well after about six months due to squeaking. I think that was over ten years ago now, and it has worked perfectly (and noise free) since.

jmonroe1

xwesx said:

On the elliptical we bought a while back, I found that I needed to grease all of the moving parts very well after about six months due to squeaking. I think that was over ten years ago now, and it has worked perfectly (and noise free) since.

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I’m pretty sure you have to use it to verify it’s noise free.

jmonroe

corvette

Took the Ariya to the battlefield in Perryville and hiked a trail. I was pleasantly surprised it had 60% battery after the 75-ish mile drive (mostly on two lane roads). 3.2 miles per kWh. Waze took me on higher speed roads and the interstate on the way back. Stopped at Aldi and got home with a 6% charge. I'm going to call that perfect, as it will refuse to restart if powered off at or below 5%, until it gets back above. Pulled the Maverick out for tomorrow, since it won't be close to being fully charged by then.

tjc78

@kyfdx said:
59 F at this time, yesterday.

Today, 35 F, with a wind chill of 19.

It got to 64 today and now it’s 35