Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

stickguy

doing some quick mental math that has to come out to be at least $500/month amortized.

oldfarmer50

anonymousposts2025 said:

Who’s going to be first in 2025?

I have only nebulous plans for 2025 mainly surrounding replacing my son’s vehicle which he uses for LYFT and which will reach age limits at the end of the year. I’m looking at a 2023 Camry owned by a coworker as a replacement.

If he decides to sell it would be perfect. Low mileage, rust free (he takes it to Florida every winter), mostly highway miles and I wouldn’t have to play games buying from a Toyota dealer.

Alternatively, my son and I will title swap his 2010 Fusion with my 2019 Kia so he has a car less than 15 years old. I wouldn’t mind driving his car as it’s nicer than mine

oldfarmer50

benjaminh said:

nyccarguy said:

For $5K I don’t hate it:

https://www.prestigetoyota.com/used/Subaru/2012-Subaru-Forester-ramsey+nj-73b36608ac18309bbe1673d3c869d8c3.htm

It's concerning that the Carfax seems to show that sometimes there were long periods of time/miles when oil changes weren't performed. The first owner leased that Forester and got the first oil change at a gas station at about 8000 miles, but then the next service record is at the end of the lease at 47k. Probably there were some services in-between missed by Carfax, but how do we know without service records? Once an engine has gone 20k or more without an oil change I don't think I'd trust it.

CarFax has its limitations. My indie mechanic doesn’t report to them so even though I do obsessive changes it probably wouldn’t show up. Also, sometimes CarFax buries oil changes in more generic “service performed” labels. That’s why I save all my records.

oldfarmer50

benjaminh said:

For a $70k car this seems like a good lease rate....
https://www.acuraatoxmoor.com/sales-specials/

Super low annual miles but that would be perfect for me. It looks like you can own any car made except Acura older than 2014 to get that conquest rate.

stickguy

I save all my records too in a folder. I am pretty much the dream person to buy from, since I do all services on time or early, and do extras even in not specifically called for (like a trans fluid change). I just don't think I ever want to deal with private sales again (on either end of the transaction!)

stickguy

I would like to make a fleet change next year but most likely it would not be until at least the fall. Assuming I can get the wife to agree, unless my car does something to make me want to swap out the truck. Though with all the snow so far this year, something like a raptor or other "off road" PU might be needed! Currently using the RDX as the winter/salt beater, which is not really ideal. Swapping that (or the truck) for a lease to let get rotten underneath, that makes more sense!

I will be shopping in the spring, but that is because the princesses Mazda lease is done in June so she needs a replacement. Of course being out at the dealers could lead me into trouble. Will see if we managed to stop spending money on the house, and how the whole work situation is going. And the economy and how bad the haircut on the retirement portfolio is.

nyccarguy

Put me down for 1, possibly 2 punches for 2025!

benjaminh

I've had my 2018 Acura TLX for six and a half years and almost 85,000 miles. Still enjoy driving it a lot. But there are things that I like better about my wife's Outback, such as the all-wheel drive, wireless AndroidAuto, higher ground clearance, station wagon design, etc. My guess is that my TLX has at least another six years and 85k in it, but if someday I do get another car right now I doubt it'll be a Honda or Acura. I've liked Hondas since I was a kid when the first Civic and then Accord came out. Liked and sometimes loved every generation of the Accord till 2018. But the 2018 Accord became bloated and bland, and I just never warmed up to it. The styling of my wife's 2018 CR-V was good, but the 1.5 turbo engine has overall been mixed to negative. The current generation of CR-V has an "angry" look that I just don't like, plus prices have risen a lot in the last six years. I guess the Civic hybrid, which is now faster than the Si according to one review I read, is still a good value, but most Honda and Acura vehicles seem overpriced, and the dealers all seem to put expensive dealer-added packages onto them. If I do get a new car after my wife's Outback is paid off in 3 years or so maybe it'll be another Subaru.

jmonroe1

nyccarguy said:

Put me down for 1, possibly 2 punches for 2025!

————————————————
No bar/bat mitzvah’s can do that for a guy.

jmonroe

roadburner

If, as planned, Mrs. RB takes over the Jeep, we'll likely sell the X1. Leaving the door open to something more entertaining.

corvette

That reminds me, I don't think I've collected guesses for the total number of punches in 2025 yet.

au1994

33

and who is the leader in the clubhouse for this year?

jmonroe1

au1994 said:

33

and who is the leader in the clubhouse for this year?

————————————————-
Did you really ask that question?

jmonroe

corvette

@breld only had five punches this year (so far)... If you can smell the coolant leaking from here, you'll be interested to know that four of the five were VWAG products.

Michaell

I think I've been guessing 35 for a number of years, now. One year it'll be the correct answer.

Perhaps 2025 is that year?

corvette

Personally, I expect to have zero to one punch next year. I still don't intend on replacing the Maverick, but the Ariya goes back in December. If Nissan doesn't offer a lease extension, and another "almost free" EV lease is available in November/December, I'll probably have a punch. Otherwise, I can afford to wait, or could buy a heavily depreciated used one that is still under warranty.

benjaminh

I'll guess 38 for 2025, which seems like a lot, but it seems like there might be some good deals next year. Heck, there are some good deals already compared to what things were like a couple of years ago.

But if the $7500 tax credit for EVs goes away in 2025 EV sales will likely drop.

Such wild swings. Just two years ago both Ford and GM were projecting they'd be selling close to a million EVs a year each by 2025, but instead the number is likely to be less than 100k each. Iirc GM was briefly claiming they would try to equal Tesla's EV sales by the end of the decade, but that's not going to happen.

The Fast Lane Car guys had a real world road trip test of the Honda Prologue EV several months ago. They thought the vehicle itself was fine if rather average, but the charging network experience on the trip was sometimes a nightmare.

Right now my wife and I are frequently making round-trips from Louisville to Columbus and back, which is about 430 miles. With a few stops and no major traffic holdups it's about 7.5 hours of driving. That seems long enough. I might like to go EV someday if the price is right, but adding an hour for charging to that trip sounds challenging at this point. When we did the drive yesterday we left in the morning at 8:30 am and arrived back at 4, and that's with eating sandwiches on the road for lunch. Anyway, with an EV charge instead of getting back before rush hour, like we did, we would have been snarled in traffic.

For us that might mean that a hybrid might be a better option.

But sometimes even the economics of hybrids seem questionable, depending on how much you drive. The hybrid CR-V costs $2300 more than the EX turbo model. Combined city/hwy mpg on the turbo is 29, while for the hybrid it's 37. If you drive 15,000 miles a year that's a savings of only about $350 a year at current gas prices. So it takes 6.5 years for the gas savings to make back the higher purchase price. Say somehow you keep it another 6.5 years, then it seems like you'll be ahead by $2300, but at that point if not sooner the hybrid battery will probably need to be replaced, which is about a $10k repair for parts and labor. Maybe the planet has come out ahead with slightly lower greenhouse emissions, but then there's the environmental damage from mining the battery materials, and the toxic battery itself which might or might not be recycled. Idk. Just seems complicated to evaluate. A 10k repair on a 12 year old car with more than 150k miles will likely kill it, sending the car itself to the junkyard, while a gas engine with meticulous maintenance might last to 18 years or so for the second and then third and forth owners?

The ideal situation with hybrids is the Maverick or the Camry, where the hybrid is included for free or is the lower-cost option, like it was for stickguy. Then you know you're really coming out ahead no matter what happens!

stickguy

on the CRV, I don't think those are exact equivalent models other than the drivetrain?

for guessing, I will go lower than normal at 36. Because, why not?

I am probably in for 0 or 2. the convoluted plan great idea I had today (pretty sure this we endless snow event related) was upgrade to a beefier truck (Ranger Raptor?) and flip the RDX for an EV for the local running around. Of course, the EV might have to be the Acura version to make the wife happy, so not going to be budget friendly or sporty.

roadburner

37 for 2025.

suydam

Do we know how many so far this year?

roadburner

Today I installed a Quadratec dead pedal in the Wrangler. It wasn't a tough install, just fiddly as it was hard to see and access the mounting hardware at the same time.

benjaminh

stickguy said:

on the CRV, I don't think those are exact equivalent models other than the drivetrain?

for guessing, I will go lower than normal at 36. Because, why not?

I am probably in for 0 or 2. the convoluted plan great idea I had today (pretty sure this we endless snow event related) was upgrade to a beefier truck (Ranger Raptor?) and flip the RDX for an EV for the local running around. Of course, the EV might have to be the Acura version to make the wife happy, so not going to be budget friendly or sporty.

If you leased an Acura ZDX EV awd with current incentives (7500 EV credit, which you might mention to your spouse is likely to vanish soon, + 4000 loyalty) you might be able to get a loaded one with an msrp of 70k for maybe $600 a month or so. That would of course beat that elusive 1% goal for leasing. Acura dealer should offer good money for your pristine low-mileage RDX. Maybe 30k?

Although your hybrid Maverick seems like an ideal vehicle, and one you got at a great price equipped exactly the way you wanted, it does have the one drawback you mentioned in that it doesn't have all-wheel drive. In a snowy climate like yours that does seem like a definite drawback.

Even in Kentucky and Ohio we were glad we had Subaru's awd for Friday's drive in snow and wintery mix. Roads were sometimes slushy.

But the Raptor Ranger as a replacement for the Maverick seems maybe overkill? A huge truck with an msrp of around $60k with giant tires and poor mpg?

Now that I'm a Subaru fan what about instead a loaded turbo Outback. Big cargo capacity like your Maverick but it's just covered all the time. EPA mpg combined city/hwy is 25 for a turbo Outback, compared to 17 for a Ranger Raptor, plus the msrp for a loaded Outback is more like $42k instead of 60k. You might be able to sell getting a Subaru to your wife as a practical safety move compared to your current 2-wheel drive vehicle. 0-60 in the Outback turbo is 6 seconds flat compared to c. 7.7 for a Maverick hybrid. Plus Subaru is offering 1.9 financing on the 2025 Outbacks, so if you cashed out your Maverick (another 30k or so), then combined with the money from the RDX there might be a total of maybe around sixty thousand that could be spent on sports car too. Three punches in the next six months might be possible lol. Before the end of the year you should be able to get great deals on the ZDX and Outback.

But seriously, since your wife seems to really like her RDX it's maybe better to just leave that one alone. When I got an RDX as a loaner I loved the super-handing awd. It's a really nice car.

kyfdx

The ZDX has another $7500-$8000 of Acura to dealer cash, in addition to those two customer incentives

benjaminh

kyfdx said:

The ZDX has another $7500-$8000 of Acura to dealer cash, in addition to those two customer incentives

There you go. With all of those incentives on the ZDX, which if I'm understanding correctly is an amazing total of almost 20k, it seems like a clear case of "the more you buy the more you save." But not really...

sda

kyfdx said:

The ZDX has another $7500-$8000 of Acura to dealer cash, in addition to those two customer incentives

I can’t imagine Acura/Honda is making money with those incentives.

benjaminh

Yeah, I think Acura is losing a boatload of money on every ZDX. I like the styling of it fairly well. The white interiors are nice, as are the red ones. The type S is just a few thousand more. Also included with every ZDX is a $500 credit toward the installation of a home charging port.

This dealer is offering leases on the ZDX A-spec AWD with a list of c. $70k for about $550 a month. But that still seems like a lot of money, even if it is a good deal relative to msrp. Plus getting a charging port installed in a garage probably costs more like $2000 or so?

https://www.northeastacura.com/specials-catalog

graphicguy

Vehicle detailing related. Just tripped over this video the other day. Interesting "clay glove" she uses, too.
https://youtu.be/CQMRvBCCFqA?si=0sCAtqFL_Y92Dxs8

stickguy

I have an outlet installed for. Car charger. So should only need to hang a charger on the wall and plug it in.

breld

Considering one of our punches for this year was a somewhat unexpected purchase for our daughter (the Taos), we’re on a downward trend, and I expect that to continue for 2025.

Audi Q8 E-tron lease is up in September, so I would expect to replace that with a new EV lease or possibly a used EV if discounted enough.

I do have an itch for another Bronco, so we’ll see if anything happens there.

But the Porsches shouldn’t be going anywhere…wife loves her A6 Allroad…and the GV60 lease still have a couple years on it. So should be 1-2 punch year for us?

Or….maybe not. Who knows.

graphicguy

When I was shopping Prologues, I got a quote for the CRV touring, all loaded up. somewhere around $37K and change, if memory serves. Prologue leases were crazy good....$350/mo/10K/36. No out of pocket. I think the question for GM has been answered. Given the Prologue has outsold any other ultium platform from GM, their decision to not include CarPlay or Android Auto was the wrong move.

A week or so ago, my Acura dealer gave me a call looking for an end of year sale. Told him he was about 4 months too late as I had just closed on the EV6, and am very happy with it.

He said they were making great lease deals on the ZDX. Didn't get into details but I guess the mid-range ZDX was the one they had the specials on. $20K off is what he quoted me, too.

I think if the $7,500 EV credit is eliminated, it's going to invite the Chinese EVs to flood our market. Even with tariffs, they'll still be cheaper than anything comparable being sold here, now.

nyccarguy

@graphicguy said:
When I was shopping Prologues, I got a quote for the CRV touring, all loaded up. somewhere around $37K and change, if memory serves. Prologue leases were crazy good....$350/mo/10K/36. No out of pocket. I think the question for GM has been answered. Given the Prologue has outsold any other ultium platform from GM, their decision to not include CarPlay or Android Auto was the wrong move.

A week or so ago, my Acura dealer gave me a call looking for an end of year sale. Told him he was about 4 months too late as I had just closed on the EV6, and am very happy with it.

He said they were making great lease deals on the ZDX. Didn't get into details but I guess the mid-range ZDX was the one they had the specials on. $20K off is what he quoted me, too.

I think if the $7,500 EV credit is eliminated, it's going to invite the Chinese EVs to flood our market. Even with tariffs, they'll still be cheaper than anything comparable being sold here, now.

Can you imagine how much your homeowner’s insurance will skyrocket when they find out you have a Chinese made EV plugged into your home?

corvette

suydam said:

Do we know how many so far this year?

I think we're at 36.

nyccarguy

@breld said:
Considering one of our punches for this year was a somewhat unexpected purchase for our daughter (the Taos), we’re on a downward trend, and I expect that to continue for 2025.

Audi Q8 E-tron lease is up in September, so I would expect to replace that with a new EV lease or possibly a used EV if discounted enough.

I do have an itch for another Bronco, so we’ll see if anything happens there.

But the Porsches shouldn’t be going anywhere…wife loves her A6 Allroad…and the GV60 lease still have a couple years on it. So should be 1-2 punch year for us?

Or….maybe not. Who knows.

I see lease “deals” for Broncos & Broncos Sports pop up on my Facebook page a lot. I know those aren’t the best deals, but it is a starting point. 1st month DAS or maybe $0DAS. I think you’ll be able to get a solid deal on a Bronco when the lease on your Q8 is up. Will the Q8 be the second lease you keep until maturity?

nyccarguy

The wrangler lease matures in March. I’m going to replace that with something used and cheap to teach my son (who will be 16 in March) to drive on and have something my 18 year old will be able to drive to his summer lifeguarding job. Leased on new Tacomas are getting sexy cheap. If I can get out of my SR and into a new body style SR5 with more equipment for less money I’ll jump on it. I really like having a pickup as a daily driver.

28firefighter

No punches for me in 2025. I said that about this year, too, so you know my word is good.

Michaell

Unless my employment status significantly changes for the better, I'm not expecting any punches for 2025.

The 2024 punch for the Sportage Hybrid was pretty unexpected.

laurasdada

I believe that my employment status will change in '25, by my decision. Michaell, I'll hope that the search is fruitful very soon.

No idea if '25 will lead to a punch for me, I just invested large $ in the M240 and still marvel at how the A7 fulfills its mission. Of course, only 4 months of warranty left on the Audi (but 16 more months of 0% financing!).

Of course, I hear the voice of my Fido advisor telling me to start spending (which I've been doing quite handily with the better 7/8ths birthday in November and Xmas on nigh. And, she doesn't know it, I just treated myself to the metaphorically-gold watch that my company shan't, should I likely pull the cord...).

I'll go light on guesses for '25: 31.
That's probably a challenge for breld and qbrozen to make me look foolish.

And, merry/happy to all!

stickguy

the RDX after being out Friday during the storm and then yesterday with some residual wet roads is filthy. I can hear it corroding from here with all that salt and metal eating chemicals all over it. Just a problem being it was 0 degrees this morning when I got up. Hopefully it warms up enough to get that through a car wash in the next couple of days. At least the Maverick is still pretty clean and shiny. Will try to get that sprayed off underneath soon again anyway.

I really see the desire for a winter beater up here. so, either you own a crappy car you would rather not drive, trash something nice, or just lease and let it be the next owner's problem when every bolt underneath is fused together.

Michaell

stickguy said:

the RDX after being out Friday during the storm and then yesterday with some residual wet roads is filthy. I can hear it corroding from here with all that salt and metal eating chemicals all over it. Just a problem being it was 0 degrees this morning when I got up. Hopefully it warms up enough to get that through a car wash in the next couple of days. At least the Maverick is still pretty clean and shiny. Will try to get that sprayed off underneath soon again anyway.

I really see the desire for a winter beater up here. so, either you own a crappy car you would rather not drive, trash something nice, or just lease and let it be the next owner's problem when every bolt underneath is fused together.

stick, when you hand wash the cars in the cold weather, do you wear gloves of some sort? Now that I have to wash the Sportage by hand, I'm finding my hands get numb about halfway through.

stickguy

no, I just rough it. What I do though is fill up the bucket with hot water inside. then do all the sponge work at one time before it gets cold.

harder to do up here. Back in Jersey it usually got warmer more often. But I did get strange looks at the house we just moved from, being out in the driveway washing the car with snowbanks next to the driveway, and people walking by still wearing hats and gloves!

Considering it is not supposed to crack freezing until a week from today, it will need another trip through a real car wash. Probably tomorrow when it cracks 20 again, and is supposed to be dry. might get into the 40s over new years holiday so can do a hand wash then.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

the RDX after being out Friday during the storm and then yesterday with some residual wet roads is filthy. I can hear it corroding from here with all that salt and metal eating chemicals all over it. Just a problem being it was 0 degrees this morning when I got up. Hopefully it warms up enough to get that through a car wash in the next couple of days. At least the Maverick is still pretty clean and shiny. Will try to get that sprayed off underneath soon again anyway.

I really see the desire for a winter beater up here. so, either you own a crappy car you would rather not drive, trash something nice, or just lease and let it be the next owner's problem when every bolt underneath is fused together.

One of the blessings of cold weather is that the salt doesn’t eat as much when it’s frigid. If you put it in a heated garage though, it may be gone when you come out next morning.😢

oldfarmer50

Michaell said:

stickguy said:

the RDX after being out Friday during the storm and then yesterday with some residual wet roads is filthy. I can hear it corroding from here with all that salt and metal eating chemicals all over it. Just a problem being it was 0 degrees this morning when I got up. Hopefully it warms up enough to get that through a car wash in the next couple of days. At least the Maverick is still pretty clean and shiny. Will try to get that sprayed off underneath soon again anyway.

I really see the desire for a winter beater up here. so, either you own a crappy car you would rather not drive, trash something nice, or just lease and let it be the next owner's problem when every bolt underneath is fused together.

stick, when you hand wash the cars in the cold weather, do you wear gloves of some sort? Now that I have to wash the Sportage by hand, I'm finding my hands get numb about halfway through.

Use hot water in the bucket.

stickguy

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

the RDX after being out Friday during the storm and then yesterday with some residual wet roads is filthy. I can hear it corroding from here with all that salt and metal eating chemicals all over it. Just a problem being it was 0 degrees this morning when I got up. Hopefully it warms up enough to get that through a car wash in the next couple of days. At least the Maverick is still pretty clean and shiny. Will try to get that sprayed off underneath soon again anyway.

I really see the desire for a winter beater up here. so, either you own a crappy car you would rather not drive, trash something nice, or just lease and let it be the next owner's problem when every bolt underneath is fused together.

One of the blessings of cold weather is that the salt doesn’t eat as much when it’s frigid. If you put it in a heated garage though, it may be gone when you come out next morning.😢

it is in the garage. even with temps down to 0 that is hanging in the low 40's. I need to get out tomorrow and run it through again. Breaks my heart seeing it like that. I need a winter beater. though our normal plan (just don't go out) usually works. We just had a party Friday night that the wife didn't want to skip. without that trip on the Northway, it would be fine.

stickguy

I saw a couple more reviews on the new WRX. getting very intrigued by those. Might have to stop for a test drive. Not sure how that would go over with the wife. Might require replacing the truck. Of course that means looking for a dump runner!

benjaminh

stickguy said:

I saw a couple more reviews on the new WRX. getting very intrigued by those. Might have to stop for a test drive. Not sure how that would go over with the wife. Might require replacing the truck. Of course that means looking for a dump runner!

The WRX sounds great. With AWD and the 270-hp turbo engine 0-60 in just 5.5 seconds with the 6-speed manual. I'm surprised a car like this still even exists. Premium model has an msrp of around $38k with the optional Harmon Kardon stereo and the moonroof. 0.9% financing for 48 months available. Hope you can keep the Maverick. That's an awesome vehicle. Below is a c. 20-minute video review of a 2022 WRX by The Topher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XGofu2EF2M



https://www.subaru.com/shopping-tools/special-offers.html

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

I saw a couple more reviews on the new WRX. getting very intrigued by those. Might have to stop for a test drive. Not sure how that would go over with the wife. Might require replacing the truck. Of course that means looking for a dump runner!

On my two winter vehicles I spray Fluid Film in the doors and rockers since that where the rust usually starts. If you’re really ambitious you can get under and spray subframes and wheel wells too.

suydam

Happy to be back home again after our two month stay in Connecticut. The Blazer seems no worse for wear sitting 2 months in our garage and still has most of its charge.
Kia Nav worked mostly quite well, except for the odd time it took us to a cannabis dispensary instead of our hotel. Not as good as the Blazer but pretty reliable. We escaped most of the cold weather, though it was 13 degrees in State College, PA the night we stayed there.
We loved spending time and helping out with our new grandbaby and the 2 year old, A very special experience.

corvette

Sarah-n-Tuned recently reviewed an WRX tS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH4DJJbgOA0

28firefighter

Headed on a couple day road trip to Vancouver BC tomorrow with my little dude. Get some quality time. Will put me over 2k miles in a little over 2 months on the WRX, which for me is quite a bit.

I like it quite a bit. Far from perfect but it’s really reignited my love for spirited driving.

sb55

laurasdada said:

I believe that my employment status will change in '25, by my decision. Michaell, I'll hope that the search is fruitful very soon.


Of course, I hear the voice of my Fido advisor telling me to start spending (which I've been doing quite handily with the better 7/8ths birthday in November and Xmas on nigh. And, she doesn't know it, I just treated myself to the metaphorically-gold watch that my company shan't, should I likely pull the cord...).

I hit the big 70 in a month and will start collecting SS. Plus, my Financial person says we are in OK shape, so we may splurge on a new car this year. My wife likes the 2021 Venza and it only has about 40K miles, but she has been thinking of something new. We'll see....