Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)
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our daughter went away to school last year .. we bought her a new ION to use as transportation to and from. it has served her well .. especially the plastic panels in the parking lot.
she heads back up to Ft. Collins in a few weeks; I think the ION has maybe 8K on it so far.
she's named the car "Steve" - I have no idea why (maybe in honor of you! - huh, just thought about that). She says she is going to keep it until it falls apart. Which, based on her mileage, will be about 15-20 years from now.
Every time I see a new Pilot I think of you! They do have a very refined look.
Mark155+1
Oh, well. She's happy and it should hold up.
Jolie - great to hear about the Pilot. Honda will do that kind of thing to a lot of people. My buddy with the MDX was like that. He'd been through a couple of Explorers and Grand Cherokees. Now he'll never buy anything else. He's in sales and travels a ton in any weather.
Yeah guess I should have listened to these guys sooner! I love driving it. I don't grumble about having to go places and I quit swiping hubby's truck.......he's glad of that, lol. I think that right there made it worth it to him to unload the Durango, lol.
You should go drive one!
I know my sister loves hers. However, hers is a lease, so I'm not sure what they'll do when the lease is up.
I test drove a 2007 Civic EX over the weekend. I have always been one of those that complained about Honda's being like appliances.
Can't say I drank the Kool-aid yet, but it sure is nice. It is just a well thought out car. It seems to have grown to about the size of my parents '88 Accord. The EX has everything I need and 30/40 mpgs.
My wife saw a commercial for the new Altima coupe and thought it was nice(and she never comments on cars). So I stopped by the Nissan dealer too. They had one on the lot in a bad shade of red. It looked like the Z but a little different. At $25k , it's off the list anyway. That's too much for a commuter car.
Can't say I drank the Kool-aid yet, but it sure is nice. It is just a well thought out car. It seems to have grown to about the size of my parents '88 Accord. The EX has everything I need and 30/40 mpgs.
There is a difference between "drinking the cool aid" and finding something that meets your needs. Cars don't have much personality anymore overall, IMO.
That sounds like a new topic: What constitutes "personality" in a car and what cars have it? :shades:
james
I promised myself no more new cars this year, but it wasn't really an IRON-CLAD promise...and it HAS been six months since the last purchase...
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I'll take a stab at answering this question. My opinions only - you're welcome to disagree, but not flame!
wallflower at party - Accord, Camry
drunk guy with lampshade on head - PT Cruiser, HHR
geek with tape holding glasses together - Prius
diva - Ferrari, Lamborghini
Armani-wearing Wall Street type - MB, BMW
Oh! You meant something else?
I don't think any of my cars have any personality ... all quite appliance-like. I'm hoping I can change that with my next purchase.
Yeah, I have a fleet of wallflowers... You combine that with nippononly's Mini lease and you are talking dangerous territory there...
The current Civic makes my old 80 Accord look tiny. That Accord had real personality. I liked it a lot other than the fact that, like my current 4cyl Accord it could use more oomph off the line. I had a second generation Accord that was like the first generation but with a new skin. The current one has lost a ton of character. It's not down to being a Camry (yawn) but it's getting there.
I will give Honda credit for al least trying to change up their designs.
There's a Lightning Blue mini in my neighborhood with the white wheels, roof, hood stripes, & mirrors. I like the blue, but I hate the white wheels. I suppose the white roof, & mirrors might look good on some colors.
My favorite color on a mini is discontinued I think--it's like a really light metallic eggplant or rose. My favorite color now is Dark Silver. (Not that I'm interested in Minis or anything!.....)
Oh, why must you torture me so???
Good thing (or is it?) that I'm way too upside-down on my current lease to even consider such a thing.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Yeah, but I'm not ... :P
Wow , I could almost justify that as my commuter car and keep the Escape around for my wife that does not drive a stick. Hmmmm......
The other thing that will kill you is all the neat options.
Still, not a bad price, but $2500 is a lot down. You are really at about $370 with nothing down, plus options, so i guess at least $400 for an S the way you want it?
The base model lease is also for an AT. Yuck.
Oh, and 10K/year too.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
On the Mini Site, I'm up to $22,600 for an S with only a metallic color, & CWP added so far. Also, you can pick individual options, instead of getting the whole "packages". Last time I picked out options, I think I was up to around $24,500 (w/o going totally crazy).
I wonder if buying instead of leasing a Mini might not make more sense, given their reputed resale value. And way more flexible--even if you only kept it a year, you might not lose too much(?). Also, I'd rather not be locked in for 3 years with a car so totally in the "toy" category.
Didn't British Rover own a Mini & sell it?
I paid 24,500 OTD for my MINI in July of 2004. I sold it for 21,xxx two years and 30,000 miles later.
I think my pay off was 17,xxx or so at the time so I had a ton of equity in it.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
But not so stunned I couldn't buy one and take advantage of the fact...
The way I see it, leasing with nothing down on the base model would run about $310/mo, and if that's for an automatic, I wonder if they couldn't do at least the same rate or a few bucks cheaper on a stick? Buying it with nothing down (to provide an appropriate comparison) would be another $75/month probably (on a 5-year loan).
I have optioned up Minis on the website, and really except for the paint charge, I wouldn't put many options on. It looks like you have to order the "sport steering wheel" to get cruise? So that and the paint would be it for me, with maybe a couple hundred dollars worth of Union Jack stickers and other frippery thrown in for fun...
So what's the skinny? Is anyone out there buying Minis below sticker? Or is this car just too hot for that?
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Personally, I gotta go with the S; 0-60 in 6.7 sec. And the last time I "optioned" one, I came up with: Dark Silver $450. Premium Package $1,400. Sport Package $1,400. Sport Suspension $500. 10-Speaker Hi-Fi Sound System $550. Total $26,535 inc. Destination & Handling.
Leaving off leather is my concession to fiscal sanity. I go nuts with option lists, why I usually buy used (& live with the car as is). But I hate driving around in a car ticked off because I didn't get the Xenons or premium stereo or whatever, but I "saved" $2-3K.
Today I saw this beautiful blue new 5 series pulling into the parking lot I was in, and a fairly gorgeous young blonde woman driver get out (of course). Totally made my day.....(that's not sexist, is it?).....
Xenons
Leather
Sunroof
Navigation
and sometimes upgraded H/K system
Notice that it is not the sport package, which includes xenons, that adds value or the premium package, that includes a sunroof, but the individual option.
When I ordered my MINI I got the premium package in its entirety because I wanted ACC, the multi-function steering wheel and the trip computer. I got the cold weather package because heated seats help my back even though I lived in the south at the time.
I did not buy the entire sport package though because it included the 52 lbs each 17 inch run flat wheels/tires. I got xenons and fog lights as individual options instead of buying the whole package. I couldn't stand having a 2,600 lbs car with over 200 lbs of wheels and tires on it. I didn't get leather because I thought it was a ripoff to pay 1,300 dollars for about two square yards of leather in the MINI.
I specifically tried out a leatherette car and then a real leather car in a blind [non-permissible content removed] test to see if I could tell the difference. I had my adviser bring up a car with leatherette and a car with real leather without telling me which was which and I couldn't tell the difference between the two cars.
For a while there, PT Cruisers would fetch sticker and more when they were half a year old... these days, they're not so hot anymore.
-Mathias
When I bought my L300 4.5 years ago, I specifically wanted a "loaded" model so I didn't feel like I "cheaped out" on it whenever I drove it.
The only option my car didn't come with was the DVD player -- which I couldn't get as I wanted the sunroof, and the two are mutually exclusive.
Well, almost -- my car, as equipped, did not have leather. I did pay extra to have aftermarket leather put into it, so I don't have a leather wrapped steering wheel or shift lever.
Guess that's one reason why I'm finding it so hard to part with it.
Still, with the high resale value, you'd think it'd be cheap to lease--but I guess when there's high demand, they don't have to offer an attractive lease program.
http://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/car/379158797.html
He's probably dumping it because there's only a month left on the warranty. And oh boy, CR pretty much dumps on the '02 & '03 Minis for reliability. I guess that's why paying $9k-ish more for a brand new one makes way more sense.....
Still, I might go see it. Any idea what it's worth?
It could explain why he hasn't sold it yet.
Too many other cars out there to choose from.....I think I'd go for a nice low mileage Z4 or maybe E46 coupe instead.....Of course most of my car-buying-fetish ideas seem to last between 2 hours to 2 weeks....maybe it's a viral thing?
I would go check out www.northamericanmotoring.com and read some of the stuff there instead of the stuff on edmunds.
Stuff I might not worry about so much with a Japanese car....but I'll check out the site you mentioned, thanks.
I've had the Honda CR-V for 3.5 months and have just over 6,500 miles on it now (11,600 with the motorhome). :surprise:
5,100 miles on the motorhome.
Mark
BTW, the third row came in handy the other day. I had 6 adults and a car seat for couple days. Stroller barely squeezed in with third row up. Third row was meant for kids but it is okay for adults as long as they are not super tall or journey is long.
Also, vehicle saw couple trips to airport with 4 fat suitcases lined up and couple cabin baggages. I have to say I was very pleased with my mitsu since it sure handled everything it was asked for. :shades:
Honestly, now I really know why people buy CUVs over Sedans.
Or a wagon. We have loved having a wagon so we can have all the conveniences and ease of driving of a sedan, with better visibility from a wagon, and the fuel economy of a car (30 hwy mpg).
We are keeping the wagon and it looks like adding another sedan. It looks like we are going with an 07 Accord EX to replace the '93 Accord EX. Not so exciting, but man, they are a good deal right now.
Or used to be.
Around here, the "marketing support" aka dealer rebate on '07 Accords seems to have evaporated.
I absolutely hate it when rebates get worse as the model year ends... of course, it's just their way of fine tuning supply vs. demand, but I can't bring myself to buy anything after the rebates got worse.
Irrational, but there you have it.
-Mathias
They just changed the way they did it. Its a graduated scale, the more the dealer sells, the more of a kick back they get, and the better allotment they get for the '08s. The one I am looking at (in your area) is ~$1500 under invoice, and if I wasn't a wuss I could probably do better.
Well, let's see, just to get groceries, go to the bank, stuff like that is a 200 mile round trip. I've had to go several times for both personal and business reasons. Then my best friend lives 180 miles away and I've gone there a few times. Its just such an enjoyable car to drive I find myself making excuses to drive it. Its actually sat still this weekend, we've been busy hauling hay and firewood, so using the dually.
Hey, you're supposed to be helping to talk me OUT of it!
Good point tho. Looking at some of the ads for slightly used, &/or 4 y.o. higher mileage Minis.....it's almost not worth it to buy used (duh). Kind of like Tacomas maybe.
You've driven Z4's I think, & really liked them? I'm leaning more that way again (today at 2:52 pm, it could change by tomorrow). (If I found a) Great deal on a 2 y.o. low-mileage Z4.....I dunno, it would be my first convertible.
I liked the 2.5 and 3.0 Z4s I drove but the M Roadster was really over kill. I would want to go back and take a couple of performance driving schools again before I bought that car.
I don't really fit in the Z4 so I wouldn't buy one for that reason but they are good cars. If I was a little bit smaller all the way around I would be fine but I can't get my giant feet comfortable in the foot well and my shoulders/thighs are way too wide.
My '00 Intrepid has about 134,000 miles on it, and I just noticed yesterday that the a/c isn't really blowing so cold anymore. It needs new tie rod bushings, too. While the tie rods are no biggie to fix, and the a/c could just need a recharge, it's starting to make me think that it's time to cut this one loose before some major repairs start rearing their ugly heads.
Anyway, here's what I found at the car lot:
1) 2006 Dodge Charger police car, with only 1928 miles on it. I think it only has the 3.5 V-6 (they have it listed as a 3.7). They're asking something like $23K for it. It's a midnight blue color. I only saw it today as I was driving past, and then happened to look it up online.
2) 2004 Dodge Intrepid police car, 53,000 miles, ~$10K. Also midnight blue. Supposedly back then, the Intrepid copcar would run rings around the Impala copcar and even take on the Crown Vic in top speed, but had a little issue with brakes that burst into flames during a copcar test, and as a result the Trep never was that popular.
I had an ex police car once, an '89 Gran Fury that performed well and handled great, but got lousy mileage around town, tended to eat starters, and wasn't the most reliable thing in the world. So I dunno if I'm up for that experience again. Copcars tend to get run hard, and often the tales of excellent maintenance they receive are more myth than reality.
I kinda wonder about the '06 Charger with only 1928 miles on it, though. Makes me wonder what's wrong with it! Although I hear that the Charger really hasn't been too hot as a police car, so maybe they just couldn't find a buyer, or it got rejected. And it probably doesn't have enough bling for the civilian used market.
Plus, I'm guessing that the days of a police car performing much better than its civilian counterpart are pretty much history. My old Gran Fury had 35 more hp (175 versus 140) and a quicker rear end (2.94:1 versus 2.26) than the civilian models, but I don't think there's much difference these days, except for maybe better brakes, tires, and heavy-duty stuff like tranny and oil coolers.