Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

qbrozen · August 2012

Base engine. Its optioned rather oddly. Has the leather and memory seat, but no moonroof. I thought those 3 things were a package deal. Guess not.

I don't think it will have many needs at 36k miles. Although I will have to dive into the maintenance since I'm sure all of what I would have done by now has not been done (such as timing belt). The records are in the glovebox, I just haven't gone through them yet.

It should be an OK deal. After some thought, I figured $3k, so that's what I offered, with the intent of going to $3200 max if I had to. Biggest fault at the moment is a rear bumper that needs painting. I haven't decided if I'll get that taken care of or not. I could make the car pefect, but then I'll feel bad leaving it outside and using it as a beater. So I might be better off leaving it alone.

I have a bad habit of seeking out the nicest examples I can find and then I feel guilty using the car. Not a very productive cycle.

jayrider · August 2012

Save the appearance tweaking until you are ready to sell. With only 36k miles to start, you might be able to turn a modest profit in a few years [months?] with a bit of spit and polish. Following your buying and selling activity may not be as exciting as the 100 meter final in the olympics but it ain't bad -- plus, it lasts a lot longer.

ateixeira · August 2012

surprised to find was paint bubbling up from rust on the A pillar!

Maybe they used some of Mazda's spiked soap. Remember that issue with the Mazda6?

Wild, though. Shouldn't be stanging water in that area.

Mismatching tires are a red flag to me. They didn't rotate them properly and cut corners in visible areas, imagine the hidden ones. Plus a high price? :lemon:

ateixeira · August 2012

seller took it down quick

So quick I never saw the ad!

Got any pics on the web? Base S70, stick shift, leather? Color?

stickguy · August 2012

I wouldn't touch the rear bumper (unless you want to DIY rattle can it!)

Dang though, this would be perfect for my daughter. She can live without the moonroof. I wish I had found it! Feel free to clean it all up in the "shop", then get tired of it in say November...

stickguy · August 2012

light blue, base engine, AT, Leather but no moonroof.

qbrozen · August 2012

not a stick. This is the one i was suggesting to isell that might tempt me to forego the stickshift requirement. Now I have no manual trans cars in the stable. :surprise:

I also didn't want leather... but got it. Its a light-medium metallic blue. I haven't determined the name of it yet. Interior is tan, just like all my previous volvos.

Wow. Come to think of it, volvo will now be the leader in my history of cars for the most from 1 manufacturer. Previously, it was all tied up at 3 a piece for volvo, nissan (including the 1 infiniti), Bmw, Benz, Mazda, and AMC.

qbrozen · August 2012

And, for those interested, at #13, the 540 just misses the top third of the field for shortest length of ownership, inched out by the Saab at 10 months. Of course, those results are a bit tainted by 4 project cars that I never officially titled in my name.

juice, here is the color (not my car, of course. I'll get pics when I pick it up tomorrow and probably after I clean it up to my standards).

EDIT: Found the color. It is 431 Aqua Blue Metallic.

ateixeira · August 2012

Nice color.

What's with the skeleton?

I know, not yours.

Next door neighbor used to have two from that vintage, a sedan and a wagon. They had twin boys so they handed them down when they were teens.

Not a good idea - combine pricey parts with teens who neglected (abused, even?) their rides, and it wasn't soon before they got a pair of matching Elantras as graduation gifts.

28firefighter · August 2012

You mean, your car will not have enough antennae on it to contact the Mars Curiosity Rover?

I'm disappointed, Q.

qbrozen · August 2012

Oh, hell no.

I much prefer to do that from my bunker, lest the black helicopters find me.

fintail · August 2012

I like the color a lot, reminds me of the current rare MB "quartz blue".

New cars for kids, never will end well.

isellhondas · August 2012

It sounds like you made a smart choice.

In my 14 years in the car business, I learned to avoid certain used cars and I did my best to steer people away from them. Audi's and Volvos were on top of that list. It's not that I don't "like" those cars, my feeling is based on the experiences I had with them. I don't like unhappy customers.

If I sold a used Honda, Toyota, Mazda and a few other brands,I could be pretty sure I would have a happy customer. If I ran into these people in
the grocery store I was always comfortable asking them how the used car I sold them three years ago was doing.

On European cars I wouldn't ask.

I didn't want to hear..." Funny you should ask, Craig...it's back in the shop AGAIN!"

For 3200.00 is really sounds like you got a LOT of car for the money!

nyccarguy · August 2012

Our resident MB Expert. A family member recently purchased a 2006 R350 (RWD) in the DC area. It has 65,000 miles on it. Not too long after they bought the car, they had to replace the rear air bag suspension which cost quite a bit of money. Is there anything else major they should be on the lookout for or do preventatively? Thanks in advance for your help.

fintail · August 2012

Probably should have a transmission service if it already hasn't. Airmatic is the achilles heel of MB of that era, it was better then than in 00-02 but still can fail - I hope they didn't take it to a dealer to have it fixed. The cars can have other issues, IIRC glitches with minor electronics and HVAC, but that's typical for MB of the era, especially a first year car.

qbrozen · August 2012

They made a RWD version? I had no idea.

When the air suspension goes on something like that (same with Jag, Land Rover, or what have you), just rip the damned thing out and replace with conventional, IMHO.

nyccarguy · August 2012

Thanks for your help Fintail. I'll pass along the info.

ateixeira · August 2012

Same for early 90s Subarus. Ditch the air suspension and convert to conventional springs.

fintail · August 2012

I'll second the motion to convert the suspension,should it fail again. Hopefully they received updated components - IIRC 07+ cars have far fewer failures. Also tell your friend to find a good indy mechanic - no reason something that age needs to go to a dealer, they'll just get hosed.

nyccarguy · August 2012

Thanks again for the advice. I'll pass it along. I believe they do have an idie mechanic.

badmini · August 2012

Only 34k on my '07 Cooper S. Bought new. (I'm a teacher...I don't drive much

Anyhow, plastic guides and something about a tensioner timing chain now mean $2000 bill for repair! And it's not just mine...google Mini Timing chain tensioner. And that's on top of a water pump and two fuel pumps (they were covered by warranty

, tires that peeled apart on the highway (literally, spun me around like a toy).

Mini is fun car and some people have great luck. But I wish I had bought the extended warranty with rental car reimbursement!! Love the car when it's running!

Kirstie_H · August 2012

If you live in or near Philly and have a 50+ mile commute (one way or RT), please email PR@edmunds.com before Friday, August 17, 2012 to be interviewed by a reporter.

tifighter · August 2012

stickguy to the white courtesy phone...

Santa Fe pricing announced.

I'd go RDX, but that's me.

isellhondas · August 2012

It looks like the Koreans have learned how to charge huge money for their cars!

No way would I pay as much for one as a loaded CRV. In ten years, that CRV will be worth a ton more money!

But...that's me. I will admit that they have come a long way.

stickguy · August 2012

2 years ago I had a ~90mi RT commute through Philly.

It sucked.

stickguy · August 2012

I have seen both. The Santa Fe is a ton more car.

stickguy · August 2012

well, that was quite the tease. I googled around, and could not find actual pricing or models. Just a real vague write up that you linked too. Basically nothing new, since that is about the same to 1K more than the outgoing model.

The real issue is how they package the options. It will be annoying at minimum if they decide to combine the moonroof with every high tech gadget that I really don't need.

The bogey really is the RDX. Not as roomy, but the wife likes it, and I can get a base AWD (no tech package) for 3K off sticker on that, so about $33.6K.

al63017 · August 2012

After buying over 40 cars in my car buying history I have learned that a good way for me to decide what a car will be worth 1-3 years down the road is to find the lease residual values as if I leased the car. That tends to point to a predicted value better than anything I have found so far. I have from my perspective gotten a ton of money back on a Acura TSX, VW Jetta TDI, 2010 Camaro and a VW Passat. Some other Hondas have also been very good.

steine13 · August 2012

Not to say that that's a BAD way to look for high-resale-value cars...
... but some manufacturers are better at this than others.

Some Subarus have lousy residuals -- Outbacks, for instance, have right around 50 percent at 36 months, 12-15k per year.

The real residuals are much higher... try buying one for that money + reasonable profit.. ain't gonna happen.

Subaru, it seems to me, does not like their customers to lease. That said, Impreza residuals are often above 60 percent, which is very good indeed. That's on a new model, where nothing is actually known yet.

Chevrolet, OTOH, has gotten pretty good at predicting residuals... a short-box work-truck Silverado has a cool 41 percent residual... after 24 months.

Cheers -Mathias

stickguy · August 2012

well, I plan to be in whatever we get for at least about 10 years, so 3 year residual not that big a deal!

this will be much more about what we really want to own (within the budget of course!)

roadburner · August 2012

Start your engine!

qbrozen · August 2012

brought it home last night. The ABS light wasn't on when I test drove, but of course now its on after purchase. haha. Oh well, I had already anticipated that common fault would need doing.

stickguy · August 2012

darned thing looks brand new. Not bad for $3,200.

what is the ABS issue? I seem to recall this from when I was looking at these a few years back. Needs a rebuilt ABS brain or something?

fintail · August 2012

Nice. Fintails were pretty dominant in their class for rally and road racing in the early 60s. They can be driven in a very spirited manner, which belies their staid appearance. I wouldn't mind having a vintage racer style car...mine is IMO just too much of a good survivor to cut up.

fintail · August 2012

And the miles are documented? That's pretty amazing.

qbrozen · August 2012

The autocheck has no miles reported. The couple had it here in NJ but kept it registered in FL. But I have service records and they do support the miles. I was looking at them last night and it was right around 5k/yr for the first 3 years. So an oil change in '01 at 14k and change. Then there was an '04 receipt showing, I believe, 20k'ish. And there was, I think, a 2010 receipt at around 32 or 34k. I didn't spend too much time piecing it together. I just wanted to get an idea of what work had been done.

Stick - yes, its the ABS module, most likely. The develop microscopic cracks and it needs to be rebuilt. About $200.

stickguy · August 2012

do a good job with it. I don't want my daughter driving something that was not well maintained.

rayainsw · August 2012

Congrats - good job
and within budget!
- Ray
Would struggle with that budget, these days....

fintail · August 2012

The interior makes it look legit. Quite a car for the money.

28firefighter · August 2012

Very impressive catch - enjoy it.....

....until you get bored and flip it for what will be a very nice profit.

qbrozen · August 2012

what's wrong? Not giving up the s40? :P

qbrozen · August 2012

yes, I only spent half of the 540 money on the volvo. I'm happy with that. Gives me plenty of room to fix it up AND buy more mods for the 135! mwuhahahahaha.

isellhondas · August 2012

I'm sure it's just me but I guess I just can't forget the Korean Stigma that was brought on by their early offerings.

" A ton more car" Only time will tell I suppose.

Heck, I could even change my mind about them!

isellhondas · August 2012

As a rule of thumb I would agree with your method but over the years a lot of car manufactures have made some HUGE mistakes when setting residuals.

In order to dump cars they have done some really stupid leases. To make the payments attractive they have set residuals WAY too high.

They have paid dearly at lease end when the lessors have walked away. Some of these cars have sold for thousands of dollars less than the residuals at auction. It's like they mortaged tomorrow for today's sales.

Jeep may have been the worst at this a few years ago. Even Honda did some really stupid leases that cost them dearly.

Your method makes sense only if the residuals were set correctly.

isellhondas · August 2012

I am seriously impressed and find it hard to believe how that car was priced that way! I would heve bought it myself for that money.

It's possible whoever sold it disconnected the battery for awhile to put out the ABS light temporially. We used to have people do that quite often.

Congratulations!

michaellno · August 2012

q - very nice buy for the money! Am a bit envious on that purchase.

I've been jonesing for a new car for some time now, as all of you know. Today I took the ION in for an oil change (7500 miles in 3 months!) and the bi-annual emissions test so I can get new registration tags later this month.

I get my car serviced at the local Midas shop. Instead of the semi-synthetic oil I've used the last few changes, the tech suggests I switch to a high-mileage blend now that I've crossed over 75K on the odometer. Sure, no problem, same price.

$41 later, I'm done and the tech compliments me on how good the car is, mechanically. Still on the original brake pads, and he says it may be a while before I'll need them. I probably need a new fuel filter this year, as the current one is starting to rust a little. Air filter can also stand to be changed next time I get the oil done, too.

Then, I head over to the shop for the emissions test. HC limit in Colorado is 1.2 PPM; the ION shows .0111. CO limit is 15; ION has .3250. NOx limit is 1.5; ION has .0409. Passes with flying colors - another $25 spent.

Hard to give it up given how good it runs.

qbrozen · August 2012

thanks!

reading you say you would have bought a volvo is high praise indeed! :surprise:

breld · August 2012

Well Michael, Prestige Imports has a very nice, lightly used GTI for sale. I can vouch for the miles.

breld · August 2012

This is tempting just due to its rare nature, but I've no room for it.

540i Wagon

kyfdx · August 2012

If only the wagons came in a stick-shift...

Q... great buy... I'm betting on a flip within 3 months..

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