Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

fezo · February 2015

In conversation with salesman I mention I know they make their best profit on used cars. His answer was "not from people like you." I liked that. Based on Truecar it was an insanely good deal.

stever · February 2015

@fezo, congrats! Love to see some pics.

jayrider · February 2015

fezo said:
In conversation with salesman I mention I know they make their best profit on used cars. His answer was "not from people like you." I liked that. Based on Truecar it was an insanely good deal.

That's the nice thing about buying used, if they "stole" the car you are buying, there is a "chance" you can get into their pockets a bit.

fezo · February 2015

I have to figure pics. May email to a poster I know does that. However, at the moment the car and I are in different places.

stickguy · February 2015

what did you end up paying for it?

Michaell · February 2015

Deal struck on the Outback. Details to follow.

fezo · February 2015

$16,550 out the door. $15,100 selling price.

imidazol97 · February 2015

With all the car purchasing talk the last many days, I keep checking to be sure
I'm not in Chronic Car Buyers instead of Buying and Selling Cars: Post Your Experiences.

qbrozen · February 2015

So on a board about telling buying stories, you are surprised by the buying stories?

roadburner · February 2015

fezo said:
All is well with fezo. Just up late and then hitting a bunch of things this morning.

Sale went smooth as silk and we're quite happy. While we're doing paperwork they send it over to detail for a little cleanup and fill the tank. I asked them if they's do that for the Mazda (which actually could have used a couple gallons) which got the expected response - for a fee.....

Wife and kids are out in it now. Will take it down to my SIL's later. Tank still reads full.

Everything went fine. I'd given them an out the door number by phone and they accepted that no problem. Beat my pre-arranged financing by half a point. They should all go this smoothly.

The hard part is doing all the paperwork surrounded by new Mazdas. I'm sure someone will detail off the drool. The 3 hatch is sweet - a little less room than the 6 wagon but a load more gas mileage. If they'd make a 6 wagon or hatchback I might pull that trigger too soon.

Rumors include a turbo diesel engine soon. I could live with that, though I have to say that Mazda really upped their game on mileage with the whole SkyActive thing. They used to lag on gas mileage. Now they lead. Two years maybe...

Congrats!

robr2 · February 2015

I just received my auto policy for the next 12 months. The at-fault accident I had in January which resulted in $2100 in damage to my Explorer has raised my premium by 32% - almost $900. And that penalty will be with me for 3 years. I should have paid the damage out of pocket - it would have been less.

I have not had an at fault accident in 30 years.

I will be appealing the surcharge as it was snowing that day. Hopefully it will work out.

imidazol97 · February 2015

qbrozen said:
So on a board about telling buying stories, you are surprised by the buying stories?

Typically on this discussion the buying stories are once every couple weeks or
a month apart. On CCBA, they are daily (well, serious talk about
doing it is daily).

roadburner · February 2015

robr2 said:
I just received my auto policy for the next 12 months. The at-fault accident I had in January which resulted in $2100 in damage to my Explorer has raised my premium by 32% - almost $900. And that penalty will be with me for 3 years. I should have paid the damage out of pocket - it would have been less.

I have not had an at fault accident in 30 years.

I will be appealing the surcharge as it was snowing that day. Hopefully it will work out.

I'm with Safeco and I also had an at-fault accident last year(my previous one was in 1990). They didn't jack my rates up- apparently parent company Liberty Mutual doesn't either. Who are you insured with? I'd think they'd be receptive to a long-time customer with a good loss history...

abacomike · February 2015

@fezo‌

Hope you get many years of satisfaction with the new addition. You sure went about it the correct way. Congrats!

jpp75 · February 2015

abacomike said:
@fezo‌

Hope you get many years of satisfaction with the new addition. You sure went about it the correct way. Congrats!

Hey Mike, hope you're feeling better these days!

abacomike · February 2015

jpp5862 said:

@fezo‌

Hope you get many years of satisfaction with the new addition. You sure went about it the correct way. Congrats!
Hey Mike, hope you're feeling better these days!

Getting there, slowly but surely - thanks for asking.

mako1a · February 2015

Fezo, glad to hear it went well with the Prius purchase. Right now I'm thinking just like you about when gas prices go down...get something electric cause it'll come back to bite us in the future. Too bad Teslas haven't come down to earth yet. maybe 2 more years.

qbrozen · February 2015

roadburner said:

I'm with Safeco and I also had an at-fault accident last year(my previous one was in 1990). They didn't jack my rates up- apparently parent company Liberty Mutual doesn't either. Who are you insured with? I'd think they'd be receptive to a long-time customer with a good loss history...

I hope that's true. Not that I've had an accident, but I've got most of my cars on Liberty Mutual now. I've been keeping the wife's van on NJ Manufacturers just in case but I'm likely going to switch that when the policy is due for renewal in June. With Liberty Mutual, I pay a little over $2k for 3 vehicles vs $1800 on NJM for JUST the minivan.

roadburner · February 2015

$4875 for all six- a 20 year old on the policies really jacks it up...

nyccarguy · February 2015

@roadburner‌

Make sure you tell LM that you are affiliated with BMWCCA. You get a discount & they will only fix your BMWs with OEM BMW parts.

roadburner · February 2015

nyccarguy said:
@roadburner‌

Make sure you tell LM that you are affiliated with BMWCCA. You get a discount & they will only fix your BMWs with OEM BMW parts.

Yep, another great perk of CCA membership!

robr2 · February 2015

roadburner said:

robr2 said:
I just received my auto policy for the next 12 months. The at-fault accident I had in January which resulted in $2100 in damage to my Explorer has raised my premium by 32% - almost $900. And that penalty will be with me for 3 years. I should have paid the damage out of pocket - it would have been less.

I have not had an at fault accident in 30 years.

I will be appealing the surcharge as it was snowing that day. Hopefully it will work out.
I'm with Safeco and I also had an at-fault accident last year(my previous one was in 1990). They didn't jack my rates up- apparently parent company Liberty Mutual doesn't either. Who are you insured with? I'd think they'd be receptive to a long-time customer with a good loss history...

I'm with Mapfre. About 1/2 of the increase was good driver discounts I lost. The rest is for a major accident surcharge.

oldfarmer50 · February 2015

robr2 said:
I just received my auto policy for the next 12 months. The at-fault accident I had in January which resulted in $2100 in damage to my Explorer has raised my premium by 32% - almost $900. And that penalty will be with me for 3 years. I should have paid the damage out of pocket - it would have been less.

I have not had an at fault accident in 30 years.

I will be appealing the surcharge as it was snowing that day. Hopefully it will work out.

25 years ago I had a small accident and put in a $600 claim for damage to my vehicle. They raise my premiums by $300 for 3 years ($900). I cancelled them and went with another company.

oldfarmer50 · February 2015

roadburner said:
$4875 for all six- a 20 year old on the policies really jacks it up...

Really? I've got two 20+ year olds in my fleet and they are pretty cheap to insure ($300+- per year).

Say, RB as I type this I'm watching 'The China Syndrome'. In this movie Jack Lemmon is driving a BMW. In one scene he's being chased by a big boat Ford LTD. I thought maybe you could identify it. Looks like a 3 but I know nothing about BMWs from that era.

Funny that they expected you to believe that even back then a big domestic could handle as well as a BMW.

driver100 · February 2015

Congratulations Fezo.....you did a great job of tracking down your new car and you made it look easy..hope you enjoy it.

Michaell....waiting to hear the details.........

driver100 · February 2015

I know I am getting to be grumpy in my old age, and I know almost everyone would disagree with me,.......but, I still find many older model cars look much better than the latest model. Today a 2014ish Corvette passed me, and though it was fairly striking....I didn't think that much of the styling.....it is made to look really mean I suppose:

So, I thought of which Corvette was probably my favorite, and I'd have to go way back to 1966.

stickguy · February 2015

Farmer, the expensive 20 YO is the kid, not the car!

Driver, I parked near one just like that, but in a dark gray/bronze color (hard to describe). I thought it looks lousy actually. just too disjointed and angular. Like a half switched transformer! Might be fast, but it IMO is just as ugly.

fezo · February 2015

It kind of feels funny being congratulated by roadburner for buying a Prius with a sunroof but it's much appreciated. It's an entertaining vehicle in its own way.

I had at at fault in 2013 (I was 62 and it was my first at fault). NJManufacturers didn't touch my rate, but as q pointed out there's cheaper out there. May have to investigate.

Michaell · February 2015

What a long day. Despite all the research I had done beforehand, I still spent 3 1/2 hours at the dealer.

Tip - don't buy a Subaru on the last day in February - and that day a Saturday - after 10 days of cold weather. Everybody in Denver, it seemed, wanted a Subaru today.

Glad I did all my homework - it paid off. As noted earlier, I went to two different places this morning and got appraisals for the CX-7 - $12,500 and $13,000.

Dealer offered me $10,500, at which point I pulled out the hard copies of my offers. Salesman face fell, especially when I told him I got those quotes just a couple of hours earlier. Went back to the "tower" and the next deal sheet had a trade value of $12,500. So far, so good.

Then, we went back and forth - twice - on the selling price. I showed him my Edmunds research of invoice, he insisted that the 3.6R's are scarce, so we ended up meeting in the middle - about $1K above invoice. Not great, but almost $2K off sticker price.

Off to F&I - where we said yes to a few things that the wife wanted. Yes, it jacked the payment up a bit, but not to a point where we couldn't handle it. And, no cash out of pocket save the $500 "deposit" that turned into a down payment. Wife was at the dealership only 90 minutes, so it was a success in her eyes. She loves the car - much more refined than the Mazda and full of new technology that may be obsolete before we can master it.

I scanned the 2" thick pile of manuals when I got home - it was simply too late to absorb much. I'll try again tomorrow, and get a picture or two as well.

I was able to drive it to and from dinner, and I agree - it's much softer than the Mazda but will handle the day to day chores just fine.

Wife is hoping we're done for a while. I reminded her my lease is up in 20 months.

graphicguy · February 2015

robr2 said:
I just received my auto policy for the next 12 months. The at-fault accident I had in January which resulted in $2100 in damage to my Explorer has raised my premium by 32% - almost $900. And that penalty will be with me for 3 years. I should have paid the damage out of pocket - it would have been less.

I have not had an at fault accident in 30 years.

I will be appealing the surcharge as it was snowing that day. Hopefully it will work out.

Time to get some different insurance quotes from other companies.

driver100 · March 2015

stickguy said:
Farmer, the expensive 20 YO is the kid, not the car!

Driver, I parked near one just like that, but in a dark gray/bronze color (hard to describe). I thought it looks lousy actually. just too disjointed and angular. Like a half switched transformer! Might be fast, but it IMO is just as ugly.

Stick, that describes it perfectly...odd angles and looks disjointed. Like maybe one guy designed the front half and another group the back half. Looks a bit flattenned out too.

Another car that I thought was odd today was a Hyundai Veloster. I understand it a bit more because the design allows for 4 doors, the car looks edgy, and it stands out from the competitors in that market. Note the rear door has a handlein the rear panel behind the window in the side rear.

At least you can buy an economical car but it will stand out....especially in Tangerine Orange!

abacomike · March 2015

@Michaell‌

To me, it sounds like the experience and the pricing were excellent. Subaru has become a very popular car/SUV because of its safety record and styling/technology. Their production of certain models and engines is somewhat limited as is their inventories in certain areas of the country.

I stopped into our local dealer yesterday just to eyeball the models NYC, you and others have been acquiring. They have inventory - but remember this is south Florida where snow is not in our vocabulary. The cars are well made and good looking. I felt a bit cramped in all the models - but I am over 6'2" tall and with my love handles, I am fast approaching 245 lbs.

Just enjoy the car. Everyone here on Edmunds love their Subaru.

abacomike · March 2015

@driver100‌

I I had a 1967 Corvette Stingray Fastback Coupe with a 427 c.i. 435 hp engine with a Muncie 4 speed stick. Yes, they were gorgeous, but I'd take a 2015 Stingray "soured up model" any day!!!! I could get into it, but I'd never be able to get out of it!!! Lol!

driver100 · March 2015

Michaell said:
y.

Glad I did all my homework - it paid off. As noted earlier, I went to two different places this morning and got appraisals for the CX-7 - $12,500 and $13,000.

Dealer offered me $10,500, at which point I pulled out the hard copies of my offers. Salesman face fell, especially when I told him I got those quotes just a couple of hours earlier. Went back to the "tower" and the next deal sheet had a trade value of $12,500. So far, so good.

Then, we went back and forth - twice - on the selling price. I showed him my Edmunds research of invoice, he insisted that the 3.6R's are scarce, so we ended up meeting in the middle - about $1K above invoice. Not great, but almost $2K off sticker price.
.

Also, don't buy a car when it has just been voted #1 in it's class. When I was looking for a car in 84 Mazda was getting awards and great reviews and Mazda salesmaen wouldn't discount their cars one penny, and that's when a penny had some value:

It was great that you did your homework Michael, you probably saved yourself a few $1000s. It was well worth doing that research. If they didn't give you $12500 woul,d you have sold your car to Carmax and then bought the new one?

You did well and thanks for the story, you earned your extra discount....enjoy the new car.

driver100 · March 2015

abacomike said:
@driver100‌

I I had a 1967 Corvette Stingray Fastback Coupe with a 427 c.i. 435 hp engine with a Muncie 4 speed stick. Yes, they were gorgeous, but I'd take a 2015 Stingray "soured up model" any day!!!! I could get into it, but I'd never be able to get out of it!!! Lol!

That's when cars were cars! Now I'm really talking like an old guy;

Question for you Mike. In most places when you trade in your car and buy a new one you pay sales tax on the difference. What happens if you trade in a car and then you lease? Is the tax value taken into account on the leased vehicle?

qbrozen · March 2015

nyccarguy said:

@roadburner‌ Make sure you tell LM that you are affiliated with BMWCCA. You get a discount & they will only fix your BMWs with OEM BMW parts.

That's how I switched to LM to start with. Since then, I have gotten rid of the bimmers and then let my CCA membership expire, but it has not affected my rates with them. Pleasant surprise. Still half expecting them to call me out on it one of these days.

abacomike · March 2015

driver100 said:

@driver100‌

I I had a 1967 Corvette Stingray Fastback Coupe with a 427 c.i. 435 hp engine with a Muncie 4 speed stick. Yes, they were gorgeous, but I'd take a 2015 Stingray "soured up model" any day!!!! I could get into it, but I'd never be able to get out of it!!! Lol!
That's when cars were cars! Now I'm really talking like an old guy; Question for you Mike. In most places when you trade in your car and buy a new one you pay sales tax on the difference. What happens if you trade in a car and then you lease? Is the tax value taken into account on the leased vehicle?

That is the EXACT color and Vette I had in 1967.

If you trade in a car on a lease, only the out of pocket monies are not taxed. In cases where you want to take advantage of less tax, do a one-pay lease using your car as the payment for the lease.

imidazol97 · March 2015

abacomike said:
...- but remember this is south Florida where snow is not in our vocabulary. The cars are well made and good looking.

Remember, winter isn't over yet, and with all this global cooling, you might see snow this winter. Areas in the Carolinas have had a share of snow and ice this year! LOL

imidazol97 · March 2015

driver100 said:
So, I thought of which Corvette was probably my favorite, and I'd have to go way back to 1966.

I agree on the style of the best Corvettes. This is a photo from a car show last spring (4 weeks until one area weekly cruise in starts again). I had my camera set wrong and the yellow washed out. I've tried to adjust the picture in Paint Shop Pro. But here's another view. I'd probably prefer whatever were stock wheels, however.

Route 66 anybody?

driver100 · March 2015

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:
So, I thought of which Corvette was probably my favorite, and I'd have to go way back to 1966.
I agree on the style of the best Corvettes. This is a photo from a car show last spring (4 weeks until one area weekly cruise in starts again). I had my camera set wrong and the yellow washed out. I've tried to adjust the picture in Paint Shop Pro. But here's another view. I'd probably prefer whatever were stock wheels, however.

Route 66 anybody?

The 66 looks like it would be fun to drive. It has class and style.

The 2015 looks like something from the grim future....trying to be edgy;

imidazol97 · March 2015

A lot of the mean look comes from the wheels, to my eye at least.

This looks gentler

But then there's this for the over 60 crowd

This looks angry in an unstyled way.

A Corvette at $60K? Or this at $250K

robr2 · March 2015

graphicguy said:

robr2 said:
I just received my auto policy for the next 12 months. The at-fault accident I had in January which resulted in $2100 in damage to my Explorer has raised my premium by 32% - almost $900. And that penalty will be with me for 3 years. I should have paid the damage out of pocket - it would have been less.

I have not had an at fault accident in 30 years.

I will be appealing the surcharge as it was snowing that day. Hopefully it will work out.
Time to get some different insurance quotes from other companies.

I'm going to reach out to my agent to see what we can do. Massachusetts has only had competitive auto insurance for a couple of years. I have discounts on my homeowner's and business policies because I have tied all 3 with one company. I doubt I will be able to get a better overall price on all three.

Pricing in MA is based on the safe driver insurance program. I went from a +3 to a -99 due to the accident. I am going to appeal the surcharge with the state. If I am successful, I go back to a +3, get my deductible back, and a refund of the higher premiums.

venture · March 2015

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

@driver100‌

I I had a 1967 Corvette Stingray Fastback Coupe with a 427 c.i. 435 hp engine with a Muncie 4 speed stick. Yes, they were gorgeous, but I'd take a 2015 Stingray "soured up model" any day!!!! I could get into it, but I'd never be able to get out of it!!! Lol!
That's when cars were cars! Now I'm really talking like an old guy;

Question for you Mike. In most places when you trade in your car and buy a new one you pay sales tax on the difference. What happens if you trade in a car and then you lease? Is the tax value taken into account on the leased vehicle?

That is the EXACT color and Vette I had in 1967.

If you trade in a car on a lease, only the out of pocket monies are not taxed. In cases where you want to take advantage of less tax, do a one-pay lease using your car as the payment for the lease.

This is identical to the one I had. I still miss that car.

oldfarmer50 · March 2015

driver100 said:
I know I am getting to be grumpy in my old age, and I know almost everyone would disagree with me,.......but, I still find many older model cars look much better than the latest model. Today a 2014ish Corvette passed me, and though it was fairly striking....I didn't think that much of the styling.....it is made to look really mean I suppose:

So, I thought of which Corvette was probably my favorite, and I'd have to go way back to 1966.

While I like the style of that 66 I would chose the 2014 style in a heartbeat. I'm in love with that style.

oldfarmer50 · March 2015

stickguy said:
Farmer, the expensive 20 YO is the kid, not the car!

Driver, I parked near one just like that, but in a dark gray/bronze color (hard to describe). I thought it looks lousy actually. just too disjointed and angular. Like a half switched transformer! Might be fast, but it IMO is just as ugly.

Ha ha my mistake.

Couldn't disagree with you more on the Vette. Maybe that style won't stand the test of time like the 66 but for now it looks great IMO.

houdini1 · March 2015

imidazol97 said:

A lot of the mean look comes from the wheels, to my eye at least.

This looks gentler

But then there's this for the over 60 crowd

This looks angry in an unstyled way.

A Corvette at $60K? Or this at $250K

That grill on the Camry? looks like 3 separate furnace filters !!

Mr_Shiftright · March 2015

Cars were more individualized in styling back then. You couldn't mistake a 60s Vette for anything else, domestic or foreign.

imidazol97 · March 2015

houdini1 said:

That grill on the Camry? looks like 3 separate furnace filters !!

All the folks who ragged on the Aztek for decades now about appearance, ignoring the Element, Odyssey, and many other bad designs, should be ragging on this model of Camry where they put an angry face on the car to try to compete with the more youthful appearing other vehicles with which it competes. It's cheaper to redesign the grill rather than restyle the vehicle and make it more youthful?

And it probably appeals to a difference demographic than I'm in.

The Corvettes I had trouble with are the ones with the BIG rear ends. Maybe 2010 or so for the years.
Now the Corvette carries a lot of Camaro style in the rear and the front.

*****
*****
*****
Talking about Corvettes

I recall my son's being in drivers education and his asking as I drove to the school parking lot, with lots of BMW and Mustangs in it, what I was going to buy him to drive to school after he got his driver license--"A Corvette?"

I told him he was riding in it--he would be driving the 98 leSabre, dark red, to the parking lot. However the next year I did buy a black Cobalt. LOL

imidazol97 · March 2015

Is it the black wheels on the Red Corvette above that make it look evil? I recall when I saw three camouflaged Cadillacs at the local Speedway a year or two back, one of them had black spoke wheels and it looked really odd for a premium car. However, now it's clear Cadillac is changing from the old man's luxury vehicle to a youthful driver's car.

imidazol97 · March 2015

4.5 inches of new snow getting warm and a little heavier to shovel. I was on my third trip out to shovel part of my driveway and a neighbor drove by in his white van. A few minutes later I looked up and the white van was parking at end of my driveway.

He got out. Put on gloves, opened side door, and I thought he would pull out a snow blower.
Instead he pulled out his snow shovel and proceeded to help me shovel driveway. He
did the lower end where the city sprays the heavy snow from the road over onto the
end of our driveways, and it's heavier to shovel because it has salt and slush in it.

Thanks. Thanks. Thanks.

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