Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

au1994 · March 2016

fintail said:
And these days, with so many dealerships being part of legalized monopolies (the local Audi, BMW, MB, Volvo, et al are all AutoNation now), even if they buy another car, the profit might still go to the same place.

andres3 said:

A salesman that directs people to another vehicle they might prefer is a good one in my opinion. Shows integrity.

I don't understand how these monopolies pass the smell test. Not far from me there are VW, Toyota, Nissan, Fiat and Mazda dealerships that in the past 10 yrs have all gone under the AutoNation flag.

andres3 · March 2016

Maybe more manufacturer's can go to the Tesla sales model. Frankly, the value of a salesman for me is negligible. A lot of them seem poorly trained in their own product, and I often hear "I worked for Volvo but now i'm at Audi." and vice versa.

fintail · March 2016

I think it passes a smell test - the smell of money. Remember the real "golden rule". The car dealer lobby is a powerful one, ask Tesla.

Other AutoNation dealers in my city are Ford and Mopar, and they also have Porsche. Oddly, no Asian makes.

au1994 said:

I don't understand how these monopolies pass the smell test. Not far from me there are VW, Toyota, Nissan, Fiat and Mazda dealerships that in the past 10 yrs have all gone under the AutoNation flag.

stickguy · March 2016

Stopped at jag dealer today (was passing by). To see an XE. Which apparently won't arrive until April. Got the fattest brochure I hAve ever seen though. Like a phone book.

Sat in a $93k F sport convertible though. Oh Lordy that was nice. The others cars on the floor were also quite snazzy. Jaguar certainly has style!

Sales guy said they have some intro pre order incentives if you left a deposit for May delivery. I declined. Next test though, will go back to take a test drive,

ab348 · March 2016

I got a glossy mailer in my mailbox this week from Land Rover, addressed to me. How that is I have no idea since I have never set foot in the local dealer, had never visited their website, and have had zero dealings with the dealership group that runs their local outlet. Given I still have 18 months left on the ATS lease I am not in the market for the lease deals they offered. It did motivate me to go to their website and look at the Discovery. Can't see myself in one of those though.

cdnpinhead · March 2016

Ah yes, selling the mailing list, even if it's to the competition.

laurasdada · March 2016

MotorWeek named the '16 Jag XF best Luxury Sedan. Not sure if this as prestigious as the Motor Trend Award (The Chevy Vega and Citation! The Renault Alliance!), but hey, it's something.

Already thinking of downsizing the XF to an XE, but not likely until '18. But, yeah, that F-Type is kinda nice, too... F-Pace getting good pre-press. Maybe a used/cpo S-Class Coupe or BMW i8. Lottery winning dependent, of course.

Good to hear Jag continues to intrigue, stickguy!

stickguy · March 2016

the XF on the floor was very nice. Salesdude said they went to a preview drive, and it is a lot like a baby XF. Fine by me. I don't need much of a back seat at this point.

also saw that my local used go-to place has an interesting MB coming in. A red over parchment SLK250 hardtop convertible. (a 2014). Listed as a 6 speed manual (which technically exists) but I assume it is really an AT. no pics yet to verify. I may actually stop in tomorrow just to check!

corvette · March 2016

CEL came back this week and this morning I got a new driver's side catalytic converter on the Yukon. $265 with tax, at what is probably the cheapest exhaust shop in town. Once they got the truck in the bay, it didn't take long, but the wait to get in was pretty long (they don't do appointments).

henryn · March 2016

corvette said:
CEL came back this week and this morning I got a new driver's side catalytic converter on the Yukon. $265 with tax, at what is probably the cheapest exhaust shop in town. Once they got the truck in the bay, it didn't take long, but the wait to get in was pretty long (they don't do appointments).

Refresh my memory, what year / how many miles on that Yukon? I seem to recall that catalytic converters have a 100k warranty?

fintail · March 2016

If you like the prior (2007-13) style, there might be good ones out there, they have to be depreciating like week old milk now - the sedans are, now that the new style is firmly on the road. All save for the one I would want (2012-only Bluetec), of course.

laurasdada said:
MotorWeek named the '16 Jag XF best Luxury Sedan. Not sure if this as prestigious as the Motor Trend Award (The Chevy Vega and Citation! The Renault Alliance!), but hey, it's something.

Already thinking of downsizing the XF to an XE, but not likely until '18. But, yeah, that F-Type is kinda nice, too... F-Pace getting good pre-press. Maybe a used/cpo S-Class Coupe or BMW i8. Lottery winning dependent, of course.

Good to hear Jag continues to intrigue, stickguy!

corvette · March 2016

henryn said:

Refresh my memory, what year / how many miles on that Yukon? I seem to recall that catalytic converters have a 100k warranty?

2008 and 145,000 miles. No warranty on pretty much anything at this point. Planning to take it on a trip to Fargo, ND and other places in a few weeks--wish me luck!

Mr_Shiftright · March 2016

Well if we don't hear from you, at least we know where to look for you.

kyfdx · March 2016

Mr_Shiftright said:
Well if we don't hear from you, at least we know where to look for you.

Or, at least.. where you went.

Don't wait for a rescue team... that's all I'm saying.

corvette · March 2016

kyfdx said:

Mr_Shiftright said:
Well if we don't hear from you, at least we know where to look for you.
Or, at least.. where you went.

Don't wait for a rescue team... that's all I'm saying.

LOL. I have OnStar.

Michaell · March 2016

Has anybody ever heard of this?

http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/40045/bmw/x1/recall-preventing-purchase-at-end-of-lease#latest

stickguy · March 2016

news to me. Would think if it was unsafe to sell, they should take it in and supply a loaner until it could be fixed..

one thing that has to be wrong is the bit about the original selling dealer. You can return to any authorized BMW dealer.

Mr_Shiftright · March 2016

Apparently the car is subject to a Takata airbag recall, so he's in a squeeze there.

roadburner · March 2016

corvette said:

2008 and 145,000 miles. No warranty on pretty much anything at this point. Planning to take it on a trip to Fargo, ND and other places in a few weeks--wish me luck!

I'm doing everything possible to avoid putting new cats on the X3- there is one built into each of the two 3-into-1 exhaust manifolds. Luckily there are some "alternatives" at my disposal...

Mr_Shiftright · March 2016

Been there, done that. Your X3 and my Mini share genetic material.

stickguy · March 2016

apparently my wife likes Jag convertibles too! I told her about the Fsport, and she was noncommittal. But we saw a nice XK in a parking lot today, and she commented on how nice it looked in black.

Maybe a Miata would work too. I sorta fit in the new ones!

we discussed at dinner a bit (her concern is mostly who's car it would be!) Then said she likes hers, so I should just get whatever I wanted. Just not a pickup. She doesn't like those. So, so many options!

corvette · March 2016

roadburner said:

I'm doing everything possible to avoid putting new cats on the X3- there is one built into each of the two 3-into-1 exhaust manifolds. Luckily there are some "alternatives" at my disposal...

Yeah, I'm sure the "universal" cat they installed probably won't last 140,000 miles like the original, but will probably last long enough. They didn't offer to just remove the cat and put a spacer (I think that's what people do) on the O2 sensor, but I've heard that also works. Doubt if you can get a universal cat for an X3, anyway. They had a customer earlier today with a relatively new Honda Pilot and explained the universal cats wouldn't fit his vehicle. The OE parts were not cheap!

rayainsw · March 2016

I went to the Atlanta auto show yesterday.
It seems, over the 15 years or so that I have been attending [ since I moved here ] that it has slowly dropped down a level – or two.
BMW and Jaguar were not represented, at all. [ I was hoping to see the new XE. ]
There was a new Audi A4 – but not the new S4.
The Infiniti Q50 was a 3.7l 2015 – not a 300 or 400 HP 3.0t 2016.
[ sigh ]
There were the classics [ several 1950s and 1960s ] that have always been represented here – by private owners. This is one thing I really enjoy about the show. A 1959 Desoto [ FINS ! ] is a rare bird . . .

The one I did see that seriously interests me is a 2017 Ford Fusion. It was a Titanium – not the Sport, I’d buy – but I did have an opportunity to sit in it when I first arrived. [ Though it prominently displayed a label proclaiming ‘This is a prototype and is locked’, it was NOT locked when I first encountered it, and not on a turntable. And no armed guards to keep me out! ]
- Ray
Still interesting enough to warrant a visit . . .

sda · March 2016

I had the pleasure of attending the Atlanta car show for the first time last Wednesday. I met my wife's cousin who lives in the area and he said he was disappointed in the show because BMW and others didn't show. Odd since BMW has a plant in Greenville, SC, only about 2 hours away. I enjoyed the show, found it very similar to the Charlotte show. I also was intrigued by the 59 Desoto and shared these pictures in the Classic Car forum. The Desoto had factory a/c, which I am sure is rare, especially given how expensive a/c was relative to the price of the car.

The 61 Fury was interesting as well. Someone pointed out that Lexus must have liked the styling given the front end styling they are using on their cars today.

graphicguy · March 2016

stickguy said:
apparently my wife likes Jag convertibles too! I told her about the Fsport, and she was noncommittal. But we saw a nice XK in a parking lot today, and she commented on how nice it looked in black.

Maybe a Miata would work too. I sorta fit in the new ones!

we discussed at dinner a bit (her concern is mostly who's car it would be!) Then said she likes hers, so I should just get whatever I wanted. Just not a pickup. She doesn't like those. So, so many options!

Not in the market, but if I am in the future (near future?), Jag store will be my first stop!

fintail · March 2016

A good friend of mine recently bought a car. He's almost a CCB - 3 years ago he bought an E60 550i, hated it, dumped it for a 328i lease, lease ended and they had nothing he wanted, he just bought an F10 550i (I think 2011), loaded save for M-sport, which he didn't care about. We will see how long this lasts, I give it a year. 550i is kind of an unusual grey, black, local car, ~50K miles, I think he paid 25K for it. I give it 18 months tops.

And yeah, Toyolex should buy up a bunch of 61 Plymouths, rebadge them, and claim they are vintage Lexus. People would believe it.

houdini1 · March 2016

fintail said:
A good friend of mine recently bought a car. He's almost a CCB - 3 years ago he bought an E60 550i, hated it, dumped it for a 328i lease, lease ended and they had nothing he wanted, he just bought an F10 550i (I think 2011), loaded save for M-sport, which he didn't care about. We will see how long this lasts, I give it a year. 550i is kind of an unusual grey, black, local car, ~50K miles, I think he paid 25K for it. I give it 18 months tops.

And yeah, Toyolex should buy up a bunch of 61 Plymouths, rebadge them, and claim they are vintage Lexus. People would believe it.

Except for the fact that the '61 Plymouth actually has a bumper that you could bump something with.

Mr_Shiftright · March 2016

You can bump something with the new Lexus bumper. It'll cost you $1000 or so, but you can do it.

houdini1 · March 2016

Are you kidding? They would charge you that much just for the appraisal.

stickguy · March 2016

This is a really snazzy looking car. I like these. Seems to be pretty well equipped. I even found a neat vin decoder that listed everything on it. pretty cool.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/660419760/overview/

corvette · March 2016

Dang. Beautiful colors, both inside and out.

nyccarguy · March 2016

I like that @stickguy

fintail · March 2016

Oh that resale value. I guesstimate it was 62-63K MSRP when new (nobody pays sticker of course).

stickguy · March 2016

this place actually lists the original MSRP in their listings. I think that one was 62.3K, and it has about 1.5 years left of original BtB warranty. So even if the original owner got it for 5K off, that is still about 21K depreciation in 2.5 years. Better someone else than me! To beat that, would have to keep it for 2.5 years and run it up to about 40K miles (about what I would do) and have it worth 15K, which seems conservative!

EDIT: oops. mixed up my links. that one is CPO at a dealer for 39.5K. My local guy has the same basic car, same miles, not CPO for 35.9K. Worth it to me to save 4K by giving up 1 year of warranty.

nyccarguy · March 2016

fintail said:

Oh that resale value. I guesstimate it was 62-63K MSRP when new (nobody pays sticker of course).

They do normally give very healthy discount off sticker. You know the car is still under b to b warranty. I'm sure it hasn't been raced/abused. Hopefully the original owner fills it up with PUG as recommended by MB (I can see the 3 series/C Class leasing crowd using RUG, but you never know).

$4K is a nice savings over a CPO. Can you have that brought to an MB dealer and pay for a PPI?

stickguy · March 2016

I'm sure I could. The place has a ton of lightly used MBs, and a few other brands. There is also a real good Indy BMW and MB guy just up the road.

Not worried about his stick though. All off lease usually, barely used by well off people and look like new. Squeaky clean car fax too!

stickguy · March 2016

As to the CPO, that is really expensive peace of mind. They add 1 year to the BtoB. Unlimited miles, but no issue here since I would be under 50k at 4 years. Plus it has power train already for 6 or 7.

So equal cars, I would be paying close to $4k for a warranty from about 35-45k miles, for whatever isn't included in power train coverage. I would think, if a gambling man, that the odds of something that expensive failing in that timeframe are pretty darned low.

fintail · March 2016

I wouldn't pay 4K for a year of warranty. These are generally solid cars, and it likely won't have nearly 4K worth of issues that year, if it has any at all. W212 has been in production since 2009, most problem areas were small and addressed early on. I'd find a good aftermarket warranty if I needed one for peace of mind, and get more time for the same money.

stickguy said:
this place actually lists the original MSRP in their listings. I think that one was 62.3K, and it has about 1.5 years left of original BtB warranty. So even if the original owner got it for 5K off, that is still about 21K depreciation in 2.5 years. Better someone else than me! To beat that, would have to keep it for 2.5 years and run it up to about 40K miles (about what I would do) and have it worth 15K, which seems conservative!

EDIT: oops. mixed up my links. that one is CPO at a dealer for 39.5K. My local guy has the same basic car, same miles, not CPO for 35.9K. Worth it to me to save 4K by giving up 1 year of warranty.

fintail · March 2016

Yes, it is not a young persons car - these are generally treated well, middle aged person driving it to the office etc. The only thing to look out for might be ex-rentals, as they do exist in a fleet or two, but those will generally be base model 2WD cars - I would wager you won't find keyless go or 4Matic on a US spec rental.

Any dealer or indy would be happy to take the money for a PPI.

nyccarguy said:

They do normally give very healthy discount off sticker. You know the car is still under b to b warranty. I'm sure it hasn't been raced/abused. Hopefully the original owner fills it up with PUG as recommended by MB (I can see the 3 series/C Class leasing crowd using RUG, but you never know).

$4K is a nice savings over a CPO. Can you have that brought to an MB dealer and pay for a PPI?

stickguy · March 2016

This oddball, I like it. I have a strange affinity for these. Just wish it had pictures. Though I would not spend nearly this much on a 2004 with these miles. But it would be cool to have. Turbo and manual trans. What's not to like?

man though, my wife would probably freak out. Would be even better if it was that bright yellow color.

http://www.subaruofcherryhill.com/used/Subaru/2004-Subaru-Baja-Cherry+Hill+NJ-45ea819b0a0e0a6b1d31b36e2331d79c.htm?searchDepth=16:54

fintail · March 2016

Been thinking about lease-end cars today. 2014 E550 could be good, they appear to be solid, and for the E, are kind of the last of the V8 Interceptors, as we'll almost certainly not have another non-AMG V8 E again.

Or 2012 S350 Bluetec, rare (one year only car), depreciation should start eventually, they are holding up well too, and will always have some resale value to the diesel cult.

I'd want a car with specific colors and options (full load), which will make it difficult. I peeked around AutoTrader today, didn't find much.

stickguy · March 2016

From my poking around, the common equipment levels seem loaded to me on the E (more so than on the C class). Various assist options (lane, blind spot, attention).

Mr_Shiftright · March 2016

stickguy said:
This oddball, I like it. I have a strange affinity for these. Just wish it had pictures. Though I would not spend nearly this much on a 2004 with these miles. But it would be cool to have. Turbo and manual trans. What's not to like?

man though, my wife would probably freak out. Would be even better if it was that bright yellow color.

http://www.subaruofcherryhill.com/used/Subaru/2004-Subaru-Baja-Cherry+Hill+NJ-45ea819b0a0e0a6b1d31b36e2331d79c.htm?searchDepth=16:54

These odd ducks with the turbo seem to command a premium price. Where they so expensive when new? You could buy a 2004 Porsche Boxster for near that money, or a 2010 Mini.

nyccarguy · March 2016

I vote for the E550. Turbo V8? I'll take it! Check please!

fintail · March 2016

A truly loaded MB is hard to find, as there are numerous small options. For an E, I want lighting package, I prefer pano. keyless go, nannies (blind spot-lane departure), parktronic is fun, and the clincher - distronic/steering assist. The latter is really rare. A 550 will have standard leather, but not necessarily much else - I have seen one without lighting package, which is surprising. 2014 also had a special order option of acoustic glass - I would like to find one with it, I know they exist. 2012+ E550 is over 400 hp stock, and I am sure can exceed that by a bit with a simple tune/chip. It's almost like an AMG, but without the gingerbread - kind of what AMG used to be.

The S will come pretty well equipped, but on that I want distronic/night vision and pano - the rest seem to be pretty common. An issue for both cars is colors, I don't want black on black.

Many E seem to have the nannies, I guess as they aren't too expensive. Probably more with them than with lighting.

For a Baja, come to the PNW, quite a few of them here.

jpp75 · March 2016

stickguy said:
This oddball, I like it. I have a strange affinity for these. Just wish it had pictures. Though I would not spend nearly this much on a 2004 with these miles. But it would be cool to have. Turbo and manual trans. What's not to like?

man though, my wife would probably freak out. Would be even better if it was that bright yellow color.

http://www.subaruofcherryhill.com/used/Subaru/2004-Subaru-Baja-Cherry+Hill+NJ-45ea819b0a0e0a6b1d31b36e2331d79c.htm?searchDepth=16:54

I like it too, definitely an oddball but as you say, what's not to like??

nyccarguy · March 2016

$9,995 for a 12 year old car with 125K miles? Next!

fintail · March 2016

Are those head gasket cars? Deduct accordingly.

stickguy · March 2016

Yeah, that sube is. would not buy it without paperwork showing belt and gaskets done right, or a serious cheap price so I could have it done myself. H

stickguy · March 2016

this is interesting. Looks nice. not too old. Good price. but steep miles.

assuming of course it really is a stickshift, not a mis-labeled ad. Since they neglected to include interior shots.

EDIT: should have looked at carfax 1st. I would bet it is an AT. Started as a rental, and been traded around a bit. Plus shows an accident, and transmission replaced at 97K. Sounds like a car that had a hard life!

http://www.turnersvilleautomall.com/detail-2011-ford-mustang-2dr_convertible_v6_premium-used-14778546.html

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