Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

stickguy · May 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:
at this point, my kids will be supporting me, not the other way around.
Can they support me too? They seem generous.

well, the secret is, you strongly imply there is lots of money in the estate. Then by the time they find out it was a scam, well, you are dead so who cares?

besides, they like us. Already worked out a deal with the princess. If I take care of the car and watch her dogs, we can stay over the garage!

fintail · May 2019

Maybe it depends on location. All it takes is some cash flow and decent credit to get a nice lease on a not terriblty expensive premium brand. In areas like my backyard where they are every third car on the road, some of the status erodes - I think it was different 30 or more years ago for those brands, when they were less common, more expensive, and even more differentiated from the competition than now.

snakeweasel said:

Wait, you really didn't just post that right? MBs and BMWs aren't much of a status symbol?

stickguy · May 2019

if leasing was eliminated, sales of the status brands would just collapse.

cdnpinhead · May 2019

Yeah, and on most others as well -- seems everyone is a payment buyer. Keeps the economy running, I guess.

fintail · May 2019

They'd need 144 month terms and 80 month warranties, at least.

I think the status of the mainstream premium brands is more perception than reality. Do people really ooh and aah about a 359/month lease special? It's a car.

stickguy said:
if leasing was eliminated, sales of the status brands would just collapse.

Sandman6472 · May 2019

My car accident in 2018 showed up on it's CarFax report. Since we live in a state that recognizes DV, I went that route and ended up getting around 80% of what we asked from the at fault's insurance company. After the lawyers take and the price of the CarFax report, I got a check for the rest. They were going to total it at first, which I agreed with, but when all was said and done, they decided to fix my vehicle. So since I had no choice, I picked it up after a month and still own it. Still having a slight issue that doesn't show up very often and will take it back to be looked at since the repairs are guaranteed for as long as I own it. And one could not tell it was ever in an accident except for the different door edge guard on the new replaced rear door. Since VW no longer made my color keyed guards, went with what the auto repair place could get. Decided not to replace the other three but looking back, maybe I should have!

abacomike · May 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

at this point, my kids will be supporting me, not the other way around.
Can they support me too? They seem generous.

I could use a little support myself!

qbrozen · May 2019

fintail said:

I think the status of the mainstream premium brands is more perception than reality. Do people really ooh and aah about a 359/month lease special? It's a car.

Not sure what you mean. The fact that my payment for a really well equipped AWD sport sedan that gets to 60 in about 5.5 secs is less than most people pay for a 4-cyl FWD family sedan definitely makes me ooh and aah.

driver100 · May 2019

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

ab348 said:
Driver never said it was saving him hundreds of dollars a month. That was a poorly formatted quote from snake talking about his Sebring.
Yes that was me responding to someone telling me I should have traded in a year ago. The savings being that I do not have the car payment that I would have had if I dumped the car a year ago.
....and I said you wouldn't have a $3000 repair bill if you traded in the Sebring a year ago! Gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them. That $3000 could have gone into a newer car.
But I didn't spend $3,000, that $3,000 would make all the needed repairs, repairs that I have not made. I am keeping the $3,000 for a down payment when I replace the sebring next fall (hopefully).

Either way....the car is worth a lot less because someone will have to do the repairs. The Sebring at 136000 miles is past its expiry date. Mechanic says if he fixes it it will be good to 150000 miles.....will he guaranty that! So now, you are driving in a possibly unsafe car.....or a car that isn't really roadworthy ($2000 sounds like a fair amount of repairs) in order to squeeze every last penny out of it. Personally, I think you had a good run if you take what you paid for it and what you got out of it.....and start looking.

driver100 · May 2019

stickguy said:
at this point, my kids will be supporting me, not the other way around.

I am going to leave my kids a few bills I didn't feel like paying.

(just joking explorer)

oldfarmer50 · May 2019

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:
at this point, my kids will be supporting me, not the other way around.
Can they support me too? They seem generous.
well, the secret is, you strongly imply there is lots of money in the estate. Then by the time they find out it was a scam, well, you are dead so who cares?

besides, they like us. Already worked out a deal with the princess. If I take care of the car and watch her dogs, we can stay over the garage!

No money? Well I’ll take either one of those fine automobiles. Princess can’t drive both.

I’d give her first choice.

oldfarmer50 · May 2019

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

ab348 said:
Driver never said it was saving him hundreds of dollars a month. That was a poorly formatted quote from snake talking about his Sebring.
Yes that was me responding to someone telling me I should have traded in a year ago. The savings being that I do not have the car payment that I would have had if I dumped the car a year ago.
....and I said you wouldn't have a $3000 repair bill if you traded in the Sebring a year ago! Gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them. That $3000 could have gone into a newer car.
But I didn't spend $3,000, that $3,000 would make all the needed repairs, repairs that I have not made. I am keeping the $3,000 for a down payment when I replace the sebring next fall (hopefully).

Just wondering, what are the $2000 in other repairs for. Around 130,000 miles is when most of my domestic vehicles started nickel and diming me to death just before some major issue (usually rust) finished them off.

stickguy · May 2019

At a dealer, doesn’t take much to get to 2 large. Brakes, maybe struts, a T belt and tune up. Adds up quick.

driver100 · May 2019

Somewhere, there is a myth that cars last 200k miles these days. Only the very top reliable cars do that...Toyota and Honda. The list falls fairly quickly after that if you remove trucks. If you can get 150000 miles from a regular car you have done very well, if you are at 136000 miles in a Sebring....you are pushing the envelope.

And those repair things would be interesting to know what they are.....if my car needed $2000 worth of repairs, I would be concerned for my and my loved ones as well as the publics safety. If you have an accident and you knowingly have a fault....like bad brakes, you could be liable.

The car should never have got to the point of needing $2000 worth of repairs, if you fix things as they occur, you shouldn't get hit with a big whopper of a bill.

snakeweasel · May 2019

cdnpinhead said:

Yeah, and on most others as well -- seems everyone is a payment buyer. Keeps the economy running, I guess.

Everyone is a payment buyer the question becomes how many payments.

snakeweasel · May 2019

driver100 said:

Driver never said it was saving him hundreds of dollars a month. That was a poorly formatted quote from snake talking about his Sebring.
Yes that was me responding to someone telling me I should have traded in a year ago. The savings being that I do not have the car payment that I would have had if I dumped the car a year ago.
....and I said you wouldn't have a $3000 repair bill if you traded in the Sebring a year ago! Gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them. That $3000 could have gone into a newer car.
But I didn't spend $3,000, that $3,000 would make all the needed repairs, repairs that I have not made. I am keeping the $3,000 for a down payment when I replace the sebring next fall (hopefully).
Either way....the car is worth a lot less because someone will have to do the repairs. The Sebring at 136000 miles is past its expiry date. Mechanic says if he fixes it it will be good to 150000 miles.....will he guaranty that! So now, you are driving in a possibly unsafe car.....or a car that isn't really roadworthy ($2000 sounds like a fair amount of repairs) in order to squeeze every last penny out of it. Personally, I think you had a good run if you take what you paid for it and what you got out of it.....and start looking.

Sorry but the car is not worth a lot less. Since it is nearly depreciated out it is worth slightly less due to the repairs needed. The difference between what Kelly Blue Book says the trade in value is and what the local scrap yard says they will give me for it is only around $600. So I am not going to lose a lot of money due to the needed repairs. As a matter of fact I would lose more money fixing it up and the selling it as a private party sale.

This is not a 3 year old car with 35k miles on it.

The mechanic didn't say if he fixes it, he said in the condition it is currently in it should make 150k miles.

$2000 isn't really a lot in repairs especially at dealer prices, my indie mechanic says it would be around 1,600 to 1,700. Both the dealership and my indie mechanic stated that the car is safe.

fintail · May 2019

The "status" is the price, right? These aren't as expensive relative to other cars as they were in the past, and they are also a lot more common. BMW or MB sales in 1983 compared to today must be staggering.

qbrozen said:

Not sure what you mean. The fact that my payment for a really well equipped AWD sport sedan that gets to 60 in about 5.5 secs is less than most people pay for a 4-cyl FWD family sedan definitely makes me ooh and aah.

stickguy · May 2019

Any car today can do 200,000 miles. Depends on how fast you put them on (and highway vs city), driving conditions, and maintenance. Not guaranteed, and you may run into an expensive repair like a tranny that’s not work fixing. But if I had a long highway commute, I would not worry about going for 200k on a Malibu for example.

snakeweasel · May 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

Driver never said it was saving him hundreds of dollars a month. That was a poorly formatted quote from snake talking about his Sebring.
Yes that was me responding to someone telling me I should have traded in a year ago. The savings being that I do not have the car payment that I would have had if I dumped the car a year ago.
....and I said you wouldn't have a $3000 repair bill if you traded in the Sebring a year ago! Gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them. That $3000 could have gone into a newer car.
But I didn't spend $3,000, that $3,000 would make all the needed repairs, repairs that I have not made. I am keeping the $3,000 for a down payment when I replace the sebring next fall (hopefully).
Just wondering, what are the $2000 in other repairs for. Around 130,000 miles is when most of my domestic vehicles started nickel and diming me to death just before some major issue (usually rust) finished them off.

yeah it's nickel and dime stuff. The A/C compressor needs replacing, there is an oil leak but not enough to require adding oil between changes. Little crap like that.

fintail · May 2019

Maybe that's for the latest cars, and not cars of the typical age of 200K miles? 200K miles at 50K freeway miles a year might be better than 200K at 8K city miles a year, less age and wear and tear.

A friend of mine bought a new 03 Accord V6. Those were the transmissions o'glass years, and his went around 60K, replaced under warranty. It was fine from then and had no further powertrain issues. He miled it up to around 150K by 2012 and then dumped it - it had a huge host of electrical problems and was nickel and diming him.

My old car could eat 2K in the blink of an eye, but at well over 50 years old, that's how it goes.

driver100 said:
Somewhere, there is a myth that cars last 200k miles these days. Only the very top reliable cars do that...Toyota and Honda. The list falls fairly quickly after that if you remove trucks. If you can get 150000 miles from a regular car you have done very well, if you are at 136000 miles in a Sebring....you are pushing the envelope.

And those repair things would be interesting to know what they are.....if my car needed $2000 worth of repairs, I would be concerned for my and my loved ones as well as the publics safety. If you have an accident and you knowingly have a fault....like bad brakes, you could be liable.

The car should never have got to the point of needing $2000 worth of repairs, if you fix things as they occur, you shouldn't get hit with a big whopper of a bill.

snakeweasel · May 2019

stickguy said:

At a dealer, doesn’t take much to get to 2 large. Brakes, maybe struts, a T belt and tune up. Adds up quick.

Tell me about it. My wife broke her side mirror and the cheapest estimate was $300 to replace it. I got the part for like $35 and replaced it in 5 minutes. The HVAC blower on her car also went out and she got a quote of over $500 to repair. I did it with a little over $100 in parts and did it in under 10 minutes.

imidazol97 · May 2019

fintail said:

A friend of mine bought a new 03 Accord V6. Those were the transmissions o'glass years, and his went around 60K, replaced under warranty. It was fine from then and had no further powertrain issues. He miled it up to around 150K by 2012 and then dumped it - it had a huge host of electrical problems and was nickel and diming him.

Interesting. I looked at those when I was shopping for my car in 02. The sample I drove popped when twisted going down the apron from the dealer lot to the street. It drove like the tires were overinflated to 50 psi. I had lots of road noise. My intuition told me it wasn't comparable to the leSabre I was considering.

driver100 · May 2019

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

ab348 said:
Driver never said it was saving him hundreds of dollars a month. That was a poorly formatted quote from snake talking about his Sebring.
Yes that was me responding to someone telling me I should have traded in a year ago. The savings being that I do not have the car payment that I would have had if I dumped the car a year ago.
....and I said you wouldn't have a $3000 repair bill if you traded in the Sebring a year ago! Gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them. That $3000 could have gone into a newer car.
But I didn't spend $3,000, that $3,000 would make all the needed repairs, repairs that I have not made. I am keeping the $3,000 for a down payment when I replace the sebring next fall (hopefully).
Either way....the car is worth a lot less because someone will have to do the repairs. The Sebring at 136000 miles is past its expiry date. Mechanic says if he fixes it it will be good to 150000 miles.....will he guaranty that! So now, you are driving in a possibly unsafe car.....or a car that isn't really roadworthy ($2000 sounds like a fair amount of repairs) in order to squeeze every last penny out of it. Personally, I think you had a good run if you take what you paid for it and what you got out of it.....and start looking.

Sorry but the car is not worth a lot less. Since it is nearly depreciated out it is worth slightly less due to the repairs needed. The difference between what Kelly Blue Book says the trade in value is and what the local scrap yard says they will give me for it is only around $600. So I am not going to lose a lot of money due to the needed repairs. As a matter of fact I would lose more money fixing it up and the selling it as a private party sale.

This is not a 3 year old car with 35k miles on it.

The mechanic didn't say if he fixes it, he said in the condition it is currently in it should make 150k miles.

$2000 isn't really a lot in repairs especially at dealer prices, my indie mechanic says it would be around 1,600 to 1,700. Both the dealership and my indie mechanic stated that the car is safe

.

So what are the repairs needed....and why mention them on a car with 136k if they aren't worth fixing and if the car is running fine anyway.

Also, when did you buy the car, how many miles were on it when you bought it, and how much did you pay?

cdnpinhead · May 2019

snakeweasel said:
Everyone is a payment buyer the question becomes how many payments.

Good point. I prefer one.

driver100 · May 2019

fintail said:
Maybe that's for the latest cars, and not cars of the typical age of 200K miles? 200K miles at 50K freeway miles a year might be better than 200K at 8K city miles a year, less age and wear and tear.

A friend of mine bought a new 03 Accord V6. Those were the transmissions o'glass years, and his went around 60K, replaced under warranty. It was fine from then and had no further powertrain issues. He miled it up to around 150K by 2012 and then dumped it - it had a huge host of electrical problems and was nickel and diming him.

My old car could eat 2K in the blink of an eye, but at well over 50 years old, that's how it goes.

driver100 said:
Somewhere, there is a myth that cars last 200k miles these days. Only the very top reliable cars do that...Toyota and Honda. The list falls fairly quickly after that if you remove trucks. If you can get 150000 miles from a regular car you have done very well, if you are at 136000 miles in a Sebring....you are pushing the envelope.

And those repair things would be interesting to know what they are.....if my car needed $2000 worth of repairs, I would be concerned for my and my loved ones as well as the publics safety. If you have an accident and you knowingly have a fault....like bad brakes, you could be liable.

The car should never have got to the point of needing $2000 worth of repairs, if you fix things as they occur, you shouldn't get hit with a big whopper of a bill.

....and that is a top rated car for reliability! I doubt very many cars actually make it past 150000 miles...and that is merely an opinion - though partly based on that chart I showed the other day.

ab348 · May 2019

Man, I wonder if TPTB would prefer healthcare discussions to this one.

fintail · May 2019

I think a lot of cars soldier on to 150-200K - 200K might be the barrier. And by then, many are pretty rough with numerous technical and cosmetic problems.

driver100 said:

....and that is a top rated car for reliability! I doubt very many cars actually make it past 150000 miles...and that is merely an opinion - though partly based on that chart I showed the other day.

oldfarmer50 · May 2019

driver100 said:
Somewhere, there is a myth that cars last 200k miles these days. Only the very top reliable cars do that...Toyota and Honda. The list falls fairly quickly after that if you remove trucks. If you can get 150000 miles from a regular car you have done very well, if you are at 136000 miles in a Sebring....you are pushing the envelope.

And those repair things would be interesting to know what they are.....if my car needed $2000 worth of repairs, I would be concerned for my and my loved ones as well as the publics safety. If you have an accident and you knowingly have a fault....like bad brakes, you could be liable.

The car should never have got to the point of needing $2000 worth of repairs, if you fix things as they occur, you shouldn't get hit with a big whopper of a bill.

$2000 is a brake job on some cars.

fintail · May 2019

I think the 4cyl models were fine, but that era V6 had awful transmissions. I think Honda paint quality was also iffy then. The LeSabre would have been a much smoother ride, as intended.

My uncle had a 98 or 99 (I forget) LeSabre he bought as a late model used car, and miled it up to maybe 160K or so, can't recall. I helped him sell it on CL. It was pretty reliable, but did suffer from the dexcool manifold gasket issue. He had it fixed and continued to drive it. It sold to the first looker in a couple days. He was fond of the car, but my grandma gave him a very low mileage Vulcan Taurus, so he moved to the newer lower mileage car.

imidazol97 said:

Interesting. I looked at those when I was shopping for my car in 02. The sample I drove popped when twisted going down the apron from the dealer lot to the street. It drove like the tires were overinflated to 50 psi. I had lots of road noise. My intuition told me it wasn't comparable to the leSabre I was considering.

oldfarmer50 · May 2019

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

ab348 said:
Driver never said it was saving him hundreds of dollars a month. That was a poorly formatted quote from snake talking about his Sebring.
Yes that was me responding to someone telling me I should have traded in a year ago. The savings being that I do not have the car payment that I would have had if I dumped the car a year ago.
....and I said you wouldn't have a $3000 repair bill if you traded in the Sebring a year ago! Gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them. That $3000 could have gone into a newer car.
But I didn't spend $3,000, that $3,000 would make all the needed repairs, repairs that I have not made. I am keeping the $3,000 for a down payment when I replace the sebring next fall (hopefully).
Either way....the car is worth a lot less because someone will have to do the repairs. The Sebring at 136000 miles is past its expiry date. Mechanic says if he fixes it it will be good to 150000 miles.....will he guaranty that! So now, you are driving in a possibly unsafe car.....or a car that isn't really roadworthy ($2000 sounds like a fair amount of repairs) in order to squeeze every last penny out of it. Personally, I think you had a good run if you take what you paid for it and what you got out of it.....and start looking.

Sorry but the car is not worth a lot less. Since it is nearly depreciated out it is worth slightly less due to the repairs needed. The difference between what Kelly Blue Book says the trade in value is and what the local scrap yard says they will give me for it is only around $600. So I am not going to lose a lot of money due to the needed repairs. As a matter of fact I would lose more money fixing it up and the selling it as a private party sale.

This is not a 3 year old car with 35k miles on it.

The mechanic didn't say if he fixes it, he said in the condition it is currently in it should make 150k miles.

$2000 isn't really a lot in repairs especially at dealer prices, my indie mechanic says it would be around 1,600 to 1,700. Both the dealership and my indie mechanic stated that the car is safe
.

So what are the repairs needed....and why mention them on a car with 136k if they aren't worth fixing and if the car is running fine anyway.

Also, when did you buy the car, how many miles were on it when you bought it, and how much did you pay?

I believe he bought it 1 or 2 years used from a rental company for $15k with under 20k miles.

You seem cranky since you got back home. Are you missing the warm weather?

jmonroe1 · May 2019

abacomike said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:
at this point, my kids will be supporting me, not the other way around.
Can they support me too? They seem generous.

I could use a little support myself!

Sorry Mike, you don't need "support", you need HELP. Think grocery store shopping.

jmonroe

snakeweasel · May 2019

driver100 said:

driver100 said:

Driver never said it was saving him hundreds of dollars a month. That was a poorly formatted quote from snake talking about his Sebring.
Yes that was me responding to someone telling me I should have traded in a year ago. The savings being that I do not have the car payment that I would have had if I dumped the car a year ago.
....and I said you wouldn't have a $3000 repair bill if you traded in the Sebring a year ago! Gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them. That $3000 could have gone into a newer car.
But I didn't spend $3,000, that $3,000 would make all the needed repairs, repairs that I have not made. I am keeping the $3,000 for a down payment when I replace the sebring next fall (hopefully).
Either way....the car is worth a lot less because someone will have to do the repairs. The Sebring at 136000 miles is past its expiry date. Mechanic says if he fixes it it will be good to 150000 miles.....will he guaranty that! So now, you are driving in a possibly unsafe car.....or a car that isn't really roadworthy ($2000 sounds like a fair amount of repairs) in order to squeeze every last penny out of it. Personally, I think you had a good run if you take what you paid for it and what you got out of it.....and start looking.

Sorry but the car is not worth a lot less. Since it is nearly depreciated out it is worth slightly less due to the repairs needed. The difference between what Kelly Blue Book says the trade in value is and what the local scrap yard says they will give me for it is only around $600. So I am not going to lose a lot of money due to the needed repairs. As a matter of fact I would lose more money fixing it up and the selling it as a private party sale.

This is not a 3 year old car with 35k miles on it.

The mechanic didn't say if he fixes it, he said in the condition it is currently in it should make 150k miles.

$2000 isn't really a lot in repairs especially at dealer prices, my indie mechanic says it would be around 1,600 to 1,700. Both the dealership and my indie mechanic stated that the car is safe
.
So what are the repairs needed....and why mention them on a car with 136k if they aren't worth fixing and if the car is running fine anyway. Also, when did you buy the car, how many miles were on it when you bought it, and how much did you pay?

I mentioned in a previous post today an example of repairs. A good mechanic will look over a car and tell you what needs repair.

I bought the car in March of 2009 so I have had the car just over 10 years. It had between 18k and 19k on the odometer so i drove it just over 117k miles in that time.

When I purchased it my research showed that the price from a dealer should be $18 to $19k, it had an original sticker price just north of $30k. The dealer had a sticker on it for just over $18k but listed it on their website at $15k so we paid $15k.

driver100 · May 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:
Somewhere, there is a myth that cars last 200k miles these days. Only the very top reliable cars do that...Toyota and Honda. The list falls fairly quickly after that if you remove trucks. If you can get 150000 miles from a regular car you have done very well, if you are at 136000 miles in a Sebring....you are pushing the envelope.

And those repair things would be interesting to know what they are.....if my car needed $2000 worth of repairs, I would be concerned for my and my loved ones as well as the publics safety. If you have an accident and you knowingly have a fault....like bad brakes, you could be liable.

The car should never have got to the point of needing $2000 worth of repairs, if you fix things as they occur, you shouldn't get hit with a big whopper of a bill.
$2000 is a brake job on some cars.

all the more reason to dump a car approaching 150k miles....brake job is worth more than the car!

snakeweasel · May 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

Driver never said it was saving him hundreds of dollars a month. That was a poorly formatted quote from snake talking about his Sebring.
Yes that was me responding to someone telling me I should have traded in a year ago. The savings being that I do not have the car payment that I would have had if I dumped the car a year ago.
....and I said you wouldn't have a $3000 repair bill if you traded in the Sebring a year ago! Gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them. That $3000 could have gone into a newer car.
But I didn't spend $3,000, that $3,000 would make all the needed repairs, repairs that I have not made. I am keeping the $3,000 for a down payment when I replace the sebring next fall (hopefully).
Either way....the car is worth a lot less because someone will have to do the repairs. The Sebring at 136000 miles is past its expiry date. Mechanic says if he fixes it it will be good to 150000 miles.....will he guaranty that! So now, you are driving in a possibly unsafe car.....or a car that isn't really roadworthy ($2000 sounds like a fair amount of repairs) in order to squeeze every last penny out of it. Personally, I think you had a good run if you take what you paid for it and what you got out of it.....and start looking.

Sorry but the car is not worth a lot less. Since it is nearly depreciated out it is worth slightly less due to the repairs needed. The difference between what Kelly Blue Book says the trade in value is and what the local scrap yard says they will give me for it is only around $600. So I am not going to lose a lot of money due to the needed repairs. As a matter of fact I would lose more money fixing it up and the selling it as a private party sale.

This is not a 3 year old car with 35k miles on it.

The mechanic didn't say if he fixes it, he said in the condition it is currently in it should make 150k miles.

$2000 isn't really a lot in repairs especially at dealer prices, my indie mechanic says it would be around 1,600 to 1,700. Both the dealership and my indie mechanic stated that the car is safe
.
So what are the repairs needed....and why mention them on a car with 136k if they aren't worth fixing and if the car is running fine anyway. Also, when did you buy the car, how many miles were on it when you bought it, and how much did you pay?
I believe he bought it 1 or 2 years used from a rental company for $15k with under 20k miles. You seem cranky since you got back home. Are you missing the warm weather?

Good memory Farmer of Old. However I bought it from a dealership. They had the original sticker from the factory with it that stated the shipping destination was to a rental company in lost wages, that's how I know it's a former rental.

driver100 · May 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

ab348 said:
Driver never said it was saving him hundreds of dollars a month. That was a poorly formatted quote from snake talking about his Sebring.
Yes that was me responding to someone telling me I should have traded in a year ago. The savings being that I do not have the car payment that I would have had if I dumped the car a year ago.
....and I said you wouldn't have a $3000 repair bill if you traded in the Sebring a year ago! Gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them. That $3000 could have gone into a newer car.
But I didn't spend $3,000, that $3,000 would make all the needed repairs, repairs that I have not made. I am keeping the $3,000 for a down payment when I replace the sebring next fall (hopefully).
Either way....the car is worth a lot less because someone will have to do the repairs. The Sebring at 136000 miles is past its expiry date. Mechanic says if he fixes it it will be good to 150000 miles.....will he guaranty that! So now, you are driving in a possibly unsafe car.....or a car that isn't really roadworthy ($2000 sounds like a fair amount of repairs) in order to squeeze every last penny out of it. Personally, I think you had a good run if you take what you paid for it and what you got out of it.....and start looking.

Sorry but the car is not worth a lot less. Since it is nearly depreciated out it is worth slightly less due to the repairs needed. The difference between what Kelly Blue Book says the trade in value is and what the local scrap yard says they will give me for it is only around $600. So I am not going to lose a lot of money due to the needed repairs. As a matter of fact I would lose more money fixing it up and the selling it as a private party sale.

This is not a 3 year old car with 35k miles on it.

The mechanic didn't say if he fixes it, he said in the condition it is currently in it should make 150k miles.

$2000 isn't really a lot in repairs especially at dealer prices, my indie mechanic says it would be around 1,600 to 1,700. Both the dealership and my indie mechanic stated that the car is safe
.
So what are the repairs needed....and why mention them on a car with 136k if they aren't worth fixing and if the car is running fine anyway.

Also, when did you buy the car, how many miles were on it when you bought it, and how much did you pay?

I believe he bought it 1 or 2 years used from a rental company for $15k with under 20k miles.

You seem cranky since you got back home. Are you missing the warm weather?

This has been a miserable April here, last year I played outdoor tennis about 15 times, this year once and I froze....also the ball was as hard as a hockey puck.

That may be partly to blame, but I am more cranky about being misquoted and taken out of context - not necessarily by snake btw. I think Snake may have come out about the same, buying a new more reliable car, keeping it for the same time, and trading it in a bit earlier while it was still worth something.

We'll never know, too much to compare.....but, I think it would be close, within a few hundred a month.

oldfarmer50 · May 2019

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

ab348 said:
Driver never said it was saving him hundreds of dollars a month. That was a poorly formatted quote from snake talking about his Sebring.
Yes that was me responding to someone telling me I should have traded in a year ago. The savings being that I do not have the car payment that I would have had if I dumped the car a year ago.
....and I said you wouldn't have a $3000 repair bill if you traded in the Sebring a year ago! Gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them. That $3000 could have gone into a newer car.
But I didn't spend $3,000, that $3,000 would make all the needed repairs, repairs that I have not made. I am keeping the $3,000 for a down payment when I replace the sebring next fall (hopefully).
Either way....the car is worth a lot less because someone will have to do the repairs. The Sebring at 136000 miles is past its expiry date. Mechanic says if he fixes it it will be good to 150000 miles.....will he guaranty that! So now, you are driving in a possibly unsafe car.....or a car that isn't really roadworthy ($2000 sounds like a fair amount of repairs) in order to squeeze every last penny out of it. Personally, I think you had a good run if you take what you paid for it and what you got out of it.....and start looking.

Sorry but the car is not worth a lot less. Since it is nearly depreciated out it is worth slightly less due to the repairs needed. The difference between what Kelly Blue Book says the trade in value is and what the local scrap yard says they will give me for it is only around $600. So I am not going to lose a lot of money due to the needed repairs. As a matter of fact I would lose more money fixing it up and the selling it as a private party sale.

This is not a 3 year old car with 35k miles on it.

The mechanic didn't say if he fixes it, he said in the condition it is currently in it should make 150k miles.

$2000 isn't really a lot in repairs especially at dealer prices, my indie mechanic says it would be around 1,600 to 1,700. Both the dealership and my indie mechanic stated that the car is safe
.
So what are the repairs needed....and why mention them on a car with 136k if they aren't worth fixing and if the car is running fine anyway.

Also, when did you buy the car, how many miles were on it when you bought it, and how much did you pay?

I mentioned in a previous post today an example of repairs. A good mechanic will look over a car and tell you what needs repair.

I bought the car in March of 2009 so I have had the car just over 10 years. It had between 18k and 19k on the odometer so i drove it just over 117k miles in that time.

When I purchased it my research showed that the price from a dealer should be $18 to $19k, it had an original sticker price just north of $30k. The dealer had a sticker on it for just over $18k but listed it on their website at $15k so we paid $15k.

According to the hooptie method of car valuation which states that you need to get 10k of use for every thousand you pay, you still need to put 33k more miles on it to get your money’s worth. So skip the AC compressor, fix the top and put it down for cooling. Drive it until the wheels fall off.

Of course the hooptie calculation breaks down when you buy a non hooptie or new car. By that method I’d need to get 310,000 miles out of the Mustang.

houdini2 · May 2019

The truth is that every car on the road is a money pit. They are not investments. You can drive a car, new or used, for several years and spend nothing on maintenance and still lose your shirt. On some you just lose less/more money than on others. We buy them because we like them. New, shiny, smell good, and they are fun.

jmonroe1 · May 2019

Just in case anyone is interested:

Carvana now has Mrs. j's 2012 Subie Legacy on their web site and it's already shown as "Purchase Pending". I checked last week and it was not shown yet. Carvana gave me $12,751 for it and it's listed at $16,000 even (Silver with 36,239 miles). Those of you that passed up the sale with me lost out again.

https://www.carvana.com/cars/subaru-legacy-sedan/3-6r-limited

jmonroe

ruking1 · May 2019

houdini2 said:
The truth is that every car on the road is a money pit. They are not investments. You can drive a car, new or used, for several years and spend nothing on maintenance and still lose your shirt. On some you just lose less/more money than on others. We buy them because we like them. New, shiny, smell good, and they are fun.

The real question is how to keep operating costs as low as possible. Another is to keep the amount of depreciation (CPMD: depreciation) as low as possible. There are VERY few used cars that sell for more than the new car purchase price. Anybody that thinks the car is an investment has either been lied to or doesn’t know what an investment is.

Having said that, I’ve sold back (to the OEM) two used cars that paid me slightly more that what I paid (new), with mileage on it (app 190,000 miles). So in fact, I got paid to put mileage on them. One can make cars a business but those are paths’ most normal folks do not go down.

houdini2 · May 2019

ruking1 said:

houdini2 said:
The truth is that every car on the road is a money pit. They are not investments. You can drive a car, new or used, for several years and spend nothing on maintenance and still lose your shirt. On some you just lose less/more money than on others. We buy them because we like them. New, shiny, smell good, and they are fun.
The real question is how to keep operating costs as low as possible. Another is to keep the amount of depreciation (CPMD: depreciation) as low as possible. There are VERY few new cars that sell for more than the purchase price. Anybody that thinks the car is an investment has either been lied to or doesn’t know what an investment is.

Having said that, I’ve sold back (to the OEM) two cars that paid me slightly more that what I paid (new) with mileage on it (app 190,000 miles). So in fact, I got paid to put mileage on them. One can make cars a business but those are paths’ most normal folks do not go down.

VW diesel buybacks?

ruking1 · May 2019

jmonroe1 said:
Just in case anyone is interested:

Carvana now has Mrs. j's 2012 Subie Legacy on their web site and it's already shown as "Purchase Pending". I checked last week and it was not shown yet. Carvana gave me $12,751 for it and it's listed at $16,000 even (Silver with 36,239 miles). Those of you that passed up the sale with me lost out again.

https://www.carvana.com/cars/subaru-legacy-sedan/3-6r-limited

jmonroe

The answers are yes & no. ANY business has to make monies!? So IF the sale pending is at list price, Carvana stands to make $3,249 minus- expenses (unknown, but similar to other car dealers’ expenses). Given WAY thinner margins on NEW cars, this used car % PROFIT is literally HUGE!

ruking1 · May 2019

houdini2 said:

ruking1 said:

houdini2 said:
The truth is that every car on the road is a money pit. They are not investments. You can drive a car, new or used, for several years and spend nothing on maintenance and still lose your shirt. On some you just lose less/more money than on others. We buy them because we like them. New, shiny, smell good, and they are fun.
The real question is how to keep operating costs as low as possible. Another is to keep the amount of depreciation (CPMD: depreciation) as low as possible. There are VERY few new cars that sell for more than the purchase price. Anybody that thinks the car is an investment has either been lied to or doesn’t know what an investment is.

Having said that, I’ve sold back (to the OEM) two cars that paid me slightly more that what I paid (new) with mileage on it (app 190,000 miles). So in fact, I got paid to put mileage on them. One can make cars a business but those are paths’ most normal folks do not go down.
VW diesel buybacks?

Guilty.👍 The VW Touareg TDI was, is remains one of the best midsize CUV’s. The platform was cleared for take off in early 2000/2001. It also served as one of the strongest (SALES) work horses that Porsche ever had, even as it was totally vilified by Porsche purists. The sales of the Porsche Cayenne literally saved the Porsche company.

snakeweasel · May 2019

ruking1 said:

Anybody that thinks the car is an investment has either been lied to or doesn’t know what an investment is.

An investment is property acquired in order to gain a future income or benefit.

An investment does not have to provide an income or greater monetary value, it can provide a benefit. A company buys a computer system that computer system is an investment even though they will never be able to sell it for more money down the line. It is an investment because the company will benefit from it by being more efficient.

The same ca be said of car ownership. It is an investment simply because it provides you with a benefit. Investing in a car gives many people the benefit of having wider employment opportunities resulting in larger paychecks. It also reduces the costs, both in time and money, of acquiring lifes necessities such as food, clothing and health care as you would not have to rely on others like Uber and taxis to get around.

People who dont live in densely populated cities with good public transportation would have a seriously reduced standard of living if they didn't have a car. Think about how much you use your car and think about how much Uber would cost doing it.

Yes cars are investments for most people as the cost to be without one can be much higher than having a car. Just that some are better investments.

Mr_Shiftright · May 2019

My car makes me money. It's a tool in my toolbox that I enjoy using as well. It's a good investment.

Motorcycle? Not so much.

That goes into the "toy" category.

ruking1 · May 2019

snakeweasel said:

ruking1 said:

Anybody that thinks the car is an investment has either been lied to or doesn’t know what an investment is.

An investment is property acquired in order to gain a future income or benefit.

An investment does not have to provide an income or greater monetary value, it can provide a benefit. A company buys a computer system that computer system is an investment even though they will never be able to sell it for more money down the line. It is an investment because the company will benefit from it by being more efficient.

The same ca be said of car ownership. It is an investment simply because it provides you with a benefit. Investing in a car gives many people the benefit of having wider employment opportunities resulting in larger paychecks. It also reduces the costs, both in time and money, of acquiring lifes necessities such as food, clothing and health care as you would not have to rely on others like Uber and taxis to get around.

People who dont live in densely populated cities with good public transportation would have a seriously reduced standard of living if they didn't have a car. Think about how much you use your car and think about how much Uber would cost doing it.

Yes cars are investments for most people as the cost to be without one can be much higher than having a car. Just that some are better investments.

I wish what you are saying were implemented as true. But no change to what I have written. But then, on the other hand, maybe I’ve been using the wrong CPA’s & tax & otherwise lawyers.👀

A (depreciating) asset like a CAR is booked as such, a depreciating asset. What % # (bought new) cars have CPA’s booked as APPRECIATING? In addition, the costs associated with cars are EXPENSES. So IF it is being said 100% to less % of a business income depends on cars, a business should get IRS tax credits for every car. They don’t. But we do know that.

As a non business, one would have a hell of a lot more monies to NOT having to buy & feed $$’s into a/any car. Indeed, a non business can’t normally even deduct auto expenses. The IRS would happily haul the CPA & the client into audit, if they tried to deduct car commuting to work expenses, buying food, etc., being as how it’s an salary investment expense?

Now I’ve received a specific (clean something or other IRS title) IRS tax credit (specifically) for a 2009 VW Jetta TDI. There were some interesting times, first sign of the apocalypse😱😜, financial crash, 10.5 M per yr auto sales when 17.5 M per yr were more normal. The car was bought & later, subsequently IRS 179 rules were used/followed. It was a BAD (good car buying) year!?😇

oldfarmer50 · May 2019

jmonroe1 said:
Just in case anyone is interested:

Carvana now has Mrs. j's 2012 Subie Legacy on their web site and it's already shown as "Purchase Pending". I checked last week and it was not shown yet. Carvana gave me $12,751 for it and it's listed at $16,000 even (Silver with 36,239 miles). Those of you that passed up the sale with me lost out again.

https://www.carvana.com/cars/subaru-legacy-sedan/3-6r-limited

jmonroe

I offered you a thousand but you just had to be greedy. :@

houdini2 · May 2019

snakeweasel said:

ruking1 said:

Anybody that thinks the car is an investment has either been lied to or doesn’t know what an investment is.

An investment is property acquired in order to gain a future income or benefit.

An investment does not have to provide an income or greater monetary value, it can provide a benefit. A company buys a computer system that computer system is an investment even though they will never be able to sell it for more money down the line. It is an investment because the company will benefit from it by being more efficient.

The same ca be said of car ownership. It is an investment simply because it provides you with a benefit. Investing in a car gives many people the benefit of having wider employment opportunities resulting in larger paychecks. It also reduces the costs, both in time and money, of acquiring lifes necessities such as food, clothing and health care as you would not have to rely on others like Uber and taxis to get around.

People who dont live in densely populated cities with good public transportation would have a seriously reduced standard of living if they didn't have a car. Think about how much you use your car and think about how much Uber would cost doing it.

Yes cars are investments for most people as the cost to be without one can be much higher than having a car. Just that some are better investments.

snakeweasel said:

ruking1 said:

Anybody that thinks the car is an investment has either been lied to or doesn’t know what an investment is.

An investment is property acquired in order to gain a future income or benefit.

An investment does not have to provide an income or greater monetary value, it can provide a benefit. A company buys a computer system that computer system is an investment even though they will never be able to sell it for more money down the line. It is an investment because the company will benefit from it by being more efficient.

The same ca be said of car ownership. It is an investment simply because it provides you with a benefit. Investing in a car gives many people the benefit of having wider employment opportunities resulting in larger paychecks. It also reduces the costs, both in time and money, of acquiring lifes necessities such as food, clothing and health care as you would not have to rely on others like Uber and taxis to get around.

People who dont live in densely populated cities with good public transportation would have a seriously reduced standard of living if they didn't have a car. Think about how much you use your car and think about how much Uber would cost doing it.

Yes cars are investments for most people as the cost to be without one can be much higher than having a car. Just that some are better investments.

snakeweasel said:

ruking1 said:

Anybody that thinks the car is an investment has either been lied to or doesn’t know what an investment is.

An investment is property acquired in order to gain a future income or benefit.

An investment does not have to provide an income or greater monetary value, it can provide a benefit. A company buys a computer system that computer system is an investment even though they will never be able to sell it for more money down the line. It is an investment because the company will benefit from it by being more efficient.

The same ca be said of car ownership. It is an investment simply because it provides you with a benefit. Investing in a car gives many people the benefit of having wider employment opportunities resulting in larger paychecks. It also reduces the costs, both in time and money, of acquiring lifes necessities such as food, clothing and health care as you would not have to rely on others like Uber and taxis to get around.

People who dont live in densely populated cities with good public transportation would have a seriously reduced standard of living if they didn't have a car. Think about how much you use your car and think about how much Uber would cost doing it.

Yes cars are investments for most people as the cost to be without one can be much higher than having a car. Just that some are better investments.

Well sure, having a car is a benefit, so is being able to walk, talk, and breathe, but I see a successful investment as something that is putting hard cash in your bank account on a regular basis or appreciating in value over the years. Owning a personal auto not used for business may fit your definition of an investment, but it doesn't fit mine.

henryn · May 2019

fintail said:
I
My uncle had a 98 or 99 (I forget) LeSabre he bought as a late model used car, and miled it up to maybe 160K or so, can't recall. I helped him sell it on CL. It was pretty reliable, but did suffer from the dexcool manifold gasket issue. He had it fixed and continued to drive it. It sold to the first looker in a couple days. He was fond of the car, but my grandma gave him a very low mileage Vulcan Taurus, so he moved to the newer lower mileage car.

I had a good friend who owned a 2004 LeSabre. She bought it 3 or 4 years old, from CarMax, with about 50k miles. Kept it for about 10 years (until 2017), and ran it up to over 160k miles. I did the one and only tuneup, and replaced the manifold gasket. An indie shop replaced the air shocks in the rear, and the front struts. That was pretty much the only work ever done on it, outside of brakes and tires.

That was a very nice road trip car, a very smooth interstate cruiser.

jmonroe1 · May 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe1 said:
Just in case anyone is interested:

Carvana now has Mrs. j's 2012 Subie Legacy on their web site and it's already shown as "Purchase Pending". I checked last week and it was not shown yet. Carvana gave me $12,751 for it and it's listed at $16,000 even (Silver with 36,239 miles). Those of you that passed up the sale with me lost out again.

https://www.carvana.com/cars/subaru-legacy-sedan/3-6r-limited

jmonroe
I offered you a thousand but you just had to be greedy. :@

Damn, my bad. I thought you only wanted to give me $100 for it. As a poster buddy you could have had it for a grand. I've never been good with math and zeros always confused me. I never could figure out if zeros were supposed to be added or subtracted.

jmonroe

ruking1 · May 2019

henryn said:

fintail said:
I
My uncle had a 98 or 99 (I forget) LeSabre he bought as a late model used car, and miled it up to maybe 160K or so, can't recall. I helped him sell it on CL. It was pretty reliable, but did suffer from the dexcool manifold gasket issue. He had it fixed and continued to drive it. It sold to the first looker in a couple days. He was fond of the car, but my grandma gave him a very low mileage Vulcan Taurus, so he moved to the newer lower mileage car.
I had a good friend who owned a 2004 LeSabre. She bought it 3 or 4 years old, from CarMax, with about 50k miles. Kept it for about 10 years (until 2017), and ran it up to over 160k miles. I did the one and only tuneup, and replaced the manifold gasket. An indie shop replaced the air shocks in the rear, and the front struts. That was pretty much the only work ever done on it, outside of brakes and tires.

That was a very nice road trip car, a very smooth interstate cruiser.

Buicks, in the past suffered from being WAY underrated. Buick’s are for VERY old people, etc,. Except for manifold gaskets (head bolt engineering by accountants, bean counters) Buick’s are very reliable & durable. I personally would stay away from air shocks. But I understand why changing struts in the process of changing to normal rear shocks from the air ones was done. It’s sort of a new suspension baseline

The one tune up performed is in keeping with what I posted: ANY vehicle should be able to go to it’s first major tune @ between 100,000 miles to 150,000 miles.

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