Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

henryn · June 2019

I could probably manage to get by with 380 horsepower. My 2.7L ecoboost produces 325, the 3.5L ecoboost has 375, and the normally aspirated 5.0L V8 ponies up 395 horsepower, so ...

And (trust me on this) you would get tired of that single cab configuration. Very tired.

nyccarguy · June 2019

fintail said:
I think a lot of trucks sell on the tacit pretense of "cool", and are then justified with a bi-annual trip to Home Depot/IKEA/the dump.

A few weeks ago I went to Home Depot to buy a few pieces of lumber, some 12 x 12 cement stones, 5 bags of mulch, & 4 gardening bricks. I used 3 bags of mulch.

Sunday morning my wife says to me: "What are you going to do with these other 2 bags of mulch?"

I answered her question with a question of my own: "What do YOU want me to do with these other 2 bags of mulch?"

She tells me to put them in the bed where the front corner of the house meets the driveway. I do as she says. "Looks great!"

Me: "But?"

"How many more bags of mulch do you think we'll need for the front of the house?"

"10 should do the trick."

She says: "Great! Go get them and you can pick up lunch while you are out."

I get to Home Depot. Grab 11 more 12 x 12 Cement Stones and then tell the cashier that I need 10 bags of Mulch (which are no longer on sale). I pre pay for the Mulch so I don't have to hump it through the store like I did the week before.

I pull up to the Mulch at the same time as another guy who happens to be driving a Tacoma. I ask him if he likes it. He loves it of course. They took a trip to Anyway, I help him load up 10 bags of mulch, then he helps me with my 10 bags. I told him I came very close to leasing one about a week ago. I said its probably a goood thing that I didnt' get it because instead of going to Home Depot for 10 bags of Mulch, I would have gone to a nurdery and gotten a mountain of mulch.

The difference. He was able to load up 10 bags of mulch in his bed along with a tree into the bed of his truck (along with the large cooler that was already there) plus drive away with his wife and 2 kids. I put the 10 bags of mulch plus 11 Cement Stones into my Pilot. I made sure to evenly distribute the weight with all the seats folded down. The pilot held the cargo. I could feel the extra weight, especially when I hit the brakes.

tjc78 · June 2019

That's not too much weight for the Pilot. I had a good bit of lumber and 25; 40lb top soil bags in the Enclave before and it was fine.

I did once overload my Mom's RAV with sod and soil. It was nearly dragging lol

fintail · June 2019

@nyccarguy - Prelude could have handled that no problem

xwesx · June 2019

kyfdx said:

fintail said:
I think a lot of trucks sell on the tacit pretense of "cool", and are then justified with a bi-annual trip to Home Depot/IKEA/the dump.
I don't think anyone ever bought a Lightning with the intention of hauling anything, but...

Well, I can think of ONE thing one might intend to haul with it..... starts with an A and has a pair of its neighboring letters (on the keyboard) following along.....

kyfdx · June 2019

I can put eight mounted tires in my 3-series coupe. If I leave the spare at home, nine.
(and, yes... still room for me)

xwesx · June 2019

I was able to squeeze my FLX bike into my Focus. I tell ya, that bike doesn't really look big until you try stuffing it into a tiny sedan.

stickguy · June 2019

I used to get a whole buncha bags of mulch in the Odyssey. And yes it was riding pretty low at the end.

now I have a crew of guys show up to do all the bed clean-up and mulching. Best $200 or so I spend every year.

corvette · June 2019

It appears that our CEO who had the aging (and ailing) A8 dumped it for an RS5 Sportback.

nyccarguy · June 2019

fintail said:
@nyccarguy - Prelude could have handled that no problem

I agree. If I had to, that's what I would have done. The Prelude has a surprising amount of interior space.

qbrozen · June 2019

Pretty sure I told this before, but I once had 7 bags of mulch in our Leaf. The Home Depot crowd was quite amused by my antics. Someone said I was going to break it. lol.

With the T&C, I loaded up nearly 1000 lbs of flagstones to build my firepit, which I distributed throughout the middle of the van. I was kind of surprised how much effect it had on how it felt. It was pretty squirrelly and slow to brake. I mean, load up with 6 big adults and you are in the same predicament. I've also towed about 2000 lbs and barely felt it.

corvette · June 2019

Can’t tell a difference with 10 bags of mulch in the Tahoe. Towing a 1,000 pound trailer, you can definitely feel.

henryn · June 2019

I don't recall ever doing much with mulch, I had to go look that up. Average dry weight is 20 lbs. So 10 bags of mulch == 200 pounds, one average size passenger. NBD.

Now the 1,000 lbs of flagstones in the T&C, yes, that would be a serious load. There are people on Craigslist who will pick that up, deliver, and stack neatly in your driveway for around $50 or $60. Much easier on your back, too.

When I was widening the driveway a few months back, I paid a guy $75 to pickup and deliver to my house 28 80 lb bags of concrete mix. I paid two guys $300 (total) to dig up the dirt, set the forms, put in the rebar, mix the concrete, pour, and finish. They did the job in less than 8 hours, and were quite happy to have made $150 each. I provided all the tools, materials, lunch, etc.

nyccarguy · June 2019

Mulch in thew bags is wet. Estimate about 40 lbs each.

henryn · June 2019

nyccarguy said:
Mulch in thew bags is wet. Estimate about 40 lbs each.

I'll take your word for it. I don't do flower beds. If I can't mow it, I don't have it. Advantage of being single these days.

Still, 10 bags at 40 lbs each, 400 lbs. Two or maybe 2.5 average passengers. NBD.

pensfan83 · June 2019

For HD runs, Lowe's runs, or trailering firewood for the house I use my dad's F-150, never used either of our cars for hauling of anything. He has the 3.5L Ecoboost and other than when I hauled 3 tons of river rock in the trailer, the impacts on ability to drive normally are limited.

On our way back from New York this past weekend I was passed by an Allroad hauling 2 jetskis. Not sure what they're rated to tow but that would seem to be at the upper limit.

nyccarguy · June 2019

henryn said:

nyccarguy said:
Mulch in thew bags is wet. Estimate about 40 lbs each.
I'll take your word for it. I don't do flower beds. If I can't mow it, I don't have it. Advantage of being single these days.

Still, 10 bags at 40 lbs each, 400 lbs. Two or maybe 2.5 average passengers. NBD.

AGREED. It shouldn't be. 400 lbs of Mulch and (11) 12x12 concrete patio stones at 17 lbs each (187 lbs) equals about 587 lbs. It isn't a lot at all. I'd say 1/2 of it was in front of the rear axle which is why I believe I "felt" it when hitting the brakes. My 12 year old and 10 year old weigh about 75 lbs each. my 7 year old daughter weighs maybe 50 lbs.

au1994 · June 2019

Way over capacity man. You really NEED a Tacoma for a load like that,

henryn · June 2019

au1994 said:
Way over capacity man. You really NEED a Tacoma for a load like that,

Enabler!

andres3 · June 2019

corvette said:

qbrozen said:

I just came across the paperwork for that yesterday. Still shocks me how much I made on that deal. Wish I had had the courage to buy more than one.
Ditto. At the time, I could've completely liquidated my taxable stock portfolio and bought a few with cash. I probably could've bought three more with a HELOC and then relied on conventional financing to buy one or two more. But, if the settlement blew up, it would've been a setback, and I could have only stored three or possibly four at my house.

There was a dealer a little over an hour away with a mediocre reputation that had four or five of the affected vehicles on the lot at fairly decent prices. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have made a blanket offer to buy all of them, delivered to my house. Cosmetic issues or non-disabling mechanical problems would not have affected the buyback amount.

Carrying costs in terms of full coverage insurance would have been annoying, I think I'm around $125 per month per car now (I regularly comparison shop and the pricing is about the same with other carriers).

I remember there was some "blowback" from VW for people that took advantage of the contract language and "stripped" the VW's, essentially having them buyback a steering wheel on 4 tires connected by a chassis with a running engine.

marcogallo1986 · June 2019

Don’t think I mentioned in here, went to meet with the college of health professions here I’m going to start the massage therapy program in September it’s two years so I’ll earn a bachelors degree when I’m done. And the best part no crazy writing papers and crazy math involved. I’ll be helping people and making a lot better future for myself.

marcogallo1986 · June 2019

Wow New York car guy, so using the pilot to haul all this stuff I hope not. I know I’m sure all of people about all the above commenters mentioned put things into things with their cars they’re not supposed to ha ha Ha. Maybe might be going this weekend to look with my aunt thinking to get another pilot just different color and what they had. My cousin sent me a link yesterday, it’s already at insurance auction. The one that got totaled by the insurance company two weeks ago, and only because the airbags went off on one side I think, might’ve been both sides, I have to ask him I can’t remember. But if they replace the rim the one room they can’t destroyed it was really no body damage that wasn’t fixable crazy.

andres3 · June 2019

28firefighter said:
So I found out today that even if I wanted to flip the X1, I can't. Due to the pending B-Pillar occupant restraint recall, all lease accounts are effectively frozen by BMWFS - one cannot buy their lease out, trade their vehicle to a dealer, transfer their lease, or ground the lease early to the dealer.

Seems crazy to me that they can tell you on one hand that the vehicle is safe to drive and then impose all those limitations.

I don't think they could stop you from buying it out provided the contract states buying it out is YOUR option to exercise without specific limitations/exceptions listed (I doubt recalls are listed as an exception).

28firefighter · June 2019

andres3 said:

28firefighter said:
So I found out today that even if I wanted to flip the X1, I can't. Due to the pending B-Pillar occupant restraint recall, all lease accounts are effectively frozen by BMWFS - one cannot buy their lease out, trade their vehicle to a dealer, transfer their lease, or ground the lease early to the dealer.

Seems crazy to me that they can tell you on one hand that the vehicle is safe to drive and then impose all those limitations.
I don't think they could stop you from buying it out provided the contract states buying it out is YOUR option to exercise without specific limitations/exceptions listed (I doubt recalls are listed as an exception).

Whether they should or not is a different story from what they're doing. My account is frozen and it cannot be purchased. My only option is apparently an early lease return at my expense.

marcogallo1986 · June 2019

Read the prior page New York cargo Judith user pilot gotcha, I guess every car react differently. We move it up like that.

marcogallo1986 · June 2019

lol zwest. Hi love your comment on the prior page gotcha on what the letters were saying on the keyboard ha ha Ha.

corvette · June 2019

andres3 said:

I just came across the paperwork for that yesterday. Still shocks me how much I made on that deal. Wish I had had the courage to buy more than one.
Ditto. At the time, I could've completely liquidated my taxable stock portfolio and bought a few with cash. I probably could've bought three more with a HELOC and then relied on conventional financing to buy one or two more. But, if the settlement blew up, it would've been a setback, and I could have only stored three or possibly four at my house. There was a dealer a little over an hour away with a mediocre reputation that had four or five of the affected vehicles on the lot at fairly decent prices. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have made a blanket offer to buy all of them, delivered to my house. Cosmetic issues or non-disabling mechanical problems would not have affected the buyback amount. Carrying costs in terms of full coverage insurance would have been annoying, I think I'm around $125 per month per car now (I regularly comparison shop and the pricing is about the same with other carriers).
I remember there was some "blowback" from VW for people that took advantage of the contract language and "stripped" the VW's, essentially having them buyback a steering wheel on 4 tires connected by a chassis with a running engine.

It wouldn’t have been anything like that, since I wasn’t deliberately stripping the cars. I think one or two had bad Carfaxes and some just didn’t look good, or like what I’d look for cosmetically if buying a car to keep for myself.

corvette · June 2019

Marco, congratulations on your school announcement! I know it’s exciting.

kyfdx · June 2019

28firefighter said:

andres3 said:

28firefighter said:
So I found out today that even if I wanted to flip the X1, I can't. Due to the pending B-Pillar occupant restraint recall, all lease accounts are effectively frozen by BMWFS - one cannot buy their lease out, trade their vehicle to a dealer, transfer their lease, or ground the lease early to the dealer.

Seems crazy to me that they can tell you on one hand that the vehicle is safe to drive and then impose all those limitations.
I don't think they could stop you from buying it out provided the contract states buying it out is YOUR option to exercise without specific limitations/exceptions listed (I doubt recalls are listed as an exception).
Whether they should or not is a different story from what they're doing. My account is frozen and it cannot be purchased. My only option is apparently an early lease return at my expense.

Or, take the lease to term?

corvette · June 2019

kyfdx said:

So I found out today that even if I wanted to flip the X1, I can't. Due to the pending B-Pillar occupant restraint recall, all lease accounts are effectively frozen by BMWFS - one cannot buy their lease out, trade their vehicle to a dealer, transfer their lease, or ground the lease early to the dealer. Seems crazy to me that they can tell you on one hand that the vehicle is safe to drive and then impose all those limitations.
I don't think they could stop you from buying it out provided the contract states buying it out is YOUR option to exercise without specific limitations/exceptions listed (I doubt recalls are listed as an exception).
Whether they should or not is a different story from what they're doing. My account is frozen and it cannot be purchased. My only option is apparently an early lease return at my expense.
Or, take the lease to term?

Surely you jest!

28firefighter · June 2019

kyfdx said:

So I found out today that even if I wanted to flip the X1, I can't. Due to the pending B-Pillar occupant restraint recall, all lease accounts are effectively frozen by BMWFS - one cannot buy their lease out, trade their vehicle to a dealer, transfer their lease, or ground the lease early to the dealer. Seems crazy to me that they can tell you on one hand that the vehicle is safe to drive and then impose all those limitations.
I don't think they could stop you from buying it out provided the contract states buying it out is YOUR option to exercise without specific limitations/exceptions listed (I doubt recalls are listed as an exception).
Whether they should or not is a different story from what they're doing. My account is frozen and it cannot be purchased. My only option is apparently an early lease return at my expense.
Or, take the lease to term?

Blasphemy. I’m also not convinced they’re being totally upfront about the safety risk.

We will be holding it to lease term. No reason not to at this point.

henryn · June 2019

corvette said:

andres3 said:

corvette said:

qbrozen said:

I just came across the paperwork for that yesterday. Still shocks me how much I made on that deal. Wish I had had the courage to buy more than one.
Ditto. At the time, I could've completely liquidated my taxable stock portfolio and bought a few with cash. I probably could've bought three more with a HELOC and then relied on conventional financing to buy one or two more. But, if the settlement blew up, it would've been a setback, and I could have only stored three or possibly four at my house.

There was a dealer a little over an hour away with a mediocre reputation that had four or five of the affected vehicles on the lot at fairly decent prices. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have made a blanket offer to buy all of them, delivered to my house. Cosmetic issues or non-disabling mechanical problems would not have affected the buyback amount.

Carrying costs in terms of full coverage insurance would have been annoying, I think I'm around $125 per month per car now (I regularly comparison shop and the pricing is about the same with other carriers).
I remember there was some "blowback" from VW for people that took advantage of the contract language and "stripped" the VW's, essentially having them buyback a steering wheel on 4 tires connected by a chassis with a running engine.

It wouldn’t have been anything like that, since I wasn’t deliberately stripping the cars. I think one or two had bad Carfaxes and some just didn’t look good, or like what I’d look for cosmetically if buying a car to keep for myself.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-= end quoted material =-=-=-=-=-=-=-

When I set out to buy a car to profit from the VW TDI buyback, I was not 100% sure this was all going to go down as advertised. Maybe 95% ? So I made sure that the one I purchased was solid, clean carfax, reasonable value. So that if I wound up having to sell it on the open market, I could hope to get MOST of my money back.

I really wish I had bought a second one, but ...

And I would not have tried stripping the car(s). Karma is real, if you start cheating, sooner or later it will catch up with you.

kyfdx · June 2019

henryn said:

corvette said:

andres3 said:

corvette said:

qbrozen said:

I just came across the paperwork for that yesterday. Still shocks me how much I made on that deal. Wish I had had the courage to buy more than one.
Ditto. At the time, I could've completely liquidated my taxable stock portfolio and bought a few with cash. I probably could've bought three more with a HELOC and then relied on conventional financing to buy one or two more. But, if the settlement blew up, it would've been a setback, and I could have only stored three or possibly four at my house.

There was a dealer a little over an hour away with a mediocre reputation that had four or five of the affected vehicles on the lot at fairly decent prices. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have made a blanket offer to buy all of them, delivered to my house. Cosmetic issues or non-disabling mechanical problems would not have affected the buyback amount.

Carrying costs in terms of full coverage insurance would have been annoying, I think I'm around $125 per month per car now (I regularly comparison shop and the pricing is about the same with other carriers).
I remember there was some "blowback" from VW for people that took advantage of the contract language and "stripped" the VW's, essentially having them buyback a steering wheel on 4 tires connected by a chassis with a running engine.

It wouldn’t have been anything like that, since I wasn’t deliberately stripping the cars. I think one or two had bad Carfaxes and some just didn’t look good, or like what I’d look for cosmetically if buying a car to keep for myself.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-= end quoted material =-=-=-=-=-=-=-

When I set out to buy a car to profit from the VW TDI buyback, I was not 100% sure this was all going to go down as advertised. Maybe 95% ? So I made sure that the one I purchased was solid, clean carfax, reasonable value. So that if I wound up having to sell it on the open market, I could hope to get MOST of my money back.

I really wish I had bought a second one, but ...

And I would not have tried stripping the car(s). Karma is real, if you start cheating, sooner or later it will catch up with you.

Exactly. I passed on a couple, because I couldn’t verify that the ownership history made them eligible. I was fairly sure it would work out. Two weeks after I bought mine, I became bolder, but by then, it was slim pickings.

mjfloyd1 · June 2019

My TDI had already been bought back by VW for a faulty turbo prior to me buying it. I called the buyback program to verify that it was still eligible for re-buyback prior to buying it.

I wish that that I had bought half a dozen of them but my wife said our driveway would look like a used car lot so I was outvoted by a vote tally of 1 to 1...awkward

ronsteve · June 2019

henryn said:

nyccarguy said:
51 months? 80 months? YOU should both be ashamed of yourselves!
Cars do last longer than when we were young. Well, when I was young, anyway. While there are a few on here older than myself (68), there are also many younger. And those younger ones probably don't remember when a car was considered completely used up by the 100k mark.

Earlier this year, I was giving serious consideration to paying $15k for a used Infiniti M37 with 105k miles. My younger self would have been totally dumbfounded at the thought that anyone would ever pay $15k for ANY car with over 100k miles. Things do change.

I'm 48 and started driving in the late '80s... In those days, the overwhelmingly American iron in the Great Lakes, if it wasn't a complete rustbucket by the time it got to 100K, the mechanicals weren't going to go much farther. That really colored my view for quite a few years, and while I no longer feel like I ALWAYS have to have a car payment budgeted ("if it's paid off it's old enough you'll be spending some bucks on age-related repairs") I also prefer not to still be paying on something that is showing 6 digits on the odometer! If I don't throw a little extra at the loan on the RDX, I'll be around 110K when I pay it off. And the Jetta may or may not hit 110K by that time (it's already paid off). May need to be a coin flip for who gets the new ride, but who am I kidding? The wife always wins...

The Jetta has seen 71K in 69 months, but miles are going on more slowly since I got the RDX, closer to 9K a year. The RDX will hit 50K this week, just over 10K of it in the 8 months I have had it. After 181K in 138 months with the Volvo, my CCB cred is pretty weak.

fintail · June 2019

Start parking it under weak looking trees, etc (hint hint).

28firefighter said:

Whether they should or not is a different story from what they're doing. My account is frozen and it cannot be purchased. My only option is apparently an early lease return at my expense.

marcogallo1986 · June 2019

Thank you for rent yes very exciting, took a number of months old research here in there and what’s really realistic for me to do with my visual impairment. Working in the automotive field the number of interviews and when they were nice and all but turned me off can still help people on the side when it comes to buying a car, or still I’m not have the Thunderbird the side little too short and still enjoyed my hubby.

28firefighter · June 2019

Checks all the unicorn boxes: wagon, 6spd, xenons, and leather sport seats.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2011-bmw-328-20/

stickguy · June 2019

not that is a really nice looking car.

corvette · June 2019

Nice - I love that interior color combo. At $12,750 with five days to go, there’s no telling what it will hit! Surely it can’t be worth much more than that?!?

kyfdx · June 2019

corvette said:
Nice - I love that interior color combo. At $12,750 with five days to go, there’s no telling what it will hit! Surely it can’t be worth much more than that?!?

BAT just makes me sad.. once I see the prices.

Guess I'd be happy, if I was a seller.

Nice car... too bad they don't come in RWD

qbrozen · June 2019

According to info I found, they were offered in RWD.

As to the price... well, an auto version in white with 74k miles recently traded hands at CA Manheim for $11,750. A month before that, there was a black auto with 60k for $11,250.

kyfdx · June 2019

Five days to go... I'll guess upper teens, at least

I don't think I've seen a RWD wagon for a long time, but I could be wrong.

28firefighter · June 2019

I actually think it may have topped out it's bidding early with such a large bid so early - probably scared a lot of people off. I'll guess $14k which, if I had the disposable income right now, I'd spend on it.

stickguy · June 2019

I could be tempted at that price. If I was in the market.

au1994 · June 2019

stickguy said:
I could be tempted at that price. If I was in the market.

Mentally, I'm always in the market!

pensfan83 · June 2019

au1994 said:

stickguy said:
I could be tempted at that price. If I was in the market.
Mentally, I'm always in the market!

Ditto

xwesx · June 2019

corvette said:
Can’t tell a difference with 10 bags of mulch in the Tahoe. Towing a 1,000 pound trailer, you can definitely feel.

I cheat a bit on my vehicles. I have the HD suspension on my Forester, so it will actually haul some impressive loads without much "feel" to it. Example: I brought home sixteen 60# sand bags for the back of my plow truck one night. That's what, close to a half ton? Threw them all in the back (all seats were up) with my family in tow, and a casual observer from the outside of the car likely would not have known we had that type of weight inside.

It sure rode smoothly, though!

I also have a small 8x8 trailer that I use in place of my pickup on many occasions, so usually the truck only comes out when I have a bulky AND heavy load to haul. The trailer caps out at about a ton, but the truck can handle about 4,000# in the bed. Fewer trips wins.

xwesx · June 2019

henryn said:
I don't recall ever doing much with mulch, I had to go look that up. Average dry weight is 20 lbs. So 10 bags of mulch == 200 pounds, one average size passenger. NBD.

Now the 1,000 lbs of flagstones in the T&C, yes, that would be a serious load. There are people on Craigslist who will pick that up, deliver, and stack neatly in your driveway for around $50 or $60. Much easier on your back, too.

Sure, but the next week you end up with missing hoods and other assorted parts. :P

nyccarguy · June 2019

@xwesx

I was thinking of you this AM. Saw a Dark Grey Forester (maybe a few years newer than yours) with Alaska plates on my commute in. Something I definitely DO NOT see every day!

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