Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

andres3 · August 2019

So the Tiguan has a big lead out the gates on being the next punch. The significant other likes the punch of the 2.0T, the transmission, the drive, the ride, the extra size and ride height. The SEL lacks Fender Audio but has just about everything else a person could want.

She loves the new ICE SILVER color (think a very light Nardo Gray), with the Slate Blue (State Blue?) running in 2nd place. She likes the lighter gray colored interior seats and leatherette as opposed to all black on black on black. She says she'd like AWD, but I'm not sure it'll get used much by her, but certainly I wouldn't hesitate to turn the Tiguan into an off-roader with 4-Motion. The R-Lines have 19" wheels, too big. The SEL's have 18", that's plenty big.

qbrozen · August 2019

Here’s a rare bird
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/share/245021463

kyfdx · August 2019

qbrozen said:
Here’s a rare bird
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/share/245021463

No mileage?

stickguy · August 2019

120K miles, and an accident on the carfax.

DO you feel lucky punk?

kyfdx · August 2019

stickguy said:
120K miles, and an accident on the carfax.

DO you feel lucky punk?

Seems cheap for an E500 wagon, still...

I have a 2006, and 124K miles.... which I consider low mileage.
I'd guess 80% of 2006 model cars have a Carfax ding. Not sure that hurts the price of a $7K car..

breld · August 2019

@andres3 - I'll be interested to hear your experiences with the Tiguan if that's what you end up with. I like this new model.

fintail · August 2019

Looks like 120K miles. Price is average, nice color combo, seller has good pics. Uncommon, but a search finds a dozen or so on the market for that year. I see a couple options, the rear window shades are unusual. I believe airmatic, as shown in the pics, was standard (along with leather), and all E500s were 4Matic. The rear oddball that year would be an E55 wagon, which still trades many times higher than a non-tuned model.

rrsafety · August 2019

benjaminh said:

rrsafety said:

But if you love your current car and there's nothing significant wrong with it why not keep it? A Lexus is built to last, and maybe it has 300k miles in it? Another used car to consider might be a used Acura RLX, which is about the same size as an LS400.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give a 430 a spin and see what I think. With my 400 I need timing belt and struts and spark plugs and that's pushing near $3k so I'm getting cold feet. Of course, that is with a local dealer so maybe I need to find an independent guy I could trust now that the price of repairs is getting to be a bigger factor in my keeping it.

marcogallo1986 · August 2019

@ Andries three, that sounds like a good choice that the wife is interested in keep us updated on at all, and happy Friday everybody.

marcogallo1986 · August 2019

@ send man, good to hear from you, how’s everything been going with you the wife and her family?

28firefighter · August 2019

4 months left on the X1. Starting to get lease end reminder notifications from BMW.

There is very little that piques my interest with them right now - even if I could get a "hacker" deal on one.

stickguy · August 2019

one of the pluses to leasing. branch out and try something new!

Michaell · August 2019

Just drive the Saab more.

marcogallo1986 · August 2019

@ 28 firefighter, and @ stick guy, I agree and what’s the guy said above where comes to leasing branch out and try something new that you never tried before I would be the same way. Unfortunately a lot of family over here is stubborn and boring I want to stick with the same brand over and over and over. Hopefully maybe next week I’ll get to go with my dad and look at a used Sorrento I found for him at a local dealer. It’s the SXL top top-of-the-line one which is rare to find it’s nice so we’ll see either that or I was talking to him about starting to look for a good lease deal but I don’t think he wants to be bothered with that. Also have to help the neighbor lease new car Soon, I think Peter CRVE goes back at the end of September so I told him we have to get moving and just test drive some stuff, and is it wrong I told him don’t worry about numbers unless you really like the car after test driving it, I said why talk numbers before you test drive a car doesn’t make sense you might not like it have to be happy with the car.g soon, I think Peter CRVE goes back at the end of September so I told him we have to get moving and just test drive some stuff, and is it wrong I told him don’t worry about numbers unless you really like the car after test driving it, I said why talk numbers before you test drive a car doesn’t make sense you might not like it have to be happy with the car.

28firefighter · August 2019

I am this week - weather is supposed to be mostly clear. I'm also looking at a set of satin finished OEM viggen wheels on some newer rubber for $400 tomorrow. Would make a big difference in terms of appearance to have the wheels taken care of. Also need to get it in for an oil change.

marcogallo1986 · August 2019

@28FF nice. On The above

roadburner · August 2019

28firefighter said:
4 months left on the X1. Starting to get lease end reminder notifications from BMW.

There is very little that piques my interest with them right now - even if I could get a "hacker" deal on one.

The M2C is the only new BMW I'd want.

stickguy · August 2019

Not sure my wife is going to make it another 2 years+ before wanting a car. I detailed up the RDX today (always needs it after a week at the beach) and it shined up nice, and even cleaned the filthy wheels so they are shiny. but she noticed the assortment of scratches are still there, and I noticed when cleaning the seats that the bolsters are showing some wear spot. So, runs strong, miles still reasonable, but definitely not new any more!

not in the budget yet though. So, she can just live with it for commuting duties, and will continue to use the TLX when together. I was chatting with her earlier about the TLX and maybe keeping it and trading hers in, but I don't think we are likely to do that (and definitely don't want 2 payments).

sda · August 2019

After having 1-2 car payments for as long as I can remember, having both cars paid for was liberating and satisfying. We are back to one car payment and as much as I’d like to also have a different car one payment is plenty. A huge plus, my wife is smitten with the Q5.

stickguy · August 2019

we had no payments off and on for a while. That kinda went out the window when the 2nd one hit college, but hope to get back to that soon. Well, within 5 years!

Michaell · August 2019

stickguy said:
we had no payments off and on for a while. That kinda went out the window when the 2nd one hit college, but hope to get back to that soon. Well, within 5 years!

Have always had at least one payment since getting married. Often two, and for a brief time, three (yikes!)

Hoping to get to zero payments soon.

tjc78 · August 2019

Same here, two then one for awhile (was nice when kids were first born). Now we have two and it’s going to be that way for a long while!

stickguy · August 2019

we would have one, then pay it off early so none until I got antsy. Normally never 2. For a while I bought 3 YO used, and paid cash. we somehow went off the rails with the princess in college and ended up with 3 (2 leases). that was ugly. Now down to 1, since she is on her own and wife's car is long since paid off. We hope to not ever go to 2 again. But ya never know!

ab348 · August 2019

Whether multiple payments or none, they are all just spending decisions overall. If you have multiple payments it seems likely you chose that versus spending on other things. If you don't have any payments that too was a decision to use the funds on something else, be it other spending, debt reduction (i.e. past spending) or savings (future spending). It's like the guy in the old Fram filters commercial said, "You can pay me now, or pay me later."

fintail · August 2019

In the past 15 years I think I was without a payment for maybe 4 years and change. During those times the cars needed maintenance, so it wasn't a completely free ride, but maybe cheaper than the leasing addiction. I keep telling myself "next time I will buy and settle down long term", good luck.

kyfdx · August 2019

No payment from 2014-2017..

I think that is our only dry spell since I was married in 1993.

But, the payment on my wife's car is only because they offered 0%/72 month financing, with no bonus for not taking it.. Otherwise I would have paid cash.

stickguy · August 2019

really need to get off the leasing train if want to ever be payment free. Wifes next car will be a purchase, but I doubt we are paying cash. Probably a chunk down and a short term loan (3 years max, pay it off in 2, something like that). then keep it until 10 years old!

28firefighter · August 2019

I don’t see a reason to leave the lease train unless I can’t get what i want. I’d rather have fixed costs and depreciation on a depreciating asset.

stickguy · August 2019

sat in a new GLI today at the dealer. 35th anniversary addition. White, with a stick. Nice car. Really liked the seats too. Plenty of cushion tilt and thigh support, even with manual seats. Pretty similar overall to the kids R Line (but I am sure a whole lot quicker).

We were at dealer having her new NJ plates put on (since she relocated back from Deleaware). Did the DMV stuff today, got new plates, and it needed a front bracket so just took it over to dealer to do. Common activity for them..

while there, also saw a new Aereton (sp?) Really nice inside, and impressive style. But it better be nice for $45k+

ab348 · August 2019

Yeah, my problem isn't the money, really, as much as that I like driving something new and different every so often. Even though the current ATS is a purchase (also with 0% financing), all other things being equal I can see myself getting something different in a couple of years.

ab348 · August 2019

Maybe @breld wants to dip his toe into the Civic Type R pool again.

Though given the price, perhaps not.

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/honda/civic/2299468.html

xwesx · August 2019

Looks like a dreamer to me.

28firefighter · August 2019

Bought a set of OEM Viggen Wheels finished in Satin Black sitting on nearly new Cooper Zeon tires. Too good a deal to pass up given that mine are curbed and bent to high heaven. And yes they all fit in the hatch without so much as a struggle.

sda · August 2019

stickguy said:
sat in a new GLI today at the dealer. 35th anniversary addition. White, with a stick. Nice car. Really liked the seats too. Plenty of cushion tilt and thigh support, even with manual seats. Pretty similar overall to the kids R Line (but I am sure a whole lot quicker).

We were at dealer having her new NJ plates put on (since she relocated back from Deleaware). Did the DMV stuff today, got new plates, and it needed a front bracket so just took it over to dealer to do. Common activity for them..

while there, also saw a new Aereton (sp?) Really nice inside, and impressive style. But it better be nice for $45k+

I just wish the GLI 35th had a sunroof like the R Line.

28firefighter · August 2019

I wish we got the Canadian version of the 35th Anniversary edition. Which is an autobahn with Nav, DCC, and the 35th trim and design bits.

stickguy · August 2019

at least with 2 cars (at least!) in the family, more chance to rotate variety. though my plan is when my car goes back, buy the wife whatever she wants to drive the next 10 years,then when I recover from the shock of doing that, find myself some kind of toy to go along with the RDX.

sda · August 2019

I think the Accord will go to my daughter when the TL has done its duty. I will get something for me, which will probably be another sedan, Accord, TLX, Mazda 6.

benjaminh · August 2019

sda said:
After having 1-2 car payments for as long as I can remember, having both cars paid for was liberating and satisfying. We are back to one car payment and as much as I’d like to also have a different car one payment is plenty. A huge plus, my wife is smitten with the Q5.

++++

But since this is CCBA, I'll try to make a pitch that I'm 99.99% sure is going to fail....

A 2013 Accord EX in good shape might be worth c.$12k on a trade-in? If so, 3k might be used to start a lease on a 2019 Acura TLX, and then you could put 9k or so into savings. Imho you'd enjoy the 4-wheel steering, the added power, the quieter ride, the handling, adaptive cruise control, AndroidAuto/CarPlay, and esp. the ELS sound system. Because of the incredible $9k in lease incentives on this model monthly payments might be close c.$300 or so? And the mpg can be pretty good in a TLX as illustrated by this rare but possible 30+ mile trip mostly on the Interstate at c.70 mph with the AC on where my TLX got 40 mpg.

OK. Now that I've failed, you can go back to the virtuous good life with your Accord—which will probably last another 15 years!+++

28firefighter · August 2019

Leases on the TLX are not at $300 without significant cap reduction. The $9k in incentives is hurt by a seriously bad residual and high money factor.

benjaminh · August 2019

28firefighter said:
Leases on the TLX are not at $300 without significant cap reduction. The $9k in incentives is hurt by a seriously bad residual and high money factor.

You are right.

But this base model 2019 TLX has an advertised lease at my local Acura dealer of less than $300 month with $2k down, but it is a weird low-mileage lease with 7500 a year, and so a more reasonable 10-12k would cost more. But most Acura dealers probably are willing to do almost whatever it takes to get you into one, including giving a good value on a trade-in. The low residual is a benefit imho, since I'm hoping to be able to buy my car which had a c. $38k msrp for c.$18.5k when my lease is up.

https://www.acuraatoxmoor.com/newspecials.html

"2019 Acura TLX 2.4 8-DCT P-AWS

Lease for $239/mo. for 36 months

$1,999 due at signing, $0 security deposit

Acura Conquest/Loyalty Lease. Available to current owners of a 2009 or newer Acura, Audi, BMW, Buick, Cadillac, Honda, Infiniti, Lexus, Lincoln or Mercedes Benz vehicle. Plus tax, title, license, dealer processing fee. Offer Expires 8/31/2019"

28firefighter · August 2019

That’s a net 0 down (but not including drive offs) and $294+tax. Likely you’d have $1000 to $1500 in driveoffs depending on location.

TLX Tech (4 cyl) is leasing in the mid 300s assuming a 10% discount before rebates. V6 Tech/A-Spec and AWD in the 400s. Still a great car.

To me, the bargain would be if you could immediately buy out the lease and have them not charge you for the interest on remaining payments. Then you could take advantage of the lease cash and purchase with a lower interest rate.

stickguy · August 2019

IMO you don't want the base TLX. Need to go at least to tech (the A spec is just a tech with the "sporty" extras added on).

Mine was early in the model year, so I imagine the incentives are better now, but off an MSRP of ~40k, my cap cost was ~33k. I think the residual was an even 50%, so my buy-out option is right around $20k.

no clue what it would cost me to buy now (or what it would have been 1-2 months in). I don't plan to ask! at the end, I will decide if I want to buy it out, but I suspect, if I stick to my usual low miles, it could be a good buy at 3 YO with barely over 20,000 miles, and (hopefully) in impeccable condition! Just depends on if that is the car I want to commit to living with for the next decade!

stickguy · August 2019

ran the plan past the wife at dinner. In 2 years and a few months, we go shopping and look at every near or luxury compact to mid-sized CUV. Lots of test drives, and she can pick out whatever she wants to drive, and keep another 10 years. I will just keep the RDX, and then go shopping for a fun/toy car of some kind to go with it, and use in nice weather. Just not sure we will be able to get in and out of anything too fun (low) at that point!

suydam · August 2019

Can she frame that statement “she can pick out whatever she wants” and show it to you in two years?

corvette · August 2019

28firefighter said:

Bought a set of OEM Viggen Wheels finished in Satin Black sitting on nearly new Cooper Zeon tires.

Which model of Zeon? Could be the same I have on my G37.

nyccarguy · August 2019

corvette said:

28firefighter said:

Bought a set of OEM Viggen Wheels finished in Satin Black sitting on nearly new Cooper Zeon tires.
Which model of Zeon? Could be the same I have on my G37.

Are you happy with those? I’m definitely going to need a set. My Hankook Ventus S1 Nobles are quickly turning into racing slicks.

28firefighter · August 2019

Cooper Zeon RS3-a I think.

roadburner · August 2019

28firefighter said:
Cooper Zeon RS3-a I think.

I ran those year round on my X3 and as winter tires on the MS3. I was very happy with them.

stickguy · August 2019

well, she could get one now. but doesn't want to spend the money/take on the payment. Plus, doesn't want to get rid of the RDX which that would require.

maybe next year when we finish paying off the last of the college related expenses, all the money going toward that will burn a hole in her pocket!

but pretty sure, unless something goes wrong (she has zero tolerance now for a car stranding her) we will stay the course.

stickguy · August 2019

I have Cooper's on my RDX. Really good tires so far.

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