Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

jmonroe1 · October 2019

stickguy said:
We have nothing special planned this weekend, so I’ll arrange an errand outing that conveniently passes a couple dealers I want to stop at. And a brewery.

If I were you I'd just go to the brewery. It's probably free which is a hellava lot better than fighting off the hot-pants urge which could result in taking the chance of writing a check or signing up for lease payments. Deals are always better at the end of the year. You're almost there don't screw it up now. However, you'll be faced with the dilemma of the truth of honest posting in here which could cost you membership to this site. Damn, I'm glad I'm not you.

jmonroe

tjc78 · October 2019

Just think he could trade in a beautiful burgundy car for a charcoal grey one.

stickguy · October 2019

The craft breweries by us are far from free. But very tasty!

kyfdx · October 2019

stickguy said:
The craft breweries by us are far from free. But very tasty!

Craft beer is my hobby. Brewery tap rooms are my favorite places

Michaell · October 2019

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:
The craft breweries by us are far from free. But very tasty!
Craft beer is my hobby. Brewery tap rooms are my favorite places

We'll have to get you all to come to Denver and attend the Great American Beer Festival.

qbrozen · October 2019

corvette said:
@qbrozen hmm... I'm going to return the Bluedriver to Amazon and may check the Foxwell out.

Depends on your needs. I did buy Bluedriver hoping it would fix my Chevy problem. But, truth is, I'll keep it because it covers all vehicles, while the Foxwell is (currently) ONLY for GM across certain years. This is the first issue I've had that a generic reader did not help me fix.

xwesx · October 2019

corvette said:
@qbrozen hmm... I'm going to return the Bluedriver to Amazon and may check the Foxwell out.

Bluedriver is great for code reading on basically anything. The Foxwell is brand-specific, IIRC. So, for example, I imagine that qbrozen's is for GM. I am not sure whether you can register additional manufacturer data on the same device or not.

xwesx · October 2019

qbrozen said:

corvette said:
@qbrozen hmm... I'm going to return the Bluedriver to Amazon and may check the Foxwell out.
Depends on your needs. I did buy Bluedriver hoping it would fix my Chevy problem. But, truth is, I'll keep it because it covers all vehicles, while the Foxwell is (currently) ONLY for GM across certain years. This is the first issue I've had that a generic reader did not help me fix.

Oh, whoops. Oh well. That's what I get for responding as I'm reading.

pensfan83 · October 2019

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:
The craft breweries by us are far from free. But very tasty!
Craft beer is my hobby. Brewery tap rooms are my favorite places

+1

pensfan83 · October 2019

qbrozen said:

pensfan83 said:

qbrozen said:

corvette said:
@qbrozen what tool was that?
I got the Foxwell NT510.
https://www.foxwelltech.com/product/item-169.html
$129 brand new from ebay
That's what I have as well! Only used it once so far but it seems pretty intuitive.
It was easy enough to poke around in, but I was getting worried it would not do what I needed. Took me about 20 mins of methodically clicking through each menu to find the SAS. I know it reports to the BCM, but it was not in that menu of this tool. I forget now where it was, I believe maybe the transmission menu, of all places. I know it isn’t a prepopulated menu, and the tool is only reporting back what it finds as it scans modules, but I’d venture a guess what it was translating as “transmission” was not the transmission at all. Something along those lines.

Unfortunately I'm not as knowledgeable or mechanically inclined as you so I was mainly looking for a reader that would give me an idea of what the issue was and what the expected repair cost would be. In thankfully limited use so far its been good.

stickguy · October 2019

wife and I (and the daughter when she is hanging with us) like to go to the various craft places near us. Some are quite good (beer quality wise) but they are all a fun time.

that scanner QB brought, from looking at the link, comes with 1 software package installed. and you can buy more. If can handle up to 5 packages at a time.

ab348 · October 2019

jmonroe1 said:

stickguy said:
We have nothing special planned this weekend, so I’ll arrange an errand outing that conveniently passes a couple dealers I want to stop at. And a brewery.
If I were you I'd just go to the brewery. It's probably free which is a hellava lot better than fighting off the hot-pants urge which could result in taking the chance of writing a check or signing up for lease payments. Deals are always better at the end of the year. You're almost there don't screw it up now. However, you'll be faced with the dilemma of the truth of honest posting in here which could cost you membership to this site. Damn, I'm glad I'm not you.

jmonroe

JM, you’re forgetting that this is stickguy we’re talking about here. No chance of him getting something yet. He hasn’t made his short list of 47 possible choices yet nor gotten lease numbers from at least 5 places on each of them.

stickguy · October 2019

hey, I already cut the short list down to 5. and then took one more off, so it is down to 4!

Remember, this is the wife's car, so the pool of possible options is much smaller. and almost positive this one will be a purchase, not lease.

corvette · October 2019

May just keep it, then.

Second deck guy came in at $67 a square foot. Cheaper than my regular contractor but not a huge difference either way. Ugh.

stickguy · October 2019

materials not cheap these days. and labor eats you up.

do you have an elevated deck? Any option to take most of it down and go with a patio of some sort?

jmonroe1 · October 2019

Michaell said:

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:
The craft breweries by us are far from free. But very tasty!
Craft beer is my hobby. Brewery tap rooms are my favorite places
We'll have to get you all to come to Denver and attend the Great American Beer Festival.

I take that to mean Edmunds is going to spring for travel and room accommodations. What week should we plan for this tasty event?

jmonroe

stickguy · October 2019

I saw a bunch of updates on that on FB. Looks like a fun time. Fattening and causing a headache maybe, but fun.

jmonroe1 · October 2019

stickguy said:
materials not cheap these days. and labor eats you up.

do you have an elevated deck? Any option to take most of it down and go with a patio of some sort?

Now you know why I do my own decks. Material costs are not marked up when I buy them and I don't charge myself to put it all together. Deck building is not the rocket surgery professional deck builders would have you believe it is.

jmonroe

stickguy · October 2019

when we bought our first single family house (after a condo) it was a new build. I put the deck on myself (with a little help a few times from friends/family). But it was really not that hard. Just a simple box, maybe 15x20? Nothing overly fancy, but way overbuilt. One beam. Called for 3 posts, I think I put in 4 (maybe 5).

worst part was digging the post holes by hand, In august. In dirt recently packed down by construction equipment. nasty. Did that part after dark.

sold the house after about 7 years. Last time I drove by, sucker was still standing and looked pretty good, at least 25 years later.

only scary part was putting lag bolts into the house sill.

stickguy · October 2019

if you can read instructions and use a tape measure and speed square, and a saw, and do basic math of course.

I imagine it can get complicated if you start getting into multiple levels and lots of angles. Mine was barely above grade (probably only had 2-3 steps off the far end to the yard).

xwesx · October 2019

Building it is the fun part! After that, it is all work.

jmonroe1 · October 2019

stickguy said:
when we bought our first single family house (after a condo) it was a new build. I put the deck on myself (with a little help a few times from friends/family). But it was really not that hard. Just a simple box, maybe 15x20? Nothing overly fancy, but way overbuilt. One beam. Called for 3 posts, I think I put in 4 (maybe 5).

worst part was digging the post holes by hand, In august. In dirt recently packed down by construction equipment. nasty. Did that part after dark.

sold the house after about 7 years. Last time I drove by, sucker was still standing and looked pretty good, at least 25 years later.

only scary part was putting lag bolts into the house sill.

When I built my first deck in the Summer of '89 (it was on my second house) and it was an extension off of a 7 by 9 foot covered porch. So I made the deck one step down from the existing porch. I guess you could call that a multi-level deck. I used a couple 1/2 lag screws to hold the deck ledger board in place at that point, then used about six 5/8 inch galvanized carriage bolts for the real support at that point. I know that thing was not coming down at that point after all that support. Since the deck was one story up I used six 6 x 6's to build two piers parallel to the house. You were a lot more energetic than I was about the digging because I rented a two man power 12 inch hole auger to drill down 5 feet for each 6 x 6. And yeah, I hit a few bricks that were thrown in as fill when that house was built (I was the second owner). Had to use a manual digger bar to get those bricks out of there but there was NO WAY in hell that I was going to dig six 12 inch diameter holes 5 feet deep manually with a digger bar. That damn sure was not going happen.

That house is just 2 blocks away from where I live now and I see the deck still standing when I ride by. The guy that bought that house when we moved to SC in '92 was true to his word about taking care of the deck because he knew he didn't want to pay to built another one.

Where there is a will there is a way. I mean, c'mon man, we're not talking about performing heart surgery on ourselves; it's just a measly deck.

jmonroe

fintail · October 2019

I think I recall something quirky on the Armada, like closing the front door hard and seeing it reverberate in the front fender. Interior materials were nicer than expected, no odd rattles etc, but I found the seat uncomfortable for long drives. I imagine when those find retail buyers, they sell at a nice discount. The Escalade I rented last month was exponentially more advanced, but you pay for it.

corvette said:

Oh, my QX was a base model which didn't have the fancy suspension, so probably the same as the Armada you rented. Brake dive was worse than my 10 year old Tahoe (with the original suspension and 130,000 miles). I really liked the interior other than the dated infotainment. Also, a pet peeve with Nissan/Infiniti products (including my G37) - the sound the doors make when you close them does not have the same sort of solidity as the German makes, and exterior door handles make a tinny, hollow sound when you release them. A little sound deadening would go a long way in fixing those issues, I think.

Michaell · October 2019

jmonroe1 said:

Michaell said:

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:
The craft breweries by us are far from free. But very tasty!
Craft beer is my hobby. Brewery tap rooms are my favorite places
We'll have to get you all to come to Denver and attend the Great American Beer Festival.
I take that to mean Edmunds is going to spring for travel and room accommodations. What week should we plan for this tasty event?

jmonroe

Do you look at life as nothing but a series of opportunities for others to buy you things?

I've not been to the GABF - tickets sell out quicker than any concert that comes to town, then the scalpers take over.

kyfdx · October 2019

xwesx said:
Building it is the fun part! After that, it is all work.

That's why I recommend PVC decking and aluminum rails... no maintenance.

jmonroe1 · October 2019

Michaell said:

jmonroe1 said:

Michaell said:

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:
The craft breweries by us are far from free. But very tasty!
Craft beer is my hobby. Brewery tap rooms are my favorite places
We'll have to get you all to come to Denver and attend the Great American Beer Festival.
I take that to mean Edmunds is going to spring for travel and room accommodations. What week should we plan for this tasty event?

jmonroe
Do you look at life as nothing but a series of opportunities for others to buy you things?

I've not been to the GABF - tickets sell out quicker than any concert that comes to town, then the scalpers take over.

It's worked so far, no sense changing now.

As for the GABF event, I suggest you put off helping others do car shopping for a couple minutes so can get us tickets before they're gone. Do you really want to try explaining how you screwed this up for all your poster buddies in here?

jmonroe

stickguy · October 2019

Unless it is elevated, when I finally move if the new house is not already deck equipped, I will be putting in a stamped concrete patio instead of a deck. Probably need a small landing platform though, unless the back is really close to grade level. But I have no intention of putting another deck on. And it definitely won't be wood if I have to.

tjc78 · October 2019

I did a patio. No maintenance, I even had created with a semi circle at the end to place a fire pit in the middle and chairs around. Nothing glamorous but a nice place to chill with the only maintenance being a power wash once in a while

marcogallo1986 · October 2019

@ New York car ride, that sounds like an awesome Saturday spending with mom looking at a few potential candidate for at least awesome keep us updated on the role.

marcogallo1986 · October 2019

@ Michael, hopefully you in Broad and Dad 23 get out there and do some car looking wanna hear all about it.

marcogallo1986 · October 2019

@ add 23 welcome to the group don’t think I said anything prior. I think I saw a posting of yours once before.

marcogallo1986 · October 2019

@jmonro. All these questions, I’m the one supposed to be doing the interrogating or we’re gonna start a team here. lol lol

marcogallo1986 · October 2019

@ stick guy, hopefully you stop a few dealerships and ice and going to a brewery sounds like a fun weekend.

nyccarguy · October 2019

marcogallo1986 said:
@ New York car ride, that sounds like an awesome Saturday spending with mom looking at a few potential candidate for at least awesome keep us updated on the role.

I’m not going with her. She’s rolling solo on this one. I don’t want to influence her decision. I just find out what she likes, then will cast my net and get her the best price.

nyccarguy · October 2019

Update on Mom’s car shopping. She drove the RX350 and didn’t like it. She said it “felt” too big and it was difficult for her to judge the front of the car while making right turns. The sales woman she is dealing with showed her an NX300 in the showroom. She sat in it and liked it, so they went for a test drive. Mom liked that better anD the sales woman will email me a quote for her based on the parameters I discussed.

She’s going back to drive the Cadillac again now.

stickguy · October 2019

might want to try an RDX too.

tjc78 · October 2019

Crappy leases, no?

qbrozen · October 2019

Speaking of Cadillac, I happened upon an XT4 in the Starbucks parking lot. What I noticed was another badge on the right side that read 350T. So I had to look that one up, and this is what I found. Pretty darned absurd.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cars.com/amp/articles/dont-be-confused-when-you-see-these-numbers-on-the-backs-of-2020-cadillacs-1420757581840/

kyfdx · October 2019

qbrozen said:
Speaking of Cadillac, I happened upon an XT4 in the Starbucks parking lot. What I noticed was another badge on the right side that read 350T. So I had to look that one up, and this is what I found. Pretty darned absurd.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cars.com/amp/articles/dont-be-confused-when-you-see-these-numbers-on-the-backs-of-2020-cadillacs-1420757581840/

It's dumb... but, not much different than Mercedes and BMW having number designations that don't really mean anything, other than one engine is more powerful than the other. (330 vs. 340 or E300 vs. E450)

I guess XT4400 would be a lot, all strung together..

kyfdx · October 2019

I remember when GM started putting ABS on the back of their cars (80s, 90s?).

Everyone has to brag about something.

corvette · October 2019

stickguy said:
materials not cheap these days. and labor eats you up.

do you have an elevated deck? Any option to take most of it down and go with a patio of some sort?

Yes, it's elevated, but I think I could do a covered concrete porch.

corvette · October 2019

kyfdx said:
I remember when GM started putting ABS on the back of their cars (80s, 90s?).

Everyone has to brag about something.

And I remember when Lutz decontented it in the early 2000s.

ab348 · October 2019

Yeah, I agree that the latest Caddy numerology is pretty obscure. I suspect that will not last long. Though given they are supposedly GM's flagship line for electrification I guess they will need something other than displacement to proclaim.

qbrozen · October 2019

It makes far less sense to me when you have only one engine option.

fintail · October 2019

Regarding Caddy naming weirdness, DeNysschen seems to leave a little chaos in his wake, and also has an ability to fail upwards. Good old boys club.

dad23 · October 2019

marcogallo1986 said:
@ add 23 welcome to the group don’t think I said anything prior. I think I saw a posting of yours once before.

Thanks, been MIA for quite a while but getting back on the horse, so to speak

laurasdada · October 2019

CEL extinguished in the XF. Woo hoo, the Jag lives to see another day. Hail, Britannia electronics!

Invited the boy to an early dinner tomorrow night, watch the Pats game. I wanna see his new 3 in the wild! See if he bought a tire pressure gauge, snow brush/scraper, flashlight... if not, his birthday's coming...

jmonroe1 · October 2019

laurasdada said:
CEL extinguished in the XF. Woo hoo, the Jag lives to see another day. Hail, Britannia electronics!

Invited the boy to an early dinner tomorrow night, watch the Pats game. I wanna see his new 3 in the wild! See if he bought a tire pressure gauge, snow brush/scraper, flashlight... if not, his birthday's coming...

Are you soliciting gifts from us?

jmonroe

ab348 · October 2019

fintail said:
Regarding Caddy naming weirdness, DeNysschen seems to leave a little chaos in his wake, and also has an ability to fail upwards. Good old boys club.

I think the nomenclature change was post-departure.

stickguy · October 2019

Snuck a test drive in today. Wife wanted to go to the giant "at home" store a few towns over to look for baskets for the coffee table (my idea was get rid of the dead crap in them and don't have any baskets, was not well received). So, since we had nothing special to do and wife was grumbly about doing something, I offered to take her. Knowing that we had to pass right by a couple of my favorite dealers to get there, so made a quick detour into the Subaru dealer parking lot at about 3:30ish. Surprised (probably good for Subaru) that the place was hopping, but a salesguy greeted us out in the parking lot. Told him we wanted to drive an OB, so got taken inside to see one on the floor and then off to his desk for ~~interrogation~~ some questions.

Oh, did I mention that they pop up a "come in to test drive, get $50" promo when you look at inventory? Of course, I printed that off, and handed to him at the beginning. so in a few days will get a $50 Visa gift card. Not a bad days work. Whenever we can finally get out to Hyundai, they have the same thing, and I definitely will be bringing it! May have to put Cadillac back on the list (they have one too), Hey, cars are expensive (so are baskets), gotta pay for them somehow.

anyway, as to the car. Drove a nice blue OB limited, base engine. Turns out the wife liked the color, a good start. Car is really, really nice. Superb seats, with a nice thigh extension for the driver. we both were comfortable with how we could set them. New giant center screen was very nice, and excellent graphics. The map looked better than having google maps up on my iPad. Puts my TLX to shame. Tons of room in the back seat. Quiet, good ride, nice handling, and being more carlike, great visibility especially to the front. Feels smaller than it really is, especially in tight quarters.

only negatives (admittedly it was a short drive) are that the engine was kinda weak (wife mentioned it had much less oomph than her RDX). Not an issue, since I would get the XT anyway, but always good to test the base engine first to make sure you need the HiPo one. In this case, you do. And the wife really hates the auto stop/start. Normally not a big deal, since you can turn it off. The salesguy did it, but instead of a dedicated button, it was buried about 4 menus deep. Which would be a problem, since per him, it reset every time you start the car to be active. Need some research on that, but could be a deal breaker for her!

anyway, outside of that one quibble, it was a seriously impressive package. No wonder they are selling like hotcakes. And one interesting tidbit. SG said that while in the past the H6 had a very small take rate (>10%) on the new one, the XT seems to be the engine everyone wants, so can't get enough of them for inventory.

Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

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