Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

benjaminh · August 2020

kyfdx said:
Vroom emailed me. Increased the offer on the GTI. Now, it’s $2000 more than I paid for it in February. 👀

Wow! Are you going to take it?

benjaminh · August 2020

From the late 70s to the mid 80s Honda ads usually had voiceovers by Burgess Meredith. Here he praises the double-wishbone suspension with some fx showing the Accord riding on rails. After promoting double wishbone for years it's not a surprise that when they took it out some customers were disappointed. But it is finally back now in the new TLX. We'll soon learn if auto journalists think it was worth it. I'm guessing that the embargo on press reviews of the new TLX will end in the next week or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vsrGaZJWqk

Michaell · August 2020

kyfdx said:
Vroom emailed me. Increased the offer on the GTI. Now, it’s $2000 more than I paid for it in February. 👀

I got an email from Vroom as well, this morning.

They bumped the offer on the Outback up by $100.

stickguy · August 2020

I like that phantom violet in the picture, but I suspect that is a color you really have to see in person outside to decide.

28firefighter · August 2020

The outback offer we have is tempting but the wife will never go for it because I have nothing to replace it with. New Outback XTs are largely unavailable up here.

I’d consider flipping the i3 but that is very much upside down (in news that surprises exactly no one).

stickguy · August 2020

I saw a nice looking i3 for sale at one of the local places I stalk. Seemed cheaper than I expected. Can't imagine what my wife would say if I brought this one home.

https://www.eimports4less.com/details-2017-bmw-i3-certified_i3_deka_world_rext_range_extender-used-wby1z8c34hv892748.html

this one at least looks a little more sedate. But no way I am buying one without the REX option.

https://www.eimports4less.com/details-2018-bmw-i3-certified_i3_94_ah_deka_world_navi_cam_leds-used-wby7z2c52jvb88727.html

roadburner · August 2020

If I get another I definitely want H-K and the Professional Navigation system.

kyfdx · August 2020

benjaminh said:

kyfdx said:
Vroom emailed me. Increased the offer on the GTI. Now, it’s $2000 more than I paid for it in February. 👀
Wow! Are you going to take it?

Not likely..

stickguy · August 2020

roadburner said:
If I get another I definitely want H-K and the Professional Navigation system.

considering if I got something like this it would purely do short hop local driving, neither one of those options would be all that essential to me.

oldfarmer50 · August 2020

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:
I think I might have figured out why Carvana is offering so much. If you do any filtered search ( I randomly used PU trucks under some price) and it returned 46 units. Of that, only 7 (or maybe 9) were actually available. The rest, including a bunch of coming soon ones, were all showing as reserved. I did the same with Volvos, and got similar results. Not sure how many will actually sell, but probably turns off shoppers if everything they might be interested in is already taken!

most likely a bunch are just grabbed while people look around and the deals won't finalize but only Carvana has those analytics.
Carvana ads that I see are the same car, listed at multiple locations.

My local (Albany, NY) Craigslist has a Carvana ad for a car located in Atlanta. Could they have mixed up their Albanys?

oldfarmer50 · August 2020

kyfdx said:
Vroom emailed me. Increased the offer on the GTI. Now, it’s $2000 more than I paid for it in February. 👀

What are you waiting for?

Local car dealers are running ads saying it they will give you cash on the spot for your car. No purchase necessary. I thought things were supposed to be loosening up?

stickguy · August 2020

must still be a supply shortage coming out of the auctions.

benjaminh · August 2020

stickguy said:
I saw a nice looking i3 for sale at one of the local places I stalk. Seemed cheaper than I expected. Can't imagine what my wife would say if I brought this one home.

https://www.eimports4less.com/details-2017-bmw-i3-certified_i3_deka_world_rext_range_extender-used-wby1z8c34hv892748.html

A 3-year old BMW that had an original msrp of 52k for sale for 19k—that's steep depreciation. Why does the i3 drop like a rock when Teslas hold their value so well?

benjaminh · August 2020

stickguy said:

benjaminh said:
@stickguy I personally think you'll be letting go of a gem when your TLX sells. How many miles does it have on it? It's great you're making a small profit on it, but I wonder if you'll find anything else with that with that kind of comfort, handling, performance, features, mpg, and reliability. But I understand the CCBA bug since I've often had it myself. I do look forward to your next quest, which should help make things interesting around here. Since I'm almost sure I'm going to keep my TLX I'll shop vicariously by hearing about your search and others here.
9,021. and not going up very fast. Not planning on getting something else right away, unless I stumble upon something interesting to be a cash buy. Otherwise we will just be a 1 car family.

Only 9k miles—no wonder they are offering you so much! Plus it's A-spec, which is an eye-catcher that'll make for a quick sale. So Carvana (or whatever the company) buys out your contract with Acura so that they can sell it? interesting times. Your car is a gem, and no doubt they'll sell it for a pretty penny with those miles.

I'm already at 31,000 miles in my 2018 TLX. Since Honda was incorporated in 1948 maybe I'll think of it as the 70th anniversary edition Honda/Acura. Today I was at a stop sign and decided to accelerate briskly up to 40 from the stoplight. Unnoticed by me was that right next to me was a souped up orange Dodge Charger that looked a bit like the pic below. I zoomed ahead of him, which he took as a challenge, and so then he zoomed past me and clearly wanted to continue the drag race, but I just smiled and waved him on. The loud crackles from the exhaust of his engine seemed to indicate that he was having a good time with his modded car. And he looked a bit amazed that an old guy like me in my plain-Jane silver TLX was challenging him, but as I said I was just enjoying my car unaware of his existence at first.

ab348 · August 2020

You don't want to be challenging Hemi-engined machines at stoplights with your little 4-banger, Ben. :laughing:

suydam · August 2020

Hi folks! A non car related question. I seem to remember a few of you have solar roof panels. My kids are putting an offer on a house in Connecticut with these panels installed so the buyers will have to take over the lease. The company us Sunrun. Any of you have any experience with leasing these panels and/or this company in particular? What happens at the end of the lease? Is it worth buying out the lease upfront?

ab348 · August 2020

With the new-car dealers closed on Sundays here I took the opportunity to cruise some of their lots today. I was struck by the lack of inventory. New vehicles were in short supply at Ford, GM and VW. All the two domestics had were trucks and crossovers for the most part. The Ford dealer did have 10 new Fusions parked in a line, all pretty basic SE models, in different colors but all with black alloy wheels which I thought strange as I never saw those on a non-Sport Fusion before. They had a half-dozen Raptor pickups and a bunch of new Mustangs, including a GT350, a Bullitt, and a Boss 302. The styling of the new Escape just looks like a potato to me.

The GM dealer had a lot less inventory, maybe half of what they usually have. A bunch of Sparks and a handful of Malibus were the only cars. Lots of Chevy CUVs - the Trailblazer seemed pretty popular and there were innumerable Terrains and Equinoxes.

The VW dealer had a few new 2019 Golf wagon models still on the lot, unreal. A pair of new Golf Rs, both red, both marked sold. One new GTI in black, 2 or 3 Passats, same with regular Golfs, just a few more Jettas, but mostly Tiguams and a few Atlas models. The back lot where they keep their new-car inventory was mostly empty. I did notice what seems to be a new paint color that I hadn't seen before, a sort of blue-green metallic, not really vibrant, that sort of reminded me of a mid-'60s color.

roadburner · August 2020

benjaminh said:

stickguy said:
I saw a nice looking i3 for sale at one of the local places I stalk. Seemed cheaper than I expected. Can't imagine what my wife would say if I brought this one home.

https://www.eimports4less.com/details-2017-bmw-i3-certified_i3_deka_world_rext_range_extender-used-wby1z8c34hv892748.html
A 3-year old BMW that had an original msrp of 52k for sale for 19k—that's steep depreciation. Why does the i3 drop like a rock when Teslas hold their value so well?

Probably because it was designed as a city car and not a cross country vehicle.

oldfarmer50 · August 2020

Michaell said:

kyfdx said:
Vroom emailed me. Increased the offer on the GTI. Now, it’s $2000 more than I paid for it in February. 👀
I got an email from Vroom as well, this morning.

They bumped the offer on the Outback up by $100.

I’m tempted to run the Mustang through them. When I looked up 2015 GTs with my mileage on Autotrader they were asking $30k and up for a 5 year old car. One dealer was asking the same as what the sticker was on mine in 2015.

oldfarmer50 · August 2020

stickguy said:
must still be a supply shortage coming out of the auctions.

There’s a guy on YouTube called We Hustle Daily who haunts the auctions for cheap flip cars. He sometimes shows the cars going through the line bringing high prices for high milage (150k or more). He’s based down near NYC I think and he got so frustrated he drove all the way up to Rome NY 250 miles away to look at a bunch of cheap hoopties in a field.

fintail · August 2020

I remembered it wrong, it's Scott's Car Cameras

Lots of Aussie goodness in here, the commentary is amusing, along with the vehicles.

Through this, I've learned terms like "deranged tradie", and that ute drivers are like the lifted truck drivers of Murka. Lots of simmering rage and general incompetence.

Michaell said:
Dashcams Owners Australia. Feels like a very guilty pleasure.

Plus, all the utes and other cars we don't get in the US.

fintail · August 2020

I've been watching We Hustle Daily and a few other hooptie flippers for awhile. I kind of like this kid, what he tries to accomplish, and sometimes makes a nice flip within a day. IIRC he is from suburban Atlanta, although he might be on the road sometimes. His daily driver is a late 90s Century named "Bubba" that he bought for a pittance, repaired, and put back on the road - but apparently Bubba has some rust popping up, and might be retired soon. He seems to have a thing for older Lexus GS.

Another flipper who amuses me is Big Al's Bike and Auto . This guy moves between the northeast and Florida (might be in FL permanently now) and enjoys bringing seriously neglected old cars back to life - he appears to have a thing for unloved 90s era cars.

A more popular one is Auto Auction Rebuilds - this guy, who kind of sounds like Randy Quaid, also rescues damaged cars, sometimes only running in the black due to Youtube proceeds. His auction lot walk arounds can be fun, and I like the 59 Dodge he picked up.

oldfarmer50 said:

There’s a guy on YouTube called We Hustle Daily who haunts the auctions for cheap flip cars. He sometimes shows the cars going through the line bringing high prices for high milage (150k or more). He’s based down near NYC I think and he got so frustrated he drove all the way up to Rome NY 250 miles away to look at a bunch of cheap hoopties in a field.

Michaell · August 2020

fintail said:
I've been watching We Hustle Daily and a few other hooptie flippers for awhile. I kind of like this kid, what he tries to accomplish, and sometimes makes a nice flip within a day. IIRC he is from suburban Atlanta, although he might be on the road sometimes. His daily driver is a late 90s Century named "Bubba" that he bought for a pittance, repaired, and put back on the road - but apparently Bubba has some rust popping up, and might be retired soon. He seems to have a thing for older Lexus GS.

Another flipper who amuses me is Big Al's Bike and Auto . This guy moves between the northeast and Florida (might be in FL permanently now) and enjoys bringing seriously neglected old cars back to life - he appears to have a thing for unloved 90s era cars.

A more popular one is Auto Auction Rebuilds - this guy, who kind of sounds like Randy Quaid, also rescues damaged cars, sometimes only running in the black due to Youtube proceeds. His auction lot walk arounds can be fun, and I like the 59 Dodge he picked up.

oldfarmer50 said:

There’s a guy on YouTube called We Hustle Daily who haunts the auctions for cheap flip cars. He sometimes shows the cars going through the line bringing high prices for high milage (150k or more). He’s based down near NYC I think and he got so frustrated he drove all the way up to Rome NY 250 miles away to look at a bunch of cheap hoopties in a field.

Thanks for the recommendations, fin! A few things for me to check out.

Some of this stuff is at the opposite end of the scale as the stuff that gets run through Mecum, or featured on "semi" reality TV shows.

tjc78 · August 2020

“ The Ford dealer did have 10 new Fusions parked in a line, all pretty basic SE models, in different colors but all with black alloy wheels which I thought strange as I never saw those on a non-Sport Fusion before”

I personally can’t wait until the black wheel phase goes away! It reminds me of the fad with the gold badging in the 90s.

tommister2 · August 2020

I’ve watched a half dozen or so of the pending sale cars on carvana. All of the ones I watched actually sold. Just a small sample set, but that’s my experience. I think it is a really popular company, people are buying cars from them.

stickguy · August 2020

when I was poking around on Carvana (on the off chance they had something I wanted to trade for) I looked at Civics. They had a 2019 Si listed, at what I swear was more than original MSRP.

I have not cruised a dealer lot in a long time. Might take a pass through one of these days just to get a visual. I do pass a local mom and pop Ford place quite often and I think the lot is a lot emptier. They just keep moving units up by the road to hide it!

oldfarmer50 · August 2020

fintail said:
I've been watching We Hustle Daily and a few other hooptie flippers for awhile. I kind of like this kid, what he tries to accomplish, and sometimes makes a nice flip within a day. IIRC he is from suburban Atlanta, although he might be on the road sometimes. His daily driver is a late 90s Century named "Bubba" that he bought for a pittance, repaired, and put back on the road - but apparently Bubba has some rust popping up, and might be retired soon. He seems to have a thing for older Lexus GS.

Another flipper who amuses me is Big Al's Bike and Auto . This guy moves between the northeast and Florida (might be in FL permanently now) and enjoys bringing seriously neglected old cars back to life - he appears to have a thing for unloved 90s era cars.

A more popular one is Auto Auction Rebuilds - this guy, who kind of sounds like Randy Quaid, also rescues damaged cars, sometimes only running in the black due to Youtube proceeds. His auction lot walk arounds can be fun, and I like the 59 Dodge he picked up.

oldfarmer50 said:

There’s a guy on YouTube called We Hustle Daily who haunts the auctions for cheap flip cars. He sometimes shows the cars going through the line bringing high prices for high milage (150k or more). He’s based down near NYC I think and he got so frustrated he drove all the way up to Rome NY 250 miles away to look at a bunch of cheap hoopties in a field.

Randy from AAR has his buddy Weird Beard fix and sell some of his cars. The stuff that guy does in a shed out in the bushes is pretty interesting. He just took Randy’s 59’ Coronet in to do body work.

oldfarmer50 · August 2020

tjc78 said:
“ The Ford dealer did have 10 new Fusions parked in a line, all pretty basic SE models, in different colors but all with black alloy wheels which I thought strange as I never saw those on a non-Sport Fusion before”

I personally can’t wait until the black wheel phase goes away! It reminds me of the fad with the gold badging in the 90s.

I’d rather have gold wheels than black. I wonder if as the pandemic shut everything down if the factories had to use what was available. With the discontinuation of the Fusion Sport before the rest of the models maybe they had a lot of black wheels laying around.

explorerx4 · August 2020

Fusion had a black package available for a few years.
Maybe kind of regional?

laurasdada · August 2020

Battery right rear of trunk in the XF. And, according to my indie, battery is still strong at almost 7 years old; it shows no sign of weakness. But, winter is coming...

Did a Sunday closed dealers lot walk, rather low on inventory: Audi, Acura, Porsche, MB and Jaguar/LR. But, considering a move to a new home in Plymouth, MA so that may push back a new car purchase for a bit...

qbrozen · August 2020

suydam said:
Hi folks! A non car related question. I seem to remember a few of you have solar roof panels. My kids are putting an offer on a house in Connecticut with these panels installed so the buyers will have to take over the lease. The company us Sunrun. Any of you have any experience with leasing these panels and/or this company in particular? What happens at the end of the lease? Is it worth buying out the lease upfront?

Sunrun is who I have with my rental home. They should ask to see the contract. IIRC, when leasing, the new owner has the choice to continue as a lease, buy out at “current market value,” or discontinue and they come take it away. I was always curious what current market value is. I can’t imagine used solar panels have very good resale value.

I don’t know the CT SREC rules to give a good assessment of whether or not it makes sense to buy them.

explorerx4 · August 2020

Did some lot browsing today.
Some of what I looked at.

2020 F-150 King Ranch
https://www.familyfordinc.net/new/Ford/2020-Ford-F-150-bce052b80a0e0ae752b0f28dea716080.htm?searchDepth=1:29

2020 F-150 XLT
https://www.mitchellseligford.com/new/Ford/2020-Ford-F-150-Windsor,+CT-a45cfbac0a0e0adf6a79f82dd5a15ab6.htm?searchDepth=13:18

2018 Explorer XLT
https://www.familyford.com/used-Watertown+CT-2018-Ford-Explorer-XLT-1FM5K8D81JGB06587

2017 Explorer Sport
https://www.lombardford.com/used-Barkhamsted-2017-Ford-Explorer-Sport+++4WDMOONROOF+AND+NAVIGATION-1FM5K8GT2HGD47231

stickguy · August 2020

sticking with Ford, or willing to give Ram a look?

explorerx4 · August 2020

Ram's are too heavy and inefficient. Would feel like several steps backwards. Probably can get a good deal though.

breld · August 2020

kyfdx said:

benjaminh said:

kyfdx said:
Vroom emailed me. Increased the offer on the GTI. Now, it’s $2000 more than I paid for it in February. 👀
Wow! Are you going to take it?
Not likely..

It’s gotta be a little tempting, but then what do you replace it with? And that choice will likely be similarly overpriced, so you don’t really gain anything.

stickguy · August 2020

that is the big problem jumping on a slightly inflated offer right now. if you have to replace it, going to give it all back most likely.

qbrozen · August 2020

explorerx4 said:
Did some lot browsing today.
Some of what I looked at.

2020 F-150 King Ranch
https://www.familyfordinc.net/new/Ford/2020-Ford-F-150-bce052b80a0e0ae752b0f28dea716080.htm?searchDepth=1:29

2020 F-150 XLT
https://www.mitchellseligford.com/new/Ford/2020-Ford-F-150-Windsor,+CT-a45cfbac0a0e0adf6a79f82dd5a15ab6.htm?searchDepth=13:18

2018 Explorer XLT
https://www.familyford.com/used-Watertown+CT-2018-Ford-Explorer-XLT-1FM5K8D81JGB06587

2017 Explorer Sport
https://www.lombardford.com/used-Barkhamsted-2017-Ford-Explorer-Sport+++4WDMOONROOF+AND+NAVIGATION-1FM5K8GT2HGD47231

Surprising how much a 4-yr-old Explorer Sport is worth. They bought that one earlier this week for $30,800. Very good condition score.

benjaminh · August 2020

Yeah. But if you can wait a few months there's a chance that supply and demand will maybe get more balanced.

PS Was there a fix for the Mercedes-Benz E450 windshield wiper issue?

qbrozen · August 2020

Seems to me like a new ST for $50k makes more sense. That’s only $4k/yr depreciation. Probably less since the ST is likely to hold value better.

qbrozen · August 2020

Oh, and supply does not seem to be a problem on this model. 100 examples of the 2017 Sport have passed through auction in just 1 WEEK.

explorerx4 · August 2020

That 2017 is immaculate. I've bought there before, they are a small family dealership.
Just wanted to see if what is on the ground is close to what is on cargurus and autotrader.
The new trucks, I would wait.

stickguy · August 2020

benjaminh said:
Yeah. But if you can wait a few months there's a chance that supply and demand will maybe get more balanced.

PS Was there a fix for the Mercedes-Benz E450 windshield wiper issue?

yup. My gut says that by early next year the balance will shift and there will be cars available and deals to be had.

of course I could be totally wrong. But there will always be something available, might just not be the deal of the century.

oldfarmer50 · August 2020

qbrozen said:

suydam said:
Hi folks! A non car related question. I seem to remember a few of you have solar roof panels. My kids are putting an offer on a house in Connecticut with these panels installed so the buyers will have to take over the lease. The company us Sunrun. Any of you have any experience with leasing these panels and/or this company in particular? What happens at the end of the lease? Is it worth buying out the lease upfront?
Sunrun is who I have with my rental home. They should ask to see the contract. IIRC, when leasing, the new owner has the choice to continue as a lease, buy out at “current market value,” or discontinue and they come take it away. I was always curious what current market value is. I can’t imagine used solar panels have very good resale value.

I don’t know the CT SREC rules to give a good assessment of whether or not it makes sense to buy them.

I was thinking the same thing. How much are used solar panels worth? Do they degrade at a known rate? Do they depreciate faster at the beginning like a car? Are you buying a used panel that is not as efficient due to wear?

All things I’d like to know,

stickguy · August 2020

always comes down to what is in the contract, but I would bet that the solar company really wants to keep the panels on the roof and the lease payment coming in. Having to come out and take down panels they probably can't do anything with but recycle is not something they are likely to be interested in. But, maybe the penalty for the current owner is steep enough to make it worth their while.

I wonder also about the case where (like QB) the seller owns the panels outright. Unlikely they want to take them off the house, so if the buyer doesn't want them (or at least won't pay for them) do they usually end up just leaving them?

explorerx4 · August 2020

BTW, I did look at new Explorers, too. Some of then still have obvious interior fit and finish issues.
One of then even looked like a long piece of dash trim had been reattached with some brown construction adhesive, but it still wasn't right.

fintail · August 2020

Sounds like we watch some of the same content. The auctions and flipping is an interesting idea to me, but it would probably be easier for me to cut out the middle man to just throw money into a lit fireplace.

For some reason, I like that red early ovoid Taurus wagon Randy rescued as well. The Dodge is super cool, will be a great driver once it is painted.

oldfarmer50 said:

Randy from AAR has his buddy Weird Beard fix and sell some of his cars. The stuff that guy does in a shed out in the bushes is pretty interesting. He just took Randy’s 59’ Coronet in to do body work.

xwesx · August 2020

stickguy said:
I had that OF. and bought a spare tire kit instead. Oddly, they left the inflator in the cover along with all the jack tools. I need to check, but I think they stiffed me out of the fix a flat can.

A lot of cars actually have a subwoofer or other audi equipment in the well, preventing a spare from going in. the 2018 Volvo I looked at was like that.

I think in the TLX a spare might fit over the battery be can't be sure.

Audi puts the sub inside the spare tire. It's designed to fit in there as part of the hold down. Good use of space, but it's a pain to get the spare out.

And, there are only certain situations where an inflator and a can of "Fix-a-flat" proves effective. All too often, you might as well have nothing if you only have those.

benjaminh · August 2020

Car and Driver says that Tesla is stretching the truth by gaming the badly flawed EPA system.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a33824052/adjustment-factor-tesla-uses-for-big-epa-range-numbers/

"....our own 75-mph highway testing shows Teslas, on average, miss their label range by 27 percent, while all other EVs have missed the mark by 22 percent. Given that—and recent fuel-economy and emissions scandals at Ford, Hyundai-Kia, and Volkswagen—we couldn't just take Tesla at its word."

What this means is that the standard Tesla Model 3 with a supposed range of "250 miles" can't actually get anywhere close to that on the highway, with the real world number on the highway with a full charge more like 190. And that 190 would be running it till it's dead, which makes the actual range, leaving the same charge as about a gallon left in the tank of an ICE vehicle, more like 170. And charging your battery more than 95% reduces the battery's lifespan, actually damaging a key part of your vehicle, which means that that the true bottom-line highway range of a Model 3 with an 85% charge would be more like 150 miles. That's more than enough for around town and short trips, but for a long road trip that's inconvenient to be going to a Supercharger every 2 hours for a 30-minute charge-up to 85%.

What this means to me is that I'm not willing to do that to own a Tesla, and will instead likely buy out my TLX, which has a real-world highway range of 575 miles (36 mpg x 16 gallons) with a gallon still in reserve in the 17.2 gallon tank.

oldfarmer50 · August 2020

fintail said:
Sounds like we watch some of the same content. The auctions and flipping is an interesting idea to me, but it would probably be easier for me to cut out the middle man to just throw money into a lit fireplace.

For some reason, I like that red early ovoid Taurus wagon Randy rescued as well. The Dodge is super cool, will be a great driver once it is painted.

oldfarmer50 said:

Randy from AAR has his buddy Weird Beard fix and sell some of his cars. The stuff that guy does in a shed out in the bushes is pretty interesting. He just took Randy’s 59’ Coronet in to do body work.

That Taurus is my kind of car, low mileage for a 24 year old car, no rust and best of all...cheap.

benjaminh · August 2020

In another article, C & D asks for the EPA to come up with a new and better test of electric vehicle range that's closer to the real world.

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a33825136/evs-deserve-a-new-epa-range-test/

"All of this means that if you want an EV that can repeatedly drive 200 miles on the highway between charges, you'll need to look for one with an EPA range around 350 miles. That makes the agency's current ratings more misleading than helpful. EV buyers deserve a realistic range test that places more emphasis on high-speed highway driving."

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