Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

stickguy · September 2021

vinyl floor, and really, walls are overrated in a basement rec room. or use plastic panels. But carpet and drywall, have no place in a basement!

qbrozen · September 2021

So, little quality things keep coming up with the Fiat. Hopefully these are the things people complain about and they don’t get worse.

A few weeks ago, I kept hearing a rattle in the door. It was driving me nuts. Pull the door apart at home and find one of the window motor nuts had fallen off. Re-installed with a lock washer. Then a few days ago, while I’m driving, the cover of the armrest broke off. All the tabs had snapped. I used some construction glue to put it back together. Then my wife tells me last night the trunk will no
longer open from the outside. After taking some things apart and checking fuses, I did some searching online and found a common problem with the convertible top needing resetting to unlock the trunk lockout. Done and done. Like I said, little things. But probably stuff that most people are going to a dealer for.

corvette · September 2021

qbrozen said:
So, little quality things keep coming up with the Fiat. Hopefully these are the things people complain about and they don’t get worse.

Car Wizard just did a video on this, basically saying that if you don't want to be nickeled and dimed to death, you should buy a Toyota or Lexus.

qbrozen · September 2021

@corvette said:
Car Wizard just did a video on this, basically saying that if you don't want to be nickeled and dimed to death, you should buy a Toyota or Lexus.

Well, knock on wood, I have yet to spend a dime on it after purchase. It should go in for an oil change one of these days.

Michaell · September 2021

stickguy said:
vinyl floor, and really, walls are overrated in a basement rec room. or use plastic panels. But carpet and drywall, have no place in a basement!

Huh.

I think 3 or 4 people on my block have finished their basement in the past 6 months. My neighbor across the street just finished theirs last week.

Their basement is ~800sf, and they finished it all - bedroom, full bath and a living space. I think they needed the extra space as they are now WFH, and have two kids (10 and 14).

My basement is unfinished, but 1700SF (full size of our ranch style house), and we've discussed finishing about half of it, much the same way as described above. But, at roughly $65/sf for completion, that's a bunch of money to spend. Typical recoup on sale is roughly 75-80% of the spend.

Regarding flooding, we have a sump pump installed to drain the peripheral water that gets collected. We do live somewhat downstream from a new dam/reservoir to supply water to our town. Given the drought conditions we have, I don't expect it to fail or flood while we're living in the house.

At the moment, just idle speculation with the wife and I.

qbrozen · September 2021

@qbrozen said:

@corvette said:
Car Wizard just did a video on this, basically saying that if you don't want to be nickeled and dimed to death, you should buy a Toyota or Lexus.

Well, knock on wood, I have yet to spend a dime (nor nickel) on it after purchase. It should go in for an oil change one of these days.

cdnpinhead · September 2021

qbrozen said:
So, little quality things keep coming up with the Fiat

Fix It Again, Tony

corvette · September 2021

qbrozen said:
Well, knock on wood, I have yet to spend a dime (nor nickel) on it after purchase. It should go in for an oil change one of these days.

The secret trick *they* don't want you to know is that you can just reset the light every time it goes off without ever changing the oil! Subscribe to my channel for more tips!

mjfloyd1 · September 2021

Used car prices up again

https://www.autonews.com/retail/why-used-vehicle-prices-are-back-rise-again-us-after-summer-peak

kyfdx · September 2021

stickguy said:
vinyl floor, and really, walls are overrated in a basement rec room. or use plastic panels. But carpet and drywall, have no place in a basement!

Fortunately, our basement is above the water table, so no need for a sump. We lived here 11 years before we finished the basement, so had a pretty good idea that it would stay dry. It is a walkout basement, with a stepped down foundation for about 25% of it.

1100 sq ft finished. Carpet and drywall, with finished ceiling, as well.

stickguy · September 2021

Sounds more like above grade space so different conditions. Bradd has what I do it seems. A big hole underground.

nyccarguy · September 2021

qbrozen said:

@qbrozen said:

@corvette said:

Car Wizard just did a video on this, basically saying that if you don't want to be nickeled and dimed to death, you should buy a Toyota or Lexus.

Well, knock on wood, I have yet to spend a dime (nor nickel) on it after purchase. It should go in for an oil change one of these days.

I just got your PM from last week.

nyccarguy · September 2021

I’ve officially placed my order for a 4Xe Wrangler. Hydro Blue Sahara with Black Interior and the Open Sky Roof. Gorilla Glass, Safety, Advanced Safety, Trailer Tow, Cold Weather. I’ll post pics upon delivery in 9 - 15 weeks;)

jmonroe1 · September 2021

@nyccarguy said:
I’ve officially placed my order for a 4Xe Wrangler. Hydro Blue Sahara with Black Interior and the Open Sky Roof. Gorilla Glass, Safety, Advanced Safety, Trailer Tow, Cold Weather. I’ll post pics upon delivery in 9 - 15 weeks;)

Man, those Wrangler things are about as contagious as COVID-19.

jmonroe

qbrozen · September 2021

nyccarguy said:
I’ve officially placed my order for a 4Xe Wrangler. Hydro Blue Sahara with Black Interior and the Open Sky Roof. Gorilla Glass, Safety, Advanced Safety, Trailer Tow, Cold Weather. I’ll post pics upon delivery in 9 - 15 weeks;)

Rumors have blamed pretty much each one of those options for build delays. lol. So could be 8-24 weeks. ;b

stickguy · September 2021

Pilot replacement? Or Taco?

sda · September 2021

nyccarguy said:
I’ve officially placed my order for a 4Xe Wrangler. Hydro Blue Sahara with Black Interior and the Open Sky Roof. Gorilla Glass, Safety, Advanced Safety, Trailer Tow, Cold Weather. I’ll post pics upon delivery in 9 - 15 weeks;)

Does this replace the Pilot?

tjc78 · September 2021

@nyccarguy said:
I’ve officially placed my order for a 4Xe Wrangler. Hydro Blue Sahara with Black Interior and the Open Sky Roof. Gorilla Glass, Safety, Advanced Safety, Trailer Tow, Cold Weather. I’ll post pics upon delivery in 9 - 15 weeks;)

Awesome! This is to replace the Taco?

nyccarguy · September 2021

Taco replacement or Pilot replacement? Both actually. My wife has been driving the “family truckster” for the better part of the last 10+ years. She deserves something cool and fun. The winter weather isn’t getting any better. I’m sure she will put the Jeep’s 4WD capabilities to good use shuttling around to and from patients’ homes.

For now, I’m going to make the Pilot my daily driver. After December, it will be paid off in 1 year. I think I owe a little more than $8K on it.

stickguy · September 2021

Will the wrangler arrive before the Tacoma has to go back? If not, plan has a few holes in it!

nyccarguy · September 2021

6 month extension on the Tacoma is month to month.

corvette · September 2021

There are 14 different trim levels for the Wrangler on Jeep's website. IDK how anyone would pick, it looks more complicated than ordering a full size truck. Correction: Only three trim levels on the 4xe.

au1994 · September 2021

nyccarguy said:
I’ve officially placed my order for a 4Xe Wrangler. Hydro Blue Sahara with Black Interior and the Open Sky Roof. Gorilla Glass, Safety, Advanced Safety, Trailer Tow, Cold Weather. I’ll post pics upon delivery in 9 - 15 weeks;)

Thats going to be a good color combo. I was right around 12 weeks plus a few days…ordered on 6/28 picked up 9/16. It actually does move quick once you get scheduled for build.

I’ve racked up 144 miles, 115 of which have been electric.

Congrats, you’ll love it!

roadburner · September 2021

@corvette said:
There are 14 different trim levels for the Wrangler on Jeep's website. IDK how anyone would pick, it looks more complicated than ordering a full size truck. Correction: Only three trim levels on the 4xe.

If I go with a Wrangler I’m leaning towards a 2 door so that limits trim options a bit.

roadburner · September 2021

More confirmation that I should not buy a Supra- from a Supra forum, where a lot of owners are learning the hard way that many Toyota service departments do not have a handle on BMW technology:

Went to the dealership. Found out in addition to bricking the ECU they fried a bunch of ancillary electrical components, such as the camera system, etc. Pulled my contract...will have right of first refusal if they ever fix everything. The search continues... it was nice "owning" a Supra for 7 days.

Apparently some dealers are attempting to update ECUs without connecting the vehicle to a battery tender, the result being that the ECU immediately becomes a large paperweight.

qbrozen · September 2021

I messed up yesterday. Decided to go with some folks' recommendations online about how to fix Jeep's oversight of not having auto-up on the windows. Ordered a module that wires into the back of the window module. Took a good couple of hours. Time for the test ... driver's window goes down, try auto-up, nothing doing. Went down again, then it quit. Wouldn't move either way. To make the story brief, the switch assembly is fried. Pulled out the add-on module and, with much fiddling, jumped the window motor in the driver's door to get it back up. New switch with expedited shipping is running me $90. Sigh. Oh well. I did find one other poster online who had the same result. Yet, it works for many people. I dunno. Go figure.

corvette · September 2021

@roadburner - yikes, I thought the plugging into shore power when doing a firmware update is standard operating procedure for most makes of vehicle, in addition to being common sense. Would you consider waiting for the first crop of Supras to survive the factory warranty period, buying one used, and taking it to either the BMW dealer or your mechanic of choice?

stickguy · September 2021

How often does a Corolla need an ECU update?

qbrozen · September 2021

stickguy said:
How often does a Corolla need an ECU update?

Corolla ECUs look like this, right?

ab348 · September 2021

stickguy said:
How often does a Corolla need an ECU update?

Maybe the Toyo dealer didn't use a properly registered battery tender.

breld · September 2021

@nyccarguy - congrats! Sounds like a great and fun way to go!

corvette · September 2021

So, how many should we put the @breld household down for?

roadburner · September 2021

corvette said:
@roadburner - yikes, I thought the plugging into shore power when doing a firmware update is standard operating procedure for most makes of vehicle, in addition to being common sense. Would you consider waiting for the first crop of Supras to survive the factory warranty period, buying one used, and taking it to either the BMW dealer or your mechanic of choice?

At one time, maybe. However, I've talked to some long-time BMW enthusiasts that I trust and they all absolutely love the M2 Comp- and some of them are people who owned the revered E46 M3. I'm thinking more and more that the M2 Comp may be one of the true classic ///M cars. Heck, Jeremy Clarkson picked it over an E28 M5!

stickguy · September 2021

better just go get it then before it gets even more expensive. Treat yourself!

corvette · September 2021

For those of us interested in the Maverick, someone posted some interior photos of the XL model. I couldn't completely tell from Ford's official photos, but it's clear that even the XL has the blue-gray colored trim on the door panels and dash, which I think is a really nice touch.

oldfarmer50 · September 2021

qbrozen said:
So, little quality things keep coming up with the Fiat. Hopefully these are the things people complain about and they don’t get worse.

A few weeks ago, I kept hearing a rattle in the door. It was driving me nuts. Pull the door apart at home and find one of the window motor nuts had fallen off. Re-installed with a lock washer. Then a few days ago, while I’m driving, the cover of the armrest broke off. All the tabs had snapped. I used some construction glue to put it back together. Then my wife tells me last night the trunk will no

longer open from the outside. After taking some things apart and checking fuses, I did some searching online and found a common problem with the convertible top needing resetting to unlock the trunk lockout. Done and done. Like I said, little things. But probably stuff that most people are going to a dealer for.

FIAT=Fix It Again Tony.

oldfarmer50 · September 2021

mjfloyd1 said:
Used car prices up again

https://www.autonews.com/retail/why-used-vehicle-prices-are-back-rise-again-us-after-summer-peak

Some of that inflation has to be due to the total shutdown of used car supply from the rental agencies. That’s over a million less cars coming to market a year.

Today I drove a Camaro SS that had 54k miles on it. Usually we’d send them down the line at about 20k.

sda · September 2021

oldfarmer50 said:

mjfloyd1 said:
Used car prices up again

https://www.autonews.com/retail/why-used-vehicle-prices-are-back-rise-again-us-after-summer-peak

Some of that inflation has to be due to the total shutdown of used car supply from the rental agencies. That’s over a million less cars coming to market a year.

Today I drove a Camaro SS that had 54k miles on it. Usually we’d send them down the line at about 20k.

With many being high mileage and out of warranty, does Enterprise repair them when the trans fails, a/c needs major repairs, etc? Or do they just cut bait and send them to auction? Thanks for the good wishes, trying to stay positive. I’m not one to lay about the house so this is a different experience.

oldfarmer50 · September 2021

roadburner said:

@corvette said:

There are 14 different trim levels for the Wrangler on Jeep's website. IDK how anyone would pick, it looks more complicated than ordering a full size truck. Correction: Only three trim levels on the 4xe.

If I go with a Wrangler I’m leaning towards a 2 door so that limits trim options a bit.

Why would you replace your 1999 Wrangler which is arguably the pinnacle of Chrysler’s production?

stickguy · September 2021

fewer new car sales, so fewer trade ins. No rental dumps. more people buying out leases instead of turning them back in. snowball effect.

and with the recent Ida mess, many thousands of people that had no intention of buying now are suddenly in the market too, without the luxury of waiting.

oldfarmer50 · September 2021

qbrozen said:
I messed up yesterday. Decided to go with some folks' recommendations online about how to fix Jeep's oversight of not having auto-up on the windows. Ordered a module that wires into the back of the window module. Took a good couple of hours. Time for the test ... driver's window goes down, try auto-up, nothing doing. Went down again, then it quit. Wouldn't move either way. To make the story brief, the switch assembly is fried. Pulled out the add-on module and, with much fiddling, jumped the window motor in the driver's door to get it back up. New switch with expedited shipping is running me $90. Sigh. Oh well. I did find one other poster online who had the same result. Yet, it works for many people. I dunno. Go figure.

That’s my greatest fear when doing my own work; making it worse. I commend you for your willingness to try.

corvette · September 2021

I do see a few dealers with healthy-ish looking selections of used cars. I guess if you're willing to be the highest bidder, you, too, can have a completely full used lot.

stickguy · September 2021

there is a local chain near me. I think they have about 6 locations in the area. usually pretty nice stuff, but was always premium priced. They still seem to have pretty full lots. They say that their primary source was off-lease returns, so who knows when that dries up!

but a great place to look at stuff you are interested in since they have almost everything, and are very low key. Just hand you the keys and let you go off by yourself for as long as you want.

roadburner · September 2021

oldfarmer50 said:

roadburner said:

@corvette said:

There are 14 different trim levels for the Wrangler on Jeep's website. IDK how anyone would pick, it looks more complicated than ordering a full size truck. Correction: Only three trim levels on the 4xe.

If I go with a Wrangler I’m leaning towards a 2 door so that limits trim options a bit.

Why would you replace your 1999 Wrangler which is arguably the pinnacle of Chrysler’s production?

Yes, unfortunately- although I may yet fix a few issues on it and keep it until I die. After all, it served me well in two campaigns and helped us escape to civilization when ice storms and other severe weather blew trees down across the road.

benjaminh · September 2021

A Toyota supply exec said yesterday that over the next few months things should get somewhat better when it comes to chip supplies and the production of Toyota vehicles.

https://www.autonews.com/video/autonews-now-toyota-nissan-faurecia-execs-talk-chip-shortage

kyfdx · September 2021

stickguy said:
there is a local chain near me. I think they have about 6 locations in the area. usually pretty nice stuff, but was always premium priced. They still seem to have pretty full lots. They say that their primary source was off-lease returns, so who knows when that dries up!

but a great place to look at stuff you are interested in since they have almost everything, and are very low key. Just hand you the keys and let you go off by yourself for as long as you want.

We had one like that.. turned out to be a front for Russian money launders. (not kidding)

stickguy · September 2021

Wouldn’t have expected them in your area, but interesting still!

corvette · September 2021

Toyota recently released a bunch of info on the new 2022 Tundra. Nothing really unexpected, two engine choices, either a twin turbo V6 or a twin turbo V6 with a hybrid, with the hybrid setup making more power. No plug-in hybrid. There is some type of trailer backup assistance, but the website is vague on details. I doubt we will see unicorn leases on these for quite a while.

https://www.toyota.com/upcoming-vehicles/tundra/

jpp75 · September 2021

Congrats @nyccarguy! I test drove a 4xe a while back and definitely get the appeal.

jmonroe1 · September 2021

@benjaminh said:
A Toyota supply exec said yesterday that over the next few months things should get somewhat better when it comes to chip supplies and the production of Toyota vehicles.

https://www.autonews.com/video/autonews-now-toyota-nissan-faurecia-execs-talk-chip-shortage

It’s nice to learn that the slowdown in car production has given auto execs a chance to improve their golf game. Nice work if you can get it.

jmonroe

Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

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