Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

tjc78 · October 2021

Y’all beat me to saying it’s not likely Q will keep it past two years anyway!

@Sandman6472
None of my business but in reality they should be paying you $15 in this climate. All the fast food restaurants are $15 and up now.

jmonroe1 · October 2021

tjc78 said:
Y’all beat me to saying it’s not likely Q will keep it past two years anyway!

@Sandman6472

None of my business but in reality they should be paying you $15 in this climate. All the fast food restaurants are $15 and up now.

I agree but I don’t think @Sandy knows how to flip burgers.

jmonroe

qbrozen · October 2021

@stickguy said:
I just saw a tribute like that on FB in the next town over. looked very clean (and they claimed it was). I think about 120 miles, asking $4,800. Seems high, but maybe not these days.

for the car, definitely have to register up here. My guess, you just let the sticker expire. Nobody down there is likely to say anything about an expired sticker from out of state. only other choice is to bring it back and that seems silly.

That is high, unless newer than 05. This one is $3500.

roadburner · October 2021

My Club Sport was accepted for display at Legends of the Autobahn East. I have just three weeks to make it presentable...

tjc78 · October 2021

@roadburner said:
My Club Sport was accepted for display at Legends of the Autobahn East. I have just three weeks to make it presentable...

Awesome

jmonroe1 · October 2021

roadburner said:
My Club Sport was accepted for display at Legends of the Autobahn East. I have just three weeks to make it presentable...

Congrats.

A roller paint job will save you a lot of time.

Good luck and let us get a sneak peek before the official showing.

jmonroe

corvette · October 2021

Got a new O2 sensor this morning. CEL is already back on. Since that was the only code, I’m assuming that didn’t fix it. Previous owner said they replaced the sensor but it didn’t work, but the receipt she gave me was for an upstream and not a downstream one. Probably a wiring issue.

Oh, well, I feel like I’m done spending time and money on this issue.

jmonroe1 · October 2021

corvette said:
Got a new O2 sensor this morning. CEL is already back on. Since that was the only code, I’m assuming that didn’t fix it. Previous owner said they replaced the sensor but it didn’t work, but the receipt she gave me was for an upstream and not a downstream one. Probably a wiring issue.

Oh, well, I feel like I’m done spending time and money on this issue.

Give both of the connectors a good look see. That could be the problem. After that use a meter if you know what voltage to look for or a continuity check for breaks in the wire runs. If none of that works, I’ve heard that taping over the light is a pretty good fix.

jmonroe

corvette · October 2021

I found the section of the FSM that deals with that, and I think there is a way to test things using a multimeter by putting the car in service mode and forcing the engine to run.

boomchek · October 2021

Finally pulled the trigger and got myself a new WRX.

Cheap short term 2 year lease for a manual awd car I can drive kids to school in and commute my 15 minutes to work in.

Since this is a manual transmission, my wife will drive our Audi A7, the WRX will be my daily.

This is my 3rd purchase this year after my older C class and my older Civic coupe I had earlier this year. Older wholesale trade ins are almost impossible to come by right now for me to buy as commuters, so new it is this time.

Michaell · October 2021

boomchek said:
Finally pulled the trigger and got myself a new WRX.

Cheap short term 2 year lease for a manual awd car I can drive kids to school in and commute my 15 minutes to work in.

Since this is a manual transmission, my wife will drive our Audi A7, the WRX will be my daily.

This is my 3rd purchase this year after my older C class and my older Civic coupe I had earlier this year. Older wholesale trade ins are almost impossible to come by right now for me to buy as commuters, so new it is this time.

Congrats!

Time to update your signature....

nyccarguy · October 2021

@boomchek - nice! Congrats! What do the 2 year lease payments look like on that?

stickguy · October 2021

sharp looking. enjoy it.

jmonroe1 · October 2021

boomchek said:
Finally pulled the trigger and got myself a new WRX.

Cheap short term 2 year lease for a manual awd car I can drive kids to school in and commute my 15 minutes to work in.

Since this is a manual transmission, my wife will drive our Audi A7, the WRX will be my daily.

This is my 3rd purchase this year after my older C class and my older Civic coupe I had earlier this year. Older wholesale trade ins are almost impossible to come by right now for me to buy as commuters, so new it is this time.

Congrats @Boom. You better get a good coat of wax on it before the leaves hurt it.

jmonroe

benjaminh · October 2021

@boomchek Congrats!! Sharp.

qbrozen · October 2021

Made a deal on a beater. Not the one I made the appt for. Guy is a self-professed hoarder. Among many other vehicles, he had collected 5-6 Tributes/Escapes. All 4wd v6s. The ‘05 with 120k had a slight misfire at idle, what sounded like a vacuum leak at the back of the engine, and an oil leak. And I really wasn’t fond of the leather. He then pointed out an ‘02 with 80k. I liked the seats much more. Drove that but AC wouldn’t get cold, brakes were vibrating, and it idled a bit rough in gear. So then he points to a 2010 escape. I thought “too much” but asked anyway and he said he’d go down to $4k on it. Has 101k miles. I looked it over, it has some rust in the typical spots but runs SO SMOOTH and QUIET. I figured it is well worth some rust repair to get one so much newer and so mechanically sound. I’m picking it up tomorrow afternoon so I’ll share pics then.

stickguy · October 2021

sounds like a good deal in this market. I would have picked that too based on the way you described them.

oldfarmer50 · October 2021

tjc78 said:
Y’all beat me to saying it’s not likely Q will keep it past two years anyway!

@Sandman6472

None of my business but in reality they should be paying you $15 in this climate. All the fast food restaurants are $15 and up now.

They only pay us $12.50/hr. in the taxiest state in the country. The company bumped us 30 cents but that doesn’t even pay for the increase in gas prices which for premium just topped $4.

Burger flippers alone get $15/hr. for reasons only a political analyst could fathom.

oldfarmer50 · October 2021

roadburner said:
My Club Sport was accepted for display at Legends of the Autobahn East. I have just three weeks to make it presentable...

Now, that is cool!

oldfarmer50 · October 2021

boomchek said:
Finally pulled the trigger and got myself a new WRX.

Cheap short term 2 year lease for a manual awd car I can drive kids to school in and commute my 15 minutes to work in.

Since this is a manual transmission, my wife will drive our Audi A7, the WRX will be my daily.

This is my 3rd purchase this year after my older C class and my older Civic coupe I had earlier this year. Older wholesale trade ins are almost impossible to come by right now for me to buy as commuters, so new it is this time.

Looks nice. Things must be getting tough when the used car salesman can’t find a used car.

jmonroe1 · October 2021

qbrozen said:
Made a deal on a beater. Not the one I made the appt for. Guy is a self-professed hoarder. Among many other vehicles, he had collected 5-6 Tributes/Escapes. All 4wd v6s. The ‘05 with 120k had a slight misfire at idle, what sounded like a vacuum leak at the back of the engine, and an oil leak. And I really wasn’t fond of the leather. He then pointed out an ‘02 with 80k. I liked the seats much more. Drove that but AC wouldn’t get cold, brakes were vibrating, and it idled a bit rough in gear. So then he points to a 2010 escape. I thought “too much” but asked anyway and he said he’d go down to $4k on it. Has 101k miles. I looked it over, it has some rust in the typical spots but runs SO SMOOTH and QUIET. I figured it is well worth some rust repair to get one so much newer and so mechanically sound. I’m picking it up tomorrow afternoon so I’ll share pics then.

How’d you find a curbstoner like that? I guess sometimes you just get lucky. A little bondo on a beast that age ain’t nothin.

Good luck with it.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 · October 2021

qbrozen said:
Made a deal on a beater. Not the one I made the appt for. Guy is a self-professed hoarder. Among many other vehicles, he had collected 5-6 Tributes/Escapes. All 4wd v6s. The ‘05 with 120k had a slight misfire at idle, what sounded like a vacuum leak at the back of the engine, and an oil leak. And I really wasn’t fond of the leather. He then pointed out an ‘02 with 80k. I liked the seats much more. Drove that but AC wouldn’t get cold, brakes were vibrating, and it idled a bit rough in gear. So then he points to a 2010 escape. I thought “too much” but asked anyway and he said he’d go down to $4k on it. Has 101k miles. I looked it over, it has some rust in the typical spots but runs SO SMOOTH and QUIET. I figured it is well worth some rust repair to get one so much newer and so mechanically sound. I’m picking it up tomorrow afternoon so I’ll share pics then.

That’s a bargain in this market. Start looking at those YT videos where they fix rust with spray foam and Bondo.

stickguy · October 2021

oldfarmer50 said:

tjc78 said:
Y’all beat me to saying it’s not likely Q will keep it past two years anyway!

@Sandman6472

None of my business but in reality they should be paying you $15 in this climate. All the fast food restaurants are $15 and up now.

They only pay us $12.50/hr. in the taxiest state in the country. The company bumped us 30 cents but that doesn’t even pay for the increase in gas prices which for premium just topped $4.

Burger flippers alone get $15/hr. for reasons only a political analyst could fathom.

simple economics. supply and demand. You guys show up for $12.50. Not enough people want to work fast food for that. If all you retired guys decided tomorrow that it wasn't worth getting off the couch for that, pay would go up.

I worked at Burger King when I was in school. You could not pay me enough (ok, you could, but nobody would) to do it now. But driving around in different cars all day? Heck, I might do that for free!

jmonroe1 · October 2021

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

tjc78 said:
Y’all beat me to saying it’s not likely Q will keep it past two years anyway!

@Sandman6472

None of my business but in reality they should be paying you $15 in this climate. All the fast food restaurants are $15 and up now.

They only pay us $12.50/hr. in the taxiest state in the country. The company bumped us 30 cents but that doesn’t even pay for the increase in gas prices which for premium just topped $4.

Burger flippers alone get $15/hr. for reasons only a political analyst could fathom.
simple economics. supply and demand. You guys show up for $12.50. Not enough people want to work fast food for that. If all you retired guys decided tomorrow that it wasn't worth getting off the couch for that, pay would go up.

I worked at Burger King when I was in school. You could not pay me enough (ok, you could, but nobody would) to do it now. But driving around in different cars all day? Heck, I might do that for free!

Hey, @oldfarmer50 you better hope he doesn’t show up at your place. :@

Where I come from you could wake up dead doing stuff like that.

jmonroe

corvette · October 2021

Famous last words. I’m wondering whether the upstream O2 sensor is bad. The downstream basically acts as a tattle tale for the upstream, from what I read. I found a receipt where the previous owner replaced the upstream, but it was at least couple years ago and the invoice said it was a customer supplied part.

stickguy · October 2021

so odds are the cheapest Chinese made knockoff they could find on Amazon. get a real Toyota one and throw it in and see what happens.

corvette · October 2021

The good news is that I think I can replace the upstream one myself since it’s under the hood.

stickguy · October 2021

I have read/heard a number of times (various experts and YouTube notables) that cheap O2 sensors are one of the things that can cause a lot of grief. Some cars are particularly sensitive to knockoffs. I think there are a couple of parts that Hondas hate to have aftermarket pieces.

oldfarmer50 · October 2021

stickguy said:

oldfarmer50 said:

tjc78 said:
Y’all beat me to saying it’s not likely Q will keep it past two years anyway!

@Sandman6472

None of my business but in reality they should be paying you $15 in this climate. All the fast food restaurants are $15 and up now.

They only pay us $12.50/hr. in the taxiest state in the country. The company bumped us 30 cents but that doesn’t even pay for the increase in gas prices which for premium just topped $4.

Burger flippers alone get $15/hr. for reasons only a political analyst could fathom.
simple economics. supply and demand. You guys show up for $12.50. Not enough people want to work fast food for that. If all you retired guys decided tomorrow that it wasn't worth getting off the couch for that, pay would go up.

I worked at Burger King when I was in school. You could not pay me enough (ok, you could, but nobody would) to do it now. But driving around in different cars all day? Heck, I might do that for free!

See, that’s the problem, most of us WOULD do it for free. Who could refuse a job description that reads: ‘old men laughing all day’?

Michaell · October 2021

Member needs advice - trade out for a beater?

28firefighter · October 2021

$36,2 for the Outback. Bets how high this goes?

stickguy · October 2021

that is nearly what original MSRP was.

qbrozen · October 2021

@oldfarmer50 said:
That’s a bargain in this market. Start looking at those YT videos where they fix rust with spray foam and Bondo.

Already ordered the spray, along with some black etching primer. My current plan is to cut, spray, and put on fender flares.

oldfarmer50 · October 2021

qbrozen said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

That’s a bargain in this market. Start looking at those YT videos where they fix rust with spray foam and Bondo.

Already ordered the spray, along with some black etching primer. My current plan is to cut, spray, and put on fender flares.

There are some companies that sell patch panels that use impact resistant epoxy glue that requires no welding which can restore the metal to an original look. I assume you’ll spray rust converter onto everything.

I had some fun playing with body work on my van last year. Somewhat less than professional results but it looks ok.

andres3 · October 2021

boomchek said:

andres3 said:
Cross posting because I need to vent!

I have bad news to report.

The 2015 S4 out of Arizona 11 months ago is no more. Cruising down the highway in top gear yesterday evening, a vibration, massive black smokescreen out the tailpipes, dummy EPC and Engine Lights, and loss of power. Towed to my Audi shop de jour by Triple A (95 minutes to get tow truck).

Short of 45,000 miles I'm getting a recommendation that I need (as suspected) a new engine, used or new. Very difficult to find a used S4 motor with such low mileage as mine. Ball park $7-9K for a used one 50 to 100K miles on it. Audi quoted $14,200 for a new one apparently.

The RISK of used cars.....:(

Of course, the shop manager says he's curious why the engine catastrophically failed too, since he's never seen one with low mileage fail, but that the diagnostic money for that is better put towards a new engine (used or new).

Suddenly, a DSG or AC Compressor failure seems like peanuts in comparison.
Yikes, sorry to hear that. My 2016 A7 has the same engine, and although it has only 59k kms (about 37k miles) it makes me a bit worried as I truly enjoy everything about the car so far. When I bought it last year through the dealership I work for (I bought it through an online dealer auction through my dealership), I also priced out an extended warranty and it was in the $4k-5k range (my cost) if I remember correctly with no repair caps. I took a gamble and skipped the warranty because I switch cars every couple years. Problem is I don't know what I would replace it with just yet.

You are probably fine. I've been asking around, and the engine isn't known for failures. Certain model 2.0T have more issues.

boomchek · October 2021

@oldfarmer50 said:
Looks nice. Things must be getting tough when the used car salesman can’t find a used car.

Lol. Not just a salesman, I'm a manager and I can't find cars, its tough out there.

boomchek · October 2021

@nyccarguy said:
@boomchek - nice! Congrats! What do the 2 year lease payments look like on that?

I'm paying $195 bi weekly 2 year lease $0 down. There were other economy cars with similar payments but all on 4 year terms and didn't want to go that long. Subarus have decent residuals, even for an outgoing model at the end of the year, and AWD is plus, hence my choice.

Sandman6472 · October 2021

Due to a scheduling issue, going in tomorrow from 12 to 4. Figured I'd be a nice guy & offer to come in so they'd have enough drivers. Guess I'll make up some for missing those two days last week. It's not like the work is hard or anything. And yes, I was brought up with a good work ethic so I feel it's important to always show up on time to be ready to work. My anniversary date at Enterprise is 12/3, so think I'll be getting a small raise and have a meeting with my boss. Supposed to happen yearly but didn't happen last year. I will use that opportunity to discuss taking on an extra day if possible so I can leave Toyota and just have one job. And if the answer is negatory, then I'll rethink leaving Toyota and possibly stay on a little longer. Supposedly the driver who left in August is wanting to come back so if he does, we'll have all shifts finally covered so I might be able to tweak my schedule and possibly give up Mondays.
Discussed this all with the wife & she's cool with it since she'll be working a lot at TurboTax during tax season & won't mind me being gone more for work. And will also make a few extra bucks for when I do decide to pull the trigger on something new once there is something new to actually buy! Am still intrigued with the new Corolla Cross and want to check out how well it might fit in my garage and if I can slide in & out like I was able to do with my Tucson. Not falling into a vehicle is a big plus for me as I get older & my pain level increases. I know the Hyundai Kona I sat in at the dealership last week and the one I drove on Wednesday were pretty good in that department. Could slide in/out pretty easily and liked the ergonomics to be honest. If the Corolla Cross is the same, I'd be quite happy as I do like the dash layout and it scoots pretty well for not having a turbo under the hood. Throw in a sun/moon roof and the JBL audio system and think I'd be quite happy.

Sandman6472 · October 2021

$195 bi-weekly...isn't that the same as $390/month? Is that a Canadian thing as I've never heard that here in the United States.

jmonroe1 · October 2021

oldfarmer50 said:

qbrozen said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

That’s a bargain in this market. Start looking at those YT videos where they fix rust with spray foam and Bondo.

Already ordered the spray, along with some black etching primer. My current plan is to cut, spray, and put on fender flares.

There are some companies that sell patch panels that use impact resistant epoxy glue that requires no welding which can restore the metal to an original look. I assume you’ll spray rust converter onto everything.

I had some fun playing with body work on my van last year. Somewhat less than professional results but it looks ok.

I remember doing body work back in the ‘70’s. There were times I swore GM built cars out of perforated metal that was sprayed with a heavy coat of paint. Once the paint came off you were in for body work. Just about the time you got pretty good at it you were done. Not all was lost though because in a couple years, at most, you got to learn all over again. :@ Glad those day are gone.

jmonroe

Michaell · October 2021

Sandman6472 said:
$195 bi-weekly...isn't that the same as $390/month? Is that a Canadian thing as I've never heard that here in the United States.

And, $390 Canadian dollars, which is around $315/mo USD

That’s a good payment for that car. Also.ends me to believe that the lease programs up north are much better for shorter terms.

qbrozen · October 2021

Actually, similar to how some suggest you pay a mortgage, biweekly has you making the equivalent of 13 monthly payments. So it works out to $422.50(CAN)/mo.

qbrozen · October 2021

@oldfarmer50 said:
There are some companies that sell patch panels that use impact resistant epoxy glue that requires no welding which can restore the metal to an original look. I assume you’ll spray rust converter onto everything.

I had some fun playing with body work on my van last year. Somewhat less than professional results but it looks ok.

Yes, rust converter. Is this patch that you speak of what you used for your less than pro result? You kind of lost me at “original look.” How do you hide the seams?

boomchek · October 2021

@Sandman6472 said:
$195 bi-weekly...isn't that the same as $390/month? Is that a Canadian thing as I've never heard that here in the United States.

26 bi weekly periods in a year. So take payment x 26 and then ÷ 12 to get exact monthly amount ($422.50)

If I stretched the lease to 48 months the payment would have been the same due to dropping residuals over the 3/4 years so didn't make sense to do that. Anyways since I switxh cars often, 2 years should be just right. Maybe in 2 years I can get the new Integra of its enticing enough.

xwesx · October 2021

qbrozen said:
I have a appt this afternoon to see a 2005 Tribute Awd Limited. Would rather not have leather but I’ll put on covers.

I thought I’d have to register the car in SC, but then thought “maybe I need an SC license to do that.” The interwebs agrees, but also tells me you can have only one license at a time. So, evidently, although the car will live in SC, it must be registered and insured in NJ. Huh. So how the heck does that work? I can’t be the only person wanting to do this. I do not want to drive it to NJ and back every 2 yrs for a new inspection sticker.

Interesting dilemma! I fully planned on the Crosstrek never seeing Alaska, so if we would have put it in the garage before we left, it would be in the same boat of living in another state and having plates in Alaska. Thankfully, we don't have the need to physically inspect it in-state any more, so I guess that's a plus here.

boomchek · October 2021

Michaell said:

boomchek said:
Finally pulled the trigger and got myself a new WRX.

Cheap short term 2 year lease for a manual awd car I can drive kids to school in and commute my 15 minutes to work in.

Since this is a manual transmission, my wife will drive our Audi A7, the WRX will be my daily.

This is my 3rd purchase this year after my older C class and my older Civic coupe I had earlier this year. Older wholesale trade ins are almost impossible to come by right now for me to buy as commuters, so new it is this time.

Congrats!

Time to update your signature....

Thx for the reminder. Just did.

boomchek · October 2021

Michaell said:

Sandman6472 said:
$195 bi-weekly...isn't that the same as $390/month? Is that a Canadian thing as I've never heard that here in the United States.
And, $390 Canadian dollars, which is around $315/mo USD

That’s a good payment for that car. Also.ends me to believe that the lease programs up north are much better for shorter terms.

Surprisingly, most short term lease deals are pricey, at almost 50-100% higher payments than a 2 year lease. You need to do 4 years to keep payments low, except in Subarus for some reason. Residual is at a high $24k even though the sticker price is $32k. And on a WRX if you stretch payments over a longer term they don't go down at all. So to me it doesn't make sense to go longer term if I don't need to.

ab348 · October 2021

Michaell said:

Sandman6472 said:
$195 bi-weekly...isn't that the same as $390/month? Is that a Canadian thing as I've never heard that here in the United States.
And, $390 Canadian dollars, which is around $315/mo USD

That’s a good payment for that car. Also.ends me to believe that the lease programs up north are much better for shorter terms.

You left out the "worthless" adjective to describe Canadian dollars, but since you're not Canadian I'll overlook it.

Up here both manufacturers online and dealers use the bi-weekly payment number as their default these days. I guess in the era of $80K pickups and SUVs it looks a little more reasonable than a 4-figure monthly payment number. Recently many have gone to quoting weekly payment numbers in their promos.

Only certain makes are offering sweet lease deals here right now, mostly Hyundai and a few others on certain models. I don't think any domestic makes are doing it as they have no inventory to move.

oldfarmer50 · October 2021

qbrozen said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

There are some companies that sell patch panels that use impact resistant epoxy glue that requires no welding which can restore the metal to an original look. I assume you’ll spray rust converter onto everything.

I had some fun playing with body work on my van last year. Somewhat less than professional results but it looks ok.

Yes, rust converter. Is this patch that you speak of what you used for your less than pro result? You kind of lost me at “original look.” How do you hide the seams?

This video explains it. I found it interesting because I have no welding equipment and this looks like you could do it in your driveway.

https://youtu.be/l3RztfKsrUw

My hillbilly repair was decidedly less sophisticated:

qbrozen · October 2021

Oh hell no. That dude is a pro. I’m not going through all that. Lol

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