Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy · May 2023

yeah, cars too in the last 20 years or so have gotten much taller. I noticed that even my 2000 Acura 3.2TL looked really low slung compared to a new Corolla, etc.

laurasdada · May 2023

I laugh seeing the M240 being dwarfed by the X3 in the garage.
I think I could put the M in the hatch of the A7...

Wife's son is adding a Tesla 3 to his fleet, currently Golf R and his wife's Rav4 Prime.

qbrozen · May 2023

@nyccarguy said:
Interesting you should bring that up. He's getting MUCH better, but he's not ready for his road test yet. I'm starting to see a few things pop up here and there that seem good. Over the weekend i saw a FB marketplace ad for an '09 Accord LX with a stick. Under 110K miles. Price seemed ok. I honestly don't remember what it was White over beige. Looked incredibly clean. Red flag number 1 is that it was located not that far from my store with no plates, so obviously a curbstoner. I checked his profile and noticed he had quite a few other mid to late '00 Hondas for sale. Haven't seen it since, so I assume it is gone.

Was at a friend's house yesterday evening returning the THULE roof rack he lent us. He was chatting with me about cars. He's been eyeing a Tesla model Y for a while now. Noticed the price drop recently and thought it would be a good candidate for their 1st EV. His wife isn't too excited about that, so he also likes the RAV4 Prime. His wife drives a '19 or '20 Ascent. He drives a '12 Camry LE Hybrid. It is Black on Grey (UBER SPEC) with only 112K miles. They bought it from his wife's parents who bought it new. There are a few bumps and scrapes, but it is in nice shape overall. I asked if he'd be willing to part ways with it as it would make an excellent 1st car for Andre.

So I’ll take that as a “no” on the bimmer. Lol.

28firefighter · May 2023

Man I'd have loved that BMW as my first car - wouldn't have looked like everything else in the school parking lot.

tjc78 · May 2023

Great color on Dad’s Tahoe.

tjc78 · May 2023

@28firefighter said:
Man I'd have loved that BMW as my first car - wouldn't have looked like everything else in the school parking lot.

My first car didn’t look like everything else in the school lot either. Of course no sane 17 year old would have wanted my first car either.. so there’s that.

xwesx · May 2023

tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

Man I'd have loved that BMW as my first car - wouldn't have looked like everything else in the school parking lot.

My first car didn’t look like everything else in the school lot either. Of course no sane 17 year old would have wanted my first car either.. so there’s that.

Same for me! In fact, my car was the most-talked-about car in the lot on the rare occasions I parked it there.

jmonroe1 · May 2023

@nyccarguy, you said this about your son in regards to him getting his license:

“Interesting you should bring that up. He's getting MUCH better, but he's not ready for his road test yet.”

Well, both Son #1 and I thought thought his youngest son (grandson #4) was ready to take his drivers test this past Saturday. I’ve been with him a few times and he has very good command of the car for a kid his age and I figured for sure he’d have no problem passing his test but he failed. When I asked him what happened he said the female PA State driving examiner said he went over the line at a stop sign. He was flabbergasted and said, “how do you know that you didn’t even get out of the car to check”. Her reply was, “I’ve been driving a lot longer that you have, I don’t have to get out to look”! He shot back, “but you haven’t been driving THIS car (he was driving the newly acquired 2005 Mini Cooper) longer than I have. I have a pretty good feel for where the bumper is on this car. I know it wasn’t over the line”. Her reply was, “I say you were over the line and what I say counts”. He knew he couldn’t win that argument so he’ll be taking his test again this Saturday.

The most interesting thing he told me is that when she handed him back his permit that she stamped FAILED (along with the date) she said, “you’re a very good driver for a person your age, I can tell you’ve had a lot of road time. You just have to have a better feel for where the bumper is on your car”.

He’ll forever be the black sheep of my grandsons for failing on his first try. Both of his older brothers passed the first time and so did his cousin.

jmonroe

stickguy · May 2023

at least he learned a valuable life lesson about dealing with authority!

jmonroe1 · May 2023

xwesx said:

tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

Man I'd have loved that BMW as my first car - wouldn't have looked like everything else in the school parking lot.

My first car didn’t look like everything else in the school lot either. Of course no sane 17 year old would have wanted my first car either.. so there’s that.

Same for me! In fact, my car was the most-talked-about car in the lot on the rare occasions I parked it there.
————————————————
You guys were lucky. I walked up hill going to and from school back in my day.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 · May 2023

jmonroe1 said:
@nyccarguy, you said this about your son in regards to him getting his license:

“Interesting you should bring that up. He's getting MUCH better, but he's not ready for his road test yet.”

Well, both Son #1 and I thought thought his youngest son (grandson #4) was ready to take his drivers test this past Saturday. I’ve been with him a few times and he has very good command of the car for a kid his age and I figured for sure he’d have no problem passing his test but he failed. When I asked him what happened he said the female PA State driving examiner said he went over the line at a stop sign. He was flabbergasted and said, “how do you know that you didn’t even get out of the car to check”. Her reply was, “I’ve been driving a lot longer that you have, I don’t have to get out to look”! He shot back, “but you haven’t been driving THIS car (he was driving the newly acquired 2005 Mini Cooper) longer than I have. I have a pretty good feel for where the bumper is on this car. I know it wasn’t over the line”. Her reply was, “I say you were over the line and what I say counts”. He knew he couldn’t win that argument so he’ll be taking his test again this Saturday.

The most interesting thing he told me is that when she handed him back his permit that she stamped FAILED (along with the date) she said, “you’re a very good driver for a person your age, I can tell you’ve had a lot of road time. You just have to have a better feel for where the bumper is on your car”.

He’ll forever be the black sheep of my grandsons for failing on his first try. Both of his older brothers passed the first time and so did his cousin.

jmonroe

I can remember when I took my driver’s license test at 16 everybody warned me that if I got “the white haired guy” I was doomed since he flunked everybody. The examiner I got had white hair but he must have been a different white haired guy because I passed.

Maybe your grandson’s examiner was his great granddaughter.

stickguy · May 2023

jmonroe1 said:

xwesx said:

tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

Man I'd have loved that BMW as my first car - wouldn't have looked like everything else in the school parking lot.

My first car didn’t look like everything else in the school lot either. Of course no sane 17 year old would have wanted my first car either.. so there’s that.

Same for me! In fact, my car was the most-talked-about car in the lot on the rare occasions I parked it there.

————————————————
You guys were lucky. I walked up hill going to and from school back in my day.

jmonroe

why? was your father using the family horse?

jmonroe1 · May 2023

stickguy said:

jmonroe1 said:

xwesx said:

tjc78 said:

@28firefighter said:

Man I'd have loved that BMW as my first car - wouldn't have looked like everything else in the school parking lot.

My first car didn’t look like everything else in the school lot either. Of course no sane 17 year old would have wanted my first car either.. so there’s that.

Same for me! In fact, my car was the most-talked-about car in the lot on the rare occasions I parked it there.
————————————————
You guys were lucky. I walked up hill going to and from school back in my day.

jmonroe

why? was your father using the family horse?
————————————————
It was so long ago, I can’t remember.

jmonroe

qbrozen · May 2023

@jmonroe1 said:
————————————————
You guys were lucky. I walked up hill going to and from school back in my day.

jmonroe

You forgot about all the snow

qbrozen · May 2023

I also had a very unique first car. For a little while, anyway.

Maserati arrived already, and of course eldest and I had to go for a spin. It doesn’t get off the line with much gusto, but DAMN that thing loves the upper revs. Feels like a far smaller and lighter car than it should. Needs a fair bit of work, but at least it is driveable.

sda · May 2023

qbrozen said:
I also had a very unique first car. For a little while, anyway.

Maserati arrived already, and of course eldest and I had to go for a spin. It doesn’t get off the line with much gusto, but DAMN that thing loves the upper revs. Feels like a far smaller and lighter car than it should. Needs a fair bit of work, but at least it is driveable.

What model is it? I was invited to drive a Quatraporte (sp?) some years ago and enjoyed it. I think the one I drove, also black was $114k. I still have the Bose headphones they gifted for doing a test drive. I have the brochure in one of my many boxes of car stuff.

qbrozen · May 2023

@sda said:
What model is it? I was invited to drive a Quatraporte (sp?) some years ago and enjoyed it. I think the one I drove, also black was $114k. I still have the Bose headphones they gifted for doing a test drive. I have the brochure in one of my many boxes of car stuff.

I may require a little more research into this. They claimed it is a GTS, but it lacks the paddle shifters. The Executive comes with the 19” wheels, which this has, but alcantara headliner, which this does not. Hmmmmm…

nyccarguy · May 2023

qbrozen said:

@nyccarguy said:

Interesting you should bring that up. He's getting MUCH better, but he's not ready for his road test yet. I'm starting to see a few things pop up here and there that seem good. Over the weekend i saw a FB marketplace ad for an '09 Accord LX with a stick. Under 110K miles. Price seemed ok. I honestly don't remember what it was White over beige. Looked incredibly clean. Red flag number 1 is that it was located not that far from my store with no plates, so obviously a curbstoner. I checked his profile and noticed he had quite a few other mid to late '00 Hondas for sale. Haven't seen it since, so I assume it is gone.

Was at a friend's house yesterday evening returning the THULE roof rack he lent us. He was chatting with me about cars. He's been eyeing a Tesla model Y for a while now. Noticed the price drop recently and thought it would be a good candidate for their 1st EV. His wife isn't too excited about that, so he also likes the RAV4 Prime. His wife drives a '19 or '20 Ascent. He drives a '12 Camry LE Hybrid. It is Black on Grey (UBER SPEC) with only 112K miles. They bought it from his wife's parents who bought it new. There are a few bumps and scrapes, but it is in nice shape overall. I asked if he'd be willing to part ways with it as it would make an excellent 1st car for Andre.

So I’ll take that as a “no” on the bimmer. Lol.

It is a fine automobile, but I'm thinking of something a little less "adventerous" than a close to 30 year old BMW:0)-

laurasdada · May 2023

I still remember my driver's test at the Norwalk DMV. My father timed it, 55 seconds. No parallel parking, literally a drive around the block.
I tested in my "first" car, our beloved '71 Saab 99; four on the floor. So, I did have to stop at a light on an uphill, but was proud of my ability not to roll back too much when the light turned green!

ab348 · May 2023

I took the driving test for my license in 1973 in our Volvo 144, which had great visibility. I thought it went well, but when it was over the inspector said that I had failed to check for traffic when he asked me to make a lane change. I knew where he asked me to do that so I told him that I did. When he disagreed, I said “But I did, there was a white Toyota (or whatever, don’t recall the make now but I do remember it was a white car) some distance back in the left lane”. That must have been what he saw too because he gave me a pass.

oldfarmer50 · May 2023

qbrozen said:
I also had a very unique first car. For a little while, anyway.

Maserati arrived already, and of course eldest and I had to go for a spin. It doesn’t get off the line with much gusto, but DAMN that thing loves the upper revs. Feels like a far smaller and lighter car than it should. Needs a fair bit of work, but at least it is driveable.

My company seems to have gotten rid of its stock of Maseratis as I haven’t driven one in over a year. They were fun up in the mountains on the curvy roads. Now the thing is Alfa Romeos. Somebody must have gotten a deal and picked up a bunch.

laurasdada · May 2023

A noontime meeting at our community clubhouse, 10 vehicles parked in front.
9 SUVs (three Forresters) and a Mini convertible. This makes me a bit sad for some reason.

qbrozen · May 2023

@laurasdada said:
A noontime meeting at our community clubhouse, 10 vehicles parked in front.
9 SUVs (three Forresters) and a Mini convertible. This makes me a bit sad for some reason.

Which part of that scenario? Because I see a few problems. ;b

xwesx · May 2023

qbrozen said:

Which part of that scenario? Because I see a few problems. ;b

There 'r' problems, for sure!

laurasdada · May 2023

What r you talkin' 'bout, xwillisx?

Sandman6472 · May 2023

I inherited my grandpa's 1967 Olds Cutlass Supreme 4-door as he passed in October of my senior year. Grandma couldn't drive & since my mom had gifted her dad the vehicle, my dad handed me the keys after a couple of days and said use it for school. Decent vehicle for it's day & had it through college and a year after that. Went through a couple of color changes but never stranded me in all the years I had it.

qbrozen · May 2023

@xwesx said:
There 'r' problems, for sure!

I don’t get it

xwesx · May 2023

How exciting! I'm waaaay too subtle today!

I told a joke in my office earlier today.... I said, "My daughter really wanted me to make paper airplanes with her last night. I wasn't really interested, but she was so insistent that I finally folded." One guy laughs heartily while this other lady tells me how important it is to spend quality time with my daughter. Haha!

Anyhow, "Forester" is a single 'r'. I'll let y'all put the pieces together from there.

qbrozen · May 2023

xwesx said:
How exciting! I'm waaaay too subtle today!

I told a joke in my office earlier today.... I said, "My daughter really wanted me to make paper airplanes with her last night. I wasn't really interested, but she was so insistent that I finally folded." One guy laughs heartily while this other lady tells me how important it is to spend quality time with my daughter. Haha!

Anyhow, "Forester" is a single 'r'. I'll let y'all put the pieces together from there.

OH dang. I'm slow today.

qbrozen · May 2023

Guess it was inevitable. I hit a limit with my BlueDriver OBDII when asking it to read subsystems of a 2008 Maserati. Finally went for the upgrade and ordered Foxwell's NT809 system. I'm sure I'll get my use out of it.

xwesx · May 2023

Do the cars coming in from overseas use the same OBD / OBD-II / OBD-II + CAN standards? I imagine that they're still old enough to be on OBD I... possibly just getting into the early days of OBD II.

Still, with the variety of stuff you're churning, you're bound to get a lot of use out of any unit you buy!

xwesx · May 2023

I have an older code reader that I used a lot for my cars over many years, but it doesn't read anything 2008+, so it's been dormant in the drawer for many years now (every since I sold the 98 Escort).

andres3 · May 2023

qbrozen said:

henryn said:

qbrozen said:
Apparently the 2nd bidder is in at 8400.

Yes, they supposedly keep the deposit from bidder 1 (I guess that’s more profit for them) and ban the user.

How much is the deposit? Not that it matters very much to you if you don't get it, but losing a substantial deposit should discourage most people from bidding without intending to actually buy.
You pay the full buyer's fee up front. So, in this case, they will have pocketed $382.50 from buyer 1 and nearly that again from buyer 2. Would seem they benefit from flaking bidders, so not much desire to deter them, I'd imagine.

They should split the deposit with the seller.

qbrozen · May 2023

xwesx said:
Do the cars coming in from overseas use the same OBD / OBD-II / OBD-II + CAN standards? I imagine that they're still old enough to be on OBD I... possibly just getting into the early days of OBD II.

Still, with the variety of stuff you're churning, you're bound to get a lot of use out of any unit you buy!

'96 starts OBDII. But, as we found with the Opel, that doesn't mean it works here. The fine employees of NJ Motor Vehicles could not get the computer to communicate with it, regardless of it being OBDII.

explorerx4 · May 2023

The Opel is OBDII but they still need some software specific to that car to test it.
Years ago in CT, some Ferrari's passed emissions testing(faked results) even though the software wasn't installed on the testing machines.

Michaell · May 2023

explorerx4 said:
The Opel is OBDII but they still need some software specific to that car to test it.
Years ago in CT, some Ferrari's passed emissions testing(faked results) even though the software wasn't installed on the testing machines.

Was that Charlie Babbitt?

explorerx4 · May 2023

@michaell,
There were multiple cars involved although I guess they could have had the same owner.
It was quite a while ago, so that's about all I remember.
HA HA your joke went totally over my head until I looked up the name.

corvette · May 2023

The Wichita YouTube car guys are partial to the Autel... It appears they offer several different models, but the ones I've seen on screen seem to be the more expensive ones.

jmonroe1 · May 2023

@xwesx said:
I have an older code reader that I used a lot for my cars over many years, but it doesn't read anything 2008+, so it's been dormant in the drawer for many years now (every since I sold the 98 Escort).

————————————————
So, is that the last time you screwed up and wasted money on a good obsolete trouble shooting tool? If you were in the biz, you could keep buying the latest and greatest tools and pass the costs onto your customers. Being you’re a shade tree type of guy you can’t do that but you’ll still have the satisfaction of doing it yourself and not paying someone else for their investment.

It’s been said, “the difference between a hacker and a pro are the tools”.

jmonroe

Michaell · May 2023

explorerx4 said:
@michaell,
There were multiple cars involved although I guess they could have had the same owner.
It was quite a while ago, so that's about all I remember.
HA HA your joke went totally over my head until I looked up the name.

I like being discreet with my name dropping. Glad you looked it up and figured out the connection.

xwesx · May 2023

jmonroe1 said:

So, is that the last time you screwed up and wasted money on a good obsolete trouble shooting tool? If you were in the biz, you could keep buying the latest and greatest tools and pass the costs onto your customers. Being you’re a shade tree type of guy you can’t do that but you’ll still have the satisfaction of doing it yourself and not paying someone else for their investment.

It’s been said, “the difference between a hacker and a pro are the tools”.

jmonroe

Oh, I didn't waste any money on it at all. I mean, I bought it in 2002 or so, and I used it dozens of times on my cars up until around 2012 (when I sold the Escort). I used it on the 1996 and 2007 Outbacks, the 1998 Grand Caravan, and the 1998 Escort. But, it didn't work on the 2010 Forester or the 2011 Fiesta, which are the cars I owned at that time, and the oldest car I've added to the fleet since then was a 2008 Forester, and I doubt it would have worked with that, either (but I never even tried it since I had my BlueDriver by then).

For the most part, any of those "hobbyist" diagnostic tools pay for themselves with a single use (as opposed to taking it to a shop for diagnostics), so it's always worth having one for a DIY person, even specialty ones like the RossTech unit for my Audi.

ab348 · May 2023

qbrozen said:
Guess it was inevitable. I hit a limit with my BlueDriver OBDII when asking it to read subsystems of a 2008 Maserati. Finally went for the upgrade and ordered Foxwell's NT809 system. I'm sure I'll get my use out of it.

With a Maserati, I have no doubt of that.

jmonroe1 · May 2023

@ab348 said:
With a Maserati, I have no doubt of that.

————————————————
I think you’re right.

I hope he bought a unit with the heavy duty connector cable. The standard cable connector pins wear out after about 2 months. His only hope without the heavy duty connector is that it’s flipped in a month.

jmonroe

qbrozen · May 2023

Trying to pick up a Countryman for my sister, but I just know I'll wind up stuck with it, so I need to get a great deal or I'm shooting myself in the foot. Had one at a Copart auction today, but the seller seems reluctant. I offered a price that, with shipping, would put me into it for $6k. It is a 2015 S AWD with 84k miles. Title comes back clean. Their listing claims front damage, but I don't see any except a missing tow ring cover. Only other thing I see is a rear bumper in need of a repaint. Anyway, they come back with a "counteroffer" of $600 more. I reiterate my number, they come back $100 lower ... this has happened 4 times now. I went up a whopping $50 on my last offer. I think if I just keep resubmitting they'll eventually meet my price. Maybe. If not, oh well.

qbrozen · May 2023

Nope. They decided to put into auction for next week. I'll try again if I don't find anything else before then.

qbrozen · May 2023

Came upon an oddball. I searched cargurus and found only 3 for sale nationwide. A RWD 328d with M Sport pack. This one has 165k miles. Their reserve is a bit on the dear side. I just wonder how the BMW faithful might react to it on, let's say, BaT.

jmonroe1 · May 2023

@qbrozen said:
Came upon an oddball. I searched cargurus and found only 3 for sale nationwide. A RWD 328d with M Sport pack. This one has 165k miles. Their reserve is a bit on the dear side. I just wonder how the BMW faithful might react to it on, let's say, BaT.

————————————————
You didn’t say how old it is but any BMW with 165K miles on it without a detailed service history sounds like a box of troubles. Maybe even with a service history.

You’ll probably need another scan tool so figure that into the purchase price.

jmonroe

28firefighter · May 2023

qbrozen said:
Came upon an oddball. I searched cargurus and found only 3 for sale nationwide. A RWD 328d with M Sport pack. This one has 165k miles. Their reserve is a bit on the dear side. I just wonder how the BMW faithful might react to it on, let's say, BaT.

To some extent that is exactly the intended use of a 328d - mile the heck out of it. But for the BaT faithful to be interested they're going to need top tier condition and extensive records, otherwise it is just another old BMW to nickel and dime you to death.

qbrozen · May 2023

jmonroe1 said:

You didn’t say how old it is but any BMW with 165K miles on it without a detailed service history sounds like a box of troubles. Maybe even with a service history.

You’ll probably need another scan tool so figure that into the purchase price.

jmonroe

I don't think they offered it very many years, but this one happens to be a '14.
As FF said above, it is a diesel, so the perception is that 165k ain't that bad. And its rarity probably makes the miles even less of a concern than normal.

It appears very clean, especially the inside, and the VIN report comes back clean. A normal non-M sport would be in the $10k zip code. Since there are only 3 others, I don't know what the M sport adds. I'm feeling like this has to be at least a $12k car. Maybe @roadburner has a better feel for it.

qbrozen · May 2023

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