Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

tjc78 · July 2023

I wish I was comfortable at 79!

Sandman6472 · July 2023

78 is downright freezing for the wife & myself, 79 is a nice temp. It's been this way since day 1 of ownership. We have a York unit with a very high SEER number, 1700as I recall, and at the time I chose it, our company said it was as good as the Carrier & Trane units they also were selling, just that the York unit had the highest rebate at the time. I asked the sales guy, if it were your house or your mom's, which unit would you go with? He said hands down, the York unit so figured if that's the one he'd purchase for his own house & that of his mom. Remember after the rebates, it was just about $3900 installed, but down in South Florida in July, a/c is definitely needed. Heck, we use it most of the year, give or take, plus our ceiling fans.
Working outside as much as I do & have, want a good cool a/c unit in the house when I get home and am willing to pay thee price.

tjc78 · July 2023

You would need a hoodie in my house!

jmonroe1 · July 2023

tjc78 said:
You would need a hoodie in my house!

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Same as in my place. Most of the time the A/C is set at 75 but sometimes I go with 74. A/C has to run long enough to get rid of the humidity and the settings I’ve just mentioned work best for our house. Houses are not all built the same so you have to find the comfortable setting for how you house is built.

As for asking a salesman for advice about what they would want for themselves and their family, I’ve yet to have a salesman recommend a product that they don’t sell. You have to do your own research and hope you can afford what your research found.

jmonroe

corvette · July 2023

I'm hearing people on social media complaining that their central A/C units can't hold their desired temperature with the weather we've had for the last several days. The one on the main level of my house seems to be keeping up, but it's running almost continuously.

28firefighter · July 2023

In summer my house is 69-71. You’d need a parka.

xwesx · July 2023

When it comes to AC, I think it's all relative to the temperatures you're trying to escape!

Growing up, I only lived in one house that had air conditioning, and we always kept it at 80. Now, that felt really good coming inside, because it was often 85-110 between June and August. Plus, we had a basement (typical ranch-style home of the 1970s), and that stayed in the upper 60s year-round, so it was a glorious escape when even 80 was just too warm.

At our Conneaut place, my son likes to put the air at 70, and the heat pump units don't seem to have any issues with getting it there (despite the near complete lack of insulation in the house), but boy do we pay for it! I told him we would put it at 75 this year. We shall see how long that lasts!

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

tjc78 said:
You would need a hoodie in my house!

79 would be a bit warm for me too but my in-laws in Kissimmee say their blood has thinned to the point where they’re comfortable at a higher temperature than when they lived in NY.

I like my rooms to be under 75.

corvette · July 2023

In the summer, 72 upstairs and down, here. 68-ish in the winter, although on very cold days, I have to click the downstairs thermostat up a degree or two to compensate for the lack of exterior wall insulation.

stickguy · July 2023

I hate being cold inside. If my wife didn't complain so much, I would never even close the windows and turn the AC on until it hit 80.

andres3 · July 2023

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rJqXodDw/2006-volkswagen-touareg-v10-tdi

This is interesting!

ab348 · July 2023

I remember back around 1990 or so a group of us went to Orlando on a business trip in June when it was 90/90 weather every day. We were dying anytime we stepped outside since that was quite foreign to us, and we were amazed at how the locals tolerated it. When we were in our hotel rooms all of us had the thermostat set to mid to high ‘60s, which the locals just could not understand. Felt good to us though.

Sandman6472 · July 2023

Our a/c unit must be damn good because at 78 I'm freezing! And we have a one level house here in Florida. Up in New York, we had a split level which had a/c and it was on a lot during those few weeks of summer that I was home. We usually left for summer camp in Connecticut, Clinton, the last Sunday of June & returned home the last Sunday in August. We were gone for 56 days & lived in bunks with no a/c...but at night, it would cool down a bit so it was pretty comfortable.
The last week or so we've been going through a bad heat spell so glad that a/c guy found the issue with our unit. Last Saturday, it was pretty hot inside & the thermostat showed 85. Was super hot in the house even with the fans moving, still uncomfortable.

jmonroe1 · July 2023

andres3 said:
https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rJqXodDw/2006-volkswagen-touareg-v10-tdi

This is interesting!

————————————————-
You’re off topic. Haven’t you noticed, we’re doing HVAC right now.

jmonroe

stickguy · July 2023

Sandy, I grew up not far from you in NY (across the Hudson) and our house ( a ranch) never had AC until I was already out of college and gone. Not even a room AC unit. My parents finally got one of those in their bedroom, and some years later, actually put central air in.

Some hot nights in that sweatbox! Probably why I still don't like AC 40 years later.

Oh, they never had a car with AC either until long after I was gone. also fun on summer road trips with 5 people jammed into the Volvo. at least it had cloth seats.

roadburner · July 2023

We keep our house at 71 in the summer and 68 in the winter.

nyccarguy · July 2023

1150 miles added to the Highlander since Monday. Our first trip to the Outer Banks was nothing short of incredible. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - the Highlander is great for 4 people, but it’s too cramped for the 5 of us.

xwesx · July 2023

andres3 said:
https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rJqXodDw/2006-volkswagen-touareg-v10-tdi

This is interesting!

For such a low mileage car, this one has a whole lot of problems!

ab348 · July 2023

The Touareg has a reputation as a troublesome and expensive used vehicle. I remember a guy I worked with bought one used and one day he began complaining that one headlight would not work and that changing the bulb did nothing. He took it to a VW specialist place and they told him a main body wiring harness needed replacing at a cost of a few thou because of all the labor involved, though the part itself was pretty expensive too. Apparently a great deal of body disassembly was required to replace it.

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

Has anyone noticed the bump in gas prices? My local Gulf station which was at $3.39 a few weeks ago for RUG is now at $3.79. Other stations are creeping up close to $4.

I know the Saudis have cut back production but this seems awful sudden.

Speaking of gas. Do you notice any difference between brands in how your car performs? The aforementioned Gulf brand seems to make my Kia run sluggish whereas Sunoco premium gives the Mustang a little more kick. Could there really be a difference or am I just feeling the actual difference between the too cars?

kyfdx · July 2023

Just follow the oil prices

28firefighter · July 2023

It’s been hovering over $5/gal in western WA for a while. Woof.

Michaell · July 2023

I’ve noticed an increase in prices here in Colorado. Filled up the Outback last week and mid-grade was pushing $4/gal.

jmonroe1 · July 2023

Michaell said:
I’ve noticed an increase in prices here in Colorado. Filled up the Outback last week and mid-grade was pushing $4/gal.</blockquote
———————————————
Don’t be surprised when our poster buddy @28firefighter asks you to run a hose out his way.

jmonroe

Michaell · July 2023

jmonroe1 said:

Michaell said:
I’ve noticed an increase in prices here in Colorado. Filled up the Outback last week and mid-grade was pushing $4/gal.

I just ship it to him in a 5-gallon jerrycan via FedEx.

nyccarguy · July 2023

Thoughts besides the fact that it is an ‘05 and most likely priced too high?

https://www.westhavenautosales.com/details/used-2005-subaru-outback/95305370

Texted and received this message back:

Hello the Subaru is still available, the 3.0L 6cyl does not have a timing belt they have timing chains, also there are no issues with the head gaskets on the 3.0L 6cyl (which is why I like them lol) the car runs and drives perfect I just got it thru CT emissions with no issues, the air is cold, everything works like it should, very nice car
- Joe Sciarra | West Haven Auto Sales

EDIT - he also sent this to me:

Year in the tires is 2022, no major rust issues, I do a full safety inspection on all my cars, I did the oil, check brakes and anything else that any of my cars would need
- Joe Sciarra | West Haven Auto Sales

Sandman6472 · July 2023

Our house in New York came with central air/heat as it was built for us in 1957. And remember a/c in our cars starting with the 1960 Cadillac Sedan de Ville, a true tank if there ever was one. Guess my mom liked a bigger vehicle but also needed a lot of room as there were for kids in our immediate family, he last was a bonus child as I was the only one expected at that time.

sda · July 2023

VW must have loaded up my local dealer with ID.4s as they have 48 and I believe most are on the lot based upon what I saw this morning. The next highest is the Taos with 17. I know I've posed this question before, is the ID.4 selling? I've only seen a few in the wild.

ab348 · July 2023

The ID.4 isn’t selling well. That had been due to short supply, a recall that led to a stop-sale in April, and a shortage of certain components. Maybe now those issues have been resolved and they are shipping units that were waiting in storage until they could be made ready for sale? Could be a temporary thing.

ronsteve · July 2023

@ab348 said:
The ID.4 isn’t selling well. That had been due to short supply, a recall that led to a stop-sale in April, and a shortage of certain components. Maybe now those issues have been resolved and they are shipping units that were waiting in storage until they could be made ready for sale? Could be a temporary thing.

When I had the Jetta in for service a couple weeks ago, Bachman was flush with ID.4 and Taos, and not too bad on Atlas inventory. But only three Tiguans and the only 4 Motion was the S trim.

corvette · July 2023

Tentatively planning on visiting NAIAS on Sunday, September 17. The plan is for me to drive up to Detroit the afternoon of Friday, the 15th, then pick up my better half at the airport on the 16th. Just thought I'd throw that out there in the event anyone else might be interested in a meetup.

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

nyccarguy said:
Thoughts besides the fact that it is an ‘05 and most likely priced too high?

https://www.westhavenautosales.com/details/used-2005-subaru-outback/95305370

Texted and received this message back:

Hello the Subaru is still available, the 3.0L 6cyl does not have a timing belt they have timing chains, also there are no issues with the head gaskets on the 3.0L 6cyl (which is why I like them lol) the car runs and drives perfect I just got it thru CT emissions with no issues, the air is cold, everything works like it should, very nice car

- Joe Sciarra | West Haven Auto Sales

EDIT - he also sent this to me:

Year in the tires is 2022, no major rust issues, I do a full safety inspection on all my cars, I did the oil, check brakes and anything else that any of my cars would need

- Joe Sciarra | West Haven Auto Sales

Well, that’s good enough for me. If you can’t trust a used car salesman, who can you trust?

stickguy · July 2023

looks clean, and sounds nice. I gave up on trying to judge prices. maybe it is a little high, but miles are decent and if it really is fully dialed and ready to go, not going to break you.

corvette · July 2023

Did some very casual house shopping (more like looking), and most of the new construction out in the east end of the county is a complete disaster. It seems like developers just find a random sliver of a few acres, plat a subdivision of 30-50 homes on a dead end street, and connect it to a two lane feeder road. The subdivisions have sidewalks, but where are you going to walk? The feeder road has no sidewalks. Planning and zoning shouldn't be approving these disjointed abominations unless they connect to an existing subdivision. Some of them are a 15 minute drive from the nearest grocery, so you're paying "big city" prices for the property, but have neither the peacefulness of country living nor the conveniences of the city.

stickguy · July 2023

The house we are discussing with a small builder would be more up your alley. It is a pocket road in an existing neighborhood. A 5 acre lot where they put in a cul de sac road off a residential street, with a total of 5 houses going in. Other than them looking much newer than the older places surrounding the road it just fits in nicely. conveniently about 2 minutes from the highway, and a little over a mile (back way) to the shopping centers. But quiet and peaceful. IOW something you would never find now (that kind of location) for a big builder oversized neighborhood that go out in the boonies.

laurasdada · July 2023

BJs PUG was $3.86 for the longest time; last two visits had rocketed up to $3.88.

corvette · July 2023

My plan at this point is to just go ahead and fix everything that would need to be fixed if I wanted to sell the existing place--failing clay line between house and (newer) septic tank, detached garage needs trim repair and paint, etc.

stickguy · July 2023

makes sense, will help sell (and should get investment back) and if you don't sell, will want it done for yourself anyway.

roadburner · July 2023

Second update on my friend's C7; the dealer can't get the engine to turn over- may be seized.
My friend is not amused.

corvette · July 2023

@roadburner - I thought it was just a simple battery problem? Kind of like the Subaru head gaskets that the mechanic says "look good?"

jmonroe1 · July 2023

@roadburner said:
Second update on my friend's C7; the dealer can't get the engine to turn over- may be seized.
My friend is not amused.

————————————————
I must have missed something. How did it go from needing a battery (I’m pretty sure that’s how this started) to a seized engine?

Jmonroe

roadburner · July 2023

The car was running rough and several warning messages popped up- then it died and would not restart. The number of warning lights and the no-start led everyone to believe that the problem was a weak/dead battery. Apparently that is not the case.

jmonroe1 · July 2023

@roadburner said:
The car was running rough and several warning messages popped up- then it died and would not restart. The number of warning lights and the no-start led everyone to believe that the problem was a weak/dead battery. Apparently that is not the case.

————————————————
Yikes, I take it that the car is out of warranty. Definitely doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a cheap repair.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 · July 2023

corvette said:
My plan at this point is to just go ahead and fix everything that would need to be fixed if I wanted to sell the existing place--failing clay line between house and (newer) septic tank, detached garage needs trim repair and paint, etc.

Sounds like the classic car decision, fix what you have or buy new at inflated prices. I’d spend a little on your existing house. You’d be surprised what a coat of paint will do for your mood.

ab348 · July 2023

corvette said:
Did some very casual house shopping (more like looking), and most of the new construction out in the east end of the county is a complete disaster. It seems like developers just find a random sliver of a few acres, plat a subdivision of 30-50 homes on a dead end street, and connect it to a two lane feeder road. The subdivisions have sidewalks, but where are you going to walk? The feeder road has no sidewalks. Planning and zoning shouldn't be approving these disjointed abominations unless they connect to an existing subdivision. Some of them are a 15 minute drive from the nearest grocery, so you're paying "big city" prices for the property, but have neither the peacefulness of country living nor the conveniences of the city.

In the suburbs west of Halifax there were major wildfires at the end of May after a very dry period. Still unconfirmed but credible story (caught on phone video) re the cause was a person who lived in one of the newish subdivisions in a forested area burning trash (illegally) having the fire get away from them and in an instant the forest was on fire. These subdivisions popped up like mushrooms in that area over the last 25 years and they were all similar - one road in and out from an already undersized 2-lane country road that is perpetually jammed, and lots of trees so lots of fuel for the fires. You can imagine the result when people tried to get out. It was a minor miracle no lives were lost, but hundreds of houses were destroyed. These places were as you described. No services, nothing other than C-stores nearby, no walking except on the gravel shoulders of the roads. Many do not even have municipal water or sewer, which was a huge challenge for firefighters. My boss years ago lived in one of those high-end developments and after I visited his place I never understood the appeal. You couldn't even be outside much of the time during the milder months because of the bugs. People would do outside work in full protective outfits just to escape the biting insects.

nyccarguy · July 2023

@qbrozen - check your DMs

andres3 · July 2023

jmonroe1 said:

andres3 said:
https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rJqXodDw/2006-volkswagen-touareg-v10-tdi

This is interesting!
————————————————-
You’re off topic. Haven’t you noticed, we’re doing HVAC right now.

jmonroe

Sorry.

75 in the Summer and don't need heat really in San Diego. I'm inland a bit though. About 10 degrees warmer than Downtown San Diego.

stickguy · July 2023

75 and breezy here today. AC off and windows open!

kyfdx · July 2023

stickguy said:
75 and breezy here today. AC off and windows open!

82 for a high later today, here... it's very nice. 67 when on a walk, this morning.

stickguy · July 2023

forecast for most of the 10 day is highs/low about 79/59. too many rain chances though. No humidity right now which is nice. feels more like mid-september out.

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