Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

jmonroe1 · September 2023

roadburner said:
Today we drove home from a trip to Asheville and Charlotte; the median speed limit on the interstates must be 80 mph, as at that speed the number of people I passed and the number of people that passed me were roughly equal. The C43 impresses as a long-distance cruiser- my wife said she thinks it's the most comfortable car we've ever owned. It averaged a tick under 30 mpg for the entire trip.

About 10 miles from home, I noticed that the LR tire had lost a few psi. As soon as I arrived home and unloaded it I drove to the Tire Discounters just around the corner from my house. The manage was there and he told me that they don't repair run-flat tires (he must have been at lunch when the same shop repaired a RFT on my wife's X1). Explained that I had not run the tire flat -it was showing 30 psi- but no dice. I ended up pumping the tire up to the maximum number on the sidewall and drove it to my M-B dealer. I had to leave it at the dealer but the SA said that the tire would be patched if it was safe to do so.

As usual, I had to check out what was on the lot. I only found one car I'd rather have that the C43; unfortunately, it costs $130k more than I paid for the C43...

————————————————
Listen to this guy, he plans to take it with him.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · September 2023

oldfarmer50 said:

roadburner said:
Today we drove home from a trip to Asheville and Charlotte; the median speed limit on the interstates must be 80 mph, as at that speed the number of people I passed and the number of people that passed me were roughly equal. The C43 impresses as a long-distance cruiser- my wife said she thinks it's the most comfortable car we've ever owned. It averaged a tick under 30 mpg for the entire trip.

About 10 miles from home, I noticed that the LR tire had lost a few psi. As soon as I arrived home and unloaded it I drove to the Tire Discounters just around the corner from my house. The manage was there and he told me that they don't repair run-flat tires (he must have been at lunch when the same shop repaired a RFT on my wife's X1). Explained that I had not run the tire flat -it was showing 30 psi- but no dice. I ended up pumping the tire up to the maximum number on the sidewall and drove it to my M-B dealer. I had to leave it at the dealer but the SA said that the tire would be patched if it was safe to do so.

As usual, I had to check out what was on the lot. I only found one car I'd rather have that the C43; unfortunately, it costs $130k more than I paid for the C43...

My coworker who also drives for the Mercedes dealer was telling of a custom order lime green G Wagon with a $300k+ price tag that was rejected by the buyer when it arrived. Instead he bought a black G wagon with a $200k sticker.

Ordering a loaded crazy colored car and then changing your mind has to be something only rich guys can get away with.

————————————————
Yeah. Dealers hate it when I do that.

jmonroe

explorerx4 · September 2023

The M-B dealer just has to wait for a color blind customer with the money.

corvette · September 2023

I made the mistake of going to Oxmorons Ford for the first service on the Maverick. Ford is supposed to cover the first three services via their FordPass points system, but you can also use the points you are awarded to buy accessories. Long story short, they ran the service ticket as a cash transaction against the points and charged 27,960 points instead of the correct 11,000. I have an email out to the service manager as well as Ford corporate.

explorerx4 · September 2023

@corvette,
Check the VIN on your invoice.
The dealer I used a couple of times entered the wrong(and invalid) VIN.
No history or points for 2 services.

fintail · September 2023

roadburner said:
Today we drove home from a trip to Asheville and Charlotte; the median speed limit on the interstates must be 80 mph, as at that speed the number of people I passed and the number of people that passed me were roughly equal. The C43 impresses as a long-distance cruiser- my wife said she thinks it's the most comfortable car we've ever owned. It averaged a tick under 30 mpg for the entire trip.

About 10 miles from home, I noticed that the LR tire had lost a few psi. As soon as I arrived home and unloaded it I drove to the Tire Discounters just around the corner from my house. The manage was there and he told me that they don't repair run-flat tires (he must have been at lunch when the same shop repaired a RFT on my wife's X1). Explained that I had not run the tire flat -it was showing 30 psi- but no dice. I ended up pumping the tire up to the maximum number on the sidewall and drove it to my M-B dealer. I had to leave it at the dealer but the SA said that the tire would be patched if it was safe to do so.

As usual, I had to check out what was on the lot. I only found one car I'd rather have that the C43; unfortunately, it costs $130k more than I paid for the C43...

That's what MB is all about, serene high-ish speed cruising.

I think some TPMS sensors can be finicky too. Every now and then I get a random few psi too low message - I top it off, and then it's fine.

I think I posted it some time ago, an old co-worker/friend bought an AMG coupe like that - I forget what he paid for it (used), maybe around 100K. He had the original spec sheet for it, MSRP around 155K I believe:

tifighter · September 2023

@explorerx4 said:
$500? Someone is wondering where their wheels and tires went. One rim goes for $375.

To be fair, he started at $550 -

corvette · September 2023

@explorerx4 - the VIN appears to match. I know you can use points like cash for other things (parts, accessories, service on vehicles other than the new one you just bought), and I'm assuming they just charged the full rack rate for those services against the points to pad their pocket instead of applying whatever codes/discounts they were supposed to in order to get it down to 11,000 points. The way they processed it, I don't even have enough points left to cover a second service (at their rate), much less the third service and cabin air filter Ford is also supposed to provide.

Just now noticing they did not even give me the color coded form with the results of the "multi point vehicle inspection," which I believe I have always gotten at most Ford dealerships.

tifighter · September 2023

I heard @qbrozen likes these -
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1997-mitsubishi-pajero-7/

jmonroe1 · September 2023

explorerx4 said:
@corvette,
Check the VIN on your invoice.
The dealer I used a couple of times entered the wrong(and invalid) VIN.
No history or points for 2 services.

————————————————
Yeah, you have to keep an eye on invoices that a dealer fills out.

That’s why they bounced a 10 year 100K mile engine warranty claim on my ‘05 XG 350 when the engine blew up with around 42k miles on it in 2011. They wrote down the wrong mileage when I took the car in for warranty service when the seat belt light didn’t go out due to a pinched wire under the driver’s seat about 2 years prior to the engine blowing up. They recoded the mileage too low so when I personally did an oil change after that, and I recorded the proper mileage which was lower than what they showed on the earlier warranty service, before the engine blew, they said my oil log sheet was wrong. Even when I showed them where they made the mistake they still bounced the warranty claim. If you’re gong to ask why, they said, “we don’t make mistakes like that”.

Learned something that day.

jmonroe

tifighter · September 2023

And paging @breld -
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2003-bmw-540i-153/

qbrozen · September 2023

tifighter said:
I heard @qbrozen likes these -
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1997-mitsubishi-pajero-7/

no diesel = no deal

au1994 · September 2023

tifighter said:
And paging @breld -
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2003-bmw-540i-153/

Dang…already up to 11.5k.

explorerx4 · September 2023

You wanna take it home today?

roadburner · September 2023

nyccarguy said:
The C43 impresses as a long-distance cruiser- my wife said she thinks it's the most comfortable car we've ever owned.

@roadburner - To me, this has always been the hallmark of Mercedes-Benz.

I agree; what surprises everyone is that flipping a switch completely changes the character of the car. It's essentially two cars in one. It's like someone gene-spliced my E28 535is with a 1970 Chevelle SS 454.

roadburner · September 2023

So the dealer called me at 10 am this morning and told me the C43 was ready to be picked up. The tire was able to be repaired- for the princely sum of $49.20. The car was also washed and ready to go when I picked it up.

stickguy · September 2023

explorerx4 said:
You wanna take it home today?

I thought you wanted a pickup not another explorer?

stickguy · September 2023

question for the experts. what's the best lease deal on a compact non-premium SUV? DIL to be parents have to replace their Trax after it lost a battle with a large buck (not a fair fight). Looking for something similar to that. Possibly stretch toward a CRV size, but prefer a size class below (so an HRV, Roque sport if they still exist, etc.).

criteria given to me was "the best deal on a nice car". what brand specifically, not an issue.

In Mass.

corvette · September 2023

There is a Toyota broker in the Philly area that @nyccarguy and I have used and had good experiences with. I'm sure he could get the best deal reasonably possible on any Toyota (RAV4, the smaller HR-V type thing, etc.). I'd buy through him again.

Michaell · September 2023

stickguy said:
question for the experts. what's the best lease deal on a compact non-premium SUV? DIL to be parents have to replace their Trax after it lost a battle with a large buck (not a fair fight). Looking for something similar to that. Possibly stretch toward a CRV size, but prefer a size class below (so an HRV, Roque sport if they still exist, etc.).

criteria given to me was "the best deal on a nice car". what brand specifically, not an issue.

In Mass.

That's a tough space to lease in. No real good deals to be had there, to be honest. Poke around in the various lease threads to see what the numbers are for September - new programs for almost every make will drop next week (most of them on Tuesday).

explorerx4 · October 2023

@stickguy,
I decided that another SUV fit our lifestyle and in the garage better.

No deals locally on F150's and didn't really want to travel to IA to get a better price, deal with trade in, etc...
Went over take a test drive and we went from there. They closed 5 deals while we were there.

kyfdx · October 2023

stickguy said:
question for the experts. what's the best lease deal on a compact non-premium SUV? DIL to be parents have to replace their Trax after it lost a battle with a large buck (not a fair fight). Looking for something similar to that. Possibly stretch toward a CRV size, but prefer a size class below (so an HRV, Roque sport if they still exist, etc.).

criteria given to me was "the best deal on a nice car". what brand specifically, not an issue.

In Mass.

Not that the deals are great, but if they are current GM people, GM always seems to have loads of incentives to throw at loyalty customers. That can make deals decent, even when the lease parameters don't look favorable.

I don't see any programs for the 2023 Trax, but the 2024 is out. Or, maybe a 2023 Trailblazer? That's HR-V sized, I think.

qbrozen · October 2023

@explorerx4 said:
You wanna take it home today?

The only trim I’d get. Congrats.

breld · October 2023

tifighter said:
And paging @breld -
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2003-bmw-540i-153/

Love that topaz blue, though I’m not sure I’d be bold enough to go for a 540i. I did love my 530i.

And amazing buy on those wheels. That’s someone who just wanted to get them out of their garage…I respect that! When I was looking at the MDX, I had the same thought on the Type S wheel size and figured I could always find a knock-off set from an A-spec, but that Pilot set works great!

breld · October 2023

So when I bought the used 840i a few months ago, it was with the intention (err, excuse, justification, what have you) it would be my fun car in place of the upcoming Integra Type S.

Well…I just never told my Acura dealer that I was going to cancel my reservation. My salesperson emailed me to tell me my Type S will be going into production next month.

My wife, bless her, simply said, “you’ve had that on order for almost a year…you kinda have to buy it.”

Michaell · October 2023

breld said:
My wife, bless her, simply said, “you’ve had that on order for almost a year…you kinda have to buy it.”

I know it's blasphemous to say on this thread, but .... no, you don't.

Not unless you really, really miss rowing your own gears.

tifighter · October 2023

@breld said:
So when I bought the used 840i a few months ago, it was with the intention (err, excuse, justification, what have you) it would be my fun car in place of the upcoming Integra Type S.

Well…I just never told my Acura dealer that I was going to cancel my reservation. My salesperson emailed me to tell me my Type S will be going into production next month.

My wife, bless her, simply said, “you’ve had that on order for almost a year…you kinda have to buy it.”

Remind me what color again?

mjfloyd1 · October 2023

Michaell said:

breld said:
My wife, bless her, simply said, “you’ve had that on order for almost a year…you kinda have to buy it.”
I know it's blasphemous to say on this thread, but .... no, you don't.

Not unless you really, really miss rowing your own gears.

Heresy. This is @breld😂

mjfloyd1 · October 2023

tifighter said:

@breld said:

So when I bought the used 840i a few months ago, it was with the intention (err, excuse, justification, what have you) it would be my fun car in place of the upcoming Integra Type S.

Well…I just never told my Acura dealer that I was going to cancel my reservation. My salesperson emailed me to tell me my Type S will be going into production next month.

My wife, bless her, simply said, “you’ve had that on order for almost a year…you kinda have to buy it.”

Remind me what color again?

I recall it being white with extended shadow line pkg

roadburner · October 2023

qbrozen said:

@explorerx4 said:

You wanna take it home today?

The only trim I’d get. Congrats.

Ditto.

explorerx4 · October 2023

Some details of the transaction.
We had a PIN for the 'Friends and Family'(X Plan) fixed pricing through where my wife works(for another few months before retiring).
Price was about $500 over invoice but there was an X Plan only rebate of $750.
For my trade, the numbers from everyone were between 25K and 27.5K, except Carmax at 30.4K.
Showed the salesperson the Carmax quote on my phone and he went to get a number for my trade.
He came back with 26.5K which I said was too low, so he said give me your number to close the deal so I don't have to go back and forth, so I said 28K. Ohio has a trade in credit.
After a while he came back and said we have a deal, so I got close to the Carmax number which was not going to get the tax credit.
Told him I was going to put another 15k down and ended up financing the balance for 4 years @1.9%.
I had already cashed in 15k from one of my money losing investment market accounts.
At this point, I still didn't realize I was actually going to take it home while we were there.
I told him I had to go to the bank on Monday to get a bank check and he said a personal check is ok.
When we got to the finance guy, he said you owe me 15k whenever.
I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.

Gave them the check and the 2nd key fob today.

roadburner · October 2023

tifighter said:
And paging @breld -
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2003-bmw-540i-153/

In 2007 my BMW dealer had the identical twin on their CPO lot; the only option it was missing was the CWP so I passed- and ended up with the Mazdaspeed3 a few months later. Knowing what I know now about BMW V8s I don't have any regrets but it was a beautiful car.

qbrozen · October 2023

@breld said:
So when I bought the used 840i a few months ago, it was with the intention (err, excuse, justification, what have you) it would be my fun car in place of the upcoming Integra Type S.

Well…I just never told my Acura dealer that I was going to cancel my reservation. My salesperson emailed me to tell me my Type S will be going into production next month.

My wife, bless her, simply said, “you’ve had that on order for almost a year…you kinda have to buy it.”

I couldn’t imagine going from an 840 to a gussied up Civic. Talk about a downgrade. But whatever floats yer boat.

stickguy · October 2023

Good deal explorer!

I need to get working on finding a convertible when the first snow is expected. Probably a good time to trade an AWD SUV for one!

oldfarmer50 · October 2023

Here’s a nice little project for you.

https://albany.craigslist.org/cto/d/mayfield-triumph-spitfire/7661389188.html

You could work on in in your new garage over winter.

Michaell · October 2023

qbrozen said:

@breld said:

So when I bought the used 840i a few months ago, it was with the intention (err, excuse, justification, what have you) it would be my fun car in place of the upcoming Integra Type S.

Well…I just never told my Acura dealer that I was going to cancel my reservation. My salesperson emailed me to tell me my Type S will be going into production next month.

My wife, bless her, simply said, “you’ve had that on order for almost a year…you kinda have to buy it.”

I couldn’t imagine going from an 840 to a gussied up Civic. Talk about a downgrade. But whatever floats yer boat.

When I first met him, he had just traded a 5-series for a Mazda 3.

jmonroe1 · October 2023

oldfarmer50 said:
Here’s a nice little project for you.

https://albany.craigslist.org/cto/d/mayfield-triumph-spitfire/7661389188.html

You could work on in in your new garage over winter.

————————————————
I don’t think he has that many winters left in him?

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · October 2023

explorerx4 said:
Some details of the transaction.
We had a PIN for the 'Friends and Family'(X Plan) fixed pricing through where my wife works(for another few months before retiring).
Price was about $500 over invoice but there was an X Plan only rebate of $750.
For my trade, the numbers from everyone were between 25K and 27.5K, except Carmax at 30.4K.
Showed the salesperson the Carmax quote on my phone and he went to get a number for my trade.
He came back with 26.5K which I said was too low, so he said give me your number to close the deal so I don't have to go back and forth, so I said 28K. Ohio has a trade in credit.
After a while he came back and said we have a deal, so I got close to the Carmax number which was not going to get the tax credit.
Told him I was going to put another 15k down and ended up financing the balance for 4 years @1.9%.
I had already cashed in 15k from one of my money losing investment market accounts.
At this point, I still didn't realize I was actually going to take it home while we were there.
I told him I had to go to the bank on Monday to get a bank check and he said a personal check is ok.
When we got to the finance guy, he said you owe me 15k whenever.
I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone.
Gave them the check and the 2nd key fob today.

————————————————
I bought a car one time and gave the dealer a personal check but I didn’t have enough money to cover it. I wanted to go to the bank and transfers some money to my checking account and come back the next day but the salesman checked and said my check was fine. They’d just hold it for a couple days.

I think they were afraid of buyers remorse so they took my check right then and there. I was pretty surprised they’d do that and I told them if someone in their dealership screwed up and deposited the check, and it bounced, I wouldn’t give them a good check for a month and I’d deduct the bounced check charge when I gave it to them. I think that scared the salesman enough that he said he was taking my check home with him for a couple days.

I didn’t have a problem, everything went smoothly.

jmonroe

corvette · October 2023

In my experience, a lot of dealers are nonchalant about personal checks, especially if the customer is local.

explorerx4 · October 2023

When I was in CT, nobody would accept a personal check for more than 1K, even the dealership I bought from for over 25 years.
Funny thing is, once they lost the check and they tried to get me to get another one.
I made them wait until the 90 days were up.

corvette · October 2023

explorerx4 said:
Funny thing is, once they lost the check and they tried to get me to get another one.
I made them wait until the 90 days were up.

If it was a cashier's check: "Oh, you mean this check [hands over black and white photocopy]? Why don't you just call the bank, tell them you lost it, and ask them to reissue it?"

stickguy · October 2023

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:
Here’s a nice little project for you.

https://albany.craigslist.org/cto/d/mayfield-triumph-spitfire/7661389188.html

You could work on in in your new garage over winter.
————————————————
I don’t think he has that many winters left in him?

jmonroe

I don't. that is a woofer and can't possibly done cost effectively. Putting $50k into a Spitfire that will be worth maybe $10k, seems counter-productive to me.

now, give it to me for free so I can take it apart to practice on, that might work.

explorerx4 · October 2023

@corvette,
According to bank, the check could not be reissued until the 90 days were up.

jmonroe1 · October 2023

explorerx4 said:
When I was in CT, nobody would accept a personal check for more than 1K, even the dealership I bought from for over 25 years.
Funny thing is, once they lost the check and they tried to get me to get another one.
I made them wait until the 90 days were up.

————————————————
I’m surprised the dealer didn’t offer to pay the “stop payment fee” so you could give them another check much sooner than 90 days.

I guess if a dealer could lose a check for the amount of a car they could easily lose a key fob too. @andres3 has already told us that.

jmonroe

roadburner · October 2023

corvette said:
I made the mistake of going to Oxmorons Ford for the first service on the Maverick. Ford is supposed to cover the first three services via their FordPass points system, but you can also use the points you are awarded to buy accessories. Long story short, they ran the service ticket as a cash transaction against the points and charged 27,960 points instead of the correct 11,000. I have an email out to the service manager as well as Ford corporate.

Reason 1,000,001 why I am extremely hesitant to buy a Ford product. The rank incompetence of the local dealers is legendary.

corvette · October 2023

@roadburner - and Ford is a major local employer, especially with the new BlueOval SK plant.

nyccarguy · October 2023

@explorerx4 - nice job on the ST! I can’t even imagine how fast that is. I drove a regular 4cyl turbo explorer XLT a few years ago and found the power to be more than adequate.

oldfarmer50 · October 2023

roadburner said:

corvette said:
I made the mistake of going to Oxmorons Ford for the first service on the Maverick. Ford is supposed to cover the first three services via their FordPass points system, but you can also use the points you are awarded to buy accessories. Long story short, they ran the service ticket as a cash transaction against the points and charged 27,960 points instead of the correct 11,000. I have an email out to the service manager as well as Ford corporate.
Reason 1,000,001 why I am extremely hesitant to buy a Ford product. The rank incompetence of the local dealers is legendary.

I have had no problem with the Ford store where I bought the Mustang. I tend to not use dealers because of the cost though.

stickguy · October 2023

@oldfarmer50 said:
I have had no problem with the Ford store where I bought the Mustang. I tend to not use dealers because of the cost though.

The one time I was there for an oil change they seemed fine. Nice and perfectly competent. No free food and massages but they did have a CRT TV in the waiting room!

I generally just use the dealer during warranty for oil changes and free stuff. Brakes, tires, battery, stuff like that I am fine using a shop like mavis (my usual tire and brake place)

kyfdx · October 2023

VW dealer today for oil change and tire rotation.

Just free (crappy) coffee

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