Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

stickguy · October 2023

not a car, but we saw our big hole in the ground that in theory is going to turn into a house. Almost feeling real. Keeps getting bigger too with little tweaks that keep coming up to improve the design.

qbrozen · October 2023

jmonroe1 said:

I didn’t know you had a flat bed that could only be loaded and unloaded with a fork lift. So I guess after you remove the hold down chains you plan on doing a quick takeoff to satisfy the drop off option.

jmonroe

say what? Just checking: is this a play on the word "drop"?

But, just to clarify, I will be trailering it there. Better than making the wife drive behind me. Appt is early Monday morn before work.

jmonroe1 · October 2023

qbrozen said:

jmonroe1 said:

I didn’t know you had a flat bed that could only be loaded and unloaded with a fork lift. So I guess after you remove the hold down chains you plan on doing a quick takeoff to satisfy the drop off option.

jmonroe
say what? Just checking: is this a play on the word "drop"?

But, just to clarify, I will be trailering it there. Better than making the wife drive behind me. Appt is early Monday morn before work.

————————————————
It would be more fun doing the “drop” my way.

FWIW, I sold Mrs. j’s 2012 Legacy Limited to Carvana in 2019. They gave me around $2200 bucks more than a local dealer I wanted to buy her present 2018 Legacy Limited from. I still can’t believe they gave me that much more for it even though the car was almost perfect. They came to my house and were gone well under an hour later. Easiest car sale I ever made, by far. I wouldn’t hesitate doing business with them again.

jmonroe

stickguy · October 2023

went down the rabbit hole.

don't be hating, but I actually really like this. I thought at one point that a fun toy hobby would be to take something like this and turn it into some sort of GTI restomod. This is half way there! Seems cheap enough. Fin could buy it.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3LaBBVQG/1990-volkswagen-cabriolet

this is a nice spec. let down by the black interior and awful tint (that at least is easily remedied). A bit miley, but who doesn't love an Estoril manual with sports package?

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/981XR2wX/2013-bmw-328i-sedan

and finally, I never knew these existed but it is phenomenal. I would love this peanut. I remember test driving a hatch when they were new, and it was a real hoot.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/9ApN2pYz/1985-honda-crx-si-straman-convertible-conversion

stickguy · October 2023

jmonroe1 said:

qbrozen said:

jmonroe1 said:

I didn’t know you had a flat bed that could only be loaded and unloaded with a fork lift. So I guess after you remove the hold down chains you plan on doing a quick takeoff to satisfy the drop off option.

jmonroe
say what? Just checking: is this a play on the word "drop"?

But, just to clarify, I will be trailering it there. Better than making the wife drive behind me. Appt is early Monday morn before work.
————————————————
It would be more fun doing the “drop” my way.

FWIW, I sold Mrs. j’s 2012 Legacy Limited to Carvana in 2019. They gave me around $2200 bucks more than a local dealer I wanted to buy her present 2018 Legacy Limited from. I still can’t believe they gave me that much more for it even though the car was almost perfect. They came to my house and were gone well under an hour later. Easiest car sale I ever made, by far. I wouldn’t hesitate doing business with them again.

jmonroe

once you get through the online process to get the deal locked in (and every time (3) I sold to them, had some hiccups to deal with) it really is a quick and easy process. was well worth it last time since they paid me something like $8k more than I paid for the car 15 months earlier.

nyccarguy · October 2023

Big day for us on Wednesday. We have our mediation with the School District regarding our son. Most likely I will not be able to publicly share the results, but please wish me luck. We need this "win" for our son so badly.

jmonroe1 · October 2023

nyccarguy said:
Big day for us on Wednesday. We have our mediation with the School District regarding our son. Most likely I will not be able to publicly share the results, but please wish me luck. We need this "win" for our son so badly.

————————————————
Let’s try this since this is a car site:

If it went well just tell us the sale went smoothly. If it went better than you expected just say I even got a little more than I was expecting.

If it didn’t go so well just say the guy stole my car.

Good luck.

jmonroe

qbrozen · October 2023

I think this will be my 3rd sale to Carvana. Had 2 to ALgo, 2 to Vroom, 1 to autonation, and 1 to gimmethevin. At least, those are what I can recall off the top of my head.

qbrozen · October 2023

@nyccarguy said:
Big day for us on Wednesday. We have our mediation with the School District regarding our son. Most likely I will not be able to publicly share the results, but please wish me luck. We need this "win" for our son so badly.

Good luck. I always hated the school meetings for our son. And it sounds like your district is way worse than ours was.

tjc78 · October 2023

Good luck Bradd!

nyccarguy · October 2023

@qbrozen - Nice job selling the WRX. I can't believe how much they charge to come and pick up the car now. I think the 1st time I sold to Carvana it was free. Then $75 last year.

The school meetings (I think you are referring to PPT meetings) are where they talk about goals and objectives for the student and how they want to amend the IEP. Today's mediation is legal. We are attempting to recoup some of the cost we have incurred sending our son to private school last year and this year. It is our legal team negotiating against the district's legal team.

au1994 · October 2023

nyccarguy said:
nyccarguy said:
Big day for us on Wednesday. We have our mediation with the School District regarding our son. Most likely I will not be able to publicly share the results, but please wish me luck. We need this "win" for our son so badly.
Good luck!

qbrozen · October 2023

nyccarguy said:
@qbrozen - Nice job selling the WRX. I can't believe how much they charge to come and pick up the car now. I think the 1st time I sold to Carvana it was free. Then $75 last year.

The school meetings (I think you are referring to PPT meetings) are where they talk about goals and objectives for the student and how they want to amend the IEP. Today's mediation is legal. We are attempting to recoup some of the cost we have incurred sending our son to private school last year and this year. It is our legal team negotiating against the district's legal team.

The IEP meetings weren't too bad, at least after a few years. The ones I hated were the initial couple of meetings with about 8 school reps: couple of teachers to attest to his behavior, psychiatrist, lawyer, etc just to get the IEP in place. We did speak to a lawyer beforehand but he wanted a $10k retainer and we just weren't in such a position at that time. But he did make a phone call to someone he knew in the district from having sued them several times in the past, so I'm pretty sure that scared them. We had also sent him to a Goddard school leading up to first grade, and the owner there had connections as well and made a couple of inquiries on our behalf. We were also lucky enough to be in a district that had a wing in one of the elementary schools dedicated to special needs kids. The challenge was getting him placed there. I don't know why they gave us such a hard time when that option was right there.

anyway, looking back and knowing what others, like you, have to go through, we got off easy. By far, the worst thing that happened was when the principal of his first public school had the police take him away (a first grader!). Again, we got lucky and had a wonderful officer who let my son sit up front with him and play with stuff. He took him to the hospital and stayed with him until we got there. The cop, nurses, and doc were all biting their tongues trying to not bash the principal for what he did. And that principal is still walking and breathing today only because of them.

Whew! sorry. flashbacks. breathe. back to the present.

oldfarmer50 · October 2023

stickguy said:
went down the rabbit hole.

don't be hating, but I actually really like this. I thought at one point that a fun toy hobby would be to take something like this and turn it into some sort of GTI restomod. This is half way there! Seems cheap enough. Fin could buy it.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3LaBBVQG/1990-volkswagen-cabriolet

this is a nice spec. let down by the black interior and awful tint (that at least is easily remedied). A bit miley, but who doesn't love an Estoril manual with sports package?

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/981XR2wX/2013-bmw-328i-sedan

and finally, I never knew these existed but it is phenomenal. I would love this peanut. I remember test driving a hatch when they were new, and it was a real hoot.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/9ApN2pYz/1985-honda-crx-si-straman-convertible-conversion

I’d take the Honda just for it’s uniqueness but be sure they reinforced everything to compensate for cutting off the top.

stickguy · October 2023

It was done 30 years ago. If it has cracked in half yet probably not going to.

But I absolutely would take one of those as my convertible toy.

breld · October 2023

@nyccarguy - best of luck today.

@qbrozen - on your previous experience...wow. Just wow.

jmonroe1 · October 2023

qbrozen said:

nyccarguy said:
@qbrozen - Nice job selling the WRX. I can't believe how much they charge to come and pick up the car now. I think the 1st time I sold to Carvana it was free. Then $75 last year.

The school meetings (I think you are referring to PPT meetings) are where they talk about goals and objectives for the student and how they want to amend the IEP. Today's mediation is legal. We are attempting to recoup some of the cost we have incurred sending our son to private school last year and this year. It is our legal team negotiating against the district's legal team.
The IEP meetings weren't too bad, at least after a few years. The ones I hated were the initial couple of meetings with about 8 school reps: couple of teachers to attest to his behavior, psychiatrist, lawyer, etc just to get the IEP in place. We did speak to a lawyer beforehand but he wanted a $10k retainer and we just weren't in such a position at that time. But he did make a phone call to someone he knew in the district from having sued them several times in the past, so I'm pretty sure that scared them. We had also sent him to a Goddard school leading up to first grade, and the owner there had connections as well and made a couple of inquiries on our behalf. We were also lucky enough to be in a district that had a wing in one of the elementary schools dedicated to special needs kids. The challenge was getting him placed there. I don't know why they gave us such a hard time when that option was right there.

anyway, looking back and knowing what others, like you, have to go through, we got off easy. By far, the worst thing that happened was when the principal of his first public school had the police take him away (a first grader!). Again, we got lucky and had a wonderful officer who let my son sit up front with him and play with stuff. He took him to the hospital and stayed with him until we got there. The cop, nurses, and doc were all biting their tongues trying to not bash the principal for what he did. And that principal is still walking and breathing today only because of them.

Whew! sorry. flashbacks. breathe. back to the present.

————————————————
Way too much power for too little intelligence.

jmonroe

xwesx · October 2023

stickguy said:
not a car, but we saw our big hole in the ground that in theory is going to turn into a house. Almost feeling real. Keeps getting bigger too with little tweaks that keep coming up to improve the design.

Hey, as long as you make all those changes before they start costing you more and causing delays, then no harm, no foul!

stickguy · October 2023

That’s why they are happening now.

explorerx4 · October 2023

Change Orders = Bad

stickguy · October 2023

This builder is very flexible. He even made some changes that increased SF on his dime because he didn’t like the aesthetics the original layout had on the facade. His latest suggestion was taking the dead space over the garage and converting it to a walk in attic room. At pretty minimal cost for that one.

stickguy · October 2023

But yes, once it’s framed big changes will be a big problem. Or just expensive.

tjc78 · October 2023

@stickguy said:
But yes, once it’s framed big changes will be a big problem. Or just expensive.

Like I always say…. “Anything can be done with time, money or both!”

andres3 · October 2023

venture said:
My insurance company sent me a refund check for $170 after I sold the BMW and bought the Subaru.

It was in the mailbox when we got home yesterday.

From Hooligan surcharge to Hippie discount.

andres3 · October 2023

qbrozen said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

Didn’t those V8s have head gasket issues?

Seems far less prevalent than Subaru, but of course it is American so it gets bashed while the Japanese brand gets a pass.

Neon's literally had a 99% head gasket failure rate; so it's earned; not bashing, just truth telling.

I haven't owned a Subaru, but my Parents did and they never had a head gasket issue.

Honda, Audi, VW = no bad head gaskets anecdotally.

sda · October 2023

Sadly, the higher horsepower 1.5 Honda turbos have reported head gasket issues at higher mileage.

ab348 · October 2023

Building a house might be just as maddening as trying to update a house. Last week I had an estimator for a window supplier come to measure for 9 new windows and provide a quote. The quote arrived with each of the windows priced individually (good) and installation for all 9 (removal of old, whatever opening prep that might be needed, exterior and interior trim) quoted as a total for all 9. That number was $6900, or just over $750 per window. Of the 9, 5 are small old-style 20”x34” typical old house basement windows. I was dumbfounded at the cost. In my head I figured a crew of 2 could do all the basement ones in one day, and then come back to do the 4 main floor ones the next. So far they are standing firm on their price. Ugh.

cdnpinhead · October 2023

tjc78 said:

@stickguy said:

But yes, once it’s framed big changes will be a big problem. Or just expensive.

Quick, right or cheap -- pick any two.

corvette · October 2023

@ab348 - that's probably not an unreasonable price for window replacement, anymore.

stickguy · October 2023

well, as always, you are free to DIY it!

we had windows replaced on our previous house. Did the upstairs at one time, and the front downstairs (oversized with curved tops) a few years later. a total of 11 upstairs, various sizes but all double hung. The guys that did it had a crew of 3 or 4 IIRC (it was 15 years ago, so lucky I remember it happened at all!) And did it all in one day. Well, 2 because the measure guy screwed up and one was the wrong size so they had to cobble together the ripped out frame and put that one back, and return a few weeks later with a replacement!

stickguy · October 2023

FWIW last year when we were getting the old place ready to sell I needed to replace a couple of sashes (from those same windows, just did not last well) and I got a couple of estimates for the window place to come out and do it, and that was something like $125-$200/sash. A crazy amount since it was just the removable sash, not taking out the window frame.

Needless to say, I just took them out myself and brought them into the glass place myself. saved a lot of money for very little time invested in it.

ab348 · October 2023

stickguy said:
well, as always, you are free to DIY!

No way can I do that now. Years ago I might have tried the basement ones myself but never the others. Now I can’t do anything like that due to infirmities.

explorerx4 · October 2023

Here's mechanic's review of the Honda 1.5.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZriQAEfJ6RY

jmonroe1 · October 2023

ab348 said:
Building a house might be just as maddening as trying to update a house. Last week I had an estimator for a window supplier come to measure for 9 new windows and provide a quote. The quote arrived with each of the windows priced individually (good) and installation for all 9 (removal of old, whatever opening prep that might be needed, exterior and interior trim) quoted as a total for all 9. That number was $6900, or just over $750 per window. Of the 9, 5 are small old-style 20”x34” typical old house basement windows. I was dumbfounded at the cost. In my head I figured a crew of 2 could do all the basement ones in one day, and then come back to do the 4 main floor ones the next. So far they are standing firm on their price. Ugh.

————————————————
Get another quote or two and hopefully from someone you know that are satisfied.

I was going to do that and when I was over at my youngest brother’s house he suggested I look at his windows to see if I liked them. Not only did I like them I was very impressed with the installation. They were triple pane and the price seemed reasonable.

It was close to Winter time and I didn’t want windows installed when it was cold. They came out gave me a quote and put me on their schedule for the following early May. This was about 4 or 5 years ago. It’s nice when you know someone and can spend time meticulously examining the windows and especially how they’re installed. I’m not the least bit sorry I did it that way.

jmonroe

roadburner · October 2023

The judge's secretary is leasing a '22 Sahara 4xe; today she got the "Service Charging System" message along with a CEL. Her husband runs a small auto repair shop and he hates to take any of his cars to a dealer. I told her that Jeep rolls out updates frequently and that I bet her Wrangler has a few updates pending and that she should visit the dealer I use.
When I was looking at 4xes I ran into one lemon buyback and more than a few where the CARFAX showed a dealer visit every 2,000-3,000 miles. My 4xe was a two year lease from Kings in Cincinnati (the same dealer group that sold and serviced my MS3). The CARFAX only shows 3 visits- two oil changes/tire rotations and one coolant change.
So here's hoping I have a good one...

stickguy · October 2023

Sarah N tuned just posted a review on a 4xE Rubican. Total beast off road. She always tests off road capabilities in the desert climbing some hills, and could not find one that even made it break a sweat.

corvette · October 2023

There is an update for the infotainment on my Maverick. Attempted to start the download multiple times this evening, it stayed stuck at 0% every time.

stickguy · October 2023

welcome to the club. I got my old one to update once. struck out the 2nd time I tried. It seems to require some black magic. I have not bothered to check for one yet on the new Mav. Someday I will. Have to hook it up to the wife-fi first.

actually the one I got to work I just did it off my phone when it was connected. That seemed to work fine.

keep trying, eventually it will work. and sometimes it will sit like that, seemingly not finished, then after a restart suddenly be showing the latest version.

qbrozen · October 2023

@andres3 said:
Neon's literally had a 99% head gasket failure rate; so it's earned; not bashing, just truth telling.

I have no idea what that has to do with a 4.7 v8.

au1994 · October 2023

I had the 4.7 in a 2006 Ram reg. cab and found it more than adequate. Good all around truck that I wish many times I would have kept around just to have for truckish needs.

breld · October 2023

So as I continue to consider a new Mustang, I become victim to all the research and reviews out there…sounds like there were issues at some point with the Getrag trannie in the GT and that the Tremec unit in the upper level models like the Mach 1, and now the Dark Horse, is largely favored.

Did that tend to be more of a track-related issue, or is the Tremec worth targeting even for more casual daily driving?

stickguy · October 2023

You will never notice the difference is my bet and certainly won’t develop problems in the short time you have it.

stickguy · October 2023

Oh, love the dog pic with the goggles. Cute.

stickguy · October 2023

@au1994 said:
I had the 4.7 in a 2006 Ram reg. cab and found it more than adequate. Good all around truck that I wish many times I would have kept around just to have for truckish needs.

Once my house situation is worked out I’m still considering something like that. A winter beater truck and a 2 series convertible to replace my maverick. Something like that.

qbrozen · October 2023

breld said:
So as I continue to consider a new Mustang, I become victim to all the research and reviews out there…sounds like there were issues at some point with the Getrag trannie in the GT and that the Tremec unit in the upper level models like the Mach 1, and now the Dark Horse, is largely favored.

Did that tend to be more of a track-related issue, or is the Tremec worth targeting even for more casual daily driving?

My 2014 had a Tremec 6-speed and it was pretty awful. Well, to be more specific, the clutch was awful. I've driven trucks with lighter clutches. And the hydraulic actuator did not like high RPM fast shifting. Not a good thing in a sportscar.

explorerx4 · October 2023

Tremec was only available to the GT 500 in 2014.
Just to be sure, I found this history.
https://lmr.com/products/Mustang-Transmissions-What-Transmission-V8-Mustang

au1994 · October 2023

roadburner said:
The judge's secretary is leasing a '22 Sahara 4xe; today she got the "Service Charging System" message along with a CEL. Her husband runs a small auto repair shop and he hates to take any of his cars to a dealer. I told her that Jeep rolls out updates frequently and that I bet her Wrangler has a few updates pending and that she should visit the dealer I use.
When I was looking at 4xes I ran into one lemon buyback and more than a few where the CARFAX showed a dealer visit every 2,000-3,000 miles. My 4xe was a two year lease from Kings in Cincinnati (the same dealer group that sold and serviced my MS3). The CARFAX only shows 3 visits- two oil changes/tire rotations and one coolant change.
So here's hoping I have a good one...

If I was him, I'd put pride aside on this one since its still under warranty and let the dealer sort it out. It is likely s/w but that error message has also been associated with some major repairs, IE replacing the battery.

roadburner · October 2023

au1994 said:

roadburner said:
The judge's secretary is leasing a '22 Sahara 4xe; today she got the "Service Charging System" message along with a CEL. Her husband runs a small auto repair shop and he hates to take any of his cars to a dealer. I told her that Jeep rolls out updates frequently and that I bet her Wrangler has a few updates pending and that she should visit the dealer I use.
When I was looking at 4xes I ran into one lemon buyback and more than a few where the CARFAX showed a dealer visit every 2,000-3,000 miles. My 4xe was a two year lease from Kings in Cincinnati (the same dealer group that sold and serviced my MS3). The CARFAX only shows 3 visits- two oil changes/tire rotations and one coolant change.
So here's hoping I have a good one...

If I was him, I'd put pride aside on this one since its still under warranty and let the dealer sort it out. It is likely s/w but that error message has also been associated with some major repairs, IE replacing the battery.

It's definitely a pride thing. At least on my 2021 the hybrid system has a longer warranty. The dealer wanted to sell me a Zurich warranty but I think I'm going with a Mopar warranty from Ziegler Auto group.
Since I plan to also hold on the the C43 for a while, I might buy an M-B extended warranty as well. Fortunately my M-B dealer offers the most competitive pricing on those warranties.

carnaught · October 2023

@roadburner, with the extended warranty interest, you are a robocaller’s dream.

mjfloyd1 · October 2023

@roadburner said:
It's definitely a pride thing. At least on my 2021 the hybrid system has a longer warranty. The dealer wanted to sell me a Zurich warranty but I think I'm going with a Mopar warranty from Ziegler Auto group.
Since I plan to also hold on the the C43 for a while, I might buy an M-B extended warranty as well. Fortunately my M-B dealer offers the most competitive pricing on those warranties.

Check with Robbins CJDR in Manhattan KS or Hayes Jeep in Kalamazoo MI for Jeep warranty

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