Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

Sandman6472 · February 2024

Yet I picked up a Ford Expedition at PBI yesterday with just under 80K on it! I was shocked to see one with such high mileage but it looked in great shape and drove very nicely down to Coral Springs. And drove a newish Jeep Renegade after that with just over 3K on the clock. So, just shows how things are going. And have been delivering a lot of sold vehicles lately so our lot on 5th Street near PBI is very low on inventory. But have heard that things will be changing soon, but, we'll see. And lately, the majority of our work has been delivering sold cars for which I was hired.

qbrozen · February 2024

Had to cough up $375 on the volvo because I hit a pot hole last week. I had hazard coverage on the tire but 3 wheel repair places told me they can’t fix the cracked wheel. I found one on Ebay that is supposedly arriving today. #NJproblems

kyfdx · February 2024

GTI is 6 yrs old. 36,600 miles
I’ve had it exactly 4 years.

Time flies. 😕

stickguy · February 2024

kyfdx said:
GTI is 6 yrs old. 36,600 miles
I’ve had it exactly 4 years.

Time flies. 😕

out of warranty. time to dump it.

tjc78 · February 2024

@qbrozen said:
Had to cough up $375 on the volvo because I hit a pot hole last week. I had hazard coverage on the tire but 3 wheel repair places told me they can’t fix the cracked wheel. I found one on Ebay that is supposedly arriving today. #NJproblems

I drive the Benz to a family members house last night, 15 miles all local roads they were very beat up. I kept thinking I was gonna damage a tire or wheel. They are very low profile.

@stickguy It was from my area up thru Pine Hill, lindenwold etc past Clementon park into West Berlin. Ugh those roads are a war zone… hadn’t been in that area for a long time

stickguy · February 2024

qbrozen said:
Had to cough up $375 on the volvo because I hit a pot hole last week. I had hazard coverage on the tire but 3 wheel repair places told me they can’t fix the cracked wheel. I found one on Ebay that is supposedly arriving today. #NJproblems

that is why I always had problems convincing my self to buy a sporty car with absurdly low profile tires (I think the skinniest I had were 225/40s). Too mentally draining having to be paranoid about every pothole or spot on the road.

Considering I blew out 2 tire sidewalls on a Nissan Quest on I295, I felt justified.

corvette · February 2024

oldfarmer50 said:
Have you considered using one of those dedicated injector cleaners that you ad to the gas for better cleaning?

Yes, but it's only showing a couple of misfires in the misfire history field, so I think whatever issue it had seems to be resolved.

ab348 · February 2024

kyfdx said:
GTI is 6 yrs old. 36,600 miles
I’ve had it exactly 4 years.

Time flies. 😕

I’ve had the ATS for 6 1/2 years and it has 15,000 miles on it.

stickguy · February 2024

told the wife today that in 3 weeks her RDX will turn 4, and she couldn't believe it had been that long. Not quite 24,000 miles on it yet and climbing slowly.

tifighter · February 2024

M2 sold at the dealership yesterday. Pretty fast turnaround.

oldfarmer50 · February 2024

Here’s a question for you guys:

Do you think that this tax/Spring sales season will be busy for dealers this year or will the crazy interest rates put a damper on sales. On older used cars the best my credit union can offer is 9.24% for two years, higher for longer term. I wouldn’t finance a bicycle at those rates. I imagine someone with less than perfect credit would get hit even higher.

Will that stop people or will they let their emotions take control.

nyccarguy · February 2024

@ab348 said:
I’ve had the ATS for 6 1/2 years and it has 15,000 miles on it.

Kilometers?

nyccarguy · February 2024

@stickguy said:
told the wife today that in 3 weeks her RDX will turn 4, and she couldn't believe it had been that long. Not quite 24,000 miles on it yet and climbing slowly.

Warranty up. Time for something new!

tifighter · February 2024

@oldfarmer50 said:
Here’s a question for you guys:

Do you think that this tax/Spring sales season will be busy for dealers this year or will the crazy interest rates put a damper on sales. On older used cars the best my credit union can offer is 9.24% for two years, higher for longer term. I wouldn’t finance a bicycle at those rates. I imagine someone with less than perfect credit would get hit even higher.

Will that stop people or will they let their emotions take control.

Hard to say. There’s probably some pent up demand after years of supply chain problems driving up prices. Also, we keep hearing there’s $6 trillion in savings sitting on the sidelines at the moment. If you haven’t seen it, CarDealershipGuy on twitter has good info on how what’s happening on the ground with sales. So far, things still seem pretty strong.

Michaell · February 2024

@oldfarmer50 said:
Here’s a question for you guys:

Do you think that this tax/Spring sales season will be busy for dealers this year or will the crazy interest rates put a damper on sales. On older used cars the best my credit union can offer is 9.24% for two years, higher for longer term. I wouldn’t finance a bicycle at those rates. I imagine someone with less than perfect credit would get hit even higher.

Will that stop people or will they let their emotions take control.

My .02 - there are going to be some people who need a car, and have been waiting for their tax refund to use as a down payment.

Of course, with prices still remaining high, plus the high interest rates, they will have to adjust their budgets accordingly.

tifighter · February 2024

Maybe not so great for these guys-

stickguy · February 2024

nyccarguy said:

@stickguy said:

told the wife today that in 3 weeks her RDX will turn 4, and she couldn't believe it had been that long. Not quite 24,000 miles on it yet and climbing slowly.

Warranty up. Time for something new!

I mentioned that! only the BtoB part, still have 2 years on powertrain. But she is attached to it, though she rarely drives it. I would have sold it out from under her if we didn't go down the financial rabbit hole of building the new house!

given our usage now, we really should have one nice car and a winter beater/trucky truck. and maybe a sports car! Probably should have something like QBs new Silverado, and just keep the RDX, or splurge an get something like a new Lexus NX or a BMW. Unless I inherit a low mileage Sentra, and try to sell her car off to replace it with a Nissan. At least it would be something I won't care about driving in salt.

stickguy · February 2024

oldfarmer50 said:
Here’s a question for you guys:

Do you think that this tax/Spring sales season will be busy for dealers this year or will the crazy interest rates put a damper on sales. On older used cars the best my credit union can offer is 9.24% for two years, higher for longer term. I wouldn’t finance a bicycle at those rates. I imagine someone with less than perfect credit would get hit even higher.

Will that stop people or will they let their emotions take control.

if you could still get cheaper "tax season" cars sales would be brisk. But even at somewhat inflated prices, those will still sell quick. And many people have always made dumb financial decisions so no reason to expect that to change. So tax refunds will become the DP, and higher interest rates will just bump the term out another year!

mjfloyd1 · February 2024

@kyfdx said:
GTI is 6 yrs old. 36,600 miles
I’ve had it exactly 4 years.

Time flies. 😕

Such low miles…clutch must be bad

mjfloyd1 · February 2024

This M2 got smacked pretty good before they sold it to the first owner

https://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistory/ar20/Vm_l3_VyRVqa4vf_RoolUumK21YaUW3NXDBdY8SLL5u-R6c7cqCmS-nVr6eLfSabh1y39rRnCMaQfzwXVDMp_XVfss2oYGDMdBg

https://www.blandsauto.com/used/BMW/2018-BMW-M2-b2e261510a0e0a92181172e160bdd7aa.htm

roadburner · February 2024

Feel free to excommunicate me, but at this point there's hardly anything out there under $75,000 that I'd rather have than the C43, Club Sport or Wrangler. When the X1 goes and my wife takes the Wrangler I'll likely flip the Triumph for a dual sport and also possibly pick up a used ATV.

mjfloyd1 · February 2024

My daughter’s 4xe must be possessed. Went to unlock it and everything is flashing - interior lights and turn signals with clicking from the fuse box. Had her reseat all fuses but won’t start. I suspect 12 V is dead now. Similar happened around Christmas- towed to dealer and modules reflashed. Will have it towed again.

jmonroe1 · February 2024

tjc78 said:

@qbrozen said:

Had to cough up $375 on the volvo because I hit a pot hole last week. I had hazard coverage on the tire but 3 wheel repair places told me they can’t fix the cracked wheel. I found one on Ebay that is supposedly arriving today. #NJproblems

I drive the Benz to a family members house last night, 15 miles all local roads they were very beat up. I kept thinking I was gonna damage a tire or wheel. They are very low profile.

@stickguy It was from my area up thru Pine Hill, lindenwold etc past Clementon park into West Berlin. Ugh those roads are a war zone… hadn’t been in that area for a long time

————————————————-
If you think West Berlin has bad roads that ain’t nothin compared to East Berlin. They’ll never get all their pot holes fixed.

jmonroe

stickguy · February 2024

tjc78 said:

@qbrozen said:

Had to cough up $375 on the volvo because I hit a pot hole last week. I had hazard coverage on the tire but 3 wheel repair places told me they can’t fix the cracked wheel. I found one on Ebay that is supposedly arriving today. #NJproblems

I drive the Benz to a family members house last night, 15 miles all local roads they were very beat up. I kept thinking I was gonna damage a tire or wheel. They are very low profile.

@stickguy It was from my area up thru Pine Hill, lindenwold etc past Clementon park into West Berlin. Ugh those roads are a war zone… hadn’t been in that area for a long time

oh, I know exactly the spot you are talking about (used to be my back way down to Sicklerville/Turnersville). It's been 2 years and I can still remember the winding route in the lane to avoid the worst of the holes.

stickguy · February 2024

mjfloyd1 said:
My daughter’s 4xe must be possessed. Went to unlock it and everything is flashing - interior lights and turn signals with clicking from the fuse box. Had her reseat all fuses but won’t start. I suspect 12 V is dead now. Similar happened around Christmas- towed to dealer and modules reflashed. Will have it towed again.

that's terrible on something so new that you spent a lot of money on. If that was in our house, it would be out the door as soon as it was fixed (unless maybe it was a lease and couldn't get out of it)

ab348 · February 2024

nyccarguy said:

@ab348 said:

I’ve had the ATS for 6 1/2 years and it has 15,000 miles on it.

Kilometers?

No, I translated it to miles for my US friends.

mjfloyd1 · February 2024

I’m hoping that it needs a new high voltage battery and they won’t have one and it gets lemoned.

nyccarguy · February 2024

@ab348 said:
No, I translated it to miles for my US friends.

Thank-you! We appreciate it;)-

mjfloyd1 · February 2024

@stickguy said:
that's terrible on something so new that you spent a lot of money on. If that was in our house, it would be out the door as soon as it was fixed (unless maybe it was a lease and couldn't get out of it)

They used a “huge” battery pack to jump it. Took a couple tries and flat bedded it to near by Jeep dealership. We shall see

stickguy · February 2024

I am too old and grumpy at this point to deal with aggravation. And am not so poor that I have to!

the bigger issue would be, if I was replacing my car, I am not even sure what I would get. Not too much that tickles my fancy, that makes any sense, especially since I have gotten used to having a truck bed handy. And not sure if I want to move up to the next size class, but I suppose I could get used to a Ridgeline or Tacoma, and they should fit in the garage at the new house. Though I could get used to again not having one, at least once we get all settled in to the new house (the truck will be getting a good workout ferrying stuff back and forth, and making store and home center runs as we try to go broke buying stuff).

I miss the old days when you could buy a cheap truck to keep around as a beater. Now that are still beaters, just very expensive, and up here, usually rusted to dust.

stickguy · February 2024

mjfloyd1 said:

@stickguy said:

that's terrible on something so new that you spent a lot of money on. If that was in our house, it would be out the door as soon as it was fixed (unless maybe it was a lease and couldn't get out of it)

They used a “huge” battery pack to jump it. Took a couple tries and flat bedded it to near by Jeep dealership. We shall see

that does sound like a HV issue. Mavericks have some issues with undersized 12v batteries going bad (I think the BMS software needs a redo) and they will need a jump. But that doesn't take much juice, since all the 12V does is wake up the computers and flip some relays, to tell the HV battery to get to work (that stays charged just fine). Still a mystery to me why they don't use a fraction of the extra power in the big battery to trickle charge the 12V if needed.

ab348 · February 2024

In my dotage with the ATS the main feature I take advantage of is its quickness. With 330 HP it is decently quick off the line and remarkably fast on the highway. Usually though I am in urban traffic and so I like to use its lower-range quickness to evade road slugs, typically those in CUVs dawdling along trying to keep me from my destination. I have no desire to replace it, which is good because there isn’t anything out there I’d actually want.

tifighter · February 2024

@ab348 said:
I have no desire to replace it, which is good because there isn’t anything out there I’d actually want.

I posted something similar about the M2 back in December. Be careful, my friend…

sb55 · February 2024

oldfarmer50 said:

Sandman6472 said:
At 75,550 on the Golf right now and in my 10th year of ownership. Up to date on all maintenance but do need to clean it out a bit as have a lot of "stuff" that needs to be put in the trash. Had planned to do this on Saturday but ended up working a seven hour day. Since I was feeling pretty good, said I'd work when they asked me on Tuesday. Turned out to be a very easy day with a couple of runs up to Palm Beach Airport to pick up a few vehicles. Not sure why they sent us so far to pick up vehicles but we get paid to drive...not think! As OF will attest, it really is a great part time gig with every day being different. For a guy like me, driving newer vehicles all the time is a dream come true. Just wish we could drive longer distances like OF does up north. I used to drive the whole state of Florida when I was an independent contractor, and loved it. Nothing like opening all the windows and sunroof, turning on the tunes and driving for a few hours! I get why a bunch of my co-workers have been doing this for over ten years already.
True dat! (I felt embarrassed to even type that) Thursday I got to drive a 5.0 Mustang convertible from Burlington to Albany. No snow or ice on the roads so I had fun going through the mountains near Ironville in the Adirondacks.

What a car like that with only 20k miles was doing up there I’ll never understand.

My daughter currently lives on Albany, so we go down occasionally. What is the preferred route for you guys? From the Islands, but going through Burlington it's usually 7 to 22A to 4 to 149 to 87. Ft. Ann through the outlets is sometimes a PITA, but the rest is usually OK. Is there a better way?

qbrozen · February 2024

Y’all just aren’t looking hard enough. Take it from @breld : if you love something, set it free. You’ll likely buy it again anyway… and set it free again. Rinse and repeat.

I came across a ‘99 Alfa 156 with the 2.5 busso v6 and 6-spd manual. About 65k miles. I put a bin in. Awaiting condition translation. It is a 4B, so should be good, but you never know. What would I do with it? No clue. Test drive it and then decide.

explorerx4 · February 2024

On YT, I am continually bombarded with CPO Hyundai and Tesla commercials. There is an -459.67F chance I would buy either of those. They need to fix their targeting.

stickguy · February 2024

@sb55 said:
My daughter currently lives on Albany, so we go down occasionally. What is the preferred route for you guys? From the Islands, but going through Burlington it's usually 7 to 22A to 4 to 149 to 87. Ft. Ann through the outlets is sometimes a PITA, but the rest is usually OK. Is there a better way?

When we went up a couple years ago from Albany that is how we went. Agreed that depending on when you hit 9 in glens falls by the outlets it can be crowded. Looking at google maps, cutting over 17 to 74 and picking up 87 at Severance is a few miles longer but about the same amount of time.

ab348 · February 2024

Ford has halted shipments of the 2024 Lightning pickup. Quality problems apparently, quelle surprise...

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/ford-stops-shipments-2024-f-150-lightning-2024-02-23/

Feb 23 (Reuters) - Ford Motor (F.N) said on Friday it had halted shipments of all 2024 model year F-150 Lightning electric pickup trucks, so it could perform quality checks for an issue it did not specify.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker said the shipment halt began on Feb. 9. It did not say when it expected to resume shipments that had begun in January of the EV truck. A spokesperson declined to say what quality issue was being checked.

Ford also said that this week it began shipping the first newly designed gas-powered 2024 model F-150 pickups to dealers. Ford said it expects "to ramp up shipments in the coming weeks as we complete thorough launch quality checks to ensure these new F-150s meet our high standards."
Automotive News reported that hundreds, if not thousands, of 2024 model gas-powered F-150 trucks had piled up in storage lots in southeast Michigan since production began in December.

corvette · February 2024

explorerx4 said:
On YT, I am continually bombarded with CPO Hyundai and Tesla commercials.

YT appears to have admitted defeat in the "war on ad blockers" it started a few months ago. For a while, I had to manually update mine to the latest version whenever I received a playback error.

ab348 · February 2024

YT seems to be doing everything they can to make the viewing experience terrible.

I primarily watch YT using the YT app on my Roku TV. Pretty much any video there is interrupted by intrusive ads constantly. Some (Baerskin for one) are ridiculously long, 7 minutes in their case if you don't hit the skip button. But then there's always another one waiting to intrude. Even worse though is that in the Roku app there appears to be a bug in ads where the advertiser includes a QR code. On the app (I haven't seen this in the browser version) the images being shown are replaced with a black screen with just the QR code showing. If you hit the skip button, about half the time the video you were watching is also all black, with just the sound playing. The only way to fix it is to exit the video and then restart it. Aggravating.

jmonroe1 · February 2024

qbrozen said:
Y’all just aren’t looking hard enough. Take it from @breld : if you love something, set it free. You’ll likely buy it again anyway… and set it free again. Rinse and repeat.

I came across a ‘99 Alfa 156 with the 2.5 busso v6 and 6-spd manual. About 65k miles. I put a bin in. Awaiting condition translation. It is a 4B, so should be good, but you never know. What would I do with it? No clue. Test drive it and then decide.

————————————————-
Since you’re a flipper does it really matter? Isn’t the buy price the main consideration?

jmonroe

mjfloyd1 · February 2024

4xe was just a bad 12 v battery. Ready to be picked up. At least it was all in warranty…

breld · February 2024

qbrozen said:
Y’all just aren’t looking hard enough. Take it from @breld : if you love something, set it free. You’ll likely buy it again anyway… and set it free again. Rinse and repeat.

Okay, I literally laughed out loud sitting here in the airport lounge. Well done.

Got the Corvette out for a bit yesterday which was fun. Not too long until I can take that roof off (probably could have done it yesterday if I really wanted to).

As others have remarked, not too much out there that interests me at the moment. I still like Rivians - the SUVs on the used market are crashing down to earth, but probably still a ways to go. And I still crave a stick shift. Wife and I browsed some lots Saturday - the nearest VW dealership, with a brand new showroom, had several GTIs in stock. The BMW dealer had a 2020 GTI SE w/plaid seats and a manual with about 3k miles, asking $27k.

breld · February 2024

@tifighter - guess I’m not surprised your M2C sold quickly. That’s what happens when a dealership is realistic with pricing…sort of refreshing.

explorerx4 · February 2024

Got the M2 off their lot before the end of the month.

jmonroe1 · February 2024

breld said:
@tifighter - guess I’m not surprised your M2C sold quickly. That’s what happens when a dealership is realistic with pricing…sort of refreshing.

————————————————-
Yep, they can do that when they steal a trade.

jmonroe

roadburner · February 2024

mjfloyd1 said:
4xe was just a bad 12 v battery. Ready to be picked up. At least it was all in warranty…

That's been discussed a bit on the 4xe forums. Several owners have ditched the stock battery as a result.

au1994 · February 2024

roadburner said:

mjfloyd1 said:
4xe was just a bad 12 v battery. Ready to be picked up. At least it was all in warranty…

That's been discussed a bit on the 4xe forums. Several owners have ditched the stock battery as a result.

Yes, I have seen that, known weak link apparently.

Knock wood, mine has been relatively problem free. One phantom CEL that went away before I could get it in for service and the battery coolant pump that was handled under warranty. Seems like there was one other trip for a host of updates.

Scheduled to go in Friday for an oil change and a recall. While I am there I might casually mention to a sales person that I’d be intrigued by a Grand Cherokee (non 4xe) if they would essentially swap keys.

Still leaning towards a Maverick but the JGC has always been a favorite.

jmonroe1 · February 2024

roadburner said:

mjfloyd1 said:
4xe was just a bad 12 v battery. Ready to be picked up. At least it was all in warranty…

That's been discussed a bit on the 4xe forums. Several owners have ditched the stock battery as a result.

————————————————-
Has anyone said how much more power the replacement has vs. stock? If the problem is that wide spread Jeep should have a recall but that will cost them more than they’re willing to spend until they lose enough sales as a result.

It would be interesting to be a fly on the wallpaper when this is discussed by the execs.

jmonroe

jmonroe1 · February 2024

au1994 said:

roadburner said:

mjfloyd1 said:
4xe was just a bad 12 v battery. Ready to be picked up. At least it was all in warranty…

That's been discussed a bit on the 4xe forums. Several owners have ditched the stock battery as a result.
Yes, I have seen that, known weak link apparently.

Knock wood, mine has been relatively problem free. One phantom CEL that went away before I could get it in for service and the battery coolant pump that was handled under warranty. Seems like there was one other trip for a host of updates.

Scheduled to go in Friday for an oil change and a recall. While I am there I might casually mention to a sales person that I’d be intrigued by a Grand Cherokee (non 4xe) if they would essentially swap keys.

Still leaning towards a Maverick but the JGC has always been a favorite.

————————————————
It might be better to ask for a battery swap and see how far you get with that.

jmonroe

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