Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

tjc78 · November 10

I wanted to touch up the front beds a bit so grabbed 6 bags of mulch.

Don’t know how I would have done it without my full size pickup.

stickguy · November 10

My baby truck would not even notice that load.

stickguy · November 10

I think I must be rubbing off on my wife. I came downstairs for breakfast and she was sitting at her desk looking at articles on the internet. The one she was on (that she then read to me) was which cars were most likely to last to 250k miles.

Then she showed me a picture of a caddy Optic saying that was a nice looking car (I wanted to see one at the car show but they only had a lyric).

Then she started on an article about the best time to collect social security so we had a discussion about that.

Cars and retirement. It’s like living in my own head!

tifighter · November 10

@stickguy said:
Local guy only has a 2022 with 32K for about $45,000. found a couple a few hours away near NYC that were 2025s with 6k or so miles. $61-$66K list price (the $66 one had a sticker of $79k, including a mind numbing $3,900 wheel upgrade!)

Two random local examples-

kyfdx · November 10

On another note.... my car needs gas for the Macan, again!!

Michaell · November 10

tjc78 said:
I wanted to touch up the front beds a bit so grabbed 6 bags of mulch.

Don’t know how I would have done it without my full size pickup.

I may still have a pic on my phone with the Outback loaded with a bunch of bags of mulch, from several years ago.

It clicked over 78K last week. Still running great, looks good from 25' away (any closer and you'll start to notice the door dings), no real mechanical problems to speak of.

I do, occasionally, have an issue with the front drivers window - sometimes, the window won't go down. And, when it does go down, using the switch to make it go up results in the window going up an inch or so, then stopping. Pulling the switch again (it's supposed to be both auto up and auto down), has the same effect, so I have to flip the switch multiple times to fully raise the window. If I turn the car off and back on, the problem goes away. Annoying at a drive through, for sure.

Even after 10 years, it's still (to me) a handsome looking vehicle - classic proportions and it wears the Wilderness Green color well. Even the interior has held up; other Outback owners have reported front seats separating at the seams, but we haven't experienced that problem.

It does everything we ask of it, while returning a mixed 22-23 MPG from the H6 engine. As much as it pains me to say in this discussion, I can't think of anything I'd want to replace it with.

Now, if I could convince the wife to allow me to obtain something a bit more fun....

jmonroe1 · November 10

tjc78 said:
I wanted to touch up the front beds a bit so grabbed 6 bags of mulch.

Don’t know how I would have done it without my full size pickup.

——————————————————
4 1/2 trips in you golf cart.

jmonroe

stickguy · November 10

The blue one is a nice color. But 2 years old now. I think there were Couple 2024s I found (not local but 2 hours away is the NYC metro area dealers) were a similar price.

tifighter · November 10

@stickguy said:
The blue one is a nice color. But 2 years old now. I think there were Couple 2024s I found (not local but 2 hours away is the NYC metro area dealers) were a similar price.

But with CPO and an in service date of 10/24, that blue one is under warranty until Oct 2030. I could live with that, especially as it had an original MSRP of $78k.

stickguy · November 10

If I have time Saturday I’ll swing over there and take it for a drive!

xwesx · November 10

tjc78 said:
I wanted to touch up the front beds a bit so grabbed 6 bags of mulch.

Don’t know how I would have done it without my full size pickup.

Haha! I did the same just before we returned to Alaska... I took the Crosstrek and put three in the back and three on the tray. No problem!

kyfdx · November 10

Our Macan (just about one year from now) was a 2024 loaner, which was put in service of March, 2024. Around 5500 miles
The full warranty was through March, 2028, plus had a CPO warranty (another two years) through March 2030. So, we ended up having 5 years and 4 months, total warranty from the date we got it.

They loaners were about $7K-$10K more than those CPO used cars that @tifighter saw. Which makes sense, considering the cars were one year newer, at that time.

stickguy · November 10

What this tells me is Macans depreciate about $10k per year.

kyfdx · November 10

stickguy said:
What this tells me is Macans depreciate about $10k per year.

Our MSRP was $81,XXX, but the sale price was over $14K discounted.

Most of those CPO models have a 2024 MSRP of $75K-$77K.

tjc78 · November 10

I may still have a pic on my phone with the Outback loaded with a bunch of bags of mulch, from several years ago.

I once crammed an absurd amount in the S60 (20+ bags). It wasn't pretty, but the wife was out with the Enclave and I had a mission. That had white interior, so I had old packing blankets everywhere.

The looks I got at Depot for that....

tjc78 · November 10

jmonroe1 said:

tjc78 said:
I wanted to touch up the front beds a bit so grabbed 6 bags of mulch.

Don’t know how I would have done it without my full size pickup.

——————————————————
4 1/2 trips in you golf cart.

jmonroe

LOL - Golf cart's back seat folds down into a tray. Tons of room!

steine13 · November 10

28firefighter said:
Beautiful day in the PNW. Using the 911 for everything, including shuttling my kid and a friend around to activities. Who says it isn’t a family car?

The guy in the back seat, usually.

steine13 · November 10

@Michaell

>> I may still have a pic on my phone with the Outback loaded with a bunch of bags of mulch, from several years ago.

I had a 2014 Outback (4cyl), and it was a mixed bag.

But it was downright useful. Hauled a good 300 lbs. of 10- and 12-ft drywall on the roof... slowly, early on a quiet Saturday morning, on surface streets.

And two 16-foot canoes + gear, not slowly.

And best of all, when my water heater failed one morning, I took the day off, got a new one from Home Depot, which fit in the back with the hatch closed. At the end of a 14-hour day, we had hot water again.

But it was such a snooze to drive, and the stick shift was so awkward in it, that I basically swapped it for new 2017 Grand Caravan, basest of the base models, and never regretted it.

xwesx · November 10

Sounds about right!

My son just (July) swapped his 5-speed for a 6-speed in his 2009 Forester; it really changed the driving dynamics of that car!

oldfarmer50 · November 10

tjc78 said:
I wanted to touch up the front beds a bit so grabbed 6 bags of mulch.

Don’t know how I would have done it without my full size pickup.

And you still had room for your golf clubs.🤣

andres3 · November 10

nyccarguy said:

@explorerx4 said:

Prelude was designed by committee or ChatGPT. Not sure which.

It is definitely a head scratcher for sure. Honda obviously wanted to bring back the nameplate for nostalgia purposes. The hallmark of the Prelude was always exceptional handling. The nut jobs in the Prelude specific Facebook groups probably want the car to be like the outgoing Nissan GTR at the price of a Civic LX. Even that might be too expensive. Then there are people who have never even heard of the Prelude. My 5th gen is an oddball car among the masses. I could go at least a month without seeing another one on the road. Japanese manufacturers killed off coupes over 5 years ago, some more (Civic, Accord, Altima, Solara…)

My Integra is light and nimble. Steering is very direct. Between the Civic Si Sedan (6MT), the CVT & 6-Speed Integras, the Type R & Type S, Honda has its bases covered.

I know 0-60 times aren’t the only performance metric to measure a car by, but 7-8 seconds 0-60 isn’t going to do you much good in today’s automotive market.

Nissan GTR performance at Civic LX prices sounds like a winner! Where do I sign up? Ha!

Sandman6472 · November 10

First cold front coming in as I type. Will be 45 tonight, cold for us in November and only reaching 68 tomorrow. Working tomorrow so will need to layer a bit to stay warm early on. Even though it's a federal holiday, we in the rental car business have to work. Such is life I get. Wasn't too busy on Sunday as most cars were rented and not many for us to move. Such is life I guess, and it was nice to not be so rushed.

stickguy · November 10

45 is balmy. We actually got snow today. maybe an inch, enough to cover the grass fully (nothing stuck on the pavement though I don't think).

It is truly depressing.

xwesx · November 10

It was zero here this morning. We've had snow for weeks now. What's the issue?!

jmonroe1 · November 10

xwesx said:
It was zero here this morning. We've had snow for weeks now. What's the issue?!

——————————————————
The issue is living in not-so-balmy Alaska.

jmonroe

Michaell · November 10

No snow here in Denver, yet, this year. Weather people are already noting it's been the longest stretch of time between snow falls in Denver history, and already I'm seeing snowpack percentages being displayed on by FB feed.

jmonroe1 · November 10

Michaell said:
No snow here in Denver, yet, this year. Weather people are already noting it's been the longest stretch of time between snow falls in Denver history, and already I'm seeing snowpack percentages being displayed on by FB feed.

——————————————————-
Gee, weather folks hyping a non-event. What will they think of next?

jmonroe

tifighter · November 10

tifighter said:
Carmax comes in today at $39.4 on the type R, for anyone wondering…

Annnd now they own it.

nyccarguy · November 10

@tifighter said:
Annnd now they own it.

Is anything replacing it? How come you decided to dump it?

stickguy · November 10

guessing the Boxster? and maybe parking capacity.

xwesx · November 10

nyccarguy said:

Is anything replacing it? How come you decided to dump it?

Hello.... Boxster?! Seems both outclassed and somewhat redundant....

tifighter · November 10

Type R is great, no fault of the car. But the Boxster was always meant to replace it, and so it eventually has.

benjaminh · November 11

stickguy said:
I think I must be rubbing off on my wife. I came downstairs for breakfast and she was sitting at her desk looking at articles on the internet. The one she was on (that she then read to me) was which cars were most likely to last to 250k miles...

Which cars in that article are supposed to last a long time? But it seems like you folks usually drive around only six thousand miles or so a year on each of your vehicles, and you like to have a new car every three to five years. So is a long-lasting car really an important thing? Is there a chance you'll drive more when you eventually retire? Anyway, for your RDX it seems like the CarPlay/AndroidAuto is a bit glitchy, but is that the only issue with your Acura? You've probably already checked for it, but maybe there's a software update the dealer could install? For your Ford, are you worried about reliability after the warranty expires? Also, does it bother you that the Maverick is only front-wheel drive, or is that ok for your weather. I'm a practical and frugal person who doesn't need that much when it comes to power and 0-60 times, and so for me my non-turbo TLX and my wife's Subaru are ideal cars that blend luxury and functionality. But for you wanting something special and sporty for you next car, but not wanting a low seating position like you'd find in a sports car, a CPO Porsche Macan with the extended warranty might be something to consider. They look good and performance is wonderful. From looking at this video from Car Wizard a few months ago of a 2016 Macan with an almost dead engine, probably because of hard use and 10k oil change intervals, seems like having a CPO warranty on a Porsche would be a good thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJuvJ6gmAb4

stickguy · November 11

I don’t think I would want a Porsche out of warranty. Since it’s basically an Audi.

FWD has been fine so far. If I keep the maverick long term I would likely get a ford ESP since they are not that expensive.

250k is long past when we will be dead. It just happened to be what she was looking at. I think the top options were Toyota Lexus Honda and Acura. The standards. Just thought it was funny that she was reading it.

graphicguy · November 11

@rayainsw ...good seeing you back here, again. Nice new ride. Congrats!

laurasdada · November 11

stickguy said:
I don’t think I would want a Porsche out of warranty. Since it’s basically an Audi.

FWD has been fine so far. If I keep the maverick long term I would likely get a ford ESP since they are not that expensive.

250k is long past when we will be dead. It just happened to be what she was looking at. I think the top options were Toyota Lexus Honda and Acura. The standards. Just thought it was funny that she was reading it.

Umm, basically an Audi? And that's a bad thing?
Please don't show me JD Power graphs, I believe in alternative facts, e.g. thadt they're eating the cats and dogs, Audi is basically the German Toyota and Obama's getting royalties.

tifighter · November 11

Here we go.

au1994 · November 11

Mark-up, much??

tifighter · November 11

It’s about what I’d expect.

Meanwhile at the local Honda dealer-

jmonroe1 · November 11

tifighter said:
It’s about what I’d expect.

Meanwhile at the local Honda dealer-

——————————————————-
Yeah, but it’s not blue.

jmonroe

roadburner · November 11

benjaminh said:

stickguy said:
I think I must be rubbing off on my wife. I came downstairs for breakfast and she was sitting at her desk looking at articles on the internet. The one she was on (that she then read to me) was which cars were most likely to last to 250k miles...
Which cars in that article are supposed to last a long time? But it seems like you folks usually drive around only six thousand miles or so a year on each of your vehicles, and you like to have a new car every three to five years. So is a long-lasting car really an important thing? Is there a chance you'll drive more when you eventually retire? Anyway, for your RDX it seems like the CarPlay/AndroidAuto is a bit glitchy, but is that the only issue with your Acura? You've probably already checked for it, but maybe there's a software update the dealer could install? For your Ford, are you worried about reliability after the warranty expires? Also, does it bother you that the Maverick is only front-wheel drive, or is that ok for your weather. I'm a practical and frugal person who doesn't need that much when it comes to power and 0-60 times, and so for me my non-turbo TLX and my wife's Subaru are ideal cars that blend luxury and functionality. But for you wanting something special and sporty for you next car, but not wanting a low seating position like you'd find in a sports car, a CPO Porsche Macan with the extended warranty might be something to consider. They look good and performance is wonderful. From looking at this video from Car Wizard a few months ago of a 2016 Macan with an almost dead engine, probably because of hard use and 10k oil change intervals, seems like having a CPO warranty on a Porsche would be a good thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJuvJ6gmAb4

In most every case the "10k mile OCI kills engines" trope is an attempt to build a profit center. Sure, I'd go with a 5k mile OCI in a track rat or a really old classic, but until I see empirical data that a 10k OCI alone is responsible for an engine failure I'm following the manufacturer's recommendations.

28firefighter · November 11

If you sell before your first oil change it doesn’t matter.

benjaminh · November 11

I recently posted the test below in the Acura thread showing that sometimes 10k oil changes seem to be ok...

There's been debate among some about whether you can trust the Honda/Acura "Oil Life" algorithm. As we know, the system keeps track of rpms, trip length, heat, mileage, etc. in saying whether the oil should still be good. Here's another oil analysis from September of 2025 that says that the Honda/Acura oil life % can be trusted. This guy has a direct-injected (but non-turbo) Honda V-6 in a 2023 Pilot, and he ran the car almost 9900 miles and 7 months until his oil life monitor was at 5%. His oil analysis from Blackstone said his oil was still performing well, and that he might even consider stretching to 11k for the next oil change. The owner of the Pilot said he was just sticking with the oil life monitor's recommendations, but the test confirmed it seems ok (at least for a non-turbo engine) to have confidence in that monitor. He was using Mobile 1. I'm just using the oil from my Acura dealer, but it is still full synthetic. Usually my oil changes are around 7k-9k intervals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P7b7-hIHJA&t=111s

corvette · November 11

I follow the oil life monitor on the Ariya.

Taking a local-ish staycation and filled up the Maverick this evening. That's its first fillup since May, and I started the day with the tank about 40% full, according to the Ford app.

xwesx · November 11

roadburner said:

In most every case the "10k mile OCI kills engines" trope is an attempt to build a profit center. Sure, I'd go with a 5k mile OCI in a track rat or a really old classic, but until I see empirical data that a 10k OCI alone is responsible for an engine failure I'm following the manufacturer's recommendations.

I think much of that (OCI) depends on the time over which those miles are collected, and the quality of oil, oil filter, and *air* filter used. Many people want to cheap out on those things and then wonder why problems happen when they follow the manufacturer OCI.

In an act of timing, I just received the oil report on the Crosstrek... between early May and early October, I put about 13,500 on the car (we took it to Ohio and back). The lab said the report looked good and recommended I go back to the interval from last year.... which was over 16,000 miles!

We more normally put 8-10K on the car in a year, but these Ohio trips add a year+ of miles in just a couple of months. In any case, I still add barely anything in makeup oil (a quart each in the last two years), so the UOA numbers are pretty true to the buildup of wear metals.

I do use excellent quality oil and filters intended for long use intervals, though.

roadburner · November 11

I will just add that I change the oil in my cars according to the oil life monitor (if so equipped) or at one years whichever comes first.
The Club Sport's service interval system usually calls for an oil change at around 8,500 miles. I find that interesting since BMW did not mandate the use of synthetic oil until 1998.

stickguy · November 11

I usually wouldn’t go past 6k, or in some cars 7,500. But never more than 1 year. So with the low miles we put on, no worries about using it up! Collecting water or fuel in it maybe. But not wearing it out.

benjaminh · November 12

These two popular youtube guys, who both have a lot of experience, say that engine oil should be changed at 5k/6 months for non-turbo engines and at around 3k for turbo engines. They talk about this for the first nine minutes of this video. They both admit that oil analysis seems to show that oil is often ok way past their recommendations, but then more or less dismiss that. They say frequent oil changes are not that expensive, which is more or less true, but changing at their intervals does add up over time, and for me more importantly every time I go in for an oil change at my Acura dealer I have to deal with their upsell, and filter out what's needed and what's not. Plus I do think that the Honda/Acura engineers knew what they were doing when they created their maintenance minder system, and even built in a margin or error as seen in the test above where the oil was still good in a Honda Pilot after almost 10,000 miles. The title of this specific video, which is about the unrealistic case of keeping your car for a lifetime, reveals part of how they are looking at this. My Acura is now 7.5 years old and has around 94,000 miles. I'm not sure how long I'll keep it, but there's a good chance I might try for going over 150k...I did change the trans fluid at 50k and plan to do it again the next visit, which is twice as often as Acura recommends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCQY_ci3JZI&t=2269s

kyfdx · November 12

YouTube guys are definitely the guys I'd pick, rather than engineers that actually design the engine manufacturer..

stickguy · November 12

From watching a lot of repair videos the big issue seems to be sludge and gunk. Not sure how the correlates to oil analysis. Meaning can it test out ok at high miles intervals but still be causing issues.

Turbos and DI seem to make the issues worse. And it’s a big problem with so many cars having oil based VVT type systems.

Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles

Your Privacy