Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous

stickguy · December 12

A lot of those plastic parts can be dealt with. Either 3D print them or some companies have come out with metal replacements (learned that watching YouTube videos!). The modules though can completely brick a car

nyccarguy · December 12

roadburner said:
Now that I've addressed a few issues on the Club Sport I've been driving it a lot more- and my wife and I are pleasantly surprised at how well it compares with new and nearly new cars. I now subscribe to Classics World, another British magazine, and it contains a special section devoted to "Youngtimers"- cars 20 to 30 years old. There's a general consensus that today's modern cars will be difficult if not impossible to maintain long term due to their complexity and the probable lack of aftermarket support- many believe that cars dating from around 2010 or older will be the last cars that will be relatively easy to maintain. Sadly, I suspect that will likely be the case.

My best friend has an '05 LJ Wrangler with a 6-Speed. He loves it. Every now and again it has some sort of mechanical issue that needs attention. A small oil leak, he needed a new radiator last week. He says it is an absolute pleasure to drive. When he moved from CT to FL, he drove it down. On the other hand, his wife has a Genesis G70 with the Turbo Charged V6. He says it is an absolute rocket, but by the time car car is half way through the gears you are going triple digit speeds.

I absolutely still LOVE driving my Prelude too when the weather gets warmer.

nyccarguy · December 12

This Lease Hackr Broker has some really sharp deals on Full Sized Bronco Big Bends as well as 2 hail damaged, repaired EcoBoost Mustangs.

stickguy · December 12

Bradd, that’s why for something like an X3 I am not bothering with the 6 cylinder. I’d probably never use the extra speed over the base engine. Or even get it over 2K RPM

au1994 · December 12

nyccarguy said:
This Lease Hackr Broker has some really sharp deals on Full Sized Bronco Big Bends as well as 2 hail damaged, repaired EcoBoost Mustangs.

Wow, those are some smokin’ deals. The STX is still decently equipped, I wouldn’t call it stripped. Thats the XL.

We have Explorer Active’s as pool cars now that the Taurus is gone and they are not bad. The 4 cyl is a little raspy around town but fine on the highway. Decent complement of safety features too.

Great deal on both of the Bronco flavors too.

breld · December 12

jmonroe1 said:

@stickguy said:

@jmonroe1 said:

@stickguy said:

And I have had a FWD maverick in the snow. They do fine, as good or better than any FWD car thanks to the tall tires and ground clearance. I just don’t want the salt crusties rotting it out.

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I told you how to avoid that. Don’t blame me for your procrastination.

jmonroe

We don’t have a floor drain. And the hose bib is outside. So when it is well below freezing not an ideal situation. So it got the touchless wash with underbody spray at lunchtime.

A nice lease on a truck sounds ideal. No need to care about the undercarriage rotting out Aron salt in one of thise.

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Around here, a garage floor drain is required by code. I’ve heard that new builds with 2 and 3 car garages require a floor drain for each car bay but I haven’t confirmed that.

When I lived in SC, a garage floor drain was not required (1992) but since I had a builder who came from the North he installed one as standard.

jmonroe

Boy, I wish that was required here in CO. I would love to have that in my garage.

stickguy · December 12

A drain and an inside spigot would be perfect.

qbrozen · December 12

Was trying to find a populated calculator for the taco sr5. No luck.

For deals are Ok. I come up with about $399/mo with $1200 DAS on the Bronco.

corvette · December 12

@qbrozen - you can text Jim and he'll give you specific pricing with no pressure.

qbrozen · December 12

@corvette said:
@qbrozen - you can text Jim and he'll give you specific pricing with no pressure.

Not a fan. Seems to me the brokers on there often pad the dealer doc fee. No dealer has ever charged me $899. So I will typically play with the calculator, change some numbers, test different up-front costs, etc. Then I email dealers with my offer. I have used brokers before, and would again, if I confirm the numbers with the calculator. I’m not a trusting person.

tjc78 · December 12

qbrozen said:

@corvette said:
@qbrozen - you can text Jim and he'll give you specific pricing with no pressure.

Not a fan. Seems to me the brokers on there often pad the dealer doc fee. No dealer has ever charged me $899. So I will typically play with the calculator, change some numbers, test different up-front costs, etc. Then I email dealers with my offer. I have used brokers before, and would again, if I confirm the numbers with the calculator. I’m not a trusting person.

On my truck I was able to beat the broker deal but it took some time.

jmonroe1 · December 12

@tjc78 said:
On my truck I was able to beat the broker deal but it took some time.

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How far did you have to go to get your deal. I’ve bought out of state 3 times. Twice in Ohio, the furthest was Columbus and once in Virginia in the DC area. I doubt I’d travel any farther than what I’ve done already. To go any farther, someone would have to be giving the car away. I have my limits but Son #1 said he’d go to Chicago for the right deal. There ain’t no way I’d be doing that.

jmonroe

kyfdx · December 12

You can't be a lease hacker, if you aren't willing to get a plane ticket..

I've bought in Chicago, Maryland and Denver. Plus other places a couple hours away.
Had one trailered into Philadelphia.

tjc78 · December 12

My truck came from a dealer in Maryland. About 2.5 hours.

The Mercedes came from Westchester county NY, the XC90 from even further in MD ... so yeah I travel when needed!

Made my Mom get one of her RAVs from 90 mins away in PA.

corvette · December 12

@kyfdx - I had that convo with a manufacturer rep at one of the auto shows. She encouraged her friends to shop outside their market area if they weren't finding the cars or the deals they wanted.

A lot of people think we're weird for being willing to jump on a plane and drive a new car home, but there's nothing weird about saving thousands of dollars, plus you get to know your new car very well on the road trip back. It feels normal to me.

nyccarguy · December 12

The furthest I've gone to pick up a new car is a few hours away in PA. I've leased a few from MA, but the dealers drove the cars to the DMV which is about 15 minutes from my house.

@kyfdx you did that drive back from Denver solo, right?

xwesx · December 12

jmonroe1 said:
How far did you have to go to get your deal. I’ve bought out of state 3 times. Twice in Ohio, the furthest was Columbus and once in Virginia in the DC area. I doubt I’d travel any farther than what I’ve done already. To go any farther, someone would have to be giving the car away. I have my limits but Son #1 said he’d go to Chicago for the right deal. There ain’t no way I’d be doing that.

jmonroe

Yeah, I get that! I've traveled for purchases, but I am not willing to go all that far. Maybe 6-7,000 miles, tops!

kyfdx · December 12

nyccarguy said:
The furthest I've gone to pick up a new car is a few hours away in PA. I've leased a few from MA, but the dealers drove the cars to the DMV which is about 15 minutes from my house.

@kyfdx you did that drive back from Denver solo, right?

Yes.. 1200 miles

jmonroe1 · December 12

@xwesx said:
Yeah, I get that! I've traveled for purchases, but I am not willing to go all that far. Maybe 6-7,000 miles, tops!

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That’s waaaay out of my league.

Just curious, but that 7000 mile trip put you on what continent?

jmonroe

xwesx · December 12

jmonroe1 said:

Just curious, but that 7000 mile trip put you on what continent?

jmonroe

Haha! The most miles I have put on a "drive it home" drip is 5,500, when I bought the Q7 in Houston, TX. Generally, I think that's about the max distance I could go without getting into central America (or taking a very circuitous route!). I was just saying that I'm really up for any sort of return journey.

qbrozen · December 12

For leases, I’ve had them trailered from Louisiana (I think. Maybe Alabama? Somewhere down there), Michigan, and Maryland. Purchases have come from many places far and wide. I’ve never flown to get one. I let it come to me.

stickguy · December 12

Furthest I went was the current Maverick. 4 hours or so from Albany to philly. Of course I only lived 20 minutes away when I ordered the dang thing.

Talked to my daughter today. This
Month they close on their house nearby and next month move from Boston. Which will mean they need a 2nd car. A cheap lease is the likely love. Turns out he would like a truck (handy with a new house) so we will be exploring the taco leases. Heck if they are good enough, we might both get one!

Michaell · December 12

@nyccarguy said:
The furthest I've gone to pick up a new car is a few hours away in PA. I've leased a few from MA, but the dealers drove the cars to the DMV which is about 15 minutes from my house.

@kyfdx you did that drive back from Denver solo, right?

From left to right, the tag along, buyer, and seller.

tjc78 · December 12

I completely forgot … the Built to Serve Ram came from Orlando! That one was trailered.

roadburner · December 12

nyccarguy said:
The furthest I've gone to pick up a new car is a few hours away in PA. I've leased a few from MA, but the dealers drove the cars to the DMV which is about 15 minutes from my house.

@kyfdx you did that drive back from Denver solo, right?

I've bought several cars from out of town, but none were really that far away...
E24 M6- Memphis
Club Sport- Chicago
318ti- Cincinnati
Mazdaspeed 3- Cincinnati
2002- Lexington, KY
M235i- Cincinnati
C43- Fort Mitchell, KY

28firefighter · December 12

Speaking of roadtrips. We did a run down to Portland today to get the Forester for the wife. Yes, there are 4 dozen dealers around me it feels like but no one had what she wanted or was really willing to deal. Saved about $1300 by taking the drive (about 180 miles each way).

Shes happy. I still haven’t even driven one.

qbrozen · December 12

These specialty auction sites get worse and worse by the day. I can’t figure out for the life of me why this would be accepted. It is just about the worst powertrain in a Volvo of the past 2 decades. https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rxbbPMQW/2010-volvo-v70-32

nyccarguy · December 13

@qbrozen - The answer as ALWAYS is in the comments:

JewCarBoy

Noteworthy stats regarding Volvo V70s offered here on Cars and Bids.

51 Volvo V70s were auctioned off on Cars and Bids to date, this is number 52.
2 out of the 51 did not hit the reserve price, 49 of the 51 sold.
96% of the Volvo V70s have sold.

THIS IS THE FIRST 2010 VOLVO V70 EVER ON CARS & BIDS!!!

OUT OF THE 51 LISTED, 29 OF THEM WERE AUTOMATIC
OUT OF THE 29 AUTOMATICS, 4 OF THEM HAD LESS MILES

OUT OF ALL 51 VOLVO V70s AUCTIONED OFF HERE, THIS IS THE ONLY ONE EVER OFFERED IN WHITE!! (most of them in boring silver and black) Side note: the Sonic Blue is also a nice color, lol

THIS IS VOLVO IS ALSO ONE OF THE LOWEST MILEAGE V70s EVER OFFERED ON THIS WEBSITE!!

LOW MILES, AMAZING COLOR, GREAT CONDITION

THIS IS A FINE EXAMPLE OF A CLEAN LOW MILEAGE VOLVO V70!!

This Volvo belongs somewhere with open roads and an owner that will love to drive it, rack the miles up on this pup, could easily have 200,000 miles plus on the clock.

I wish I was a bidder but I am only a spectator here to enjoy and have fun with other car geeks.

No reserve on a Wagon like these is means there's a great auction ahead of us. The Wagons are harder and harder to find year after year. Prices will go up on low mileage clean examples.

As you can tell, cars like this get me excited, thanks for selling it here!!

oldfarmer50 · December 13

xwesx said:

jmonroe1 said:
How far did you have to go to get your deal. I’ve bought out of state 3 times. Twice in Ohio, the furthest was Columbus and once in Virginia in the DC area. I doubt I’d travel any farther than what I’ve done already. To go any farther, someone would have to be giving the car away. I have my limits but Son #1 said he’d go to Chicago for the right deal. There ain’t no way I’d be doing that.

jmonroe

Yeah, I get that! I've traveled for purchases, but I am not willing to go all that far. Maybe 6-7,000 miles, tops!

Farthest I ever went for a used car was about 200 miles. Two of my new car purchases were dealer swapped from about the same distance. It would have to be one heck of a deal to get me on a plane.

oldfarmer50 · December 13

qbrozen said:
These specialty auction sites get worse and worse by the day. I can’t figure out for the life of me why this would be accepted. It is just about the worst powertrain in a Volvo of the past 2 decades. https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rxbbPMQW/2010-volvo-v70-32

So you mean I could get my recently acquired 2010 Ford Fusion with about the same mileage listed? Heck, since Ford owned Volvo back then, they’re practically the same car.🤣

andres3 · December 13

xwesx said:
My take on those insurance apps is the same as with traffic cameras that will ticket you: They have no idea about the context surrounding the data points! Sure, you can probably surmise that a driver is a complete dink if the data shows a vast number of strong lateral forces and hard stops, but for those of us who are "normal" drivers, does going 5-10 over the limit (based on GPS) for a period of time indicate high-risk driving? Impossible to tell from data alone! How about strong lateral force two times during a single driving event? Also, impossible to tell.

If the story behind that event was, over three hours and 100 miles, that there was a 45-minute period of light traffic on the interstate followed by some around-town driving, followed by a country road where a driver entering the road from the right blew a stop sign (and you managed to narrowly avoid him), then I would say, "no." That sounds like great driving to me!

However, I'm sure there could be a completely different set of circumstances where the driver could produce the exact same data and be driving in an extremely risky way. Say, for example, there was a ten-mile stretch of interstate where traffic was backed up and crawling due to a lane closure. But, you being you, realized that the closed lane had no work being done at all for many miles! You said, "My time is more valuable than these other saps...," and you just gunned it, swerved into the coned-off lane, tore down the road for nine miles, then swerved to the opposite shoulder where you drove for another mile before easing in ahead of the congestion once the road opened back up again. YIKES!

As such, discount or not, I say, "no thanks." I'm not going to give them any reason to judge or doubt the integrity of my driving.

The best judge of the integrity of ones driving is results. Those are plainly judged by at-fault collisions and maybe to a small degree "not-at-fault" collisions, the category self-driving cars have been terrible at. Of course mileage and location impact these results. Insurance companies already have this data (all of the above), and there are not enough data analysts in the world to truly figure out much more than this data set alone when it comes to driving.

andres3 · December 13

xwesx said:
My take on those insurance apps is the same as with traffic cameras that will ticket you: They have no idea about the context surrounding the data points! Sure, you can probably surmise that a driver is a complete dink if the data shows a vast number of strong lateral forces and hard stops, but for those of us who are "normal" drivers, does going 5-10 over the limit (based on GPS) for a period of time indicate high-risk driving? Impossible to tell from data alone! How about strong lateral force two times during a single driving event? Also, impossible to tell.

If the story behind that event was, over three hours and 100 miles, that there was a 45-minute period of light traffic on the interstate followed by some around-town driving, followed by a country road where a driver entering the road from the right blew a stop sign (and you managed to narrowly avoid him), then I would say, "no." That sounds like great driving to me!

However, I'm sure there could be a completely different set of circumstances where the driver could produce the exact same data and be driving in an extremely risky way. Say, for example, there was a ten-mile stretch of interstate where traffic was backed up and crawling due to a lane closure. But, you being you, realized that the closed lane had no work being done at all for many miles! You said, "My time is more valuable than these other saps...," and you just gunned it, swerved into the coned-off lane, tore down the road for nine miles, then swerved to the opposite shoulder where you drove for another mile before easing in ahead of the congestion once the road opened back up again. YIKES!

As such, discount or not, I say, "no thanks." I'm not going to give them any reason to judge or doubt the integrity of my driving.

The best judge of the integrity of ones driving is results. Those are plainly judged by at-fault collisions and maybe to a small degree "not-at-fault" collisions, the category self-driving cars have been terrible at. Of course mileage and location impact these results. Insurance companies already have this data (all of the above), and there are not enough data analysts in the world to truly figure out much more than this data set alone when it comes to driving.

andres3 · December 13

oldfarmer50 said:

xwesx said:
My take on those insurance apps is the same as with traffic cameras that will ticket you: They have no idea about the context surrounding the data points! Sure, you can probably surmise that a driver is a complete dink if the data shows a vast number of strong lateral forces and hard stops, but for those of us who are "normal" drivers, does going 5-10 over the limit (based on GPS) for a period of time indicate high-risk driving? Impossible to tell from data alone! How about strong lateral force two times during a single driving event? Also, impossible to tell.

If the story behind that event was, over three hours and 100 miles, that there was a 45-minute period of light traffic on the interstate followed by some around-town driving, followed by a country road where a driver entering the road from the right blew a stop sign (and you managed to narrowly avoid him), then I would say, "no." That sounds like great driving to me!

However, I'm sure there could be a completely different set of circumstances where the driver could produce the exact same data and be driving in an extremely risky way. Say, for example, there was a ten-mile stretch of interstate where traffic was backed up and crawling due to a lane closure. But, you being you, realized that the closed lane had no work being done at all for many miles! You said, "My time is more valuable than these other saps...," and you just gunned it, swerved into the coned-off lane, tore down the road for nine miles, then swerved to the opposite shoulder where you drove for another mile before easing in ahead of the congestion once the road opened back up again. YIKES!

As such, discount or not, I say, "no thanks." I'm not going to give them any reason to judge or doubt the integrity of my driving.
I briefly entertained installing one of those dongles in the OBD port to get a discount on my Mustang while it was in winter storage. I thought that if nothing else I’d get a good laugh when they got no data from their spy device.

But if you are not driving it you don't need collision coverage, just comprehensive.

andres3 · December 13

stickguy said:
A lot of those plastic parts can be dealt with. Either 3D print them or some companies have come out with metal replacements (learned that watching YouTube videos!). The modules though can completely brick a car

German cars know when you don't use OEM plastics or metals.

As long as don't' mind driving around with a "check engine" light on all the time; might be of little consequence.

andres3 · December 13

I drove up to LA from San Diego for the '06 A3 2.0T Sport Package in Ocean Blue pearl paint. That's 2-3 hours typically each way. Downtown LA Audi - big shoutout. The SD dealerships thought they had a monopoly as the dealerships that now exist in between the two major cities didn't exist back then.

Bought the more recent '15 S4 from Phoenix, AZ, but chose to have that shipped to me out of convenience. That's the farthest I've strayed for a car new or used, and I had it shipped. Google says it's a 5 hour and 20 minute drive. I'm sure I'd do it in under 5 without interference from revenue collectors.

corvette · December 13

@qbrozen - my mom had the predecessor to that engine, the 2.9 non-turbo, in her S80. Very blah powertrain. I was confused and disappointed when they replaced the 2.5T in the XC90 with the 3.2. The 2.5T was peppy and had character.

qbrozen · December 13

@nyccarguy said:
@qbrozen - The answer as ALWAYS is in the comments:

Oh, I read that. He’s wrong. Well, OK, not “wrong,” as you could get any vehicle to go that long with enough money. That 3.2 is junk. I hated it in the wife’s LR2.

au1994 · December 13

Land Cruiser came from Massachusetts
ZHP came from Maryland, had it shipped to Carmax

Everything else has been local to the metro area I was living in at the time.

oldfarmer50 · December 13

Winter beater for Stickguy:

https://albany.craigslist.org/cto/d/north-chatham-2007-gmc-x4-pickup-truck/7901742903.html

jmonroe1 · December 13

@oldfarmer50 said:
Winter beater for Stickguy:

https://albany.craigslist.org/cto/d/north-chatham-2007-gmc-x4-pickup-truck/7901742903.html

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Why let @stickguy buy it. For 3 grand (the guy would probably take $2,550), you should buy it and drive this “very little rust” beauty over to @stickguy and show him what he missed.

jmonroe

au1994 · December 13

“very little rust”. Is that like being “a little bit” pregnant?

explorerx4 · December 13

i consider this truck to be rusty.

jmonroe1 · December 13

@explorerx4 said:
i consider this truck to be rusty.

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Why did you let it get that bad?

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 · December 13

explorerx4 said:
i consider this truck to be rusty.

Are you kidding? In upstate NY that’s considered showroom fresh. I’ve driven trucks where the front fenders were literally flapping in the wind.

stickguy · December 13

I love the white one. and a manual! Should go quick at that price. What you can see up top makes that a creampuff for a 2007 around here. Heck, that red one would probably be considered above average.

Of course, the devil will be what the frame looks like. If that is not rotted out, a really good deal. Though I would like to know what the "quirks" are! At least parts for these are dirt cheap, and any neighborhood mechanic can wrench on it.

explorerx4 · December 13

@oldfarmer50,
I didn't say it was really rusty.

stickguy · December 13

went to a town Christmas craft fair this afternoon (gotta keep the wife happy!) and it is right down the street from the Toyota dealer. Floated the idea of checking out a Tacoma, but got a luke warm response. Apparently I needed to add a couple of gin and tonics to the craft fair to mellow her out some more.

After the holidays when that stress is over and work settles down a bit. I did point out it was for the princess, but she saw through the ruse since she has no reason to participate in that looking.

Sandman6472 · December 13

We had Drivewise with Allstate but I turned mine off as I make too many trips during the day. It worked for awhile but I had to go in there every couple of days and adjust some of the trips, always the work ones. It gave us one discount but after that, crickets. I called to complain saying I work for Enterprise moving rental cars around and for them to somehow denote that but no one there could understand how to deal with it, so just had them disconnect the whole thing. Am sure my situation is not that unusual but they had no idea how to deal with it!

laurasdada · December 13

I think the farthest I've gone to buy a car is western MA (the Jag XK) nothing out of state.
Of course (I believe) that MA is the only state that doesn't allow out of state temp plates for its residents.

corvette · December 13

I'm trying to remember... It seems like about half of the cars I've had have been non-local purchases.

My first car, a Grand Am, was purchased through a local dealer, but my dad and I went to the auto auction in Nashville to pick it out. The Jetta that replaced it came from a Nashville dealer. The Altima that replaced that came from a dealer in Texas, and I had it shipped. The 325i came from a dealer in Maryland, and I took delivery at the BMW museum in Spartanburg. The 540i came from a dealer in Pennsylvania--I had that one shipped. The Dieselgate Jetta came from CarMax in New Mexico, and was shipped to my local CarMax. The Tahoe came from a private seller in Columbus, Ohio. My dad and I drove up on a Saturday to pick it up. I picked up the Tundra in Philly, the Maverick in Iowa, and the Ariya was delivered to me by a dealer in Nashville.

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