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CornHolio posted:I called a dealership to see how much they would charge for the exact same service. $953.58. $304 front axle brakes, $344.58 rear axle brakes, and $305 for an idler and two belts. That is a savings of almost $700! Do you bike to work because it has extensive savings over a limo? All four pads, rotors and a serpentine belt on my 13 year old Volvo came out to $400 total from an independent mechanic. Also, why would you put premium brakes on a 2000 Bonneville? Could've saved $200 just buying bargain stuff, the car wouldn't outlast it either way.
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Aug 31, 2010 23:00
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CornHolio posted:I'm not even sure what this means. Dealers are really expensive, there's no reason to pay for service at one, it's not a valid example. CornHolio posted:And I can almost guarantee that the 3800 will outlive many more sets of pads and rotors, not to mention the apocalypse. Automatic front wheel drive GM products, legendary for reliability, especially the H-platform, shared with other quality cars like the Olds 88 and the Lesabre, from 2000 no less, the golden age of GM quality. Good investment, I take back everything I said. CornHolio posted:Oil changes are usually a wash. There are some skeevy shops that advertise 15-dollar oil/filter, they use barrel oil, I always watch to make sure it's done right. That's even cheaper then the retail cost of the oil alone. CornHolio posted:RIGHT. ON. TOP. OF. THE. ENGINE. Most of what you're paying for is diagnosis - sometimes it's obvious, but in a lot of cases, it's not. Busted oxygen sensors are a good example, unless it trips a code or something. NOTinuyasha fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Sep 2, 2010 |
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Sep 2, 2010 02:29
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CornHolio posted:In this age of OBDII cars, a broken O2 sensor will always trip a code. I don't think shops should be allowed to charge more than ten minutes of time (assuming they can't find their tool) to diagnose a check-engine light (unless it is a rare case of it not being obvious, for instance a vacuum leak or something). Especially when a reader costs $50 and Autozone reads them for free anyway. The O2 sensor is one part in a vast quantity of ever-changing electrical components that may or may not trip a relevant code, or any code at all, upon failure, relays are a good example, the car may not have a way to discern if a relay is functioning or not. That happened to my fuel pump relay - I fixed it myself but it took hours of diagnosis, since it didn't trip any codes. That's not to say an OBDII scanner isn't a good investment, but don't slam people for not wanting to deal with repairs even if you you find one specific example (out of thousands) to be easy.
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Sep 2, 2010 23:35
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Tortilla Maker posted:To add onto the VW Jetta hate, my 03 Jetta has had the check engine light on for the past 14 or so months. I've taken it to several different mechanics on numerous occasions but they can't quite seem to ever fix the issue. They'll do something, the car will run great for a week or two, and it'll eventually start doing the same thing all over again (lots of engine shake, cold starts, difficulty accelerating in the morning). Sounds like an oxygen sensor? Misfire, maybe a camshaft position sensor? Fuel filter? Post it on VWvortex. Could be your cat is bad, my dad's 97' 7-series had misfire codes and engine shake, drove it like that for a year, finally brought it in, new plugs and tons of diagnosis later, turned out to be a plugged cat, with only 60k.
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Sep 12, 2010 23:07
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Cortel posted:1) how dumb am I for wanting it (e.g. what's everything that could go wrong with it?) A dealer will offer you some sort of loan but there will be a down payment and your parents will HAVE to co-sign it. $200-250/mo financed is the zone where you've at least matched the potential month-to-month repair costs of an old junker. You'll save a shitload on insurance just by driving a liability-only junker around, get quotes before buying anything. I don't like your choice of car a whole lot, consider other dirt-cheap cars like Versa, Yaris, Fiesta, all of those will have better resale down the line.
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Oct 12, 2010 15:07
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The_Fuzzinator posted:I'm trying to decide on a new car, between the Ford fiesta and Honda fit. I currently am driving a '95 VW Jetta with ~105k miles on it that has a problem that my family mechanic basically told me it would be more to fix it than the car is worth. the Jetta i drive now is as far as i can tell on it's last legs due to the problems it's having it won't be able to pass inspection. is there anything that anyone has heard about either car? I've been having trouble finding many complaints about either car. from what i understand sticker price is going to be between 15k- 18k depending on which car i go with. I'm not worried about depreciation in value because i plan on driving what ever new car i get for as long as possible. The Fiesta is really narrow, and made worse by the massive center console. That being said it's fine for a lot of people and I loved the sedan. Also, I test drove the new Elantra, which was a bit roomier and gets marginally better mileage (29/40 as opposed to 28/37), but the dealer claimed they were having trouble keeping them in stock. Only two were on the lot, neither of which were configured the way I liked. Tomorrow I'm gonna test drive the Cruze Eco, with the 1.4L turbo/6-speed manual, which gets the best mpg (28/42) while maintaining a larger interior, comparable to that of a midsized car. That comes at a premium, though...
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Feb 20, 2011 03:07
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I just put a deposit on a new 2011 Elantra Limited, only paid $100 above invoice (~$20,100 plus $720 destination), 2.9%/48 months. I'm 20 with a 640 credit rating, $4000 down and had my grandfather co-sign. The insurance comes out to $160 a month. Other cars I test drove : -Fiesta, really narrow thanks to a big center console and narrow wheelbase, terrible rear seats -Cruze, higher price, annoying styling, GM resale value -Mazda3, higher price, crappy fuel economy, way too common I didn't bother with the Corolla/Civic/Fit since all seem to be end of lifecycle for 2011. The Hyundai dealer wasn't pushy at all, but the Elantra seems a bit difficult to pin down, they didn't have any on the lot except for the one I test drove, which was sold the next day. I wanted a specific color anyway, so it's getting shipped in this week 
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Mar 8, 2011 20:41
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skipdogg posted:Being 20 and having a car payment sucks, but it should be manageable for you. I won't actually start paying it off in advance until I have at least a year's worth of payments saved up as a safeguard, but the base payments are something like an eighth of my income. I've watched friends crash and burn with much larger payments and way less cash coming in.
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Mar 8, 2011 23:00
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alreadybeen posted:Great choice, I have a Hyundai and absolutely love it as well. It has been one of those purchases every time I get in the car I feel good about my purchase, even a year later. Also the ipod hookup is great the way it can be controlled through the actual stereo. I'm starting to backpedal on the Elantra because I've been waiting over a month for the dealer to get the model I want in stock (black/black Limited). I told them they had a week before I went elsewhere, but that's more of a threat then anything because all the other Hyundai dealers are the same story and I don't like anything besides the Elantra. I test drove the '11 Jetta TDI today - I really love the power output of the diesel engine but the interior was really lovely and the steering was reminiscent of my old Volvo. That might've been forgivable if the price matched the Elantra but it was actually a full 25% more, $25k compared to $20k.
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Apr 9, 2011 01:34
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IOwnCalculus posted:One thing to keep in mind with the Jetta - and part of why the reviews of the current model are so much worse than past models - is VW purposely went downmarket on a lot of features and materials used in the car in an effort to lower the price tag, while everyone else is moving to make their low-end cars nicer. Compared to the Sonata, the Jetta actually comes out as the cheaper, lower quality driving appliance and that isn't right at all. The TDI hasn't even gone down in price like the gas model so yeah, bad deal. At least the Golf/wagon remain unchanged.
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Apr 9, 2011 18:40
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After a month of waiting for an Elantra I had a change of heart, canceled my deposit and went searching again. I found an '08 mercedes C300 sport RWD, with 35k, listed for $26,000. That was 4 grand below the KBB; it had been sitting for 5 months and had been marked down over and over. Great shape, new tires/brakes + 15 months warranty. I bought it today, financed for 66 months/1.99% with 8 grand down. The insurance actually worked out a bit cheaper then the Hyundai which didn't make much sense but whatever. Because I bought an overpriced brand name German import that takes premium when premium costs 4 dollars a gallon I'm not sure if I'm allowed to whine about VWs in this thread anymore.
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Apr 12, 2011 05:38
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Almost a month ago I bought a used Mercedes-Benz C300 from a CPO dealer. The financing was preety good, 1.9%/66 months through MB financial. Anyway this monday will be one month from officially driving the car off the lot and I have yet to receive a bill, I called the financing dept at the dealer up last week, left a message and never got a call back. I called the salesman up on Fri who said he'd look into it, but he has yet to follow up as well. Who should I be contacting? MB financial in California, or the dealer? Who's actually supposed to be sending me the bill? How can I cover my rear end if the first payment is missed over this?
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May 14, 2011 23:28
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Don Lapre posted:For that kind of money a ford focus is way better equipped. Its also a better car. Faster, better handling. Both are disappointing because a manual is only available with the base trims. The Cruze automatic is ok, the Focus automatic is a pile of poo poo. I actually think VW's lineup is one of the best right now, $24,000 would buy a loaded Jetta 2.5L - which is a real full sized sedan.
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Jul 17, 2011 06:46
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Throatwarbler posted:It's slightly smaller than the Cruze, so I guess that makes the Cruze a full size sedan? It also doesn't have as good an interior, no automatic air conditioning, no park assist, oxcart suspension, the manual trans is only a 5 speed and the fuel economy is quite a bit worse. If you sit in the back of the Jetta you'd know what I mean, it has the same interior room as an Accord while the Cruze is preety much just a compact car. I didn't like the handling or interior either, but it had some merits.
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Jul 17, 2011 07:26
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Nocheez posted:Have you driven one? We have one at work for a pool car, and it's a fantastic little car. The gas mileage is amazing (I got over 40MPG on a long trip) and it handles beautifully. The only downsides I've seen are that the car tries to take it easy on gas, so sometimes it takes a moment to realize that yes, you really do need to go faster. I test drove a Fiesta automatic a few months ago and it didn't impress me. My friend rented an auto Fiesta for the past month and constantly bitches that it's way too slow to respond, especially on the highway. And yesterday I saw the NYT headline review of the Focus - "Such a Slick Package, But Gearbox is a Drag" and I just assumed it suffered from the same issues.
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Jul 18, 2011 01:10
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So I want to get rid of my car, I moved to a place where I commute by subway and I don't use it enough to justify having something so nice, and my parents offered to sell me their old car for cheap so I figure this is the time to do it. What I have now is an '08 C-class worth about $23,000 private value according to KBB (so I figure $20k-22k real price). I still owe about $18k on it. How on earth do you sell a car with money still owed? My first thought would be to get some sort of personal loan to pay it off in full, get the title and then sell it but the internet says there are easier ways to do it, like taking someone's money then using it to pay off the car and then transferring the title, but that seems way too sketchy.
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Jan 19, 2012 18:45
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I might do that, but let's say I just paid it off and then put it up for sale. How on earth do I sell a car worth that much? Craigslist?
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Jan 19, 2012 19:49
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IOwnCalculus posted:Hell, comedy option try Carmax. Worst they can do is lowball you so hard you walk out laughing. I did, and they actually didn't lowball me as bad as I thought, but Craigslist is still better. Best case I'd be burning $8000 straight up because of the loss between CPO and private party value, plus the tax I paid, and that's a bit too much to swallow. I was looking for extra money to finish my bachelors, but at that point I'd rather just go into debt and keep my fancy car.
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Jan 22, 2012 04:14
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broken pixel posted:words If you up the budget by $3000 you can at least pretend you can purchase a brand new 2012 Nissan Versa. No tachometer, no power locks nor power windows but I'd still rather have one then an HHR (please don't buy an HHR, it's a terrible piece of poo poo).
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Jun 1, 2012 23:56
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Rhyno posted:Seating for TEN motherfuckers. I own one of these, a badge-engineered Colony Park, the rear seats are crazy tight for a car so large. I guess you could theoretically get ten people in legally (provided you have the third row option) but at some point you're just stuffing human bodies in a small box. Also, I've never done three people in the front, I imagine it'd be hilarious and undrivable.
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Sep 21, 2012 23:17
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booseek posted:I just called Geico for a quote for a new 2013 Kia Soul and they told me ~$1600 a month?! At best you'll wrap that brand new car around a telephone pole in a month, at worst you're planning personal injury scam. NYC is a nightmare for anything car-related, that's why drivers don't do much driving and insurance companies don't do much insuring. Good luck with that.
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Dec 9, 2012 20:49
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Earth posted:What?!?! No dude, no. As an accomplished engineer... ;-) Seriously though jokes aside, I am an accomplished engineer, and I have had a lot of experience for my age. Earth posted:Wah. Wah. Wah. Earth posted:(How's this for a long post?) Earth posted:Sincerely. You are literally the biggest shitlord in the universe. Please stop posting forever.
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Dec 31, 2012 14:31
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Hey on the topic of Minis, coincidentally I'm looking at an automatic Clubman S and literally everything I read, especially CR's reliability report, says that anything MY07 and up from Mini should be avoided like the plague. Test drive went fine, it's high miles (110k+) but the price is right and I can easily pay cash. My standards for reliability aren't that high (I drive a 15 year old BMW right now) but I've never had the pleasure of paying for a $4000 turbocharger or whatever else is maybe guaranteed to break on these things so I don't really *know* what I'm getting myself into.
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Dec 14, 2013 03:08
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| # ¿ Apr 23, 2024 21:51 |
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I'm actually trying to sell a car, not buy one. But I think this is the place for it. A while ago I financed a new '14 Charger SXT Plus RWD for 28k (plus tax), 4.5k off sticker. I've since put 10k miles on it. KBB puts the value at 24-25k for a private party sale. KBB is always overly optimistic and there's very, very few comparable cars on CL in the NYC metro area. AutoTrader offered 21k, which is almost tempting, that's almost exactly the payoff, but I don't mind paying it off and selling it myself if I get an extra three or four thousand. I'm just not sure how long it'll take to find a buyer... or if there's anyone out there paying that kind of cash up front besides dealers. It's an excellent car by the way, but I bought it when I had a long commute, now I don't. I live in a dense city with limited parking, high insurance rates and drive it once every two or three weeks now.
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Oct 2, 2015 07:06
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