Car advice

[Troll Daddy]

1 minute ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

The problem with that is the mileage restrictions with high penalties for going over, and the fact that they charge you for everything when the car is turned in (minor things like door dings and carpet stains included). My father also ran across the issue that when his doctor advised him not to drive anymore, there was no way out of the lease other than paying it off. Had he financed, he could at least have sold the car.

Leasing is another way to finance a vehicle. Most buyers are ignorant when it comes to leasing. That's where the trouble begins. 

There's a lot of advantages to leasing a new vehicle. Especially for vehicles $50k and upward. I'm not saying all new cars should be leased but both options should be considered on a individual basis. 

 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

If I were going to drive something big ticket, I would definitely lease. I just don't see that happening at this stage of the game. There can also be tax advantages to leasing for people who use a vehicle largely or exclusively for business purposes.

[Jay]

I've heard of people taking their leased car to CARMAX and they will buy it from you and settle the lease and you can end up with a few bucks in your pocket. Depends on the car, residual value, etc.

 

[Blarg]

19 hours ago, Vegas Halo Fan said:

I strongly advise dumping it as soon as the warranty runs out. This is from personal experience.

Unless it goes lemon on her I think what we will do is a bumper to bumper extended warranty when she comes to the end of factory coverage. As long as the car holds up it's cheaper to pay for coverage than jumping back into a new car loan. Speaking of which, I need to look into an extended warranty for my car.

[DerekGMZ]

Nice to browse these informative threads again. My gf and I were slightly charmed by the Fiats/Minis, I think we'll pass for a more reliable and long term cost effective vehicle. 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

9 hours ago, Blarg said:

Unless it goes lemon on her I think what we will do is a bumper to bumper extended warranty when she comes to the end of factory coverage. As long as the car holds up it's cheaper to pay for coverage than jumping back into a new car loan. Speaking of which, I need to look into an extended warranty for my car.

I had one on mine, and I still ran into problems. For instance, when the cooling fan on the power steering system went out, I took it to the dealer to get it repaired. I was charged $300 even though I had a $75 deductible, because the dealership charged more than the allowable amount for the repair. Of course, they waited until they completed it to spring this on me.

One thing that helped me until I could unload mine was finding an independent mechanic through the local Mini club. My local dealer was/is notorious for overcharging people for repairs, misdiagnosing problems, fixing things that don't need to be fixed, fabricating problems and just generally fleecing people. Desert Mini, in case you're interested.

The master Mini mechanic that worked at my independent shop told me that he left the dealership because he didn't want to be part of a ripoff operation like them. If you're ever in Vegas and need help with your Mini, call Kensington Motor Cars instead.

[Blarg]

My guy is Akbar Auto in Montclair that takes care of my Mercedes. He is very straightforward about what to expect to last or fail on any given model and how much it will cost.

I let go of my '05 SLK simply because it was heading for and engine problem that would only be a Mercedes part, not available to independents and my warranty was near done. A sparkplug change by Mercedes was $800 (did that myself in less than an hour for the cost of plugs and air filter) so anything that requires opening up the head is going to run in the thousands because they are the only ones that can do it.

 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

The guys at Kensington started out just doing Mini, Jaguar and Land Rover. That worked out well, because for part of the time that we had the Mini, our other car was a '99 Jaguar XJ8. I did a lot of my own work on the Jag (with the help of an online forum populated by Jag mechanics), but for anything I couldn't handle, Kensington did it for less than any other place that quoted me. They have since added Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes. I'll bet that they could have done the engine on your SLK.

[maximus p]

Considering buying a C5 Corvette (1997-2004), but am a little hesitant about any problems that are inherent to these cars (don't know of anything major, have done some research).  I have wanted a Corvette for as long as I can remember.  I can deal with the increase in insurance, but don't want to buy a money pit.  There are always several for around $15K, with less than 75K mileage.  My fall back option would be a newish Challenger.

Any thoughts?

[Troll Daddy]

On 1/26/2017 at 8:23 PM, maximus p said:

Considering buying a C5 Corvette (1997-2004), but am a little hesitant about any problems that are inherent to these cars (don't know of anything major, have done some research).  I have wanted a Corvette for as long as I can remember.  I can deal with the increase in insurance, but don't want to buy a money pit.  There are always several for around $15K, with less than 75K mileage.  My fall back option would be a newish Challenger.

Any thoughts?

Buy the Vette! 

[Hot Damn!]

does your "wifey" monitor all your posts and get pissed if you don't mention her in the first sentence?

[mrwicked]

On 1/26/2017 at 8:23 PM, maximus p said:

Considering buying a C5 Corvette (1997-2004), but am a little hesitant about any problems that are inherent to these cars (don't know of anything major, have done some research).  I have wanted a Corvette for as long as I can remember.  I can deal with the increase in insurance, but don't want to buy a money pit.  There are always several for around $15K, with less than 75K mileage.  My fall back option would be a newish Challenger.

Any thoughts?

if you want it, just buy it.

american cars are easy to fix anyways.

f*ck challengers. get the 'vette.

ps the new vettes are amazing, i vote for one of those.

[OCAngelsNotLAA]

21 hours ago, mrwicked said:

if you want it, just buy it.

american cars are easy to fix anyways.

f*ck challengers. get the 'vette.

ps the new vettes are amazing, i vote for one of those.

I haven't liked a corvette since the 50s and 60s models but the new ones look amazing!

[NJHalo]

On ‎2‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 4:10 PM, mrwicked said:

if you want it, just buy it.

american cars are easy to fix anyways.

f*ck challengers. get the 'vette.

ps the new vettes are amazing, i vote for one of those.

Respect the Challenger! My first car was a 73 Challenger that was beat to shit when I bought it. Took my time fixing it up and getting it painted.

I am going to look for old photos I have of it somewhere. Great car, but not ideal for a skier, so I had to sell it.

Looked like this:

[mrwicked]

34 minutes ago, NJHalo said:

Respect the Challenger! My first car was a 73 Challenger that was beat to shit when I bought it. Took my time fixing it up and getting it painted.

I am going to look for old photos I have of it somewhere. Great car, but not ideal for a skier, so I had to sell it.

Looked like this:

old school challengers and chargers are awesome!

cudas too! my buddy in high school had a 1971 plymouth barracuda (not hemi).

bummer you had to sell it. that thing was probably a blast.

[Blarg]

On 1/26/2017 at 8:23 PM, maximus p said:

Considering buying a C5 Corvette (1997-2004), but am a little hesitant about any problems that are inherent to these cars (don't know of anything major, have done some research).  I have wanted a Corvette for as long as I can remember.  I can deal with the increase in insurance, but don't want to buy a money pit.  There are always several for around $15K, with less than 75K mileage.  My fall back option would be a newish Challenger.

Any thoughts?

Only advice is to do your research,  some years of the Vette (like all cars) are not that well built and have problems. 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

1 hour ago, NJHalo said:

Respect the Challenger! My first car was a 73 Challenger that was beat to shit when I bought it. Took my time fixing it up and getting it painted.

I am going to look for old photos I have of it somewhere. Great car, but not ideal for a skier, so I had to sell it.

Looked like this:

Always liked those wheels. I had a red 1973 Plymouth Satellite Sebring that had those wheels. It looked roughly like this, red, except no vinyl top.

[Blarg]

Those are not the same wheels. 

[Blarg]

One of my friends used to drive his Dad's Cutlass Supreme to school every day until his Mom forced him to take the Pinto. A few weeks later he bought a TR-4.

[NJHalo]

There's a guy in my town that has a mint Plymouth Superbird. I love that car. He rarely takes it out, but when he does, heads are turning 

[Blarg]

My neighbor across from me has a '68 Camaro. Two doors down a '57 and '66 Vette. Around the corner is a black Plymouth Roadrunner and up the street some guy used to park his dragster and fire it up once in a while. It would set off car alarms a block away. They had to move.

[NJHalo]

$800k for a SuperBird!! 

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/plymouth/superbird/1780514.html

[Blarg]

Yeah, rich people are dumb with their money.

[Taylor]

On 1/3/2017 at 7:48 PM, Vegas Halo Fan said:

Carmax gave me $200 for my 1996 Mercury Grand Marquis with almost 200,000 miles on it. Saved me the trouble of dealing with strangers test driving the car and trying to get me to make repairs before selling the car to them. That is probably about what it was worth. 

Carmax offered us $300 for our 2003 Hyundai Santa Fe with 200,000 miles. I ended up selling it on Craigslist for $1,000.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

On 2/3/2017 at 7:54 AM, NJHalo said:

$800k for a SuperBird!! 

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/plymouth/superbird/1780514.html

Always wanted to drive one, if only around the block. I was 14 when these came out, so I never got the chance to get behind the wheel of one. Saw a couple of these in Plymouth showrooms back in the day.