Big fan so far, thanks for the tip. They still include the home charger installation or in my case $500 in EVGo credit.
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I did this too, but at the height of the pandemic car scarcity. 2009 vehicle about 115K miles. I probably left way more than 1K on the table, but I didn’t realize until after. If I was patient and willing to deal with randoms (and willing to deal with a minor issue causing a check engine light), I probably could have got $3k more. Carmax was just so much better than the other online options (e.g. Carvana, which lowballed the shit out of me) that I just snap drove over there.
Also, did Mrs. Tilted give up on the teaching game, or is she just teaching remotely now?
If you think buying new cars is bad, don’t look at used cars. The vast majority of used cars are auction vehicles with extremely dodgy provenance. I just test drove one a few weeks ago that had an accident that did not appear on a Carfax that I was able to identify through covert methods. I just assume every used car was wrecked until there is strong evidence otherwise.
I have a Mazda CX5 and a Ram 2500. Am I the elusive undecided swing voter?
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It’s a good day for auto dealers in the Sunshine State, and not so great for motorists who’d prefer a more direct route for buying a new coupe, sedan or SUV.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a measure ( HB 637 ) Tuesday banning most direct-to-consumer vehicle sales, solidifying the future viability of car-selling operations across the Sunshine State
https://twitter.com/Fla_Pol/status/1668760154030964737?t=fuzhvNmR_5Yo4muzI-VBGg&s=19
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every auto dealer in FL and probably everywhere is a MAGA turd so this is not surprising
Also the Republican crusade to stymie electric cars because they are pro-global warming. Musk’s breathless pandering to right wing nonsense hasn’t moved the needle at all on this.
Amazing how every single right winger besides Trump manages to lose despite winning.
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This is what I never understood about the standard personal finance advice to always buy used. I’ve had shit luck buying used cars with like 40k miles that end up with all sorts of problems around 75k miles, and just decided it’s not worth it. I’d rather buy new and just own the car for 8-10 years. Yes it loses value when you drive it off the lot but that’s mostly the premium you pay for the certainty that no one has abused it, wrecked it, or otherwise damaged it.
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Naked corruption and should be challenged in court.
Also, LOL DEMOCRATS
HB 637 — which cleared both chambers of the Legislature with just two “no” votes, from Democratic Reps. Anna Eskamani and Angie Nixon — also bars manufacturers from reserving or incentivizing the sale or lease of vehicles, including electric or hybrid cars.
She got into a private company that school districts hire to help implement language and reading curriculum. More pay, remote, less stress. Seems like an all around win. She’s really excited. Thanks for asking 
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Yeah, my one interaction with Carmax was great. Bought a new car about ten years ago (will post about that car separately) and wanted to get something for my old one. It had a steering problem, an oil leak, and a cracked front bumper. It was a 1998 Buick Regal, worth nothing. Looked great, though.
Dealership where I bought my car was going to give me $700 for it. Across the street at Carmax, they tested it out and the guy came back to give me a quote. On the computer screen, he went down the checklist and it was green checks all the way…I was so confused. He offered $2,000 and I snap called.
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So my above reference car is a 2013 Kia Sorento. It’s been pretty good and I only have 65,000 on it (driver’s seat heater broke a couple years ago, though - fortunately I live in warm weather state). A week ago, my daughter was driving in a supermarket parking lot next door and at a stop sign, the steering wheel locked up on her and then the engine shut down.
As a new driver, she was freaked out and thought she did something to break the car. Fortunately, she was in a parking lot and not on the road, plus I could walk there. Also, there is a tire and brake place connected to the lot (they do oil changes and basic repairs, too). I was able to start the car and for a minute, while it didn’t sound good, the car functioned, so I turned it around to get it to the car shop. After a few years, the car made a rattling noise, shuddered, and shut down. I was able to start it again and get it into the auto shop lot.
Turned out the problem was that there was no oil in the engine. Not a drop, the mechanic said. It was odd, as I do get the oil changed (not every 3,000 miles, but frequently enough where it has never been a problem), there’s no leak, and no low oil light came on.
He said that these engines are notorious for burning oil. Fortunately, it appears that the car shut down not because the engine was fucked, but because of a failsafe that stops things before the engine gets fucked. It’s been fine for a week with new oil.
I also took it to the dealership yesterday for the 60,000-mile maintenance (minus the oil change, of course). It cost a shitton of money, but it’s something that needed to be done. While there are a couple things that need fixing, the lack of oil didn’t do any damage. They said it’s in pretty nice shape for a 10-year-old vehicle (though low miles probably helps). Car does seem to drive better now that all the fluids were flushed and what-not.
Summary: might want to check your oil levels now and then, even if you think everything is ok.
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If, as I presume, she was a good teacher, not sure it was an all around win. Probably some kids are going to lose bigly. Unfortunately, teaching has a lot of associated bullshit and a lot of good ones move on to something else.
Don’t mean to suggest she should have stayed or to make her feel guilty about it anything. It’s just a sad reality. Hope she likes the new jerb. If she can keep crazies from fucking up public school curricula, she will still be doing plenty of good.
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Used vehicles just aren’t the value that the used to be pre covid. Around 2010 I bought a 1993 ranger for 1,200 with about 143k and I could sell it instantly now with 175k for about 4k while the price of a new vehicle really hasn’t gone up as much relatively speaking - but I think rates have a little bit to do with helping to keep new car prices in check somewhat.
What really amazes me is the prices for classic cars now. I get that they’re kind of a commodity or a part of history that no one wants to dump as the owners tend to not be in any financial hardship or that few people are mechanically inclined + lack of reasonably priced machinists but even finding like a gutted 67 mustang for w/e reason is going to cost a lot.
If you’re a car dealer in Florida, we have some great news for you. Florida Politics reports that Governor Ron DeSantis just signed a law that blocks most automakers from using a direct-to-consumer sales model. So your existence as an unnecessary middleman has been preserved yet again. Take that, consumers hoping for a car buying experience that doesn’t involve slimy salespeople.
That said, the bill does have a carveout for electric-only automakers, meaning Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid are still allowed to sell their cars directly to customers without getting a third-party dealership involved. Legacy automakers that sell electric vehicles still have to use dealerships, though.
As a surprise to no one, the bill was written by lobbyists for the Florida Automobile Dealers Association and didn’t initially include the exception for Tesla and other electric startups. Other lobbyists were able to negotiate that exception, which feels like it was meant to benefit Tesla specifically.
The bill also limits automakers’ ability to control dealer inventory and prices. So if a dealer wants high markups on desirable cars, and another dealer is selling at or below MSRP, automakers won’t be able to reward the better dealer with more inventory and more desirable models.
Of course, the dealers think this is great. In a statement, Dave Ramba, a lobbyist for FADA, said, “The attempt by auto manufacturers to cut out the dealer would only result in higher prices and less customer service to the public. The new car dealer is the customer’s advocate when it comes to warranty work and service on a manufacturer’s product, and this bill will protect that.”
On what’s surely a completely unrelated note, Florida Politics points out that dealers have donated more than $2 million to DeSantis in the last two years, as well as $230,000 to political action committees run by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and $50,000 to state senator Ben Albritton. Jason Shoaf, who sponsored the bill in the state house, also received a $10,000 donation to his PAC from Braman Motors the week after he filed the bill.
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It’s really just Pokemon cards for Boomers. My dad has a classic Corvette that he’s talked about having “redone” for decades, so finally I did some deep dive research several years ago to figure out where to take it and how much it would cost. The answer is that it costs way less to buy one that some other idiot paid to fully restore than to do it yourself, somewhere on the order of a 50%+ discount. And yet there seems to be no shortage of places that will charge you $10k to $20k for a resto paint job. That’s body and paint only which is probably only 25% of a complete frame-off job. Surprisingly, even the people on the Corvette forums are wise to this and advise everyone who comes asking that they’re lighting their money on fire. Doesn’t seem to slow these Boomers down at all.
https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/painting-costs.1198197/#post-10593719
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Yeah, I’d imagine the labor someone would have to pay to a mechanic who specializes in whatever restoration project you’re in isn’t going to be in the realm of reasonable. I do LS swaps so I’m interested in vehicles with no motor/tranny/gas tank/electrical but has a working suspension and a workable body. It used to be reasonable to find something along those lines as there seemed to be a gap between LS’s not being popular and machkne work not being worth the investment to drop in a SBC or something. After covid and the whole AI EV surge, demand has surged for reasons that probably aren’t advantageous or warranted for the buyer. So maybe they begin to cool off.
Is this actually true though or are these case specific?
For the past five years I have been mid-life-crisis longing for a 1966 Mustang. That was the first make/model car I owned as a teenager and I’ve pretty much wanted one since I’ve been an adult but now that I can buy one, it’s either buy one already restored or restore one myself. All of the ones I am seeing fully-restored have been $30k+. Can I not restore one myself for less than that?
It depends on the grade of the restoration and if you’re doing the work yourself, but generally no. Like those guys in the Mustang forum are saying, good paint starts at $10k and runs up to $20k. The reason it costs so much is because it’s incredibly labor intensive. Similarly, if it’s a frame-off resto then the price goes way up. The prices on this stuff have gone bonkers in recent years.
