Anybody buy a new car lately?

[rbaer]

I did, sorta. My wife decided she'd outgrown her 2010 Camaro SS, and wanted a 4dr, something with class and zoom. So we looked at Chrysler 300s (too common), BMWs (too common), Audis (too small) and then Mercedes. We drove a 2010 C350 that I thought was FUN, but she thought it was too small. But, we just happened to be parked next to a 2008 E550, whick she liked. After a small amount of haggling, we did the deal on the 550 today, and because of time and logistics, I drove it straight to work. I parked, got out, signed in and went back out to look at it, in time to see the right front of the car lower itself to the stops. Methinks the adaptive suspension failed to adapt....
Good part: I had a loan car (2012 E350) in my hands in an hour, and the flatbed snatched the 550 in another 30 minutes. Bad part: I had to call my wife and tell her that her new car had to go back to the dealer. Hoo boy.
Good part: The dealer said they's give us another car. Bad part: they don't have anymore '08 E550s. Good part: we have a REALLY good warranty, and my wife's a paralegal.
Stay tuned.

[Tojo72]

Congrats on the Benz,hope it shakes out OK for you.

I have an 11yr old Maxima you can't kill,and it's in top notch condition,and a 6 yr old Tacoma Pickup,but I am starting to get a hankering.

[rbaer]

Tojo, I spend a while as a tech in a Nissan dealer, burned me out on 'em. I will say my '94 Land Cruiser with 255k is an anvil. I full well expect another 100k out of it. My last one went 350k before it started to burn oil, and it was still worth enough to make it a quick sale.
Boo, what's on order? I still have a Mazda Miata (MX5 to the rest of the world) that's my scooter. Fun little car.
Benz dealer called at the crack of dawn this morning, said they were "on it", good news.

[wouter]

Jun 4, 2013 19:44:03 GMT -5 rbaer said:

So we looked at Chrysler 300s (too common), BMWs (too common), Audis (too small) and then Mercedes.

you crazy Americans . I drive a 2006 Audi A6 Avant and trust me, it ain't nowhere near small ...it's bigger than a Chrysler 300s and comparable to Mercedes E-classes

but nevertheless, the Benz is a good choice, always nice looking cars and the quality is just ace!

Cheers

[detailfreak]

got me a 1995 lumina APV that translates to(All Peoples Vehicle)ha ha.I really feel bad drivin a chevy but hey it was cheap and I cant stand modern vehicles..

[rbaer]

Wouter, I'm pretty typical for a crazy American, gotta have torque, and lots of it. The Banz is great, in fact I drove it to work today, and it made me wonder why I haven't bought one before. It makes the Land Cruiser look pathetically slow, but it is......
With fuel and taxes, both on fuel and cars, very reasonable here, I'm gonna take advantage of the situation for as long as it exists. I always have the Miata for when I feel the need to be economical.

[Deleted]

My retirement present to me from me was a brand spanking new Lincoln Town Car. I have wanted one for years, was suddenly single again, and felt it was time. 7 years later, 94,000+ miles and she's still the best car I ever owned.

Only thing I'd do different is she's all black, black paint, black leather, etc. I had no idea I'd be relocating to the Mojave desert after retiring. The then 3rd wife decided we wanted to move to Las Vegas. Next car will be a lighter color for sure. The current Mrs G came with her C350 and a Civic. I like the Civic.................

G

[Deleted]

My next company car will,hopefully,be another one of these.....




Only a 1600 diesel,but drives smooth,and tells me what altitude I'm flying at....VERY handy!!!!

[MOOSE.]

Ford! Haha... That's all I own and one chevy. I want to get the Focus RS but they won't bring it to the states =(
My wife and I visited Ireland 2 years ago and I got to see a lot of the European cars I want but are unavailable here

[MOOSE.]

Or the Focus RS500 =)

[MOOSE.]

Sent from my SCH-I605 using proboards

[Tobi]

No wonder some of you guys lack the money for new plastic kits!

I have a nine-year-old MX-5 with some 100.000km...

... as a second car. First is a Mazda3, but nearly as old.

No way I will buy a german car! Too little value for the money.
Maybe as exports they are cheaper.

Tobi

[doogsatx/]

Yep, just got a new car at the beginning of March.

It's funny, I'm a former offroader. But back in 2005 I was already so far out of that life that I traded into a Mazda Protege5 to save on gas. And it made me absolutely fall in love with small-and-nimble. My next car was a 2006 Mini Cooper S, which makes small-and-nimble a friggin' art form. When the first kid came along in 2008, I reluctantly traded up to a Mini Clubman. The suicide door was a lifesaver for loading the carseat, but became a suckfest with the second kid. When it got savagely rear-ended in 2011, I jumped over to the new Ford Focus which was...decent. After a Mini, it felt like a fake car. And it had electrical gremlins like you wouldn't believe. One time the Ford Sync system locked up with the screen just white, with the brightness maxed out. That was fun dealing with at night.

Long story short, as my part of the third kid negotiations, I wanted back into a Mini. Screw it, you know? I refuse to go to a third row - we've already got a minivan - so why not go back to what I really love? In early March, I took delivery of a Countryman S. Everyone bags the "Maxi-Mini" etc. Well, it's nearly a foot shorter than the Focus (but it has better backseat room, go figure). A few months in and I'm still loving it.

[rbaer]

Yeah, Tobi, my MX5's a gas, and I bought it from my father-in-law with 25k miles on it. I've got a buddy in Cali with one that has almost 300k, 150 of that with a turbo, so I'm pretty sure about it. I'm part of a 24 Hours of Lemons (not Lemans) team that has a Miata, and it's the only car we haven't blown up.
I just had to have a Mercedes, and this one made my wife happy. I would have bought the C350 we drove, but gotta keep the Queen happy.
Doogs', I'm heading your way (Ithink) this weekend, bunch of Land Cruisers (all FZJ80s) leaving the highway somewhere west of Georgetown, dirt roads all the way to Mason, camping, then another all-dirt day, with our return to Dallas on Sunday afternoon. Not really "off-road", but not pavement either.
My pig:

[MOOSE.]

Currently got a 2011 Ford F150, 2011 Ford Fusion as daily drivers for the wife and myself

Attachments:

[MOOSE.]

And then me toys haha... 1989 Mustang LX, 2003 Focus SVT and 1950 Chevy pickup which is under construction lol

Attachments:

[MOOSE.]

The mustang is my pride and joy though... Too much blood, sweat and tears went into her... Ground up restoration... 505 hp supercharged... Horrible on gas lol

Attachments:

[Deleted]

Here's my land yacht.



This is my pride and joy.



1995 BMW R100RT, the last of the airheads imported to the states.

G

[doogsatx/]

Jun 12, 2013 18:06:10 GMT -5 rbaer said:

Doogs', I'm heading your way (Ithink) this weekend, bunch of Land Cruisers (all FZJ80s) leaving the highway somewhere west of Georgetown, dirt roads all the way to Mason, camping, then another all-dirt day, with our return to Dallas on Sunday afternoon. Not really "off-road", but not pavement either.

That's a nice Cruiser! And Mason is my way-ish. There was a big offroad area out there for awhile called Katemcy Rocks. Very technical, rockcrawling type stuff. I'm pretty sure it closed a few years ago.

Here's my baby from back then - Land Rover Defender. Total POS in so many ways - aside from electrical gremlins that would include the car dying while in motion, it caught on fire on me once while I was in rush hour traffic - but once it got off pavement, definitely had some serious moves.

[Tobi]

Jun 12, 2013 18:06:10 GMT -5 rbaer said:

Yeah, Tobi, my MX5's a gas, and I bought it from my father-in-law with 25k miles on it. I've got a buddy in Cali with one that has almost 300k, 150 of that with a turbo, so I'm pretty sure about it. I'm part of a 24 Hours of Lemons (not Lemans) team that has a Miata, and it's the only car we haven't blown up.
I just had to have a Mercedes, and this one made my wife happy. I would have bought the C350 we drove, but gotta keep the Queen happy.
Doogs', I'm heading your way (Ithink) this weekend, bunch of Land Cruisers (all FZJ80s) leaving the highway somewhere west of Georgetown, dirt roads all the way to Mason, camping, then another all-dirt day, with our return to Dallas on Sunday afternoon. Not really "off-road", but not pavement either.
My pig:

With the 1.6 litre machine the 300k shouldn't pose a problem in any case, because it uses the same parts as the 1.9 and is therefore over-dimensioned! I heard a few times about such running times of the MX-5.

As a german automotive engineer I can only say I'm completely convinced of Mazda, speaking generally. In the nine years mine only let me down once, and that was the fault of the garage, when they failed to connect the camshaft sensor cable to the engine again thoroughly after inspection.

After three km the engine decided to shut down to prevent any damage, again very clever engineering. One only has to look in the yearly break-down statistics by the ADAC, to figure out the quality and reliablity.

I drove BMW when I was with the company as a student, and my dad owned/ownes Mercedes, BMW and VW which I drove occasionally, also.
Considering the price and the value for the money, Mazda is way better.

I suppose german cars are 20-30% cheaper outside Germany, especially in the US, but "at home" they are simply overpriced even as re-import!

Cheers!
Tobi

[rbaer]

Doogs, that pic of your Defender looks like it was taken at Barnwell Mtn maybe?
Speaking of Katemcy Rocks... We're pretty good friends with the Kruse's. In fact their daughter Jessica is rooming with us whil she does her internship. I did out customer run at the Rocks for pretty much the entire time we owned out shop, Baertrax. The original Katemcy Rocks location did close (lost lease, long story) but they're still open at a different location, referred to as "K2", no pun intended, I think.
We may know each other....
The following pic is my last pure offroad rig on the trailer, sold it last year since we weren't using it very much after we sold Baertrax.

BTW, the Merc is on its way back to the dealer this morning, popped another strut. I think this time we'll be giving it back.

Moose, you need another car.

[MOOSE.]

Moose, you need another car.[/quote]


Haha yeah my wife doesn't think so

[rbaer]

Ready for this? After having been towed back to the dealer three times in six weeks, we're still in a loaner and waiting for the dealer to give us a list of possible cars to take in place of the E550 we just made the first payment on. We've actually had a loaner for a longer period of time than we've had "our" car.
Dealer's been very good, but three trips on a flatbed and you're out. Two strut failures and one fuel pump. The 550 is an absolute gem of an engine and we really like the car, but bottom line is that when we want to go, the car needs to go for as long as we want it to go. Next time, same thing. And that's all I have to say about that.