Car Talk

Rambo said:
well, current CD rates for a 36 month term are hovering around 1.3-4%, so you can't quite beat the loan terms but you can damn sure come close.

hell, even on a 1% savings account you can do damn well against a 1.5% loan.
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Heck, can't afford not to buy it Pauly Chase Pauly Chase

But I definitely don't advocate making rash purchases. I'm just saying that if you are in position it looks like the numbers work out.
 
Yeah I will go home tonight and do some number crunching. I am seriously contemplating, but I don't want to buy impulsively, particularly something like this.
 
Pauly Chase said:
Yeah I will go home tonight and do some number crunching. I am seriously contemplating, but I don't want to buy impulsively, particularly something like this.
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Remember no more kop, no more drkshdw, ricky owens, and so forth.
 
Pauly Chase said:
Black Friday/Christmas good for car deals?
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Traditionally the next year releases (2017) will start rolling out more aggressively. They run very big sales and sometimes dealer promotions. I'd start stalking deals on 2016's around that time.
 
Rambo said:
Traditionally the next year releases (2017) will start rolling out more aggressively. They run very big sales and sometimes dealer promotions. I'd start stalking deals on 2016's around that time.
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I can wait. Will do scouting Nov/Dec.
 
What's a suitable car for LA?

It seems like everyone in the US leases. Brand new BMW M4 is around $700/month for 36months. Looks pretty cheap to me, or am I missing something?

I guess something like a camaro or challenger would be fun too. AMG GT is very nice but, $1200/month is a bit much for a car.
 
Whatever you want really. A Dualit is probably a bit much, but outside of downtown NYC you can drive whatever you want in America .
 
So the old man bought another '67 427 because apparently that's what you do when you get old and bored.

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You might be missing the mileage that you are allowed. Last time I checked (~15 months ago), an M3 for 36 months and 15k km per year was about 1.200 Euro/month, including gas and scheduled maintenance, insurance for any unscheduled maintenance, as well as insurance for most damages they use at the end of the lease to get a few more grand from you. Don't know about down payment. So tldr, 700$ definitey looks odd and you are probably missing something.
 
doghouse said:
Whatever you want really. A Dualit is probably a bit much, but outside of downtown NYC you can drive whatever you want in America .
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No need to be worry about it getting stolen/keyed/windows smashed in to check for valuables? Stuff like that happens quite frequently to the nicer cars in London.
 
Monkeyface said:
No need to be worry about it getting stolen/keyed/windows smashed in to check for valuables? Stuff like that happens quite frequently to the nicer cars in London.
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That's because you guys are full of africans.
 
güero said:
You might be missing the mileage that you are allowed. Last time I checked (~15 months ago), an M3 for 36 months and 15k km per year was about 1.200 Euro/month, including gas and scheduled maintenance, insurance for any unscheduled maintenance, as well as insurance for most damages they use at the end of the lease to get a few more grand from you. Don't know about down payment. So tldr, 700$ definitey looks odd and you are probably missing something.
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1200 sounds too much for an M4. AMG GT is 1200, and that car costs $120k.
 
Monkeyface said:
1200 sounds too much for an M4. AMG GT is 1200, and that car costs $120k.
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It wasn't even an M4 but an M3. But as I said, you are quite certainly missing something. Unless the US is about 1/3 cheaper than Europe, which I doubt. I'm well aware of leasing rates as my employer is one of the biggest luxury car leaser, biggest Porsche customer worldwide etc, and configuring cars is a companywide favorite for slow days. Although I drove a CLA for about 2 months, I don't know too much about Mercedes, nobody really likes them here. Way more expensive than BMW or Audi and generally worse cars. However, two recommendations for you:

1. If German, go for BMW (if you can handle the image). Best engines, cheapest lease due to highest resale values. Even their 4wd is par with Audi by now.
2. The surcharge for AMG/M/S models is completely out of whack. Get the biggest/baddest non-house-tuner-model and you have >90% of the car for something like 60-70% of the price. Example: Last year rate for S3 (36 months, 15k km) equal to A4 with 3l V6, 4wd, S-Drive, etc pretty much anything you can add. S3 has better sound, apart from that the A4 is better car in every way.
 
güero said:
It wasn't even an M4 but an M3. But as I said, you are quite certainly missing something. Unless the US is about 1/3 cheaper than Europe, which I doubt. I'm well aware of leasing rates as my employer is one of the biggest luxury car leaser, biggest Porsche customer worldwide etc, and configuring cars is a companywide favorite for slow days. Although I drove a CLA for about 2 months, I don't know too much about Mercedes, nobody really likes them here. Way more expensive than BMW or Audi and generally worse cars. However, two recommendations for you:

1. If German, go for BMW (if you can handle the image). Best engines, cheapest lease due to highest resale values. Even their 4wd is par with Audi by now.
2. The surcharge for AMG/M/S models is completely out of whack. Get the biggest/baddest non-house-tuner-model and you have >90% of the car for something like 60-70% of the price. Example: Last year rate for S3 (36 months, 15k km) equal to A4 with 3l V6, 4wd, S-Drive, etc pretty much anything you can add. S3 has better sound, apart from that the A4 is better car in every way.
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That's good to know. American sounds like the way to go then. Anyways, this is still hypothetical. Trying to get a sense of living costs, and seeing as you have to drive everywhere a car will be important. I haven't driven a car in 6 years, might need a refresher course.
 
Monkeyface said:
Gas is cheap in the land of the free



Hmm ok. 0 down makes more sense I think. I'm seeing interest rates less than 3%.
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I'd check into one of the leasing apps, like leasematic or some such. They will let you input all the fees and spit out what you are actually paying.

An M3 will be in the 1100 range with nothing down.
 
doghouse said:
I'd check into one of the leasing apps, like leasematic or some such. They will let you input all the fees and spit out what you are actually paying.

An M3 will be in the 1100 range with nothing down.
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Will give it a try. That sounds very expensive. You're basically paying $40k to drive an $80k car for 3 years. Might as well buy a 1y old one and sell it after a few years. Depreciation will be less than $40k.
 
Leitmotif said:
The wall just got 10 feet taller.
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Luckily I won't be crossing the border via Mexico!

To be honest, it does strike me as a little unfair that illegal immigrants without proper employment are allowed to enter/stay in the US, while it's made so difficult for people who want to do it legally and pay (a lot!) taxes. Should be the other way around, no?
 
Monkeyface said:
Luckily I won't be crossing the border via Mexico!

To be honest, it does strike me as a little unfair that illegal immigrants without proper employment are allowed to enter/stay in the US, while it's made so difficult for people who want to do it legally and pay (a lot!) taxes. Should be the other way around, no?
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We have threads for this. Keep it to cars.
 
Challenger vs camaro vs mustang?

The camaro would be my first choice due to handling and build quality, except for the fact that it has very poor visibility and is pretty cramped inside, so not very suitable as a daily driver.

The mustang would probably be the sensible choice, decent visibility and room in the cabin, but it is very ubiquitous and supposed to be a little tame compared to the other two.

The challenger is by far the heaviest, but it is very roomy, and comfortably fits 4 people. It has 485hp, but handling is not as good as the other two. The ride is comfier though, perhaps better as a daily driver, and plenty of trunk space. It's also the best looking design out of the three, especially in black with black wheels. A little bit cheaper too.
 
Lol camaro is such a piece of shit. Get the focus rs and put a bi turbo and some coil overs. Will smoke everything and everyone.
 
Monkeyface said:
Challenger vs camaro vs mustang?

The camaro would be my first choice due to handling and build quality, except for the fact that it has very poor visibility and is pretty cramped inside, so not very suitable as a daily driver.

The mustang would probably be the sensible choice, decent visibility and room in the cabin, but it is very ubiquitous and supposed to be a little tame compared to the other two.

The challenger is by far the heaviest, but it is very roomy, and comfortably fits 4 people. It has 485hp, but handling is not as good as the other two. The ride is comfier though, perhaps better as a daily driver, and plenty of trunk space. It's also the best looking design out of the three, especially in black with black wheels. A little bit cheaper too.
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Drove a rented Mustang convertible for a couple of weeks. Loved it. The way it syncs with your iPhone is cumbersome, but that was my only complaint.

Drove a rented Camaro for a couple of days. Hated it. You can't see shit in that car and you feel like you're inside a coffin, driving it. Syncs well though.
 
Leitmotif said:
Lol camaro is such a piece of shit. Get the focus rs and put a bi turbo and some coil overs. Will smoke everything and everyone.
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The camaro is doing really well in all the tests. On par/better than a Porsche 911 that's twice the price.

The new focus RS is a nice car now that it finally has 4WD, but the 5 cylinder engine of the old one was nicer. You also have to wonder how long a 350hp 4 cylinder will last compared to a 6.2 V8 with 485hp.
 
Monkeyface said:
The camaro is doing really well in all the tests. On par/better than a Porsche 911 that's twice the price.

The new focus RS is a nice car now that it finally has FWD, but the 5 cylinder engine of the old one was nicer. You also have to wonder how long a 350hp 4 cylinder will last compared to a 6.2 V8 with 485hp.
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They are well built, have seen some stuff that they have done and im impressed. A friend of mine got the rs500 and jesus, bi turbo, coilovers, bigger cam shaft and so on. Beast beast beast
 
Monkeyface said:
The challenger is by far the heaviest, but it is very roomy, and comfortably fits 4 people. It has 485hp, but handling is not as good as the other two. The ride is comfier though, perhaps better as a daily driver, and plenty of trunk space. It's also the best looking design out of the three, especially in black with black wheels. A little bit cheaper too.
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I would not trust anything made by FiatChrysler. I've driven their Fiat small car (300?), the Fiat that's supposedly fast, the Abarth, the Fiat SUV (500?), the new Dart, and some generic Chrysler sedan I can't even remember the name of. All pieces of shit. Felt so cheap and had stupid design flaws that should've never made it past the first focus group. I hope I'm wrong and the challenger really is a good car, but if it is, it's the exception in that stable.
 
Leitmotif said:
They are well built, have seen some stuff that they have done and im impressed. A friend of mine got the rs500 and jesus, bi turbo, coilovers, bigger cam shaft and so on. Beast beast beast
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Yeah, but for LA traffic? Wouldn't you rather want a bit of a lazy engine with lots of torque?
 
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