Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

A buddy of mine had 2 Land Rovers and was always complaining about how often they were in the shop. He finally had enough and sold one, and was excited to buy something that he could actually drive more than wait for repairs. He just told me they finally settled on an Audi Q7. Didn't have the heart to show him this

That's like a Ford Pinto owner moving over to an AMC Gremlin in hopes for greater safety in their next vehicle.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Locke

Well. As someone who drives a VW and has never had a problem with it JD Power can go suck an egg.

I mean, I've had two Range Rovers and same thing, zero issues with them.

I don't put much stock in J.D. Power, Consumer Reports, etc. The majority of car buyers know sh-t about sh-t when it comes to their vehicles.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Anyone gotten out of a car lease early?
I'm tempted to change vehicles to something a bit more family friendly but still have about 33 months on my lease.
Would delearships of a different brand ever help get you out to buy from them instead?

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Anyone gotten out of a car lease early?
I'm tempted to change vehicles to something a bit more family friendly but still have about 33 months on my lease.
Would delearships of a different brand ever help get you out to buy from them instead?

There's no reason they wouldn't try. That said, it depends if you find yourself in a situation where your vehicle is in demand and you're not too upside down on the retail value versus the amount remaining on the lease plus the buyout.

Your options are trade it like a straight trade, buy it out and sell it, or find someone to assign your lease to. Basically they take over the lease by assuming your contract, payments, etc. If you put money down, you can get some of it back by only agreeing to let some take the lease on with a lump-sum payable to you.

The dealer treating it like a straight trade has real potential for negative equity with 33 months still remaining. You need to get your buyout and then see what your situation looks like.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Anyone gotten out of a car lease early?
I'm tempted to change vehicles to something a bit more family friendly but still have about 33 months on my lease.
Would delearships of a different brand ever help get you out to buy from them instead?

There's zero reason a dealership of another brand wouldn't buy out your existing lease to facilitate the sale of one of their own cars. That being said, it will come down to the lease buyout and what they value the car (as a trade) at.

Every lease is different, so it's hard to say what the deal will look like and if it makes sense, but that has less to do with dealing with a dealership of a different brand, and more to do with the original lease structure.

A lease is basically a balloon payment loan - original price, minus residual value, equals total obligation. That amount is then broken down into payments determined by subtracting the amount of down payment and then dividing the rest into payments (plus interest rate, of course).

Like TD said, get your current buy out, see what similar cars are on the market for and see what the other dealership will offer you on trade. Depending on how those numbers all look will determine a) if you even want to do it and b) what the best way of getting out of your existing lease is. Selling privately / buying it out is almost always better $-wise, but then there are factors like trade credits (only applicable to equity if you have any) and plain old pain-in-the-ass factor...

[DoubleF]

Depends on the car. If it's something with a wait list, I think a lease take over would be relatively straight forward.

If it's less desirable, then you might lose a bit of money, but totally doable to get out early. But as mentioned, ask the values first before making a decision.

[TorqueDog]

Also worth checking out LeaseBusters to see if you get any bites on there.

[Burninator]

After seeing this video of a typical Edmontonian day. https://www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/co...ar_superstore/

It's surprising to me in this day and age with all of these driver assists and safety features that a car still operates without a driver in it.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Burninator

After seeing this video of a typical Edmontonian day. https://www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/co...ar_superstore/

It's surprising to me in this day and age with all of these driver assists and safety features that a car still operates without a driver in it.

"Sorry, I seem to have left your ass-kicking in my Jaaaaaaaag." - Not that guy

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Burninator

After seeing this video of a typical Edmontonian day. https://www.reddit.com/r/Edmonton/co...ar_superstore/

It's surprising to me in this day and age with all of these driver assists and safety features that a car still operates without a driver in it.

I think it's a bigger issue where it cannot detect a driver and incorrectly disables the vehicle. Adding that feature seems like over engineering with more potential problems than benefit.

There's also other instances where you'd have the vehicle rolling without driving (ie: Neutral and push).

[Bill Bumface]

The problem is automatic transmissions. Who ever thought it was appropriate that not touching any of the cars controls means "go - but just slowly".

[DownInFlames]

They've already given the Z a facelift, probably because no one was buying them. It looks much better. Still too expensive and too Nissan though.


https://motorweek.org/this-just-in/2...yo-auto-salon/

[Table 5]

The lack of buying probably had more to do with the price, especially with crazy dealer markups, but that's an improvement on the grille atleast. Still not crazy about those teardrop headlights (wish they went with round lights of the original), but overall I think it's a pretty good looking car.

Green and tan is a combo every sports car should have (looking at you, Miata).

[Erick Estrada]

Nissan has got over 20 years out of that old chassis and body. Not really surprising it's not a big seller when a lot of their prospective owners have owned the car already in the past.

[Ashasx]

I still don't think that's an acceptable interior for the cost of the vehicle. The door handles are literally the exact same piece from the 370z. Though you could probably say that for Nissan/Infiniti as a whole.

I would guess if most people are interested in a Japanese sports car for this price, they're just going to get a Supra. They'll sacrifice some of the rawness of the Z, but they're also getting a more refined, reliable car that more likely fits the cost.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

And if you want raw there's still the BRZ which starts at $20k less.

I am a Z car guy, I've owned multiple versions, and sold my 370z before COVID figuring I'd maybe get back into the new one... nope. No interest. There's really no reason to consider it.

[photon]

A truck that hadn't cleaned itself off and had gravel all over it dropped a rock onto my windshield so have a nice rock chip.

It's in the big frit band area around the rear view mirror where it has the camera and sensors and stuff though the chip itself isn't on any of those, it's just in the shaded area.

Which I guess is nice that it isn't really visible, but to prevent cracks I should probably get it filled? Are they able to do that if it's in an area with the shading?

[Fuzz]

I've done repairs myself, I don't see why they couldn't do it there. The repair all happens from the outside, and those dimple shading are inside. Definitely get it filled, one cold snap or a bit of pressure on the glass and it can easily start running.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by photon

A truck that hadn't cleaned itself off and had gravel all over it dropped a rock onto my windshield so have a nice rock chip.

Seems to be a common issue in this city. That Royal Oak area where Country Hills BLVD intersects with 112 Ave is always full of large sized rocks falling out of the gravel trucks driving back and forth daily. I would hate to live in that area and have to frequent that intersection daily as the lights also stink at that intersection.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I've done repairs myself, I don't see why they couldn't do it there. The repair all happens from the outside, and those dimple shading are inside. Definitely get it filled, one cold snap or a bit of pressure on the glass and it can easily start running.

It's a few bucks to fill which helps delay the replacement. It's stupid expensive for a new windshield (thousand+) for modern windshields.

Cold snap for sure amplifies potential cracking because you'll have very cold outside and the heat inside to prevent fogging/comfort.

I had an older windshield with a small rock chip (not remotely close to a spider web one) that wasn't even showing signs of a crack that I was putting off filling with super glue. It suddenly, within a few seconds, turned into a nearly 3-4 ft crack that went to two edges of the windshield one morning as the vehicle was warming up. The windshield was 6-7 years old so age was a factor I guess, and the windshield had like 7-8 small patches for other chips, but overall it was relatively crack free until that tiny chip gave out during a cold snap because I was warming up the car too quickly or something.