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Bad Purchasing Decisions: Share Your Stories

65 messages,  Last post on Oct 19, 2007 at 5:28 AM

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Messages Page 5 of 7

#36 of 65 My worst purchasing decision by danf1

Jun 24, 2005 (10:42 am)

was buying an automatic. Nothing wrong with the car other than the fact that I coulnd't shift my own gears. That car lasted me six months until I traded for the same car with a six speed. I'm much happier now.

#37 of 65 Re: My worst purchasing decision [danf1] by kyfdx HOST

Jun 24, 2005 (12:20 pm)

Replying to: danf1 (Jun 24, 2005 10:42 am)
Come on, Paul Harvey.. tell us the rest of the story..
 
You are leaving out all of the details...

#38 of 65 Re: My worst purchasing decision [kyfdx] by danf1

Jun 24, 2005 (12:50 pm)

Replying to: kyfdx (Jun 24, 2005 12:20 pm)
Oh, you want the long version.....
 
My wife was pregnant with our third child. Because of the new addition to the family, I needed to trade in my Audi TT. It is really difficult to get five people in a four seater. I still miss that car, but I digress.
 
I looked around at many cars. After about 2 weeks of shopping, I decided that it was best to buy from my dealership, so I landed on the Cadillac CTS. At the time there were no six speeds available, and the sales manager told me that he couldn't get one. With that in mind I bought the automatic.
 
After about 3 days, I decided that I hated letting the car shift for me. Unfortunately I was in a 48 month lease and we all know how hard it is to get out of a lease early. So I stuck with it for a few months. Last month I couldn't take it anymore. The straw that broke the camels back was when I was driving rather spiritedly having some fun when I saw my father-in-law. He has a 2003 Z06. We were driving at more than legal speeds on a nice windy road and I realized that it was absolutely no fun.
 
The next day I came into work, found a nice black six speed CTS, and traded in. The beauty of the whole situation is that I actually lowered my monthly payment on the same term lease. You've gotta love GM incentives.

#39 of 65 Re: My worst purchasing decision [danf1] by kyfdx HOST

Jun 24, 2005 (12:54 pm)

Replying to: danf1 (Jun 24, 2005 12:50 pm)
Just so everyone understands... Dan traded in an '05 automatic for an '05 6-speed... Thereby cementing his CCBA status...
 
I just didn't want the story to come off as ordinary...

#40 of 65 I run into the opposite... by isellhondas

Jun 24, 2005 (12:56 pm)

People buy a stick and end up hating it when they get stuck in Seattle traffic day after day.

#41 of 65 Oh, man, where to begin.... by michaell

Jun 24, 2005 (12:57 pm)

Just found this topic. Here's my tale of woe....
 
Summer of 1985, final semester of college. I had, unfortunately, totalled my 1979 Pontiac Sunbird coupe (3 months before graduation!) and had a check for $2000 in hand. Needed wheels, fast.
 
Was thinking of buying something new and using the insurance check as my down payment. Lookeed at a Ford Escort diesel (I can hear the collective NO! from the crowd already). My parents talked me out of it, explaining patiently that I had no job after college and shouldn't be putting myself into a position of making payments with no income.
 
OK, so off to the classified ads I go. Lessee, something cheap and reliable ... the plan was to either trade it in or sell it outright when I graduated. I found a '77 Olds Omega (Chevy Nova clone) for, I think, $1200. Looked at it, drove it briefly and bought it .. hey, I was 21, what did I know? It was repainted a bright blue, had a white vinyl roof, wire wheels and a 350 V8.
 
First sign of trouble was when I went to get it smogged. Failed the first test, cost me $100-150 to get it "tuned' (yeah, right) to pass. I suspect the mechanic leaned out the throttle or carb quite a bit. So, I got the coveted sticker.
 
Next, I notice this odd sound coming from the engine compartment, like a cylinder missing. Had it checked out, and discovered that one of the cylinders isn't firing at all! I've now got a 7 cylinder car, which I used to limp around town ... home to school to work ... for the next several months. It never completely broke down, but I did have to put two new tires on it ... guess what? It's a bad idea to mix bias-ply and radial tires on the same car. Every time I switched lanes I thought the back end was going to break loose on me, Smokey and the Bandit style. Eerie.
 
I ended up selling it the day I graduated college for, I think, $250. Enough to cover the cost of the car I rented to move back to CA from AZ.
 
Sheesh.

#42 of 65 Dodge SRT-4 Dodging good service by gasnsteering

Aug 10, 2005 (11:12 am)

My 2004 Dodge SRT 4. Not a bad car really, except the service people at dodge just woke up from a nap in the cave and havent exactly gotten down the "customer service thing". Out of service for 13 days for spark plugs, wires and some electrical connectors AT 4800 MILES. This is after the two previous attempts to fix the same problem, both times improperly diagnosed. Yeah, I will buy American again.........NOT.

#43 of 65 They don't call me "lucky" for nothing! by wibble

Dec 30, 2005 (5:07 pm)

The tales of woe that this topic recalls.
 
1. 1983 VW Polo. Bought it a year old with 3,000 miles on the clock. I soon found out why it was so low. In the first 2 months the gearbox disintegrated, 2 clutches packed up, the electrical system decided that shuffling electrons around was too much effort and finally the engine block cracked. Owned it for 18 months during which it was off the road for 14 months. Just to add insult to injury, the advertising catchphrase of VW in England at the time was "If only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen".
 
2. 1983 Yugo 311. This was the revenge of the place that sold me the VW - a loaner car for people they didn't like. I took it on a 250 mile drive to see my girlfriend and her parents at Christmas. By the time I got there only 1 light was working, 3 hubcaps had fallen off and the final straw was when I pulled on the parking brake and it came off in my hand. My better half took one look at the thing and decided she was taking the train back home!
 
3. 1988 Renault 18. Total brake failure at 70 mph (it was a motorway). Luckily I was able to pull over and coast to a stop. Unfortunately, it gave me grey hair at 30.
 
4. 1987 Skoda. The amazing exploding Skoda. I thought I'd smelt petrol. Turned out to be a leaking filter that dumped flammable liquid all over a hot engine. Pretty impressive looking in the rear view mirror and seeing a miniture towering inferno. Got off the road and out of the rolling bonfire just as the flames reached the gas tank. Another 5 years off my life (I have a feeling I'm living on borrowed time).
 
5. 1992 Lada Samara - Yeah, I know but when you're poor. This pup managed to break 3 cam belts in the space of 4 months. The only good news was I sold it for far more than I paid for it to a Russian sailor who was re-patriating it back to his homeland.
 
Sadly, since I actually started making a decent living and buying sensible cars, life has become a little more dull.

#44 of 65 Re: They don't call me "lucky" for nothing! [wibble] by sbell4

Jan 02, 2006 (10:08 am)

Replying to: wibble (Dec 30, 2005 5:07 pm)
you win!!!! I dont think anyone will want to follow your post with their story.

#45 of 65 how did I miss this thread? by stickguy

Feb 17, 2006 (8:38 pm)

repressed memories are repressed for a reason.
 
There have been a few new ones that seemed like a good idea at the time. The Nissan PU (a '91) was handy, except my wife got pregnant just after I bought it. Since you can't put a child seat on a jump seat (the ones that folded down from the side) it had to go.
 
THe Scion tC I just traded for an Accord was a similar deal. Really didn't fit a family of 4, and my teenage son decided to have a growth spurt just after I got it, and both kids hated that they couldn't get out without someone letting them loose.

Messages Page 5 of 7

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