the compromise car - pictures added

[lazygood4nothinbum]

the compromise: it’s not yellow, the interior is made of plastic cheaper than my sockem rockem robots, poser spoiler would have cost rebates to build new with delete, it doesn’t have tiptrontic (semi-automatic) transmission, the gas mileage isn’t so great, would prefer better range (only a 16 gal tank), that throaty exhaust sounds great in town but i bet it’ll get tiring on long drives, and all that muscle raises my insurance cost by $340/year. apparently, like medical insurance, they think it’s fat.

the objective: next 5 years of summer roadtrips out of south florida, setting up base for 3 or 4 months at a time mostly in northern or higher altitude cities or towns in u.s.a. & canada.

car requirements:
• fun convertible.
• auto top – i drive topless until the rain falls too hard or the car has to slow so i need auto roof to stay safe on highway shoulders.
• power to weave around city suv’s & to quickly pass slower highway traffic.
• enough storage space for roadtrip luggage.
• capable of carrying mtn & road bike on trunk or preferable hitch type rack.
• nothing too big, i like personal sized cars.
• nothing too expensive as will put on lots of mileage over short period.
• i really wanted yellow but today’s yellow is ewwwwww orange.

rejection slips

1. 350z: cockpit too narrow for confortable long distance roadtripping
2. s2000: love driving a stick but not all the time
3. solstice: way too small, accepts neither bike rack on trunk nor hitch
4. saturn sky: no automatic top, accepts neither bike rack
5. bmw 335: too nice for me. truck kinda small, can’t use a trunk bike rack, would be a shame to ruin it with a hitch. can’t see spending that kind of $s and putting the type of miles i think i might be doing. nice as hell car though. saving that one for when i’m an old guy.
6. mini cooper: nice car, accepts hitch for bike, surprisingly roomy but a little slow and not enough metal around me for extended drives.
7. eclipse spyder: no offense intended but yuck.
8. vette: too much money to put too many miles on an american car.
9. pontiac g6: not terrible just not me. also small trunk & not fast enough.
10. solara: man that’s a lot of money to spend on such an ugly car.
11. eos: also too much money for a vw. also ugly, also too slow.
12. sebring: i’d always have a feeling that i left my kids at the last reststop.

and the winner is…

mustang gt: white exterior, 18-inch, 5-spoke chrome wheels, tan & black interior, including tan interior doors with charcoal inserts, black convertible top & 300 ponies under the hood. gas mileage should be a little worse than the t-bird but driving a lot more fun. the bird averages 19 mpg with my lead foot. the pony might get 15 city. low 20s highway.

the beemer would maybe better by 7 mpg but the cost difference will buy a lot of feed for the pony. even the mini surprisingly does not have great mileage. i decided against the $2k navigation. my cell phone has gps for $10/month so the savings will buy lots of air time. will consider an after market nav system.

it’s a pretty pony. a horse of a different color. mostly car interior & tops match but i like neither tan tops nor black interiors. sales person said what i wanted would look choppy but they found one in jacksonville (the only one they could find in southeast u.s.a.) & shipped it down. the car came in on saturday and my color scheme looks as great as i thought it would because it’s the same colors i used for my kitchen.

the car priced $432 under what i would have paid.

msrp $33,480 not including wheels

here’s how i figured what i would have paid:

31,168 invoice
500 dealer profit
160 ship from jax
1,549 wheels
250 tag/registration
8 battery/tire enviro fee
599 documentation fee (dealer fee charged every customer)
2,020 sales tax (approx)
(1,995) rebates
34,359 (what i thought i was going to pay)

33,927 my bill including all options, fees & tax ($5,000 deposit on double points earning credit card).

what edmunds says i should have paid (including tax): $34,417. however, while edmunds caught the $1,000 rebate, they missed an additional $995. with the added rebate their quote might have come in a tad lower than what i paid but i’m not sure how to figure tax on rebate. my auto industry friend says to trust the dealer in figuring tax because they would not take a chance on getting caught in an audit. i asked my friend what extra gimme should i request to close the deal. my friend suggested i ask for yellow paint.

while i’m comfortable that i got at least a good enough deal, and confident i didn’t get totally screwed, i’m so glad i don’t have to do this every day. i think that would force me into early retirement.

they’re shoeing the pony today and grooming for show. will post pics on delivery.

edit: added pics

[newguy88]

Nice, I remember our friends mustang back in the late 60s. I just hope she is reliable!

I hate being stuck on the side of the road in a car with less than 100K on the odometer!

[lazygood4nothinbum]

ya, well, i've got triple a & a cell phone just in case. newer american cars are more reliable than before. reliability during long trips was a factor in deciding to buy new rather than take a chance on a used car. i'm planning on 5 years but i wouldn't be surprised to find myself riding a tuk-tuk in thailand before i put 100k on the pony.

[kumquat]

Good choice. I bought an 05 before the convert was available. The coupe loves to pass trucks.
One word of warning, the first time DD borrowed it she got a speeding ticket < 10 minutes after leaving here. They are a cop magnet.

ENJOY!

[73ss454]

Good choice, enjoy, no drag racing.

Only thing is whats a documentation fee? Sounds to me like something that's charged if your willing to pay it. Also I noticed in Fla. that a lot of car dealers put upgraded wheels on the sports cars and charge crazy money for them. Maybe you can take it with the stock wheels and upgrade them yourself.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kumquat Good choice. I bought an 05 before the convert was available. The coupe loves to pass trucks. One word of warning, the first time DD borrowed it she got a speeding ticket < 10 minutes after leaving here. They are a cop magnet. ENJOY!

i think maybe your dd was the cop magnet. they don't tend to bother gray haired guys even in hot cars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73ss454 Good choice, enjoy, no drag racing. Only thing is whats a documentation fee? Sounds to me like something that's charged if your willing to pay it. Also I noticed in Fla. that a lot of car dealers put upgraded wheels on the sports cars and charge crazy money for them. Maybe you can take it with the stock wheels and upgrade them yourself.

if i correctly recall what my auto industry friend said, the doc fee is a stardard charge levied on every customer and is non-negotiable. to change the fee for different people would be grounds for discrimination. i think edmunds refers to this as the destination fee which is "A flat fee that the manufacturer charges to deliver a vehicle from the factory to the dealership. The fee is not negotiable and is generally the same amount no matter how far or near you live from the factory."

on the wheels i actually think i got a decent price. that's 1,549 for a set of 4 18-inch chrome wheels plus v-rated tires. a good set of chrome probably goes for about $1k & the tires alone probably cost at least $200 a piece. plus these wheels have little ponies in their centers. where they do get me is on keeping the original wheels & tires though when i asked they did offer them back to me (as if i want to bother with that).

as to drag racing? damn, i should have gotten a stick!

[FinanceDude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum if i correctly recall what my auto industry friend said, the doc fee is a stardard charge levied on every customer and is non-negotiable. to change the fee for different people would be grounds for discrimination. i think edmunds refers to this as the destination fee which is "A flat fee that the manufacturer charges to deliver a vehicle from the factory to the dealership. The fee is not negotiable and is generally the same amount no matter how far or near you live from the factory."

Perhaps a semantic slip.........maybe you meant "destination charge"? This is a charge ALL manufacturers put on cars to cover shipping. Documentation charges are "extra charges" dealers put on to help the kids of the owner retire at 40 with a huge trust fund............

[73ss454]

What happens to the wheels and tires that were on the car? Do you get to keep them. This is what makes a good deal not so good if you do the math.

Also what FD was refering to is freight costs. They are already built in to the price of the car. But many dealers will charge you the additional cost of freight if your not paying attention. Double dip. The term is try to freight um.

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73ss454 The term is try to freight um.

Or "ef um" for short...

[Texas Proud]

Yes... $599 is also 'dealer profit'....

BUT (and this is my opinion).. but it is a FORD... sorry, but got screwed by them awhile back and still don't see them as a good car...

Congratulations on your new car.. I am sure you will enjoy...

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FinanceDude Perhaps a semantic slip.........maybe you meant "destination charge"? This is a charge ALL manufacturers put on cars to cover shipping. Documentation charges are "extra charges" dealers put on to help the kids of the owner retire at 40 with a huge trust fund............

not sure, think maybe terms are interchangable as there was no destination charge on the bill, just the doc charge. in any case, i was looking more to profit i was willing to pay over invoice. into what columns the various numbers fall didn't matter much to me.

however, as this is only the second car i've bought pretty much since college (mostly had company cars or leases) and as they do this every day for a living, i'm pretty sure they could have ripped me off big time if they set their minds to it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 73ss454 What happens to the wheels and tires that were on the car? Do you get to keep them. This is what makes a good deal not so good if you do the math. Also what FD was refering to is freight costs. They are already built in to the price of the car. But many dealers will charge you the additional cost of freight if your not paying attention. Double dip. The term is try to freight um.

as i mentioned i could have gotten the old wheels back. i'd have to haul them home and deal with people to sell them. totally not worth the bother.

as i understand the costs, what the manufacturer builds into the car is not a freight cost but a dealer holdback (hb) which comes out of invoice total. the dealer hb on this car was about $850.

33,927 my cost including wheels, fees & tax
(31,168) invoice (out of which dealer gets about $850)
2,759
(2,020) tax
(250) registration
(8 ) batter/tire eco fee
481 if my math is right: amount over invoice dealer made from me on car & wheels

$1,331 total dealer profit (includes 850 from manufacturer's hb)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud BUT (and this is my opinion).. but it is a FORD...

thus the title line "the compromise car"

[shiny]

Where are the photos??

[chinaco]

Check this baby out. Supposed to be available in 2008. The new Challenger from Dodge. It is a bit pricey...

http://www.dodge.com/en/challenger/gallery/index.html

[lazygood4nothinbum]

pics forthcoming shiny. no wheels on yet. you don't want me photographing her half dressed, do you?

bet that'll be a hot car chinaco aka jarhead. how do you put the top down? pics of future camero look similar and will eventually come with a droptop. actually there's a few new convertibles coming out over the next few years but my lease will only extend two months. so much for automobile market timing.

[Mwsinron]

Congratulations. Mustangs have always been one of my favorite cars.

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinaco Check this baby out. Supposed to be available in 2008. The new Challenger from Dodge. It is a bit pricey... http://www.dodge.com/en/challenger/gallery/index.html

Buddy back in HS had a 70 or 71 Challenger: 426 hemi, 2-4s, etc. Awesome!!

[chinaco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lazygood4nothinbum pics forthcoming shiny. no wheels on yet. you don't want me photographing her half dressed, do you? bet that'll be a hot car chinaco aka jarhead. how do you put the top down? pics of future camero look similar and will eventually come with a droptop. actually there's a few new convertibles coming out over the next few years but my lease will only extend two months. so much for automobile market timing.

Unfortunately, I will probably never be able to put the top down. Even if they offered a rag top... I am too cheap to buy it.

By the way... Mustangs are nice cars! Congrats.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

the gt er version



ok, just kidding, found that one on the web.

here's the real deal...

[shiny]

VERY nice! Are you going to be able to resist driving it while you put all those free miles on your other car??

[Nords]

A Mustang GT with an automatic transmission?!?

Don't you live in fear of the other Mustang owners's clubs hunting you down?