Project Mall Runner

[ScottyB]

Know what you want to pay for the car OTD

i probably just should have wrote that, because its the bottom line.

Also "a deal" is such a weird term to use when it comes to buying cars. In Scott's case I will say yes that looks like a great deal. But at the end of the day if your payment is what you prepared to make and you are happy with the transaction, that is a good "deal" to me. Of course there are circumstances where you get a smoking deal like this one, but not always.

correct also.  everybody thinks they are getting a "deal" but the reality is that somehow they're making their money off you, with some making more and some making less, so as long as you're happy and not getting totally ripped off you've done well.

i wouldn't call it smoking, but well bought in the context of that model.  there are niche cars (chevy SS comes to mind) that languish on lots and dealers will do stupid things to make them sell.

[Sijray21]

Another thing to note if you can't figure out when the dealer received the car: check the inspection sticker. Usually dealers will have this done as soon as they inventory the car. This will help you determine how long they've actually had the vehicle.

I've used the usaa (truecar) values as a baseline and worked down from there). I used very similar tactics to Scotty that I used for the Ridgeline.

[JPolen01]

Another thing to note if you can't figure out when the dealer received the car: check the inspection sticker. Usually dealers will have this done as soon as they inventory the car. This will help you determine how long they've actually had the vehicle.

I've used the usaa (truecar) values as a baseline and worked down from there). I used very similar tactics to Scotty that I used for the Ridgeline.

Only works in states that use inspection stickers though

[Evan]

That paint looks amazing. Did it come like that or did you take the buffer to it?

[ScottyB]

That paint looks amazing.  Did it come like that or did you take the buffer to it?

i don't even own one.  just got lucky i guess, straight off the lot.  its a 4/19 build date so i guess it sat outside for 3 months and managed to dodge the lot detailers' hologram buffing techniques.

its already got some fallout on it from the trees at my wife's work so i'm gonna clay bar it this weekend and get a proper coat of wax on there.

[Steve85]

Damn, that does look good! Glad you found exactly what you were looking for locally. It seems dealers mostly stock the fully optioned cars to drive people into higher priced models because they want it now.

And on the Xterra, when I saw you list it my first thought was also what a great first car for my son but knew it wouldn't last another 6-8 months at that price. My dad had a 5spd 88 Pathfinder and I feel like the Xterra was successor to that original as the PF added more luxo features.

Thanks for car buying write-up! Good point about the service, my cousin is GM at a Toyota dealer near Cape Cod, I think he said something like 50% of their profit is in service. Whatever it was, it was a lot higher than I thought it would be.

[ScottyB]

Damn, that does look good! Glad you found exactly what you were looking for locally. It seems dealers mostly stock the fully optioned cars to drive people into higher priced models because they want it now.

thanks man.  its exactly as you said - they stock the "Premium" trims of all the model tiers (leather, sunroof, wizbang retractable running boards, extra power seat settings, etc) and this was one of the last '19s on the lot with basically zero options.  seems most people around here want all the option boxes checked, but we're the opposite, and got lucky.

[Goodspeed]

That paint looks amazing.  Did it come like that or did you take the buffer to it?

i don't even own one.  just got lucky i guess, straight off the lot.  its a 4/19 build date so i guess it sat outside for 3 months and managed to dodge the lot detailers' hologram buffing techniques.

its already got some fallout on it from the trees at my wife's work so i'm gonna clay bar it this weekend and get a proper coat of wax on there.

Congrats on the purchase, that thing looks damn righteous in alllll black!

It seems like with the strides in detailing tech and all the ceramic/nano coating business we've got now, it really pays off to get an early detail & coating done for the long term, very especially with black.  & then, try not to touch it - IMO the car-specific blowers to dry them off are amazing & better in every way than a towel.  I know Lee had great results with his Jag.  If you have a solid detail shop in your area, could be the way to go.

[rherold9]

Congrats on the pickup. Good deals are always steals from the stealership. Should be a great overlander even in stock form!

[ScottyB]

thanks guys!

If you have a solid detail shop in your area, could be the way to go.

i'm thinking of doing exactly that.  i may pick up a buffer in the holiday season too when the sales hit, i need one anyway and now with fresh black paint if i want to do it right this is the time.

i hear Dan is back in the detailing game so i might need to take a ride up to NC just to let him work his magic...it'd be worth the trip i'm sure.

--------

so after about 130 miles, some initial impressions

• the AC is incredibly good.  it has a massive condenser sitting behind that gaping maw of a grille and it does some serious work, even considering its a giant black heatsink.
• for how soft the dampers are, the body roll is really well contained, and it doesn't feel like its riding on 70 series balloon tires when you corner.
• very gentle throttle tip in and the brakes don't have much feel for how strong they are.  so i end up stabbing the gas to get it going and then accidentally stabbing the brakes because i can't feel the bite point.  which means i'm porpoising around my driveway trying to ease it into parking spots and that probably looks really dumb
• very slow steering, great for covering miles but i really had to adjust coming from the Si
• super quiet
• bank vault doors.  i've driven tinny, minimalist cars for a long time and its a nice change
• the power won't surprise you.  need a good kickdown to go, but moves along nice once it builds revs.  utterly smooth and quiet.  enjoying having 2 timing-chain engines now.
• a lot of thought in the design for its intended purpose.  after looking it over, there's armor all over the bottom, things are tucked up as much as they can be, the alternator and intake (with a huge filter) are mounted way up high, huge top-opening fuse box in the bay.  massive radiator, lots of room around the engine.  rear wiper tucked up into a pocket in the spoiler away from dust and grit.  

did a wash (on a brand new shiny car, i'm sure i looked like an idiot) then pulled it in for a clay barring and a coat of montan wax.  its a ton of sheetmetal to cover which sucked but it should be good for a while now.  even being minty fresh there was a bunch of garbage on the paint...this was from covering only about 1/6 of the roof:


got rained on immediately afterwards though.  love dem beads.  

[Senor_Taylor]

Wish I had the patience to actually take care of my stuff.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

[JPolen01]

I have never clayed a car before, but you have inspired me.

And yes, Dan is back in action!

[Sijray21]

I have never clayed a car before, but you have inspired me.

it makes such a difference. Which reminds me i need to clay my wife's sportwagen and Scotty is now making me want to clay/wax the ridgeline...

[.RJ]

jray, I have a buffer

[ScottyB]

I have never clayed a car before, but you have inspired me.

i'll put it this way, when i was done the clay was so contaminated that there was absolutely no chance i was going to even try getting a second use out of it on the civic.  straight to the trash.  and that's on brand new paint.

just running your hand over the paint, you'd think it was no where near that bad!  amazing the stuff that ends up embedded in the clearcoat.

[Sijray21]

jray, I have a buffer

i have a DA polisher with a few pads. made a HUGE difference on the GTI when i did it last year sometime.

i think i binged YouTube for car detailing and bought a kit when i was sleep deprived in the middle of the night.

[.RJ]

Cool, I have a whole bin full of stuff too. I need to detail/protect this oil burner wagon I bought when the weather cools off.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Cool, I have a whole bin full of stuff too. I need to detail/protect this oil burner wagon I bought when the weather cools off.

I give up with cleaning. Just going to pay someone to ceramic coat Jess’ vehicle and my next truck; whatever it is.

[JPolen01]

I give up with cleaning. Just going to pay someone to ceramic coat Jess’ vehicle and my next truck; whatever it is.

DJ went to college so he doesn't have to clean his own cars.

[SlimKlim]

I have never clayed a car before, but you have inspired me.

And yes, Dan is back in action!

Friendly warning from your neighborhood paint fetishist - you should always plan to polish after using a clay bar on a non new car, the process itself can add a lot of light swirling so it's usually done as a first step for a full correction.

And when it comes to polishing, rotaries can get you in trouble but DAs are pretty close to idiot proof if you watch some videos on technique, practice patience and don't use a compound/pad that is too rough for your paint (some brands have way 'softer' paint, like subarus are painted in watercolors but VAG products have pretty close an enamel finish)