WTF should I buy (A consolidated list of bad decisions)

[Sijray21]

i bought something like this first (solid and not needing repair or parts):

https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/...02434.html

i bought mine for $1500 in the fall or late summer and sold it in the spring for $1800 (back in 2006?) and it sold quick. Unfortunately this is the worst time of year to buy a motorcycle, but i'd just recommend something cheap and 500cc; preferably one with a neutral seating position to build your confidence and hone your skills. You'll be spending more money on gear anyway (i hope). An SV650 would be nice, but that's double the price for one in good shape.

[.RJ]

I find myself sitting in traffic working myself up over the anticipated arguments I'm going to have on here. Realized the other day I don't owe an explanation to anyone and the people who seem happiest are the ones that just go and do.

Just do this

God grant me the dgaf to lol at the things I can’t even, the swag to yolo the things I can, and the lifehacks to know the difference

[WRXtranceformed]

Alright peanut gallery, I need your assistance on potentially helping me sell out and complete my evolution to full on UDB (Urban Dad Bro).

What started it: I'm nearing the end of my bumper to bumper warranty on the Canyon and the head unit died (my neighbor who works for a dealership network tells me this is common on GMs, he's on his third head unit on his new Cadillac) and the ride quality has gotten progressively worse (super bouncy and I feel massive feedback / lateral shaking through the drivetrain when I go over smallish road imperfections). I noticed the rear driver's side shock is sagging almost 1" lower than the passenger side, you can see the bed physically dipping back. Dealership says that's normal and that I just need a new balance and alignment. Right okay

I was actually looking forward to getting down to one car payment (for the first time in a really long time) as we get more serious about starting a family and I've got between $11k-13.5k in private party equity in the truck. The first option I have is to try to see if the other GMC dealer will cover it or completely replace the off road shocks altogether with something more comfortable (~$600 parts) since I never loved the stiff suspension in the first place. If I go this route, I will probably go ahead and get the level kit done and tune it as all GM vehicles need a tune to drive proper. So in summary, I sink $1500+ into this to make it the way I want and roll the dice that nothing expensive and electrical breaks again after the warranty runs out (this truck has always had weird electrical stuff).

If you remember, I test drove a few other things recently and liked the SQ5 but Audis just don't seem to age well at all and I'm not looking to own a German car for any length of time. Ironically, I looked hard at the Cayenne Diesels as they are being fire saled after the scandal, until I saw how much their oil changes cost and the required interval.

Ideally I'd like something "fun-ish" to drive but I don't need something fast right now. My wife doesn't like it when I drive fast and 90% of the time I'm driving I'm in the car with her so it's just something mentally I've put on the backburner until I get wealthy and have a third car garage spot. I'm leaning more toward something big (I like the utility) that I don't have to cringe when we have kids and they're scratching / kicking everything in sight. So this would squarely leave me in bigger truck / bigger SUV category.

Broad needs at this point:
- Long term reliability (ie I prefer Japanese brands but convince me otherwise)
- Super comfortable seats and comfortable suspension
- Would look cool with a set of reeumz
- Fun-ish to drive is a nice to have
- AWD or 4WD capable
- Headlights need to be good (no halogen trash, HID or LED preferred)
- Really trying to shoot for $35k or under. I've even considered stuff in the $20k range, like older 2009 MDX

So far what I've looked at are the Lexus GX, MDX (2015 if I wanted a newer one, 2009 if I went with an older one...I test drove these before we bought our RDX and actually liked it better). The RX is too mom-mobile even for what I'm looking for, RDX like we used to have is too small. I also looked at Ford trucks but I question their long term reliability. I would buy a new gen Raptor in a heartbeat but they won't come down in price any time soon. I've had several Toyota trucks and they are dead nuts reliable, but I don't think I've seen a Tundra with HIDs.

What am I missing? Even odd-ball suggestions are welcome, I'm kind of stuck and feel like there's nothing out there that I would love. None of this is set in stone either, I may end up riding it out with the Canyon.

[JustinG]

F31 /thread

[davej]

M.I.A.T.A.

[Goodspeed]

Buy a Land Cruiser that's barely broken in.  It'll never break, your kids can destroy it, whatever.  You'll still be Urban Dad Bro....but you'll be best Urban Dad Bro.

[.RJ]

F31 /thread

This here, if you're serious about changing up the vehicle.

That said, you already own the canyon, and the money you're looking to go into it is less than the tax/registration on another car.  If its been mostly reliable, fix the small things and keep on with it.

But if you just want something different the F31 is pretty awesome - you can find CPO cars for reasonable money.  But you'll have a car payment on the remaining $20k balance.

[Jake]

Your wife already has the CX5, why do you want another lameo crossover?

Recent-ish Lexus IS or GS would be decent options, maybe? Another +1 to the F31 wagon stunna gang, they are pretty neat/fun for what they are and you can tell your speed-averse wife that "it's only a 2.0L 4-cylinder."

[V1GiLaNtE]

You could consider the following:

200 Series Landcruiser (pushing the 35K budget)
Gx460 - based on the Prado Platform ( you already mentioned this)
Powerwagon (YOLO)
G-Wagon (<08)

[Evan]

Keep the truck. Great for utility.

Ideally I'd like something "fun-ish" to drive but I don't need something fast right now.  ... I don't have to cringe when we have kids and they're scratching / kicking everything in sight.  

You just described a CX-5, and you already have one of those. You did NOT describe a huge luxo douche-uv.

Dont let the other suburbanite breeders make you think that you need a 3 row SS Canyonero the minute you hatch spawn. Our CX-5 has been great for 8+ hour road trips with 2 kids, all their crap, jogging strollers, bouncers, packnplay etc all in the back.

I say this from experience. A truck and a compact SUV are the perfect combo for Suburban home owning new (and not new) families.

[Sijray21]

Another +1 for not needing another cuv.

Also, I was really trying to convince myself that a 2-door hatch was causing me issues with toting my daughter around. It wasn't; it was my mentality. Rear facing seats are a pita, but that's for 2 years. Now that she's front facing it's a different ball game. Almost easier tok get her situated safely in my car vs my wife's 4 door wagon (plus they don't have window/lock switches and door handles to play with). You really only need 4 seats, so i think that can really open up your options.

I'd almost opt to keep the truck unless you're really not liking it. If you use it even once a month for truck stuff I think it's worth it. I'm even considering getting a cheaper truck to supplement my fleet.

[Jake]

I do really, really like having a truck. And I'm not a homeowner. They're useful as hell.

[Apoc]

Lee isn't really a suburbanite. He's like me - he pays people to do shit that requires a truck or anything more than marginal effort. I've never wished I had a truck. Kid shit is already solved with the wife's car and you know that GMC is just gonna drive you nuts when all the little things keep breaking. Just buy a fast four door sedan/wagon and be done with it.

[WRXtranceformed]

I guess I should clarify, I still have a note out on the Canyon but it's like $20k. It's nice owning a vehicle that doesn't completely crush you with depreciation (everybody wants a truck down here in the souf). I'm not opposed to financing again, I'd just be financing a lesser amount and probably keep making the same dollar payments I'm making now to pay it down more quickly.

While I do appreciate the wagons and some of y'all have repped them properly, that just ain't my speed man. Plus, part of the reason for enjoying bigger vehicles is that I feel a lot safer with how shitty the drivers are around here. Something that low to the ground just doesn't make sense to me anymore unless it's a dedicated sports car. Good call on the Land Cruiser gents, I had also looked at those as well as the Lexus LX which I believe is same/same. I had not however thought about the G-Wagen as a legitimate contender in my price range, as I assumed they were unreliable and beat up / high mileage in my price range.

And I'm actually really glad you gave that feedback Evan. I figured the CX5 would be fine for kiddo duty until we run that into the ground. I could ride out the Canyon and just put it on a short leash after the B2B runs out. I think I was just a little emotional about it when the head unit died at the beginning of a week long OBX trip and I had no bluetooth, no Android Auto, no backup cam and the radio was stuck blasting a HISSSSSSSSSSS sound until I pulled the damn fuse.

---

Lee isn't really a suburbanite. He's like me - he pays people to do shit that requires a truck or anything more than marginal effort. I've never wished I had a truck. Kid shit is already solved with the wife's car and you know that GMC is just gonna drive you nuts when all the little things keep breaking. Just buy a fast four door sedan/wagon and be done with it.

You're not wrong on a lot of those counts, see this is why I went to college...so I could have buddies on a board help make my car buying decisions for me. 

So just to play devil's advocate then, what would be a 4 door sedan that has all of those requirements and price range?  I think I've ruled out anything German from my last few test drives.  Again, no offense to you dudes that are buying and driving them but imo the Germans are building cars to lease not cars to own.

That leaves to Jake's point, maybe the Lexus IS/GS series...I did look up the ISF offhand the other night just to see what they're priced at now.  I test drove an LS and it's way too old man car for me.  Maybe I could get another XFR since they're probably like $25k now with Jag depreciation? 

[D_Eclipse9916]

I guess I should clarify, I still have a note out on the Canyon but it's like $20k. It's nice owning a vehicle that doesn't completely crush you with depreciation (everybody wants a truck down here in the souf).  I'm not opposed to financing again, I'd just be financing a lesser amount and probably keep making the same dollar payments I'm making now to pay it down more quickly.

Pay it off, let the kids destroy it as much as possible and put 1 month worth of "car payments" into the truck maintenance a year.  I fantasize about a newer truck or raptor or something of the sort all the time, but I couldn't ever let the kid in it, use it for real truck purposes or even park it outside.  A depreciating asset can't be too nice to use.  It's a GM truck, itll rattle, (mine doesnt), itll lose LED lights in the radio, itll shimmy over bad surfaces, and have gaps you could park another truck through in the panels.  But guess what? Itll keep running and you can beat the snot out of it.  

Plus, car payments shouldn't be for life.  Try paying it off and just enjoying.  You might like not having a car note more than you like "new shiny car".

[Senor_Taylor]

Gti

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[Apoc]

Lee - Have you kept a car long enough to even worry about after warranty? Yeah, leasing may make sense, but that hasn't prevented you from buying before. You are way too much a perfectionist to have a car that rattles and whatnot... I think you know that about yourself. That changes somewhat after kids, but it's gonna be a few years before you're in that phase. Get one last hurrah in before your vehicles become pure utility. Were it me, I'd buy a CPO 2016 S3 and risde the warranty out the remaining four years. After that, get a kid hauler. (Replace S3 with something similarly fun, since your brother has one).

[Sijray21]

6 year 72k mile b2b on all 2018 VWs. Just saying if you like warranties.

I have an 8 year old gti. Zero head unit / infotainment issues. Just sayin'

[.RJ]

So just to play devil's advocate then, what would be a 4 door sedan that has all of those requirements and price range?  I think I've ruled out anything German from my last few test drives.  Again, no offense to you dudes that are buying and driving them but imo the Germans are building cars to lease not cars to own.

For $35k, AWD Sedan.... for you.... CPO A6.

You said no german, but with an extended warranty you'll never keep it that long to worry about german car problems bankrupting you.

[Sijray21]

CPO S5