[ale] way OT - used car buying tips - yea or nea

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi George, and all,

Thanks for the compliment.  Just FYI, I did finally buy a used 05 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV from Curry Honda in Chamblee.  I had a very good experience and the salesman was very professional and helpful.  Should you have a need to deal with a dealer, I would not hesitate to recommend this one.  The salesman asked for referrals and I'm glad to give it.  You can call Charles E. Williams II at Curry Honda at 770-451-2700.

PS The dealers seem to all get their profit these days from a fee which is added to the transaction.  They call it a dealer fee, or a doc fee, or a customer service fee.  I have no problem with them making a profit, as long as it's not unreasonable.  This one was a little higher than some dealers, but they all run in the $ 500 range.  Just don't be afraid to negotiate the best deal you can.  If the numbers don't work for you, move on.  They wanted to move this car, so they gave me some extra allowance on the trade in.  I don't remember if CarMax adds an extra fee, or if their profit is embedded in the car price.

I'll share more comments and tips when I have time.  I can even share some information about biodiesel.  Very cool about your uncle.

Sincerely,

Ron


George Allen <glallen01 at gmail.com> wrote:

>Wow. That was a lot of good background info.
>
>For my plug... I bought a used $8k 5-speed VW diesel. My average
>mileage
>two and from work is 40mpg. Sometimes 50 is traffic is even. In town
>its
>35. Compared to my old car, Nissan 300zx, its about a $1500 annual fuel
>savings in commute costs. Still miss that old car though.
>
>VW diesels aren't cheap to maintain, but they last a while, so I'll see
>if
>I can get my 250...300k out of this one.
>
>As my ALE tie in, somewhere I saw some slides with an
>oil-well/car-factory
>to turning-wheels efficiency and impact comparison of diesels vs
>hybrids.
>I'll forward if I can find it, and the analysis may have been done with
>R-project.
>
>As another side note, my uncle collects turkey fry oil from all his
>neighbors this time of year, to make biodiesel for approx 90c/gallon
>(assuming the oil is free). Apparently the newer model VWs after 2006
>can't
>handle biodiesel due to super-fine injectors, and he did do some
>modifications to hoses and other parts. I'd heard that biodiesel is
>acidic
>and can eat away at some parts although part of the biodiesel
>processing
>involves titrating to find pH and adding KOH. Methanol is the other
>added
>ingredient, which may be the hose damaging culprit, I'll have to
>re-read
>some.


--

Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
Please excuse my potential brevity.

(To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
address.  Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com


--

Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
Please excuse my potential brevity.

(To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
address.  Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com