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deanbrew

A multi millionaire asking a frugal financial forum if he should buy a Rolls Royce on his first post makes me wonder if he’s trolling.

Or he set up a new account to see how many posts it would take to get to the standard advice to buy a Camry or Accord and drive it for 200k miles.

deanbrew

Great to hear! Second opinions aren't only for medical issues.

deanbrew

For that, we could rent. Usership not Ownership -- people don't even buy new cars now, they lease them, so that's a very small step. This was mentioned a couple of times, and it's not true. More people are leasing cars now, but it's still a sizeable minority. In 2016, 30 percent of new vehicle "sal...

deanbrew

I would like to drive one sometime, but I don't know anybody who owns one. I shopped for a new car this summer, and I don't even recall seeing any at any of the dealers I visited. Well, dealers won't have one, because Tesla doesn't work through dealers. Look online to see where the nearest sales of...

deanbrew

Either of you guys ever drive an EV? If not, you don't understand the initial 'fun' comment. I do, and I am NOT a hypermiler. I drive electric golf carts often. Does that count? :wink: :P No, I haven't driven an EV, but I do know that the off-line acceleration is great, due to all of the torque bei...

deanbrew

I just bought a 2017 Leaf for under $12K total, after rebates and credits, including taxes and fees. It is the first car I've ever driven that is truly fun to drive. I'm sad for you. I guess fun comes in all shapes and sizes. I suppose the definition of "fun" could include maximizing "fuel" mileage...

deanbrew

The website says I was impacted and let me enroll in the protection plan. When I entered my wife's info, it says she is probably impacted and can enroll after 9/13/17.

deanbrew

I just tried to sign up and got a message that "Your ZIP Code is not eligible" and "Your address is not eligible for Informed Delivery. We update our lists weekly, please try again next week."

Anyone else have this issue?

deanbrew

Personally, 14 years old seems pretty young to replace unless you have been having issues with the furnace. They have almost no moving parts so there really isn't a lot to wear out. There also probably isn't a huge increase in efficiency gains which will make the payback period on them decades long...

deanbrew

Neither of us have done a single trip over 140 miles all year long, even though both our cars have more than enough range to do so. Long trips like represent much less than 5% of the use case overall. There are now more level 2 chargers than gas stations in the US. I drove more than 140 miles twice...

deanbrew

"Sorry, Grandma. Can't come to visit over the holidays. You live 140 miles away and my car can only go 115 miles. But, hey, I'm good 95 percent of the time." According to the Dept of Transportation, people take 1,305 personal car trips per year, on average. 5 percent of that would be 65 trips per ye...

deanbrew

I think your summary is incorrect. Limited range of EVs make them impracticable for a some people, most people don't drive hundreds of miles a day. But do most people want to spend $30k or $40k on a vehicle that CANNOT drive hundreds of miles a day? That is a very significant limitation. A critical...

deanbrew

FWIW, the charging network is expanding every day and it won't be long before charging stations will be as plentiful as gas stations. 300 miles of range is perfectly normal for a large car. The problem isn't the car, it's the need for more charging stations. Regardless, when solid state batteries s...

deanbrew

Many dealers will deliver for free,

That's what I was thinking, too. I know any of the non-big box dealers near me would deliver a snowblower for free.

deanbrew

It has nice features and wife really enjoys it, but I don't see how paying 8k more compare to SE model is worth it. She is the one who will be paying and driving, so whatever. But I do have to admit, it has nice features on the limited. When I drove the Optima, I thought the higher trim levels made...

deanbrew

Have you also looked at the Kia Optima? Hyundai and Kia are related brands, and the Sonata and Optima are similar cars. I drove both recently, and actually liked the Kia Optima better. I haven't looked, but I assume Kia has similar incentives for 2017 models. If you are looking at Limited Sonatas, y...

deanbrew

I have no experience with Discount Tire; however, a local tire distributor in my area does accept OEM tires as trade ins. I have never made such an exchange, but I have purchased several sets of OEM tires that were trade ins. I usually paid a little over half of the retail price of the OEM tires. B...

deanbrew

WhyNotUs wrote: ↑
Sun Aug 13, 2017 9:39 am
Amazon
The local 20/20 store near our home is giving them away.

What is a "20/20 store"?

deanbrew

That's $187.50 per square foot, which would have to include demolition and removal of the debris from your burned down house. That might be a little high, depending on building costs in your area. But it doesn't seem outlandish to me, given my experience with construction projects. This is pretty m...

deanbrew

Shop the policy around. Some company is probably cheaper than Allstate. I would not cancel comp and collision while I still owed almost $30k on the car. Would it matter if you didn't owe money on a $30k car? Whether I had a loan or not, I wouldn't cancel comp and collision coverage for a car that i...

deanbrew

I'm sort of dumbfounded that people are only getting 3 (or 3.5) years out of car batteries. My Subaru is 6.5 years old and still on the original battery. My last car was at nine years on the original when I sold it. My son's car was at 7 years on the original when it was totaled. I thought about rep...

deanbrew

I misspoke about the PA turnpike discount. It is about a 30 percent discount, and I definitely get the cheaper rate with my MA EZ Pass.

deanbrew

I didn't have to activate or do anything when I got my transponder in the mail from MA.

deanbrew

We live in Virginia and have one. Now, we rarely use it - since we do not take the long trips from Washington DC to New England - but we keep it and use it occasionally because it saves a lot of time, money and aggravation even for one trip every few years. I agree. I don't regularly use toll roads...

deanbrew

I have never had a problem, which is why (I think) it makes sense to use a credit card rather than a bank account for replenishment. They can charge your credit card 24/7.

deanbrew

I live in PA, but have two EZ-Passes issued by MA. I chose MA because there is no up-front fee and no monthly/annual fees to have and use their gizmo. You can order one online on their website. You register a specific vehicle to each transponder, including the vehicle make/model and license plate nu...

deanbrew

I had the same idea, but it came back to bite me. Ge no longer supports/manufactures these units. Someone else took over the warranty for them. NOBODY around me (besides the company that took over the warranty) would work on it because it has the heat pump and water heater side of things. Quite ann...

deanbrew

Has anyone tried the DampRid Moisture Absorber? http://www.homedepot.com/p/DampRid-64-oz-Fragrance-Free-High-Capacity-Moisture-Absorber-FG50T/100391308 My coworker swears by this stuff, so I've been thinking of getting a couple for my basement. I would think that this would only physically be able ...

deanbrew

those of you using central A/C to dehumidify the basement, what setpoint do you cool to? Most of the summer, my 1st and 2nd floor living areas are pleasant enough in the mid-70s so we leave the windows open for fresh air. The basement is only 65 degrees, but 80%+ humidity if I didn't run the dehumi...

deanbrew

I ended up talking to the service manager and he apologized for the mistake. He offered a discount on the parts and I paid over the phone. I appreciate this forum as a sounding board for any ethical gray areas pertaining to money. Thanks for all your input! I'd consider that a good outcome. :beer Y...

deanbrew

While a dehumidifier does indeed remove humidity, it also releases heat and raises the temperature in the room. I, too, have a basement that gets too humid and hot in the summer, partly from the gas furnace that kicks on to heat our water. I used a dehumidifier for a couple of years, but it made the...

deanbrew

I'm surprised so many people are saying it's OK to just not pay for the parts. They put new parts in your car, so you should pay for them. Look on rockauto-dot-com or a similar website to see what a reasonable price is for the parts and use that as a benchmark if you must. Now, complaining about the...

deanbrew

I bought a Lorex system from Costco four years ago and installed it in a family-owned store myself. 1. 8 Cameras 2. I ran most of the wires myself, and had an electrician run two of them while he was here doing other work. Probably cost a couple hundred dollars. 3. No maintenance in four years. No p...

deanbrew

Is this something that came up naturally when you were getting bids? I've never asked about workers comp insurance when hiring for work around the house. In any event, I do know that here in PA there are quite a few Amish and Mennonite companies doing construction and other similar work, including p...

deanbrew

Over to the revenues. Harder. You can assume electricity rates grow at Inflation. Or you can assume they stay constant in nominal terms. Neither is particularly aggressive in terms of overstating present value. A niggle. Daytime electricity prices (wholesale) could well be zero in 30 years as renew...

deanbrew

Depending on the loan-to-value, some refinances are done with full appraisals and some are done with "drive-by" appraisals where the appraiser doesn't do an interior inspection. So, it is possible that the bank had an exterior-only appraisal done. These cost less than appraisals with interior inspec...

deanbrew

I have seen on sites like NetworkForGood (a site for donating to non-profits) where the default is for the donor to cover the credit card fees. E.g. $103 for a $100 donation. I don't know, but I would imagine a significant percentage of donors accept that default. That might be an option. I buy Sil...

deanbrew

Yes - but that does not explain the situations where a buyer is willing to pay interest elsewhere, has it approved - then gets zero per cent for the same purchase price. There are times when there is no "catch" that I can see. The dealer is not lending you his own money. If the store can get you a ...

deanbrew

The catch is you just spent $30,000 on a new car. The real cost is built into that price. With interest rates so low, the cost to the auto manufacturer is very low, but if you don't take the loan and don't negotiate a lower price, they still save this cost. The manufacturer sells cars to dealers at...

deanbrew

Although I suppose some dealerships have their own financing "deals", most of these programs are from the manufacturer. And, yes, most manufacturer incentives allow either a rebate or low-interest financing, but not both. The manufacturer uses these incentives to generate sales, particularly at this...

deanbrew

I am the president of a small non-profit that is associated with the neighborhood elementary school. The increased revenue that we receive by accepting credit cards more than makes up for the fees. I suspect that this is absolutely true. My wife owns a small business and is constantly complaining a...

deanbrew

Where you are wrong with your thinking is the belief that even a 10-year term is OK. It's not. The opportunity cost alone is horrible. With your salary, you could pay that debt off in 2 years - easy. Just avoid lifestyle inflation and you can be free in 24 short months. While two years might be bur...

deanbrew

Go with the architectural, not the tab. Houses with tab shingles really stick out like sore thumbs these days. When I see them, I think, "Cheap roof." I agree. Even though you are talking about a modest home in a low cost of living area, just about every house gets architectural shingles. They cost...

deanbrew

The OP hasn't been back to tell us what cars he is looking at. It was mentioned before, but bears repeating that a lot of new cars have a USB port, and can play music from a USB thumb drive. You can put a lot of MP3 songs on a thumbdrive for very little money. It still requires converting songs from...

deanbrew

It's still shocking to me lenders are handing out 72-84+ month loans on cars. I don't think we are too far off from 108 month car loans. It's just as shocking to me people walk in by the droves to sign up to rent a rapidly depreciating item under such agreement in hopes one day they will actually o...

deanbrew

The frame was bent and I am surprised they didn't total it because the initial estimate the body shop gave us for repairs was over $5,000. Hmmm. Not sure what to say. I had our insurance company handle the claim (even though it was the other driver's fault and their insurance company would end up p...

deanbrew

Just for fun, I decided to do a break even calculation. Assuming that I always use a free charger for my new Tesla, I'd have to drive 888,888 miles to even out instead keeping my Wrangler that gets 20 mpg. Anything less and the Wrangler is cheaper to drive. Do people do these calculations before bu...

deanbrew

I vote to keep it. Personally, I would like the flexibility of a room that could be a bedroom/office/flex room. Another strong agreement here. The shelves and Murphy bed sure seem like a positive feature to me, plus you don't have to paint and patch if you just leave it in place. I'd leave it in. F...

deanbrew

With a FWD car, it's an uphill battle to show that the transmission was damaged due to being hit from behind. Not to say it cannot be done, but it will take some determination, conclusive proof and luck. As for driving "different", was the unibody "frame" bent in any way during the collision? We jus...

deanbrew

I just bought a CPO 2106 Nissan Maxima. The only benefit I saw is that the CPO status lengthens the powertrain warranty from 5 to 7 years. It didn't lengthen the bumper-to-bumper warranty beyond the normal new car length (3 years / 36k miles in the case of Nissan), which I still have. I did not plac...

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