Anyone else get banned from the G8X section for making fun of its looks?

[NickyC]

I don’t mind the current Z4, not a bad looking car honestly.

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by Arcades

That's what I expect from Alfa lol.

I'd be surprised if the car hasn't been driven in a few months and they just had no idea. I'm sure if you talk to them and the sales manager they probably would do something and hey, if you mention your experience with Van Nuys and how far you need to drive, maybe they would do something for you.

End of the day though, it is still your call. My issue with Alfa atm (which I mentioned before I believe) is the lack of dealership support. For an Italian brand, that is VERY... as the young kids would say, sus. I'm not sure if you can take the car to a Maserati place to get it taken care of though.

Maserati locations are basically the same as the Alfa. There used to be one just down the street on Hawthorne Blvd. in Torrance but it's Ferrari only now. Shame. I honestly could ordinarily get over the scuff as it was quite small and a more discount would make it fine. The trouble is that it's an active aero splitter and that means if it ever breaks of its own accord, which it might well do, they can just say nope it's scuffed.


Edit...I'll add that the Alfa/Maserati Puente Hills was far superior to the Van Nuys dump. Brand new, upscale location and the staff was far more attentive and eager to please.

[Fugly M3]

New update...the Van Nuys dealer guy out of blue texted me about my inquiry. I'm like, yea waiting for those walk around videos. He responds, oh there's only two salesman here and it's busy. Busy? I was there Friday and there was NOBODY there. Where do they get these people!?

Side note, asked Irvine BMW about an M3 base 6MT in aventurine...figured it was a cancelled order because of that spec (no laser lights also). It was. They still want above sticker. I said, okay thanks.

[Multimodal]

No one wants to work anymore. Including me, if I’m honest. Work sucks.

[Multimodal]

On that note, here’s a track day video

https://streamable.com/xadujo

[440i6MT]

Originally Posted by Fugly M3

New update...the Van Nuys dealer guy out of blue texted me about my inquiry. I'm like, yea waiting for those walk around videos. He responds, oh there's only two salesman here and it's busy. Busy? I was there Friday and there was NOBODY there. Where do they get these people!?

Side note, asked Irvine BMW about an M3 base 6MT in aventurine...figured it was a cancelled order because of that spec (no laser lights also). It was. They still want above sticker. I said, okay thanks.

Above sticker lol
I would've genuinely "lol'd" and left.

[440i6MT]

Originally Posted by Multimodal

No one wants to work anymore. Including me, if I’m honest. Work sucks.

Because we've been fed the lie to work for material goods.
If you work on what you love for who you love, you'll enjoy work. Going even deeper, it's all in your perception of work.

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by Multimodal

No one wants to work anymore. Including me, if I’m honest. Work sucks.

Originally Posted by 440i6MT

Because we've been fed the lie to work for material goods.
If you work on what you love for who you love, you'll enjoy work. Going even deeper, it's all in your perception of work.

I think there's a lot in these two statements. Sure, if he wants to sell a car he should be on top of it. Beyond that, though, at a societal level, you've hit the point. I don't really bash people so much as the collective on this. Yes, everyone is responsible for himself/herself. But, we have to acknowledge that there is no inherent meaning in moving papers around for soulless corporations.

Historically, men got satisfaction from providing for their families and being part of a group that collectively built something. Women got satisfaction from raising children. You can say that's sexist, racist, bigoted, whatever. We've spent millions of years biologically honing that paradigm. If you had a town that needed a bridge or a building or a church, there was always the engineer/architect to design it and the salesman/financier to pitch it to the benefactor (usually the King), but most of us worked on the actual building of it. There was a pride in, "I/dad/grandpa/uncle whoever built that," as you wandered by. And that continued for thousands of years.

20th century rolls along and we shift to this paper society. It works really well initially because the white collar class is relatively small and isn't overworked. They go home to their families and there is no after-hours stuff because the tech just isn't there. Frogs slowly boil in a pot until 2019 and we're just numb to it. But then Covid happens and people spend a ton of time at home. I think it was a true gut check on what matters to most people and also on precisely how unfulfilling most jobs are. I don't necessarily have a solution - though our country needs to be entirely rebuilt, so maybe it's a good idea to send a bunch of kids to school to learn to build roads and bridges rather than sports marketing - but I can say that AI will only make this worse as there are more idle hands and minds.

I could do a side note on why so many middle-aged childless women are unhappy but I'll stop digging my own ditch and just say sorry for the diatribe.

Originally Posted by 440i6MT

Above sticker lol
I would've genuinely "lol'd" and left.

I just said even at sticker I'm not sure that's the at the money, thanks. He hung up. Haha!

[cotmfk]

Originally Posted by Humdizzle

curious to know how it is. most people i've talked to say the QV is more fun than the m3. but yeah... the reliability...

in other news i setup a montana LLC today. not a fan of 2% annual property taxes based on market value of your vehicles.

I forgot to respond to this. Some jurisdictions are ridiculous with this. Virginia had you pay 6% when you buy the car, then an annual car tax on top of it. The annual tax had a formula to it, but ended up coming up to around 3% of the car's value, depending on which county you were in. That came out to about $100-150/mo for each of the cars I was driving. Talk about being taxed on top of being taxed. It's insanity.

Income - tax 1
Sales - tax 2
Annual - tax 3, 4, 5, etc....

[ash4390]

Originally Posted by cotmfk

I forgot to respond to this. Some jurisdictions are ridiculous with this. Virginia had you pay 6% when you buy the car, then an annual car tax on top of it. The annual tax had a formula to it, but ended up coming up to around 3% of the car's value, depending on which county you were in. That came out to about $100-150/mo for each of the cars I was driving. Talk about being taxed on top of being taxed. It's insanity.

Income - tax 1
Sales - tax 2
Annual - tax 3, 4, 5, etc....

I'd kill for that. We have a 10% country wide luxury tax on any vehicles over 100k, and then 25% of taxes in BC on that total amount. As well as special insurance rates for "high risk" vehicles like my AMG. 17 years of driving history with zero accidents or tickets, $6k a year.

[Humdizzle]

Originally Posted by cotmfk

I forgot to respond to this. Some jurisdictions are ridiculous with this. Virginia had you pay 6% when you buy the car, then an annual car tax on top of it. The annual tax had a formula to it, but ended up coming up to around 3% of the car's value, depending on which county you were in. That came out to about $100-150/mo for each of the cars I was driving. Talk about being taxed on top of being taxed. It's insanity.

Income - tax 1
Sales - tax 2
Annual - tax 3, 4, 5, etc....

similar here in MO. we have personal property taxes on vehicles, boats, aircraft that equates to about 2.3% per year. and if your vehicle goes up in market value, you pay more. we do have 7% sales tax but its only the difference of your last vehicle and new one.

i agree. insanity. i would rather they charge a car tax based on weight of vehicles, mpg, and how many miles you do. seems unfair to tax a ferrari only driven 1000 miles a year the same as 10 honda civics collectively doing 200k miles/year. or taxing people who collect cars more than people who collect expensive cards, paintings, etc

[Arcades]

Guess who I just ran into signing his 911 T. lol.

[icegrill]

Originally Posted by Arcades

Guess who I just ran into signing his 911 T. lol.

Hmm.. truly a small world! Very nice to meet you in person!

[Arcades]

A few little things so far about the LCI #2 Macan.

Burmeister is not worth the $$. While it is definitely better than the base and Bose system but it is not worth the $5k. I don’t... completely regret it but not having a full Equalizer is a bit annoying considering even the "base" H&K in BMW has a full equalizer you can play with. I find that just annoying tbh. Did notice if it is Apple Carplay, it uses the phone's sound setting/EQ so it sounds a little better but l'm not sure how big of a difference it would be if I used a wired connection.

PCM wasn't updated to the new ones in the 911, Taycan and even new Cayenne. I'm disappointed but not by that much because it is familiar to me to use so I'm okay. The HP increase is noticeable and this is partially my fault as I didn't know they increased the power from 375 to 440(ish). They basically made the GTS into a Turbo engine. So, during my short drive I noticed that during Comfort Mode it isn't as sluggish but there is still that turbo kick in Sport Mode (and up). But yeah, HP increase is very noticeable.

I hope this isn't placebo effect on my part but the PSCB (surface coated brakes) that are standard now on Macan GTS, the brake bite is slightly different. The good kind of different as there is more bite on the brakes while being progressive. It isn't exactly like the PCCBs but the bite is a little better up top and it is still progressive. I know the increase in replacement cost for both the rotors and brake pads but we will cross that bridge later.

The interior change is okay. I am still not a fan of the touch screen and from what I noticed, there wasn't any haptic feedback when you press the "buttons" that or the feedback was so minor I didn't notice it. It looks better, by far, I won't deny that par and now I have a place to put my phone finally that isn't in the cup holder. There is also a hidden phone charger in the center console and the car has USB-C while my current Macan GTS is USB-A. Which is a plus for me since I have 15 Pro. The shifter is now also noticeably bigger. The knob grown in size lol :P

Yeah so far, it is an incremental change. It is exactly what you expect from Porsche. The Macan platform is like.. 10 plus years old at this point and Porsche is still going at it. I don't see them changing this any time soon just because of the uncertainty with ICE but we will see. I am getting used to the looks of it too. Like the new rear end but the front still takes a bit getting used to.

[Fugly M3]

Arcades nice, but as I tell Sam Chocolate, shoulda got the hitch!

[Arcades]

Originally Posted by Fugly M3

Arcades nice, but as I tell Sam Chocolate, shoulda got the hitch!

I... don't remember the last time I been to BH Porsche lol.

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by Arcades

I... don't remember the last time I been to BH Porsche lol.

I tease him with every SUV he posts on ig without a hitch!

[Arcades]

Originally Posted by Fugly M3

I tease him with every SUV he posts on ig without a hitch!

Oh THATs you lol.

I do see that haha.

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by Arcades

Oh THATs you lol.

I do see that haha.

Haha, yea...but usually only direct via his stories.

Side note. BMW Medford OR also has a cancelled order M3 Base 6MT at $85,015 list. They will take $1,500 off but have bogus taxes they are passing through to buyer of 0.9% (corporate activity tax and state privilege tax). Makes it not palatable given it's a relatively mundane Brooklyn Gray.

[Arcades]

Originally Posted by Fugly M3

Haha, yea...but usually only direct via his stories.

Side note. BMW Medford OR also has a cancelled order M3 Base 6MT at $85,015 list. They will take $1,500 off but have bogus taxes they are passing through to buyer of 0.9% (corporate activity tax and state privilege tax). Makes it not palatable given it's a relatively mundane Brooklyn Gray.

I wonder when the new law comes into effect if all of these stupid fees would actually stop.

[Fugly M3]

Originally Posted by Arcades

I wonder when the new law comes into effect if all of these stupid fees would actually stop.

The federal one for July 30, 2024? I don't think so because it just mandates transparency I believe. I asked the Las Vegas Alfa dealer about one of their nine (yes NINE) 2023 Giulia Quads, and you should have seen all the BS crap on the first quote. Second quote still had $699 doc fee and $495 GPS crap. I texted him $72k cash out the door after everything including CA taxes (on an $86.8k sticker and he disappeared. He'll probably re-appear in 2 weeks.

[Multimodal]

Originally Posted by Arcades

A few little things so far about the LCI #2 Macan.

...

Yeah so far, it is an incremental change. It is exactly what you expect from Porsche. The Macan platform is like.. 10 plus years old at this point and Porsche is still going at it. I don't see them changing this any time soon just because of the uncertainty with ICE but we will see. I am getting used to the looks of it too. Like the new rear end but the front still takes a bit getting used to.

That front end would be the end of it for me. Hard pass on the current Macan and Cayenne.

The most attractive midsize and full size SUVs right now (to me) are the Mercedes GLE, Acura MDX, BMW X5 M60i, Cadillac XT6 or Escalade, GMC Yukon, Rivian R1S, Range Rover, Toyota Sequoia, and maybe the new Lexus GX. I'd love to get a new X7 with the updated full self-driving but the new front end makes it a no-go. Plus the fact that trade-in value on my '19 X5 50i is only about $40k and it's still a thoroughly modern vehicle. Hard to justify spending twice as much (or more) for incremental benefit. I think the only thing in the list above I would really trade it for is a Rivian R1S or a GMC Yukon with Super Cruise.