Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
While my wife and I appreciate the 2+ years of service our old Buick Terraza minivan has given us, it was time to move on. The odometer was climbing near 100k and there were a myriad of minor problems with it. We owned it free and clear and while there was nothing that couldn't have been fixed, she didn't really like it anymore. The plan all along was to just keep it until the kids were done needing the large carseats and then we would get something nicer. At this point, only the youngest is still in a fullsize carseat and that's only for another 6 months or so.
My wife and I talked through all the options for a 7-passenger vehicle, her one real demand and settled on the following list that we both agreed on:
2011+ Ford Explorer
Ford Flex
GM Lambda triplets; Enclave, Acadia and Traverse
Mazda CX-9
At that point, it was simply a matter of checking them out and finding a slightly used example through my company that I could get a good deal on.
We checked out the Explorer and CX-9 first and while she liked the way they drove, the interior, etc. she was not happy about the methods for accessing the rear seats. The lack of option for captain's chairs was going to lead to an everyday annoyance when it came to getting the kids in and out. The Flex was my personal favorite and she really loved the interior. However, she was not happy at all with the exterior styling. The lack of captain's chairs was less of an issue in the Flex do to the way the seating system works and the ample interior room.
So, that left us with the GM Lambda triplets. For families with more then 2 kids that are looking to get out of a minivan, these are easily among the best options. They retain many of the "good" parts of a minivan on the interior while being nicely styled and driving more like a SUV. We drove an example of each and she was smitten.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and I managed to get my hands on a 2010 Enclave CXL AWD. Coacoa brown exterior with the cashmere leather interior. It was loaded, only lacking the headrest mounted DVD players on the options sheet. It had 32k miles on it and we got a great deal. We ended up with an out the door price under $25k. We kept the van and I found a guy in work who is buying it for $4,000 in cash. That's more then what the dealer would have given us on a trade and while it's worth maybe slightly more at retail, it works for me and helps him out. Since he's a mechanic, the little issues are no big deal to him.
The surprise part was the fact that I ended up with a "new" car as well. While we were test driving and looking over the Enclave, my eye spotted a black BMW 330i on the lot. Not to let my wife be the only one to get a new toy, I decided to check it out and ended up trading my Malibu for it two days later. While I was going to end up buying something new soon, this was a good opportunity to get something I enjoy driving much more then the Malibu and let's me keep the TT.
So, I ended up with a 2006 330i that has 50k miles on it. It's a manual trans with black exterior and the leather (actual leather, lol) tan interior. The only upgrade versus the standard 330i package is that it has the sport package with more aggressive suspension tuning, tires, higher governor and sport seats. Other then that, it's pretty much as "base" as that year BMW gets. It was too old to certify it through our BMW dealer, but the car has great pedigree and the BMW techs did a very thorough inspection for me and gave it high marks. I know the 2006 is not the best year in terms of 3-series reliability, but I got an aboslutely amazing deal. I ended up trading in my Malibu which I still owed a little bit of money on and paying $2k in cash to drive the car home. My out-the-door price was $12k.
Now, the reason the prices were so low is that I work for a business that is owned by a dealership group. As such I get employee pricing which is basically buying at cost. When you come across the right used car, you can get a smoking deal. I just happened to stumble on two of them, but now I can't buy another (and neither can my immediate family) using that plan for at least another year or so.
My wife has no plans to give up her Enclave anytime soon, she is completely smitten with it. I'm not sure how long I'll keep the BMW. We own it free and clear and I could easily sell it privately for more then I paid for it. I'm thinking of driving it for another year or so and then seeing what comes along that catches my interest.
So, drove in with a 2006 Terraza and a 2010 Malibu, drove out with a 2010 Enclave and a 2006 330i...and I get to keep my toy.
I'd love myself a Flex EcoBoost. Guys are in the low 13's with just a tune. In the 12's with a meth kit. My sister has a 2012 Flex with middle captain chairs, she loves it with her 4 kids (3,6,10,12).
Did you guys check out the 2011+ Durango?
I'm confident our 2007 Durango will get replaced with a 2010+ Suburban/Yukon XL. I just love the room behind the 3rd row seat for luggage, strollers, dogs, etc. Would love a Yukon XL Denali but can't believe how much $$ a used one with 50k miles is still going for. I also can't get over it doesn't have HIDs or push button start for the price they demand new. Hopefully the new 2014 redesign will lower the price of the older generation.
Does the CXL have HIDs and ventilated seats? Push button start?
My wife has no plans to give up her Enclave anytime soon, she is completely smitten with it. I'm not sure how long I'll keep the BMW. We own it free and clear and I could easily sell it privately for more then I paid for it. I'm thinking of driving it for another year or so and then seeing what comes along that catches my interest.
25k sounds like a good deal to me. i paid something like 42k for a new 2011 enclave. so i guess after about 3 years, it lost about 17k of its value.
we have had it for about 1 year 4 months now. my wife's plan was to get an infiniti qx56 as her next car. she is so happy with the enclave that she says she may just replace it with another enclave after she is done with it. would save me a few bucks, but im not gonna hold my breath.
so enjoy it and the bmw. looks like both of you got some nice upgrades this year.
...........smoking deals! I see lots and lots an expensive repair bills in the not to distant future .....Im afraid thats the way it is....the bmw can eat you alive if you plan on driving it much..that is a grantee ....a 9 year old BMW and a 4/1/2 year old enclave (loaded with things that break) ......who would pay 42 k for one? gezzzzz
Last edited by crestliner; 03-05-2013 at 03:15 PM..
I'd love myself a Flex EcoBoost. Guys are in the low 13's with just a tune. In the 12's with a meth kit. My sister has a 2012 Flex with middle captain chairs, she loves it with her 4 kids (3,6,10,12).
Did you guys check out the 2011+ Durango?
I'm confident our 2007 Durango will get replaced with a 2010+ Suburban/Yukon XL. I just love the room behind the 3rd row seat for luggage, strollers, dogs, etc. Would love a Yukon XL Denali but can't believe how much $$ a used one with 50k miles is still going for. Hopefully the new 2014 models will lower the price of the older generation.
I'll work on getting some pics. It's been a busy few days, lol.
I'm a big Flex fan and absolutely love the Ecoboost ones. As it was, my wife was just not a fan of the exterior at all and none of the ones we looked at had the captain's chairs. I'm not sure if that alone would have swayed her opinion as adding the captains chairs means you lose a seat and we often have the 5 of us plus 2 grandparents going somewhere. So, 7-passenger seating was pretty much a necessity to her and makes sense in the "family car".
I did not consider the 2011+ Durango. The new ones have had a whole host of issues and I still have my concerns over longterm reliability of Chrysler vehicles. They have vastly improved the aesthetics, materials and powertrains, but I'm still not willing to roll the dice based on what I've seen.
My wife is a big fan of big SUV's like The Yukon Denali and Escalade. However, she is also cheap and would cry everytime she had to fill the tank not even considering how much they would cost. I think something like that is situational. If you need to haul a lot of people, a lot of stuff and a boat or camper, etc. then it's a great choice. As it is, while she would probably like driving one, the Enclave (and other Lambda's) are a really nice package for a lot less money and still get the job done at least in terms of "people and their stuff" hauling.
[*9 year old half worn out bmw and a 5 year old enclave.............smoking deals!QUOTE=crestliner;28536560]...........smoking deals! I see lots and lots an expensive repair bills in the not to distant future .....Im afraid thats the way it is....the bmw can eat you alive if you plan on driving it much..that is a grantee ....a 9 year old BMW and a 4/1/2 year old enclave (loaded with things that break) ......who would pay 42 k for one? gezzzzz[/quote]
9 year old half worn out bmw and a 5 year old enclave.............smoking **quote before edit**
2006 + 9 = 2015
2010 + 5 = 2015
Yeah... those 2015 BMWs and Enclaves rollin out there are pretty sweet too... plain douchery
25k sounds like a good deal to me. i paid something like 42k for a new 2011 enclave. so i guess after about 3 years, it lost about 17k of its value.
we have had it for about 1 year 4 months now. my wife's plan was to get an infiniti qx56 as her next car. she is so happy with the enclave that she says she may just replace it with another enclave after she is done with it. would save me a few bucks, but im not gonna hold my breath.
so enjoy it and the bmw. looks like both of you got some nice upgrades this year.
The $25k was OTD, so included, tax, title, tags, etc. The actual price on the Enclave itself was around $23k. However, they are easily retaling in the $30k range for loaded 2010 CXL's.
I like the QX56, but if going that route, I would take a serious look at the JX35 as well. It's more along the lines of what the Enclave is, but is a real nice package.
Quote:
Originally Posted by crestliner
A 9 year old half worn out bmw and a 5 year old enclave.............smoking deals!
Well, it's actually a 7 year old half worn out BMW and a 3 year old Enclave based on their late build and inservice dates. Just so you know, it's 2013, not 2015. In terms of a "great deal" that's all dependent on how much I paid. A similar BMW easily runs around $18k+ at retail and a similar Enclave runs around $30k at retail. I paid way less and could most likely turn a profit selling both tomorrow.
The Enclave was easily a massive upgrade over the Terraza in everyway imaginable, it's not even a question.
The BMW was more of a question mark, I was trading a 2010 Malibu LT with 50k miles (2.4 Ecotec, bluetooth and sunroof) for a 2006 330i with 50k miles. If it wasn't virtually a straight up trade where I got the BMW at well under what it is worth at retail, it wouldn't have made sense. As it was, if I pulled up to someone in the exact Malibu I had and offered them to trade for my BMW straight up, they would be a complete idiot not to take it, even if they just turned around and sold it as the BMW is worth more then the Malibu by a decent margin.
...........smoking deals! I see lots and lots an expensive repair bills in the not to distant future .....Im afraid thats the way it is....the bmw can eat you alive if you plan on driving it much..that is a grantee ....a 9 year old BMW and a 4/1/2 year old enclave (loaded with things that break) ......who would pay 42 k for one? gezzzzz
Since you edited your post...
I already addressed your incorrect statement of the ages of the cars.
When it comes to repairs, given that this is my third BMW and I currently own an Audi and have had a selection of Audi's in the past, I am keenly aware of what the maintenance costs actually are and what to expect in terms of needed services. The BMW was a one owner car with full maintenance records. It was inspected by BMW techs at a dealership that is owned by the parent company that I work for and passed with flying colors. As far as 2006 330i's go, it has top shelf pedigree.
As far as the cost of the Enclave, the exact one we purchased was more like $48k brand new. I can actually visualize you reading that and...
Lol.. best use of a Fred Sandford reference in my recent memory.... **oohhhhh Lordy**
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Nice upgrades
plain douchery
