What a whirlwind of a day! My first call of the morning was with the client for our project in Sante Fe. Guess what? Yep. It's been pushed back to the Fall. The CEO decided that the risks outweighed the cost of re-scheduling and pulled the plug. I have a cancellation policy but it wouldn't have kicked in till next week. Besides, I like the client and I'll be working with them on other profitable jobs this year. So now I go from planning overland routes through Roswell, and trying to decide whether to drive or fly, to having more time at the end of the month for playing and swim practices. My cameras will be disappointed.
This is not really a rare occurence these days. People are bad at predicting the future and I'm guessing when they set up this meeting late last year all the predictions were that Covid infections would be waning by now. Then, this year, after the emergency approval of three vaccines everyone was predicting a quick ramp up in acceptance and wide spread immunity. Ah well. I am so much better at predicting the past...
Now, on to today's obsession. A reader/commenter left a comment that said once a car lets you down it's gone for him. I work the same way. It's all about reliability. The offer to upgrade from a 2019 Subaru Forster to a new, 2021 model (identical trim and finish) came on a day when I noticed the smell of coolant coming from under the hood. I checked and the coolant was half way between "full" and "low." All at once I wondered if the car would fail me with plumes of steam out in the middle of west Texas, hundreds of miles from any service station and further than that to a Subaru dealer. That's when I took the offer more seriously. Yes, the 2019 is still under warranty and I was pretty sure they could find and fix a leak if it existed but just the faint smell of coolant introduced a tiny measure of doubt in my mind.
It's all academic now that the job which required the cross country drive is postponed. But what the heck?
After a chat on the phone with the dealer I decided I would drive out today and test drive a second car I've also been interested in; the Subaru Outback. It would cost a bit more to upgrade to that but I was willing to spend the money if I liked the ride and the overall feel better. They had an Outback ready for me when I walked up. I drove it around for twenty minutes, hated the lessened visibility, felt like the slightly bigger car just wasn't as nimble as the Forester, and made up my mind.
I went ahead a bought the new 2021 Forester. No hidden costs or charges. Exactly what they agreed to in the first place. Only hitch? They didn't have one in stock and will have to ship it in from another dealer. They found the exact car I want in Lubbock. It will be trucked here late this week or the first of next week. I offered to sign the papers and hand over a check today but the dealership's administrative office was backed up and I would have had to wait an hour to get it done. Instead they garaged my old car, handed me the keys to a brand new Legacy sport as a loaner and called it a day. And, yes, they are eating the transportation charge to get the new car here.
They'll have paperwork ready for me to come in and sign on Friday. Once the car arrives they'll take care of having the windows tinted exactly as they were for my last car and then they'll deliver the car to my house and pick up their loaner. Easy as pie.
Austin Subaru is great to deal with. Both B. and I have bought new cars from them and enjoyed the process and the hands-on service. They are currently the biggest Subaru dealer in the country, by volume. One of the things I like about them is that the first two years or 24,000 of ownership includes all maintenance. You pay for nothing for the first two years. Nice.
I'm driving a sporty new Legacy right now and while it's a nice car I've decided I no longer really like sedans. The visibility of the Forester spoils you for alert, high visibility driving. That's why it's Consumer Reports top choice this year for its class.
No camera work today. I'm always a bit distraught when I go a whole day without taking photographs. With swim practice, an early business call, a late morning coffee meeting with a video guy, and then a formal lunch to celebrate an anniversary with another couple whose anniversary falls on the same day, followed by some inefficient time spent at the car dealership, there just wasn't an opportunity to pull a camera out of a bag and click off some well considered frames. Or any frames.
Sad, because there is a Leica SL with a 50mm lens on it sitting quietly on my desk, looking at me and saying, softly: "tsk, tsk. How could you abandon us for the day?"
gotta go. It's my turn to cook dinner. It's been that kind of day....
More about photography later...
16 comments:
That’s the second worst excuse for a new car I have ever heard — right up there with the ashtray being full.
;)
Did I mention that one of the cup holders had a coffee stain?
Wow, a 2 year old car that is ready for replacement...hmmm?? 😊
Good decision Kirk, may you enjoy many trouble free miles of motoring in your new purchase when it arrives.Great service from your dealer Kirk they are deserving of your custom.
Michael.
Sorry, man, that is absurd and, I would argue, ethically unsustainable. You should think about the planet you’re leaving to your son and his kids, should he be sufficiently optimistic about the state of the world to have any.
My Forester blew a head gasket, which I was told is/was a common problem. My daughter’s had 2 engines fail.
I used to really like them but I’m a little unsure about trusting them now.
Hope you have better luck with yours.
An even wiser decision, now that you mention the coolant leak. The problem with head gaskets and coolant leak has been specific to Subaru for quite a while. Your warranty would have covered gasket replacement, but there can be after effects later on: catalytic converters fail, poisoned by burned coolant which exits via the exhaust. Bearings and other moving parts can be damaged, but show up after the warranty expires. Excellent job of dodging a bullet for a guy with a Medicare card. Must be all that fitness training.
Ethical un-sustainability? What a crock of B.S. I guess the commenter assumes that my 2.5 year old vehicle is going straight into the landfill. No chance that the dealer might have bought the car to sell to someone whose buying strategy is different than mine. Or someone whose budget won't stretch to cover the price of a new car. Right.
What I understand when I read through some of the comments here is that many don't understand concepts like intuition or even basic business accounting.
I have always trusted my intuition in as many ways as possible and have rarely been let down. If, for any number of reasons, I decide it's time to move on from something I'm much more inclined to do so if my intuition (not my pocket calculator or some set of abstract moral judgements) tells me it's in my best interest.
I've gotten rid of nearly new cameras because (ala Malcolm's "Blink") the shutter didn't sound right only to see recalls and other photographers having issue with the particular camera model. Example: Nikon D600. I've taken gear back to a dealer and exchanged it for exactly the same models just because the first set didn't "feel right." And in many cases my intuition proves the point. And saves me from failure in the field.
As to the economics of this particular deal... The car industry is in total disruption right now because of the inventory swings caused by the pandemic. So much of a dealer's profitability depends on charging a customer X for a new car but getting rebates from the maker. Car dealers also need volume in order to get bigger discounts on the cars they buy from the Mother company. The higher the dealer volume the better their opportunities to get exactly the kind of product that will sell best in their market. In times of distress they are happy to make deals that net them small change if the transaction plays into more profit in a bigger frame.
My car was used for business for nearly 2.5 years and the price of this replacement is far less than the depreciation of the older car. I ran the deal past my accountant who laughed and called it a "no brainer." Some of you folks who are so quick to judge might want to revisit some basic math homework.
The whole crew who want to buy something and use it until it falls apart are correct in a certain sense, if the pure money saving equation is all they care about. And if they are salary earners who can't "Schedule C" stuff under various tax codes to their advantage. It's a different calculus between a wage earner and a business owner. It's the reason why pick-up trucks that weigh over 6K pounds sell like hotcakes to business owners --- the tax deduction belies the basic math some people are applying to the idea of the purchase.
It's cheaper for them to buy a giant, gas guzzling behemoth than to buy a Ford Escort for their businesses. It's the tax code we currently work under.
For me, both my intuition and my math skills (or the advice of a CPA) tell me I'm on the correct trajectory. For me.
continued....
ending....
Finally, the 2019 model was the first year for a new chassis, new electronics, etc. I kid about the coffee stains on the cupholders but I'm sure than many of the usual problems that arise in the first year of production for a new model are ironed out two model years later and that does lead to better reliability, higher resale value and more peace of mind. All at less than the cost of one Leica body. Makes a hell of a lot of sense to me.
All 2019's seem to have issues with the CarPlay interface, a random rebooting of the Infotainment system, etc. It's an expensive fix. But it has apparently been remedied in subsequent models. Etc. Etc.
If you want to drive a piece of crap till the wheels fall off and then beat it into a plow share you are welcome to it. That's not my cup of tea. Nor do I clean out my own septic system or battle raccoons in my chimney as a cost cutting hobby. Geez. You only get a small number of years here you might as well skip all the shitty stuff and enjoy life.
As to how we are leaving the planet......I work from a home office, drive far fewer miles per year than the average wage earning commuter, drive cars with efficient, low polluting 4 cylinder engines and don't change my engine oil in the drive way. In Texas, with a dearth of public transportation that's the best I can do. I bike where possible and walk instead of driving at every opportunity.
If that's going to destroy the planet at least I think I'm much further back in the line of those responsible than a huge list of other contenders. Let's start with coal fired power plants and work our way down from there.
In 2019 I tested both the Subaru Forester and Outback -- and bought the Outback. I didn't like many things about the Forester. And that's why they make different models.
DavidB
Hi Kirk,
All this talk of cars is all very well. I have no problem with your rationale. Heck, I have traded my cars for some pretty dubious reasons. I even applaud your rationale to buy Leicas (which I could never bring myself to do). But...
As far as I can make out you are a magnificent portrait photographer. So, where are the portraits of the raccoons?
I really liked the Forester I test drove, but I wanted one with the Winter Package (you usually don’t need it in Austin) and without a sun/moon roof. That is not possible the way they offer Foresters. I ended up with 2019 Crosstrek— my first Subaru.
And in the end.....It's Jon Maxim for the win!
Thanks for perspective.
I said at the time it was a good deal. My Toyota AWD is now two years old and I would take a similar offer in a heartbeat.
Thanks TMJ!
Post a Comment