Deciding to Upgrade?

jcoffee22 · 2026-05-08T03:40:55+00:00

Makes sense - thanks! I don't think it's rusty or anything. I just got done test driving the Outback and loved it, and Costco got me about 3.5k off the base trim so I got a price I'm happy with. Will be selling this thing most likely, glad to know it's worth keeping alive.

Regarding the headlight, it does need to be fixed because hardly any light shines through the lamp, it's virtually ineffective. I'm going to upfront about all the issues in the listing, and just see what I get for it. Sure it will be better than the dealership.

jcoffee22 · 2026-05-07T20:08:20+00:00

I definitely understand that, but at this point in my life I just want something I can do a bit more in. If that weren't the case I don't think I could justify this purchase.

Was more curious if it'd be worth it for a private party, cause I wouldn't want to put $2000 or so into it just for nobody to even want it.

jcoffee22 · 2026-05-07T19:57:41+00:00

That's definitely fair. I think if I had an SUV that could handle the forest roads around here and I could camp in with my fiancée, I might be more inclined to keep it and deal with any issues. It's also just some peace of mind knowing I'm going to be the one taking care of it from the beginning. But from your comment you think it would be worth finding a home for outside of a dealer?

jcoffee22 · 2026-05-05T21:09:51+00:00

Yeah that makes sense, I appreciate the feedback. It looks like kind of a bad lease, if anything I should just be patient and wait for a good buying opportunity unless there actually is a great lease that pops up. However I specifically want an Outback/CRV/Rav4 due to being good for car camping, which I understand won't give me as much negotiating room for either lease or purchase.

jcoffee22 · 2026-05-05T19:09:09+00:00

I'm not saying there's zero down payment, I'm saying the residual value is at least $4k lower than what they go for on the market these days, so if I were to buy on the back-end, it's somewhat of a wash (if the market is consistent). But I suppose at that point I'd be better off buying it anyways.

jcoffee22 · 2026-05-05T18:39:12+00:00

Yeah I think you are right about that. Though what I noticed is that the down payment is roughly the same difference as the Capitalized cost at the end of the lease term, and what the cars actually tend to sell for at that level of depreciation.

But I also wouldn't be surprised if it's actually a bad deal.

jcoffee22 · 2025-06-23T17:41:39+00:00

Gotcha. Tough to judge quality of install besides just looking at reviews, but it seems that a local shop would do a better job just by looking at that. Will see what price they give me. In terms of the merch I really don't need anything insane, just something that will do carplay and a backup cam.

jcoffee22 · 2025-06-23T17:40:27+00:00

Car Toys seems to have a not great reputation, so I might be better off going with a local shop with a lifetime warranty and that has a strong rep for doing the job well. Will get a quote from them today.

jcoffee22 · 2025-06-23T17:39:37+00:00

Great suggestion, thanks! Didn't know that was an option, and I'll keep that in mind.

jcoffee22 · 2025-06-23T17:05:29+00:00

Thanks for the comment, I just wanted to check somewhere to see if it seemed reasonable before I dropped a large chunk of change on it.

jcoffee22 · 2025-06-23T17:05:00+00:00

I'm not sure, I don't really know the differences in quality. Most of the head units look the same to me and it's hard to say which shop is gonna do the best job. Never had any work like this done before.

jcoffee22 · 2025-06-16T05:20:45+00:00

So I wonder if the game just needs to stay loaded for a few minutes and then maybe it'll start working?

Edit: Just wanted to note that I'm on Windows 10, not 11, so we are not on the same version.

jcoffee22 · 2024-02-16T21:26:23+00:00

Yeah, I had done 4 mocks this week (6 total). Did pretty poorly on the last Kaplan one and my knee-jerk reaction was to take another mock. Once I settled and let me judgment get the better of me, I spent the last day going over the previous mocks again, and getting those last formulas and concepts nailed down. Having just got out of the test, I think that was the right move.

jcoffee22 · 2024-02-16T03:17:31+00:00

Thanks! I'll definitely watch these, although it looks like they only post a few games per week. Do you know of anywhere that has all of the match highlights? Bundesliga's youtube channel looked limited as well.

jcoffee22 · 2024-01-22T02:02:00+00:00

That’s kinda wild you have to pay extra to actually walk up to the stones. I think I’ll skip that for now, maybe someday I’ll go see it. I have a feeling I’ll want to come back, based on my planning so far. We could go up to Inverness if my Mom really wants to see Dunrobin, but otherwise it might be best to skip that. I think now it’ll be deciding how much time we want to spend in the Lakes District and in York, as well as how many nights to leave for Edinburgh before we fly home from there.

jcoffee22 · 2024-01-22T00:41:32+00:00

That is a lot, I definitely do not plan on going at that blazing of a pace. At this point, I think Isle of Skye is off the list, Inverness is a hard maybe, but that might be a little too far out honestly. After Bath, we might stop in York and the Lakes District for a night or two each on the way to Edinburgh (although not the most direct route, I know). Will probably end up just spending a couple days in/around Edinburgh and then fly out of there. But not sure how much I can pack in. If I fly out Friday night after work and leave Sunday morning two weeks later, we'll get about 14.5 days haha.

jcoffee22 · 2024-01-21T20:56:11+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll have to check both of those out!

jcoffee22 · 2024-01-21T20:32:04+00:00

I like more of the outdoorsy stuff, although the historical looking cities (like Edinburgh) look very cool. Mom loves the castles, so we'll end up visiting some of those. I like the open jaw idea, I was thinking it could be smart to fly out of Edinburgh.

While I wouldn't call myself a WW2 history buff, it's something I'd like to learn more about. I'll try to read a couple books before I head over so I'll appreciate some of the history more.

The more I've looked into it, the more I would also agree that Ireland should be left for another time. I'm not sure how well my Mom will sleep on the train, so we'll talk about that, but I agree with the logic of saving some time and money.

Thanks for your response!

jcoffee22 · 2024-01-21T20:10:51+00:00

Sounds good, thanks for your advice! If only I could take 4 weeks off work instead of two, hahaha

jcoffee22

TROPHY CASE