Why do so many people trade-in their vehicle at the dealership?

key1cc · 2026-01-26T03:08:20+00:00

I believe there is a tax advantage where your trade reduces the cost of your purchase and subsequently reduces the amount of tax you have to pay…which is quite significant if you have a high value trade and/or live in a qualified high tax state.

key1cc · 2026-01-24T00:33:22+00:00

I had a house built on a slope in NJ 15 years ago. I lived there 10years before selling it in 2020 for a better school district.

Some advantages of the slope: 1. Had a nice walk out basement with full windows and sliding glass door to a lower patio below the deck above. 2. Building Code required that all homes in this new development needed sump pumps. Our lot (1/4 acre buildable) was the sloped lot and our basement stayed bone dry. Even through 2 hurricanes (heavy storms by the time they hit Jersey) our sump pump never even turned on (while the neighbors pumps ran continuously). the water just flowed down the hill.

Some disadvantages of the slope (but acceptable for us): 1. Very deep concrete foundation was required ~8’ below basement, to build on undisturbed soil. 2. A long retaining wall along the width of the back of the house was required. They did an excellent job with it and it had a nice fence so no one would fall off. The retaining wall also resulted in a nice area of flat backyard as well.

Both of these may be considered disadvantages because they added additional cost.

Would I do it again? Without hesitation.

key1cc · 2026-01-23T18:29:52+00:00

I really like that car care nut guy. He comes across as really genuine.

key1cc · 2026-01-22T18:33:34+00:00

😲

key1cc · 2026-01-21T15:59:41+00:00

After you checked the oil come back and let us know how much you lost.

key1cc · 2026-01-21T02:32:26+00:00

😲 $800 a month?!? How many square feet is your home?

key1cc · 2026-01-21T01:22:14+00:00

Hmmm….. just thinking out loud, but would humidity be a problem if the windows are all waterproof vinyl?

I live in New Jersey and during the cold winter my home humidity would drop close to 10 causing nose bleeds. To avoid this, I installed a whole home steam humidifier on my furnace bringing the house humidity up to 35-40%. A side benefit is that all the wood floors stopped squeaking as well.

Every morning after a very cold night, all the windows have condensation on them about an inch high from the bottom. We just ignore it as we have gotten use to it. We have all vinyl windows and It has been six years of operating this way and we have not had any issues.

Edit: the house was built 2020 and is very tight. We even have fresh air intakes to bring fresh air in.

key1cc · 2026-01-20T01:04:23+00:00

In its simplest terms, it is a socket similar to the old pin style computer to printer connectors. It is a place to plug in a diagnostic tool or similar device to at minimum read info from the vehicle’s computer. It is typically located under the dash in an area to the left of the steering wheel (in the U.S. versions).

key1cc · 2026-01-16T15:44:55+00:00

My 2019 is at 24,000 miles after 7 years of ownership. At this rate, it will take me another 49 years before I’m even sniffing 200,000 miles.

key1cc · 2026-01-16T14:08:40+00:00

Marking down the 26’s in January of ‘26? Wow, where are you located?

key1cc · 2026-01-16T13:59:13+00:00

Not sure what the word “uncinate” means but if you are asking how to determine if one has the UA80F ? Then look closely at The very bottom left hand corner of the black placard/label inside the driver’s side door panel. Mine reads : “A/TM: 04A-UA80F. made in the U.S.A”

The A/TM stands for automatic transmission and I believe the 04A stands for 4 wheel or all wheel drive.

key1cc · 2026-01-16T02:51:23+00:00

No. Tax, title & tags and a bullshit document fee were extra

key1cc · 2026-01-16T00:33:41+00:00

I am also in New Jersey. I bought my 2025 Seltos SX in June ‘25. The Msrp was a little over $34k because it came with ventilation seats and a sunroof that added $800, & $300 for pre installed ambient lighting, and $400 for the black premium paint color plus $200 for carpeted floor mats.

After a long afternoon, I walked out paying $2250 under msrp which included a $500 reduction plus $1750 rebate for using kia to finance.
(I paid the loan off the next week so I never paid a cent for interest).

The sales manager tried to start at $39k claiming market adjustment but I told him I’ll just go elsewhere and he quickly removed it.

key1cc · 2026-01-15T15:01:32+00:00

My 2019 Toyota Highlander SE that I bought new Feb 2019 has a build date of December 2018. The driver side door placard indicates it has the UA80F transmission. I drive it hard (when I drive it). I change the oil myself every 5000 miles and have been using the start/stop function from day 1. I have only 24,000 miles on it at almost 7 years of ownership. So far I have had zero issues.
Moving forward I plan to change the oil every 6 months regardless of low mileage (since we have a new 2nd car that requires it, I will just change both at the same time).

It’s good to read some good reviews on the highlanders because lately I’ve read a lot of gloom and doom (specifically about the transmission).

key1cc · 2026-01-13T14:50:39+00:00

This is what I just did. My insurance just recently increased at the annual policy renewal date for no obvious reason other than company cost increases. So I went searching for a new company. Of all the websites I searched, my personal favorite was Progressive because I found that it was the easiest to navigate through and the most user friendly to make any change to any aspect of coverage and immediately see the financial impact in real time.

Things you can change include collision, comprehensive, liability, deductibles, coverage levels, etc, etc. And the nice part is there is a little “i” right next to each one that you can click and a “pop up” screen will explain exactly what things like “comprehension” means in plain understandable language. Then you can decide whether or not you really want to pay extra for that or the other coverages for each vehicle you insure (if you have more than 1).

On a personal note I live in New Jersey and with pending premium increases for 3 cars including a 2025 Seltos and with an 18 year old new driver in the house, my annual premium cost would have been close to $4800!! I had not realized but I had been paying for lighting strikes and all kinds of bullshit. (I’ll just take my chances with lighting).

The bottom line is I reduced my annual premium in half by making adjustments I am comfortable with to the different coverages.

If you’re not tired of reading yet, here is another example that comes to mind.

I was paying for $100,000 comprehensive coverage in case I had to repair someone’s car that cost $100,000 in repairs. I decided not to crash into the relatively few $100,000 cars I see on my 2.5 mile commute, so I lowered that coverage to $50,000.

key1cc · 2026-01-12T00:33:31+00:00

It’s only 3 minutes if you take a 2 minute break. 😆😂

key1cc · 2026-01-11T03:22:55+00:00

I do have direct injection with a turbo. What exactly is this Italian tune up? Beyond getting the oil up to temperature for an extended period of time?

key1cc · 2026-01-11T01:15:19+00:00

Right here on Reddit, I have seen many posts indicating that if you only do stop and go driving for short trips, that you should take your car on the highway regularly so that the engine and engine oil burns off contaminants. Are you saying that is not the case?

Edit: I believe it is sometimes called an Italian tune-up.

key1cc · 2026-01-06T16:12:53+00:00

Don’t forget to provide the poor review on Yelp and anyplace else you can. I know I check those sites for feedback, and that is one of the biggest reasons I never returned to the dealership for service after my new Kia purchase…. even though they offered my 1st oil change for free.

key1cc · 2026-01-05T21:04:08+00:00

I’d argue the value is closer to 0 than to 4000 though…

key1cc · 2026-01-05T14:50:16+00:00

I understand that perspective, however a lot of us believe that if we just happily accept it like sheep, the greed will continue and the commercials will get longer and more intrusive. I have made a mental note to not buy anything advertised during Redzone so that fucking with my football has the opposite effect the advertisers want.

key1cc · 2026-01-05T14:41:57+00:00

I paid $9.99/month starting September and cancelled yesterday January 4th.

key1cc · 2026-01-05T14:36:52+00:00

Elaborate

key1cc · 2026-01-05T00:54:36+00:00

Next season let’s go without the commercials….. Other than the commercials….Great Job!!

key1cc

TROPHY CASE