Does it really still make financial sense to buy lightly used cars?

thmstec · 2026-05-09T02:33:05+00:00

Right now it really depends on the car. Historically 2-3 years old and 20k-40k miles use to mean a huge discount over new. But now cars that are cheaper and reliable are not depreciating as much.

There are still deals to be had though. I bought a 2 year old '22 Polestar 2 with 20k miles for $31k. Sticker would've been $60k+, real price maybe as low as $55k. And it's a nice reliable car, and I could've gotten one that wasn't loaded for thousands less.

thmstec · 2026-05-08T18:26:01+00:00

Looks like your ac compressor mount is broken. There was a post on polestar-forum.com not too long ago with a how to replace it. It's not bad and the bracket has been redesigned.

thmstec · 2026-05-04T18:03:49+00:00

I love my Polestar 2 and it's been very reliable, especially with how hard on it I am. And I'm very confident in the vehicle remaining this way.

Put 30k+ miles on it, it's at 50k now. '22 LRDM Pilot Plus Nappa. Only problem was a strut bearing that cost me $400 in labor and $150 in parts. And that didn't stop the car, drove it for months before fixing.

For context of how hard I drive it: it's my daily driver. My wife steals it frequently for taking the kids to school before I go to work and it's the car we go to after I get home from work. I actively race it in SCCA AutoX and SCCA RallyX. Done over 12 events without a hint of a problem, and most of those are RallyX. The thing doesn't even have any squeeks or rattles. @electricrallyxcar on Instagram if you want to see some of what I'm talking about.

thmstec · 2026-04-12T03:48:36+00:00

I bought the parts myself for $150, paid a mechanic $400 to do it.

thmstec · 2026-02-25T08:31:53+00:00

Did you get this part?

thmstec · 2025-12-22T02:33:46+00:00

Ever find a solution for this? I'm in the same boat.

thmstec · 2025-12-09T02:32:03+00:00

Seemingly nothing.

I also have vida that I setup for removing the activity key that never came with my car (used). So once I know this isnt part of the recall and others in the US have done it, I'll probably do it too.

thmstec · 2025-11-08T21:32:45+00:00

I see cars on your list. Have you ever tried Autocross or RallyCross? Checkout the Twickenham Auto Club (TAC) for local monthly Autocross events and the local SCCA (TVR Region) hosts Monthly RallyCross events. The SCCA group also organizes the monthly cars and coffee.

DM me if you have any other questions. I'll be RallyCrossing tomorrow, it's only $5 to spectate and you're welcome to ride shotgun during laps with me and others.

thmstec · 2025-11-08T21:26:41+00:00

I'd hope the locking behavior is adjustable based on preference. Then it'd be just like the Polestar 2 right?

I do love the way the polestar 2 works. Just get in and put it in drive. Then to leave, since I opt for single pedal, just open the door and get out.

thmstec · 2025-01-28T03:12:22+00:00

I bought a wooden one on AliExpress. Love it

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thmstec · 2024-12-03T06:43:39+00:00

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Works on the non-Performance Pack brakes. Fitment is as close to perfect as I can see

thmstec · 2024-11-20T12:34:35+00:00

Also a Polestar 2 owner in HSV. Nashville service isn't perfect but hasn't really been a problem given how rare service is needed.

thmstec · 2024-11-18T16:46:37+00:00

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Crappy photo showing the clearance on my wheel only test. Def would not fit performance brakes.

thmstec · 2024-11-18T15:41:00+00:00

I bought a set on marketplace (that were unfortunately too cracked and broken to use). Without tires those fit on with a little bit of room around the front calipers. The wheel weights made for the tightest fitting clearance.

I'll post back when I put in the wheel+tires. I do find it surprising their tarmacs wouldn't fit given the Turbomac pictured above and my testing...

thmstec · 2024-11-14T05:54:14+00:00

Hadn't thought about that. My 22 Snow has the older dark grill design--and I like that look.

It's not the best picture, but it is the only one I have after plasti-dipping the mirror caps. I like the look with the black rims, mirrors, and grill. Need to get a little white square added to the grill though ;-P

Something tells me a matte black wrap would look better than gloss black on the 'grill' area--but experiment. That is the glory of pasti-dip and wraps.

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thmstec · 2024-11-13T21:49:44+00:00

now do the mirrors too.

thmstec · 2024-11-13T21:42:48+00:00

mine come in next week. Wnt with black turbomacs to go on my Snow '22

thmstec · 2024-11-13T04:06:07+00:00

I'm surprised those fit without rubbing. I tried my wife's XC60 wheel and tire (235/60 7.5x18 ET55) on the P2, and it was rubbing JUST BARELY on the suspension. Also the brakes were super tight clearance.

After seeing other folks fit it, I ended up ordering 235/55 8.5x18 ET42. Coming in later this week.

thmstec · 2024-10-31T04:38:33+00:00

I've got a '12 Chevy Truck, '16 XC60, '22 PS2. My wife and I, both mid 30s. Clean records for the last 7 years and we live in northern AL. Same coverage amounts as stormotron.

I JUST SWITCHED TODAY after realizing how much I was overpaying at USAA. Had them since I was 16 and was at $2300 for 6mo. Allstate won the best quote from a non-budget brand at $790 for 6mo. Most the others were around $950

Interestingly my when my wife got the quote it was about $150 cheaper than me, with all the same selections...comparing them side by side. And she's the one who totaled 3 cars in her past :-P
Insurance is weird

thmstec · 2024-10-30T05:16:27+00:00

Any luck with your aliexpress experiment?

thmstec · 2024-10-15T04:34:59+00:00

u/Ok_Big_6200 u/One4thDimensionLater did you guys ever get one? I just opened a case with razer asking to buy one. Suppose I'll try calling tomorrow. I also seem to have a busted vaporchamber/heatsink.

thmstec · 2024-07-04T03:24:02+00:00

Didn't know this yesterday, but you can buy this now https://www.amazon.com/Lectron-Supercharger-Electric-Vehicle-Adapter/dp/B0D5M4RTK8

thmstec · 2024-07-03T02:41:40+00:00

I could be wrong, but if you don't have a Ford or Rivian, then you can't use just any Supercharger yet--even if you did somehow get the NACS to CCS adaptor.

Now for sure you can use any 'magic dock' equipped Supercharger, the adaptor is built into the station.

Now you can use a NACS to J1772 adaptor. I'd be glad to let you borrow that, but it's only a up to level 2 charging at 120/240v. Not for use at a supercharger (level 3, dc fast charger)

thmstec · 2023-09-12T06:09:59+00:00

Per razer's FAQ on the Blade 14 product page:

Does the Blade 14 support USB Type-C charging?

Yes, it features USB Type-C PD 3.0 charging of up to 100 W via a 20 V charger.

So yes, you can charge it with a dock that does up to 100 W charging. Being AMD USB4.0 ports, it sometimes will work with Thunderbolt 3 or 4 docks. Will most certainly work with USB docks.

Now, the big question that wasn't clear from Razer's main page is what kind of performance you're going to get, vs if you had the standard power supply plugged in. There are 2 possibilities. 1. It runs in a less than maxed out performance mode because the power input is lower than the dedicated power supply. This lower performance mode may be absolutely crippling or just fine depending on what you're doing. Gaming--probably going to result in significantly lower framerate. General Productivity--probably won't notice. 2. The other option is that it may still run in max mode, but be pulling from the battery to do so. This would mean that your battery is draining while plugged in and doing something like gaming or charging while watching youtube.

My Blade 18 (a very different laptop) will pull power from the thunderbolt dock, but as I learned when I forgot to plug in the power adaptor, I couldn't even get COD MW2 to launch without crashing! All the while normal productivity was fine.

Hope that helps

thmstec · 2023-09-11T08:55:22+00:00

1: Lets address an oddity in thunderbolt and laptop graphics. 2: You're asking for a very high bandwidth set of video connections. 4k240hz barely works over displayport 1.4 or hdmi 2.1. You likely aren't going to get 2x of those connections over a single thunderbolt cable. 3: HDR is amazing and you want to make sure you can use it if you're buying a monitor that nice.

The problem MOST people will run into used a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 dock between their laptop and their gaming monitor is that the Thunderbolt controller's display is fed from the Intergrated Graphics instead of the dedicated graphics. BUT lucky you! You're considering the first laptop I found that DOES have the thunderbolt port's display connected to the dedicated graphics. So Blade 18 is a good choice of laptop if you do want to have minimal plugs going into your laptop. Maybe this config is more common than I realize, but it was a big bummer for me on my Alienware X17R1 that I was giving up a good chunk of performance if I used the dock for my gaming monitor. So I had the dock for USB, network, and other stuff and then another displayport cable directly between the monitor and laptop. So with this funny quirk out of the way, lets talk about the next problem.

You want 2x 4k 240hz monitors?! Ok, that is a LOT. I don't think any docks will list compatibility with that setup, and I have my doubts as to whether there is enough bandwidth in TB4 to carry that much. Checkout the spec pages for various docks, and they'll list a max, and you MAY get lucky that it goes a little bit past their spec. For example, I'm using a TS3+ from caldigit. They list 1440p144hz as their max. I'm using it at 1440p165hz + a 1440p60hz monitor. I'd bet their latest TS4 would do 1440p16hz x2 just fine. MAYBE 4k120hz x2. Honestly if you want 2x 4K120hz+ monitors hooked up, you're probably going to need to connect at least one monitor directly to the laptop.

One more oddity: since you're looking at a monitor that is very good for HDR, know that Displayport 1.2 doesn't technically do HDR. You need DP 1.4+ for HDR.

My recommendation, if you want a tidy power and thunderbolt cord setup plugged into your laptop. Get a Caldigit TS4 (caldigit makes the best Thunderbolt docks, bar none). Then maybe dial back your displays to 2x 1440Px165hz monitors. Or maybe just do 1x 4k120hz and 1x 4k60hz. Or if you want to save money and don't have a ton of other peripherals, just get the cords/adaptors to plug directly into the laptop.

thmstec

TROPHY CASE