maybe? it's a lighter blue, though... and not flashing at all....

as long as they see me, they can think I'm Santa Clause

Very pretty Jim.

I thought the point wasn't a closer shave, but the mandatory larger jockstrap.

They were designed to work together, change one and you should change both.

I'm not up on this but I remember reading about the danger of removing any anti-reversion features in the stock exhaust, but that may be a Harley thing.

Lots of info...
It's sure looking good. :thumb:

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...03d5ee2c2f.jpg

2006 Vw Passat 2.0 T. The T is for Turbo!

Bought this for $2500. It's got new Goodyear Eagles, navigation, moonroof, leather, satellite radio, etfuckingcetera.... Only issues are an exhaust leak and there's only one key. ... Oh, and 139,375 miles. But that's ok. The Vin starts with a W.

Left side book value is $4580, right side is $7495. Which means I could sell it for $4000 in a week if I wanted to. But I don't. I got it so I could dangle it in front of Spencers eyes.

He's 16. Needs a job to get a car. Needs a car to get a job. I remember all too well trying to Crack that loop.

So now I have a car that gets 28mpg for my trips to PA. Keeps miles off of my XK. And the boy is suddenly motivated to get his license.

I'll iron out a payment arrangement with him this weekend.... Or at least we'll discuss the concept.

I just hope I can come up this big for Ripley in 2 years. We were just going to wholesale this car. I had it detailed since that picture was taken. Its as glossy as the commander (xk) is. You can tell the owner loved it.

I'll try to get better photos in the morning light tomorrow.

first cars of first borns are first bent. $2500 is a fairly low entry price for that rite of passage, but it's so pretty, it's gonna be a shame to watch.

I wish him the very very best luck, and you too.

I'm so country. I don't mean to be. I rode my bicycle to my first job. Probably 4 miles away. Then I rode a moped. Then I used a family car.

Things are different these days. I hope Spence is very careful and I feel like he has grown up before our eyes!

Kind of has, hasn't he? I joined in 03. He was 5. At 16, he's 5'11" and wise beyond his years. I'm not terribly worried about him crashing the car. He's the cautious sort. Ripley is another story. She's already trying to get a job. Wants me to teach her to drive Now. 14. That's more how I was. I had a job at 14.... Took the vw rabbit around the block any time my mom left it unattended.... Had my license on my 16th birthday

extremely near miss with Hector on the freeway today :eek:

....and that's all I have to say about that.....

I see a couple worthy deals a month, I guess... If I were so inclined, I could probably trade my way up to a new car within a year.

There is a thing called 'curbing' though. This is when a salesman gives a customer the value the dealer is giving, closes the deal, and then offers to buy their trade on the side for slightly more than that plus the tax credit they would have gotten. He then sells the car privately for a profit. If this is done on wholesale cars only, there's no harm to anyone but the wholesaler, who is not employed by the dealer anyway, so who cares.... It's when the operation begins to take retail - able units away from the dealer that it is considered stealing.

That profit is lost to the dealer. I got my old motorcycle by buying a 99 jeep for $2k, putting $300 of repairs into it, and selling it for $4800. It just kind of happened that way though...

Here's the vdub all spiffied up:
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...c2e1c67b83.jpg

Nice car. I'm glad he's cautious though. As a teen I don't think a turbo would have been good for me although I survived some wild rides in a '76 Chevy 3/4 ton that had almost no steering. The VW will be mechanically sound, as a cautious driver he could have it a while.

what distinguishes wholesaleable and retailable cars?

Age and mileage, mainly. Over 100k, financing options drop away, warranty as well.

They could have put this car out there, but were not planning to.

Oh, we found the exhaust leak:

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...65b3e548d0.jpg

Just a broken collar clamp. Got it fixed for free, and changed the oil (synthetic) for $66 today, bringing the road ready total to $3k. Tax tags etc....

Drove it 100 miles after work today, and it rides like a new car. Went and picked up the kids and returned to NJ. Only used 1/4 tank doing it too. Spencer loves it. His favorite thing is the trunk lever that is also a big VW logo. Wants me to find one like it for his friend.