Just Bought an X5

[tmv]

and congrats on the purchase.

[Bianca98]

Well I went back out this morning. I made a better lock smith last night than I thought. I came out to find the door was unlocked, just badly frozen. I did my typical winter morning door tackle and it popped open, siren blaring. I got in, turned the car over with the key and the siren stopped. However, it had a dead-ish battery and would not start. Not a good sign, but it was -15* without windchill so I'm hoping the "new battery" just needs a little WI conditioning and it or the alternator, both of which I have receipts for replacement in the last year, are not junk.

[campy82]

At least the replacement kidney grill will be a cheap and easy fix!

[upallnight]

With this Polar Vortex hitting the Midwest, anytime it get down to 0F I'll hook my battery maintainer overnight and leave the doors unlocked.

Careful with the doors handles when they are frozen because that an easy way to snap them. Get a can of WD40 and give each handle a spritz.

[Bianca98]

Kidney grill is removed because the POs Lube shop snapped off the hood catch release handle. He says, "Its not hard to open, watch this!" and then goes about pulling the kidney off the front and finagling his hands up her nose. the hood opened though. Afterwards he makes moves to put the kidney back in, I said "Hey, can I see that?" he hands it to me and I put it nicely in the back seat. He took the hint. Its a little janked now that its been ripped out the front. I'm considering upgrading to ABS black plastic.

[e30cabrio]

Originally Posted by Bianca98

Kidney grill is removed because the POs Lube shop snapped off the hood catch release handle. He says, "Its not hard to open, watch this!" and then goes about pulling the kidney off the front and finagling his hands up her nose. the hood opened though. Afterwards he makes moves to put the kidney back in, I said "Hey, can I see that?" he hands it to me and I put it nicely in the back seat. He took the hint. Its a little janked now that its been ripped out the front. I'm considering upgrading to ABS black plastic.

Sounds like a great guy.

My first few months were an adventure of repairs but now 11 months later it is reliable & a joy to own.

I went to the pool store for my yearly pool chemical $ectomy and the guy helped me load it up & told me how nice it was/was shocked it is an 03.

Enjoy!

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by e30cabrio

My first few months were an adventure of repairs but now 11 months later it is reliable & a joy to own.

I went to the pool store for my yearly pool chemical $ectomy and the guy helped me load it up & told me how nice it was/was shocked it is an 03.

Enjoy!

Sounds like my story, 2 years into ownership and I'm finally caught up with repairs, detailing etc.

People are shocked all the time when I remind them that the car is currently 10, going on 11 years old this year.

[e30cabrio]

Yup it is a great vehicle when sorted. I just got my renewal, the dealer semi dicked me. I didn't get a year because in AZ the registration is based on first registered date.

Interestingly, the cost is almost the same as my 2006 350Z I dumped for the X.

[Bianca98]

I really like the way WI does their vehicle titling and registration and plates and taxes.
Sales tax is based on what you paid for the vehicle, regardless of value. transfer of ownership is 70 bucks, Plates belong to the individual, not the vehicle. Plates including annual registration is just 75 dollars for any car/SUV/light truck. And WI does not have any emissions testing or smog. It's a smoke 'em if you got 'em kind of place. As of last year though they switched to a title holding state. I hate title holding! You want to buy a vehicle off a guy who has a lien and you have to trust that he will send it to you. You want to sell your vehicle with a small lien and you can't hand them a title at the end of the sale! I bought this off a guy in Iowa which is electronic titling meaning at the time I bought it, there wasn't even a physical title to exchange! very lame.

[Ricky Bobby]

In Jersey, sales tax is based on what you paid for the vehicle as well, but do you think everyone is telling the truth when they fill out their registration paperwork on a used car, just to get the full value of tax collected at the DMV? Lol

I don't want to get into the whole debate about sales tax, but its ridiculous to pay sales tax on a new car, then pay it again another 4-5 times over the change in ownerships of a vehicles life, ridiculous in my opinion.

Pay your plate, registration, inspection and title fees once the vehicle is used and be done with it in my opinion.

It's bad enough that in Jersey I have to renew my registration every year since my car is used, new vehicles pay for 5 years up front. Why not ask me how many years I want to pay in advance, so I don't have to renew every year. Same goes with my motorcycles. I'd rather choose a bi-annual bill plan and get a break from renewing tags every year.