Used 4CT Feedback Request -- Bellevue WA & Deerfield Beach FL

[Jonathan S.]

Good point re clean title (lack of necessity thereof) -- I've emailed the dealer, although I fear that the original title is now within the DOJ cogs and hence unable to be retrieved.

MA RMV is fine in terms of service. It's just their policies that are downright punitive. All my interactions with them have been efficient, even if the lack of temp tags is obviously to the benefit of MA car dealers and to the detriment of everyone else.

I just remembered that a WA state agency is my client (AG).
I went through something like half-a-dozen iterations of my first invoice before it was finally in the acceptable format.
My latest check came with an offer to register for direct deposit.
After wasting close to a cumulative hour on the portal trying to work through the various error messages from follow-up emails, and gave up and resigned myself to mailed paper checks.

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[whitex]

Good point re clean title (lack of necessity thereof) -- I've emailed the dealer, although I fear that the original title is now within the DOJ cogs and hence unable to be retrieved.

MA RMV is fine in terms of service. It's just their policies that are downright punitive. All my interactions with them have been efficient, even if the lack of temp tags is obviously to the benefit of MA car dealers and to the detriment of everyone else.

I just remembered that a WA state agency is my client (AG).
I went through something like half-a-dozen iterations of my first invoice before it was finally in the acceptable format.
My latest check came with an offer to register for direct deposit.
After wasting close to a cumulative hour on the portal trying to work through the various error messages from follow-up emails, and gave up and resigned myself to mailed paper checks.

Don't get me started on efficiencies and the user experience of our state government websites.

 

[whitex]

(Unless I try to register it with my in-laws in NH, hah -- and I'd save 6.25% in sales tax, Live Free Or Die!)

You should, it seems that is what MA government is trying to incentivize with their regulations. Regulations are by elected officials, therefore they reflect the will of the people. You wanted to pay the sales tax and drive, but they wouldn't let you, forcing you to find another state which would let you.

PS> IIRC, no sales tax, but NH makes it up in annual registration fees.

 

[mikezhang31]

Sorry to hear about all the issues, wow. That’s super rough, I couldn’t imagine having my new car and not be able to drive it for a month, sheesh!

how are you breaking the news to the family? When I bought mine, I didn’t tell my gf until the night before. I was texting the dealer pics of my Range Rover for trade and my gf thought I was talking to another woman ?

she wasn’t very happy that I went out and bought a six figure car, and was about to drive two states away to bring it home, and she had no clue the whole time

 

[Jonathan S.]

You should, it seems that is what MA government is trying to incentivize with their regulations. Regulations are by elected officials, therefore they reflect the will of the people. You wanted to pay the sales tax and drive, but they wouldn't let you, forcing you to find another state which would let you.

PS> IIRC, no sales tax, but NH makes it up in annual registration fees.

I thought MA was first trying to get me to move to NH and then also register my car there?
(Looking back on our decisonmaking process after we got married in 2000 as to where we would soon-ish move to away from the Boston metro area, NH was a drawback for broader issues like that, but given how so many MA residents have fled there since then, now NH has changed to the point where maybe we would have considered it more seriously.)

And check this out:
https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/2008/01/27/mass-motorists-skipping-sales-tax/46622762007/

As for annual registration fees, I'm sure that MA can hold its own against NH for that!

 

[Jonathan S.]

Sorry to hear about all the issues, wow. That’s super rough, I couldn’t imagine having my new car and not be able to drive it for a month, sheesh!

how are you breaking the news to the family? When I bought mine, I didn’t tell my gf until the night before. I was texting the dealer pics of my Range Rover for trade and my gf thought I was talking to another woman ?

she wasn’t very happy that I went out and bought a six figure car, and was about to drive two states away to bring it home, and she had no clue the whole time

What six-figure car?
I paid only $97,345 reflecting a 1/3 discount off of current MSRP -- look at how much money I saved!
Plus yesterday I discovered that my wife had tossed in the trash an old sock she had borrowed from me, trashing it only because it had a loose thread. I successfully repaired the sock by using scissors to snip off the loose thread. With that kind of thrift, clearly I have earned the right to a new car. Plus it's used. Unlike her i4 M50. And the 4CT is slower than the M50!

 

[Jonathan S.]

Yesterday was a Good Day for various automotive matters:

1. Successful wheel swap at the Infiniti dealer with Bellevue CT owner R.S. (i.e., he had 20" but preferred 21" and vice versa for me).
2. Dealer clarified that not a vague matter of "weeks" but rather that the title electronic release from the bank (or some such words to that effect) should be obtained August 28, so I’ll receive it via overnight August 29 and should be able to register it that day ... although if it slips to later, no big deal, since I'll be away the next few days anyway.
3. Documentation accepted by the dealer that I am indeed a MA resident and will be paying its sale tax, so sorry WA, you don't get anything from me!
4. Documentation accepted by Porsche that vehicle is now indeed mine.
5. Did not get run over during this bike ride yesterday: https://www.strava.com/activities/9702059840 ... or even have a scary near-miss or other interaction.

 

[mikezhang31]

jesus 88 mile bike ride

i am a mountain biker, and the longest ride i've ever done was the 41 miler on the annual ride NYC while on my moutain bike and that was brutal, whew

 

[Jonathan S.]

^ Road biking is so different. Back when we lived in the Boston area, I would go on a 45-mile mountain bike ride, the Triple Basin Blast, organized by Blackstone Valley NEMBA. Almost all technical single track. Merely finishing it felt like a major accomplishment.
By contrast, with road biking, 45 miles is just a decent outing. My minimum distance if I’m not pressed for time is 30 miles.
The other major factor is drafting. In a big peloton, you’re almost just coasting.
Plus it doesn’t beat you up like mountain biking. Today I felt totally fresh:
https://strava.app.link/zo9mGn0hvCb

 

[Jonathan S.]

Transport company finally secured a carrier. Won’t pick up the 4CT until Monday August 28. (I had requested today, Friday August 25, but with less advance notice that they prefer.)

Won’t arrive until the following Monday, September 4. Can be delivered when we’re not home, so don’t have to worry about turning down any family Labor Day trip b/c of the car delivery. I will have returned home the prior Saturday from my three-day summer ski trip, so maybe my absence will have been forgotten by then. I also will have attended our niece’s birthday party the prior day, Sunday, so that should put me in relatively good graces on

The transport company texted and emailed me (with my phone shielded from view) to confirm that I was okay with those arrangements as we were selling my wife’s old Subaru. “I’m surprised you’re okay with selling it now since you said earlier you wanted a third car given how concerned you were about the reliability of the BMW EV you bought for me?” I explained that the Subaru was worth more than I had previously thought – which is true! Didn’t say anything about the Porsche about be trucked across the North American continent. I did though finally reveal our household net worth to her, which risks her buying more plants for me to dig holes for, literally (as opposed to my more typical holes of a figurative sense), so at least I’ve eliminated any financial objections. Although as we pulled into our driveway, she remarked, “I’m so glad we no longer have a third car.”

So stay tuned for a Labor Day update!

 

[Jonathan S.]

Good progress on various fronts so far … tire changing pins arrived without anyone noticing … ordered a third EZPass without any problems (although I’m pretty sure only my email address is on the account) … cancelled the Subaru insurance with the confirmation email (which I think also goes to my wife) not mentioning anything about how the household policy includes a Porsche Taycan) … Vredestein Space Master Spare arrived while my wife was away … at the beach with her sister … and my wife insisted they take her BMW i4 M50, not her sister’s BMW X1, so shouldn’t I also get to have my own EV?

 

[Jonathan S.]

Good progress on multiple fronts:

• While putting away some paperwork for the now-sold old Subaru Impreza, I noticed that the color was officially Ice Silver Metallic, although the title had listed it as Grey. Hmm, come to think of it, what is the color of my used 4CT? The pictures showed something relatively innocuous, but I couldn’t remember the official name. Looked at the window sticker jpg and … Ice Grey Metallic! So, see, no big deal, sold one Ice Grey Metallic car and bought another of the same color.
• StoNSho arrived while nobody else was home. Impressively nice machining, especially the quick release pin.
• Cancelled ski trip: my partner out there reported only 620’ vertical lappable yesterday (compared to 2,400’ last year for the same trip, and the hourly weather graph shows ~40-60% chance of rain for all three days (which is not just a potentially no-big-deal kind of rain hiking in the woods but rather) sideways wind-driven rain with zero visibility above treeline. So, in theory, I could register the car tomorrow, fly out Wednesday with the plates, stay with Seattle friends Wednesday night, then have a relatively relaxed seven days to drive across the country, but … just not feeling the love for that trip right now.
• For Labor Day, my wife has now planned our annual family Berkshires day. Granted, we live only an hour away from the Berkshires, and this past winter I skied on Mt Greylock 30x and hiked there about a dozen more (even if purists from a geology – or is that, geography? – perspective will note that Greylock isn’t actually in the Berkshires), but, it’s our annual tradition. Which means that, quite likely, we will pull into our street Monday evening in my wife’s BMW i4 M50 as both my wife and daughter ask why someone has parked an unusual-looking station wagon-y vehicle in our driveway.

 

[Ross]

I originally wanted a subdued color. Either Gentian or Dolomite. Somehow I fell in love with Carmine.

WHAT a good decision!

 

[JIP1080]

Which means that, quite likely, we will pull into our street Monday evening in my wife’s BMW i4 M50 as both my wife and daughter ask why someone has parked an unusual-looking station wagon-y vehicle in our driveway.

An unusually and exceptionally beautiful station wagon-y vehicle.

FTFY

Sorry to hear about the lack of vertical and the poor weather this year. I saw a picture of Palmer a day ago and was amazed at how it's basically just gone. I have so many great memories from ~25 years ago training all summer (into early August).
Glad to hear about the progress though! I'm in the air on the way to Seattle now, so I'll give a wave in the general direction of Bellevue when I get in haha.

 

[whitex]

Which means that, quite likely, we will pull into our street Monday evening in my wife’s BMW i4 M50 as both my wife and daughter ask why someone has parked an unusual-looking station wagon-y vehicle in our driveway.

A minor, though potentially pesky detail: How are you getting the car keys?

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