Automotive Deal-breakers

Unfortunately I think my mother will have difficulties in selling her 306 just for that reason, its ash-tray is currently full of my brother's cigarette butts. I just about gag whenever I have to move it to get my car out in the mornings. The smell will never leave. Having a automatic gearbox in a car that I see far more commonly as a manual (a rare case here) may count in it's favour, however.

It's bad enough having the smell on his clothes when he sits in the passenger seat after I pick him up from work. Washing the seat-cover every-so-often seems to work at removing any residual smoke smell seems to work for the moment, however.
 
Ooh, terrible colors and smokers' cars. The Failtima was both. NEVER AGAIN. Beige in particular needs to DIAF now.

....... There are many reasons to have an aftermarket stereo if the car is daily. For instance navigation and iPod connectivity....
Both things I don't need (or want, in the case of a nav system).

The obviously aftermarket stereos just look tacky, IMHO. If they've integrated it well with the car's interior, that's fine, but most don't.

It wouldn't be a dealbreaker in, say, a beateriffic Miata or something for track/lulz use, but on a daily driver? Do not want.

It's not a silly dealbreaker if I just don't like it. If I don't know the history of the car, any evidence of modding anything (even the sound system) is gonna raise an eyebrow.
 
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Ooh, terrible colors and smokers' cars. The Failtima was both. NEVER AGAIN. Beige in particular needs to DIAF now.

Both things I don't need (or want, in the case of a nav system).

The obviously aftermarket stereos just look tacky, IMHO. If they've integrated it well with the car's interior, that's fine, but most don't.

It wouldn't be a dealbreaker in, say, a beateriffic Miata or something for track/lulz use, but on a daily driver? Do not want.

It's not a silly dealbreaker if I just don't like it. If I don't know the history of the car, any evidence of modding anything (even the sound system) is gonna raise an eyebrow.
As I understand a dealbreaker would be one specific thing that is the wrong with the car while everything else is fine. For instance for me a dealbreaker would be a slushbox in a sports car, I love the 370z and would get one in a heart beat if I could afford one but if I find a low miles, full history, nothing wrong with it, great price, color, etc... but its a slushbox I would walk away.

This is all personal opinion of course but the bottom line is that wheels and head units are extremely easy to swap and very difficult to fuck up (especially wheels) and to walk away from a car that checks out in every possible way but has a tacky stereo or one that is low quality or something along those lines would be pretty silly. If its really bad (tacky, terrible sound, etc..) it can be swapped out for something else, in fact you could negotiate your price based on that. I can tell you that personally I would put my current HU in the next car when this one is retired because its just a better HU than most stock ones I seen.

P.S. I make a distinction between an HU swap and a sound system mod, I would likely think very long and hard about a car that had a full sound system set up done simply because there are a lot of things that can be fucked up during one of those.
 
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Unless it is an extraordinarily rare model or configuration, I would just go find one that didn't have those problems.

Stock head units can be very expensive, much more so than the typical aftermarket units. Finding an aftermarket unit that actually fits with the stock look of a car and doesn't induce seizures is quite difficult. It's just not worth the trouble to drop $2,000 on rims or $1,200 on a headunit when I could just go find another car that hasn't been modified.

The other problem with aftermarket parts is that I have no idea how well they were installed. They are also a clue as to the person who previously owned the car. The type of person to put a body kit or racing rims and tires on a small economy car is the same type of person who would beat that car all to hell and then dump it on the used market.

Sometimes it's not the modification, it's what the modification might mean is going on in places you can't see.
 
Unless it is an extraordinarily rare model or configuration, I would just go find one that didn't have those problems.

Stock head units can be very expensive, much more so than the typical aftermarket units. Finding an aftermarket unit that actually fits with the stock look of a car and doesn't induce seizures is quite difficult. It's just not worth the trouble to drop $2,000 on rims or $1,200 on a headunit when I could just go find another car that hasn't been modified.

The other problem with aftermarket parts is that I have no idea how well they were installed. They are also a clue as to the person who previously owned the car. The type of person to put a body kit or racing rims and tires on a small economy car is the same type of person who would beat that car all to hell and then dump it on the used market.

Sometimes it's not the modification, it's what the modification might mean is going on in places you can't see.
Audi A4 stock head unit - $34.99 Pioneer unit I got was $1000 after rebate and price matching, list price $1500 or so (too lazy to look it up).
You will need to really try to fuck something up by installing a head unit, worst case scenario is you will have crappy sound because you didn't ground it right (unless you have some very strange wiring).

It's really not hard to find a good looking aftermarket HU that fits the car well and doesn't give you seizures just need to look.

My rims cost under $500 for all 4 and they've been solid (only bent one doing around 50 and hit a pothole with jagged edges) and I don't drive nicely or in a place where the roads don't suck.
Sometimes it's not the modification, it's what the modification might mean is going on in places you can't see.
Again this doesn't seem to fit into what I understand a deal breaker to be, this would be looking at a specific situation and vehicle. I doubt that you would look at my car and think that it was driven by a moron simply because it has different wheels and HU because the car is clearly well maintained and I tried to make things look as stock as possible.
 
Air fresheners.

One is ok, but when you can smell them outside the car when all doors and windows are closed... Walk away and forget.
 
Hemihead, you are so right!
I didn't think of that.

When
wunderbaum-big.jpg
is in the car, it's game over for me.
It just smells so artificial and chemical. I prefer cigarette smoke over this!
 
Air fresheners.

One is ok, but when you can smell them outside the car when all doors and windows are closed... Walk away and forget.
I biked past a wonderbaumed car coming the other way the other day and I could smell the scented air for surely 100 meters.
 
Something that's almost a deal-breaker, but definitely an eyebrow-raiser, is an online ad with an obviously copy-pasted description, like this one:

lazy salesman said:
You wont find any electrical problems with this vehicle. This vehicle has no known defects. This vehicle is in good running condition. The previous owner was a non-smoker. The interior was well maintained. Overall, this vehicles exterior is clean. The mileage represented on this vehicle is the actual current mileage. The transmission shifts smoothly. No signs of collision damage are evident on this vehicle. This previously owned vehicle would make you feel like you are the original owner.
 
I wonder what the Chief was transporting in there????
 
I wonder what the Chief was transporting in there????

I called back and asked why there was an air freshener in the trunk some time later; the officer giggled and hung up.

I think I am better off not knowing. It wasn't drugs or anything leaking body fluids, though, as I had the car examined for those after the phone call...
 
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Doesn't the original smell reveal itself when you take out the wunderbaum? (Making it possible to identify what it's been masking)
 
Any kind of Stickers (A cheap Chrome Dragon or Tribals ( worst Case M badges) won't make your 45 HP Polo any faster and it looks ridiculos) and ATU tuning,
http://img41.imageshack.**/img41/4862/atu-paket.jpg
Also Race Gear like Bucket Seats and Schroth Gurte (4 Point Harness) in small underpowered City Cars, it won't make it any faster !!
DSC04404.JPG

it's a No GO !!

I have no problems whatsoever with slighty modded cars, but only when its done right (and people who do it right keep the original serial stuff to unmod it). ;)
 
But, um, 4 point harnesses are safer than 3 point... It's not because racecar, at least in my mind.
 
Doesn't the original smell reveal itself when you take out the wunderbaum? (Making it possible to identify what it's been masking)

The 'wunderbaum' has been in there a long, long time and doesn't seem to be putting out deodorant any more. Still can't tell what was in there.
 
As I searched for my first own car I went to a dealer who had a Saab 9-3 with everything I needed/wanted. He gave me the keys, I wanted to have a test drive, but the reverse gear was very difficult to engage, and I had to reverse it to get it out of the space where it was parked. I stopped trying and asked the dealer about it. He admitted there would have to be some work on the gearbox so I said "thank you, but I want a car which just works" and walked away. The car wasn't unusually cheap or something and in the ad there was no clue about that so that was a real surprise.

Other things: if there are tribals, fake chrome parts or something like that tacked on it's an instant no-no since somebody who does that to a car can't be that intelligent to maintain said car.
 
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