October MM Randoms

[noodleoo]

Loss: It's open enrollment and H's company is changing their health plan options and the cost is going up at least $125/month. It is so depressing how the costs keep going up every year. They used to have a very good health plan and paid a decent portion of the premium. The last few years that has really gone away. It is frustrating too because his company is non-profit, so there are no bonuses and raises are low every year, so the generous health plan used to offset that, but not anymore.

[niq]

I put down a deposit on an Kia EV 9! It's a win because it's cheaper than the Rivian or Volvo 3-rd row AWD SUVs and I'll save on gas if I drive it until I die or it hits $10/gallon, lol.

The dealer says I'll probably even get my car this quarter, down to the model/trim and options, but maybe not in the color I want.

[sadlebred]

Loss: My benefits are changing next year. Thankfully the pension is staying--for now....BUT they matching 401K is going from 6% to 4%. What the actual !*!*!!*?? I don't have an extra 2% to make it up that can go into my 401K or ROTH. I can do 1%, and then I guess I'll have to see if I get more than 0.x% raise next year. I'm going into the corner to cry now.

[chpmnk1015]

Anchor tax rebate hit my account today. Was able to pay off most of a trip for dh and son and use rest for a deposit om a ridiculous trip we prob shouldn't take but are.

[RockNVoll]

WTF is "girl math" and can we immediately ban using the term? That might be even more annoying than "girl boss."

[jewel]

Oct 18, 2023 12:54:42 GMT -5 niq said:

I put down a deposit on an Kia EV 9! It's a win because it's cheaper than the Rivian or Volvo 3-rd row AWD SUVs and I'll save on gas if I drive it until I die or it hits $10/gallon, lol.

The dealer says I'll probably even get my car this quarter, down to the model/trim and options, but maybe not in the color I want.

I know this is totally #regional but did you get it at MSRP? I had intended to put a deposit down the day reservations opened, but my local dealer initially refused any orders until I came to their launch party on Nov 3rd. After a few texts back and forth, they eventually offered $7500 over MSRP if I book before their launch. I’ll email around - but just curious if hoping for MSRP on the reservation is unlikely.

[midwestmama]

jewel, definitely check around. In 2022 when we were looking at vehicles (specifically the Kia Telluride), all but one Kia dealership in my area were charging a "market adjustment" for Tellurides due to their popularity. As a result of that, we switched to looking at Palisades, but ended up that the Kia/Hyundai dealership we bought my Palisade from does not charge a market adjustment. At that point, I was happy continuing to pursue purchasing a Palisade, so it didn't matter in the end. But hopefully you can find at least one dealership in your area that does not up-charge.

[niq]

Oct 19, 2023 20:08:59 GMT -5 jewel said:

Oct 18, 2023 12:54:42 GMT -5 niq said:

I put down a deposit on an Kia EV 9! It's a win because it's cheaper than the Rivian or Volvo 3-rd row AWD SUVs and I'll save on gas if I drive it until I die or it hits $10/gallon, lol.

The dealer says I'll probably even get my car this quarter, down to the model/trim and options, but maybe not in the color I want.

I know this is totally #regional but did you get it at MSRP? I had intended to put a deposit down the day reservations opened, but my local dealer initially refused any orders until I came to their launch party on Nov 3rd. After a few texts back and forth, they eventually offered $7500 over MSRP if I book before their launch. I’ll email around - but just curious if hoping for MSRP on the reservation is unlikely.

I made the reservation online but didn't get a price quote when the dealership called me. I am going to call and ask "I'm seeing these articles about people paying way over MSRP; do I need put down a deposit with another dealer to see who will get closer to MSRP?".

In my favor I am reserving the less popular line. Apparently everyone is going for the quad motor AWD and I'm fine with the dual motor AWD (though I just realized it's a 6-seater not a 7-seater, hmmmm)

[dr.girlfriend]

I bought a $12 plant at Trader Joe's which would be a good buy except now I've suddenly become a bit plant-obsessed and bought three kinds of dirt to make it a special potting mix, a very expensive pot with a stand so it has drainage, its own little grow light...it's like getting a stray kitten for "free," lol.

[jewel]

Oct 20, 2023 12:48:26 GMT -5 niq said:

Oct 19, 2023 20:08:59 GMT -5 jewel said:

I know this is totally #regional but did you get it at MSRP? I had intended to put a deposit down the day reservations opened, but my local dealer initially refused any orders until I came to their launch party on Nov 3rd. After a few texts back and forth, they eventually offered $7500 over MSRP if I book before their launch. I’ll email around - but just curious if hoping for MSRP on the reservation is unlikely.

I made the reservation online but didn't get a price quote when the dealership called me. I am going to call and ask "I'm seeing these articles about people paying way over MSRP; do I need put down a deposit with another dealer to see who will get closer to MSRP?".

In my favor I am reserving the less popular line. Apparently everyone is going for the quad motor AWD and I'm fine with the dual motor AWD (though I just realized it's a 6-seater not a 7-seater, hmmmm)

I was really annoyed with the online launch of the reservation system, because they made it seem like online orders/reservations that other manufacturers do, where they just charge a set price on their vehicle and when your name comes up on the list, you order and pay for what you want.

Based on my conversation with the local dealership, this is not the case at all. The online reservation through Kia is actually just a “request” sent to a local dealer and that dealership can choose to accept your reservation or not, and can price the cars however they’d like. They also may not be allowing actual personalized orders, but getting vehicles in and basically selling them in order of reservation.

I’ll talk with more dealerships and am happy to even fly to any dealer in Ca to save $7500, but their online order launch is not like get online and order a Tesla sort of thing. I need to take a few days to let my annoyance dissipate before I go back to conversations with them, lol.

[sadlebred]

dr.girlfriend Is that a Monstera??

[ohgillian]

We never do things like this but I just dropped our retirement contribution by $1000/month to give us a little more breathing room. (This is a very MM use of breathing room, I want to fully own that.)

I think it's fine. Our retirement planning has been conservative assumption on top of conservative assumption.

[dr.girlfriend]

Oct 21, 2023 13:07:30 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

dr.girlfriend Is that a Monstera??

Yes, monstera deliciosa I believe.  I have reached the level of nerdery of making a PowerPoint to keep track of the houseplant names and info.

[niq]

Oct 19, 2023 20:08:59 GMT -5 jewel said:

Oct 18, 2023 12:54:42 GMT -5 niq said:

I put down a deposit on an Kia EV 9! It's a win because it's cheaper than the Rivian or Volvo 3-rd row AWD SUVs and I'll save on gas if I drive it until I die or it hits $10/gallon, lol.

The dealer says I'll probably even get my car this quarter, down to the model/trim and options, but maybe not in the color I want.

I know this is totally #regional but did you get it at MSRP? I had intended to put a deposit down the day reservations opened, but my local dealer initially refused any orders until I came to their launch party on Nov 3rd. After a few texts back and forth, they eventually offered $7500 over MSRP if I book before their launch. I’ll email around - but just curious if hoping for MSRP on the reservation is unlikely.

Update: The car's supposed to arrive this week! The first estimate was "end of 2023", then they pushed it back to "late February 2024", and then two weeks ago they said it would arrive at the dealership today and be ready tomorrow. I'm picking it up on Thursday!

We did end up getting the car at MSRP. Not sure if that's CA vs WA or general softening in the car market. The purchase price includes 2-3 years of maintenance service.

[jewel]

Jan 30, 2024 16:54:24 GMT -5 niq said:

Oct 19, 2023 20:08:59 GMT -5 jewel said:

I know this is totally #regional but did you get it at MSRP? I had intended to put a deposit down the day reservations opened, but my local dealer initially refused any orders until I came to their launch party on Nov 3rd. After a few texts back and forth, they eventually offered $7500 over MSRP if I book before their launch. I’ll email around - but just curious if hoping for MSRP on the reservation is unlikely.

Update: The car's supposed to arrive this week! The first estimate was "end of 2023", then they pushed it back to "late February 2024", and then two weeks ago they said it would arrive at the dealership today and be ready tomorrow. I'm picking it up on Thursday!

We did end up getting the car at MSRP. Not sure if that's CA vs WA or general softening in the car market. The purchase price includes 2-3 years of maintenance service.

Please report back on how you like it, once you’ve had it for a bit!

TBH, I was so annoyed by the reserve/order thing feeling like a scam to allow local dealers to just charge whatever they wanted, that I lost interest at the time. Funny enough, the same dealer that quoted me $7.5k over MSRP in October just texted me a couple days ago with in stock deals at $5k + UNDER. Lol. I’ll get back to researching, because if they’re offering under then I’m nearly positive that others will have it even lower. I can be un-annoyed by the whole situation if my bill is $10-15k lower.

[Saudade]

Jan 30, 2024 16:54:24 GMT -5 niq said:

Oct 19, 2023 20:08:59 GMT -5 jewel said:

I know this is totally #regional but did you get it at MSRP? I had intended to put a deposit down the day reservations opened, but my local dealer initially refused any orders until I came to their launch party on Nov 3rd. After a few texts back and forth, they eventually offered $7500 over MSRP if I book before their launch. I’ll email around - but just curious if hoping for MSRP on the reservation is unlikely.

Update: The car's supposed to arrive this week! The first estimate was "end of 2023", then they pushed it back to "late February 2024", and then two weeks ago they said it would arrive at the dealership today and be ready tomorrow. I'm picking it up on Thursday!

We did end up getting the car at MSRP. Not sure if that's CA vs WA or general softening in the car market. The purchase price includes 2-3 years of maintenance service.

Please continue to update! I’ve been wanting to test drive it but my local dealer hasn’t had any to do so.

Since they’re being imported for the time being, did they say anything about the rebates? I’m thinking of waiting until they start delivering from the new US plant so I can get the rebate but that means waiting longer….

[niq]

Jan 31, 2024 9:53:46 GMT -5 Saudade said:

Jan 30, 2024 16:54:24 GMT -5 niq said:

Update: The car's supposed to arrive this week! The first estimate was "end of 2023", then they pushed it back to "late February 2024", and then two weeks ago they said it would arrive at the dealership today and be ready tomorrow. I'm picking it up on Thursday!

We did end up getting the car at MSRP. Not sure if that's CA vs WA or general softening in the car market. The purchase price includes 2-3 years of maintenance service.

Please continue to update! I’ve been wanting to test drive it but my local dealer hasn’t had any to do so.

Since they’re being imported for the time being, did they say anything about the rebates? I’m thinking of waiting until they start delivering from the new US plant so I can get the rebate but that means waiting longer….

They didn't, but also we ... don't qualify for the rebate. A nice problem to have.

Last summer there news articles that they expect to start making the EV 9 in Georgia "in 2024", but IDK when exactly that will start.

[Saudade]

Jan 31, 2024 12:17:46 GMT -5 niq said:

Jan 31, 2024 9:53:46 GMT -5 Saudade said:

Please continue to update! I’ve been wanting to test drive it but my local dealer hasn’t had any to do so.

Since they’re being imported for the time being, did they say anything about the rebates? I’m thinking of waiting until they start delivering from the new US plant so I can get the rebate but that means waiting longer….

They didn't, but also we ... don't qualify for the rebate. A nice problem to have.

Last summer there news articles that they expect to start making the EV 9 in Georgia "in 2024", but IDK when exactly that will start.

Ahhh I see. That is nice!

The local dealership said the same thing and didn’t really have any more information as far as time line. I’m sure it’s fluid.

I’m really just looking for a 3 row EV but there are limited options and I want to test drive first, which makes it a bit harder.