Edmunds Member Spotlight - Meet Qbrozen!

Karen_S

Qbrozen credits his father for much of his mechanical knowledge: "My father has been a mechanic for over 40 years. He's worked on everything from army aircraft to kids' dirt bikes. A seriously gifted man. I think the most important thing I learned from him (and I'm still learning) is to not be intimidated by a repair. Get in there and get your hands dirty!"

We are very grateful that Qbrozen has helped countless members dealing with mechanical issues by sharing his knowledge and expertise in Edmunds Forums.

What was your first car?
My first vehicle was a '79 CJ7 with the inline 6, 3-speed manual tranny, manual brakes, manual steering, and 33" x 12.5" tires! I swear I will teach my son on such a vehicle! The effort that it took to drive that jeep is astounding. I loved it! Everything else since that has been a piece of cake in comparison. And it was absolutely bulletproof ... just not phone-pole proof, as I found out.

Of all the cars you've owned, which was your favorite and why?
I've never been able to figure this out, so I'll just go with my current love, my '08 135i. It is silly quick, handles great, looks good, and its comfortable. My '98 S70 T5 is still in the running, though.

If you were a car which car would you be and why?
Ummm... how about a Unimog? Awkwardly tall, not particularly attractive, not particularly athletic, but very functional and resourceful.

If you could invite 3 cars over for dinner which would you have?
The last Saab 9-5 because that poor orphan would be in need of a meal and probably a place to crash. A new Ferrari California and Porsche Panamera, both for the same reason: they are underappreciated cars that I personally find sexy. They need love.

What do you like and dislike about today's auto industry?
I very much dislike the size and weight of the majority of today's car. I appreciate, however, the direction they are now being forced to go with reduced weight and smaller, forced-induction engines. I loves me a turbo!

What is the highest mileage you've ever put on a car?
The most miles I've ever personally put on a car was 85k miles on my '98 S70 T5 (bought with 30k and sold with 115k). However, the highest miles on any car I've ever owned was 169k on an '85 300Z. I think I bought that with around 162k.

How often do you log into Edmunds Forums?
During the weekdays, typically every couple of hours. I follow a huge number of threads and don't want to get too backed up.

Which forums do you frequent and why?
Besides Edmunds? There is 1addicts.com, Bimmerfest, Swedespeed, N54tech, and the occasional trip through SCCAforums and BMWCCA. Why? Cars are my passion, obviously, and I can't get enough. And, unfortunately, I don't have actual in-person contacts who are similarly minded, so my fix is through the internet. Hi, I'm Rob, and I'm a car addict.

Congratulations, Qbrozen! Edmunds is very happy to enable your addiction!
:-)

qbrozen

I definitely spend too much time here! :P

stever

You can come to my house anytime you want to get away from it all.

(Bring your tools.) :shades:

fezo

I wouldn't count on it. I offer to bring my car up and I'm in the same county (if you want to be a spotlighted member you might want to move to Ocean County, NJ - and certainly the east coast has a lock on this....)

stever

Well, both of y'all come and you can walk across "the bridge". I'll even run shuttle.

fezo

Hey, that works!

fezo

Hey, Q! Another car to flip!

stever

Too late; it's "off" the market.

fezo

Oh, darn!

Just as well. Not generally the market he operates in...

qbrozen

darn, I missed it. Assuming it was a forbidden post? Someone trying to sell a car here? Kind of appropriate.

What is the time limit for a car to be considered a "flip" anyway? I would think I probably keep mine a bit too long to qualify.

fezo

Yeah, maybe a long term curbstoner?

Indeed someone trying to sell a car here. Would have been OK but it was a Camry and we knew you wouldn't approve.

tjc78

Nice writeup! Everyone lets not forget all the help Q gives in the RWTIV's thread.

graphicguy

Hey Q....cool.....featured member.....very cool!

qbrozen

Hey, ya know, if you can't be appreciated at home, might as well look for validation online. :P

I see Edmunds has really stepped up their swag quality!

Karen_S

You're welcome!

I don't even have either of those items, so that should prove you're very special.

Mr_Shiftright

Hey, where's MY nifty Ferrari red coffee mug accented in brushed silver?

fezo

Gee, I didn't get the coffee mug.....

stever

Some people are over-caffeinated.

Just saying. :P

fezo

Could be.... Not like I don't have enough such things....

Kirstie_H

Hey, fezo, you were a prime inspiration for the Edmunds featured member category, so consider yourself a pioneer. I mean, dude... you were the first, by unanimous vote! Isn't that better than a mug? Methinks.
(every featured member thereafter has, also, BTW, been nominated and met with no objections, only a chorus of "all in favor say 'ayes'")
[and I don't have a fleece OR a mug, so there - your SFTSFL participation dues will increase accordingly. )

Kirstie_H

Mr. Rosen, so happy to see you here in this spotlight! You are one of those members who (quietly) attracts attention - you are always polite, and you give a LOT to these forums. Kudos!

qbrozen

Aw, thanks. But its Brosen. hahaha.

Sorry, fez. I was concerned posting that pic would makes waves.

fezo

your SFTSFL participation dues will increase Oh, no! They could double!

Unanimous? That IS worth more than a coffee mug!

I have to say your choices (commenting on the last two - how can I argue with the first one?) have been excellent.

Kirstie_H

Oops - my bad, typo... kinda like the "q" in your user ID, eh?

fezo

What? It's not a g? Took me a while to learn that one....

qbrozen

And this site taught me to use cap Q on all other sites.

fezo

hmmmm... so maybe we can use time spent here as a deductible education expense?

qbrozen

you mean you haven't yet? :P

oldtrojan66

I have an 04 VW beetle. The dash lights indicating heater temperature, fan, and air position will be dark most of the time. They come on from road vibration, it seems, but if I turn the temp knob they go out again. I have been told this is a $400 board. Any thoughts? Thanks for the help and Happy Trails!

stickguy

It's a VW, so sounds normal to me!

seriously, you might want to check around some specialist sites, because sometimes there is a known failure point that can be fixed. maybe resoldering the board or some such. Or a much cheaper replacement.

qbrozen

yup, VW.

Anyway, since they are intermittent, it could be either cracks in the board or just bad connections. Personally, I'd take it apart, clean up the connections and inspect it for cracks.

There are also plenty of online places that will repair boards like this. I'd search around and see if you can find one that will repair this board specifically.

xwesx

Nice write up, Q... and that's some impressive swag! I can see why fezo was forlorn about missing out on a coffee mug like that. Shoot, if you put on the fleece and have that mug in hand (with a little steam emanating from the lid, of course), I have to imagine that a troop of minions would pop out of the woodwork to lay out a red carpet at your feet!

I laughed out loud when I read the Unimog comment. Heck; I'm still chuckling about it. :P

qbrozen

Thanks.

That fleece is getting alot of use. It has been serving as my fall jacket because it is much heavier than a normal fleece. It has some sort of extra lining on the inside, and its has lots of pockets.

Also, just to add something here for the fun of it, I thought I would share my car list that I had to put together to keep track. It was just too much to remember off the top of my head whenever someone asked. I think I may have posted most of this around here somewhere, but now I've uploaded the complete sheet for easy viewing.

They are in order of when acquired. The pink highlight are my wife's cars that we have purchased/leased post wedding date (she had a Galant when we met, and that lease couldn't be over fast enough for me).

stever

Wow, glad to see another believer in brand loyalty.

(Funny, all my cars seem to wind up being project cars.)

qbrozen

bah. brand loyalty is so boring. My FIL has had nothing but Grand Marquis for the past 30 years. I couldn't imagine going through life that way. The way I see it, there are still several brands I want to own before I die.

hpmctorque

I hope you, Fezo and others got through the hurricane with minimal damage and disruption.

qbrozen

Thanks. I lost a few sections of stockade fence and a couple of trees. I spent all day yesterday cleaning up and only got less than half of the front yard done. The back yard alone will take a few days.

The most annoying part right now is being cut off from the outside world. I am typing this as I sit in my dad's living room. He never lost power or cable. I've been running our generator on and off for the past 4 days with no end in sight. That only gives us heat, water, and a couple of lamps, though.

My workplace (which is near philly) reopened yesterday, but there isn't a damned thing I can do about it. The schools in my town are closed all week, so, for the most part, we're trapped at home with 2 toddlers.

stickguy

Hmm, I thought you worked the other direction, toward the shore.

What area outside philly?

qbrozen

I work in Hamilton (next door to Trenton)

stickguy

Ah. I think of that as Princeton area, not associated with Philly. But that must just come from being down here about 8 miles from center city!

nice straight shot down 195 at least.

I take the train out of hamilton when I need to go up into NYC.

michaellno

I think of that as Princeton area, not associated with Philly.

I was thinking the same thing. I used to travel to Moorestown & Maple Shade a lot and I think of that as greater Philly.

We had a small branch office in Princeton that I traveled to on occasion.

fezo

We lost some pretty good sized limbs but no trees. Power was out for two and a half days. Biggest issue there is I might have to get the doc to give me an extra insulin pen to get me through. The food in the fridge is history.

That said, we're all OK here and not even dealing with the crazy gas issues in these parts.

stickguy

I have a client that is based out of the financial district (water street) so needless to say they are a mess.

Was on a call today and the big boss said it might get noisy, since he had been on a gas line for more than an hour (something around that) and was down to only 20th in line.

I guess that is better than having your town still under water.

But, glad to know that you survived in one piece!

qbrozen

Well, I only said it was NEAR philly, not part of it. haha.

So just got my power back a couple of hours ago. Woohoo! A total of about 6 days and 2 hours without it. And it was desperately needed. My 6-year-old was at the end of his patience.

stever

Good to hear - that's a long dry spell.

Got gas? (petrol, not natural). Guess you had enough around to run the generator.

qbrozen

I took a trip just this morning out west to the Fort Dix area to fill up all of my containers. We were much more willing to do that than sit in these ridiculous lines that have been forming around here. I have 14 gallons of tanks and that lasted us about 2.5 days. I would run the generator through the night, using 5 gallons, and 2 hours each midday, using 1 gallon.

Today, the governor instituted the old '70s gas crisis trick. License plates ending in an odd number can get gas on odd days and even days for even numbers. Not sure how long that's going to go on for.

stickguy

come down my way. All the stations are open, and no lines at any of them.

stever

Fezo too and the stations near him were pretty close to where Sandy came ashore. Strange.

stickguy

the eye pretty much went through us. turns out, the best thing was to be where the storm came on sure. You just did not want to be 50 miles north.