Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

Michaell

@driver100‌ - glad to hear that you arrived in Florida safely.

My boss, who lives in Ottawa with his wife and infant daughter, will be spending the winter in Florida this year. His folks go down each year - with the granddaughter now part of his family, they are renting out their condo in Canada and joining his folks in the Cocoa beach area. They are planning to drive down the weekend after the US Thanksgiving holiday.

abacomike

Michaell said:

@driver100‌ - glad to hear that you arrived in Florida safely. My boss, who lives in Ottawa with his wife and infant daughter, will be spending the winter in Florida this year. His folks go down each year - with the granddaughter now part of his family, they are renting out their condo in Canada and joining his folks in the Cocoa beach area. They are planning to drive down the weekend after the US Thanksgiving holiday.

Cocoa Beach (close to Melbourne and Cape Canaveral) is a great vacation spot.  Beautiful beaches, great restaurants and many shopping malls.  I have been there many times.

Michaell

abacomike said:

Michaell said:

@driver100‌ - glad to hear that you arrived in Florida safely.

My boss, who lives in Ottawa with his wife and infant daughter, will be spending the winter in Florida this year. His folks go down each year - with the granddaughter now part of his family, they are renting out their condo in Canada and joining his folks in the Cocoa beach area. They are planning to drive down the weekend after the US Thanksgiving holiday.

Cocoa Beach (close to Melbourne and Cape Canaveral) is a great vacation spot.  Beautiful beaches, great restaurants and many shopping malls.  I have been there many times.

Is there really a bad vacation spot in Florida?

driver100

abacomike said:

@driver‌

Give us us a sign that you have arrived safely, driver.

Thanks for keeping track Mike. We arrived at 3 p.m. today. Lots to do unloading car and hooking up internet and cable tv etc.

Nice easy smooth trip, one traffic jam around Orlando, otherwise a fairly relaxing trip. I really like the E400 now. I can't think of how a car could be better for everyday use. We are in good shape...other years it took almost a week to recover. Driving really is a breeze, car steers and tracks easily, mirrors are located just right, and blind spot monitoring works really well.

High temperature back home was 45 today, here it was 75. Back home the high will be 34 once the Polar Vortex hits later this week....here it will be 75 all week,

Is this a great place or what.

And gas was $2.70 in some states like Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. A little more like $2.99 in Tampa area.

abacomike

@Michaell‌

Yes - parts of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Orange Counties where there is tremendous congestion.  The rest of the State is great.

driver100

Michaell said:

@driver100‌ - glad to hear that you arrived in Florida safely.

My boss, who lives in Ottawa with his wife and infant daughter, will be spending the winter in Florida this year. His folks go down each year - with the granddaughter now part of his family, they are renting out their condo in Canada and joining his folks in the Cocoa beach area. They are planning to drive down the weekend after the US Thanksgiving holiday.

We have about 40 guys tghat play tennis back home in Cananda. About half of them are in Florida for a good part of the winter. There should be a high speed train from Toronto to Florida so Canadians can come down and get defrosted.

It's a great way to spend the winter. We are fortunate we can do it. But, lots of people find a way to manage, and most of us are glad we are able to be in Florida while the snow is falling.
I'd be happy never to see snow again!

abacomike

@driver100‌

Glad you are enjoying the E400.  It is definitely a road car because of the ease of handling and keeping it in a straight line on the highway.  Those all season tires help make it ride softer.  All my E350's had performance low profile tires on them and the cars handled differently, more like my CLS 550.  When I had the E400 for those few days, the difference in the tires was significant in making the handling a bit softer.

I look forward to driving a car that is less stiff and unforgiving.  My back and tush sure felt better in the E400 than do those body parts In my previous E350's and my current CLS.

Michaell

driver100 said:

Michaell said:

I'd be happy never to see snow again!

You sound like my wife. She's a Colorado native and spent most of her childhood in Wyoming. She's ready to move somewhere "where she doesn't have to wear socks".

Talked about the SE somewhere but I don't think she'd take to the humidity - or the bugs.

Ideally, we'd find a place in southern NM and have a winter home - one of the other moderators just moved to Las Cruces, NM and I'm liking what he has to say about the place.

stickguy

every time I point out nice affordable places in the upper south (Carolina, Tennessee) I get the "it's hot and humid in the summer" line. Of course, it is hot and humid in Jersey too. The cost savings can buy plenty of deodorant.

another record year for snow like last year, especially since I lost my shovel slave when he moved out on his own, and I am just going to move whether she wants to come or not. I can live in the new car!

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

I like black wheels on certain cars (Grand Cherokee, White or Black MBs, Challenger, WRX...) not others (MDX). Not sure if I'd ever get a set though.

@roadburner‌

I know they had a MAZDASPEED 6 out a while ago (has it been 10 years?). It was one of those cars that made you drool looking at the specs, but received lukewarm reviews & write ups. What's your take on the original MS6? Not enough power? Wrong gearing?

Funny thing; the MS6 has quite a loyal following in the Mazda camp- event though it needs more drivetrain work to handle extra hp(the cars regularly shred transfer cases and rear diffs).
- I think the fact that the MS6 AWD was FWD biased hurt it with a lot of people- the Audis, BMWs, and Subies have a 50-50 or RWD biased torque split. I'm hoping that the new MS3 is at least 50-50, or better yet adjustable like the STi.
- My dream car is a Miata coupe with around 275 hp. A Japanese M Coupe, if you will...

stickguy

I knew a guy with a MS6. Might be the only one I ever saw on the road. I imagine only coming with a stick shift helped keep sales down too.

Miata coupe with 275? Easy enough. There are plenty of turbo and supercharger kits (or if you really want over the top, stick in a V8!). And just leave the hardtop bolted on, and instant coupe!

graphicguy

My friend's new 'vette has black wheels. I'm ambivalent about them, regardless of the car they're on.

Switching back and forth driving my Caddy and the Wife's Accord, over and over, you realize how different car companies try to do the same thing. And, what they do differently, for no other reason than to be different.

For example, the (in)famous dual screen system in the Accord and the single screen in the CTS. Once you get used to both, it isn't an issue. But, until that time, it takes some getting used to. What's clear is that for at least the Japanese marks and the brands like Cadillac, they're trying to get away from buttons. The CTS has a screen that is totally devoid of any virtual buttons, until your hand gets in close proximity, and then all the controls appear (a neat party trick). That means all the screen real estate can be used for a NAV map, for example. In the Accord, Honda increases the screen real estate by dividing the LCD duties into two screens. Is one better than the other? Again, once you get used to the way the manufacture is doing things, it's just a preference.

I just saw where Audi is bringing out a car where the NAV, stereo, Speedo, tach, etc are all on one LCD screen, in front of the driver.

This is a trend that is going to continue, I think. So, say adios to real buttons.....virtual buttons are on their way. All the manufacturers will be moving towards them.

driver100

stickguy said:

every time I point out nice affordable places in the upper south (Carolina, Tennessee) I get the "it's hot and humid in the summer" line. Of course, it is hot and humid in Jersey too. The cost savings can buy plenty of deodorant.

another record year for snow like last year, especially since I lost my shovel slave when he moved out on his own, and I am just going to move whether she wants to come or not. I can live in the new car!

Cost wise people in Florida have it great! Houses are comparably inexpensive. You don't need duplicate clothing...hot and cold (like boots, heavy coat) and snow blowers etc.

Friends that live here year long go to Costa Rica for July Aug, and Sept. Rent a beautiful home in the mountains for $1800 a month, temp is 70 all the time.

Some Northern people move to Florida and find it too hot in the summer. They move back up to North Carolina. They are called quarterbacks because they move a quarter of the way back.

Personally, I think the ideal life would be to spend Oct to the end of April in Florida, and have a small condo in New England for the summer....Maine or New Hampshire.

As we drove into Florida we started to see palm trees along the highway...rows of them. Man, that's a nice feeling.

driver100

abacomike said:

@driver100‌

Glad you are enjoying the E400.  It is definitely a road car because of the ease of handling and keeping it in a straight line on the highway.  Those all season tires help make it ride softer.  All my E350's had performance low profile tires on them and the cars handled differently, more like my CLS 550.  When I had the E400 for those few days, the difference in the tires was significant in making the handling a bit softer.

I look forward to driving a car that is less stiff and unforgiving.  My back and tush sure felt better in the E400 than do those body parts In my previous E350's and my current CLS.

The ride in the E400 is unique. The suspension absorbs the bumps, but you don't lose contact with the road.

Like I say, the bmw has a firmir ride, better cornering, lower seating, and firmier steering. I get it and if I was 10 years younger that might make me consider a bmw, but, for now, I prefer the comfort of the E400. I guess that makes me an old man - or just maybe I am not kidding myself about my age.

driver100

graphicguy said:

My friend's new 'vette has black wheels. I'm ambivalent about them, regardless of the car they're on.

Switching back and forth driving my Caddy and the Wife's Accord, over and over, you realize how different car companies try to do the same thing. And, what they do differently, for no other reason than to be different.

In my bmw I could make the gps see the road in the direction I was going. I other words whatever direction I was going in would be up or forward if I am looking at it.

In the E400 South is down and North is up, like on a map. I find it confusing, I am headed South, so on the map it shows my car going down the map. But, I would like it to show what is ahead of me......so I should be going up the map. Maybe there is a way to change it....anyone know if this is possible or a problem for them?

abacomike

@driver100‌

Driver, you can always have the GPS arrow pointing up no matter what direction you are traveling.  It's in the Navigation settings menu.  You need to go in to the local Mercedes dealership (Lokey I believe) and have them show you how to access that NAV settings menu.  It's easy!

You just need to learn how to set up your car properly.  You should have them spend 30 minutes with you!!!

jayrider

Cost wise people in Florida have it great! Houses are comparably inexpensive. You don't need duplicate clothing...hot and cold (like boots, heavy coat) and snow blowers etc.




But with weather issues, you can pay hefty home insurance.

graphicguy

OK...so now that we've got everyone who's going to buy a car, reporting in, had a bit of a scare this weekend.

First, I can't believe that I'm cutting grass in November, but yesterday I found myself doing just that. And, as I've mentioned before, I just secured a Deere riding mower.

Well, I hadn't used it in about 3 weeks. Decided to use the attachment to pick up leaves (really just a receptacle hooked to pick up anything you happen to cut...leaves, clippings). Made one pass around the GG estate and saw smoke coming off the front of the grill.

I figured it was just stale gas. Went another 50 feet and there were flames coming out of the front.

I turned if off, jumped off. Flames were now shooting out of the front by about a foot.

It took me about 2-3 minutes to get the hose pulled to the mower where I could put out the flames, but not before the front tires blew out and the hood literally melted.

stickguy

Glad you are at least ok, and be glad it did not happen in the garage.

Pretty sure that will buff right out!

imidazol97

graphicguy said:

It took me about 2-3 minutes to get the hose pulled to the mower where I could put out the flames, but not before the front tires blew out and the hood literally melted.

WOW. That's bad luck. Did it come with a warranty?

imidazol97

As for the black wheels, I suspect that's an age group like or dislike. Personally I still fall for chrome wheels or the soft chrome look many cars have.

graphicguy

Made a trip to Lowes (where I bought it) after I throughly doused the lawn tractor. Had my receipt, and a couple of cell phone pics, similar to the one above. Being a Sunday, I figured nothing would happen.

I go up to customer service with my receipt. I started with..."I bought this John Deere tractor from you several weeks ago and it caught on fire".

She stopped me immediately and said...."As soon as you say I bought something from Lowes and it caught on fire, I'm getting a manger here immediately".

A couple of minutes later, a manager arrives. I show him my receipt. I show him the pics. He didn't hesitate....."we'll get you a new one".

On my way home, a bit before noon, I get a call on my cell phone while I'm still driving with the Lowes delivery person saying they have a new Deere tractor loaded and are headed for my house to deliver it.

Now THAT's customer service. They got to my house about 15 minutes after I got home. They picked up (more like pushed) the old burnt one onto the truck and got the new one in my garage.

So, I get a call from the John Deere rep this a.m. Apparently, he was notified by Lowes what happened early this a.m. Apparently, he's local and takes care of Lowes and the the independent dealers in this area.

He said he looked at the one that caught on fire. Apparently, it was an electrical problem with the wiring going to the headlights. Some sort of insulation material that wasn't installed, or installed incorrectly. He had informed the factory and they would have any in inventory to be inspected.

For my trouble, Deere is offering a free extended bumper to bumper warranty (extending it from 2 to 4 years), and a $100 voucher for anything Deere makes.

Can't beat that.

stickguy

Your tractor has bumpers? Wow.

And yes, fantastic service on both ends. I have always been very happy with lowes.

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

graphicguy said:

It took me about 2-3 minutes to get the hose pulled to the mower where I could put out the flames, but not before the front tires blew out and the hood literally melted.

WOW. That's bad luck. Did it come with a warranty?

Might not matter. When the carb on my Bolens quit at 3 months Lowes wouldn't do a thing to help. They said "we only warranty for 30 days". After that you were expected to ship the tractor back to the manufacturer.

Hope Deere has a better customer service dept.

Maybe GG should claim extreme emotional damage due to the experience and yell about class action lawsuits. Throw in something about putting them in the docket with GM.Might make them more responsive

oldfarmer50

graphicguy said:

Made a trip to Lowes (where I bought it) after I throughly doused the lawn tractor. Had my receipt, and a couple of cell phone pics, similar to the one above. Being a Sunday, I figured nothing would happen.

I go up to customer service with my receipt. I started with..."I bought this John Deere tractor from you several weeks ago and it caught on fire".

She stopped me immediately and said...."As soon as you say I bought something from Lowes and it caught on fire, I'm getting a manger here immediately".

A couple of minutes later, a manager arrives. I show him my receipt. I show him the pics. He didn't hesitate....."we'll get you a new one".

On my way home, a bit before noon, I get a call on my cell phone while I'm still driving with the Lowes delivery person saying they have a new Deere tractor loaded and are headed for my house to deliver it.

Now THAT's customer service. They got to my house about 15 minutes after I got home. They picked up (more like pushed) the old burnt one onto the truck and got the new one in my garage.

So, I get a call from the John Deere rep this a.m. Apparently, he was notified by Lowes what happened early this a.m. Apparently, he's local and takes care of Lowes and the the independent dealers in this area.

He said he looked at the one that caught on fire. Apparently, it was an electrical problem with the wiring going to the headlights. Some sort of insulation material that wasn't installed, or installed incorrectly. He had informed the factory and they would have any in inventory to be inspected.

For my trouble, Deere is offering a free extended bumper to bumper warranty (extending it from 2 to 4 years), and a $100 voucher for anything Deere makes.

Can't beat that.

Posted before I read that. Wow! That is good service. Maybe I should have lit mine on fire.

I can imagine they take the potential bad publicity of a customer burning more seriously than a bum carburetor.

imidazol97

graphicguy said:

They got to my house about 15 minutes after I got home.
So, I get a call from the John Deere rep this a.m. Apparently, he was notified by Lowes what happened early this a.m. Apparently, he's local and takes care of Lowes and the the independent dealers in this area.

He said he looked at the one that caught on fire. Apparently, it was an electrical problem with the wiring going to the headlights. Some sort of insulation material that wasn't installed, or installed incorrectly. He had informed the factory and they would have any in inventory to be inspected.

I'm impressed with the manager at Lowes and the factory representative and how they are checking the inventory for similar problems. But what about people who bought the same John Deere model with them sitting in their garage or outbuilding? They should be notified too.

"Bumper to bumper." LOL

qbrozen

they are just glad you aren't suing them.

On the black wheels: you can put me in the camp that likes them. Of course, it is dependent on the car and color. I plastidipped the wheel covers on my Fit flat black. Was thinking of painting the Stang wheels, too. On both of those cars, nothing else on the car is the same color as the wheels or wheel covers, so they look odd to me.

graphicguy

Not sure about Lowes 90-day "thing". I think I've had the tractor over 90-days. I think after I said "it caught on fire", they're sense of urgency was heightened.

I agree...if anyone has one of these that may have slipped out of the factory with faulty wiring should definitely be notified.

The quickness in which the Deere rep contacted me tells me they're doing an investigation on it. Recall perhaps? The new one I see the insulation they were talking about. My "burnt one" didn't have it. Not sure what they can tell though. It got hot enough that the front tires blew out and the hood melted. Good thing it was nowhere near dry leaves at the time, or near the house. That could have been a big disaster.

I have a D130. I don't know which of their other models are using the same wiring. I know it's about the middle model....2 or 3 models below it....2 or 3 models above it.

graphicguy

qbrozen said:

they are just glad you aren't suing them.

On the black wheels: you can put me in the camp that likes them. Of course, it is dependent on the car and color. I plastidipped the wheel covers on my Fit flat black. Was thinking of painting the Stang wheels, too. On both of those cars, nothing else on the car is the same color as the wheels or wheel covers, so they look odd to me.

Q....those are the first black wheels i like. Good job!

dino001

Stations in Eastern States sell mostly 87, 89 and 93 octanes, which drops by two octanes in some of the Western States (like Colorado, California). That's why you get that 91 minimum, as it is maximum available octane level in those Western States. There are some stations in Eastern US selling 91 in addition to the three listed (not many).

BTW, there were some cars sold in US that had engines tuned for 93 octanes (MazdaSpeed6, not sure about "three") and got some real horsepower and mpg reduction in the West.

imidazol97

graphicguy said:

Q....those are the first black wheels i like. Good job!

And they DO look good on that car. I stand corrected.

isellhondas

graphicguy said:

OK...so now that we've got everyone who's going to buy a car, reporting in, had a bit of a scare this weekend.

First, I can't believe that I'm cutting grass in November, but yesterday I found myself doing just that. And, as I've mentioned before, I just secured a Deere riding mower.

Well, I hadn't used it in about 3 weeks. Decided to use the attachment to pick up leaves (really just a receptacle hooked to pick up anything you happen to cut...leaves, clippings). Made one pass around the GG estate and saw smoke coming off the front of the grill.

I figured it was just stale gas. Went another 50 feet and there were flames coming out of the front.

I turned if off, jumped off. Flames were now shooting out of the front by about a foot.

It took me about 2-3 minutes to get the hose pulled to the mower where I could put out the flames, but not before the front tires blew out and the hood literally melted.

Oh MAN! Were you able to figure out the cause?

I'm glad you got off that thing!

isellhondas

graphicguy said:

Not sure about Lowes 90-day "thing". I think I've had the tractor over 90-days. I think after I said "it caught on fire", they're sense of urgency was heightened.

I agree...if anyone has one of these that may have slipped out of the factory with faulty wiring should definitely be notified.

The quickness in which the Deere rep contacted me tells me they're doing an investigation on it. Recall perhaps? The new one I see the insulation they were talking about. My "burnt one" didn't have it. Not sure what they can tell though. It got hot enough that the front tires blew out and the hood melted. Good thing it was nowhere near dry leaves at the time, or near the house. That could have been a big disaster.

I have a D130. I don't know which of their other models are using the same wiring. I know it's about the middle model....2 or 3 models below it....2 or 3 models above it.

Oh, I didn't realize your mower was that new!

Well handled and I'm happy it worked out as well as it did.

We have both Lowes and Home Depot here. Our Lowes is HORRIBLE! Not enough help and the help they do have are untrained. I'm not sure how they would have handled the same situation.

ab348

imidazol97 said:

graphicguy said:

Q....those are the first black wheels i like. Good job!

And they DO look good on that car. I stand corrected.

Sorry, still not sold here. Looks like you have a set of snow tires on to to my eye.

driver100

abacomike said:

@driver100‌

Driver, you can always have the GPS arrow pointing up no matter what direction you are traveling.  It's in the Navigation settings menu.  You need to go in to the local Mercedes dealership (Lokey I believe) and have them show you how to access that NAV settings menu.  It's easy!

You just need to learn how to set up your car properly.  You should have them spend 30 minutes with you!!!

Good to know. I might check it to see if I can do it, or I'll take it in.

One nice difference between bmw and Mercedes is Mercedes will honor the oil changes which I paid for in advance if it is done in the US. BMW would only allow me to get paid for oil changes in Canada. In this day and age that only makes sense.

driver100

jayrider said:

Cost wise people in Florida have it great! Houses are comparably inexpensive. You don't need duplicate clothing...hot and cold (like boots, heavy coat) and snow blowers etc.




But with weather issues, you can pay hefty home insurance.

Our home insurance is very reasonable in Florida. We are in villa units and 4 are joined, 2 in front, 2 behind. It is a condo so exterior insurance is covered in our fairly reasonable condo fee of $350 a month. Insurance for the home including about $20k worth of goods is $400 a year.

Don't live on a flood plain and don't live near the ocean or gulf. Try to find an area where there aren't sink holes and you can live here very inexpensively.

driver100

graphicguy said:

OK...so now that we've got everyone who's going to buy a car, reporting in, had a bit of a scare this weekend.

First, I can't believe that I'm cutting grass in November, but yesterday I found myself doing just that. And, as I've mentioned before, I just secured a Deere riding mower.

Well, I hadn't used it in about 3 weeks. Decided to use the attachment to pick up leaves (really just a receptacle hooked to pick up anything you happen to cut...leaves, clippings). Made one pass around the GG estate and saw smoke coming off the front of the grill.

I figured it was just stale gas. Went another 50 feet and there were flames coming out of the front.

I turned if off, jumped off. Flames were now shooting out of the front by about a foot.

It took me about 2-3 minutes to get the hose pulled to the mower where I could put out the flames, but not before the front tires blew out and the hood literally melted.

Talk about toast!

How could that happen, let us know what the investigative team says. A good thing it happenned away from the house.....holy!!!!!

driver100

graphicguy said:

Now THAT's customer service. They got to my house about 15 minutes after I got home. They picked up (more like pushed) the old burnt one onto the truck and got the new one in my garage.

For my trouble, Deere is offering a free extended bumper to bumper warranty (extending it from 2 to 4 years), and a $100 voucher for anything Deere makes.

Can't beat that.

Glad they handled it so well. But, Lowes will not be out anything if Deere wants to keep doing business with them. That's where a large chain does have clout.

They are just glad no one was seriously injured, much better to just supply you with a new one than a $million law suit.

I guess you really like black wheels! You made your Deere into a bad [non-permissible content removed] mower.

driver100

qbrozen said:

they are just glad you aren't suing them.

On the black wheels: you can put me in the camp that likes them. Of course, it is dependent on the car and color. I plastidipped the wheel covers on my Fit flat black. Was thinking of painting the Stang wheels, too. On both of those cars, nothing else on the car is the same color as the wheels or wheel covers, so they look odd to me.

I think it is best to always be careful when saying something looks bad on a car....there are usually exceptions. Your Fit does look better with black wheels...the discs look to prissy, the black wheels make it look meaner.

roadburner

graphicguy said:

OK...so now that we've got everyone who's going to buy a car, reporting in, had a bit of a scare this weekend.

First, I can't believe that I'm cutting grass in November, but yesterday I found myself doing just that. And, as I've mentioned before, I just secured a Deere riding mower.

Well, I hadn't used it in about 3 weeks. Decided to use the attachment to pick up leaves (really just a receptacle hooked to pick up anything you happen to cut...leaves, clippings). Made one pass around the GG estate and saw smoke coming off the front of the grill.

I figured it was just stale gas. Went another 50 feet and there were flames coming out of the front.

I turned if off, jumped off. Flames were now shooting out of the front by about a foot.

It took me about 2-3 minutes to get the hose pulled to the mower where I could put out the flames, but not before the front tires blew out and the hood literally melted.

Ouch!!! Sorry...

imidazol97

driver100 said:

..the discs look to prissy, the black wheels make it look meaner.

Well said. That's what I was thinking.

isellhondas

driver100 said:

qbrozen said:

they are just glad you aren't suing them.

On the black wheels: you can put me in the camp that likes them. Of course, it is dependent on the car and color. I plastidipped the wheel covers on my Fit flat black. Was thinking of painting the Stang wheels, too. On both of those cars, nothing else on the car is the same color as the wheels or wheel covers, so they look odd to me.

I think it is best to always be careful when saying something looks bad on a car....there are usually exceptions. Your Fit does look better with black wheels...the discs look to prissy, the black wheels make it look meaner.

Yeah, the black wheels do look a lot better on your Fit than on that Mustang.

abacomike

graphicguy said:

Made a trip to Lowes (where I bought it) after I throughly doused the lawn tractor. Had my receipt, and a couple of cell phone pics, similar to the one above. Being a Sunday, I figured nothing would happen.

I go up to customer service with my receipt. I started with..."I bought this John Deere tractor from you several weeks ago and it caught on fire".

She stopped me immediately and said...."As soon as you say I bought something from Lowes and it caught on fire, I'm getting a manger here immediately".

A couple of minutes later, a manager arrives. I show him my receipt. I show him the pics. He didn't hesitate....."we'll get you a new one".

On my way home, a bit before noon, I get a call on my cell phone while I'm still driving with the Lowes delivery person saying they have a new Deere tractor loaded and are headed for my house to deliver it.

Now THAT's customer service. They got to my house about 15 minutes after I got home. They picked up (more like pushed) the old burnt one onto the truck and got the new one in my garage.

So, I get a call from the John Deere rep this a.m. Apparently, he was notified by Lowes what happened early this a.m. Apparently, he's local and takes care of Lowes and the the independent dealers in this area.

He said he looked at the one that caught on fire. Apparently, it was an electrical problem with the wiring going to the headlights. Some sort of insulation material that wasn't installed, or installed incorrectly. He had informed the factory and they would have any in inventory to be inspected.

For my trouble, Deere is offering a free extended bumper to bumper warranty (extending it from 2 to 4 years), and a $100 voucher for anything Deere makes.

Can't beat that.

Boy, what a scare. Sounds like Loews and John Deere did what all of us would expect to be done. Sounds like a "recall" to me, if the manufacturer improperly installed wiring to the headlights.

Speaking of headlights, if the car should stop running, you can ride your tractor with wife hanging on, to the movies any night you want. And it has bumpers? You're prepared for anything!

abacomike

isellhondas said:

driver100 said:

qbrozen said:

they are just glad you aren't suing them.

On the black wheels: you can put me in the camp that likes them. Of course, it is dependent on the car and color. I plastidipped the wheel covers on my Fit flat black. Was thinking of painting the Stang wheels, too. On both of those cars, nothing else on the car is the same color as the wheels or wheel covers, so they look odd to me.

I think it is best to always be careful when saying something looks bad on a car....there are usually exceptions. Your Fit does look better with black wheels...the discs look to prissy, the black wheels make it look meaner.

Yeah, the black wheels do look a lot better on your Fit than on that Mustang.

I agree, the black wheels look fine on the red car, but for some reason on the yellow Mustang, it is not what I would want.

graphicguy

Thanks for the concern. Everyone survived. Deere just sent an email, again apologizing about the "fire" on the tractor. I asked about the cause. I think someone told them to be tight lipped, as now they're saying they really don't know, and might never know given how "burnt" the hood was. I'm sure some Deere legal eagle said to not admit anything, or comment about any sort of info which could be misconstrued as an admission of fault.

Yes....good thing it was not in the garage (two nice cars would have been toast), or anywhere near the house, although our home is brick.

There are woods behind me, though. As such, lots of fallen and dried leaves around there. IF I had been cutting near the tree line, it could have been a catastrophe, Even though I'm on a cul-de-sac, there is a sizable neighborhood just beyond that tree line that could have been at risk.

As it stands, no harm-no foul. I'm pleased with how Lowes and Deere handled things.

laurasdada

GG, glad you're not a crispy critter and Lowes/Deere took care of you.

Sunoco in the NE generally offers four grades of gas, 87, 89, 91, 93. Most other stations skip the 91, which at Sunoco is usually ~.02/gallon less than 93. Costco by me only offers 87 and 93, so I 93 the Jag. But, it is still usually lowest price around. Got down to 3.20 for PUG, now at 3.24. Not to mention $1.50 for a 1lb. hot dog and unlimited soda! I am indeed a gourmand!

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

they are just glad you aren't suing them.

On the black wheels: you can put me in the camp that likes them. Of course, it is dependent on the car and color. I plastidipped the wheel covers on my Fit flat black. Was thinking of painting the Stang wheels, too. On both of those cars, nothing else on the car is the same color as the wheels or wheel covers, so they look odd to me.

These come standard on the Mustang GT.

http://vorshlag.smugmug.com/Car-Shows/PRI-2013/i-kHSkwmm/1/X3/20131212_132051-X3.jpg

I like them better than black.

abacomike

laurasdada said:

GG, glad you're not a crispy critter and Lowes/Deere took care of you.

Sunoco in the NE generally offers four grades of gas, 87, 89, 91, 93. Most other stations skip the 91, which at Sunoco is usually ~.02/gallon less than 93. Costco by me only offers 87 and 93, so I 93 the Jag. But, it is still usually lowest price around. Got down to 3.20 for PUG, now at 3.24. Not to mention $1.50 for a 1lb. hot dog and unlimited soda! I am indeed a gourmand!

No questions that Costco has the lowest gasoline prices around, even down here. They are selling PUL for $3.30 a gallon, which is the lowest I have seen PUL at in years.

During the months when my credit cards give 5% cash back on gasoline (Jan-Mar and July-Sept) I guy my gas at Chevron. My Chevron gas station is selling PUL for $3.40 a gallon right now. I prefer putting in Chevron PUL into my car if the price is the same as it is at Costco or even 5 cents more because of the additive Techron. My CLS 550 has been running beautifully on Chevron this past year. But I do use Costco every so often when the prices are significantly higher at Chevron, which they were this past summer.

When I get the new E400 (whenever that will be, who knows), I will also do the same thing I do with the CLS. The new car is scheduled to be built a week from tomorrow, but as far as when it gets to my dealership, it could be 3+ weeks.

cdnpinhead

graphicguy said:

Nothing runs like a Deere. Hmmm -- maybe that's sometimes a good thing.

qbrozen

Those are sharp! I might have to keep an eye out when people start unloading them for aftermarket replacements. Those would look good on a graphite colored car.

In contrast, here is mine, which, while not bad, I don't particularly care for. Again, there is nothing else on the car that same color, so they just don't work for my personal taste:


My ultimate goal is to have flat black Shelby stripes and blacked out wheels to match.