Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

stickguy

michael, that is a good point about the RDX. The wife loves it, so is fine keeping it indefinitely. And while it cost a little more up front, I think it has held it's value well, so since it is finally paid off, we still have decent equity in it, so whenever the time comes to make a move.

sda

driver100 said:

I have a friend who is pretty knowledgeable about car issues. This is what he said about the article that said motor mounts could go in 5 to 10 years:

Maybe they "could" go after 5 or 6 years but if that were true, which I don't believe, then every other car on the road would need mounts and I'm sure I would hear people saying on a daily basis that their vehicle needs mounts. After 5 years? No way. Even 10 years seems low unless driving under difficult conditions or high mileage. After driving for close to 50 years I can't recall anyone telling me they ever needed motor mounts. If the motor mounts are getting badly worn you will know it for sure. You do not want to be driving on the highway and they let go, so absolutely they must be replaced immediately if required. Only one of my motor mounts went and it was 10 years old. I felt a lot of vibration when I turned the engine on--investigated--saw what was wrong and the next day they were done. It is unsafe to drive if they are not intact. Just because some blogger--mechanic says 5-6 years does not make it so in my books. It is very easy for a mechanic to demonstrate to someone if their vehicle needs motor mounts. If they are going you can see the engine trying to pivot or turn over. There is no question that they are gone. Put the new mounts in--start the vehicle up and the engine will be perfectly stable

As a lot of cars now have some type of hydraulic liquid filled engine mounts to better filter vibrations I think they are prone to wear out or fail sooner than the old solid rubber type mounts.

houdini1

venture said:

We were doing a little Christmas shopping this evening and came across this specimen:



Yikes!

It would be lots of fun (not) putting that thing together each year and then storing it the rest of the year.

driver100

I am going to print something that may be PI. I hope it gives you something to think about. No need to debate, I just thought it was an interesting perspective.....




A guy looked at my Corvette the other day and said,
"I wonder how many people could have been fed for the money that sports car cost.

I replied I am not sure, but it fed a lot of families in Bowling Green, Kentucky
who built it, it fed the people who make the tires, it fed the people who
made the components that went into it, it fed the people in the copper
mine who mined the copper for the wires, it fed people in Decatur IL. at
Caterpillar who make the trucks that haul the copper ore. It fed the
trucking people who hauled it from the plant to the dealer and fed the
people working at the dealership and their families.

BUT,... I have to admit, I guess I really don’t know how many people it fed.
That is the difference between capitalism and welfare mentality.
When you buy something, you put money in people’s pockets, and give
them dignity for their skills.

imidazol97

venture said:

We were doing a little Christmas shopping this evening and came across this specimen:



Yikes!

Is there a document fee added to that price?

driver100

sda said:

driver100 said:

I have a friend who is pretty knowledgeable about car issues. This is what he said about the article that said motor mounts could go in 5 to 10 years:

Maybe they "could" go after 5 or 6 years but if that were true, which I don't believe, then every other car on the road would need mounts and I'm sure I would hear people saying on a daily basis that their vehicle needs mounts. After 5 years? No way. Even 10 years seems low unless driving under difficult conditions or high mileage. After driving for close to 50 years I can't recall anyone telling me they ever needed motor mounts. If the motor mounts are getting badly worn you will know it for sure. You do not want to be driving on the highway and they let go, so absolutely they must be replaced immediately if required. Only one of my motor mounts went and it was 10 years old. I felt a lot of vibration when I turned the engine on--investigated--saw what was wrong and the next day they were done. It is unsafe to drive if they are not intact. Just because some blogger--mechanic says 5-6 years does not make it so in my books. It is very easy for a mechanic to demonstrate to someone if their vehicle needs motor mounts. If they are going you can see the engine trying to pivot or turn over. There is no question that they are gone. Put the new mounts in--start the vehicle up and the engine will be perfectly stable

As a lot of cars now have some type of hydraulic liquid filled engine mounts to better filter vibrations I think they are prone to wear out or fail sooner than the old solid rubber type mounts.

That sounds possible. Technology makes our cars better to drive, but, oh so costly to repair

iluvmysephia1

driver100 - you just supplied more viable evidence as to why I should spring for a new 2018 Subaru Impreza 2.0i 5-speed with that article on the Corvette. Thank you!

Signed iluvmyimpreza5

iluvmysephia1

I kind of like it without the 'gen' before 5 better.

venture

qbrozen said:

That is a 9' tree, which can get pricey. That one is kinda sad looking, though, IMHO.

We had the same tree for 12 years that we bought used on ebay for like $50. Then after xmas 2 yrs ago, we bought one for our then new house. It is a 12-footer prelit that was something like $1500 and we got it for under $200.

That tree is 9 feet of ugly.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

I have a friend who is pretty knowledgeable about car issues. This is what he said about the article that said motor mounts could go in 5 to 10 years:

Maybe they "could" go after 5 or 6 years but if that were true, which I don't believe, then every other car on the road would need mounts and I'm sure I would hear people saying on a daily basis that their vehicle needs mounts. After 5 years? No way. Even 10 years seems low unless driving under difficult conditions or high mileage. After driving for close to 50 years I can't recall anyone telling me they ever needed motor mounts. If the motor mounts are getting badly worn you will know it for sure. You do not want to be driving on the highway and they let go, so absolutely they must be replaced immediately if required. Only one of my motor mounts went and it was 10 years old. I felt a lot of vibration when I turned the engine on--investigated--saw what was wrong and the next day they were done. It is unsafe to drive if they are not intact. Just because some blogger--mechanic says 5-6 years does not make it so in my books. It is very easy for a mechanic to demonstrate to someone if their vehicle needs motor mounts. If they are going you can see the engine trying to pivot or turn over. There is no question that they are gone. Put the new mounts in--start the vehicle up and the engine will be perfectly stable

Only had one motor mount go in all my I'll-spent career. My 69 Plymouth had one go after about 160k miles of youthful abuse. Drove it like that for months but my burn out days were over as the engine would rear up and pull the power steering hose off.

I suppose on a transverse mounted engine the torquing could cause more problems .

venture

imidazol97 said:

venture said:

We were doing a little Christmas shopping this evening and came across this specimen:



Yikes!

Is there a document fee added to that price?

Not sure about a doc fee, but it looks like there is only one available at that fantastic price - stock number 155.

graphicguy

Mr_Shiftright said:

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

This caught my eye until I realized the seller wants way over what the books say it's worth. Edmunds$2600 KBB $3600. Are these sellers swinging for the fence or are Hondas really that popular?

It's the low, low miles. Car was used on average 1500 miles a year. I'd be afraid of lots of short trips and sludging.

Also has a dirty Carfax---hit another car, but that was many years ago. Also driven only 400 miles between 2010 and 2017. Many questions, few answers.

Then....you have this....truth in advertising....

https://youtu.be/4KlNeiY4Rf4

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

I am going to print something that may be PI. I hope it gives you something to think about. No need to debate, I just thought it was an interesting perspective.....




A guy looked at my Corvette the other day and said,
"I wonder how many people could have been fed for the money that sports car cost.

I replied I am not sure, but it fed a lot of families in Bowling Green, Kentucky
who built it, it fed the people who make the tires, it fed the people who
made the components that went into it, it fed the people in the copper
mine who mined the copper for the wires, it fed people in Decatur IL. at
Caterpillar who make the trucks that haul the copper ore. It fed the
trucking people who hauled it from the plant to the dealer and fed the
people working at the dealership and their families.

BUT,... I have to admit, I guess I really don’t know how many people it fed.
That is the difference between capitalism and welfare mentality.
When you buy something, you put money in people’s pockets, and give
them dignity for their skills.

The definition of forced charity is extortion.

driver100

iluvmysephia1 said:

driver100 - you just supplied more viable evidence as to why I should spring for a new 2028 Subaru Impreza 2.0i 5-speed with that article on the Corvette. Thank you!

Signed iluvmyimpreza5

Buy it....and don't feel guilty!

oldfarmer50

graphicguy said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

This caught my eye until I realized the seller wants way over what the books say it's worth. Edmunds$2600 KBB $3600. Are these sellers swinging for the fence or are Hondas really that popular?

It's the low, low miles. Car was used on average 1500 miles a year. I'd be afraid of lots of short trips and sludging.

Also has a dirty Carfax---hit another car, but that was many years ago. Also driven only 400 miles between 2010 and 2017. Many questions, few answers.

Then....you have this....truth in advertising....

https://youtu.be/4KlNeiY4Rf4

LOL I saw that on TV. No wonder the girlfriend agreed to marry him after. He's a keeper.

oldfarmer50

Do any of you have dash cams in your cars? Saw this one and thought it had a lot for the price. Seemed easy to use which is a must for a technophobe like me. Any others you'd recommend?

https://www.hdmirrorcam.com/?utm_source=Google_TM&gclid=Cj0KCQiAlpDQBRDmARIsAAW6-DNN2zFqJPimDP3ppcVQ83YHgtLb1EvF6YeYVr-U3NbRRJpGP82mxNMaAiE9EALw_wcB

roadburner

What makes me suspicious of the the Mercedes motor mount issue is the claim that the mounts "hardened." I've seen liquid filled mounts leak and conventional mounts get loose, but never hardened. In the MS3 community one of the big discussion topics was stiffer motor mounts. Vendors supplied several different designs, all of which were intended to restrict engine movement even more than on a stock MS3.
I've never replaced a motor mount on any of my vehicles save for installing a mount from an Electric Focus on my MS3- again, replacing a softer mount with a stiffer one.

iluvmysephia1

driver - can I buy you a 2018 Subaru Impreza 2.0i coffee mug delivered to your door in Florida? Or Ontario? Your kind of positive affirmation is why I come to this site. Just one reason I come here. Certainly not for the malt liquor flavored like a Margarita. Go Seahawks tonight at Arizona!

I'm down to Silver Ice, Venetian Red Pearl and Crimson White Pearl for favorite Subie colors. And CarGurus rocks for locating an Impreza. Whoa - especially if you select 'Nationwide'. 

jwm40517

Instead of replacing those expensive motor mounts just fix them like Chevy did in 67 with a cable from cross member to engine block on driver side of car to limit movement.

driver100

iluv....buy the new Imprezza....think of it as helping the economy and your fellow man. It is your patriotic duty!

ab348

iluvmysephia1 said:

I'm down to Silver Ice, Venetian Red Pearl and Crimson White Pearl for favorite Subie colors. And CarGurus rocks for locating an Impreza. Whoa - especially if you select 'Nationwide'. 

To me, interior color choice (assuming there IS a choice) is always more important than paint color choice, unless it is a really awful shade like pink, purple or acid green.

driver100

roadburner said:

What makes me suspicious of the the Mercedes motor mount issue is the claim that the mounts "hardened." I've seen liquid filled mounts leak and conventional mounts get loose, but never hardened. In the MS3 community one of the big discussion topics was stiffer motor mounts. Vendors supplied several different designs, all of which were intended to restrict engine movement even more than on a stock MS3.
I've never replaced a motor mount on any of my vehicles save for installing a mount from an Electric Focus on my MS3- again, replacing a softer mount with a stiffer one.

One thing we don't know is.....how old is Lisa's car? We know it has 59000 miles on it, may be 10 or 12 years old and exposed to lots of heat.
I don't hear about people needing motor mounts too often.

oldfarmer50

iluvmysephia1 said:

driver - can I buy you a 2018 Subaru Impreza 2.0i coffee mug delivered to your door in Florida? Or Ontario? Your kind of positive affirmation is why I come to this site. Just one reason I come here. Certainly not for the malt liquor flavored like a Margarita. Go Seahawks tonight at Arizona!

I'm down to Silver Ice, Venetian Red Pearl and Crimson White Pearl for favorite Subie colors. And CarGurus rocks for locating an Impreza. Whoa - especially if you select 'Nationwide'. 

Just remember, we're a bunch of enablers who will gladly help you spend your money. If your wife isn't on board I'd proceed carefully or you'll be paying for that car long after it's in the junk yard.

oldfarmer50

Gripe of the day. Was out for errands and saw the following:

At the quickie mart a young woman pulled into the closest spot to the door and halfway over into a handicapped spot thus not only blocking the handicapped spot but taking two spots at once.

On a local road with two lanes in each direction and a turn lane in the median I pull out of a shop into the median and then into the left lane. As I was signaling to move into the right lane someone in I think an Audi sports coupe came up behind me at high speed, past me on the right even though I was signaling, then cut back in front of me to make a left. All he had to do was use the turn lane to begin with.

At another store I parked in the lòt and started to walk across the road. A woman in a large Jeep cut across the road and pulled to the curb facing the wrong way blocking the lane. She left her car running and went in to shop. Because of the curve and shrubbery anyone coming down this lane would have to pull blindly around her into oncoming traffic.

On the way home on a country road I came upon a couple in aCamry backing up down the road on my side. Then they went forward at about 1/2 the limit and pulled over. When I tried to go around they would speed up and then slow down again. Several times they appeared to be brake checking me. This continued for a mile or so until we went in opposite directions. In my mirror I could still see them doing the same stop and go with other cars.

These sunny days in late fall bring out all the bugs.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 said:

houdini1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

dino001 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Just came back from the Credit Union which had offered me a lower rate on my car loan. The monthly figures the hey quoted indicated a savings of about $12 a month. I was half way through signing the papers when I noticed the term was for 36 months not the 33 months I had left on the old loan. When i had her recalculate the figures it turned out they were saving me 64 cents a month. She had almost pulled the old F & I trick of lowering the monthly by extending the term. You can't trust anyone any more.

36 months is a standard term for loans. Unless you specifically asked for 33 months, she said yes than sent you papers for 36 month loan, I cannot see a malintent here, more like honest lack of communication.

You should have known better to look at total figures and make sure you both spoke same "languague" - how many payments, what is the aggregate amount of interest. In Florida there is also stamps fee - not very high, but it can kill the refinancing deal, if your rate is already low and your savings marginal. If you say your CU offered "lower rate", what did it mean? 64 cents per month "equivalent" sounds like the same "rate" to me, in terms of interest rate (within 0.1%), or fees/stamps "ate" the difference, if it was bigger.

I never look at payments - they are what they are, whatever the assumptions are plugged. Payment can be anything (i.e. you can make it anything you want, just change the length of the loan). What counts is rate, fees and totals. If any salesman, F&I starts talking to me in terms "per month", I shut it down right away. If they avoid speaking about actual terms in a plain languague, I'm no longer interested in doing business with them.

I don't think she'd lie about your score. You get it on paper with your loan docs. Congrats, anyway. BTW, you are sure it's 850/850, not 850/900? Just saying that cause many car loans today are based on 900 scale, not 850 (there are gazillion different scoring formulas, 900 scale became popular in that particular area). Don't know why. Anyway, even if it's 850/900, it's still top 99% percentile, or so.

If there as any miscommunication it was on her part. During our initial phone conversation she quoted the lower rate based on 36 months. I sai I only had 33 months left and wouldn't want to extend the term. She said no problems, same rate. The monthly was quoed on that basis. I was only after i started reading he documents on her computer screen that I noticed it was for 36. I'mglad that I always read before I sign.

I asked about the score and she said it was base on an 850 scale.

Pretty good for a poor dirt farmer.

Our score bounces between 825 and 835, so looks like you set the curve for everyone. If a bunch of us ever do get together at a meet, we will probably work you over for making it tough on the rest of us.

I think those credit scores are sometimes just for bragging rights. My wife hasn't worked outside the home since 1981, none of the cars or bills are in her name and by herself she'd be eligible for welfare but according to her Discover Card her score is the same as mine.

I agree about the bragging rights thing. When we bought the '15 Genny Mrs. j had a score of 887 (IIRC) and when I asked the salesman about mine he said mine was about 7 or 8 points lower (I have a Home Depot card that is only in my name but there has never been a balance on it. Maybe that's why). He was going to give me a copy of my score but with all that was going on we both forgot about it. It would not have made any difference because Mrs. j knew hers was higher than mine and has reminded me about that several times since the Genny purchase.

I just checked mine with BA and it is 838, was 835 a few months ago. Mrs. j wanted to know what hers was. I told her I only have mine because when I set it up, with the help of @dino001 a while back when we were on this subject, I only input my info. She now wants me to get hers in there for bragging rights I'm sure. I told her it's not worth the work to get her info in there too, to which she said, "mine is higher than yours anyway and that's the way it's always going to be. I'll just add a few points onto your score to get mine".

Yep, bragging rights and the mind of an elephant. That's what I live with every day. :@

jmonroe

jmonroe

roadburner said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Just came back from the Credit Union which had offered me a lower rate on my car loan. The monthly figures the hey quoted indicated a savings of about $12 a month. I was half way through signing the papers when I noticed the term was for 36 months not the 33 months I had left on the old loan. When i had her recalculate the figures it turned out they were saving me 64 cents a month. She had almost pulled the old F & I trick of lowering the monthly by extending the term.

You can't trust anyone any more.

We had a dimwit come in with a pre-approved CU loan; the CU loan had a prepayment penalty AND charged a $199 "origination fee." We offered her a loan with no fees or penalties with a lower APR than the CU and she still insisted on using he CU.
You can't fix stupid.

In a way, I'm surprised a BMW Genius couldn't get through to her but even a Genius can't fix real stupid.

jmonroe

dino001

jmonroe said:

I agree about the bragging rights thing. When we bought the '15 Genny Mrs. j had a score of 887 (IIRC) and when I asked the salesman about mine he said mine was about 7 or 8 points lower (I have a Home Depot card that is only in my name but there has never been a balance on it. Maybe that's why). jmonroe

It could be literally anything in that range - who knows. Chase has quite an elaborate separate credit score website with TransUnion-based score. When I read those "negative scor factors" that make my score a few points below proverbial "perfect 850", they are plain absurd. For example:
1. YOUR LARGEST LIMIT ON YOUR BANK CARD IS TOO LOW. $25,000 is too low? Are you out of your f!%$*g mind?
2. YOU HAVE TOO MANY INQUIRIES ON YOUR ACCOUNT. I have 2 (two!) inquiries on my account in last two years. See Item 1.
3. TOTAL OF BALANCES ON YOUR BANK CARS IS TOO HIGH. My revolving credit utilization is 2% (TWO PERCENT!). See Item 1.
4. BALANCES ON YOUR LOAN ACCOUNTS ARE TOO HIGH COMPARED TO ORIGINAL AMOUNTS. I have mortgage 60% paid off and - you got me, I just borrowed some money to get the new bimmer and I'm 3 payments in. OK, one "real" negative - new account.

Item 3 is especially great, because one of "positive" factors reads "BALANCES ON BANK CARDS AND REVOLVING ACCOUNTS IS NOT TOO HIGH COMPARED TO LIMITS". I do understand that there is a difference between absolute balance being "too high" (in their opinion anyway) and still being way lower that the limit. But combine that with Item 1, complaining that my $25K limit is allegedly too low.

Wow - those are real negatives, aren't they, right? The whole "perfect score" pursuit game is plain stupid to me. Completely not seeing forest among the trees. Fortunately, the banks don't really care if your score is "perfect" or "almost perfect", or simply "excellent".

The entire picture of perfect score makes zero sense, or builds up to something that taken out of somebody's rear end. It goes like this: you need to have credit history for 50 years, have hundred grand available to you, but taking zero out, making no new credit activity (it should show up from fairy dust), all loans paid off. Did I miss something?

We has such a polarized society - on one side, deadbeats, who can't be bothered with paying their obligations, constantly claiming that it's somebody's fault for them not honoring the dotted line and acting all innocent of their terrible credit score. On the other side we have those "perfect score" aficionados who won't apply for a loan, or close an old unused card.

roadburner

jmonroe said:

roadburner said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Just came back from the Credit Union which had offered me a lower rate on my car loan. The monthly figures the hey quoted indicated a savings of about $12 a month. I was half way through signing the papers when I noticed the term was for 36 months not the 33 months I had left on the old loan. When i had her recalculate the figures it turned out they were saving me 64 cents a month. She had almost pulled the old F & I trick of lowering the monthly by extending the term.

You can't trust anyone any more.

We had a dimwit come in with a pre-approved CU loan; the CU loan had a prepayment penalty AND charged a $199 "origination fee." We offered her a loan with no fees or penalties with a lower APR than the CU and she still insisted on using he CU.
You can't fix stupid.

In a way, I'm surprised a BMW Genius couldn't get through to her but even a Genius can't fix real stupid.

jmonroe

She wasn't my client; I heard about it later.

jmonroe

roadburner said:

jmonroe said:

roadburner said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Just came back from the Credit Union which had offered me a lower rate on my car loan. The monthly figures the hey quoted indicated a savings of about $12 a month. I was half way through signing the papers when I noticed the term was for 36 months not the 33 months I had left on the old loan. When i had her recalculate the figures it turned out they were saving me 64 cents a month. She had almost pulled the old F & I trick of lowering the monthly by extending the term.

You can't trust anyone any more.

We had a dimwit come in with a pre-approved CU loan; the CU loan had a prepayment penalty AND charged a $199 "origination fee." We offered her a loan with no fees or penalties with a lower APR than the CU and she still insisted on using he CU.
You can't fix stupid.

In a way, I'm surprised a BMW Genius couldn't get through to her but even a Genius can't fix real stupid.

jmonroe

She wasn't my client; I heard about it later.

That should have been the time they called in their Genius.

Maybe the F&I guy ain't all that bright either.

jmonroe

roadburner

jmonroe said:

roadburner said:

jmonroe said:

roadburner said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Just came back from the Credit Union which had offered me a lower rate on my car loan. The monthly figures the hey quoted indicated a savings of about $12 a month. I was half way through signing the papers when I noticed the term was for 36 months not the 33 months I had left on the old loan. When i had her recalculate the figures it turned out they were saving me 64 cents a month. She had almost pulled the old F & I trick of lowering the monthly by extending the term.

You can't trust anyone any more.

We had a dimwit come in with a pre-approved CU loan; the CU loan had a prepayment penalty AND charged a $199 "origination fee." We offered her a loan with no fees or penalties with a lower APR than the CU and she still insisted on using he CU.
You can't fix stupid.

In a way, I'm surprised a BMW Genius couldn't get through to her but even a Genius can't fix real stupid.

jmonroe

She wasn't my client; I heard about it later.

That should have been the time they called in their Genius.

Maybe the F&I guy ain't all that bright either.

jmonroe

Nope, she was just your basic know it all; she was just certain the CU was a better deal and you weren't about to confuse her with facts...

dino001

roadburner said:

Nope, she was just your basic know it all; she was just certain the CU was a better deal and you weren't about to confuse her with facts...

Alternative facts?

jmonroe

venture said:

We were doing a little Christmas shopping this evening and came across this specimen:



Yikes!

Man, that's enough to make you start believing in Chanukah.

jmonroe

iluvmysephia1

"mine is higher than yours anyway and that's the way it's always going to be. I'll just add a few points onto your score to get mine".

jmonroe - this one produced an audible gawking lol in me, man! Marriage can be a peculiar pissing match, can't it?

driver100

jmonroe said:

venture said:

We were doing a little Christmas shopping this evening and came across this specimen:



Yikes!

Man, that's enough to make you start believing in Chanukah.

jmonroe

Good point JM. Chanukah Menorah....complete with candles, $26.99;

nyccarguy

No trees to cut down, clean up after. No storing the fake tree. No climbing ladders to install lights on the roof. No climbing ladders after the holiday in the dead of winter to take down lights...

Hanukkah 1
Christmas 0

LOL

ab348

Bit of a winter wheel/tire nightmare today. My tire shop ordered a set of Pirelli winters for me last week and my appointment was today. I had previously got a good deal on a set of brand new ATS 17" wheels and centers from my GM dealer so those were still in their boxes in the car. I arrived, the tire shop went to retrieve the tires, only 3 could be found, turned out the supplier short-shipped and nobody noticed. But they had a set of Michelin winters in stock if I wanted them, they shaved the price to make them closer in cost to the Pirellis, otherwise it's a week to wait. Sure, I'll take the Michelins. That's what I wanted in the first place but the Pirellis seemed too good a deal to pass up.

A while later, they come to get me from the waiting area. A problem - the wheels will not clear the upper part of the spindle where the strut mounts to it. Driver's side totally fouls, passenger side barely clears. A call back to the GM dealer. They are baffled because they ordered based on my VIN. After about 30 minutes they call back, apologize, say there was a mistake in the catalog they used which did not take into account the FE3 suspension my car has. The only OEM wheel that will fit are 18" ATS wheels at about $80 more apiece. Ugh. They immediately credited my card and took the wheels back, so that was good at least. The tire shop contacted their wheel supplier and ordered a set of 17s they swear will fit. I find out next Wednesday when I go back. What an afternoon.

thebean

oldfarmer50 said:

Gripe of the day. Was out for errands and saw the following:

At the quickie mart a young woman pulled into the closest spot to the door and halfway over into a handicapped spot thus not only blocking the handicapped spot but taking two spots at once.

On a local road with two lanes in each direction and a turn lane in the median I pull out of a shop into the median and then into the left lane. As I was signaling to move into the right lane someone in I think an Audi sports coupe came up behind me at high speed, past me on the right even though I was signaling, then cut back in front of me to make a left. All he had to do was use the turn lane to begin with.

At another store I parked in the lòt and started to walk across the road. A woman in a large Jeep cut across the road and pulled to the curb facing the wrong way blocking the lane. She left her car running and went in to shop. Because of the curve and shrubbery anyone coming down this lane would have to pull blindly around her into oncoming traffic.

On the way home on a country road I came upon a couple in aCamry backing up down the road on my side. Then they went forward at about 1/2 the limit and pulled over. When I tried to go around they would speed up and then slow down again. Several times they appeared to be brake checking me. This continued for a mile or so until we went in opposite directions. In my mirror I could still see them doing the same stop and go with other cars.

These sunny days in late fall bring out all the bugs.

Sartre said it best "Hel! is other people"

cdnpinhead

jmonroe said:

Man, that's enough to make you start believing in Chanukah.

I'm a Festivus guy myself, but to each their own.

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

On the way home on a country road I came upon a couple in aCamry backing up down the road on my side. Then they went forward at about 1/2 the limit and pulled over. When I tried to go around they would speed up and then slow down again. Several times they appeared to be brake checking me. This continued for a mile or so until we went in opposite directions. In my mirror I could still see them doing the same stop and go with other cars.

These sunny days in late fall bring out all the bugs.

That last situation brings to mind a thought I have from time to time - how satisfying it would be to have an old 3/4 ton 4x4 pickup hooptie that you could use like what Dale Earnhardt called "the chrome horn" on them.

driver100

Ab: . A call back to the GM dealer. They are baffled because they ordered based on my VIN. After about 30 minutes they call back, apologize, say there was a mistake in the catalog they used which did not take into account the FE3 suspension my car has. The only OEM wheel that will fit are 18" ATS wheels at about $80 more apiece

And they thought it was a major mistake when the MB service rep read me Lisa's work order.

houdini1

jmonroe said:

roadburner said:

jmonroe said:

roadburner said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Just came back from the Credit Union which had offered me a lower rate on my car loan. The monthly figures the hey quoted indicated a savings of about $12 a month. I was half way through signing the papers when I noticed the term was for 36 months not the 33 months I had left on the old loan. When i had her recalculate the figures it turned out they were saving me 64 cents a month. She had almost pulled the old F & I trick of lowering the monthly by extending the term.

You can't trust anyone any more.

We had a dimwit come in with a pre-approved CU loan; the CU loan had a prepayment penalty AND charged a $199 "origination fee." We offered her a loan with no fees or penalties with a lower APR than the CU and she still insisted on using he CU.
You can't fix stupid.

In a way, I'm surprised a BMW Genius couldn't get through to her but even a Genius can't fix real stupid.

jmonroe

She wasn't my client; I heard about it later.

That should have been the time they called in their Genius.

Maybe the F&I guy ain't all that bright either.

jmonroe

I think I have mentioned before that my wife insists that we only pay cash when we buy a car. A few years ago as we were closing a transaction, the salesman said we could get 36 months financing at 0% interest. I said great, I can make a little interest for 3 years. Wife says nope, I don't want any payments and I don't want a lien on the car. We'll pay cash. I put my foot down and countered with, "Yes dear".

isellhondas

driver100 said:

I have a friend who is pretty knowledgeable about car issues. This is what he said about the article that said motor mounts could go in 5 to 10 years:

Maybe they "could" go after 5 or 6 years but if that were true, which I don't believe, then every other car on the road would need mounts and I'm sure I would hear people saying on a daily basis that their vehicle needs mounts. After 5 years? No way. Even 10 years seems low unless driving under difficult conditions or high mileage. After driving for close to 50 years I can't recall anyone telling me they ever needed motor mounts. If the motor mounts are getting badly worn you will know it for sure. You do not want to be driving on the highway and they let go, so absolutely they must be replaced immediately if required. Only one of my motor mounts went and it was 10 years old. I felt a lot of vibration when I turned the engine on--investigated--saw what was wrong and the next day they were done. It is unsafe to drive if they are not intact. Just because some blogger--mechanic says 5-6 years does not make it so in my books. It is very easy for a mechanic to demonstrate to someone if their vehicle needs motor mounts. If they are going you can see the engine trying to pivot or turn over. There is no question that they are gone. Put the new mounts in--start the vehicle up and the engine will be perfectly stable

Based on your post, it looks like you and I started driving about the same time.

I can tell you that motor mounts used to break all of the time! They didn't "harden" they broke! For some reason GM cars seemed to be the worse and hard driving (like we did) made the problem worse.

In 1965, full sized Chevys had a HUGE problem with motor mounts breaking! When the left side motor
mount would break the engine would twist to the right. When this happened the carburetor linkage could and
often did cause the car to accelerate under full throttle! Making this even worse, when this would happen it
would sometimes tear the vacuum hose out of the power brake booster causing the driver to lose their power
assist! This was NASTY and they all would break! This was in the days before recalls but Chevy did recall
the cars. Their "fix" was to cable the exhaust manifold on the left side to the frame! This made spark plug
replacement a miserable job!

Later on, Ford Taurus and Mercury Sables with the 3.8 Liter engines would break the front motor mounts
constantly. Ford replaced most under warranty. It was a five hour job and the Ford guys quickly learned that
by using a certain combination of sockets, extensions and know how they could do the job in a hour! When Ford
found out, of course they lowered the warranty pay time!

driver100

thebean said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Gripe of the day. Was out for errands and saw the following:

At the quickie mart a young woman pulled into the closest spot to the door and halfway over into a handicapped spot thus not only blocking the handicapped spot but taking two spots at once.

On a local road with two lanes in each direction and a turn lane in the median I pull out of a shop into the median and then into the left lane. As I was signaling to move into the right lane someone in I think an Audi sports coupe came up behind me at high speed, past me on the right even though I was signaling, then cut back in front of me to make a left. All he had to do was use the turn lane to begin with.

At another store I parked in the lòt and started to walk across the road. A woman in a large Jeep cut across the road and pulled to the curb facing the wrong way blocking the lane. She left her car running and went in to shop. Because of the curve and shrubbery anyone coming down this lane would have to pull blindly around her into oncoming traffic.

On the way home on a country road I came upon a couple in aCamry backing up down the road on my side. Then they went forward at about 1/2 the limit and pulled over. When I tried to go around they would speed up and then slow down again. Several times they appeared to be brake checking me. This continued for a mile or so until we went in opposite directions. In my mirror I could still see them doing the same stop and go with other cars.

These sunny days in late fall bring out all the bugs.

Sartre said it best "Hel! is other people"

Oldfarmer.......I empathize entirely. I go to tennis 3 days a week, it is a 15 minute drive each way, I would say most days I see at a minimum 5 glaringly idiotic unsafe things going on.

The one I have noticed lately are the people who come to a Stop sign or are about to come out of a parking lot, gas station etc., and they do it at full speed, often while talking on their cell. If I am on the main thoroughfare I have no idea whether they are actually going to stop or not. I have to take defensive action and get ready to stop or swerve....if I assume they are going to stop I am not prepared defensively. What could make them so ignorant, they make me suffer for their pathetic driving?

btw...I am sure most of them wouldn't stop if they thought they could pull out without stopping.

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j_yisRWL9aA

driver100

houdini1 said:

jmonroe said:

roadburner said:

jmonroe said:

roadburner said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Just came back from the Credit Union which had offered me a lower rate on my car loan. The monthly figures the hey quoted indicated a savings of about $12 a month. I was half way through signing the papers when I noticed the term was for 36 months not the 33 months I had left on the old loan. When i had her recalculate the figures it turned out they were saving me 64 cents a month. She had almost pulled the old F & I trick of lowering the monthly by extending the term.

You can't trust anyone any more.

We had a dimwit come in with a pre-approved CU loan; the CU loan had a prepayment penalty AND charged a $199 "origination fee." We offered her a loan with no fees or penalties with a lower APR than the CU and she still insisted on using he CU.
You can't fix stupid.

In a way, I'm surprised a BMW Genius couldn't get through to her but even a Genius can't fix real stupid.

jmonroe

She wasn't my client; I heard about it later.

That should have been the time they called in their Genius.

Maybe the F&I guy ain't all that bright either.

jmonroe

I think I have mentioned before that my wife insists that we only pay cash when we buy a car. A few years ago as we were closing a transaction, the salesman said we could get 36 months financing at 0% interest. I said great, I can make a little interest for 3 years. Wife says nope, I don't want any payments and I don't want a lien on the car. We'll pay cash. I countered with, "Yes dear".

I like your wife's method. Companies that offer 0% interest know that 90% of the people won't pay on time and they can charge them all the interest anyway. Your wife is a keeper houdini.

explorerx4

@iluv,
I guess I'm going to be a contrarian here, but I say stick with the Soul.
You just started your new job and got some snows for it, so the car should be good through the winter.
It probably will be worth more in the spring and you will have had more time out figure out your work environment.

Mr_Shiftright

houdini1 said:

jmonroe said:

roadburner said:

jmonroe said:

roadburner said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Just came back from the Credit Union which had offered me a lower rate on my car loan. The monthly figures the hey quoted indicated a savings of about $12 a month. I was half way through signing the papers when I noticed the term was for 36 months not the 33 months I had left on the old loan. When i had her recalculate the figures it turned out they were saving me 64 cents a month. She had almost pulled the old F & I trick of lowering the monthly by extending the term.

You can't trust anyone any more.

We had a dimwit come in with a pre-approved CU loan; the CU loan had a prepayment penalty AND charged a $199 "origination fee." We offered her a loan with no fees or penalties with a lower APR than the CU and she still insisted on using he CU.
You can't fix stupid.

In a way, I'm surprised a BMW Genius couldn't get through to her but even a Genius can't fix real stupid.

jmonroe

She wasn't my client; I heard about it later.

That should have been the time they called in their Genius.

Maybe the F&I guy ain't all that bright either.

jmonroe

I think I have mentioned before that my wife insists that we only pay cash when we buy a car. A few years ago as we were closing a transaction, the salesman said we could get 36 months financing at 0% interest. I said great, I can make a little interest for 3 years. Wife says nope, I don't want any payments and I don't want a lien on the car. We'll pay cash. I put my foot down and countered with, "Yes dear".

There you go. Not the hill you want to die on.

stickguy

I agree with explorer on this one. You have to move anyway in the spring, and mentioned possibly moving to a different work location. So makes sense to sort all that out first, hopefully buy the house you want, and then can treat yourself to the car to go with it!

oldfarmer50

jmonroe said:

oldfarmer50 said:

houdini1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

dino001 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Just came back from the Credit Union which had offered me a lower rate on my car loan. The monthly figures the hey quoted indicated a savings of about $12 a month. I was half way through signing the papers when I noticed the term was for 36 months not the 33 months I had left on the old loan. When i had her recalculate the figures it turned out they were saving me 64 cents a month. She had almost pulled the old F & I trick of lowering the monthly by extending the term. You can't trust anyone any more.

36 months is a standard term for loans. Unless you specifically asked for 33 months, she said yes than sent you papers for 36 month loan, I cannot see a malintent here, more like honest lack of communication.

You should have known better to look at total figures and make sure you both spoke same "languague" - how many payments, what is the aggregate amount of interest. In Florida there is also stamps fee - not very high, but it can kill the refinancing deal, if your rate is already low and your savings marginal. If you say your CU offered "lower rate", what did it mean? 64 cents per month "equivalent" sounds like the same "rate" to me, in terms of interest rate (within 0.1%), or fees/stamps "ate" the difference, if it was bigger.

I never look at payments - they are what they are, whatever the assumptions are plugged. Payment can be anything (i.e. you can make it anything you want, just change the length of the loan). What counts is rate, fees and totals. If any salesman, F&I starts talking to me in terms "per month", I shut it down right away. If they avoid speaking about actual terms in a plain languague, I'm no longer interested in doing business with them.

I don't think she'd lie about your score. You get it on paper with your loan docs. Congrats, anyway. BTW, you are sure it's 850/850, not 850/900? Just saying that cause many car loans today are based on 900 scale, not 850 (there are gazillion different scoring formulas, 900 scale became popular in that particular area). Don't know why. Anyway, even if it's 850/900, it's still top 99% percentile, or so.

If there as any miscommunication it was on her part. During our initial phone conversation she quoted the lower rate based on 36 months. I sai I only had 33 months left and wouldn't want to extend the term. She said no problems, same rate. The monthly was quoed on that basis. I was only after i started reading he documents on her computer screen that I noticed it was for 36. I'mglad that I always read before I sign.

I asked about the score and she said it was base on an 850 scale.

Pretty good for a poor dirt farmer.

Our score bounces between 825 and 835, so looks like you set the curve for everyone. If a bunch of us ever do get together at a meet, we will probably work you over for making it tough on the rest of us.

I think those credit scores are sometimes just for bragging rights. My wife hasn't worked outside the home since 1981, none of the cars or bills are in her name and by herself she'd be eligible for welfare but according to her Discover Card her score is the same as mine.

I agree about the bragging rights thing. When we bought the '15 Genny Mrs. j had a score of 887 (IIRC) and when I asked the salesman about mine he said mine was about 7 or 8 points lower (I have a Home Depot card that is only in my name but there has never been a balance on it. Maybe that's why). He was going to give me a copy of my score but with all that was going on we both forgot about it. It would not have made any difference because Mrs. j knew hers was higher than mine and has reminded me about that several times since the Genny purchase.

I just checked mine with BA and it is 838, was 835 a few months ago. Mrs. j wanted to know what hers was. I told her I only have mine because when I set it up, with the help of @dino001 a while back when we were on this subject, I only input my info. She now wants me to get hers in there for bragging rights I'm sure. I told her it's not worth the work to get her info in there too, to which she said, "mine is higher than yours anyway and that's the way it's always going to be. I'll just add a few points onto your score to get mine".

Yep, bragging rights and the mind of an elephant. That's what I live with every day. :@

jmonroe

That so funny, when my wife got her 850 score for doing nothing she never let me forget that my 816 was lower. The first thing I did when I got my new score was stick my tongue out at her.

oldfarmer50

dino001 said:

jmonroe said:

I agree about the bragging rights thing. When we bought the '15 Genny Mrs. j had a score of 887 (IIRC) and when I asked the salesman about mine he said mine was about 7 or 8 points lower (I have a Home Depot card that is only in my name but there has never been a balance on it. Maybe that's why). jmonroe

It could be literally anything in that range - who knows. Chase has quite an elaborate separate credit score website with TransUnion-based score. When I read those "negative scor factors" that make my score a few points below proverbial "perfect 850", they are plain absurd. For example:
1. YOUR LARGEST LIMIT ON YOUR BANK CARD IS TOO LOW. $25,000 is too low? Are you out of your f!%$*g mind?
2. YOU HAVE TOO MANY INQUIRIES ON YOUR ACCOUNT. I have 2 (two!) inquiries on my account in last two years. See Item 1.
3. TOTAL OF BALANCES ON YOUR BANK CARS IS TOO HIGH. My revolving credit utilization is 2% (TWO PERCENT!). See Item 1.
4. BALANCES ON YOUR LOAN ACCOUNTS ARE TOO HIGH COMPARED TO ORIGINAL AMOUNTS. I have mortgage 60% paid off and - you got me, I just borrowed some money to get the new bimmer and I'm 3 payments in. OK, one "real" negative - new account.

Item 3 is especially great, because one of "positive" factors reads "BALANCES ON BANK CARDS AND REVOLVING ACCOUNTS IS NOT TOO HIGH COMPARED TO LIMITS". I do understand that there is a difference between absolute balance being "too high" (in their opinion anyway) and still being way lower that the limit. But combine that with Item 1, complaining that my $25K limit is allegedly too low.

Wow - those are real negatives, aren't they, right? The whole "perfect score" pursuit game is plain stupid to me. Completely not seeing forest among the trees. Fortunately, the banks don't really care if your score is "perfect" or "almost perfect", or simply "excellent".

The entire picture of perfect score makes zero sense, or builds up to something that taken out of somebody's rear end. It goes like this: you need to have credit history for 50 years, have hundred grand available to you, but taking zero out, making no new credit activity (it should show up from fairy dust), all loans paid off. Did I miss something?

We has such a polarized society - on one side, deadbeats, who can't be bothered with paying their obligations, constantly claiming that it's somebody's fault for them not honoring the dotted line and acting all innocent of their terrible credit score. On the other side we have those "perfect score" aficionados who won't apply for a loan, or close an old unused card.

I get quite a laugh out of my credit score as the only reason it seems so high is that I (well, my wife) pays our bills on time. It sure can't be based on my income. When I pull my annual credit report they have my employer still listed as the company I haven't worked for in almost 30 years so maybe they think I'm the president now.