Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

roadburner

I always hoped for a true Miata coupe; I guess that's never going to happen.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

isellhondas said:

You slip going downstairs or on an icy sidewalk and you'll find out about gravity quickly!

isellhondas said:

You slip going downstairs or on an icy sidewalk and you'll find out about gravity quickly!

Funny, aside from breaking some fingers in a car door when I was 6 I never had a broken bone. I've fallen down stairs, out of trees, on ice...even had a small tractor roll over on me once...nothing. I hardly even bruise so I get no sympathy from my wife.

Guess you don't shop at Walmart?

Funny you reference Mike's incident. Just now we were at the supermarket I rounded a corner an a woman with a loaded cart was coming down the isle texting. I near jumped into the cat food display. My wife thought I was crazy until I told her Mike's story.

You know what I hate.....ever been standing in line at the cashiers counter and some little old aggressive lady prods you with her umbrella....it isn't nice having one of those shoved up your backside.

nyccarguy

roadburner said:

I always hoped for a true Miata coupe; I guess that's never going to happen.

Doesn't matter.  Not fast enough for you (nor I)

driver100

breld said:

Yup - those “wings” give it a cool fastback, “Alfa” look to the profile.  As @michaell can attest to, I was very taken with it at last years car show, but there are some practical drawbacks that would draw me toward the soft top.  And then from there, the inherent drawbacks to a two seater convertible set in and I stop looking.    

The previous generation’s retractable hardtop was ingenious, having the full too retract into the same space as the soft top.  

I would have liked one too until I got hit in the E400 by a huge waste garbage truck. We are lucky to still be alive or even walking 16 months later.....hate to see what would have happened if we were that sporty little Mazda.

driver100

Isn't this a Miata coupe?

driver100

Oh, I read more about it....built only a few of these for Japanese market.
The year was 2004, and Mazda set up a cool drive event of a bunch of new limited edition Roadsters which, on top of the limited edition Turbo model, included this “factory” built Coupe. Not many of these cars were made, hand crafted by one of Mazda’s subsidiary coachworks companies where the metal roofs were hand welded onto the base Roadster bodies.

The result addressed what many fans of Japan’s most affordable driver’s car had wanted Mazda to do for years. The NB Roadster Coupe was only sold in Japan and remains a very rare sight on the road.

Mr_Shiftright

snakeweasel said:

isellhondas said:

iluvmysephia1 said:

abacomike - it's not just you, man. Please read andres3's comments about his fractured bones. I have broken the humerus bone of my right arm falling down the stairs. It was at a townhome Mrs. iluvmysephia1 and I rented while I went to college in Rolla, MO. The place was in St. James, MO. Cute, quiet little town. The event happened like this.

"Dinner, iluv!"

"OK!"

I was in my stocking feet and upstairs, where there is a bathroom and a bedroom. I was taking a nap when I heard her call out for dinner, so I was quite drowsy, and college made me sleepy, anyway.

I grabbed our 6 1/2 pound Pomeranian, Rocky, and headed down the stairs. Ooops. Big time. The ball of my right foot stepped on the edge of the carpeted stairs, and...slipped. All the body dynamics were just right at that particular moment in time to put maximum pressure on that foot, because the force exerted on that foot was big and large. I was counting on making that first step as a big 'ole push-off down the stairs successfully. Didn't happen, car nuts. Oh, no - it did not happen. As I slipped, my right elbow came down to break my fall. The right elbow hit hard on that same stair edge. I heard a "Snap!" sound.

Then I bumped on my butt down the remainder of the stairs. I threw the Pom Rocky back behind me on the stairs. I didn't want to risk crushing him with any of my body parts! He was fine for the weather through this all.

Meanwhile, my sight grew dim. I sat there at the bottom of the stairs in extreme pain. I saw stars, literally. "Mrs. iluv!!!!!" Wilma!!!!

I called a cab to drive me to the nearest hospital - I could not shift the gears of our 2001 Kia Sportage 4X4 with what was most likely a broken arm. Later, after the arm was stabilized, a really dear friend lent me his Ford Interceptor ex-police car, that had an automatic transmission. What a nice gift to me to borrow that rig from him!

"Hey, take it easy over the bumps, OK?"

"Yes, I will," was the cabbies response.

At Phelps County Memorial Hospital in Rolla, MO, the verdict came in quickly.

"You, Mr. iluvmysephia1, have a broken humerous bone."

Great. Right during Respiratory Therapy college. We were coming down the home stretch, too, getting ready to graduate in March of 2005. This broken arm occurred in December of 2004.

Long story short - I retained the services of a Rolla bone doctor and went through recovery. I was told I couldn't go to my clinicals because, as my teacher told me, "I've never heard of a one-armed Respiratory Therapist!"

Thanks, teach. So, I was allowed to stay in school, only ta go to daytime classes with the rest of the students. Once my arm was sufficiently healed up, I was allowed to start up clinicals again. So I did this. All of this.

And ended up graduating college one month and 25 days after everyone else in school. But at least I did.

abacomike - you're not alone, man! These nasty things do happen to other people. Other people like iluvmysephia1. And bone breaks are absolutely awfully painful.

Our club had a guest speaker recently who said the Number One cause of a fall is going down stairs in stocking feet! I never even thought about that!

I would have thought that gravity would be the number one cause of falls. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Darn that gravity. Always lets you down....

roadburner

JDM only- back in 2003....

Mr_Shiftright

roadburner said:

I always hoped for a true Miata coupe; I guess that's never going to happen.

Me, too. I always wanted to see someone re-make the Type 101 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce. It would be affordable (very), agile, lovely, sporty in a credible way, small (petite by modern standards)--- a properly configured Miata (sparsely optioned) could do this!

stickguy

If I am getting a wildly impractical 2 seat toy, I want to be able to at least put the top down when I want to. Can't you just get the removable HT if you want it to act like a coupe?

roadburner

stickguy said:

If I am getting a wildly impractical 2 seat toy, I want to be able to at least put the top down when I want to. Can't you just get the removable HT if you want it to act like a coupe?

No. I want the increased rigidity and the ability to drive it at any HPDE without having to install an SCCA approved cage. Anyway, I'd probably drop the top as often as I open the sunroof in my 2 Series- I haven't yet and likely never will...

stickguy

keep in mind you are in the very small minority tracking your car. Cruising around town, getting some sun on nice days, and zipping around back roads (the way I would use it) is probably more in line with the vast majority of owners.

plus I open the moonroof whenever it is close to warm enough (45-95 degrees roughly, and it is open). Unless it's sunny and my wife is in the car, then we fight over it.

When I had my miata, the roof was the same. If I was driving the car, it meant the weather was good enough to drop the top.

oldfarmer50

Well I bit the bullet and applied for some retirement jobs. One was a shuttle driver for a valet service. Looks like driving hospital employees to and from off site parking. The other is a swap driver for a BMW, Honda dealer.

Just wondering if you captain's of industry can tell me if companies are serious when they post ads these days or are they just compiling resumes. How long would I expect to wait before I hear back from them.

I haven't applied for a job in 27 years and things have changed quite a bit. This is the first time I've applied online.

driver100

oldfarmer, hope you never posted any wild videos....they check that kind of thing these days.

I haven't applied for a job in 22 years.......and I would advise any employer never to hire me. I used to be a good employee, but, I don't care any more.

Have fun, and whether you get the job or not every interview is a learning experience - you do get better at it. Good luck!

stickguy

some companies just keep these types of posts up indefinitely, if they tend to churn through employees. So hard to tell. Sadly, if they for some reason look at your application and circular file it, you probably will never hear about it. But, you should be a hot ticket, having your bus license and experience.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

oldfarmer, hope you never posted any wild videos....they check that kind of thing these days.

I haven't applied for a job in 22 years.......and I would advise any employer never to hire me. I used to be a good employee, but, I don't care any more.

Have fun, and whether you get the job or not every interview is a learning experience - you do get better at it. Good luck!

LOL, no...no wild videos. Don't use much social media so there's nothing to check. I always wondered why anyone would put their personal life online for the world (or employers) to see. I remember at my old job someone got in trouble when they called in sick and then posted pictures at the Water Park.

I don't really care either, I think that's the liberating part. I have a good work ethic, don't do drugs, show up on time, don't steal and I'm too afraid of my wife to sexually harass anybody. Haven't gotten a ticket since Ronald Reagan was president. No chargeable accidents during my entire professional career.

IN short, I'm an employers dream.

stickguy

now all you need to be is someone impotants cousin, and you can get a job!

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer, hope you never posted any wild videos....they check that kind of thing these days.

I haven't applied for a job in 22 years.......and I would advise any employer never to hire me. I used to be a good employee, but, I don't care any more.

Have fun, and whether you get the job or not every interview is a learning experience - you do get better at it. Good luck!

I don't really care either, I think that's the liberating part. I have a good work ethic, don't do drugs, show up on time, don't steal and I'm too afraid of my wife to sexually harass anybody. Haven't gotten a ticket since Ronald Reagan was president. No chargeable accidents during my entire professional career.

IN short, I'm an employers dream.

I would say about the same, I don't do drugs, don't drink very much, have only about a half dozen speeding tickets, about the same parking tickets........never been in trouble, wouldn't harass anyone - what's the point - come on to someone who isn't interested?

But, then I see the people with their $100000+ a year job and they steal from the slush fund, harass employees, drink on the job, cheat their company....is it me or is it them that's crazy.

The stories around Tampa are sometimes so bizarre. Here you are, a hard working honest decent person, and then there are people like the mayor of Davenport FL;

A Florida mayor has been arrested for allegedly using the handicap placard of a woman who died in 2012, authorities said.

Davenport mayor Teresa Darlene Bradley, who is known professionally as Darlene Bradley, was arrested Tuesday and charged with criminal use of a deceased person's ID, possession of an altered or counterfeit decal and unlawful use of a handicap placard, according to a press release from the Polk County Sheriff's Office. Davenport is located about an hour southwest of Orlando.

Bradley was booked into the Polk County Jail and was later released after posting a $2,250 bail, the sheriff's office said.

Last month, the sheriff's office received information that Bradley was parking in various handicap spots although "she was not known to be handicapped or have a placard issued to her," according to the press release.

carnaught

oldfarmer50 said:

Well I bit the bullet and applied for some retirement jobs. One was a shuttle driver for a valet service. Looks like driving hospital employees to and from off site parking. The other is a swap driver for a BMW, Honda dealer.

Just wondering if you captain's of industry can tell me if companies are serious when they post ads these days or are they just compiling resumes. How long would I expect to wait before I hear back from them.

I haven't applied for a job in 27 years and things have changed quite a bit. This is the first time I've applied online.

O.F., the swap driver sounds like it would be measurably more fun.

stickguy

depends if you want to spend all your time alone driving, or see a lot of people. Me, I would vote for alone time!

driver100

stickguy said:

depends if you want to spend all your time alone driving, or see a lot of people. Me, I would vote for alone time!

Me too...but, I have talked to the guys who drive the dealer shuttle buses and they like talking to the passengers. They probably meet some businessmen too, who might lead them into another job....everything is networking these days.

oldfarmer50

carnaught said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Well I bit the bullet and applied for some retirement jobs. One was a shuttle driver for a valet service. Looks like driving hospital employees to and from off site parking. The other is a swap driver for a BMW, Honda dealer.

Just wondering if you captain's of industry can tell me if companies are serious when they post ads these days or are they just compiling resumes. How long would I expect to wait before I hear back from them.

I haven't applied for a job in 27 years and things have changed quite a bit. This is the first time I've applied online.

O.F., the swap driver sounds like it would be measurably more fun.

The swap driver would be for a store that sells MB, BMW, Mini and Honda so the driving might be fun.

All this depends on hours and and pay of course. I'm sure I could get a job at Hertz doing a lot of car driving but it's min. wage. $10/hr on Jan. 1st. I don't really need the money but I have some pride.

stickguy

drive the shuttle, and might at least get some tips.

oldfarmer50

One thing that worries me is age discrimination. I know the old corporation I worked for in my professional days fired people at age 39 so they could never be sued (they got sued for racism instead).

These days they can't ask your age but one look at when you graduated school tells them. Discrimination laws can be circumvented.

driver100

Just move graduation up 10 or 20 years....who's going to check ?

stickguy

For those driver jobs, might work in your favor. Seems like many of them are retired guys. More reliable, and not like this is a career position they train you for. Or that experienced people get paid more.

Mr_Shiftright

stickguy said:

If I am getting a wildly impractical 2 seat toy, I want to be able to at least put the top down when I want to. Can't you just get the removable HT if you want it to act like a coupe?

Removable hardtops are a pain. You either never take it off because there's no place to store it, or you take it off permanently and sell it.

Mr_Shiftright

We're Number One! We're Number One!

http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article189904244.html

tjc78

The shuttle driver at my dealer is a retired salesman. He works from 7-12 every day.   

He he said he absolutely loves it.  Meets a lot of nice people and gets to ride around in a new Enclave everyday.   

Last time I got dropped off (end of his shift)  I saw him getting into a brand new Yukon Denali... gig must pay well

Michaell

tjc78 said:

The shuttle driver at my dealer is a retired salesman. He works from 7-12 every day.   

He he said he absolutely loves it.  Meets a lot of nice people and gets to ride around in a new Enclave everyday.   

Last time I got dropped off (end of his shift)  I saw him getting into a brand new Yukon Denali... gig must pay well

Employee discount?

nyccarguy

Michaell said:

The shuttle driver at my dealer is a retired salesman. He works from 7-12 every day.   

He he said he absolutely loves it.  Meets a lot of nice people and gets to ride around in a new Enclave everyday.   

Last time I got dropped off (end of his shift)  I saw him getting into a brand new Yukon Denali... gig must pay well

Employee discount?

I can tell you 1st hand that (a) those aren't cheap and (b) they don't lease well.  

oldfarmer50

Michaell said:

tjc78 said:

The shuttle driver at my dealer is a retired salesman. He works from 7-12 every day.   

He he said he absolutely loves it.  Meets a lot of nice people and gets to ride around in a new Enclave everyday.   

Last time I got dropped off (end of his shift)  I saw him getting into a brand new Yukon Denali... gig must pay well

Employee discount?

That's something I never considered. I could pick up some low mile hoopties that a high end dealer would just send to auction.

pensfan83

nyccarguy said:

I can tell you 1st hand that (b) they don't lease well.  

Interesting. Before we decided to stay with a sedan for the Audi replacement I was poking around the Acadia lease thread and even though the MF was often higher than average, the high RV value for the Denali models often seemed to offset it more than enough to get good lease deals.

nyccarguy

pensfan83 said:

I can tell you 1st hand that (b) they don't lease well.  

Interesting. Before we decided to stay with a sedan for the Audi replacement I was poking around the Acadia lease thread and even though the MF was often higher than average, the high RV value for the Denali models often seemed to offset it more than enough to get good lease deals.

There was a time when the Denali residuals were sick. Unfortunately, when you are looking to lease a $75,000 Yukon Denali for 36 months & 20K miles per year things aren't cheap;)

Michaell

nyccarguy said:

pensfan83 said:

nyccarguy said:

I can tell you 1st hand that (b) they don't lease well.  

Interesting. Before we decided to stay with a sedan for the Audi replacement I was poking around the Acadia lease thread and even though the MF was often higher than average, the high RV value for the Denali models often seemed to offset it more than enough to get good lease deals.

There was a time when the Denali residuals were sick. Unfortunately, when you are looking to lease a $75,000 Yukon Denali for 36 months & 20K miles per year things aren't cheap;)


Yeah, but not as expensive as your calculations seem to lead you to believe .....

oldfarmer50

Michaell said:

nyccarguy said:

pensfan83 said:

nyccarguy said:

I can tell you 1st hand that (b) they don't lease well.  

Interesting. Before we decided to stay with a sedan for the Audi replacement I was poking around the Acadia lease thread and even though the MF was often higher than average, the high RV value for the Denali models often seemed to offset it more than enough to get good lease deals.

There was a time when the Denali residuals were sick. Unfortunately, when you are looking to lease a $75,000 Yukon Denali for 36 months & 20K miles per year things aren't cheap;)

Yeah, but not as expensive as your calculations seem to lead you to believe .....

That's another thing that I don't get about leases. If it's a vehicle that has a high residual like a Honda or a pick up why not just buy it and sell it when you want? The high value must protect you.

Michaell

oldfarmer50 said:

Michaell said:

nyccarguy said:

pensfan83 said:

nyccarguy said:

I can tell you 1st hand that (b) they don't lease well.  

Interesting. Before we decided to stay with a sedan for the Audi replacement I was poking around the Acadia lease thread and even though the MF was often higher than average, the high RV value for the Denali models often seemed to offset it more than enough to get good lease deals.

There was a time when the Denali residuals were sick. Unfortunately, when you are looking to lease a $75,000 Yukon Denali for 36 months & 20K miles per year things aren't cheap;)

Yeah, but not as expensive as your calculations seem to lead you to believe .....

That's another thing that I don't get about leases. If it's a vehicle that has a high residual like a Honda or a pick up why not just buy it and sell it when you want? The high value must protect you.


The residual set by the bank for the lease may (or, likely, may not) reflect the real world. Residuals are inflated all the time to get to a certain lease payment that can be marketed.

As an example, for months, Kia had a reasonable mix of money factor (interest rate), residual and lease cash. For November, they severely jacked up both the MF and the lease cash. In the end, it's likely to result in the same payment.

So why do it?

Somewhere, I'm sure there is an accountant who has figured out that a higher MF means more money for the bank, and less for the dealer.

abacomike

It was so warm (85 degrees) and very humid down here today I had to run The A/C in the condo.  It is supposed to be like this through Christmas. 

So you northerners might consider a quick trip down here for the holidays.  It was 80 degrees in Jacksonville - which is very warm for them this time of year.

snakeweasel

abacomike said:

It was so warm (85 degrees) and very humid down here today I had to run The A/C in the condo.  It is supposed to be like this through Christmas. 

So you northerners might consider a quick trip down here for the holidays.  It was 80 degrees in Jacksonville - which is very warm for them this time of year.

Ok just send me your address and I'll be on the way. Hope you have enough spare rooms for all of us. 

snakeweasel

abacomike said:

It was so warm (85 degrees) and very humid down here today I had to run The A/C in the condo.  It is supposed to be like this through Christmas. 

So you northerners might consider a quick trip down here for the holidays.  It was 80 degrees in Jacksonville - which is very warm for them this time of year.

Ok just send me your address and I'll be on the way. Hope you have enough spare rooms for all of us. 

explorerx4

@abacomike,
We want our White Christmas.
Hope I make it there. Just read the 2 people were murdered on the street next to where work when I walk a couple of times a day.
On the way home from work today I was trying to work the traffic a bit so I decided to get to the right, next lane over.
Signaled my intention and when I checked my right mirror a car might have been coming over left, trailing with no signal.
Decided to just keep making my lane change and got a horn blast. Just as I went passed an exit a few hundred feet up, heard something hit off the back of the truck while the car, black gangbanger Maxima, took the exit.
If it had stayed in that lane it took, would have had no reason to move to the left into the lane I was entering.
Didn't find anything, but some day I probably will.

imidazol97

explorerx4 said:

@abacomike,
We want our White Christmas.
Hope I make it there. Just read the 2 people were murdered on the street next to where work when I walk a couple of times a day.
On the way home from work today I was trying to work the traffic a bit so I decided to get to the right, next lane over.
Signaled my intention and when I checked my right mirror a car might have been coming over left, trailing with no signal.
Decided to just keep making my lane change and got a horn blast. Just as I went passed an exit a few hundred feet up, heard something hit off the back of the truck while the car, black gangbanger Maxima, took the exit.
If it had stayed in that lane it took, would have had no reason to move to the left into the lane I was entering.
Didn't find anything, but some day I probably will.

Wow.

stickguy

the higher the residual, the less you want to lease to buy. Also, it makes it riskier to buy if you expect to trade out in that 3 year timeframe, because easy to have values less than residual.

Ideal to me, if you want a long term ownership experience, is to get huge discounts (lease cash) and low MF, with a low residual. Get a low payment, and if you want to buy out at the end, can make a lot of sense.

Though I did pull an amortization schedule today on my Elantra (to compare where I would be after 3 years, if I wanted to sell it then to mimic a lease). Turns out I will only owe about $7,500. Definitely way lower than the residual (which would also then require more sales tax and new DMV work to buy, or a turn in fee to dump).

driver100

Close one explorer.
Almost every day I have a 20 to 25 minute drive to tennis or pickleball.
I would estimate I have 3 close calls on each trip, to and back again.
Yesterday I came off a 45 mph road and there was a short entrance ramp to get onto the 55 mph 4 lane highway headed North (2 lanes each way and a median).
As I was on the ramp it looked clear to go, but I noticed a car headed South, in the left turn lane. It would have been OK if she did just turn but she did a U-Turn which seems to be very common here for some unknown reason.
She did her U turn into the right turn where I was about to merge into....I got through that and then she cut in front of me to enter a McDonalds,,,,,,,that she could have done by just making a left turn and entering from the side.
The driving is wild down here, and it is even worse when there is fast cheap food involved.

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-b4l1ESPBd8

driver100

Oldfarmer....think of leasing this way. You will probably never pay less by leasing, it is just a convenient way to get into a new car and pay less per month to do it...with a little or no down payment.

When the lease ends you have an option, turn the car in or buy it back.....that can be an advantage.

You are paying for the difference between the cost of the car and it's value at the end. If the car is worth less at the end of the lease, the monthly cost will be more to make up that difference.

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

@abacomike,
We want our White Christmas.
Hope I make it there. Just read the 2 people were murdered on the street next to where work when I walk a couple of times a day.
On the way home from work today I was trying to work the traffic a bit so I decided to get to the right, next lane over.
Signaled my intention and when I checked my right mirror a car might have been coming over left, trailing with no signal.
Decided to just keep making my lane change and got a horn blast. Just as I went passed an exit a few hundred feet up, heard something hit off the back of the truck while the car, black gangbanger Maxima, took the exit.
If it had stayed in that lane it took, would have had no reason to move to the left into the lane I was entering.
Didn't find anything, but some day I probably will.

That's strange. This morning I was on the highway in heavy traffic and a black Maxima was weaving in and out trying to gain a few feet. I stayed in the right hand lane and watched him jockey for position only to get jammed by traffic. For all his trouble we got into the city at the same time.

I remember many years ago being the same way.

dino001

I think a lot of people confuse “real” residual, set by say, an independent commercial bank for leases they may underwrite and manufacturer-set residual for subsidized incentive lease deals that the captive finance company has to use, regardless of real data. The difference would be written off later down the road when auction sale yields lower price than the residual.

If one has to use the first one, lease would almost never make sense, if it’s the latter, it may be the best deal in town, as it may be equivalent to unavailable thousands of bucks in cash rebates. It is roughly equivalent to that mentioned writeoff down the road subtracted from the cash price and then lease at market level residual. You can see the subsidy then. If there is no cash rebate for purchase to level that field, the lease would be better deal then.

Mr_Shiftright

snakeweasel said:

abacomike said:

It was so warm (85 degrees) and very humid down here today I had to run The A/C in the condo.  It is supposed to be like this through Christmas. 

So you northerners might consider a quick trip down here for the holidays.  It was 80 degrees in Jacksonville - which is very warm for them this time of year.

Ok just send me your address and I'll be on the way. Hope you have enough spare rooms for all of us. 

Can I bring my pit bull?

stickguy

leasing is just another way to finance a car. No different really than buying and trading in every 3 years, other than the various fees, and you know what the trade in value is after the 3.