Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

Mr_Shiftright

roadburner said:

isellhondas said:

I think you're on to something! Shame on me! How a BMW could tell that I had committed a mortal sin by buying a bulb at NAPA instead of at the dealer I'll never know! It took the car a few hours to figure out it had been violated!

I know that I’ve explained this before, but that issue has absolutely nothing to with whether the bulbs are OEM; the problem is the TYPE of bulb. European manufacturers use bulbs with a silver base instead of a brass base. BMW at that time had designed the bulb check system to monitor bulbs by sending a very low current to the bulbs to detect continuity. The copper bases corroded and or had too high of a resistance. BMW has yet to learn that US drivers never read the OM and will try to use the cheapest generic part whenever possible. 

Silver? Why not gold? It's an excellent conductor!

ab348

Storm update from Nova Scotia - It started raining in Halifax mid-morning and continues to rain as I write this. The winds are the biggest concern here. Already they are getting gusty and are supposed to get a lot worse as the day goes on and into tonight. Inland a bit I gather they are getting a lot of snow. I went out this morning before the rain began and lashed the patio table and chair frames that winter out there to the deck rail of the good ship Chez Greg so they wouldn't blow away. Today was green bin day in the neighborhood and the crews already braved the rain to collect their contents. Now I periodically hear crashes as the wind blows them over. Hopefully the power will stay on. I was in Canadian Tire on Tuesday and strolled down the aisle where the generators are to ponder getting one. I didn't, but they had plenty to choose from. By midday yesterday there apparently wasn't one to be had anywhere in town.

The hype here on the news and in social media is simply ridiculous. Last night grocery stores got cleaned out of a lot of items. I doubt any storm could live up to the buildup this one got in the media and a lot of people are quite panicky. At some point there needs to be a reckoning with the media on this sort of coverage.

jmonroe

houdini1 said:

jmonroe said: I learned a valuable lesson. If I could do something, why pay someone to screw it up and then be inconvenienced in the process?

But, the corollary is, "Why try to fix it myself and then screw it up and make it even more expensive to repair?" Not talking about you JM, just some people like me can do more damage by DoingIY.

If I had two left hands, that's the way I'd do it too. jmonroe

Yeh, I know my limits.

And the bar ain't that high...is it? jmonroe

That's like the drunk who said he knew his limits but somehow he always got drunk before he reached them.

Being drunk is a relative term. I've always maintained that you ain't drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on. Therefore, I've only been drunk once...that I can remember.

jmonroe

driver100

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

tjc78 said:

roadburner said:

My wife and I usually buy CPO BMWs, pay them off in a couple of years, and then drive them for another 7-8 years minimum. I've never figured True Cost to Own, but I had an "expert" on another board proclaim that leasing a new BMW every three years was the cheapest way to own one. I crunched the numbers-subtracting what I sold it for from my purchase price and adding in all maintenance and repairs- and it turned out that buying my CPO 2004 X3 and driving it for 12 years was actually $32,000 less expensive than a perpetual $550/month lease over the same period.

I’m a Chronic leaser, but I could never justify it saying it was cheaper over the course of time. I would argue similar costs if you buy new and trade every three years, but certainly not over the long haul.

Regardless of economics leasing is attractive if you're driving a complex car prone to expensive repairs post-warranty or live in a climate that can trash a car in short order.

You hit one of the main reasons I won't by a car like an Audi, BMW and the like. I simply cannot see driving a car that you wouldn't own outside of a warranty. To me that's saying the car is unreliable

. 

That is one way of looking at it. I see it as you only live once, I want to enjoy the feeling of driving a car that has been superbly engineered (think masterpiece of art, Shakespeare, best actor, best whiskey, best pizza), and I am willing to pay for that privilege. If it was only about saving money or trying to be as practical as possible, I would buy a 3 year old Camry.

If you actually owned a 3 year old Camry I am reasonably sure that you would be singing its praises.

Only because if i owned a 3 year old Camry it would mean I didn't know any better and thought that would be a good car for me. Not sure about singing praises, but, would probably be naively satisfied.

driver100

Mr_Shiftright said:

roadburner said:

isellhondas said:

I think you're on to something! Shame on me! How a BMW could tell that I had committed a mortal sin by buying a bulb at NAPA instead of at the dealer I'll never know! It took the car a few hours to figure out it had been violated!

I know that I’ve explained this before, but that issue has absolutely nothing to with whether the bulbs are OEM; the problem is the TYPE of bulb. European manufacturers use bulbs with a silver base instead of a brass base. BMW at that time had designed the bulb check system to monitor bulbs by sending a very low current to the bulbs to detect continuity. The copper bases corroded and or had too high of a resistance. BMW has yet to learn that US drivers never read the OM and will try to use the cheapest generic part whenever possible. 

Silver? Why not gold? It's an excellent conductor!

There is not being practical.....and then there is being ridiculous.

houdini1

Mr_Shiftright said:

Michaell said:

fintail said:

Occasional rain and mid 40s here through the weekend, tough world!

40's and 50's here in Denver for the next 10 days.

Lows in the mid 20's to low 30's.

Just about right for this time of year.

Everybody suffering through the deep freeze, stay warm and stay safe.

And take special care of your pets. Just because they have fur doesn't mean they aren't vulnerable in extreme cold!

Take extra special care of that brass monkey !

jmonroe

graphicguy said:

I agree with most. Buy what you like. I have, in the past, bought “cheap” because of some self imposed thought that “cheap” is what my family needed at the time.

Not sure any of that was the right way to go, given how that turned out. For example, two of the “cheap” rides I’ve had in my fleet in years past, Ford Tempo, Renault Alliance Chevy Cavalier.....all were miserable cars that I bought because they were cheap. They were unreliable, left me stranded more than once, not necessarily comfortable, sporty, speedy, or well built.

Just miserable cars that were cheap and a total waste of my money.

Now, I’ve had very expensive cars that were unreliable, too. But, the cheap ones above seem to stand out more in my mind....probably because I could ill-afford an unreliable car when I owned them. I bought all of them new, also.


Also agree that the advancements on fuel economy, tech, driveability, performance, etc over the last 3-4 years have been monumental. Hard to believe seeing what a 2018 car can do, vs a 2010 car. Pretty big changes, even for something as mundane as a Camry or an Accord. I still think Chevy’s Bolt/Volt are amazing cars, too.

I think I know what you mean about what you "thought" your family needed when it came time to buy a car. While I didn't buy any cheap cars, I didn't think I could afford new cars while I was raising my family. As it turned out I was a little wrong about that. I could afford new cars just not the models I wanted so I bought used. Not sorry about doing that but I always figured you should buy what you want. If you want more than you have at the time, save a little longer. In my case I didn't want to do that, so used is the way I did it.

I've mentioned before several times that Mrs. j did not think we needed a new car when I bought my first Genny in '09. She was right about that, I didn't, I just wanted one. As I said, she was very much against it but she knew I was going to do it anyway so she at least satisfied herself that the Cabernet Red Pearl was a VERY nice color and she even mentioned that several times before I actually bought the car. Heck, before I was done with her, I had her believing that she wanted to buy that car and I was just an innocent bystander.

I traded her '06 Sonata Limited for the '09 Genny and it just turned 13K miles on the way to the dealer in the Akron area. That car was the virtual cream-puff and I got what I wanted for it too.

As for how things change and how you think when you get older, Son #2 said it best, "man have you changed. I remember the day when you would have been looking high and low for a car like that Sonata". I told him, "yes, I have changed. I think differently now. I no longer have to think about how I'm going to feed, clothe and educate you and you brother".

Now, if you want to hear about the crying I heard from Mrs. j when I brought up the subject of buying the '15 Genny, well, that would be way too long for posting here. Let's just say she had a real conniption.

Moral of the story about buying cars that you want, you have choices: save longer, get older or put your foot down. As life has progressed, I have I done all of them.

jmonroe

Mr_Shiftright

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

roadburner said:

isellhondas said:

I think you're on to something! Shame on me! How a BMW could tell that I had committed a mortal sin by buying a bulb at NAPA instead of at the dealer I'll never know! It took the car a few hours to figure out it had been violated!

I know that I’ve explained this before, but that issue has absolutely nothing to with whether the bulbs are OEM; the problem is the TYPE of bulb. European manufacturers use bulbs with a silver base instead of a brass base. BMW at that time had designed the bulb check system to monitor bulbs by sending a very low current to the bulbs to detect continuity. The copper bases corroded and or had too high of a resistance. BMW has yet to learn that US drivers never read the OM and will try to use the cheapest generic part whenever possible. 

Silver? Why not gold? It's an excellent conductor!

There is not being practical.....and then there is being ridiculous.

Actually gold is not as good a conductor as copper, but has the advantage that it doesn't tarnish. So that would be the only advantage in a car. Silver is a better conductor than either but corrodes, as does copper. So really, gold plated BMW bulbs are not that far-fetched as a solution to a problem--and think of the marketing potential!

stickguy

Going to get a real world update on the Michelin X ice tires today. My son bought a slightly used set and dropped car today (good timing) to get installed. Said he was sliding around a lot on way in (OEM pirellis with about 12k on them) even with Quattro. Since will do same roads, still crappy, on way back it will be a perfect comparison. Should be vastly better.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, the AWD helps with acceleration from a stop, but on steering and braking it's not that relevant--that's where the tires and the driver make all the difference.

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

isellhondas said:

I think you're on to something! Shame on me! How a BMW could tell that I had committed a mortal sin by buying a bulb at NAPA instead of at the dealer I'll never know! It took the car a few hours to figure out it had been violated!

I know that I’ve explained this before, but that issue has absolutely nothing to with whether the bulbs are OEM; the problem is the TYPE of bulb. European manufacturers use bulbs with a silver base instead of a brass base. BMW at that time had designed the bulb check system to monitor bulbs by sending a very low current to the bulbs to detect continuity. The copper bases corroded and or had too high of a resistance. BMW has yet to learn that US drivers never read the OM and will try to use the cheapest generic part whenever possible. 

Silver? Why not gold? It's an excellent conductor!

There is not being practical.....and then there is being ridiculous.

Actually gold is not as good a conductor as copper, but has the advantage that it doesn't tarnish. So that would be the only advantage in a car. Silver is a better conductor than either but corrodes, as does copper. So really, gold plated BMW bulbs are not that far-fetched as a solution to a problem--and think of the marketing potential!

When my wife had her 1991 Volvo 740 Turbo the drill was to replace ALL the rear bulbs when one burned out- the explanation was that the bulbs came in matched sets. 

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QLOHI3qerWA

roadburner

BMW actually started using gold plated contacts in their fuel sending units because the rotgut that passes for US gasoline caused all sorts of issues. At least with Top Tier fuels that is no longer a concern. 

driver100

roadburner said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

roadburner said:

isellhondas said:

I think you're on to something! Shame on me! How a BMW could tell that I had committed a mortal sin by buying a bulb at NAPA instead of at the dealer I'll never know! It took the car a few hours to figure out it had been violated!

I know that I’ve explained this before, but that issue has absolutely nothing to with whether the bulbs are OEM; the problem is the TYPE of bulb. European manufacturers use bulbs with a silver base instead of a brass base. BMW at that time had designed the bulb check system to monitor bulbs by sending a very low current to the bulbs to detect continuity. The copper bases corroded and or had too high of a resistance. BMW has yet to learn that US drivers never read the OM and will try to use the cheapest generic part whenever possible. 

Silver? Why not gold? It's an excellent conductor!

There is not being practical.....and then there is being ridiculous.

Actually gold is not as good a conductor as copper, but has the advantage that it doesn't tarnish. So that would be the only advantage in a car. Silver is a better conductor than either but corrodes, as does copper. So really, gold plated BMW bulbs are not that far-fetched as a solution to a problem--and think of the marketing potential!

When my wife had her 1991 Volvo 740 Turbo the drill was to replace ALL the rear bulbs when one burned out- the explanation was that the bulbs came in matched sets. 

When General Electric bought CBS David Letterman said when one light bulb in your house goes you should replace all of them for maximum efficiency.

driver100

Went to Publix today and when the cashier asked me if I found everything I said I didn't find Paula Deen's Sweet Bourbon Sauce Glaze. I think she was about to say "Sorry" so I said whenever I say I didn't find something no one really does much. She called over an assistant and he checked the shelf, and then looked it up on their computer. He said it could be ordered if I bought a case of 6. I said sure, then he said it shows not available at this time. He explained stores may not stock it because of Paula's PI comments, but he heard a rumor that they would keep the product but change the name.

I checked online and everyone says it isn't available. When I checked Amazon they had loads of reviews and people love the stuff.

I was using teriyaki sauce but it is high in calories and in salt...but, this bourbon sauce actually tastes better and is pretty low in calories and salt.

I am running low, so I hope I can find some soon..........

stickguy

got a report on the new snow tires. definitely an improvement. no slipping at all on acceleration, and much less turning and stopping. So, kid is happy.

good deal too. X ice (222/45-17) on nice looking alloys. Bought from tire rack last season, and only used 3,000 miles. Were on a GTI that was traded for a BMW, so owner had no use for them. Son paid $400. A real bargain.

qbrozen

We were projected to get 1-3" of the white stuff. Wound up with about 10-12. If I had known earlier, I would have plowed in 2 stages. It was a huge PITA to do all at once. Then shoVel the walkway and around the cars, clean off cars, etc. AFTER all that, the school calls to inform us they are closed tomorrow. SIGH!

tjc78

Ugh... left work 2.  Got home a little before 3 and was out there until 5:30.  It was so windblown I can’t tell what we got.  I’m guess 7-8”.   Helped my neighbor out too.  This is all my fault because I told my mom to hold on buying us a blower. 

stickguy

must have been real local, since we are only about 5 miles apart. I don't thing we got near that.

tjc78

I’m probably high.  I had areas with over a foot and some that seemed closer to 3-4.  

In Winslow at work it did seem more than Home.  

explorerx4

Lots of snow drifting, sometimes over my knees. Cleaned up the driveway, sidewalk and deck. Never heard the plow come by again. More worried about the cold following the snow.

28firefighter

It drizzled here today....

stickguy

oh, there is going to be lots of ice this weekend. anything left is going to freeze hard.

Mr_Shiftright

roadburner said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

roadburner said:

isellhondas said:

I think you're on to something! Shame on me! How a BMW could tell that I had committed a mortal sin by buying a bulb at NAPA instead of at the dealer I'll never know! It took the car a few hours to figure out it had been violated!

I know that I’ve explained this before, but that issue has absolutely nothing to with whether the bulbs are OEM; the problem is the TYPE of bulb. European manufacturers use bulbs with a silver base instead of a brass base. BMW at that time had designed the bulb check system to monitor bulbs by sending a very low current to the bulbs to detect continuity. The copper bases corroded and or had too high of a resistance. BMW has yet to learn that US drivers never read the OM and will try to use the cheapest generic part whenever possible. 

Silver? Why not gold? It's an excellent conductor!

There is not being practical.....and then there is being ridiculous.

Actually gold is not as good a conductor as copper, but has the advantage that it doesn't tarnish. So that would be the only advantage in a car. Silver is a better conductor than either but corrodes, as does copper. So really, gold plated BMW bulbs are not that far-fetched as a solution to a problem--and think of the marketing potential!

When my wife had her 1991 Volvo 740 Turbo the drill was to replace ALL the rear bulbs when one burned out- the explanation was that the bulbs came in matched sets. 

In their own walnut carrying case, with brass hinges?

ab348

The "Bomb Cyclone" seems pretty much over here. Winds are light, temps around 5C, rain has pretty much stopped. I'll have to inspect the roof in the AM but I suspect no damage. Around the city there were a few places that had some roof damage according to the news but the biggest problems are power outages. Mine flickered but I never lost service. We never got cold enough here on the coast to have snow so the streets are bare and the ground is brown/green, though the weekend is supposed to bring a return of the really cold weather until things get back to normal next week. For Nova Scotia the reality never came close to the hype.

jmonroe

tjc78 said:

I’m probably high.  I had areas with over a foot and some that seemed closer to 3-4.  

In Winslow at work it did seem more than Home.  

I agree, you are "... probably high". Anyone who turns down a freebee snow blower has to be on something.

I don't know what I'd do without my snow blower. My driveway is as flat as your desk, yet I use it for any appreciable accumulation. Otherwise I just ride over the dustings. This year I had to replace the recoil starter again but after 4 priming pumps and a few pulls on the rope it fired right up. Now that it has been started this season, it's just like all the preceding 19 seasons, a couple priming pumps, one pull and it's running.

Something very interesting happened on the way home from the restaurant tonight in 10 degree weather. As I'm turning onto a street about 2 blocks from my house, on the other side of the street at the stop sign, I see a box right at the stop sign. It's a box from a slow cooker of some kind. I'm thinking it could be the cooker because the box was not crushed then I had the fearful thought that it could be a puppy or kitten in there, so I turned around and went back to check. Thankfully, I was wrong on both thoughts so now I have another nice box "for something". Can't have too many of those things.

Hey @tjc78, get a checkup then get that snow blower, OK?

jmonroe

snakeweasel

fintail said:

A co-worker of mine has a metric cruiser, I think a Yamahog, which weighs at least 600 lbs. She's a slender middle aged woman, which amuses me, as I am not dainty nor weak, and I have no desire for something so heavy.

Sounds like my Triumph! 350 lbs. That's about 1/3rd of a Harley.

My Honda weighs in at just over 500.     
---------------------
The Honda has a pretty low center of gravity which tends to make it feel lighter. Just before getting the Honda I spent some time on a Harley Street 500. That weighs in at just under 500 pounds but the Honda feels a lot lighter. 

snakeweasel

Michaell said:

To me a well engineered car is one your not afraid to drive cross country when it has 100K miles on it. When my FIL passed away, we inherited his early 90's Subaru Legacy wagon with 140K on it. I drove it from CO to CA (1100 miles) to gift to my son as a HS graduation gift (this was in 2007). Changed the oil, did an alignment, and off I went. Averaged 30MPG on the trip. Not a problem or a hiccup the whole way. Is it a coincidence that the wife's DD is a 2015 Outback? Probably not...

When my step mother passed away my sisters went to Vegas to attend to the estate including a 90's Buick with close to 150K on the clock. They drove it back to Chicago by way of Nashville with no issues. 

It ended up in the possession of one of her granddaughters who drove for a couple of more years. 

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

To me a well engineered car is one your not afraid to drive cross country when it has 100K miles on it. When my FIL passed away, we inherited his early 90's Subaru Legacy wagon with 140K on it. I drove it from CO to CA (1100 miles) to gift to my son as a HS graduation gift (this was in 2007). Changed the oil, did an alignment, and off I went. Averaged 30MPG on the trip. Not a problem or a hiccup the whole way. Is it a coincidence that the wife's DD is a 2015 Outback? Probably not...

My neighbor drove his diesel Jetta from Toronto to California and back and it had over 250000 miles on it....it can be done. I remember my 1984 Camaro, my 1986 Chev Cosica, and my 92 Chev Cavalier felt a little loose and like they were going to fall apart at about 60000 miles - also they usually had a few unexpected repairs, especially the Corsica which was what I would call....minimal engineering. New cars usually seem to be tighter with fewer squeaks and rattles.

I had a 92 Corsica which I had for about 150K with only having a head gasket being replaced. I sold it to my brother in law who bought it for his daughter. She drove it for 80K or so trouble free miles. 

fintail

Funny, I don't care for a tall ride height in a car, but I don't mind it on a bike. I remember my MSF class, where they tried to steer everyone onto little cruisers. 20 seconds later, and I was simply "nope". I was able to wrangle up a dual sport, which fit me much better, I was able to maneuver it much easier. Also not too heavy.

snakeweasel said:

My Honda weighs in at just over 500.     
---------------------
The Honda has a pretty low center of gravity which tends to make it feel lighter. Just before getting the Honda I spent some time on a Harley Street 500. That weighs in at just under 500 pounds but the Honda feels a lot lighter. 

driver100

jmonroe said:

tjc78 said:

I’m probably high.  I had areas with over a foot and some that seemed closer to 3-4.  

In Winslow at work it did seem more than Home.  

I agree, you are "... probably high". Anyone who turns down a freebee snow blower has to be on something.

I don't know what I'd do without my snow blower. My driveway is as flat as your desk, yet I use it for any appreciable accumulation. Otherwise I just ride over the dustings. This year I had to replace the recoil starter again but after 4 priming pumps and a few pulls on the rope it fired right up. Now that it has been started this season, it's just like all the preceding 19 seasons, a couple priming pumps, one pull and it's running.

Something very interesting happened on the way home from the restaurant tonight in 10 degree weather. As I'm turning onto a street about 2 blocks from my house, on the other side of the street at the stop sign, I see a box right at the stop sign. It's a box from a slow cooker of some kind. I'm thinking it could be the cooker because the box was not crushed then I had the fearful thought that it could be a puppy or kitten in there, so I turned around and went back to check. Thankfully, I was wrong on both thoughts so now I have another nice box "for something". Can't have too many of those things.

Hey @tjc78, get a checkup then get that snow blower, OK?

jmonroe

You saved an empty box from the freezing cold.

driver100

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Michaell said:

To me a well engineered car is one your not afraid to drive cross country when it has 100K miles on it.

When my FIL passed away, we inherited his early 90's Subaru Legacy wagon with 140K on it. I drove it from CO to CA (1100 miles) to gift to my son as a HS graduation gift (this was in 2007).

Changed the oil, did an alignment, and off I went. Averaged 30MPG on the trip. Not a problem or a hiccup the whole way.

Is it a coincidence that the wife's DD is a 2015 Outback? Probably not...

My neighbor drove his diesel Jetta from Toronto to California and back and it had over 250000 miles on it....it can be done.
I remember my 1984 Camaro, my 1986 Chev Cosica, and my 92 Chev Cavalier felt a little loose and like they were going to fall apart at about 60000 miles - also they usually had a few unexpected repairs, especially the Corsica which was what I would call....minimal engineering. New cars usually seem to be tighter with fewer squeaks and rattles.

I had a 92 Corsica which I had for about 150K with only having a head gasket being replaced. I sold it to my brother in law who bought it for his daughter. She drove it for 80K or so trouble free miles. 

Maybe they got better by 92. My 86 was made cheap in every way - truly a minimal car. I am very easy on cars....but, the Corsica was one of the low points in my automobile experiences. It was fairly zippy though, but other than that not a lot of fun, and not very reliable. I had to be at work at 8 a.m. and I couldn't rely on it to get me to work, so I leased the 92 Cavalier....6 cyl. I needed something new and reliable.

snakeweasel

Mr_Shiftright said:

isellhondas said:

I think you're on to something! Shame on me! How a BMW could tell that I had committed a mortal sin by buying a bulb at NAPA instead of at the dealer I'll never know! It took the car a few hours to figure out it had been violated!

I know that I’ve explained this before, but that issue has absolutely nothing to with whether the bulbs are OEM; the problem is the TYPE of bulb. European manufacturers use bulbs with a silver base instead of a brass base. BMW at that time had designed the bulb check system to monitor bulbs by sending a very low current to the bulbs to detect continuity. The copper bases corroded and or had too high of a resistance. BMW has yet to learn that US drivers never read the OM and will try to use the cheapest generic part whenever possible. 

Silver? Why not gold? It's an excellent conductor!

There is not being practical.....and then there is being ridiculous.

Actually gold is not as good a conductor as copper, but has the advantage that it doesn't tarnish. So that would be the only advantage in a car. Silver is a better conductor than either but corrodes, as does copper. So really, gold plated BMW bulbs are not that far-fetched as a solution to a problem--and think of the marketing potential!

is corrosion on the bulb really that much of a problem? I really can't think of a time when I had a bulb stop working due to corrosion. 

abacomike

jmonroe said:

I’m probably high.  I had areas with over a foot and some that seemed closer to 3-4.  

In Winslow at work it did seem more than Home.  

I agree, you are "... probably high". Anyone who turns down a freebee snow blower has to be on something. I don't know what I'd do without my snow blower. My driveway is as flat as your desk, yet I use it for any appreciable accumulation. Otherwise I just ride over the dustings. This year I had to replace the recoil starter again but after 4 priming pumps and a few pulls on the rope it fired right up. Now that it has been started this season, it's just like all the preceding 19 seasons, a couple priming pumps, one pull and it's running. Something very interesting happened on the way home from the restaurant tonight in 10 degree weather. As I'm turning onto a street about 2 blocks from my house, on the other side of the street at the stop sign, I see a box right at the stop sign. It's a box from a slow cooker of some kind. I'm thinking it could be the cooker because the box was not crushed then I had the fearful thought that it could be a puppy or kitten in there, so I turned around and went back to check. Thankfully, I was wrong on both thoughts so now I have another nice box "for something". Can't have too many of those things. Hey @tjc78, get a checkup then get that snow blower, OK? jmonroe

When I lived in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. I bought a Toro snowblower that was huge. I had a 40 foot concrete driveway that had an incline of 20 degrees from the street up to the garage. The snowblower was a necessity - I lived through 20” and 30” snowstorms.

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

driver100 said:

To me a well engineered car is one your not afraid to drive cross country when it has 100K miles on it. When my FIL passed away, we inherited his early 90's Subaru Legacy wagon with 140K on it. I drove it from CO to CA (1100 miles) to gift to my son as a HS graduation gift (this was in 2007). Changed the oil, did an alignment, and off I went. Averaged 30MPG on the trip. Not a problem or a hiccup the whole way. Is it a coincidence that the wife's DD is a 2015 Outback? Probably not...

My neighbor drove his diesel Jetta from Toronto to California and back and it had over 250000 miles on it....it can be done. I remember my 1984 Camaro, my 1986 Chev Cosica, and my 92 Chev Cavalier felt a little loose and like they were going to fall apart at about 60000 miles - also they usually had a few unexpected repairs, especially the Corsica which was what I would call....minimal engineering. New cars usually seem to be tighter with fewer squeaks and rattles.

I had a 92 Corsica which I had for about 150K with only having a head gasket being replaced. I sold it to my brother in law who bought it for his daughter. She drove it for 80K or so trouble free miles. 

Maybe they got better by 92. My 86 was made cheap in every way - truly a minimal car. I am very easy on cars....but, the Corsica was one of the low points in my automobile experiences. It was fairly zippy though, but other than that not a lot of fun, and not very reliable. I had to be at work at 8 a.m. and I couldn't rely on it to get me to work, so I leased the 92 Cavalier....6 cyl. I needed something new and reliable.

I am not saying it wasnt a minimalist car, it pretty much was. It was just that it was reliable. Remember many times the simplest designs tend to be the most reliable. As Scotty said "The more you over think the plumbing the easier it is to plug up the drain".

jmonroe

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

tjc78 said:

I’m probably high.  I had areas with over a foot and some that seemed closer to 3-4.  

In Winslow at work it did seem more than Home.  

I agree, you are "... probably high". Anyone who turns down a freebee snow blower has to be on something.

I don't know what I'd do without my snow blower. My driveway is as flat as your desk, yet I use it for any appreciable accumulation. Otherwise I just ride over the dustings. This year I had to replace the recoil starter again but after 4 priming pumps and a few pulls on the rope it fired right up. Now that it has been started this season, it's just like all the preceding 19 seasons, a couple priming pumps, one pull and it's running.

Something very interesting happened on the way home from the restaurant tonight in 10 degree weather. As I'm turning onto a street about 2 blocks from my house, on the other side of the street at the stop sign, I see a box right at the stop sign. It's a box from a slow cooker of some kind. I'm thinking it could be the cooker because the box was not crushed then I had the fearful thought that it could be a puppy or kitten in there, so I turned around and went back to check. Thankfully, I was wrong on both thoughts so now I have another nice box "for something". Can't have too many of those things.

Hey @tjc78, get a checkup then get that snow blower, OK?

jmonroe

You saved an empty box from the freezing cold.

Yeah, I guess you can say that but l'm sure I'll get a warm fuzzy when I go to use it.

jmonroe

venture

Mr_Shiftright said:

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

roadburner said:

isellhondas said:

I think you're on to something! Shame on me! How a BMW could tell that I had committed a mortal sin by buying a bulb at NAPA instead of at the dealer I'll never know! It took the car a few hours to figure out it had been violated!

I know that I’ve explained this before, but that issue has absolutely nothing to with whether the bulbs are OEM; the problem is the TYPE of bulb. European manufacturers use bulbs with a silver base instead of a brass base. BMW at that time had designed the bulb check system to monitor bulbs by sending a very low current to the bulbs to detect continuity. The copper bases corroded and or had too high of a resistance. BMW has yet to learn that US drivers never read the OM and will try to use the cheapest generic part whenever possible. 

Silver? Why not gold? It's an excellent conductor!

There is not being practical.....and then there is being ridiculous.

Actually gold is not as good a conductor as copper, but has the advantage that it doesn't tarnish. So that would be the only advantage in a car. Silver is a better conductor than either but corrodes, as does copper. So really, gold plated BMW bulbs are not that far-fetched as a solution to a problem that shouldn't exist--and think of the marketing potential!

I added the 3 words you forgot to put in there.

roadburner

snakeweasel said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

roadburner said:

isellhondas said:

I think you're on to something! Shame on me! How a BMW could tell that I had committed a mortal sin by buying a bulb at NAPA instead of at the dealer I'll never know! It took the car a few hours to figure out it had been violated!

I know that I’ve explained this before, but that issue has absolutely nothing to with whether the bulbs are OEM; the problem is the TYPE of bulb. European manufacturers use bulbs with a silver base instead of a brass base. BMW at that time had designed the bulb check system to monitor bulbs by sending a very low current to the bulbs to detect continuity. The copper bases corroded and or had too high of a resistance. BMW has yet to learn that US drivers never read the OM and will try to use the cheapest generic part whenever possible. 

Silver? Why not gold? It's an excellent conductor!

There is not being practical.....and then there is being ridiculous.

Actually gold is not as good a conductor as copper, but has the advantage that it doesn't tarnish. So that would be the only advantage in a car. Silver is a better conductor than either but corrodes, as does copper. So really, gold plated BMW bulbs are not that far-fetched as a solution to a problem--and think of the marketing potential!

is corrosion on the bulb really that much of a problem? I really can't think of a time when I had a bulb stop working due to corrosion. 

The bulbs still illuminated; the corrosion was enough to block the trickle of current the car sent to the bulb to verify continuity, so the system reported a burned out bulb.

fintail

Corsica (and Beretta) was a 1987 release - 87 cars fleet only, 88 model year cars an early launch for consumers.

I remember my mom having a rental Corsica as a rental in the mid 90s, when her car was rear-ended. She actually liked it, as for some reason, the rental was a plush and well-equipped V6 model, it felt pretty nice for what it was. It had a 3.1 with the corresponding exhaust note they are famous for, I recall driving it a few times.

driver100 said:

Maybe they got better by 92. My 86 was made cheap in every way - truly a minimal car. I am very easy on cars....but, the Corsica was one of the low points in my automobile experiences. It was fairly zippy though, but other than that not a lot of fun, and not very reliable. I had to be at work at 8 a.m. and I couldn't rely on it to get me to work, so I leased the 92 Cavalier....6 cyl. I needed something new and reliable.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

We were projected to get 1-3" of the white stuff. Wound up with about 10-12. If I had known earlier, I would have plowed in 2 stages. It was a huge PITA to do all at once. Then shoVel the walkway and around the cars, clean off cars, etc. AFTER all that, the school calls to inform us they are closed tomorrow. SIGH!

If we got 4" I'd be surprised. Not even enough to shovel, just drive through it. Not that I'd go out anyway in the cold that's coming. Now the tv stations are off the "bomb cyclone" stuff and on to the "killer wind chills".

stickguy

my son said it is going to be bad for a while in Albany, because they did a lousy job clearing the roads and with the deep freeze, going to be all rutted ice for a while.

tjc78

@jmonroe
I know it sounds crazy not taking the blower, but we really don’t get much of the white stuff here and it’s another thing to store in my crowded shed and to maintain.

We had one growing up and it seemed like every other year we wouldn’t need it, forget to drain the gas and had to rebuild or replace the carburetor.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

my son said it is going to be bad for a while in Albany, because they did a lousy job clearing the roads and with the deep freeze, going to be all rutted ice for a while.

In Albany they feel that a lousy job is all you deserve. He should be grateful they didn't have his car towed because it was 1 inch out of line. City contractors have to make up for the...ah..."donations" they are required to make.

nyccarguy

tjc78 said:

@jmonroe
I know it sounds crazy not taking the blower, but we really don’t get much of the white stuff here and it’s another thing to store in my crowded shed and to maintain.

We had one growing up and it seemed like every other year we wouldn’t need it, forget to drain the gas and had to rebuild or replace the carburetor.

With my wife's new Pilot, we can ONLY fit 1 car in our garage. So I've got room for a blower now. Once I got that sucker set up & figured out how to work it...WOW!

jmonroe

tjc78 said:

@jmonroe
I know it sounds crazy not taking the blower, but we really don’t get much of the white stuff here and it’s another thing to store in my crowded shed and to maintain.

We had one growing up and it seemed like every other year we wouldn’t need it, forget to drain the gas and had to rebuild or replace the carburetor.

I thought you just remodeled and now have a Mc Mansion. Finding some piddling space for a snow blower should not have been a problem.

As for not remembering to run out the gas in the Spring, after doing that once, you should have been an expert on how not to do that again. My sons did that to me one time about 20 years ago and they still hear about that. :@

jmonroe

abacomike

I was coming home from food shopping this morning, using the road that totally encircles my community. I had to stop three times to avoid running over several iguanas. There were three of them, about 2 blocks apart, stretched out on the road - looking dead as far as I could determine. One of the workers was walking over to one of the corpses so I dropped the passenger side window and told him there were two others about 2-3 blocks behind me on the same road. He told me he would drive his cart over to them once he loaded the one in front of me onto the back of his cart. I asked him whey they were dying like this and he responded, "...they aren't dead. They are in a coma-like status because of the shock of the cold weather on their bodies. They fall to the ground from the trees."

Well, I guess the 37 degrees this morning at 9:00 AM got to them. He mentioned to me that he takes the iguanas over to the nursery where they keep the saplings and plants for the community and he lays them out in the sun. He said they've found 13 of them so far between yesterday morning and this morning and all of them recover and are gone within an hour once their bodies heat up. It's a kind of stress on their bodies.

I can tell you one thing, it's stressful to those of us who are not used to these cold temps.

Mr_Shiftright

abacomike said:

I was coming home from food shopping this morning, using the road that totally encircles my community. I had to stop three times to avoid running over several iguanas. There were three of them, about 2 blocks apart, stretched out on the road - looking dead as far as I could determine. One of the workers was walking over to one of the corpses so I dropped the passenger side window and told him there were two others about 2-3 blocks behind me on the same road. He told me he would drive his cart over to them once he loaded the one in front of me onto the back of his cart. I asked him whey they were dying like this and he responded, "...they aren't dead. They are in a coma-like status because of the shock of the cold weather on their bodies. They fall to the ground from the trees."

Well, I guess the 37 degrees this morning at 9:00 AM got to them. He mentioned to me that he takes the iguanas over to the nursery where they keep the saplings and plants for the community and he lays them out in the sun. He said they've found 13 of them so far between yesterday morning and this morning and all of them recover and are gone within an hour once their bodies heat up. It's a kind of stress on their bodies.

I can tell you one thing, it's stressful to those of us who are not used to these cold temps.

Yep, anything under 40 degrees pretty much makes an iguana comatose. See all the useful things you can learn just driving around the neighborhood?

ab348

Cold-blooded creatures. Sort of nature's equivalent of an air-cooled engine.

jmonroe

abacomike said:

I was coming home from food shopping this morning, using the road that totally encircles my community. I had to stop three times to avoid running over several iguanas. There were three of them, about 2 blocks apart, stretched out on the road - looking dead as far as I could determine. One of the workers was walking over to one of the corpses so I dropped the passenger side window and told him there were two others about 2-3 blocks behind me on the same road. He told me he would drive his cart over to them once he loaded the one in front of me onto the back of his cart. I asked him whey they were dying like this and he responded, "...they aren't dead. They are in a coma-like status because of the shock of the cold weather on their bodies. They fall to the ground from the trees."

Well, I guess the 37 degrees this morning at 9:00 AM got to them. He mentioned to me that he takes the iguanas over to the nursery where they keep the saplings and plants for the community and he lays them out in the sun. He said they've found 13 of them so far between yesterday morning and this morning and all of them recover and are gone within an hour once their bodies heat up. It's a kind of stress on their bodies.

I can tell you one thing, it's stressful to those of us who are not used to these cold temps.

That story is similar to what a Vet tech told me years ago about all the squirrels that was smashed (not just comatose but really dead) on the roads in the Fall. It seems they were drunk from eating very ripened berry's at that time of the year and that it affects birds too because they fly low and are hit by windshields more often at that time of the year. I don't know if that is true but it makes sense to me.

Being drunk is not just a problem limited to humans. It affects ecology everywhere on our planet. Who knew?

jmonroe

Mr_Shiftright

ab348 said:

Cold-blooded creatures. Sort of nature's equivalent of an air-cooled engine.

I learned all this from my Iguanas for Dummies book.

As many of you may have surmised, I'm part reptile myself. I love hot weather. 100-105 is nothing to me. My seat heaters are always turned up to 11.