Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

jmonroe

I have a car story of sorts, not one of our dishwasher or fridge stories. Really kind of interesting. But you tell me. WARNING: long post about to begin.

Let me explain a little before the interesting part.

I went to two of my Grandsons local hockey tournament games today. The first was Grandson #3 (Son #2's son) at 10 this morning. They lost and are now eliminated. Don't want to talk about that anymore. The parking lot at this arena has some pretty skinny parking spots (that's why we always take Mrs. j's Subie and not my Genny) and is surely why Mrs. j's Subie got wacked 2 years ago like I just mentioned in my post above.

At tournament time it is mighty tuff to find a parking spot but I got lucky with the first game because a game had just finished and I found a spot right away. The second game Grandson #4 (little goalie belonging to Son #1) was at 1:30 so Mrs. j wanted to go get some groceries rather than sitting around waiting. Nice guy jmonroe agrees. I knew I couldn't be as lucky finding a spot for the second game and I was right. Drove around the building and just about when I was about to give up I see someone backing out. As I'm pulling in I realize I am between 2 pickups. I damn sure didn't like that idea but there was nothing else available. As I'm walking to the arena (I had already dropped of Mrs. j before my drive around), I see a parking spot about 4 spots down with cars on both sides, no trucks. I think it just became available as I was pulling into my spot. I look around and don't see any cars coming so I quickly jump in the car and move it into this safer spot. That was a relief. Now as I'm again walking to the arena, I see another parking spot about 5 spots down. I'm not moving her car again and even if I wanted to I now hear a car racing down this aisle. The car is moving way too fast for this parking lot but I figured they saw a spot open and they wanted it. The car didn't have to speed because the aisle is one way anyhow but it was really moving and I could tell it couldn't pull into that spot so I thought that car was leaving not coming. Wrong, the car screeches to a stop past the spot and the front bumper really dipped down. Even with all of the windows closed on this smallish Jeep I can now hear the radio blasting some rap music and the woman immediately throws the car into reverse and is backing up almost as fast as she was going forward. BAM, she backs right into the car that was about a car length behind her. She jumps out of her car screaming at the driver that she just ran into. Here is some of that conversation:

As I said the woman (30 ish) was screaming.

Woman: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU. DIDN'T YOU SEE THAT I WANTED THAT PARKING SPOT?

GUY: Lady, all I saw was you backing up into me.

Woman: YOU OTTA WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING.

GUY: Mam, I think you should have been the one watching. I was stopped and you backed into me. Anytime you are backing up and the other car is stopped, you are the one at fault not me and your insurance company will be paying for this.

Woman: LIKE HELL, PROVE IT, I'M GOING TO TELL THEM YOU RAN INTO ME.

WOW, I now have to get into this.

Me (talking to the guy): I saw what happened and I'll be a witness for you.

Woman even more irate and even louder.

Woman: YOU STAY THE HELL OUT OF THIS. THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

Me (talking to the guy): Just get her info and I'll back you up on this.

Woman: I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE ANYBODY ANY INFO.

Me: Just get her license plate number and call the cops. I'll stick around.

He didn't have to call the cops. About 4 cars back (a line of about 10 cars has formed by now) a guy approaches and asks what's going on.

Woman: WHY THE HELL DO YOU CARE?

The guy reaches into his coat and pulls out his ID. He's an off duty cop from and adjoining community coming to his kids hockey. What are the chances of that happening?

Woman (no longer screaming): Do you have jurisdiction for this parking lot?

Cop: I have enough authority to make sure information is exchanged during an accident. If you want, I can get the local police here to make sure you do the right thing. So, how do you want me to proceed?

Woman: OK, let me get my purse.

The guy was driving an Escape and their bumpers matched pretty well so as best as I could see there was only bumper damage. But the guys bumper was a little worse off. A piece was hanging down pretty low (maybe 8 inches from the ground) and the cop went to his car and got some duct tape because he said if the guy drove out on the highway he could be pulled over because of that.

As we were walking in, the guy, the cop and me, the cop said, "for his sake I hope you don't back out of being his witness. Because he won't have a leg to stand on without it. When that happens the insurance companies will each pay for their insured and both parties will have rate increases".

I am not going to back out of this.

So, I'm pretty sure I know what you guys would have done given the same situation, right ?

BTW, Grandson #4's team won 2-1 with his team scoring the winning goal with 4 seconds left. So, I get to go back to this same arena tomorrow at noon and look for another skinny parking spot.

jmonroe

stickguy

good job JM. Karma points for you.

I too am a devotee of finding a safe spot in a lot. And will often pass up risky ones. Especially at Walmart, or the supermarket (anywhere with carts). the wife is used to parking out in the hinterlands and hoofing in.

jipster

driver100 said:

Just checked the rules: (b) The frame of the racket shall not exceed 32 inches (81.28 cm) in overall length, including the handle and 12½ inches (31.75 cm) in overall width. The strung surface shall not exceed 15½ inches (39.37 cm) in overall length, and 11½ inches (29.21 cm) in overall width.

You saying snakie been cheating with that gargantuan raquet of his? ;-)

driver100

laurasdada said:

explorerx4 said:

@laurasdada,
2 places damaged when parked? It has been pretty windy, but maybe you have a 'Kick Me' bumper sticker?

Yup, front grille and side door. Maybe a band of psycho shopping carts. Or some angry dude...

Two in one day at one time...that sounds like too much of a coincidence...did you cut someone off getting into that space?
You may be better off getting it fixed now....might as well enjoy the car while you have it....it won't be worth as much when you trade it in if it isn't fixed.
$1000 deductible...may be better to pay yourself. Sometimes they say they won't raise your rate...but, I think they sometimes make sure they get that money back.

tbirdmarco

 Nice old school limousine posted above 

tbirdmarco

 It’s amazing what people do to others course not nice sorry to hear what he did to you or Jan man would be pissed a matter what car it was that I had I’m always careful when getting out of the car at the parking lot and I can’t see much and I am careful these are people that drive and see fine always amazes me ha ha Ha 

tbirdmarco

 Nice to hear that’s awesome Mike on your grandson playing on Monday and I’ll goodies doing 

roadburner

abacomike said:

Just got a call from my son.  He said that my grandson went 3/5 hitting today as first baseman and won the game with a grand slam homerun in the bottom of the last inning.  He had 5 rbi’s. 

On Monday, he is the starting pitcher in his first game as a senior.  The other team does not know that his fastball is now up to 91 mph per radar gun.  The last time they saw him pitch was in April, 2017, when his fastball was averaging 88 mph.  Aren’t they in for a surprise!!!

Wow, you must be very proud!

roadburner

I just got back from the political dinner; all the candidates were given 3 minutes to speak; my opponent took shots at the former prosecutor(a well liked member of the community who is running for judge) and me(of course). I just ignore her digs and never ever mention her in my speeches. Some of the well-connected political hands tell me that her early switch to negative campaigning shows that she is already starting to panic. As for me, I take the advice of the late Lee Atwater:
When your opponent is shooting himself in the foot, don’t interrupt him.

isellhondas

graphicguy said:

RB.....as others mentioned, good thing you’re enjoying it. Hell, for the price of one of those fish fry outings, I’ll come up there and vote for you.......twice!

I have a college friend I hadn’t heard from in a long while. She reached out to me earlier this week out of the blue, wanting to catch up. My 7th sense told me it wasn’t a “let’s catch up” sort of request. Agreed to meet for a drink.

After a brief exchange of “what have you been up to?”, the purpose of the meet surfaced.

She’s running for a State Rep seat. She’s looking for donations. As I explained to her, our political views couldn’t be more different. Plus, she’s running for a seat in an area where she wouldn’t represent me, as I don’t even live in the county she’s running in.

Made no sense to ask me for money, but she gave it a shot. I ended up having to pick up the tab for drinks and snacks on top of everything else.

I don’t mind helping out a friend in need. But, don’t lure me into your political goals when you can’t represent me. Not sure why it irritated me so much, but I sort of felt deceived.

graphicguy said:

RB.....as others mentioned, good thing you’re enjoying it. Hell, for the price of one of those fish fry outings, I’ll come up there and vote for you.......twice!

I have a college friend I hadn’t heard from in a long while. She reached out to me earlier this week out of the blue, wanting to catch up. My 7th sense told me it wasn’t a “let’s catch up” sort of request. Agreed to meet for a drink.

After a brief exchange of “what have you been up to?”, the purpose of the meet surfaced.

She’s running for a State Rep seat. She’s looking for donations. As I explained to her, our political views couldn’t be more different. Plus, she’s running for a seat in an area where she wouldn’t represent me, as I don’t even live in the county she’s running in.

Made no sense to ask me for money, but she gave it a shot. I ended up having to pick up the tab for drinks and snacks on top of everything else.

I don’t mind helping out a friend in need. But, don’t lure me into your political goals when you can’t represent me. Not sure why it irritated me so much, but I sort of felt deceived.

graphicguy said:

RB.....as others mentioned, good thing you’re enjoying it. Hell, for the price of one of those fish fry outings, I’ll come up there and vote for you.......twice!

I have a college friend I hadn’t heard from in a long while. She reached out to me earlier this week out of the blue, wanting to catch up. My 7th sense told me it wasn’t a “let’s catch up” sort of request. Agreed to meet for a drink.

After a brief exchange of “what have you been up to?”, the purpose of the meet surfaced.

She’s running for a State Rep seat. She’s looking for donations. As I explained to her, our political views couldn’t be more different. Plus, she’s running for a seat in an area where she wouldn’t represent me, as I don’t even live in the county she’s running in.

Made no sense to ask me for money, but she gave it a shot. I ended up having to pick up the tab for drinks and snacks on top of everything else.

I don’t mind helping out a friend in need. But, don’t lure me into your political goals when you can’t represent me. Not sure why it irritated me so much, but I sort of felt deceived.

I thought you were going to say she tried to get you to go to an Amway meeting!

I've heard from old friends out of the blue for that reason!

laurasdada

I’ll get an estimate, go from there  no wrong doing or bad driving etiquette on my part!

laurasdada

qbrozen said:

laurasdada said:

jmonroe said:

laurasdada said:

Life is good; my '13 XF is a virgin no more.

Whilst lunching with the GF and her mother, some fine upstanding young man/woman defiled the Jags near pristine exterior. Might have been two incidents, a very strange dent in the driver side rear door, possibly a door slam or shopping cart. Paint isn't cracked, but a raised "scar" in the steel in the middle of the concave area of dent. More noticeable, and maybe more egregious, the lovely mesh grill now has a mangled mesh hole in the drivers side portion. As well as cracked frame. Either someone intentionally kicked it in, a trailer hitch, or very corner of a bumper hit? No paint left in either damage area. Needless to say, no note left, no cameras in the parking lot.

I'll drop by the local Jag dealer, see how much for a new grille. May just live with it. As Jags are known to hold their value so strongly, I'm afraid these cosmetic imperfections my really hurt at trade/sale time!

I'm know how that feels. Went through it when a jacked-up pickup truck took out the right front fender of Mrs. j's Subie 2 years ago in a kids hockey arena parking lot.

If your insurance is like mine, it will cost you your deductible (mine is $500) but it will be a not-at-fault claim and your rates will not go up.

Ok, this is the second parking lot thing for the guys in here. Who wants to make it 3 and finish the bad luck for us guys.

Let us know how the claim goes.

jmonroe

Thanks, I did stop by the local police to register the event. I'll check with my insurance, but I have a $1k deductible, so I may live with it... And, die a little each day that I see the missing teeth and scarred flank!

Uhoh. I wouldn't have done that. It may show up on carfax now. I'd much rather eat the cost and avoid the extra depreciation.

Shoulda been lunching with you! Didn't really think about that, a bit distraught (and I know it's not a huge deal. Coulda been much worse, taken out a headlight or worse...). It's a 4+ year old Jag, depreciation is its middle name! Still, 50 months unscathed, I guess it was due.

jipster

It’s a risk management issue. 1. If you have little time (your son needs a car now), you might try $100-200 and that’s it. It will be expensive, but only by a few hundreds, really. If the car is good, it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. How many times we bought something we believe should be cheaper, but got it anyway? The guy has an advantage at this moment (he has a product and you like it). 2. If you have time (seems you said you actually do) and don’t mind losing this deal, leave him with a lower, but fair enough (in your view) offer, say $5500-$5700 and your number, and keep looking. He needs to stew and experience several jokers offering him four grand or taking joyrides, never to be heard again. Even though you already offered $6000 on the spot, you can always back your lower offer by more research (confirm his NADA and look at Kelley and Autotrader) Then he might just call you back. Or he’ll sell for what he asks. Or you call him back in couple of weeks or a month. You seem to have that kind if time. 3. The car is nice, but it’s hardly a rare jewel. There must be decent 5-6 grand cars around. But that’s only if you have that patience. The risk is you’ll get frustrated and end up buying a lesser car for even more. If this is a real risk, take the car now. And get a Carfax, either way. If you think you’ll keep looking, rhey offer a month of unlimited subscription, I believe, for not that much more than a single check. One final thing on Edmunds values. I found them grossly undervaluing my last two cars, by several thousands. Granted my cars were special with really special customer pool and much higher price point (6 years old wagon BMW and three years old Subaru WRX STI), but Kelley values, which were higher across the board (private-trade-retail) and closer to what finally got for both of those vehicles. I know I asked too low for my BMW, as I sold it in two days with three offers. A real trade offer for the STI from a dealer was also tlhousands higher than Edmunds would like you believe (Kelley was almost spot on). It just looked like Edmunds did not have a good command over those prices at that time vs. Kelley. What I’m saying, check additional sources, like Kelley, Autotrader, NADA.


Thanks for the comments Dino. As of right now I'm partially at #2 and #3. I probably wouldn't lower the price unless Carfax showed an minor accident. Owner said to his knowledge it's not been in any accidents. The guy said he didn' like to negotiate, so hopefully all the Craigslist wise guys won't  let me down, and will aggravate the heck out of this guy for the weekend . LOL.

The guy has it priced almost spot on KBB price. So I' inclined to just wait for now. Like you said, the cars no jewel. It's solid. Sure there are many more like it for that price.  I've got time on my side. But, so does the owner.  

The unlimited subscription to Carfax sounds good. And yeah, the large gap in pricing between Edmunds and KBB/NADA is so.....typical of the auto industry. :@

oldfarmer50

jmonroe said:

I have a car story of sorts, not one of our dishwasher or fridge stories. Really kind of interesting. But you tell me. WARNING: long post about to begin.

Let me explain a little before the interesting part.

I went to two of my Grandsons local hockey tournament games today. The first was Grandson #3 (Son #2's son) at 10 this morning. They lost and are now eliminated. Don't want to talk about that anymore. The parking lot at this arena has some pretty skinny parking spots (that's why we always take Mrs. j's Subie and not my Genny) and is surely why Mrs. j's Subie got wacked 2 years ago like I just mentioned in my post above.

At tournament time it is mighty tuff to find a parking spot but I got lucky with the first game because a game had just finished and I found a spot right away. The second game Grandson #4 (little goalie belonging to Son #1) was at 1:30 so Mrs. j wanted to go get some groceries rather than sitting around waiting. Nice guy jmonroe agrees. I knew I couldn't be as lucky finding a spot for the second game and I was right. Drove around the building and just about when I was about to give up I see someone backing out. As I'm pulling in I realize I am between 2 pickups. I damn sure didn't like that idea but there was nothing else available. As I'm walking to the arena (I had already dropped of Mrs. j before my drive around), I see a parking spot about 4 spots down with cars on both sides, no trucks. I think it just became available as I was pulling into my spot. I look around and don't see any cars coming so I quickly jump in the car and move it into this safer spot. That was a relief. Now as I'm again walking to the arena, I see another parking spot about 5 spots down. I'm not moving her car again and even if I wanted to I now hear a car racing down this aisle. The car is moving way too fast for this parking lot but I figured they saw a spot open and they wanted it. The car didn't have to speed because the aisle is one way anyhow but it was really moving and I could tell it couldn't pull into that spot so I thought that car was leaving not coming. Wrong, the car screeches to a stop past the spot and the front bumper really dipped down. Even with all of the windows closed on this smallish Jeep I can now hear the radio blasting some rap music and the woman immediately throws the car into reverse and is backing up almost as fast as she was going forward. BAM, she backs right into the car that was about a car length behind her. She jumps out of her car screaming at the driver that she just ran into. Here is some of that conversation:

As I said the woman (30 ish) was screaming.

Woman: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU. DIDN'T YOU SEE THAT I WANTED THAT PARKING SPOT?

GUY: Lady, all I saw was you backing up into me.

Woman: YOU OTTA WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING.

GUY: Mam, I think you should have been the one watching. I was stopped and you backed into me. Anytime you are backing up and the other car is stopped, you are the one at fault not me and your insurance company will be paying for this.

Woman: LIKE HELL, PROVE IT, I'M GOING TO TELL THEM YOU RAN INTO ME.

WOW, I now have to get into this.

Me (talking to the guy): I saw what happened and I'll be a witness for you.

Woman even more irate and even louder.

Woman: YOU STAY THE HELL OUT OF THIS. THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

Me (talking to the guy): Just get her info and I'll back you up on this.

Woman: I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE ANYBODY ANY INFO.

Me: Just get her license plate number and call the cops. I'll stick around.

He didn't have to call the cops. About 4 cars back (a line of about 10 cars has formed by now) a guy approaches and asks what's going on.

Woman: WHY THE HELL DO YOU CARE?

The guy reaches into his coat and pulls out his ID. He's an off duty cop from and adjoining community coming to his kids hockey. What are the chances of that happening?

Woman (no longer screaming): Do you have jurisdiction for this parking lot?

Cop: I have enough authority to make sure information is exchanged during an accident. If you want, I can get the local police here to make sure you do the right thing. So, how do you want me to proceed?

Woman: OK, let me get my purse.

The guy was driving an Escape and their bumpers matched pretty well so as best as I could see there was only bumper damage. But the guys bumper was a little worse off. A piece was hanging down pretty low (maybe 8 inches from the ground) and the cop went to his car and got some duct tape because he said if the guy drove out on the highway he could be pulled over because of that.

As we were walking in, the guy, the cop and me, the cop said, "for his sake I hope you don't back out of being his witness. Because he won't have a leg to stand on without it. When that happens the insurance companies will each pay for their insured and both parties will have rate increases".

I am not going to back out of this.

So, I'm pretty sure I know what you guys would have done given the same situation, right ?

BTW, Grandson #4's team won 2-1 with his team scoring the winning goal with 4 seconds left. So, I get to go back to this same arena tomorrow at noon and look for another skinny parking spot.

jmonroe

I always knew you were a model citizen. Good job.

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

I just got back from the political dinner; all the candidates were given 3 minutes to speak; my opponent took shots at the former prosecutor(a well liked member of the community who is running for judge) and me(of course). I just ignore her digs and never ever mention her in my speeches. Some of the well-connected political hands tell me that her early switch to negative campaigning shows that she is already starting to panic. As for me, I take the advice of the late Lee Atwater:
When your opponent is shooting himself in the foot, don’t interrupt him.

What could she possibly say bad about you, that you'll spend all the taxpayer's money on fancy cars?

tbirdmarco

 Chi Munro the 20 story above you are the man I would’ve done the same thing that woman sounds like a nut job is to be more people like you in this world 

tbirdmarco

 Bring it all works in your favor Sandy on Tuesday I could imagine it’s very frustrating waiting and waiting I hope you’re not in much pain that’s the big thing like said yesterday you’re all here for you 

tbirdmarco

 So I hear trucks pull up at 2:30 this morning are your people playing around with wires I stick my head out the window because my rooms right here let’s see the shape of a guy coming I screw up the window to him can I help you he goes oh well the electric company we thought your power was still out from this morning I said no we’re good and he goes I see and that was it you never know can’t take any chances when you see sheep of a truck and the person never know who it could be these days especially 230 something in the morning when you’re walking up from a deep sleep 

jipster

Way to fight for justice, Edmunds style, jmonroe. Here in Louisville when somebody smashes into your car, they just lay rubber and take off. Happened to my dad. Luckily a pedestrian got the wise guys plate number. I am disappointed though you didn't have a snappy comeback for the woman who told you to mind your own business. We're waiting. 

 "Do you have jurisdiction for this parking lot?" ...... anybody else find that funny? Bbird? 

oldfarmer50

I'm watching one of those classic car shows and they were reviewing a 1969 Mustang Cobra Jet 429 (7.0L). Massive engine but only a 5.7 0-60. A modern 5.0L Mustang does mid 4s. I guess the good old days weren't that good.

roadburner

oldfarmer50 said:

I'm watching one of those classic car shows and they were reviewing a 1969 Mustang Cobra Jet 429 (7.0L). Massive engine but only a 5.7 0-60. A modern 5.0L Mustang does mid 4s. I guess the good old days weren't that good.

The Boss 429 was only built to homologate that engine for the NASCAR Grand National series. It was a tight fit in the Mustang engine compartment; to reach one of the plugs the power steering pump needed to be unbolted and moved out of the way. But yes, a 5.7 0-60 time was impressive back in 1969; today it's merely average at best.

imidazol97

jmonroe said:

As we were walking in, the guy, the cop and me, the cop said, "for his sake I hope you don't back out of being his witness. Because he won't have a leg to stand on without it. When that happens the insurance companies will each pay for their insured and both parties will have rate increases".

The lady was driving recklessly fast through a parking lot endangering people like someone starting to back out of their space without seeing her coming so fast. She's a liability risk.
Her behavior about the accident. Crazy.

I'd throw in all that if her insurance company reads or hears you in a phone interview. Maybe they'd drop her as a client. Serve her right.

Interesting story, despite its being l o n g. lol

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

oldfarmer50 said:

I'm watching one of those classic car shows and they were reviewing a 1969 Mustang Cobra Jet 429 (7.0L). Massive engine but only a 5.7 0-60. A modern 5.0L Mustang does mid 4s. I guess the good old days weren't that good.

The Boss 429 was only built to homologate that engine for the NASCAR Grand National series. It was a tight fit in the Mustang engine compartment; to reach one of the plugs the power steering pump needed to be unbolted and moved out of the way. But yes, a 5.7 0-60 time was impressive back in 1969; today it's merely average at best.

Actually, in the same show they highlighted a 426 hemi Cuda that did 0-60 in 6.3 so the Ford was faster. I don't know why those cars seemed so fast back in the day.

driver100

laurasdada said:

I’ll get an estimate, go from there  no wrong doing or bad driving etiquette on my part!

Ouch....that hurts. Like you said, years of driving with no incidents...it is going to happen. Even a stone in a windshield can cost $1000 for a new windshield...it happens.
You might try to price out a grill from a used parts dealer. That would give you some idea of the cost involved. Looks like it was a red car that did the damage to the door. Looks like a good hard slam.

explorerx4

Put some better tires on those cars and they'd be a lot quicker down the track.

explorerx4

@laurasdada,
The paintless dent remover place might be able to fix that door. Grille needs some duct tape.

cdnpinhead

jmonroe said:

I am not going to back out of this.

Yeah, that was a long one, but well worth the time it took to read.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe said:

I have a car story of sorts, not one of our dishwasher or fridge stories. Really kind of interesting. But you tell me. WARNING: long post about to begin.

Let me explain a little before the interesting part.

I went to two of my Grandsons local hockey tournament games today. The first was Grandson #3 (Son #2's son) at 10 this morning. They lost and are now eliminated. Don't want to talk about that anymore. The parking lot at this arena has some pretty skinny parking spots (that's why we always take Mrs. j's Subie and not my Genny) and is surely why Mrs. j's Subie got wacked 2 years ago like I just mentioned in my post above.

At tournament time it is mighty tuff to find a parking spot but I got lucky with the first game because a game had just finished and I found a spot right away. The second game Grandson #4 (little goalie belonging to Son #1) was at 1:30 so Mrs. j wanted to go get some groceries rather than sitting around waiting. Nice guy jmonroe agrees. I knew I couldn't be as lucky finding a spot for the second game and I was right. Drove around the building and just about when I was about to give up I see someone backing out. As I'm pulling in I realize I am between 2 pickups. I damn sure didn't like that idea but there was nothing else available. As I'm walking to the arena (I had already dropped of Mrs. j before my drive around), I see a parking spot about 4 spots down with cars on both sides, no trucks. I think it just became available as I was pulling into my spot. I look around and don't see any cars coming so I quickly jump in the car and move it into this safer spot. That was a relief. Now as I'm again walking to the arena, I see another parking spot about 5 spots down. I'm not moving her car again and even if I wanted to I now hear a car racing down this aisle. The car is moving way too fast for this parking lot but I figured they saw a spot open and they wanted it. The car didn't have to speed because the aisle is one way anyhow but it was really moving and I could tell it couldn't pull into that spot so I thought that car was leaving not coming. Wrong, the car screeches to a stop past the spot and the front bumper really dipped down. Even with all of the windows closed on this smallish Jeep I can now hear the radio blasting some rap music and the woman immediately throws the car into reverse and is backing up almost as fast as she was going forward. BAM, she backs right into the car that was about a car length behind her. She jumps out of her car screaming at the driver that she just ran into. Here is some of that conversation:

As I said the woman (30 ish) was screaming.

Woman: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU. DIDN'T YOU SEE THAT I WANTED THAT PARKING SPOT?

GUY: Lady, all I saw was you backing up into me.

Woman: YOU OTTA WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING.

GUY: Mam, I think you should have been the one watching. I was stopped and you backed into me. Anytime you are backing up and the other car is stopped, you are the one at fault not me and your insurance company will be paying for this.

Woman: LIKE HELL, PROVE IT, I'M GOING TO TELL THEM YOU RAN INTO ME.

WOW, I now have to get into this.

Me (talking to the guy): I saw what happened and I'll be a witness for you.

Woman even more irate and even louder.

Woman: YOU STAY THE HELL OUT OF THIS. THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

Me (talking to the guy): Just get her info and I'll back you up on this.

Woman: I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE ANYBODY ANY INFO.

Me: Just get her license plate number and call the cops. I'll stick around.

He didn't have to call the cops. About 4 cars back (a line of about 10 cars has formed by now) a guy approaches and asks what's going on.

Woman: WHY THE HELL DO YOU CARE?

The guy reaches into his coat and pulls out his ID. He's an off duty cop from and adjoining community coming to his kids hockey. What are the chances of that happening?

Woman (no longer screaming): Do you have jurisdiction for this parking lot?

Cop: I have enough authority to make sure information is exchanged during an accident. If you want, I can get the local police here to make sure you do the right thing. So, how do you want me to proceed?

Woman: OK, let me get my purse.

The guy was driving an Escape and their bumpers matched pretty well so as best as I could see there was only bumper damage. But the guys bumper was a little worse off. A piece was hanging down pretty low (maybe 8 inches from the ground) and the cop went to his car and got some duct tape because he said if the guy drove out on the highway he could be pulled over because of that.

As we were walking in, the guy, the cop and me, the cop said, "for his sake I hope you don't back out of being his witness. Because he won't have a leg to stand on without it. When that happens the insurance companies will each pay for their insured and both parties will have rate increases".

I am not going to back out of this.

So, I'm pretty sure I know what you guys would have done given the same situation, right ?

BTW, Grandson #4's team won 2-1 with his team scoring the winning goal with 4 seconds left. So, I get to go back to this same arena tomorrow at noon and look for another skinny parking spot.

jmonroe

I always knew you were a model citizen. Good job.

Yeh, we are proud of you JMonroe.

graphicguy

LD....well, that just ain't good. Sorry to see! Like you, I can't stand having bumps and bruises on my car. I understand getting it fixed.

IMID....When O'Gara was in their old facility and when they were just "Hess and Eisenhart", I took a tour of their old plant. They showed some of the offensive capabilities they could add to a build (think hidden machine guns) and their ability to build cars that handled well while sporting hundreds of pounds of extra armor.

At that time they had some old, retired armored Cadillacs which were intersting to see, too.

They made a point of stressing their best service.....the ability to keep their client base secret and the details of their builds.

RB....in now way was I indicating you were shilling for contributions. Just that my long, lost friend sought me out for no other reason than to hit me up for money, vs her stated purpose to catch up.

I'm serious, if I could vote for you, I would...based on getting to know you here.

Craig...I've been the target of those who want me to join them on their AMWAY, JL WILLIAMS, PHONE SERVICE, and a wealth of other pyramid schemes. They always get into them enthusiastically and just as quickly get out (usually quite a bit lighter in the wallet).

stickguy

the old muscle cars felt fast because of noise and tire smoke probably. And one heck of a slam in the back when they hooked up.

I assume the main difference is tires though. If you want to compare, take a new mustang GT and the Boss 429, and switch rear tires. See how the new car does with skinny little bias ply tires on it. Much of the rest is probably electronics. And gear count.

But hugely tires.

ab348

isellhondas said:

I thought you were going to say she tried to get you to go to an Amway meeting!

I've heard from old friends out of the blue for that reason!

I had that happen to me 20 years ago - with my boss! Unbelievable.

She asked me one day at work if I was interested in a business opportunity her and a friend had, no mention of what it was. Could they come by my place one evening to discuss. I wouldn't regret it, etc etc. I figured it was property or whatever given her background so I agreed. When they showed as arranged a few days later it turned out that the friend was pitching Amway. I politely listened to the sales pitch given that my boss was part of it and when it ended told them I would let her know once I had a chance to think it over. Now, there was zero chance of me agreeing but I needed some time to figure out how to say no without my boss using it against me. I finally did and there didn't seem to be much fallout subsequently, though she was transferred out not long after. What terrible judgement on her part though.

qbrozen

As others have said, modern tires makes a HUGE difference on old muscle cars.

as for the feel back then, 2 reasons come to mind: it is all relative AND tanks with poor handling characteristics are downright frightening when moving quickly. The stability and serenity of modern autos makes going fast feel safe and secure.

tbirdmarco

Old farmer whAt show was that you wher watching

tbirdmarco

 Of course the new stuff it’s going to be faster if it is in technology over beers 

oldfarmer50

tbirdmarco said:

Old farmer whAt show was that you wher watching

It was some show on Velocity where cars are going to auction and the hosts review and give valuation opinions.

fintail

That parking lot incident is peak idiocy. More reason to have a dashcam - not that I don't have complete faith in our respectable LEO and judicial system, of course.

ab348

tbirdmarco said:

 Of course the new stuff it’s going to be faster if it is in technology over beers 

Sorry Marco, but that made me laugh out loud.

Sandman6472

JL Williams, remember that scam very well when I just started out in the post office. Folks were going nuts trying to get all of us to jump on board but most of us said "no way"! Turns out they all lost, big time, and they never tried to sell to any of us again.
JM, great story and glad that woman got put in her place. Seem to remember a guy walking over to see if I was o k last week but since the other guy got the ticket for improper backing, think I'm good here. Even if I hadn't moved out of my parking spot, the idiot would've crashed into the front of my vehicle so I was a sitting duck either way.
Folks really need to drive slowly in any parking lot because folks start to back out all the time and not everyone had that back-up warning. Eventually, I plan to get a vehicle with all the nannies on it because of what happened to me...it's time!

The Sandman

roadburner

graphicguy said:

LD....well, that just ain't good. Sorry to see! Like you, I can't stand having bumps and bruises on my car. I understand getting it fixed.

IMID....When O'Gara was in their old facility and when they were just "Hess and Eisenhart", I took a tour of their old plant. They showed some of the offensive capabilities they could add to a build (think hidden machine guns) and their ability to build cars that handled well while sporting hundreds of pounds of extra armor.

At that time they had some old, retired armored Cadillacs which were intersting to see, too.

They made a point of stressing their best service.....the ability to keep their client base secret and the details of their builds.

RB....in now way was I indicating you were shilling for contributions. Just that my long, lost friend sought me out for no other reason than to hit me up for money, vs her stated purpose to catch up.

I'm serious, if I could vote for you, I would...based on getting to know you here.

Craig...I've been the target of those who want me to join them on their AMWAY, JL WILLIAMS, PHONE SERVICE, and a wealth of other pyramid schemes. They always get into them enthusiastically and just as quickly get out (usually quite a bit lighter in the wallet).

I wasn't taking offense at all, just mentioning how I've always done things.

roadburner

oldfarmer50 said:

roadburner said:

oldfarmer50 said:

I'm watching one of those classic car shows and they were reviewing a 1969 Mustang Cobra Jet 429 (7.0L). Massive engine but only a 5.7 0-60. A modern 5.0L Mustang does mid 4s. I guess the good old days weren't that good.

The Boss 429 was only built to homologate that engine for the NASCAR Grand National series. It was a tight fit in the Mustang engine compartment; to reach one of the plugs the power steering pump needed to be unbolted and moved out of the way. But yes, a 5.7 0-60 time was impressive back in 1969; today it's merely average at best.

Actually, in the same show they highlighted a 426 hemi Cuda that did 0-60 in 6.3 so the Ford was faster. I don't know why those cars seemed so fast back in the day.

I believe I've made this observation before, but I think that today is the "Golden Age" of high performance cars. I have a 1991 magazine that contains a compilation of road tests from the old magazine Hi-Performance Cars. The fastest 1/4 mile time was a 12.5 posted by Joe Oldham's 1969 Motion Performance big block Camaro- with 4.10 gears, uncapped headers and slicks. Aside from that car most of the others put up 1/4 mile ETs in the 13.5-14.5 second range. Needless to say, those times are on the slow side of average for performance cars these days. My 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 would run in the low 14 second range all day long- and that's with the stock 2.3 liter turbo that averaged 26+ mpg over the 8 years and 158,000 miles I had it. My dead stock M235i runs in the high twelves(as will most any modern V8 ponycar) and runs from 0-60 in 4.3 seconds. And as for braking and handling? Most reasonably priced 2017 performance cars will leave a 20 year old exotic sports car for dead- never mind a '60s musclecar.

Factor in vastly superior fuel economy and 10,000 mile service intervals and it's safe to say that the hot cars of today let enthusiasts have the best of ALL worlds.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE classic musclecars and sports cars, but to quote Carly Simon, "These are the good old days!"

imidazol97

graphicguy said:

IMID....When O'Gara was in their old facility and when they were just "Hess and Eisenhart", I took a tour of their old plant. They showed some of the offensive capabilities they could add to a build (think hidden machine guns) and their ability to build cars that handled well while sporting hundreds of pounds of extra armor.

At that time they had some old, retired armored Cadillacs which were intersting to see, too.

They made a point of stressing their best service.....the ability to keep their client base secret and the details of their builds.

I think of H&E when I read a Stuart Woods novel with Stone Barrington who buys armored Mercedes, Bentleys, etc., and those cars are woven into the novel's story.

pensfan83

roadburner said:

I just got back from the political dinner; all the candidates were given 3 minutes to speak; my opponent took shots at the former prosecutor(a well liked member of the community who is running for judge) and me(of course). I just ignore her digs and never ever mention her in my speeches. Some of the well-connected political hands tell me that her early switch to negative campaigning shows that she is already starting to panic. As for me, I take the advice of the late Lee Atwater:
When your opponent is shooting himself in the foot, don’t interrupt him.

As a voter I'm more apt to pay attention to candidates who talk about their accomplishments, goals, and vision versus someone who resorts to a campaign built on smearing an opponent.

Best of luck as the adventure continues.

snakeweasel

jmonroe said:

I am not going to back out of this.

So, I'm pretty sure I know what you guys would have done given the same situation, right ?

BTW, Grandson #4's team won 2-1 with his team scoring the winning goal with 4 seconds left. So, I get to go back to this same arena tomorrow at noon and look for another skinny parking spot.

jmonroe

Good, do the right thing. I am pretty sure we would all do the same.

OK I have a parking lot story.

My car is getting new shoes today so with pretty decent weather I woke up the bike a little early to run a few errands. I go to this place where the parking lot is rather small but there is a spot right near the entrance that is empty so I made a beeline for it and parked. Well there was this woman in a Prius that pulled into the lot behind me and started to yell at me, it went sort of like this:

Woman: You cant park there.

Me: (I just look around confused, pretty much my normal self)

Woman: See the sign? Fuel efficient vehicles only. You cant park there.

Sure enough the sign did say "fuel efficient vehicles only.

Me: I get over 65 MPG how much does that gas guzzler get?

Oh, you should have seen the look on her face. She continued her triad as I walked into where I was going., She parked further away and I saw her talking to someone inside and I think she may have been complaining about it.

oldfarmer50

pensfan83 said:

roadburner said:

I just got back from the political dinner; all the candidates were given 3 minutes to speak; my opponent took shots at the former prosecutor(a well liked member of the community who is running for judge) and me(of course). I just ignore her digs and never ever mention her in my speeches. Some of the well-connected political hands tell me that her early switch to negative campaigning shows that she is already starting to panic. As for me, I take the advice of the late Lee Atwater:
When your opponent is shooting himself in the foot, don’t interrupt him.

As a voter I'm more apt to pay attention to candidates who talk about their accomplishments, goals, and vision versus someone who resorts to a campaign built on smearing an opponent.

Best of luck as the adventure continues.

The trouble is, a large portion of the voting public are only attracted to drama and mud slinging like an election was an episode of Real Housewives. Negative works which is why politicians go there.

snakeweasel

roadburner said:

oldfarmer50 said:

I'm watching one of those classic car shows and they were reviewing a 1969 Mustang Cobra Jet 429 (7.0L). Massive engine but only a 5.7 0-60. A modern 5.0L Mustang does mid 4s. I guess the good old days weren't that good.

The Boss 429 was only built to homologate that engine for the NASCAR Grand National series. It was a tight fit in the Mustang engine compartment; to reach one of the plugs the power steering pump needed to be unbolted and moved out of the way. But yes, a 5.7 0-60 time was impressive back in 1969; today it's merely average at best.

I had a friend back in high school who had a Boss 429. Awesome car for its time. However you had to have a real light tough on the gas to get double digit gas mileage.

jmonroe

jipster said:

Way to fight for justice, Edmunds style, jmonroe. Here in Louisville when somebody smashes into your car, they just lay rubber and take off. Happened to my dad. Luckily a pedestrian got the wise guys plate number. I am disappointed though you didn't have a snappy comeback for the woman who told you to mind your own business. We're waiting. 

 "Do you have jurisdiction for this parking lot?" ...... anybody else find that funny? Bbird? 

You're "disappointed'? What are you, a sadist or somethin? :@ I get enough yapping in my own house, do you really think I'm going to get into it with some screaming nut at a kids hockey arena parking lot? And here I thought we were long time poster buddies.

jmonroe

thebean

jmonroe said:

I have a car story of sorts, not one of our dishwasher or fridge stories. Really kind of interesting. But you tell me. WARNING: long post about to begin.

Let me explain a little before the interesting part.

I went to two of my Grandsons local hockey tournament games today. The first was Grandson #3 (Son #2's son) at 10 this morning. They lost and are now eliminated. Don't want to talk about that anymore. The parking lot at this arena has some pretty skinny parking spots (that's why we always take Mrs. j's Subie and not my Genny) and is surely why Mrs. j's Subie got wacked 2 years ago like I just mentioned in my post above.

At tournament time it is mighty tuff to find a parking spot but I got lucky with the first game because a game had just finished and I found a spot right away. The second game Grandson #4 (little goalie belonging to Son #1) was at 1:30 so Mrs. j wanted to go get some groceries rather than sitting around waiting. Nice guy jmonroe agrees. I knew I couldn't be as lucky finding a spot for the second game and I was right. Drove around the building and just about when I was about to give up I see someone backing out. As I'm pulling in I realize I am between 2 pickups. I damn sure didn't like that idea but there was nothing else available. As I'm walking to the arena (I had already dropped of Mrs. j before my drive around), I see a parking spot about 4 spots down with cars on both sides, no trucks. I think it just became available as I was pulling into my spot. I look around and don't see any cars coming so I quickly jump in the car and move it into this safer spot. That was a relief. Now as I'm again walking to the arena, I see another parking spot about 5 spots down. I'm not moving her car again and even if I wanted to I now hear a car racing down this aisle. The car is moving way too fast for this parking lot but I figured they saw a spot open and they wanted it. The car didn't have to speed because the aisle is one way anyhow but it was really moving and I could tell it couldn't pull into that spot so I thought that car was leaving not coming. Wrong, the car screeches to a stop past the spot and the front bumper really dipped down. Even with all of the windows closed on this smallish Jeep I can now hear the radio blasting some rap music and the woman immediately throws the car into reverse and is backing up almost as fast as she was going forward. BAM, she backs right into the car that was about a car length behind her. She jumps out of her car screaming at the driver that she just ran into. Here is some of that conversation:

As I said the woman (30 ish) was screaming.

Woman: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU. DIDN'T YOU SEE THAT I WANTED THAT PARKING SPOT?

GUY: Lady, all I saw was you backing up into me.

Woman: YOU OTTA WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING.

GUY: Mam, I think you should have been the one watching. I was stopped and you backed into me. Anytime you are backing up and the other car is stopped, you are the one at fault not me and your insurance company will be paying for this.

Woman: LIKE HELL, PROVE IT, I'M GOING TO TELL THEM YOU RAN INTO ME.

WOW, I now have to get into this.

Me (talking to the guy): I saw what happened and I'll be a witness for you.

Woman even more irate and even louder.

Woman: YOU STAY THE HELL OUT OF THIS. THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.

Me (talking to the guy): Just get her info and I'll back you up on this.

Woman: I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE ANYBODY ANY INFO.

Me: Just get her license plate number and call the cops. I'll stick around.

He didn't have to call the cops. About 4 cars back (a line of about 10 cars has formed by now) a guy approaches and asks what's going on.

Woman: WHY THE HELL DO YOU CARE?

The guy reaches into his coat and pulls out his ID. He's an off duty cop from and adjoining community coming to his kids hockey. What are the chances of that happening?

Woman (no longer screaming): Do you have jurisdiction for this parking lot?

Cop: I have enough authority to make sure information is exchanged during an accident. If you want, I can get the local police here to make sure you do the right thing. So, how do you want me to proceed?

Woman: OK, let me get my purse.

The guy was driving an Escape and their bumpers matched pretty well so as best as I could see there was only bumper damage. But the guys bumper was a little worse off. A piece was hanging down pretty low (maybe 8 inches from the ground) and the cop went to his car and got some duct tape because he said if the guy drove out on the highway he could be pulled over because of that.

As we were walking in, the guy, the cop and me, the cop said, "for his sake I hope you don't back out of being his witness. Because he won't have a leg to stand on without it. When that happens the insurance companies will each pay for their insured and both parties will have rate increases".

I am not going to back out of this.

So, I'm pretty sure I know what you guys would have done given the same situation, right ?

BTW, Grandson #4's team won 2-1 with his team scoring the winning goal with 4 seconds left. So, I get to go back to this same arena tomorrow at noon and look for another skinny parking spot.

jmonroe

This story brought to you by j "I'll make a long story even longer" monroe.

Mr_Shiftright

Historic Moment--he broke 1,000 words in a single post. This is Olympics caliber.

suydam

And 800 of them were unnecessary!

graphicguy

sandman_6472 said:

JL Williams, remember that scam very well when I just started out in the post office. Folks were going nuts trying to get all of us to jump on board but most of us said "no way"! Turns out they all lost, big time, and they never tried to sell to any of us again.
JM, great story and glad that woman got put in her place. Seem to remember a guy walking over to see if I was o k last week but since the other guy got the ticket for improper backing, think I'm good here. Even if I hadn't moved out of my parking spot, the idiot would've crashed into the front of my vehicle so I was a sitting duck either way.
Folks really need to drive slowly in any parking lot because folks start to back out all the time and not everyone had that back-up warning. Eventually, I plan to get a vehicle with all the nannies on it because of what happened to me...it's time!

The Sandman

Sandy...wonder what happened to JL Williams? Don't hear a peep about them anymore.

RB....couldn't agree more about today's cars being in a golden age.

My Acura with a 3.5L V6 is as fast as the 5L in my former Cobra. Cobra was a beast off the line and in the ¼. The Acura would catch it and hang with it the further down the road they would go.