Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

cdnpinhead

imidazol97 said:

I never cease to be amazed at how many people recognize Buick and the ventiports as the penultimate in automobiles.

If Buick is the penultimate (next to last), what is last?

sda

I used to go to Sears in Knoxville when I was in college to service my '76 Sunbird. I bought the Roadhandler radials, BR 78-13 IIRC made by Michelin. Those tires really improved the ride especially on the interstate. That car was very sensitive to out of balance tires. I also bought the Steadyrider shocks and installed them myself. They made a nice improvement as well. That shop was always crazy busy and had a loyal following. Sears today, sad.

explorerx4

I did my first lawn edging today and put down some lawn repair. Don't care if spring has decided not to show up yet.

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mg4_cl56z3Q

imidazol97

cdnpinhead said:

imidazol97 said:

I never cease to be amazed at how many people recognize Buick and the ventiports as the penultimate in automobiles.

If Buick is the penultimate (next to last), what is last?

cnd asks, "What is the last (ultimate)?"

That would be a Mercedes S450 or whatever it is AbacoMike has...
That would be the ultimate for me.

tbirdmarco

 Set the Sears is pretty much gone here the last few stores closed down so that the auto center that was around since I was a kid wow guys when off with that crazy snow already where is the spring it’s supposed to be here crazy 

snakeweasel

tbirdmarco said:38p0

 Set the Sears is pretty much gone here the last few stores closed down so that the auto center that was around since I was a kid wow guys when off with that crazy snow already where is the spring it’s supposed to be here crazy 

at one time Sears was the top retailer in the world. At one time you could buy just about anything through sears, including cars and houses. The mighty do fall. 

abacomike

imidazol97 said:

I never cease to be amazed at how many people recognize Buick and the ventiports as the penultimate in automobiles.

If Buick is the penultimate (next to last), what is last?

cnd asks, "What is the last (ultimate)?" That would be a Mercedes S450 or whatever it is AbacoMike has... That would be the ultimate for me.

It’s an S450 Mercedes with the AMG options.  I agree imid - it is the ultimate for many people - but the Rolls Royce Ghost II is the ultimate for me - but there is no way I could enjoy a car like that - just going to the mall or to the supermarket and parking it in a spot would be nerve-racking.  So, the S450 is the practical ultimate car for me.

explorerx4

Speaking of Sears, going to a wedding here in August:
https://www.castlefarms.com/visit/castle-history/

Just went to a wedding here over the weekend:
http://www.stlclub.com/about/

When kids decide to get married, they don't mess around.

jmonroe

driver100 said:

JMonroe

but what KIND of ribs?

Yeah, I think that rib place also served Fried Green Tomatoes

NYC's Plumbing Supply & Hickory Smoke Flavored Back Ribs

I hope the smokey flavor isn't coming from his threading cutting oil. I never liked the smell of it so tasting it is definitely out.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

snakeweasel said:

Good Monday morning everyone. It's April 9th, three weeks into spring and it's a wonderful day, they sky is sunny and it's nice and warm. Just kidding, I'm about to drive to work in a @#$%& snowstorm.  :@ There is a few inches on the ground and it's still snowing. I want my spring.

We got about 8 inches here yesterday. Everybody is very cranky.

I read this story with much sadness. Condolences from south of the border.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/world/americas/canada-hockey-team-crash-victims.html

jmonroe

snakeweasel said:

tbirdmarco said:38p0

 Set the Sears is pretty much gone here the last few stores closed down so that the auto center that was around since I was a kid wow guys when off with that crazy snow already where is the spring it’s supposed to be here crazy 

at one time Sears was the top retailer in the world. At one time you could buy just about anything through sears, including cars and houses. The mighty do fall. 

And that is truly sad. We all remember the saying, "solid as Sears". Like I said, SAD.

While I never bought a car or house from Sears, I think I bought just about everything else over the years. More tools than I can count. In 1989 when we wanted to replace the carpet in our family room, we couldn't find what we wanted at any of the carpet places (Home Depot and Lowes were not around yet), so out of frustration I said to Mrs. j, maybe we ought to try Sears. She said something like, "I wanted to get a better grade carpet. What makes you think Sears has that"? I said, "they probably have lots of grades of carpet. It won't hurt to look". We bought from Sears and were totally satisfied.

Again, what a shame they screwed up a great company.

jmonroe

andres3

snakeweasel said:

tbirdmarco said:38p0

 Set the Sears is pretty much gone here the last few stores closed down so that the auto center that was around since I was a kid wow guys when off with that crazy snow already where is the spring it’s supposed to be here crazy 

at one time Sears was the top retailer in the world. At one time you could buy just about anything through sears, including cars and houses. The mighty do fall. 

Speaking of the mighty falling; Oppo has announced they are ceasing production of any new product, but will continue to support their class-leading Blu-Ray/4K Universal Players.

Being the best isn't good enough anymore. If you want a top of the line player that will last you a long time, get one before you can't get one.

cdnpinhead

Junior hockey feeds the pros, and those pros populate the NHL that the U.S. watches. In any event, it's a relatively small population, such that this team in Saskatchewan has connections all over the sport, even here in Phoenix.

RIP

What a shame.

venture

jmonroe said:

snakeweasel said:

tbirdmarco said:38p0

 Set the Sears is pretty much gone here the last few stores closed down so that the auto center that was around since I was a kid wow guys when off with that crazy snow already where is the spring it’s supposed to be here crazy 

at one time Sears was the top retailer in the world. At one time you could buy just about anything through sears, including cars and houses. The mighty do fall. 

And that is truly sad. We all remember the saying, "solid as Sears". Like I said, SAD.

While I never bought a car or house from Sears, I think I bought just about everything else over the years. More tools than I can count. In 1989 when we wanted to replace the carpet in our family room, we couldn't find what we wanted at any of the carpet places (Home Depot and Lowes were not around yet), so out of frustration I said to Mrs. j, maybe we ought to try Sears. She said something like, "I wanted to get a better grade carpet. What makes you think Sears has that"? I said, "they probably have lots of grades of carpet. It won't hurt to look". We bought from Sears and were totally satisfied.

Again, what a shame they screwed up a great company.

jmonroe

All true, but I would imagine, when Sears was growing and moving stores into a lot of places, the owners of small hardware stores, clothing stores, etc. were not very happy as Sears was putting many family owned places out of business.

tbirdmarco

 Snack your weasel through the mighty to fall nothing last forever 

tbirdmarco

 Very nice explore 

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

ab348 said:

snakeweasel said:

Good Monday morning everyone. It's April 9th, three weeks into spring and it's a wonderful day, they sky is sunny and it's nice and warm. Just kidding, I'm about to drive to work in a @#$%& snowstorm.  :@ There is a few inches on the ground and it's still snowing. I want my spring.

We got about 8 inches here yesterday. Everybody is very cranky.

I read this story with much sadness. Condolences from south of the border.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/world/americas/canada-hockey-team-crash-victims.html

Thank you for your condolences. It is a terrible tragedy wherever it happens, lives lost because of a senseless act......possibly in this case inattention. Most of us can connect and we feel the pain.

ab348

snakeweasel said:

at one time Sears was the top retailer in the world. At one time you could buy just about anything through sears, including cars and houses. The mighty do fall. 

I wonder if Amazon has any corporate historians on staff?

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

I read this story with much sadness. Condolences from south of the border.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/world/americas/canada-hockey-team-crash-victims.html

Thank you. It is difficult to fathom how this could happen.

abacomike

oldfarmer50 said:

Good Monday morning everyone. It's April 9th, three weeks into spring and it's a wonderful day, they sky is sunny and it's nice and warm. Just kidding, I'm about to drive to work in a @#$%& snowstorm.  :@ There is a few inches on the ground and it's still snowing. I want my spring.

We got about 8 inches here yesterday. Everybody is very cranky.

I read this story with much sadness. Condolences from south of the border. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/09/world/americas/canada-hockey-team-crash-victims.html

It’s ALWAYS tragic when the young among us leave so suddenly.  The tragedy is that these youngsters had no opportunity to realize their potential or meet the loves of their lives and raise families.  They were robbed of their opportunity to make their mark on the world.  RIP  

abacomike

Speaking of young lives shortened, our North Broward County community still has not recovered from the shooting deaths of those high school students in Parkland, FL.  There are still one or two survivors in the hospital recovering from multi gunshot wounds.

The school was noted for scholarship excellence.  Just another example of youngsters taken from our society before realizing their potential.  Among them might have been the one who discovers a cure for Alzheimer’s or pancreatic cancer.  Just another tragic event in our lifetimes.

driver100

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

JMonroe

but what KIND of ribs?

Yeah, I think that rib place also served Fried Green Tomatoes

NYC's Plumbing Supply & Hickory Smoke Flavored Back Ribs

NYC's Plumbing Supply & Hickory Smoke Flavored Back Ribs

I hope the smokey flavor isn't coming from his threading cutting oil. I never liked the smell of it so tasting it is definitely out.

jmonroe

Sorry NYC, I forgot, "NYC's Plumbing Supply & Kosher Hickory Smoke Flavored Back Ribs"

iluvmysephia1

I liked Sears for dress shoes and tennis shoes. Oh well, we've got a JC Penney in Alamogordo. Hard to believe the demise of Sears.

nyccarguy

driver100 said:

JMonroe

but what KIND of ribs? Yeah, I think that rib place also served Fried Green Tomatoes

NYC's Plumbing Supply & Hickory Smoke Flavored Back Ribs

NYC's Plumbing Supply & Hickory Smoke Flavored Back Ribs I hope the smokey flavor isn't coming from his threading cutting oil. I never liked the smell of it so tasting it is definitely out. jmonroe

Sorry NYC, I forgot, "NYC's Plumbing Supply & Kosher Hickory Smoke Flavored Back Ribs"

Funny you say that.  Last Tuesday we went out to a BBQ joint for my birthday.  Our meal was Kosher For Passover, but not Kosher.

dino001

iluvmysephia1 said:

I liked Sears for dress shoes and tennis shoes. Oh well, we've got a JC Penney in Alamogordo. Hard to believe the demise of Sears.

Companies come and go. Retailers even more frequently than others. Every 20-30 years there is a significant shift in a way people shop. Before internet there was big box store. Before that it was malls. Before malls there were chains. A disruptor comes and changes things not only in the front, but usually more importantly in the back of the store. Those who can't adapt, will usually start calling their representatives and governors crying about great injustice. The representatives might even take some action, but if the disruption is truly big, it will take over regardless. Fun fact - it was prohibited at one time in some states for stores to bargain directly with manufacturers, as buying from wholesalers were considered the only way that was American, honest and blessed by God (guess who was promoting that view).

The most ironic part (you can call it poetic justice to some extent) is the original disruptors become disruptees. It's kind of comical to hear Walmart, Target, JC Penney, or Sears crying their eyes out how evil and unfair Amazon is in their actions, knowing that 25 years ago it was Walmart killing all mom and pop general stores without merci, or Sears ruining local hardware wholesalers and stores long years ago through their catalog sales.

oldfarmer50

I got to drive my first fleet Buick yesterday, a Verano. Coming up from the back I thought it was a Camry. Wasn't until I saw the Buick logo on the info screen that I realized what it was. Wasn't a big floaty car like you'd expect. In fact the road noise was similar to Toyota.

The interior even in rental car trim was pretty nice. It had average power and gas handled ok. Not a stand out in any catagory. I read that they did away with the turbo version which might have made it pop.

I'd say the only thing that impressed me was the interior.

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

In fact the toad noise was similar to Toyota. 

I prefere my cars not to have any toad noise, but that's just me. 

isellhondas

sda said:

I used to go to Sears in Knoxville when I was in college to service my '76 Sunbird. I bought the Roadhandler radials, BR 78-13 IIRC made by Michelin. Those tires really improved the ride especially on the interstate. That car was very sensitive to out of balance tires. I also bought the Steadyrider shocks and installed them myself. They made a nice improvement as well. That shop was always crazy busy and had a loyal following. Sears today, sad.

I helped introduce and promote the Steady rider shocks and I even had a hand in naming them. Sears liked to "name " things at the time. For some reason, they didn't like my suggestion for their lifetime mufflers. " Blowhard" didn't set well with some of them.

Yes, we did it all in those days. One busy Saturday we installed 89 car batteries! I had five battery installers and we had four or five Sun VAT-40 machines. Four alignment racks and a two man muffler shop. we installed Air conditioning, rebuilt engines, transmissions and did we ever do brake jobs! I think our record was 16 complete brake jobs in one day. four or five full time brake guys doing the work. We SMOKED!

And, then, the music died.....for a number of reasons. Today the Auto Center where we once kicked butt is barely open and the whole store is probably about to close. Yes, sad indeed. I was 24 when I took over there and 28 when I bailed to start my own business.

isellhondas

iluvmysephia1 said:

I liked Sears for dress shoes and tennis shoes. Oh well, we've got a JC Penney in Alamogordo. Hard to believe the demise of Sears.

Shop at Penney's while you can, I fear they aren't gong to be around long just like Sears. Macy's is hurting too.

A lot of Sears troubles were self-inflicted but not all. They lost that old "Sears" feeling sometime atound the late 70's early 80's.

dino001

isellhondas said:

iluvmysephia1 said:

I liked Sears for dress shoes and tennis shoes. Oh well, we've got a JC Penney in Alamogordo. Hard to believe the demise of Sears.

Shop at Penney's while you can, I fear they aren't gong to be around long just like Sears. Macy's is hurting too.

A lot of Sears troubles were self-inflicted but not all. They lost that old "Sears" feeling sometime atound the late 70's early 80's.

Macy's trouble is in a different planet than JC Penney's, or Sears, at least for now. The latter are struggling for survival in next couple of years (especially Sears), the former is about investors and management recognizing that good profits are over for foreseeable future and adjusting the operations to reflect the reality. So far it's slow - every time I go to their website, the prices for exactly the same merchandise are still higher than in others (net, after all coupons, sales, and usual gimmicks are taken into account).

Macy's is today what Sears or Penney were 15 years ago. They should hope they won't get their Lampert or Johnson. From what you're saying, seems Sears already lost its "mojo" before the Internet even took off. Then they got Lampert, who starved the stores even more (they weren't such a hoot even before) and Amazon with Walmart and Best Buy took out reason for their existence.

28firefighter

@nyccarguy - I've always enjoyed the KforP but not K distinction!

iluvmysephia1

IIRC the Buick Verano ain't a bad looker on the outside, either.

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

In fact the toad noise was similar to Toyota. 

I prefere my cars not to have any toad noise, but that's just me. 

I went back and fixed that so it wouldn't upset you but be careful what you ask for. When I typed in 'road' correctly the spell checker offered 'triad' as a substitute.

jmonroe

venture said:

jmonroe said:

snakeweasel said:

tbirdmarco said:38p0

 Set the Sears is pretty much gone here the last few stores closed down so that the auto center that was around since I was a kid wow guys when off with that crazy snow already where is the spring it’s supposed to be here crazy 

at one time Sears was the top retailer in the world. At one time you could buy just about anything through sears, including cars and houses. The mighty do fall. 

And that is truly sad. We all remember the saying, "solid as Sears". Like I said, SAD.

While I never bought a car or house from Sears, I think I bought just about everything else over the years. More tools than I can count. In 1989 when we wanted to replace the carpet in our family room, we couldn't find what we wanted at any of the carpet places (Home Depot and Lowes were not around yet), so out of frustration I said to Mrs. j, maybe we ought to try Sears. She said something like, "I wanted to get a better grade carpet. What makes you think Sears has that"? I said, "they probably have lots of grades of carpet. It won't hurt to look". We bought from Sears and were totally satisfied.

Again, what a shame they screwed up a great company.

jmonroe

All true, but I would imagine, when Sears was growing and moving stores into a lot of places, the owners of small hardware stores, clothing stores, etc. were not very happy as Sears was putting many family owned places out of business.

It's interesting that you say Sears got rid of a lot of mom and pop places and they did, but in the community where I lived back in the late 50's and still live today, everyone "back in the day" seemed to do alright, not so today though.

When my parents moved from the Burgh to the community where I live today back in the mid 50's, there were 2 very well known hardware stores and they were across the road from each other (gone now) and they both did well. I went to both of them. One was the type where you bought bolts, nuts and nails by the pound. The one across the road was in a major outdoor shopping center, was more modern but still had real hardware items. I still hear the old timers talk about those places with fond memories. But business is business and life moves on. Oh for the "good old days of Sears and real hardware stores".

@driver100 you can tune out now because a tale is coming:

I also remember the day when my community had an appliance parts place. The guy that worked behind the counter in this old run down house was amazing. If you walked in with the part you wanted, he would say, "timer for a Whirlpool/Kenmore washing machine. I have that in stock", or "door handle for a GE freezer. I'll have to order that for you", or "door gasket for a Westinghouse fridge" and on and on. I walked in one time with the part in my hand and he said, "you again? What did you break this time? I think that's a cycle switch for a GE washer. How the hell did you break that? They last forever. I'll have to order that for you". For the record it wasn't me it was Mrs. j.

There was always a line of about 5 or 6 guys in there and we just laughed when the next guy walked in with a broken part that he identified within seconds. One time, by the time I got to the counter his helper was at the counter and Sam was at a workbench in the back of the room. I said, "where's Sam, he knows what I need"? His young helper said, "He's rewiring a waffle iron for a lady that is picking it up in about and hour". I said, "so you actually have the Nichrome heating element wire for those. That's good to know. I might need some of that someday". At the time, our waffle iron was at least 15 years old. Got it as a wedding gift. Still have it and it still works. I hope I didn't jinx it by bragging about it. If I come up one waffle short the next time I use that thing, you guys are getting blamed for that. :@ I don't think the common man can get that wire anymore. Well, maybe via the internet but not right away like years ago.

There aren't any more appliance parts places like that around me anymore either.

jmonroe

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

In fact the toad noise was similar to Toyota. 

I prefere my cars not to have any toad noise, but that's just me. 

I went back and fixed that so it wouldn't upset you but be careful what you ask for. When I typed in 'road' correctly the spell checker offered 'triad' as a substitute.

Smart spell checker. A 'triad' doesn't make any noise either.

jmonroe

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

In fact the toad noise was similar to Toyota. 

I prefere my cars not to have any toad noise, but that's just me. 

I went back and fixed that so it wouldn't upset you but be careful what you ask for. When I typed in 'road' correctly the spell checker offered 'triad' as a substitute.

It didn't upset me, I just love typos that change the sentence in strange ways. A typo such as "roaf" wouldn't have been the same since it isn't a word. 

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

In fact the toad noise was similar to Toyota. 

I prefere my cars not to have any toad noise, but that's just me. 

I went back and fixed that so it wouldn't upset you but be careful what you ask for. When I typed in 'road' correctly the spell checker offered 'triad' as a substitute.

It didn't upset me, I just love typos that change the sentence in strange ways. A typo such as "roaf" wouldn't have been the same since it isn't a word. 

I have the curse of possessing a master's level vocabulary combined with a 4th grade spelling ability. When I butcher words so bad that spell check throws up it's hands I go to the ultimate authority...my wife, the former stenographer and executive secretary from days before computers. When she's not available my older son is an excellent speller. (Doesn't know a thing about cars though)

dino001

jmonroe said:

There aren't any more appliance parts places like that around me anymore either.
jmonroe

And guess what - they're not needed, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who you ask.

Today's hone waffle grid is made so much cheaper that nobody would be rewiring the old one if/when it gives up the ghost. Small replacement parts can be ordered from couple online store and pages of schematics are available with Youtube videos for those who want to do it themselves. Just this weekend I was able to address my plugged freezer defrost drain on my refrigerator all thanks to series of great videos with clear instructions. I'm not particularly handy, somewhat clumsy to be honest, but being an engineer, I can follow instructions and diagrams if they're clear enough and don't require specialized tools.

I bet the last whip manufacturer was the best one ever, same with typesetters for printing press or wood wheel makers.

driver100

JMonroe: @driver100 you can tune out now because a tale is coming:

Thanks for the warning. Now I don't have to charge you for my valuable time.

cdnpinhead

jmonroe said:

There aren't any more appliance parts places like that around me anymore either.

Back in the day, when all I had was a Honda motorcycle, I followed my parts guy from the Honda store on McDowell to a place clear across town because he also could identify a part from across the room and/or go in the back and find a filter immediately. None of that looking stuff up. Those guys, like us, are either gone or headed to the parts department in the sky (or wherever).

driver100

Same with my tennis store....I like the small guy who knows everything, not the kid in the big store who is working for minimum wages.

I went to Dick's Sports store in Brandon FL......I was looking for tennis shoes. They have about 100 pairs of shoes on the wall, none of them are for tennis.
The young kid comes over and asks me what I am looking for.
I say, I am looking for tennis shoes.
He says, "Do you mean to play tennis in?"
I say, no, I just like to wear them when I am watching tennis on TV.

He says, sorry, we don't have them. My small store can tell me what brand of shoe suits me, he can tell me what racquet I need....there is still a place for the small store who can provide a service....and if it costs me 10 or 20% more I will gladly pay it.

Mr_Shiftright

This "collective wisdom of the elders" is shaping up to be a major crisis in the vintage car world, and especially in the vintage racing world. There are just no, or very few, young people with the knowledge or motivation to support some of these older vehicles. Possibly car clubs will take up some of the slack, but they can't possibly act as a substitute. And even car clubs for vintage stuff are drying up.

oldfarmer50

Mr_Shiftright said:

This "collective wisdom of the elders" is shaping up to be a major crisis in the vintage car world, and especially in the vintage racing world. There are just no, or very few, young people with the knowledge or motivation to support some of these older vehicles. Possibly car clubs will take up some of the slack, but they can't possibly act as a substitute. And even car clubs for vintage stuff are drying up.

Maybe you can join a vintage iPhone club.

driver100

Mr_Shiftright said:

This "collective wisdom of the elders" is shaping up to be a major crisis in the vintage car world, and especially in the vintage racing world. There are just no, or very few, young people with the knowledge or motivation to support some of these older vehicles. Possibly car clubs will take up some of the slack, but they can't possibly act as a substitute. And even car clubs for vintage stuff are drying up.

Same thing is happening to; antiques, crystal, silverware and lots of other stuff. We thought it was special, they think of it as junk.

Mr. S, are you advising us not to buy classic cars?

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PF0ZMOnArtw

tbirdmarco

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk69tEdPaUM

driver100

I saw an 85 Mustang today....white with a white convertible top.....like explorers, and it was really going, sped around a slower car in the HOV lanes.
What I really like is that it is equal distance from the bottom of the door, to the window area, as from the window area to the top of the car. In other words....huge windows.
A great design according to me:

driver100

Was going to use this picture but I know I would lose JMonroes attention:

explorerx4

@driver100,
How do you know it was an '85?
Did you check under the hood?