Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

bwia

2016 Buick Avenir

Even if you are not a Buick fan this retro Avenir concept really looks cool. If it finally makes it to production it probably will be a 9-speed with 204 inch wheel base, all wheel drive and seating for four with emphasis on rear seat comfort for the owner.
Not sure about the rear end but I don't see the resemblance to the Riviera mentioned in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsB7viZP3bY

jpp75

nyccarguy said:

Nice!

abacomike

jpp5862 said:

Nice!

Love looking at serene photos of landscapes after a new snowfall.  It's walking and driving in the stuff that I have a sincere dislike!!!

robr2

LOL. Yes Boston has a complex when comparing itself to NYC. We like to think of ourselves as the more refined and gentile younger sibling to the loud, crass attention getter.

stickguy

Doesn't sound like Red Sox fans to me!

abacomike

robr2 said:

LOL. Yes Boston has a complex when comparing itself to NYC. We like to think of ourselves as the more refined and gentile younger sibling to the loud, crass attention getter.

You tell'em, Rob!  Boston is much more refined, to be sure.  As for a "gentile" younger sibling, I'd have to disagree.  On the other hand, perhaps a "gentle" younger sibling is more appropriate.

imidazol97

ATS Cadillac stars in this short film from a competition sponsored partly by Cadillac.

Standard equipment or optional?

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2015/01/2015-cadillac-ats-coupe-stars-in-new-red-thunder-short-film/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=84838260&v=CBPnJYhjJI0&x-yt-ts=1422327029#t=320

imidazol97

And here's one short film on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=84838260&v=ESOjTDw8i3g&x-yt-ts=1422327029

driver100

nyccarguy said:

Did you build the snowman?

driver100

Mike....I have a question you may be able to answer for me.

We went to Punta Gorda today and I put the address into the GPS. The young lady who gives the directions was really loud. The radio was on just normal, but her voice was booming.

I tried every setting button I could find but couldn't get her to calm down. Any ideas how to fade her voice? She sounds like a nice person, but I can't take her shouting at me.

abacomike

@driver100 said:

"Did you build the snowman?"

No driver.  The snow fell in a precise intensity with multi-directional winds which created a "self-portrait snowman!"

abacomike

driver100 said:

Mike....I have a question you may be able to answer for me. We went to Punta Gorda today and I put the address into the GPS. The young lady who gives the directions was really loud. The radio was on just normal, but her voice was booming. I tried every setting button I could find but couldn't get her to calm down. Any ideas how to fade her voice? She sounds like a nice person, but I can't take her shouting at me.

Try lowering the volume using your "controller knob" below the NAV screen and above the temp controls - turn it counter-clockwise.  If that doesn't work, use your volume control (+ and -) on the steering wheel.  If that doesn't work, take the car into your closest MERCEDES dealership and have them help you.

My lady has precisely the correct volume, but I use the control knob (on the dash below the NAV screen) if I need to adjust volume for phone calls, Mbrace contacts, music or voice control.

stickguy

that reminds me. I need to figure out how to raise the volume on the nav lady in my new car.

the problem is they just lower the radio volume (in the front, I think the back stays the same) and talk over it. at highway speeds, it is very hard to hear. I'm sure with all the fancy stuff the car does, you can adjust that. I am just too lazy to look! And actually rarely use it, when I don't already know where I am going.

abacomike

stickguy said:

that reminds me. I need to figure out how to raise the volume on the nav lady in my new car. the problem is they just lower the radio volume (in the front, I think the back stays the same) and talk over it. at highway speeds, it is very hard to hear. I'm sure with all the fancy stuff the car does, you can adjust that. I am just too lazy to look! And actually rarely use it, when I don't already know where I am going.

Tomorrow, I have to take my Dad to a neurologist someplace west-north-west of where I live.  I have never been to this doctor before so I just opened my Mbrace App on my iPhone and selected the "send-to-Benz" function.  It asks me for and address, which I entered, and I pressed the "send" button.  Tomorrow morning when I start the car, a message will flash on my NAV screen asking if I want to start "route guidance" to the listed destination.

I have used that app several times and it works great.  It then will ask if I want to save the destination to memory, which I will.  Technology is truly amazing!

driver100

abacomike said:

@driver100 said:

"Did you build the snowman?"

No driver.  The snow fell in a precise intensity with multi-directional winds which created a "self-portrait snowman!"

That's cool...we don't get those multi-directional winds. Can they make other things...like a Giant whale or something?

abacomike

driver100 said:

@driver100 said:

"Did you build the snowman?"

No driver.  The snow fell in a precise intensity with multi-directional winds which created a "self-portrait snowman!"

That's cool...we don't get those multi-directional winds. Can they make other things...like a Giant whale or something?

You never know, driver.  Here in Florida, high tides, wind and rain can form "sand castles" if the winds blow right!

driver100

Try lowering the volume using your "controller knob" below the NAV screen and above the temp controls - turn it counter-clockwise.  If that doesn't work, use your volume control (+ and -) on the steering wheel.

.

The control on the steering wheel only operates the radio. But, I will try the other knob below the NAV screen.
Thanks, I'll let you know......

abacomike

driver100 said:

Try lowering the volume using your "controller knob" below the NAV screen and above the temp controls - turn it counter-clockwise.  If that doesn't work, use your volume control (+ and -) on the steering wheel.

. The control on the steering wheel only operates the radio. But, I will try the other knob below the NAV screen. Thanks, I'll let you know......    

That is the knob that manually controls volume from a multitude of audio sources throughout the car.

stickguy

so, now that I am coming up on 3 months of ownership, I started getting calls from XM. 2x a day, like clockwork. Finally took one this afternoon to see what they had. I did have a decent offer in the mail. so, she was pushing the 6 mo. special. I asked about an annual special, and she came back with $10 less than the mail offer. It was good enough for me, so I took it to be done with it.

$89 for a full year additional. Maybe could have kept playing the game, but not really in the mood.

when that expires, I will convert it to a 2nd radio on my other plan. that was still more than what they offered me this go around.

hopefully they get the word I re-up'd and stop calling!

cdnpinhead

. . .which just confused the decisions makers.

Imagine that.

driver100

stickguy said:

.

$89 for a full year additional. Maybe could have kept playing the game, but not really in the mood.

when that expires, I will convert it to a 2nd radio .

hopefully they get the word I re-up'd and stop calling!

Do they have your credit card number? Mark the date you started on the calendar, and then call them before that date next year, or they will automatically renew your subscription at a much higher rate.......like more than double!

abacomike

driver100 said:

. $89 for a full year additional. Maybe could have kept playing the game, but not really in the mood. when that expires, I will convert it to a 2nd radio . hopefully they get the word I re-up'd and stop calling!

Do they have your credit card number? Mark the date you started on the calendar, and then call them before that date next year, or they will automatically renew your subscription at a much higher rate.......like more than double!

Just can't trust anyone any more - they get you coming and going - unbelievable.

driver100

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

Try lowering the volume using your "controller knob" below the NAV screen and above the temp controls - turn it counter-clockwise.  If that doesn't work, use your volume control (+ and -) on the steering wheel.

.

The control on the steering wheel only operates the radio. But, I will try the other knob below the NAV screen.
Thanks, I'll let you know......    

That is the knob that manually controls volume from a multitude of audio sources throughout the car

.

Mike, I'll try it tomorrow morning on my way to tennis. If that works you are a genius. Do you do wills and stuff like that?

Sandman6472

We both are going to get those calls come the beginning of February and now the wife says she's going to want it also. Told her to go for a rate for both vehicles and not to pay over $8/month, paid $8.25/month on the Tucson. All depends on what the 6 month rate will be. Also said we need to try and pay by check if possible but they do have my credit card on file right now. When I canceled the old subscription, the agent tried every way she could to get me to just tack it on to the Golf but I kept refusing, they must be told to try to exhaust the customer so they will cave in but I held fast and she finally said I'd get a refund, which I did.
Think they must have a multi-vehicle discount but we'll see how this plays out. I like it but think I'd give it up for awhile and use my ipod if need be.

The Sandman

robr2

Well compared to Yankee fans, we're pretty polite....

ab348

I think in the spring when my XM is up for renewal, I will let it go for the first time in years. With the audio streaming from the phone in the Caddy, I find I enjoy it a lot more since it is all songs I like. I never listen to the radio itself now.

stickguy

Sandy, they do have a multi-radio discount. I believe "rack rate" is ~$15/mo for the primary, and $10 for the additional units.

They do send a notice now when it is coming up on auto renew time, so I won't forget. I do still listen to it (don't really care to mess around with my phone all the time), and the wife wants it. Could probably get away without it at all, but at this point, I still don't want to.

driver100

Just can't trust anyone any more - they get you coming and going - unbelievable

.

My Sirius was due on the 535 on Oct 15 2014. I got the E400 at the end of October, with 6 months free Sirius. The guy called me to renew on about Oct 10th, and I told him to let it just run out. He tried everything to try to sell me on another subscription. When i told him the one was all I needed, and since it was free for 6 months I wouldn't renew. I told him to check with me in 6 months....he sounded like he was ready to cry.

venture

driver100 said:

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

Try lowering the volume using your "controller knob" below the NAV screen and above the temp controls - turn it counter-clockwise.  If that doesn't work, use your volume control (+ and -) on the steering wheel.

.

The control on the steering wheel only operates the radio. But, I will try the other knob below the NAV screen.
Thanks, I'll let you know......    

That is the knob that manually controls volume from a multitude of audio sources throughout the car

.

Mike, I'll try it tomorrow morning on my way to tennis. If that works you are a genius. Do you do wills and stuff like that?



On my Fusion I use the volume knob to make the nice lady a little quieter or louder. Yours should be the same. Just make sure she is talking when you do it or you will just adjust the radio volume.

nyccarguy

We built the snowman the other day. Today the boys played in the yard. My daughter doesn't care for the snow. When my wif got home from work I took my boys sledding. A marvelous day overall.

driver100

venture said:

driver100 said:

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

Try lowering the volume using your "controller knob" below the NAV screen and above the temp controls - turn it counter-clockwise.  If that doesn't work, use your volume control (+ and -) on the steering wheel.

.

The control on the steering wheel only operates the radio. But, I will try the other knob below the NAV screen.
Thanks, I'll let you know......    

That is the knob that manually controls volume from a multitude of audio sources throughout the car

.

Mike, I'll try it tomorrow morning on my way to tennis. If that works you are a genius. Do you do wills and stuff like that?



On my Fusion I use the volume knob to make the nice lady a little quieter or louder. Yours should be the same. Just make sure she is talking when you do it or you will just adjust the radio volume.

Interesting venture....I will definitely keep that in mind. I still don't know how the common layman is supposed to figure all this stuff out for himself.

driver100

nyccarguy said:

We built the snowman the other day. Today the boys played in the yard. My daughter doesn't care for the snow. When my wif got home from work I took my boys sledding. A marvelous day overall.

Nice nyc.....just go with the flow and make the best of the situation.

robr2

Well about 30+ inches by the time it was all done
+

stever

I guess that qualifies as a "dump". Doesn't look like much drifting so did you miss the brunt of the winds? Hm, well, the roof looks pretty windblown. And the power stayed on?

nyccarguy

@robr2‌

WOW! That's a LOT of snow.

ab348

But that doesn't look anything like 30 inches of snow. It would be almost halfway up the front door if it was that much? Archive photo?

robr2

There were plenty of winds but the worst of it was overnite Monday - I was asleep. The shed dormer roof in back only has a couple of inches on it. My Passat had a 3' drift on the hood and the backyard went from 4" to over the top of the snowblower.

We didn't lose power. It was light fluffy snow so it didn't coat the wires. Most of the power loss was by the coast where the ocean did a number. They also shut down power in those areas in advance to avoid any problems should there be flooding.

graphicguy

We didn't get what the east coast guys got....not even remotely close. We got a dusting. Before that, we had rain, which froze, though.

Just noticed something on the CTS' CUE system....when the GPS is running on the screen, if it's raining, it will show rain falling on the GPS roads. If it's snowing, it will show snow flakes falling. If it's a clear night, it will show stars in the display's sky rendition. If it's sunny, it will show that in the display's graphics, too. If it's overcast, it will show grey clouds in the sky on the display.

One of those things that you wonder "who thought of that?". And, one of those things that aren't very useful (like the motorized cup holder cover), but interesting to note. I'm sure Cadillac's engineering team was like..."hey wouldn't it be cool if we matched weather outside to the weather on the GPS display?".

I like companies who think "wouldn't it be cool if...............???????"

driver100

<>

Mike saidTry lowering the volume using your "controller knob" below the NAV screen and above the temp controls - turn it counter-clockwise.  If that doesn't work, use your volume control (+ and -) on the steering whee

l. .



and venture said:

On my Fusion I use the volume knob to make the nice lady a little quieter or louder. Yours should be the same. Just make sure she is talking when you do it or you will just adjust the radio volume

Thanks Mike and Venture, worked like a charm. Important to do it when she is talking, but that dial fixed the problem immediately.

driver100

robr2 said:

Well about 30+ inches by the time it was all done
+

Glad you lived to tell us about it. You have your work cut out for you to clear a way to the front door.

driver100

Now that you have solved my GPS problem...here is a question. Does anyone have experience with a "no contract cell phone".......the kind where you buy it with so much time on it and then you toss it out when you are finished. How much should it cost? How good are they? Will it hook up to bluetooth in the car? Can you buy them at a 7-11?

stever

I've used a PagePlus Cellular phone for several years now. It's a division of TracFone like Walmart sells. I did mailorder but they have some authorized dealers around. You have to buy a phone from them and then you have various plans to choose from. I do a pay as you go and when I'm not on the road, $10 lasts 120 days and gives you 100 minutes. If you renew before the 4 months ends, the unused minutes roll over. If I anticipate heavy use, I'll buy more minutes and get the rate down to around six cents a minute. Cheap phones start around $20 and go up to $180.

They use Verizon's network which seems to have the best coverage, but your local area may vary. Don't know about Bluetooth - my cheap flipfone has a setting for it but I've never played with it.

Howard's Forums is a good site to look up pros and cons.

For a one time use, I'd just try to find the cheapest at WallyWorld or 7/11 and look for one that uses Verizon (mostly because that's the network I'm most familiar with).

robr2

I'm not touching the front door. We never use it so it'll stay like that until the snow melts. We usually use the garage or the farmer's porch.

bwia

@driverMy Sirius was due on the 535 on Oct 15 2014. I got the E400 at the end of October, with 6 months free Sirius. The guy called me to renew on about Oct 10th, and I told him to let it just run out. He tried everything to try to sell me on another subscription. When i told him the one was all I needed, and since it was free for 6 months I wouldn't renew. I told him to check with me in 6 months....he sounded like he was ready to cry.

I cancelled my XM/Sirius subscription last night. I was paying about $45/quarter (for music and traffic) and I listened to only two channels; not the highest and best use of money at this time for me....after four years of XM radio, according to BB King, "the thrill is gone baby."

First, I tried to cancel online but what do you know? there is no way of doing that. So I had to call a non-toll free number. Fair enough, if they made it too easy they would probably lose about half their subscribers. Nonetheless, the young woman who answered the phone was quite polite and wanted to know why I wanted to cancel.

Not missing a beat she offered me an "$89 special." I told her that was too expensive. Not determined to give in she offered me a "$5.99 special" for six months. Again, I said No. After five minutes of holding she came back with the news that my service was cancelled and my refund would be credited back to my American Express.

Got up this morning, turn on the radio and what do you know? my XM service is mute. My next move is to set up Pandora for my Internet music and to cancel my rather expensive OnStar subscription. Not much need for OnStar since I have a built-in GPS and free Google traffic and weather from my smart phone.

bwia

robr2 said:

Well about 30+ inches by the time it was all done
+

Not sure how many inches we got but it was over two feet with drifts approaching six feet or more. My snow service has not yet showed up but based upon outside conditions I wouldn't expect him before tomorrow.
Meanwhile, I was surprised to see that UPS delivered a package for us this morning. He left it on a snow bank next to my mailbox that is almost covered up. Thank God I don't return to work until Friday.

abacomike

driver100 said:

<>

Mike saidTry lowering the volume using your "controller knob" below the NAV screen and above the temp controls - turn it counter-clockwise.  If that doesn't work, use your volume control (+ and -) on the steering whee

l. .



and venture said:

On my Fusion I use the volume knob to make the nice lady a little quieter or louder. Yours should be the same. Just make sure she is talking when you do it or you will just adjust the radio volume

Thanks Mike and Venture, worked like a charm. Important to do it when she is talking, but that dial fixed the problem immediately.



I knew it would - it works for me. Remember, I've had many, many E Class cars and have learned how everything works by "hunting and pecking and pushing" everything I can. On this new E 400, there are even more things for me to learn because of the Driver's Assistance Package. Just getting used to having the car's brakes applied by the computer system on one side or the other as I try to enter a lane where there is an obstruction or another vehicle is intense. It's already saved me several times.

If you need any other help, driver, just ask me.

bwia

stever said:

I've used a PagePlus Cellular phone for several years now. It's a division of TracFone like Walmart sells. I did mailorder but they have some authorized dealers around. You have to buy a phone from them and then you have various plans to choose from. I do a pay as you go and when I'm not on the road, $10 lasts 120 days and gives you 100 minutes. If you renew before the 4 months ends, the unused minutes roll over. If I anticipate heavy use, I'll buy more minutes and get the rate down to around six cents a minute. Cheap phones start around $20 and go up to $180.

They use Verizon's network which seems to have the best coverage, but your local area may vary. Don't know about Bluetooth - my cheap flipfone has a setting for it but I've never played with it.

Howard's Forums is a good site to look up pros and cons.

For a one time use, I'd just try to find the cheapest at WallyWorld or 7/11 and look for one that uses Verizon (mostly because that's the network I'm most familiar with).

Speaking of cell phones; Apple reported first quarter profits of $18 billion (yes $18 billion) on robust sales of 74.5 million iPhones. Apparently the iPone 6/Plus is selling like hot cakes. I believe that capitalism is a good economic system but such obscene profits are unconscionable. Besides, Apple is sitting on a $178 billion pile of cash and is expected to sell some 46 million i-Watches this spring.

abacomike

And most of that cash Apple is sitting on is all offshore!!!

driver100

Mike: On this new E 400, there are even more things for me to learn because of the Driver's Assistance Package. Just getting used to having the car's brakes applied by the computer system on one side or the other as I try to enter a lane where there is an obstruction or another vehicle is intense. It's already saved me several times.

If you need any other help, driver, just ask me

.

Thanks Mike...it is nice to have this service......Mike assist!

I think it would be hard for me to get used to Drivers Assist (which I don't have). Even the Park Assist is scarry to me........I haven't used it. If I do smash into the car while using it who pays for the damage? I'll have to be more senile than I am now before I use it.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

Does anyone have experience with a "no contract cell phone".......the kind where you buy it with so much time on it and then you toss it out when you are finished.