Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

bwia

abacomike said:

I haven’t had the opportunity to post another “abacomike” tragedy situation in a very long time.  Well, it happened again!

I was food shopping this morning and an old lady was coming down an aisle not looking out for other shoppers and crashed right into me jamming my right arm between the front of her cart and the rear of my cart.  Normally, this would not be a catastrophe - but you forget this is sbacomike - tragedy and catastrophe are my two middle names.

Most of you know I take a blood thinner due to a DVT.  Well, the skin on my arm tore and I started bleeding like a sieve.  They called the paramedics because we couldn’t get the bleeding to stop.

They put a pressure bandage on my arm and I went to the emergency room at the local hospital.  The doctor put 7 stitches in my arm, bandaged my arm, and I took a cab back to the parking lot to get my car.  The stitches come out in 7 days.

If not for the blood thinners I take, it would not have been as serious.  

Oh, oh so sorry to hear that. After your brief stint in the hospital I hope you are okay. Which brings up another question, Was the incident captured on video to prove that the lady was more than 50% at fault. Regardless, I see a lawsuit coming and being decided in your favor. Stay safe my friend.

jipster

bwia said:

Rest in Peace John Havlicek, one of the greatest Celtics ever, dies at 79.

Havlicek was a part of eight NBA champions and made perhaps the most famous play in franchise history. His high octane energy, endurance and longevity made him one of the most beloved Celtics of all time. He died Thursday after a long bout with Parkinson’s Disease.

What was the play, bwia? I followed the Celtics during the Bird, McHale, Parrish era. Not too much before that, though knew Havlicek a great player and caught his games occasionally.

snakeweasel

ab348 said:

Sounds like a deal for people with more money than brains TBH. Basing everything on MSRP, 10,000 miles a year, no mention of money factor or APR. Run do not walk to the nearest exit.

They do mention gross capitalization cost of $59,127 and an option to buy at the end of the lease of $35,937. If we take the difference of $23,189 and presum it to be a 36 month loan with the payment at the beginning it works out to be a 5.7% interest rate. 

ab348

jipster said:

bwia said:

Rest in Peace John Havlicek, one of the greatest Celtics ever, dies at 79.

Havlicek was a part of eight NBA champions and made perhaps the most famous play in franchise history. His high octane energy, endurance and longevity made him one of the most beloved Celtics of all time. He died Thursday after a long bout with Parkinson’s Disease.

What was the play, bwia? I followed the Celtics during the Bird, McHale, Parrish era. Not too much before that, though knew Havlicek a great player and caught his games occasionally.

"Havlicek stole the ball!" in the dulcet tones of Johnny Most.

ab348

snakeweasel said:

They do mention gross capitalization cost of $59,127 and an option to buy at the end of the lease of $35,937. If we take the difference of $23,189 and presum it to be a 36 month loan with the payment at the beginning it works out to be a 5.7% interest rate. 

It reminds me of what I saw last year when I was doing the deal on my ATS. There was a pair of ladies in the showroom dealing with another salesman, looking at a new white Corvette convertible on the floor. I couldn't quite figure out the situation totally - they may have been sisters or otherwise related (they both looked and sounded to be of Arabic origin) and one spoke to what seemed to be her husband on her cell for a short time. The sales guy went into Finance for a while, came back out and without even going back into his cubicle and sitting them down to explain, told them that it would be a payment of $1000 a month, whether a lease or a purchase I do not know. The only time I ever saw that before was when ballparking something for a customer they did not think was a serious buyer. Without hesitation one said "We'll take it" and the deal was written up. Quickest negotiation I ever saw.

bwia

1965 Eastern Finals - Havlicek Stole the Ball. Not sure if he was recognized for it but Johnny Most should have won an Emmy for calling that play. Watch short black & white 1 minute video clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdX5qHcPVtY

jmonroe1

ab348 said:

snakeweasel said:

They do mention gross capitalization cost of $59,127 and an option to buy at the end of the lease of $35,937. If we take the difference of $23,189 and presum it to be a 36 month loan with the payment at the beginning it works out to be a 5.7% interest rate. 

It reminds me of what I saw last year when I was doing the deal on my ATS. There was a pair of ladies in the showroom dealing with another salesman, looking at a new white Corvette convertible on the floor. I couldn't quite figure out the situation totally - they may have been sisters or otherwise related (they both looked and sounded to be of Arabic origin) and one spoke to what seemed to be her husband on her cell for a short time. The sales guy went into Finance for a while, came back out and without even going back into his cubicle and sitting them down to explain, told them that it would be a payment of $1000 a month, whether a lease or a purchase I do not know. The only time I ever saw that before was when ballparking something for a customer they did not think was a serious buyer. Without hesitation one said "We'll take it" and the deal was written up. Quickest negotiation I ever saw.

Damn, I guess that circus owner was right.

jmonroe

suydam

abacomike said:

I haven’t had the opportunity to post another “abacomike” tragedy situation in a very long time.  Well, it happened again!

I was food shopping this morning and an old lady was coming down an aisle not looking out for other shoppers and crashed right into me jamming my right arm between the front of her cart and the rear of my cart.  Normally, this would not be a catastrophe - but you forget this is sbacomike - tragedy and catastrophe are my two middle names.

Most of you know I take a blood thinner due to a DVT.  Well, the skin on my arm tore and I started bleeding like a sieve.  They called the paramedics because we couldn’t get the bleeding to stop.

They put a pressure bandage on my arm and I went to the emergency room at the local hospital.  The doctor put 7 stitches in my arm, bandaged my arm, and I took a cab back to the parking lot to get my car.  The stitches come out in 7 days.

If not for the blood thinners I take, it would not have been as serious.  

What is it with you and supermarkets?! I think you need a personal grocery delivery service! Who are all these old ladies crashing into everyone? Must be a Florida thing. It sounds dangerous! We did have one elderly driver drive his car right through the front doors of our local Trader Joe’s awhile back, but I’ve never seen a collision inside the store! Hope you heal quickly.

imidazol97

Speaking of grocery stores... here's a dog picture appropriate for the produce section.

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

explorerx4 said:

@jipster,
If your next vehicle search can stretch out to 3 years or so, it can take me into retirement.

Well I started my search and it could take a few years. Don't need a new one right away so I cant keep looking until I find that great buy and pounce on it.

That's a good point....you aren't desperate so you have time. All the more reason to keep the non-converting convertible but watch for a great used car. That's the best, when you can turn a bad situation into a good thing.

That's how I got this car to begin with. My previous car had close to 200k on it and was showing its age. I kept my eyes open and found a year old Sebring convertible for $15k and snapped it up.

I did find a 2016 Buick Cascada with 19k miles for $18k. But its white and she who must be obeyed said no more white cars.

Now that you’ve explained that you can’t do manual top I say dump your Sebring. Why would you spend $3000 fixing it when there are tons of similar cars out there for a few thousand more.



https://albany.craigslist.org/cto/d/rensselaer-2008-chrysler-sebring/6871528674.html

I think the Cascada is a nice looking car. I’ve seen it in blue and it’s gorgeous. It got lukewarm reviews and I think they stopped making them but that’s a factor in your favor when negotiating.

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

most rentals are just driven normally. And I think there is probably a better chance of them getting regular maintenance than privately owned cars. The other problem is, just not as many late model cars out there from normal buyers. So they have to come from someplace.

Exactly. That’s why dealers buy so many from rental agencies. There’s just not enough frequent traders around.

I would qualify that by type of car. I don’t think I’d buy a performance ex-rental car. On the other hand a family sedan or mini van probably is just driven for transportation.

C'mon oldfarmer....you must drive the crap out of some of those Sentras and Corollas, just to try pushing them to the limits. Ever go about 30 mph and then try shoving the gear shift into reverse?

A friend of mine back in the early 80s had a high mileage Volvo that had an early version of that system that turns the engine off when you come to a stop, in other words it had a habit of stalling when you came to a stop. So he just would put the car into neutral when he was coming to a stop. Well one day when I was with him as he is slowing down at 25 or so he goes to put it into neutral goes past both neutral and reverse and lands in park. The wheels locked up and we came to a very sudden stop. It didn't seem to have affected the transmission but I wouldn't recommend doing it.

Back when we were young and foolish my buddy would do that with his auction bought ex trooper car. It was fun to hear the screeching of the tires as the tranny first locked up and then the big 440 started turning the tires in reverse while still going forward.

Even the heavy duty police transmission didn’t put up with that very long.

graphicguy

@snakeweasel ....I’d go with option 1. Not sure what the car is worth, but it’s over a decade old. And, rightfully or wrongfully, it’s a brand that’s not known for either longevity or reliability. Putting a grand in it (for just the top) doesn’t seem like the kind of money you’d ever see, again. Drive it. When it becomes too unbearable to live with, send it down the road as a “mechanics special”.

@jipster ....HOORAY! Glad the purchase went off without a hitch!

ruking1

ab348 said:

Sorry to hear about your latest misadventure in the wild world of grocery shopping @abacomike . After my heart valve replacement last year I was on a similar regimen as you, Plavix plus a baby aspirin daily. I have been on aspirin for decades as originally prescribed by my family doctor in the '80s, later reinforced by heart specialists and surgeons over the years with the only change being a switch from a 325mg to the 81mg size. I am now off the Plavix finally. I wouldn't worry about the medical recommendations or prognostications from random message board posters here.

Last fall when I was still on both I almost cut the tip of my finger off in a hedge trimmer mishap. Leather gloves saved me from that but I still had a wound on that finger. It happened on a Sunday and despite immediate first aid it bled for a while, to the point where I was ready to visit the Emerg room also. Our health care system here is so overburdened that wait times there are many hours long and even worse on weekends so I decided to wait until the next morning and just kept it well-bandaged, and thankfully it stopped overnight.

Para #1 last sentence. What one does actually works for me. It seems like you are dealing with a lot of health issues. Indeed, the recommendation was to raise the (aspirin regime) issue with one’s doctor, rather than a medical recommendation or prognostication (doctors job). Cheers. Evidently, I still need to better learn the Matt 7:6 lesson.

graphicguy

RENTAL CARS.....I rent A LOT of cars. Probably not as many as I did 2-3 years ago with the availability of Lyft and Uber. But, traveling 3 weeks out of every month, there are times when dealing with flaky Uber drivers (a whole other story for another time) just isn’t conducive to having a productive work day when traveling.

Mainly, my company rents from Hertz. We use Avis as a backup. But, for some inexplicable reason, Avis hasn’t been competitive with their rates for the last couple of years.

Hertz takes pretty good care of their cars. I see service stickers in all of them, and agree that they probably are better at maintenance than at least ½ the driving public is with their personal cars.

Since I rent so much, they do upgrade me to either a car that has lower miles (and sometimes into their premium lux selection), or a class or two above what we usually get.

They don’t mess too much with smaller imperfections (like paint chips, minor scrapes, etc). But, if anything is more noticeable, they fix it. The big one was getting a smoker’s car. I don’t care how much they tried to mask or eliminate the smoke smell, it’s impossible to get rid of it out of cloth upholstery. They’ve eliminated that by not allowing smoking in any of their cars in recent years.

I’d buy a rental.

BTW.....when upgraded, that’s how I decide which cars I would buy as my personal car. I’ve been able to drive CLA and C Class rentals. I’ve driven Corollas, Camrys, and 4-runners. Lots is Nissan Products (which makes up my opinions on the Versa being one of the worst cars I’ve ever driven). I actually rented a Smart Car while traveling in Europe on a business trip. Apparently, EU countries love them. They’re garbage.....not even worth the cheap price they go for.

Lastly, I rented a Fiat 500 in Boston a few months, ago. Yes, it handled fine. It was a bit slow, but still fun to drive. If Fiat could ever get their act together and make a well built, and reliable car, it would be a hit.

graphicguy

BTW....every Toyota I’ve ever driven from a rental company, regardless of the condition, still drove decently. An Avalon is still a competitor to the luxury brands, both domestic and European, in my estimation. They drive nicely. They’re very well put together. They have quite nice materials. They’re comfy, and generally speaking, you can get one all loaded up in the high $30K range.

ruking1

graphicguy said:

RENTAL CARS.....I rent A LOT of cars. Probably not as many as I did 2-3 years ago with the availability of Lyft and Uber. But, traveling 3 weeks out of every month, there are times when dealing with flaky Uber drivers (a whole other story for another time) just isn’t conducive to having a productive work day when traveling.

Mainly, my company rents from Hertz. We use Avis as a backup. But, for some inexplicable reason, Avis hasn’t been competitive with their rates for the last couple of years.

Hertz takes pretty good care of their cars. I see service stickers in all of them, and agree that they probably are better at maintenance than at least ½ the driving public is with their personal cars.

Since I rent so much, they do upgrade me to either a car that has lower miles (and sometimes into their premium lux selection), or a class or two above what we usually get.

They don’t mess too much with smaller imperfections (like paint chips, minor scrapes, etc). But, if anything is more noticeable, they fix it. The big one was getting a smoker’s car. I don’t care how much they tried to mask or eliminate the smoke smell, it’s impossible to get rid of it out of cloth upholstery. They’ve eliminated that by not allowing smoking in any of their cars in recent years.

I’d buy a rental.

BTW.....when upgraded, that’s how I decide which cars I would buy as my personal car. I’ve been able to drive CLA and C Class rentals. I’ve driven Corollas, Camrys, and 4-runners. Lots is Nissan Products (which makes up my opinions on the Versa being one of the worst cars I’ve ever driven). I actually rented a Smart Car while traveling in Europe on a business trip. Apparently, EU countries love them. They’re garbage.....not even worth the cheap price they go for.

Lastly, I rented a Fiat 500 in Boston a few months, ago. Yes, it handled fine. It was a bit slow, but still fun to drive. If Fiat could ever get their act together and make a well built, and reliable car, it would be a hit.

We’ve a Hertz used car sales lot near an old client I used to do a lot of work. I used to go to the lot to see the latest offerings. I’d buy a rental Toyota (Corolla, Camry, etc), if I wanted or needed a used car.

henryn

quick check on houston craigslist for "sebring convertible":

2009, 93k miles, "top don't work", $2,495

2008, 72k miles, $5,199

2004, 164k miles, $3,200

2010, 125k miles, $5,000

henryn

ab348 said:

Sorry to hear about your latest misadventure in the wild world of grocery shopping @abacomike . After my heart valve replacement last year I was on a similar regimen as you, Plavix plus a baby aspirin daily. I have been on aspirin for decades as originally prescribed by my family doctor in the '80s, later reinforced by heart specialists and surgeons over the years with the only change being a switch from a 325mg to the 81mg size. I am now off the Plavix finally. I wouldn't worry about the medical recommendations or prognostications from random message board posters here.

Last fall when I was still on both I almost cut the tip of my finger off in a hedge trimmer mishap. Leather gloves saved me from that but I still had a wound on that finger. It happened on a Sunday and despite immediate first aid it bled for a while, to the point where I was ready to visit the Emerg room also. Our health care system here is so overburdened that wait times there are many hours long and even worse on weekends so I decided to wait until the next morning and just kept it well-bandaged, and thankfully it stopped overnight.

Never go to the emergency room. At least not under your own power. If you've been shot, or run over, and the ambulance takes you there unconscious, I'll give you a pass. Otherwise, look up the nearest urgent care clinic that takes your insurance. It would probably be a wise move to look up that information and record it, along with their hours, before you need it.

You can usually get in and out of an urgent care clinic in 1 to 2 hours, versus an average wait time of 3 to 6 hours at the emergency room. Most people who go to the emergency room would be much better off at an urgent care clinic.

https://houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/Patient-confusion-is-business-model-for-13458955.php

An urgent care center can and should handle most consumers’ immediate needs and charge only a little more than a doctor’s office. A hospital ER is focused on life-threatening conditions and would really rather you go to an urgent care if possible.

Free-standing ERs don’t really want trauma cases; they want urgent care cases. Their parlor trick is equipping the clinic like an emergency room, which by law allows them to charge 20 times more than an urgent care for precisely the same treatment.

For example, an average person who cuts his or her hand while slicing his or her Sunday morning bagel has probably never thought about urgent care versus an ER. He or she is only thinking about the blood flowing out and wants to go to the nearest location with the shortest wait time.

A cut requiring stitches is the perfect example of the nearly 56 percent of emergency room visits that are not emergencies, according to the New England Health Institute. But if it’s your blood staining one of the good kitchen towels, you probably think it’s an emergency, not merely urgent.

ruking1

henryn said:

ab348 said:

Sorry to hear about your latest misadventure in the wild world of grocery shopping @abacomike . After my heart valve replacement last year I was on a similar regimen as you, Plavix plus a baby aspirin daily. I have been on aspirin for decades as originally prescribed by my family doctor in the '80s, later reinforced by heart specialists and surgeons over the years with the only change being a switch from a 325mg to the 81mg size. I am now off the Plavix finally. I wouldn't worry about the medical recommendations or prognostications from random message board posters here.

Last fall when I was still on both I almost cut the tip of my finger off in a hedge trimmer mishap. Leather gloves saved me from that but I still had a wound on that finger. It happened on a Sunday and despite immediate first aid it bled for a while, to the point where I was ready to visit the Emerg room also. Our health care system here is so overburdened that wait times there are many hours long and even worse on weekends so I decided to wait until the next morning and just kept it well-bandaged, and thankfully it stopped overnight.

Never go to the emergency room. At least not under your own power. If you've been shot, or run over, and the ambulance takes you there unconscious, I'll give you a pass. Otherwise, look up the nearest urgent care clinic that takes your insurance. It would probably be a wise move to look up that information and record it, along with their hours, before you need it.

You can usually get in and out of an urgent care clinic in 1 to 2 hours, versus an average wait time of 3 to 6 hours at the emergency room. Most people who go to the emergency room would be much better off at an urgent care clinic.

https://houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/Patient-confusion-is-business-model-for-13458955.php

An urgent care center can and should handle most consumers’ immediate needs and charge only a little more than a doctor’s office. A hospital ER is focused on life-threatening conditions and would really rather you go to an urgent care if possible.

Free-standing ERs don’t really want trauma cases; they want urgent care cases. Their parlor trick is equipping the clinic like an emergency room, which by law allows them to charge 20 times more than an urgent care for precisely the same treatment.

For example, an average person who cuts his or her hand while slicing his or her Sunday morning bagel has probably never thought about urgent care versus an ER. He or she is only thinking about the blood flowing out and wants to go to the nearest location with the shortest wait time.

A cut requiring stitches is the perfect example of the nearly 56 percent of emergency room visits that are not emergencies, according to the New England Health Institute. But if it’s your blood staining one of the good kitchen towels, you probably think it’s an emergency, not merely urgent.

Your post is spot on!

sda

graphicguy said:

RENTAL CARS.....I rent A LOT of cars. Probably not as many as I did 2-3 years ago with the availability of Lyft and Uber. But, traveling 3 weeks out of every month, there are times when dealing with flaky Uber drivers (a whole other story for another time) just isn’t conducive to having a productive work day when traveling.

Mainly, my company rents from Hertz. We use Avis as a backup. But, for some inexplicable reason, Avis hasn’t been competitive with their rates for the last couple of years.

Hertz takes pretty good care of their cars. I see service stickers in all of them, and agree that they probably are better at maintenance than at least ½ the driving public is with their personal cars.

Since I rent so much, they do upgrade me to either a car that has lower miles (and sometimes into their premium lux selection), or a class or two above what we usually get.

They don’t mess too much with smaller imperfections (like paint chips, minor scrapes, etc). But, if anything is more noticeable, they fix it. The big one was getting a smoker’s car. I don’t care how much they tried to mask or eliminate the smoke smell, it’s impossible to get rid of it out of cloth upholstery. They’ve eliminated that by not allowing smoking in any of their cars in recent years.

I’d buy a rental.

BTW.....when upgraded, that’s how I decide which cars I would buy as my personal car. I’ve been able to drive CLA and C Class rentals. I’ve driven Corollas, Camrys, and 4-runners. Lots is Nissan Products (which makes up my opinions on the Versa being one of the worst cars I’ve ever driven). I actually rented a Smart Car while traveling in Europe on a business trip. Apparently, EU countries love them. They’re garbage.....not even worth the cheap price they go for.

Lastly, I rented a Fiat 500 in Boston a few months, ago. Yes, it handled fine. It was a bit slow, but still fun to drive. If Fiat could ever get their act together and make a well built, and reliable car, it would be a hit.

Wow, I had no idea you traveled that extensively. When do you find time for yourself and maintain your sanity?

jmonroe1

sda said:

graphicguy said:

RENTAL CARS.....I rent A LOT of cars. Probably not as many as I did 2-3 years ago with the availability of Lyft and Uber. But, traveling 3 weeks out of every month, there are times when dealing with flaky Uber drivers (a whole other story for another time) just isn’t conducive to having a productive work day when traveling.

Mainly, my company rents from Hertz. We use Avis as a backup. But, for some inexplicable reason, Avis hasn’t been competitive with their rates for the last couple of years.

Hertz takes pretty good care of their cars. I see service stickers in all of them, and agree that they probably are better at maintenance than at least ½ the driving public is with their personal cars.

Since I rent so much, they do upgrade me to either a car that has lower miles (and sometimes into their premium lux selection), or a class or two above what we usually get.

They don’t mess too much with smaller imperfections (like paint chips, minor scrapes, etc). But, if anything is more noticeable, they fix it. The big one was getting a smoker’s car. I don’t care how much they tried to mask or eliminate the smoke smell, it’s impossible to get rid of it out of cloth upholstery. They’ve eliminated that by not allowing smoking in any of their cars in recent years.

I’d buy a rental.

BTW.....when upgraded, that’s how I decide which cars I would buy as my personal car. I’ve been able to drive CLA and C Class rentals. I’ve driven Corollas, Camrys, and 4-runners. Lots is Nissan Products (which makes up my opinions on the Versa being one of the worst cars I’ve ever driven). I actually rented a Smart Car while traveling in Europe on a business trip. Apparently, EU countries love them. They’re garbage.....not even worth the cheap price they go for.

Lastly, I rented a Fiat 500 in Boston a few months, ago. Yes, it handled fine. It was a bit slow, but still fun to drive. If Fiat could ever get their act together and make a well built, and reliable car, it would be a hit.

Wow, I had no idea you traveled that extensively. When do you find time for yourself and maintain your sanity?

Who said he's sane.

jmonroe

ab348

henryn said:

Never go to the emergency room. At least not under your own power. If you've been shot, or run over, and the ambulance takes you there unconscious, I'll give you a pass. Otherwise, look up the nearest urgent care clinic that takes your insurance. It would probably be a wise move to look up that information and record it, along with their hours, before you need it.

This is Canada. No such thing as an urgent care clinic here (or private insurance that will pay for you to receive care via another option) in our socialist nirvana. You join everyone else in the queue at the govt-run emergency room or you don't get treated.

henryn

ab348 said:

This is Canada. No such thing as an urgent care clinic here (or private insurance that will pay for you to receive care via another option) in our socialist nirvana. You join everyone else in the queue at the govt-run emergency room or you don't get treated.

Ooops, my bad! Americans have a bad habit of thinking of themselves as the entire world, which is not true, and something that I usually try to avoid.

ab348

THIS STORY is understandably getting much coverage locally right now. It is likely an edge case, and is in part due to her not being as squeaky a wheel as she needed to be in our system, but it nevertheless illustrates the serious issues with Canada's health care right now which continue to get worse. If you are brave enough to read some of the comments there are even more stories. I discovered recently that my family doctor now requires 8 to 10 weeks advance scheduling for appointments. But at least I have one, as there is a severe shortage and many do not have a family doctor at all, which is a problem since that serves as the entryway to specialists, tests and procedures.

It just keeps getting worse here and while they continue to throw vast sums of money at it, it never seems to improve.

fintail

No culture of medical bankruptcies though, also longer life expectancy, always a tradeoff.

ab348 said:

This is Canada. No such thing as an urgent care clinic here (or private insurance that will pay for you to receive care via another option) in our socialist nirvana. You join everyone else in the queue at the govt-run emergency room or you don't get treated.

ab348

fintail said:

No culture of medical bankruptcies though, also longer life expectancy, always a tradeoff.

Unless you can't get in and die.

fintail

I don't rent nearly as often, but in the US have patronized Hertz for some years, as they are linked to a rewards program I am in. Never had an issue, but I am always amazed at the basic spec of most of their cars. I know rentals tend to be basic to begin with, but literal zero option cars amuse me. Also amusing are the well-equipped cars randomly scattered in the fleet. I've also used Sixt when available, as their fleet is generally more interesting.

In Europe I have only rented from Sixt, no issues there either, and a generally very nice fleet of well equipped cars, some of them fairly fancy (my last was a Jag F-type S Cabrio).

Probably low risk buying a rental car, especially a fleet grade bland sedan. Not much attraction in hooning one of
those. A rental muscle car though, I'd tread with caution.

graphicguy said:

RENTAL CARS.....I rent A LOT of cars

Lastly, I rented a Fiat 500 in Boston a few months, ago. Yes, it handled fine. It was a bit slow, but still fun to drive. If Fiat could ever get their act together and make a well built, and reliable car, it would be a hit.

fintail

Life expectancy data might show that a quite low risk.

Not a debate many want to get into, but the rest of the mature developed world has evolved to single payer. This perhaps greatest miss of the land of liberty and justice will eventually evolve, too.

ab348 said:

Unless you can't get in and die.

ruking1

ab348 said:

THIS STORY is understandably getting much coverage locally right now. It is likely an edge case, and is in part due to her not being as squeaky a wheel as she needed to be in our system, but it nevertheless illustrates the serious issues with Canada's health care right now which continue to get worse. If you are brave enough to read some of the comments there are even more stories. I discovered recently that my family doctor now requires 8 to 10 weeks advance scheduling for appointments. But at least I have one, as there is a severe shortage and many do not have a family doctor at all, which is a problem since that serves as the entryway to specialists, tests and procedures.

It just keeps getting worse here and while they continue to throw vast sums of money at it, it never seems to improve.

Glad some one is singing the “praises” of single pay, socialized medicine?!😱

I’m sure they are working on/ trying to speed things up, so one can get into the “12 week to 16 week quick appointment” line?!😝

imidazol97

ab348 said:

It just keeps getting worse here and while they continue to throw vast sums of money at it, it never seems to improve.

Surprise! Surprise! Has throwing money in a bad program ever worked?

That's why I've questioned government involvement in EV and hybrid vehicles and pushing them
rather than letting normal markets work.

cdnpinhead

Yeah, just like the metric system.

fintail

Luckiest generation members now attached medicare or other publicly supported systems mocking "socialized" medicine, if only there was some self-awareness.

Pay attention, Murka pays far more per capita than similarly wealthy nations and doesn't receive superior results.

ruking1

imidazol97 said:

ab348 said:

It just keeps getting worse here and while they continue to throw vast sums of money at it, it never seems to improve.

Surprise! Surprise! Has throwing money in a bad program ever worked?

That's why I've questioned government involvement in EV and hybrid vehicles and pushing them
rather than letting normal markets work.

It’s only (2/3) decades later that Toyota, has even remotely revealed (if what I read is correct) spending $’s billions to develop (their) hybrid technologies. Looking forward they want to spend $’s B MORE to ADVANCE hybrids.

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

@jipster, If your next vehicle search can stretch out to 3 years or so, it can take me into retirement.

Well I started my search and it could take a few years. Don't need a new one right away so I cant keep looking until I find that great buy and pounce on it.

That's a good point....you aren't desperate so you have time. All the more reason to keep the non-converting convertible but watch for a great used car. That's the best, when you can turn a bad situation into a good thing.

That's how I got this car to begin with. My previous car had close to 200k on it and was showing its age. I kept my eyes open and found a year old Sebring convertible for $15k and snapped it up. I did find a 2016 Buick Cascada with 19k miles for $18k. But its white and she who must be obeyed said no more white cars.

Now that you’ve explained that you can’t do manual top I say dump your Sebring. Why would you spend $3000 fixing it when there are tons of similar cars out there for a few thousand more. https://albany.craigslist.org/cto/d/rensselaer-2008-chrysler-sebring/6871528674.html I think the Cascada is a nice looking car. I’ve seen it in blue and it’s gorgeous. It got lukewarm reviews and I think they stopped making them but that’s a factor in your favor when negotiating.

I do believe this will be the last year for the cascadia. The biggest issue i have read is the acceleration in the car is rather lackluster. but since this would become the wifes car and she doesnt drive fast it wouldn't be an issue.

jmonroe1

fintail said:

Life expectancy data might show that a quite low risk.

Not a debate many want to get into, but the rest of the mature developed world has evolved to single payer. This perhaps greatest miss of the land of liberty and justice will eventually evolve, too.

ab348 said:

Unless you can't get in and die.

Given our country is so bad, both with health care and real estate, why are you still here?

jmonroe

ab348

fintail said:

Life expectancy data might show that a quite low risk.

Not a debate many want to get into, but the rest of the mature developed world has evolved to single payer. This perhaps greatest miss of the land of liberty and justice will eventually evolve, too.

Canada is not the single payer you seem to envisage. It is also close to single-provider, that being the govt, and that is where the problems arise. Family doctors are self-employed and manage their own practices, and pay their staff/operating costs. The govt has a fee schedule and pays them on a piecework basis. Of course they managed to screw that up so that family docs say they can't make any money without being overworked. Pretty much everything else is run and staffed by govt with all the bureaucracy, waste, inertia, and lack of concern for the client experience that brings with it.

Don't want that either and prefer to keep your existing medical infrastructure? If you are imposing insurance on people as single-payer does then you get into huge bureaucracies that determine what is covered and how much procedures are worth. Most doctors don't go to med school for all those years to work for the govt at what they declare to be an acceptable salary. If people and institutions can't make money providing care they stop doing it. If you allow them to charge what they want, invariably that leads to the payer running out of funds, rationing care and declaring some things not eligible. There is no magic bullet here.

The life expectancy data is due to many things, not just the health care system. And of course even that brings with it is own problems, as an aging population that lives longer is yet another burden on the taxpayer, and we have the same horror stories about seniors needing a bed in a care facility and not getting one, or being warehoused in one that has horrible conditions where they get treated terribly. Don't assume because the system you know has problems, that ones touted by those with a certain point of view are automatically better. Canada's surely isn't. Not when you see our politicians traveling to the US for treatment that is good enough that they are willing to pay for it rather than wait years for something here.

Medical bankruptcies could be wiped out with an administrative law change. Nobody should go go broke because of a need for lifesaving treatment. As long as people don't rack up millions of dollars in bills for cosmetic surgery or quackery, no harm no foul. But is that knee or hip replacement really necessary? Maybe you should suffer a few more years. Walk slower, don't try to even walk to the corner of the block. Quality of life suffering? Too bad, take some more pain pills, we'll pay for those. When you can't get out of the house at all any more, then we'll talk.

Don't laugh, things are close to that bad here.

snakeweasel

ruking1 said:

RENTAL CARS.....I rent A LOT of cars. Probably not as many as I did 2-3 years ago with the availability of Lyft and Uber. But, traveling 3 weeks out of every month, there are times when dealing with flaky Uber drivers (a whole other story for another time) just isn’t conducive to having a productive work day when traveling. Mainly, my company rents from Hertz. We use Avis as a backup. But, for some inexplicable reason, Avis hasn’t been competitive with their rates for the last couple of years. Hertz takes pretty good care of their cars. I see service stickers in all of them, and agree that they probably are better at maintenance than at least ½ the driving public is with their personal cars. Since I rent so much, they do upgrade me to either a car that has lower miles (and sometimes into their premium lux selection), or a class or two above what we usually get. They don’t mess too much with smaller imperfections (like paint chips, minor scrapes, etc). But, if anything is more noticeable, they fix it. The big one was getting a smoker’s car. I don’t care how much they tried to mask or eliminate the smoke smell, it’s impossible to get rid of it out of cloth upholstery. They’ve eliminated that by not allowing smoking in any of their cars in recent years. I’d buy a rental. BTW.....when upgraded, that’s how I decide which cars I would buy as my personal car. I’ve been able to drive CLA and C Class rentals. I’ve driven Corollas, Camrys, and 4-runners. Lots is Nissan Products (which makes up my opinions on the Versa being one of the worst cars I’ve ever driven). I actually rented a Smart Car while traveling in Europe on a business trip. Apparently, EU countries love them. They’re garbage.....not even worth the cheap price they go for. Lastly, I rented a Fiat 500 in Boston a few months, ago. Yes, it handled fine. It was a bit slow, but still fun to drive. If Fiat could ever get their act together and make a well built, and reliable car, it would be a hit.

We’ve a Hertz used car sales lot near an old client I used to do a lot of work. I used to go to the lot to see the latest offerings. I’d buy a rental Toyota (Corolla, Camry, etc), if I wanted or needed a used car.

OK this talk about Hertz reminds me of this:

https://youtu.be/QX-BBV60HU4

ruking1

IF such an efficient government as Canada can screwed up royally with only 36.7 M population, what does one think will happen in the United States with app 9 x the population @ 328 M population?

I regularly communicate with CN doctors, pharmacists, etc. The government has been/ is literally in full court press strangling the private medical practice segment.

ruking1

snakeweasel said:

ruking1 said:

RENTAL CARS.....I rent A LOT of cars. Probably not as many as I did 2-3 years ago with the availability of Lyft and Uber. But, traveling 3 weeks out of every month, there are times when dealing with flaky Uber drivers (a whole other story for another time) just isn’t conducive to having a productive work day when traveling.

Mainly, my company rents from Hertz. We use Avis as a backup. But, for some inexplicable reason, Avis hasn’t been competitive with their rates for the last couple of years.

Hertz takes pretty good care of their cars. I see service stickers in all of them, and agree that they probably are better at maintenance than at least ½ the driving public is with their personal cars.

Since I rent so much, they do upgrade me to either a car that has lower miles (and sometimes into their premium lux selection), or a class or two above what we usually get.

They don’t mess too much with smaller imperfections (like paint chips, minor scrapes, etc). But, if anything is more noticeable, they fix it. The big one was getting a smoker’s car. I don’t care how much they tried to mask or eliminate the smoke smell, it’s impossible to get rid of it out of cloth upholstery. They’ve eliminated that by not allowing smoking in any of their cars in recent years.

I’d buy a rental.

BTW.....when upgraded, that’s how I decide which cars I would buy as my personal car. I’ve been able to drive CLA and C Class rentals. I’ve driven Corollas, Camrys, and 4-runners. Lots is Nissan Products (which makes up my opinions on the Versa being one of the worst cars I’ve ever driven). I actually rented a Smart Car while traveling in Europe on a business trip. Apparently, EU countries love them. They’re garbage.....not even worth the cheap price they go for.

Lastly, I rented a Fiat 500 in Boston a few months, ago. Yes, it handled fine. It was a bit slow, but still fun to drive. If Fiat could ever get their act together and make a well built, and reliable car, it would be a hit.

We’ve a Hertz used car sales lot near an old client I used to do a lot of work. I used to go to the lot to see the latest offerings. I’d buy a rental Toyota (Corolla, Camry, etc), if I wanted or needed a used car.

OK this talk about Hertz reminds me of this:

https://youtu.be/QX-BBV60HU4


The LONG quote posted is NOT mine, but another poster. Fintail mistakenly attributes the post to the wrong person.

This following post was mine.

“We’ve a Hertz used car sales lot near an old client I used to do a lot of work. I used to go to the lot to see the latest offerings. I’d buy a rental Toyota (Corolla, Camry, etc), if I wanted or needed a used car.”

But yeah, I’m surprised they don’t have a U-Drive, U-Haul company named Ye HA in TX. Ya’ll

Speaking of the best retirement states. #1 FL, #2 SD, #3 CO. Here is one take. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/best-states-for-retirement-212045654.html

14 cars that can hit 200,000 miles. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/vehicle-most-likely-last-200-210531818.html

ab348

Hertz used t have some memorable ads, from OJ running through airports but the first ones I recall were like these with what was some impressive special effects for the time:

https://youtu.be/t1PezwV0Q90

abacomike

I guess summer is early this year - we hit 91 degrees today with high humidity - feels like temp was 99 degrees.  A/C running full blast. 🤪😜😀😩

oldfarmer50

fintail said:

I don't rent nearly as often, but in the US have patronized Hertz for some years, as they are linked to a rewards program I am in. Never had an issue, but I am always amazed at the basic spec of most of their cars. I know rentals tend to be basic to begin with, but literal zero option cars amuse me. Also amusing are the well-equipped cars randomly scattered in the fleet. I've also used Sixt when available, as their fleet is generally more interesting.

In Europe I have only rented from Sixt, no issues there either, and a generally very nice fleet of well equipped cars, some of them fairly fancy (my last was a Jag F-type S Cabrio).

Probably low risk buying a rental car, especially a fleet grade bland sedan. Not much attraction in hooning one of
those. A rental muscle car though, I'd tread with caution.

graphicguy said:

RENTAL CARS.....I rent A LOT of cars

Lastly, I rented a Fiat 500 in Boston a few months, ago. Yes, it handled fine. It was a bit slow, but still fun to drive. If Fiat could ever get their act together and make a well built, and reliable car, it would be a hit.

I don’t know about Hertz but Enterprise has few stripper models from my experience. They tend to be mid range to higher trim levels. For every Hyundai Accent without a backup camera we have a dozen Fusion Titaniums. From what I can gather it all depends on what the company can negotiate. I think they realize that a higher trim level will sell better when it goes on the block after it’s rental life.

jmonroe1

abacomike said:

I guess summer is early this year - we hit 91 degrees today with high humidity - feels like temp was 99 degrees.  A/C running full blast. 🤪😜😀😩

Just what the doctor ordered. Must be condusive for healing runaway shopping cart wounds.

jmonroe

driver100

sda said:

graphicguy said:

RENTAL CARS.....I rent A LOT of cars. Probably not as many as I did 2-3 years ago with the availability of Lyft and Uber. But, traveling 3 weeks out of every month, there are times when dealing with flaky Uber drivers (a whole other story for another time) just isn’t conducive to having a productive work day when traveling.

Mainly, my company rents from Hertz. We use Avis as a backup. But, for some inexplicable reason, Avis hasn’t been competitive with their rates for the last couple of years.

Hertz takes pretty good care of their cars. I see service stickers in all of them, and agree that they probably are better at maintenance than at least ½ the driving public is with their personal cars.

Since I rent so much, they do upgrade me to either a car that has lower miles (and sometimes into their premium lux selection), or a class or two above what we usually get.

They don’t mess too much with smaller imperfections (like paint chips, minor scrapes, etc). But, if anything is more noticeable, they fix it. The big one was getting a smoker’s car. I don’t care how much they tried to mask or eliminate the smoke smell, it’s impossible to get rid of it out of cloth upholstery. They’ve eliminated that by not allowing smoking in any of their cars in recent years.

I’d buy a rental.

BTW.....when upgraded, that’s how I decide which cars I would buy as my personal car. I’ve been able to drive CLA and C Class rentals. I’ve driven Corollas, Camrys, and 4-runners. Lots is Nissan Products (which makes up my opinions on the Versa being one of the worst cars I’ve ever driven). I actually rented a Smart Car while traveling in Europe on a business trip. Apparently, EU countries love them. They’re garbage.....not even worth the cheap price they go for.

Lastly, I rented a Fiat 500 in Boston a few months, ago. Yes, it handled fine. It was a bit slow, but still fun to drive. If Fiat could ever get their act together and make a well built, and reliable car, it would be a hit.

Wow, I had no idea you traveled that extensively. When do you find time for yourself and maintain your sanity?

....or to post on C&C?

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

explorerx4 said:

@jipster,
If your next vehicle search can stretch out to 3 years or so, it can take me into retirement.

Well I started my search and it could take a few years. Don't need a new one right away so I cant keep looking until I find that great buy and pounce on it.

That's a good point....you aren't desperate so you have time. All the more reason to keep the non-converting convertible but watch for a great used car. That's the best, when you can turn a bad situation into a good thing.

That's how I got this car to begin with. My previous car had close to 200k on it and was showing its age. I kept my eyes open and found a year old Sebring convertible for $15k and snapped it up.

I did find a 2016 Buick Cascada with 19k miles for $18k. But its white and she who must be obeyed said no more white cars.

Now that you’ve explained that you can’t do manual top I say dump your Sebring. Why would you spend $3000 fixing it when there are tons of similar cars out there for a few thousand more.



https://albany.craigslist.org/cto/d/rensselaer-2008-chrysler-sebring/6871528674.html

I think the Cascada is a nice looking car. I’ve seen it in blue and it’s gorgeous. It got lukewarm reviews and I think they stopped making them but that’s a factor in your favor when negotiating.

I do believe this will be the last year for the cascadia. The biggest issue i have read is the acceleration in the car is rather lackluster. but since this would become the wifes car and she doesnt drive fast it wouldn't be an issue.

Even though the 2008 Sebring 4 cyl. put out 173hp it couldn’t have been screaming fast. I think the Cascada has about 200.

driver100

fintail said:

I don't rent nearly as often, but in the US have patronized Hertz for some years, as they are linked to a rewards program I am in. Never had an issue, but I am always amazed at the basic spec of most of their cars. I know rentals tend to be basic to begin with, but literal zero option cars amuse me. Also amusing are the well-equipped cars randomly scattered in the fleet. I've also used Sixt when available, as their fleet is generally more interesting.

In Europe I have only rented from Sixt, no issues there either, and a generally very nice fleet of well equipped cars, some of them fairly fancy (my last was a Jag F-type S Cabrio).

Probably low risk buying a rental car, especially a fleet grade bland sedan. Not much attraction in hooning one of
those. A rental muscle car though, I'd tread with caution.

graphicguy said:

RENTAL CARS.....I rent A LOT of cars

Lastly, I rented a Fiat 500 in Boston a few months, ago. Yes, it handled fine. It was a bit slow, but still fun to drive. If Fiat could ever get their act together and make a well built, and reliable car, it would be a hit.

I wonder how many people buy a car based on a rental car? I once had an Elantra which I was impressed with considering how much car you get for the buck, a Volvo which felt very luxurious, a Mitsu Outlander that I liked a lot....then there were cars I didn't like too much including a Chrysler 300....but, you would think the manufacturers would want to put more options on to make these cars more appealing.

abacomike

jmonroe1 said:

I guess summer is early this year - we hit 91 degrees today with high humidity - feels like temp was 99 degrees.  A/C running full blast. 🤪😜😀😩

Just what the doctor ordered. Must be condusive for healing runaway shopping cart wounds. jmonroe

This was no run-away shopping cart wound.  Just imagine this old lady who rammed me (admittedly by accident) driving a car down here.  You can now imagine what we go through down here with these drivers.

ruking1

To think FL made the #1 state to retire! Except for summers, it’s a great place! Don’t sweat it, FL is way behind Texas and California in traffic fatalities.😉👍

Grocery shopping is normally less crowded @ night when food stores are getting/“restocking” with new/fresh products. It’s also a time when stuff that didn’t get sold during the day gets greatly to massively discounted.

henryn

cdnpinhead said:

Yeah, just like the metric system.

Uh... what? What was that in relation to? The metric system is a BETTER system, period. Although I still don't have a clue how it wound up in this thread?

henryn

ab348 said:

Canada is not the single payer you seem to envisage. It is also close to single-provider, that being the govt, and that is where the problems arise. Family doctors are self-employed and manage their own practices, and pay their staff/operating costs. The govt has a fee schedule and pays them on a piecework basis. Of course they managed to screw that up so that family docs say they can't make any money without being overworked. Pretty much everything else is run and staffed by govt with all the bureaucracy, waste, inertia, and lack of concern for the client experience that brings with it.

Don't want that either and prefer to keep your existing medical infrastructure? If you are imposing insurance on people as single-payer does then you get into huge bureaucracies that determine what is covered and how much procedures are worth. Most doctors don't go to med school for all those years to work for the govt at what they declare to be an acceptable salary. If people and institutions can't make money providing care they stop doing it. If you allow them to charge what they want, invariably that leads to the payer running out of funds, rationing care and declaring some things not eligible. There is no magic bullet here.

The life expectancy data is due to many things, not just the health care system. And of course even that brings with it is own problems, as an aging population that lives longer is yet another burden on the taxpayer, and we have the same horror stories about seniors needing a bed in a care facility and not getting one, or being warehoused in one that has horrible conditions where they get treated terribly. Don't assume because the system you know has problems, that ones touted by those with a certain point of view are automatically better. Canada's surely isn't. Not when you see our politicians traveling to the US for treatment that is good enough that they are willing to pay for it rather than wait years for something here.

Medical bankruptcies could be wiped out with an administrative law change. Nobody should go go broke because of a need for lifesaving treatment. As long as people don't rack up millions of dollars in bills for cosmetic surgery or quackery, no harm no foul. But is that knee or hip replacement really necessary? Maybe you should suffer a few more years. Walk slower, don't try to even walk to the corner of the block. Quality of life suffering? Too bad, take some more pain pills, we'll pay for those. When you can't get out of the house at all any more, then we'll talk.

Don't laugh, things are close to that bad here.

Well, we sorta do have a system like that here in the USA. It's called Medicare, and it works pretty good. This is my third year on Medicare, and I have no complaints, it is definitely better than the previous insurance I had.