Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

28firefighter

I have never used remote start, except with the i3 - and that isn't really remote start. Just warming the car interior up while it is still plugged in, which I can do with the garage closed because no fumes!

My Stelvio had it, but it was quite quirky and I only tried it out a handful of times.

dino001

Thanks "Gigi" (who used that first? Was it Driver?). This means Stinger will likely make it into my rotation of model checks, when time comes. I guess I'll have to take a long hot shower before and after the visit, but so be it. :laughing:

driver100

GG, Nice review, and I thought the car would be an excellent value. The Stinger is very important to the KIA brand, that is the car that is going to put them into the game with Audi,BMW, MB.

One small thing....I have to press a button to heat the seats and I would rather decide that myself....not a big deal. I only had cooling seats on the 2012 535 and I used them about 3 times in 3 years, not that important, but I would rather decide when I want them on.

The remote start sounds like a safety related issue. What if you remote start, forget the car is going, and somehow floor it or something.....makes you realize you are starting the car, and not a big deal.

Congratulations, great looking and I would bet performing car too...I think you are going to enjoy it.

Added: Does it have a backup camera?

driver100

See, I should have bought the 2016 C300 a few weeks ago. Noticed a blue puddle on the garage floor last night. Thought it might be laundry detergent bottle that got knocked over. Hoping it wasn't anti-freeze.
Nope, windshield washer fluid. I can't see inside the container to see where it leaks out. The whole area is blocked off so you can't see much. It seems like a fairly common thing to happen, lots of info about how to fix it.
Have an appointment at the indie Euro garage tomorrow morning. They need all day, find out where the leak is, order the part before noon hour, wait for part, install, put back together....give you a loaner car for $20 a repair job (1, 2 or 3 days....still $20).
It should be a minor thing, but, it is just the hassle of getting things fixed and the time it takes from my busy schedule. May not post much tomorrow

btw....I wasn't sure whether to mention this as I know I will here from JMonroe and possibly others about how there wannabes don't have these problems.

jmonroe

stickguy said:

One thing I can guarantee I personally would never, ever use, is remote start.

You and me both. I have remote start on my '15 Genny but you have to use your phone and pay for Hyundai Blue Link to use it. The set up was free for 90 days when I bought it and I never used it even once so why would I pay for something I never used even when it was free? I ain't that dopey. Every now and then I get an email for a much reduced trial period but I have ignored all of them. Even got a phone call once telling me how nice that remote start and other features of that Blue Link thingy were and all I had to do is say OK and he'd flip the switch and I'd have it free for 30 days and then they'd just automatically bill my credit card after that, easy peasy (they had my CC number from when I bought the car). If I didn't like it all I had to do within the freebie period was call them and that would be that and no credit card hit. That for sure I wasn't going to do.

Mrs. j's '18 Legacy Limited probably has every option on it except for remote start. Obviously I don't miss it and if Subie still has a separate remote for it like they did when I test drove a 2012 Limited, I damn sure don't want it. Having a separate remote seems like an after thought to me and I don't want to carry two bulky fobs in my pocket. I know, I'm a stubborn old coot and I still don't talk to my car and I've had that feature too on my last 4 cars. Maybe I'll grow up before it's too late but I doubt it.

jmonroe

fintail

Look at what kind of car it is. Add that to driver demographics, and the questions answer themselves

ab348 said:

Even on a sunny dry day there is absolutely no speed possible in that spot so I'm baffled by how the young lady behind the wheel managed to accomplish this. "But I have AWD so I should be able to drive in the snow with no problem, right?"

stickguy

I like blue link lapse too on my sonata. Just nothing included that I ever used. If we get a Santa Fe I’ll have it again. They give you 3 years free now!

qbrozen

we use remote start all the darned time. well, when it is particularly cold or particularly hot outside. Both of our current cars that have it need to be done with fob. I had the app with my Caddy and thought that was the coolest thing. It was pleasant to be able to start it from within my office at night.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

Added: Does it have a backup camera?

I tried to find that when GG said he had bought this Stinger. Couldn't find it.
But I tactfully avoided mentioning it. It seems to have lots of the other nannies
and since rear view camera may be required now by law, I assumed it's there.

imidazol97

My Malibu '14 has remote start on the FOB. The Chevrolet App on my cell phone is good for
5 years; it's a base part of OnStar.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

See, I should have bought the 2016 C300 a few weeks ago. Noticed a blue puddle on the garage floor last night. Thought it might be laundry detergent bottle that got knocked over. Hoping it wasn't anti-freeze.
Nope, windshield washer fluid. I can't see inside the container to see where it leaks out. The whole area is blocked off so you can't see much. It seems like a fairly common thing to happen, lots of info about how to fix it.
Have an appointment at the indie Euro garage tomorrow morning.

My lowly Chevy Malibu has never had a washer fluid leak. None of my other GM's has had one either.

imidazol97

Re the remote start shutting off when door is opened...
My Malibu and Cruze both continue running and heating or cooling the car (and heated seats and rear window defroster when appropriate). The car will not shift out of park. The key must be inserted to turn the car to "ON" and then everything starts up as if the car has just been started with the key (or keyless start). The engine never shuts off. No extra wear on the starter.

suydam

I don’t use remote start, but I have used other features of the MyChevy app (which is free, btw). I often check on the charge level, especially if I’m charging away from home. I use the send to Nav function. And once, when for some reason the Volt didn’t recognize my key fob, I unlocked it using the app! That is a great feature!

tjc78

I like the apps for both cars. Work well. Sometimes I’ll lock my keys in the car and use the app to open up the doors.

A little risky, but sometimes it’s nice to not carry keys.

Remote start? Only when the windshields are frosted over.

stickguy

Do you use the app to lock the car too? Otherwise no way to lock the keys in I don’t think.

imidazol97

stickguy said:

Do you use the app to lock the car too? Otherwise no way to lock the keys in I don’t think.

If the keys are not in the ignition, the doors can be locked by the door switch. E.g., keys dropped from my hand as I picked up various things from the rental van for the wedding last year. My wife hit the door lock as I closed my door, before I realized I had dropped the keys. AAA. No app for the Enterprise rental.

In the dumb ideas category, my leSabre in 98 had a feature where it would lock the doors 3 seconds after you had closed the driver door. That way one didn't have to fumble with the fob or the door switch to lock the doors. Imagine how many yachts the locksmiths bought because of that feature.

However, if the key is in the ignition, the other three doors lock and driver door unlocks immediately in my Cobalt.

graphicguy

imidazol97 said:

graphicguy said:

For the curious.....
As this goes, time will tell if Kia really competes in this class.

Thanks for the realistic evaluation of your "first drive" of the new speedster!
It's nice to read the pros and cons. Your review paints a great word picture of a fast, capable vehicle.

The owner manual not having things indexed or mentioned in the place that would
be reasonable is true in my Malibu's 2.5 inches of manuals. Thank goodness for
yahoo and google searches.

The heated seats turning on and AC turning on based on ambient temps when
doing a remote start is expected. Odd that car doesn't. Is there a Genius at the
Kia store to answer questions about whether or not the settings can be changed?

@imidazol97 Well.....the sales folks would have to stick around longer than 30-60-90 days to become anywhere close to "genius". So, don't think they have one.

Sales staff at the Kia store are mostly young guns. I'd say oldest would be 30, maybe 35. Most of them are in their 20s. When I was waiting for them to get my paperwork done and detail the car, I was able to over hear a lot of the conversations from the different sales staff talking to potential customers, as the store had open seating.

I heard a lot of "I just started last week or last month" when customers asked about specifics. None of them were impolite. And, at least my sales girl (she was probably all of 25) wasn't high pressure. None of the others seemed to be, either. Sales Manager was nice. He didn't do the whole "if we...will you?" routine. He took my offer and said he'd have to check with the GM to see if they could accept it. There was no "price bumping" or going back and forth, at all. Actually not a bad experience.

Just, all the sale people seemed new, with the Sales Manager trying to corral them. Mentioned before, the Sales Manager came from my Acura dealership. I think he's finding managing young green pea sales people a little different than managing mature, tenured Acura sales people. Plus, the clientele was different, at least while I was there. Potential customers were trying to get financed for a Kia Rio.

Surprisingly, Kia has some nice vehicles...my Stinger, the Soul, the new Telluride, etc. If they want to really move up from being known as the "economy brand", which it seems like they are trying to do, some more in-depth sales training would not be a bad place to start.

As a comparison, about 1000 feet from the Kia dealership, which was clean, relatively modern, and bright, sits the Hyundai/Genesis dealership. It was the opposite. It seemed dingy by comparison, with old school sales people ready to pounce.

graphicguy

Side note...watching the NFL Wild Card games yesterday, I saw Acura snuck in a few new TLX S-Type commercials, along with the NSX showing. Just a gut feel, but I think they're going to finally bring out the new S-Type in 2020. I hear it's going to be north of $50K, too.

tjc78

stickguy said:

Do you use the app to lock the car too? Otherwise no way to lock the keys in I don’t think.

On the Volvo, yes. The Buick doesn't have keyless go, so I just hit the door lock button twice.

driver100

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

See, I should have bought the 2016 C300 a few weeks ago. Noticed a blue puddle on the garage floor last night. Thought it might be laundry detergent bottle that got knocked over. Hoping it wasn't anti-freeze.
Nope, windshield washer fluid. I can't see inside the container to see where it leaks out. The whole area is blocked off so you can't see much. It seems like a fairly common thing to happen, lots of info about how to fix it.
Have an appointment at the indie Euro garage tomorrow morning.

My lowly Chevy Malibu has never had a washer fluid leak. None of my other GM's has had one either.

I have owned maybe 20 to 30 cars (counting Mrs D's cars) and I have never had this problem before, but it does happen on almost every make it seems, and is fairly common. If you google "fixing a windshield washer reservoir on a malibu" or something related you will see Chevs are not immune to this problem. Lots of info on how to fix them......even on a Malibu.
My guess is a stone could fly up and chip the plastic container. Pumps can go and sometimes it is a loose nut, or a rubber hose can deteriorate. I haven't added windshield fluid to it in 3 1/2 years now....maybe the old stuff went acidic.

venture

driver100 said:

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

See, I should have bought the 2016 C300 a few weeks ago. Noticed a blue puddle on the garage floor last night. Thought it might be laundry detergent bottle that got knocked over. Hoping it wasn't anti-freeze.
Nope, windshield washer fluid. I can't see inside the container to see where it leaks out. The whole area is blocked off so you can't see much. It seems like a fairly common thing to happen, lots of info about how to fix it.
Have an appointment at the indie Euro garage tomorrow morning.

My lowly Chevy Malibu has never had a washer fluid leak. None of my other GM's has had one either.

I have owned maybe 20 to 30 cars (counting Mrs D's cars) and I have never had this problem before, but it does happen on almost every make it seems, and is fairly common. If you google "fixing a windshield washer reservoir on a malibu" or something related you will see Chevs are not immune to this problem. Lots of info on how to fix them......even on a Malibu.
My guess is a stone could fly up and chip the plastic container. Pumps can go and sometimes it is a loose nut, or a rubber hose can deteriorate. I haven't added windshield fluid to it in 3 1/2 years now....maybe the old stuff went acidic.

I would bet on a loose nut.

abacomike

28firefighter said:

I have never used remote start, except with the i3 - and that isn't really remote start. Just warming the car interior up while it is still plugged in, which I can do with the garage closed because no fumes!

My Stelvio had it, but it was quite quirky and I only tried it out a handful of times.

I have used my remote start only two (2) times - both times the outside temperature was above 96 F. The car's AC cooled down the interior sufficiently after only 5 minutes of operation. The remote start is canceled once the doors are unlocked. My remote start is activated through an APP on my iPhone. I can also cancel the remote start function through the same APP.

abacomike

graphicguy said:

For the curious.....

Spent the weekend getting to know the Stinger. I know the new car love affair is at its height right now. But, there's some serious engineering in the Stinger. First, it's really fast! I can certainly believe 0-60 MPH in the mid 4 second range (haven't tried to use launch control yet). And, it's easy to drive fast. It's got a really nice balance between ride comfort and handling. Steering is communicative and quick to respond. You can always tell what the car is doing through the steering wheel. Brembos haul it down "right now". Very confidence inspiring. Materials are mostly quite good. Some hard plastics down low in the areas you really can't see.

Kia's AWD Torque Vectoring works very well. You can tell that it's RWD biased, too.

Seats are really nice, and extremely adjustable. Like the adjustable thigh extensions. Leather is soft and supple. I can see taking a road trip and the seats being a nice place to spend time driving.

Transmission is quite good, even though it's a regular 8-speed with a torque converter and not a dual clutch. Seems to be always in the right gear and is ready to drop to lower gears smoothly with no drama. Best thing I can say is I don't notice it all that much (high compliment). Good job Kia/Hyundai/Genesis. Transmission in my TLX isn't as good (although it's not as bad as some have said, either).

I had read that the paint on Kias (and particularly on the Stingers) weren't that good. On my white pearl color at least, it's lustrous with no real blemishes. Time will tell, however.

It's put together really well and feels "all of a piece" as far as build quality. Structure is extremely stiff.

Stereo is very good (Harman-Kardon). Not as good as my TLX's ELS system. But, it's as good (if not better) as anything I heard on my many recent test drives (JBL in Toyota, Dyanaudio in Volvo, not sure what the Honda Accord had, but I think it's made by Clarion...it wasn't the Acura's ELS system).

There is some weirdness. And, not sure if this is operating as designed. But, mine has remote start. It's a separate FOB (which is weird to begin with...why not include that function in the main FOB?). You press the button on the auxiliary FOB twice...once to make sure the car is locked and the 2nd time to remotely start the car. No issues there. Crazy, but once you unlock the door and open it to get into your running car, the engine turns off. Huh? Why start it remotely, and then have it stop once you get to the car to get in to drive? Might be a setting somewhere that I don't know about.

The owner's manual is thick with lots of info. Trying to find instructions on certain functions is like pulling hens teeth. Go to the glossary and, for example, look at how to remotely open the trunk. Look for a subheading for "trunk", or "hatch"? Nowhere to be found. Same for remote starting. Good luck finding that function's instructions in the glossary. Had to go to GOOGLE for both. These were things my sales girl should have told me, too. Maybe being too harsh on her since I'm used to my Acura Sales Person being more thorough. Perhaps the difference between Kia sales and Acura sales.

Controls are nicely arranged and made of aluminum (nice touch). The controls, buttons and even the vents feel substantial and of high quality. While my TLX will turn on the seat warmers (or coolers) automatically when you start the car and heated seats are called for, it's a manual function on the Stinger (am I spoiled or what?). I have to hit the buttons to heat or cool the seats. That said, I have a heated steering wheel on the Stinger. Oh my.....that's a very nice feature.

HEADS-UP Display....great feature....except when you wear polarized sunglasses (which I probably do 50% of the time while driving in the day light). The heads up display disappears.

Voice control....not figured this out yet. Paired my iPhone, but I'll be darned if I can find out why my voice will not allow me to place a call after I hit the "phone" or "voice" button on the steering wheel.

The Acura's dual screen layout for NAV and Audio has caught a lot of grief. But, either I got used to it, or I understand Acura's thinking better. But, I like being able to see what's playing on my audio system and see my map at the same time. This might be a moot point because the most recent updates to iOS allows you to do this via Apple Car Play.

I'm sure as I become more familiar with the car, these things won't be issues. The general feeling is, very nice...fast, incredibly capable car that's comfortable and roomy. It does all the things we want a car to do. It has quite nice materials and build throughout.

It's very easy to see the influence of Audi and BMW in the car (those are all good things). It operates in much the same manner. Drivetrain feels an awful lot like the Audi S4. Suspension feels an awful lot like a BMW 4 series (in some ways, better). Materials and build feel a lot like the Mercedes C Class.

As this goes, time will tell if Kia really competes in this class.

GG, hope you are continuing to enjoy your new wheels. Sounds like your new toy is going to bring you lots of fun and enjoyment. Keep us updated on your experiences.

graphicguy

Thanks @abacomike ....we're all enthusiasts here. The only times we are happier than when we buy a new car, is when one of the Edmunds community does.

I'll keep everyone posted.

If interested, this is Kia's phone app for iPhone and Android phones.....

https://owners.kia.com/content/owners/en/kia-owner-portal.html/

Haven't used it yet. So, not sure all that it does. I heard (not sure) I can start the car remotely via the app in addition to the FOB. Don't know for sure, though.

Another quirk I forgot to mention....my car has an electronic shifter (as does my Acura, only it uses buttons vs the shift lever the Stinger uses). Park is at the very top of the shifter, which is to be expected. But, if you want to put it in reverse, instead of pulling the shifter back, towards the rear of the car, you push it forward. Conversely, if you want to put it into drive, you pull the gear lever down, towards the back of the car if you want to go forward.

Weird....again, may be a set up option I can change it with that I'm unaware of.

stickguy

sounds like the BMW beer tap to me. I think the Caddy XT4 had the same design.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

See, I should have bought the 2016 C300 a few weeks ago. Noticed a blue puddle on the garage floor last night. Thought it might be laundry detergent bottle that got knocked over. Hoping it wasn't anti-freeze.
Nope, windshield washer fluid. I can't see inside the container to see where it leaks out. The whole area is blocked off so you can't see much. It seems like a fairly common thing to happen, lots of info about how to fix it.
Have an appointment at the indie Euro garage tomorrow morning.

My lowly Chevy Malibu has never had a washer fluid leak. None of my other GM's has had one either.

I have owned maybe 20 to 30 cars (counting Mrs D's cars) and I have never had this problem before, but it does happen on almost every make it seems, and is fairly common. If you google "fixing a windshield washer reservoir on a malibu" or something related you will see Chevs are not immune to this problem. Lots of info on how to fix them......even on a Malibu.
My guess is a stone could fly up and chip the plastic container. Pumps can go and sometimes it is a loose nut, or a rubber hose can deteriorate. I haven't added windshield fluid to it in 3 1/2 years now....maybe the old stuff went acidic.

I agree with Venture. It's likely a deteriorated nut or clamp or tubing from the heat. If you were in a freezing climate, I'd suggest the tank had frozen because of not enough methanol or ethanol in the mix. That's never happened to my GM's, as I said, hence my analysis of data says great history. But I suspect the tanks on some cars and tubes and external pumps have been damaged in cold climates due to freezing.

Maybe the high heat caused it. Interested in what was found.

explorerx4

Anyone want to start a pool on how much to fix?
My guess, $350.

28firefighter

An hour of time at $125 to diagnose, an hour of labor at $125 to replace the reservoir, and probably $50 for the part. Plus $20 for the loaner.

I'll say $320 + tax.

driver100

venture said:

driver100 said:

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

See, I should have bought the 2016 C300 a few weeks ago. Noticed a blue puddle on the garage floor last night. Thought it might be laundry detergent bottle that got knocked over. Hoping it wasn't anti-freeze.
Nope, windshield washer fluid. I can't see inside the container to see where it leaks out. The whole area is blocked off so you can't see much. It seems like a fairly common thing to happen, lots of info about how to fix it.
Have an appointment at the indie Euro garage tomorrow morning.

My lowly Chevy Malibu has never had a washer fluid leak. None of my other GM's has had one either.

I have owned maybe 20 to 30 cars (counting Mrs D's cars) and I have never had this problem before, but it does happen on almost every make it seems, and is fairly common. If you google "fixing a windshield washer reservoir on a malibu" or something related you will see Chevs are not immune to this problem. Lots of info on how to fix them......even on a Malibu.
My guess is a stone could fly up and chip the plastic container. Pumps can go and sometimes it is a loose nut, or a rubber hose can deteriorate. I haven't added windshield fluid to it in 3 1/2 years now....maybe the old stuff went acidic.

I would bet on a loose nut.

I'll let you know tomorrow....hopefully.

driver100

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

See, I should have bought the 2016 C300 a few weeks ago. Noticed a blue puddle on the garage floor last night. Thought it might be laundry detergent bottle that got knocked over. Hoping it wasn't anti-freeze.
Nope, windshield washer fluid. I can't see inside the container to see where it leaks out. The whole area is blocked off so you can't see much. It seems like a fairly common thing to happen, lots of info about how to fix it.
Have an appointment at the indie Euro garage tomorrow morning.

My lowly Chevy Malibu has never had a washer fluid leak. None of my other GM's has had one either.

I have owned maybe 20 to 30 cars (counting Mrs D's cars) and I have never had this problem before, but it does happen on almost every make it seems, and is fairly common. If you google "fixing a windshield washer reservoir on a malibu" or something related you will see Chevs are not immune to this problem. Lots of info on how to fix them......even on a Malibu.
My guess is a stone could fly up and chip the plastic container. Pumps can go and sometimes it is a loose nut, or a rubber hose can deteriorate. I haven't added windshield fluid to it in 3 1/2 years now....maybe the old stuff went acidic.

Maybe the high heat caused it. Interested in what was found.

Good guess, it sure is hard on a lot of other things like appliances. It probably gets close to 100F in the garage in the summer when we aren't here. Hopefully I will know tomorrow.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

Anyone want to start a pool on how much to fix?
My guess, $350.

How about a 50-50 draw. You can place your bets $50 each, I get half towards the repair, the closest gets the other 50%.

driver100

28firefighter said:

An hour of time at $125 to diagnose, an hour of labor at $125 to replace the reservoir, and probably $50 for the part. Plus $20 for the loaner.

I'll say $320 + tax.

It is an indie garage and somewhere in the discussion he said $75 to get to the diagnosis part.

explorerx4

@driver100,
You don't give your kids any money, why should we give you any?

oldfarmer50

jmonroe said:

omarman said:

fintail said:

You just know within 10 minutes of taking it out on the road, some dingbat in a RAV4 will run a red light while texting and eating at the same time, and that'll be that. Of course with that car, it would be rebuilt no matter what.

Reminds me of this Gullwing that had an ouchie while being "tested" by the garage restoring it:



No doubt already rebuilt.

oldfarmer50 said:

It’s kind of a shame that cars like that get put away and never driven. Then again, how could you take that kind of investment out on the road?

That Gullwing pic reminded me of a recent story "Rusty Mercedes sells for $800,000." Seller seemed familiar too.

Alex Manos, owner of the Beverly Hills Car Club says that the 1961 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster cost $5,000 to $8,000 brand new back in the day, but he just sold the car for $800,000. “People like Hugh Hefner had one,” Manos said.

Ah man...that price for that rusty Benz is gonna drive @oldfarmer50 up a wall.

jmonroe

A for sale sign went up on my rusty van as soon as I saw that. I’ll settle for half a mil.

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

ok I'm a bit upset with you guys. A couple of weeks ago a topic popped up on when to change brakes. Wouldn't you know that that same day the Sebrings brakes started making noise. :@

Well since we were going to Floriday a few days after we decided to put off any decision on the car until we got back. Well we decided to get the brakes fixed, front and back, and after dropping more money than I really wanted to we got the brakes done this weekend.

Ah ha, so the nickel and dime spiral has begun.

ab348

stickguy said:

sounds like the BMW beer tap to me. I think the Caddy XT4 had the same design.

Yes, and both are terrible and unintuitive.

oldfarmer50

venture said:

I gave the CrossTrek to my daughter. We went to a place that does that kind of stuff, not the DMV. They charged me $146 to transfer the title. Their fee was $71.50. That seems like a lot doesn't it; especially since it took them about 10 miuntes?

I heard that AAA can do that in PA. A few years ago I was negotiating with a guy from there who was selling a car here in NY for his mother. The sticking point was NY’s arcane title transfer system which required him to get lawyers and go to probate court to sell the car. He lamented that it was so much easier in PA. Needless to say the deal fell apart.

Consider yourself lucky.

stickguy

it makes sense to me, because drive is down to the bottom where it always is. So Reverse has no where else to be really! And once you learn the system, it is pretty easy.

jmonroe

driver100 said:

28firefighter said:

An hour of time at $125 to diagnose, an hour of labor at $125 to replace the reservoir, and probably $50 for the part. Plus $20 for the loaner.

I'll say $320 + tax.

It is an indie garage and somewhere in the discussion he said $75 to get to the diagnosis part.

For $1.99 you can get a crescent wrench at Harbor Freight and do it yourself.

jmonroe

stickguy

these days I think getting all the covers off, without breaking all the clips, is the hardest part of the job. But, DIY is the way to go if possible.

my latest help out project at the princess' house was electrical. They have a basic overhead bulb fixture with a pull chain over the washer. And it is pretty much the only light in the area. Well, the BF yanked on the chain and snapped it off. So I got to R&R the unit. No chain left inside to grab, so off with the old, and one with a new one. I think it cost a whopping $3.49 at Lowes. Labor, as always, was comped. I don't want to think what an electrician would have charged to show up and do the job.

Passed my QC test. For electric, that means you turn it on and it turns on, and no sparks shoot out of the fixture. Passed on the first try!

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

I have heard them give those excuses on Hot Bench, The young girl came around the corner, didn't know the snow was slippery, skidded and took out $1000 worth of shrubs and trees. Her defense, it wasn't my fault the roads were slippery! Who does she think should pay to replace the plants....the home owners?

Great job of matching videos to posts btw.

This happened yesterday just around the corner from me:



Even on a sunny dry day there is absolutely no speed possible in that spot so I'm baffled by how the young lady behind the wheel managed to accomplish this. "But I have AWD so I should be able to drive in the snow with no problem, right?"

I could have ended up like that today. We were tasked with taking cars from extreme northern NY to an office in Vermont on the NH border. This involved circling lake Champlain and crossing the mountains that run north-south through Vermont. Lots of over the mountain and through the woods kind of stuff. The only problem, it was snowing and I was assigned a RWD Nissan Armada, a vehicle which is rotten to drive in the best weather.

We got about halfway and had to go up an extremely steep hill. That big POS fishtailed and slid like I was at LeMans. I came close to parking it on the side of the road and telling the boss to come get it. My coworker had similar fun with a RWD Frontier.

To make up for it, later I got to drive a new Audi Q5 with 14 miles on it. Very nice.

roadburner

For those of you who don't follow the CCBA topic, I was trying to duplicate graphicguy's success with buying a Kia Stinger. In my case it was an AWD GTS- a special edition that comes with a mechanical LSD and allows you to disconnect the front axle just like the BMW M5 and the Mercedes-AMG E63 S. The GTS I was looking at had been on the lot for 148 days as of yesterday. Here's my sordid tale:

Well that didn't take long...

It's obvious that:
A. I lack graphicguy's winsome demeanor, or
B. Kia of Elizabethtown is not interested in selling the GTS, or
C. Both A and B
Here's how it went down- I pulled in and parked my M235i in a customer spot right in front of the showroom. There weren't any other customers around, as best I could tell. The GTS was parked nose first in a customer spot next to the service lane; it didn't appear to have been driven recently. When I walked up to it I saw it had an ADM "Mop n' Glow" sticker attempting to add $4,000 to the price- those always p*ss me off. At this point I'm approached my Mr. Man Bun(MMB) The conversation went something like this:

MMB: Can I help you?
Me: I like that GTS but it's considerably more than I'm prepared to spend.
MMB: Really?
Me: Yes, If I'm going to spend that much money I'd be looking at a CPO M2C.
MMB: M2? That's a Mercedes, right?
Me: No, it's a BMW. The thing is, the GTS is the only Stinger I'll consider because it's the only AWD model with a mechanical limited slip- and no one wants to find me a RWD GT2.
MMB: How much do you want to spend?
Me: At this point no more than $35,000
MMB: Okay, well thanks for stopping by.

No wonder the car has been sitting for 150 days...

imidazol97

stickguy said:

these days I think getting all the covers off, without breaking all the clips, is the hardest part of the job. But, DIY is the way to go if possible.

my latest help out project at the princess' house was electrical. They have a basic overhead bulb fixture with a pull chain over the washer. And it is pretty much the only light in the area. Well, the BF yanked on the chain and snapped it off. So I got to R&R the unit. No chain left inside to grab, so off with the old, and one with a new one. I think it cost a whopping $3.49 at Lowes. Labor, as always, was comped. I don't want to think what an electrician would have charged to show up and do the job.

Passed my QC test. For electric, that means you turn it on and it turns on, and no sparks shoot out of the fixture. Passed on the first try!

Even better is that you didn't electrocute yourself doing the work!

I need to redo the electric range outlet to recess it into the wall. And install a new breaker in the box while doing the job because the old, original breaker has gotten balky about turning on. It may take multiple snaps on before it clicks and stays on.

Which is worse? Doing electrical or doing plumbing?

imidazol97

roadburner said:

For those of you who don't follow the CCBA topic, I was trying to duplicate graphicguy's success with buying a Kia Stinger. In my case it was an AWD GTS- a special edition that comes with a mechanical LSD and allows you to disconnect the front axle just like the BMW M5 and the Mercedes-AMG E63 S. The GTS I was looking at had been on the lot for 148 days as of yesterday. Here's my sordid tale:

Well that didn't take long...

It's obvious that:
A. I lack graphicguy's winsome demeanor, or
B. Kia of Elizabethtown is not interested in selling the GTS, or
C. Both A and B
Here's how it went down- I pulled in and parked my M235i in a customer spot right in front of the showroom. There weren't any other customers around, as best I could tell. The GTS was parked nose first in a customer spot next to the service lane; it didn't appear to have been driven recently. When I walked up to it I saw it had an ADM "Mop n' Glow" sticker attempting to add $4,000 to the price- those always p*ss me off. At this point I'm approached my Mr. Man Bun(MMB) The conversation went something like this:

MMB: Can I help you?
Me: I like that GTS but it's considerably more than I'm prepared to spend.
MMB: Really?
Me: Yes, If I'm going to spend that much money I'd be looking at a CPO M2C.
MMB: M2? That's a Mercedes, right?
Me: No, it's a BMW. The thing is, the GTS is the only Stinger I'll consider because it's the only AWD model with a mechanical limited slip- and no one wants to find me a RWD GT2.
MMB: How much do you want to spend?
Me: At this point no more than $35,000
MMB: Okay, well thanks for stopping by.

No wonder the car has been sitting for 150 days...

LOL. I think his ego was hurt when he was wrong on the M2C.

roadburner

Plumbing.
.
I hate it. Electrical work doesn't bother me.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

One thing I can guarantee I personally would never, ever use, is remote start.

I have that ability with two of my cars but from the fob. Don’t know why you’d need it from your phone too. I’ve never used remote start either.

stickguy

Plumbing is OK as long as it does not involve new pipes. I am not trying copper and soldering. PVC, I can handle that but try to avoid it. Replacing fixtures like a faucet, no problem.

electric, same thing. I don't usually run wires, and I will not mess around in the panel. But swapping out a light or ceiling fan, easy peezy. And now I don't mind swapping out outlets, or switches. As long as the wires are already there, good to go. I even bought a little wire tester. Now that is a handy dandy gadget.

explorerx4

Plumbing never tried to kill me, so I prefer that.

carnaught

@roadburner, wow, you really low-balled the Kia guy.

roadburner

carnaught said:

@roadburner, wow, you really low-balled the Kia guy.

Not as much as graphicguy- he nabbed his Stinger for $17k under MSRP- I was only shooting for $13k under(not counting the moronic ADM number).