Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

ronsteve

explorerx4 said:

CT went to you having to pay 10 cents per plastic bag last August.
State thought it would generate significant revenue, but people just started bringing their own bags, instead.
Another unforseen side effect is that the plastic baskets are disappearing from the stores.
I find having to remember to put the bags back in the car after I unpack my groceries, the biggest pain.

If it gets people to re-use bags (of whatever persuasion) then it serves its purpose by generating less waste.

snakeweasel

qbrozen said:

Interesting news hit our neighborhood yesterday. We apparently have a car theft ring working its way around. A really lazy car theft ring. Based on videos and reports, including my own evidence, this person(s) only steals cars with the door open and keys inside. Evidently, I have neighbors silly enough to do that. Cars were stolen from the driveway 2 doors down, and guy on an adjoining street posted his security vids of a hooded thief trying the handles on his vehicles. Came to find out someone went into my Chevy and opened the console and glovebox looking for keys or anything worth taking. Didn’t even realize I left it unlocked. Probably my kid did when he got his karate equipment out of it. Thankfully, I had removed the garage door opener last week to put in the hyundai. Kind of wish I left my keys in there, LOL. But I would imagine insurance scowls at that sort of behavior.

My wife is now on me to get camera(s) up. I have had one sitting in the box for over a year now that I have yet to get around to.

There is a place I like to hike at that does have issues with break ins, parking is rather remote and your car can be there with no one else around for long periods of time. I dont have anything of value in the car (the garage door opener is a fob on the key ring) so I just leave the doors unlocked. Let then just open the door instead of busting the window.

stickguy

I don’t understand the aversion to locking a car outside, but personal taste I guess. As long as you leave nothing in it.

Leaving the keys in it, you deserve to have it stolen and insurance claim denied.

I don’t even know what to say about also leaving your purse in it!

I don’t lock the car in the garage. Or bother to close windows or roof. So of course one rare time it got left outside for a night, someone neglected to lock it, and our radar detector got pilfered. I was annoyed. Made sure not to do that again.

snakeweasel

laurasdada said:

tjc78 said:

Way late to the party.... but over the last few weeks binged watched the entire Breaking Bad series. Wow, how did I ever miss that when it aired live.

They claim it’s one of if not the best TV series ever and I can see why. I still prefer the Sopranos, but I’m an Italian from Jersey so maybe a bit biased.

The GF and I just finished binging Breaking Bad, too. Wowzer, great stories and acting. Tension, so tense. El Camino next...

I am finishing up "Turn" about the Culper spy ring during the revolutionary war. Not to accurate but pretty interesting.

fintail

A friend of mine in BC had their CX-3 stolen last year - thieves used a repeater and cloned the keyless/push to start ignition. It was caught on camera, they were gone in 15 seconds. The car was later found trashed and damaged, and he had to go to some trouble with the insurance company to have it declared a loss . If one keeps their fob for a modern car near an exterior door, get a Faraday container.

I always lock the modern car, but the fintail's prior owner lost the door key, and I haven't replaced it. Never had an issue until last year, when a prowler got into the secure garage where the car (and several other old cars) are stored, and rifled through the interior. Nothing of value is loose in the car, so no real loss, but they made off with some sentimental trinkets that had me upset, and still bugs me. Funny thing, I have a bunch of tools and spare parts in the trunk that have some value, especially for a tweaker type to sell somewhere, but they didn't get into it. I noticed the covers on several cars were disturbed, some might not even know it yet as the cars never move.

ab348

fintail said:

Never had an issue until last year, when a prowler got into the secure garage where the car (and several other old cars) are stored, and rifled through the interior. Nothing of value is loose in the car, so no real loss, but they made off with some sentimental trinkets that had me upset, and still bugs me.

I find myself thinking that if it was indeed a "secure" garage, the prowler would either not have gotten in or been apprehended if he somehow did.

When I lived in apartment buildings the underground garages were locked, so perhaps that is what you were referring to. But it was easy to get in via the car door if you just waited for someone to enter or exit. Only one of them had video monitoring of one of the doors, which occasionally resulted in some response.

fintail

Yeah, it's kind of a generic term - locked door = secure, even if someone can simply tailgate their way in. I don't know of any truly "secure" residential buildings. I doubt anything is done with footage either. I know in the building where I live, for some time the camera system was on, but not actually saving any data.

To be fair, the garage in the "secure" building where I live has only been targeted once or twice in more than 10 years, and only dopes who left their laptops and wallets sitting out in their car were hit. I am not aware of any residential unit-related burglaries here. There was also a car "theft" once, but I believe it was actually a domestic dispute.

ab348 said:

I find myself thinking that if it was indeed a "secure" garage, the prowler would either not have gotten in or been apprehended if he somehow did.

When I lived in apartment buildings the underground garages were locked, so perhaps that is what you were referring to. But it was easy to get in via the car door if you just waited for someone to enter or exit. Only one of them had video monitoring of one of the doors, which occasionally resulted in some response.

oldfarmer50

pensfan83 said:

stickguy said:

I keep seeing people reporting rings of catalytic converter thieves, working apartment and mall parking lots. In and out real quick too.

My faith in humanity keeps getting tested.

New home developments, abandoned structures, junkyards....all gold (or is it copper?!) mines. Some of the more scrupulous scrap metal dealers or those operating under younger ownership install controls to detect criminal activity. The ones who don't want to be bothered and pass out funds like candy to whoever walk in the door usually end up on a financial institution's and ultimately law enforcement's radar

That’s not a new phenomenon. My neighbor who built his house a year before us had all his windows stolen from the unfinished house. When we built a year later we asked to store our windows in his garage until installation time. That was in 1981.

More recently I’ve read of a nearby rural utility truck place having dozens of CATs sawed off in the middle of the night.

I’m sure 150 years ago some numbskull was stealing buggy whips.

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

qbrozen said:

Interesting news hit our neighborhood yesterday. We apparently have a car theft ring working its way around. A really lazy car theft ring. Based on videos and reports, including my own evidence, this person(s) only steals cars with the door open and keys inside. Evidently, I have neighbors silly enough to do that. Cars were stolen from the driveway 2 doors down, and guy on an adjoining street posted his security vids of a hooded thief trying the handles on his vehicles. Came to find out someone went into my Chevy and opened the console and glovebox looking for keys or anything worth taking. Didn’t even realize I left it unlocked. Probably my kid did when he got his karate equipment out of it. Thankfully, I had removed the garage door opener last week to put in the hyundai. Kind of wish I left my keys in there, LOL. But I would imagine insurance scowls at that sort of behavior.

My wife is now on me to get camera(s) up. I have had one sitting in the box for over a year now that I have yet to get around to.

There is a place I like to hike at that does have issues with break ins, parking is rather remote and your car can be there with no one else around for long periods of time. I dont have anything of value in the car (the garage door opener is a fob on the key ring) so I just leave the doors unlocked. Let then just open the door instead of busting the window.

That’s what I say too. Even with cameras it’s tough to stop a determined thief.

https://youtu.be/9tnCKFg4-j4

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

I don’t understand the aversion to locking a car outside, but personal taste I guess. As long as you leave nothing in it.

Leaving the keys in it, you deserve to have it stolen and insurance claim denied.

I don’t even know what to say about also leaving your purse in it!

I don’t lock the car in the garage. Or bother to close windows or roof. So of course one rare time it got left outside for a night, someone neglected to lock it, and our radar detector got pilfered. I was annoyed. Made sure not to do that again.

I’d rather have this and sleep well at night.

https://youtu.be/AHmD5GtnzF8

ab348

fintail said:

Yeah, it's kind of a generic term - locked door = secure, even if someone can simply tailgate their way in. I don't know of any truly "secure" residential buildings. I doubt anything is done with footage either. I know in the building where I live, for some time the camera system was on, but not actually saving any data.

To be fair, the garage in the "secure" building where I live has only been targeted once or twice in more than 10 years, and only dopes who left their laptops and wallets sitting out in their car were hit. I am not aware of any residential unit-related burglaries here. There was also a car "theft" once, but I believe it was actually a

The last building I lived in before buying my house had over 400 apartments and 2 levels of underground parking. When I got the Cutlass I rented a spot on the lower level which was less accessible and not as full. It had several collector cars there which were seldom moved. A year or two before moving out some miscreant stole the trim rings off the Cutlass wheels. Security was no help. If they thought they were getting some rare '60s Cutlass parts though, the joke was on them - they were a reasonable facsimile I found for cheap in local junkyards from 1980s Ford Tempos. Still a pain though.

cdnpinhead

Just keep in mind that the plethora of passwords, the keys on your ring and all the rest is a monument to the fact that people in general (not specifically) are scum. They want to steal from you and succeed more often than not.

I didn't used to think this way, but that was 50+ years ago.

graphicguy

tjc78 said:

laurasdada said:

tjc78 said:

Way late to the party.... but over the last few weeks binged watched the entire Breaking Bad series. Wow, how did I ever miss that when it aired live.

They claim it’s one of if not the best TV series ever and I can see why. I still prefer the Sopranos, but I’m an Italian from Jersey so maybe a bit biased.

The GF and I just finished binging Breaking Bad, too. Wowzer, great stories and acting. Tension, so tense. El Camino next...

I liked El Camino. Watched that too not long after the finale.

Debating on watching Better Call Saul

Funny note... the show Homeland has a Better Call Sail episode too.

Highly recommend BETTER CALL SAUL!

oldfarmer50

cdnpinhead said:

Just keep in mind that the plethora of passwords, the keys on your ring and all the rest is a monument to the fact that people in general (not specifically) are scum. They want to steal from you and succeed more often than not.

I didn't used to think this way, but that was 50+ years ago.

I believe that 1% of the population does 90% of the crime. I’ve had as many experiences of people being honest when they didn’t have to be as I’ve had of people being dishonest because they could get away with it.

cdnpinhead

I guess it comes down to the fact that it takes time to establish trust. There was a time when it was a given.

driver100

ab348 said:

stickguy said:

I just don't understand the point of that motorized screen. It always rises/opens when you start the car on, so why not just leave it up all the time? Like Fin said, just one more thing to go wrong out of warranty!

It is understandable on the German cars. Just one more thing to over-engineer, complicate, and eventually fail.

Are you saying that on American cars they don't care about refined styling....they just take the cheaper route?

jmonroe

tjc78 said:

On the car thieves. I left my Genesis open once and they actually stole the entire manual set. Since it was leased I knew I’d get dinged if it wasn’t there. Luckily one turned up on EBay fairly cheap.

And no it wasn’t mine... from several states away

I think I posted this once before but you reminded me. I think it was in 1984 when I was visiting my now departed middle brother in the hospital:

WARNING: Long post coming up but I'm due for one of those.

I was parked on the street and when I returned my '80 Park Ave. was gone and another, not nearly as nice of a car, was in that spot. I called the police about 9 PM and they showed up within 5 minutes. One of them said, "you'll have your car back in no time, we know where these kids take the cars they steal around here and it's only a few blocks from here". I was in the Oakland section of the Burgh which is not known to be a bad neighborhood but who am I to question that. The cop was wrong, I got a call at about 5 AM from a cop in the Homewood section of the Burgh who said he found my car. Now that's more like it. That place is a Mecca for everything bad and is miles from Oakland. Anyway, the cop proceeds to tell me the only thing he saw wrong was that it was up on blocks all the way around and that the steering column had the typical damage but other than that the car looked pretty good. In fact he said, "that's a nice car so I'm sure you want me to get it towed to the pound right away. All I need from you is the OK". I told him I wanted it towed to the Buick dealer in my hood. He said he couldn't do that because they have to get a signature when a car is dropped off and since the dealer wasn't open at that hour that couldn't be done. Then he got a little cute and said it should go to the city pound unless I wanted to call a tow truck myself when the dealer opened but he doubted it would look like it did when the sun came up but that was my choice. Guess what, my beauty went off to the pound with all the other riff raft.

Fast forward to when the car was fixed and I went to pick it up. I refused to sign off on the car because the rims were terrible. The dealer said I had to accept them because the car was more than 2 years old and the insurance company would never authorize new rims. I told him I knew that but the rims they found were totally unacceptable. I then said, "look at that car, do you really think I would have rims like that on that car"? He just shrugged and said, "that's the best we could find". I also pointed out that they were the wrong size and the tires were the wrong size too. More shrugging, then he said, "talk to your insurance company. You'll have to do that and we'll do whatever they say". Thankfully I was with one of the best regional company's you could be with (still am for that matter). So, I called my agent and told him what was going one and he arranged for an adjustor to go look at my car. The next day the adjustor called me and was somewhat laughing and said, "I don't blame you one bit. I wouldn't want those rims on that car either". He told me they would give the dealer 72 hours to find me better rims but if they couldn't he was authorizing the purchase of new rims. Just for my information I asked the adjustor what the incentive was for them to find used rims since he was authorizing the purchase of new rims? The short answer was that if repair shops continually didn't do their due diligence and search for acceptable used parts, they would no longer be an approved shop by them and if they were dropped from my company it was likely other insurance companies would scrutinize them also. Kinda self policing.

I got a call 2 days later from the dealer informing me my car was ready and they found, "some pretty nice rims" and they put the right size tires on too. OK, of course I would have preferred new rims but if they were nice I knew I had to accept them.

More fast forward. The weekend after I had the car, my Sons were washing it and Son #1 comes running into the house yelling, "DAD, DAD you gotta come down and see the rims. It looks like you got your original rims back". I asked him why he thought that and he said, "come on down and look at them. I'm tellin ya, those are your rims". I'm thinking he's washed that car enough so maybe he's right. When I got to the car he points to a small scratch on one of the painted surfaces of the rally rim and say's, "there, see that and come over here" as he goes to another rim and points out another scratch on that one too. Sure enough, they were my rims alright.

I got to talking to a few guys about this at work and one of the young guys said he worked at a body shop for a summer or two as he was going though college and said, "that happens all the time, it's a real racket". And he goes on to say, if a junk yard doesn't have a part, particularly rims, they put word out on the street what they are looking for and magically, it shows up pretty quick. The thief either goes looking for it or they already have it and are just waiting for the word. In my case I think they already had them and were just waiting for someone to ask.

FWIW, the yard my rims came from was a very large and old outfit which had been around for years. A few months later I saw in the paper that this yard was caught selling stolen parts and was shut down. I just smiled and shook my head since I now knew how that worked. My Son's got a kick out of it too.

jmonroe

imidazol97

@oldfarmer50
I asked about the door clips being available from Dorman type parts. If it were a customer paid job, the shop manager would be happy to have them brought in for use. The car is taking up room on their floor area in the body shop. The tech is not getting paid for that job. The store is not getting paid for that job.

However, it's a warranty paid job by GMEPP warranty. They reject billings if a billing is missing a GM part number that should be there but wasn't for the job requirement: he has an $1800 bill that was "flipped back" last week over something missing. Also, the parts guy is adamant about nothing but GM parts--it's his job.

I pointed out at least they aren't being asked for a loaner. The writer said he'd get me one anytime I needed it. So far my Cobalt has sufficed. Occasionally my son has to travel to colleges to meet interviewees for his group. But not right now.

fintail

Sounds like the place where I store the fintail. It has extra spots, and a number of vintage cars are slumbering there, some I am certain have not moved in years - I'd wager my car is the most active car there. It's somewhat hidden from street view, someone would have to snoop around a little to find it.

The Tempo trim ring sounds funny, too. As I have babbled about a number of times, my mom had an 85 Tempo when was a kid, a loaded GLX model. It had wheels (rather than hubcaps) that also had trim rings, kind of unusual. In an especially amusing parking maneuver, she once curbed it so hard it dislodged the trim ring, I think I mocked her about that for a year.

ab348 said:

The last building I lived in before buying my house had over 400 apartments and 2 levels of underground parking. When I got the Cutlass I rented a spot on the lower level which was less accessible and not as full. It had several collector cars there which were seldom moved. A year or two before moving out some miscreant stole the trim rings off the Cutlass wheels. Security was no help. If they thought they were getting some rare '60s Cutlass parts though, the joke was on them - they were a reasonable facsimile I found for cheap in local junkyards from 1980s Ford Tempos. Still a pain though.

fintail

That wheel story is pretty amusing, too. I recall when I was a kid, my aunt and uncle lived in a PNW city with some growing bad areas, and they ended up kind of on the border. One day, the neighbor across the street came out to find their car on blocks, wheels stolen, and that was it, my aunt and uncle had their house for sale within a month, and moved to the other side of town. The neighborhood and their old house have not aged well in the past 30 years - this kind of thing isn't new indeed.

ab348

Automotive News is reporting that Edmunds is cutting 130 jobs mostly at their Santa Monica HQ. Hope the forums aren’t another casualty.

28firefighter

Yikes.

abacomike

cdnpinhead said:

I guess it comes down to the fact that it takes time to establish trust. There was a time when it was a given.

Yeah - and when was that? During the westward expansion of the U.S.? During the Crusades? During the time of Alexander the Great? During the French and Indian War?

As long as human beings have been on this planet, I can't think of a time when "trust" could be used to describe human interactions as a "given"! Unfortunate, to be sure, but just a matter of fact when describing human behavioral community life - even back to the caveman!

cdnpinhead

I grew up in small towns & used to trust people as a default position. That was a long time ago.

snakeweasel

cdnpinhead said:

Just keep in mind that the plethora of passwords, the keys on your ring and all the rest is a monument to the fact that people in general (not specifically) are scum. They want to steal from you and succeed more often than not.

I didn't used to think this way, but that was 50+ years ago.

Just remember that locks just keep honest people honest.

explorerx4

I grew up in a small city and we kept everything locked.
Well, except my bedroom window, so I could get in late at night.

driver100

Civilized people can trust. Most people by far are pretty trustworthy. If people weren't generally trustworthy, you wouldn't go out and walk around. Now, I did say civilized. Business is done mostly on a trust basis.....I order goods from a supplier, he trusts me to pay him in 60 days. Most people go to the grocery store, and they don't try to steal stuff.
Then there are the thiefs, scammers, con men, etc., they cause a lot of trouble, but they are a small percentage of the total. Have to protect ourselves against them.
But, hopefully your friends are honest decent people.......and most of us around here seem to be

driver100

cdnpinhead said:

I grew up in small towns & used to trust people as a default position. That was a long time ago.

....and you should, otherwise you would be paranoid.

driver100

ab348 said:

Automotive News is reporting that Edmunds is cutting 130 jobs mostly at their Santa Monica HQ. Hope the forums aren’t another casualty.

We should find a place to meet up again if anything happens. Any ideas? Oldfarmers farm in June?

explorerx4

@driver100,
Oldfarmer50's place?
Woodstock redeux?

jmonroe

snakeweasel said:

cdnpinhead said:

Just keep in mind that the plethora of passwords, the keys on your ring and all the rest is a monument to the fact that people in general (not specifically) are scum. They want to steal from you and succeed more often than not.

I didn't used to think this way, but that was 50+ years ago.

Just remember that locks just keep honest people honest.

I'm honest...honest. Just because I have a tool that can pick locks, is no reason to watch me all the time.

jmonroe

driver100

jmonroe said:

snakeweasel said:

cdnpinhead said:

Just keep in mind that the plethora of passwords, the keys on your ring and all the rest is a monument to the fact that people in general (not specifically) are scum. They want to steal from you and succeed more often than not.

I didn't used to think this way, but that was 50+ years ago.

Just remember that locks just keep honest people honest.

I'm honest...honest. Just because I have a tool that can pick locks, is no reason to watch me all the time.

jmonroe

My friend who is a very astute businessman told me, "Don't trust people who say honest, or honestly.....etc".
When you are honest, you just are, you don't have to tell anyone.

jmonroe

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

Automotive News is reporting that Edmunds is cutting 130 jobs mostly at their Santa Monica HQ. Hope the forums aren’t another casualty.

We should find a place to meet up again if anything happens. Any ideas? Oldfarmers farm in June?

OK and when he's not looking we can swipe some veggies.

jmonroe

driver100

explorerx4 said:

@driver100,
Oldfarmer50's place?
Woodstock redeux?

Great idea. Oldfarmer can make have a concert in his field, car meet, and rent out rooms as a B&B.
If that doesn't work, it has been nice knowing you all.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe said:

tjc78 said:

On the car thieves. I left my Genesis open once and they actually stole the entire manual set. Since it was leased I knew I’d get dinged if it wasn’t there. Luckily one turned up on EBay fairly cheap.

And no it wasn’t mine... from several states away

I think I posted this once before but you reminded me. I think it was in 1984 when I was visiting my now departed middle brother in the hospital:

WARNING: Long post coming up but I'm due for one of those.

I was parked on the street and when I returned my '80 Park Ave. was gone and another, not nearly as nice of a car, was in that spot. I called the police about 9 PM and they showed up within 5 minutes. One of them said, "you'll have your car back in no time, we know where these kids take the cars they steal around here and it's only a few blocks from here". I was in the Oakland section of the Burgh which is not known to be a bad neighborhood but who am I to question that. The cop was wrong, I got a call at about 5 AM from a cop in the Homewood section of the Burgh who said he found my car. Now that's more like it. That place is a Mecca for everything bad and is miles from Oakland. Anyway, the cop proceeds to tell me the only thing he saw wrong was that it was up on blocks all the way around and that the steering column had the typical damage but other than that the car looked pretty good. In fact he said, "that's a nice car so I'm sure you want me to get it towed to the pound right away. All I need from you is the OK". I told him I wanted it towed to the Buick dealer in my hood. He said he couldn't do that because they have to get a signature when a car is dropped off and since the dealer wasn't open at that hour that couldn't be done. Then he got a little cute and said it should go to the city pound unless I wanted to call a tow truck myself when the dealer opened but he doubted it would look like it did when the sun came up but that was my choice. Guess what, my beauty went off to the pound with all the other riff raft.

Fast forward to when the car was fixed and I went to pick it up. I refused to sign off on the car because the rims were terrible. The dealer said I had to accept them because the car was more than 2 years old and the insurance company would never authorize new rims. I told him I knew that but the rims they found were totally unacceptable. I then said, "look at that car, do you really think I would have rims like that on that car"? He just shrugged and said, "that's the best we could find". I also pointed out that they were the wrong size and the tires were the wrong size too. More shrugging, then he said, "talk to your insurance company. You'll have to do that and we'll do whatever they say". Thankfully I was with one of the best regional company's you could be with (still am for that matter). So, I called my agent and told him what was going one and he arranged for an adjustor to go look at my car. The next day the adjustor called me and was somewhat laughing and said, "I don't blame you one bit. I wouldn't want those rims on that car either". He told me they would give the dealer 72 hours to find me better rims but if they couldn't he was authorizing the purchase of new rims. Just for my information I asked the adjustor what the incentive was for them to find used rims since he was authorizing the purchase of new rims? The short answer was that if repair shops continually didn't do their due diligence and search for acceptable used parts, they would no longer be an approved shop by them and if they were dropped from my company it was likely other insurance companies would scrutinize them also. Kinda self policing.

I got a call 2 days later from the dealer informing me my car was ready and they found, "some pretty nice rims" and they put the right size tires on too. OK, of course I would have preferred new rims but if they were nice I knew I had to accept them.

More fast forward. The weekend after I had the car, my Sons were washing it and Son #1 comes running into the house yelling, "DAD, DAD you gotta come down and see the rims. It looks like you got your original rims back". I asked him why he thought that and he said, "come on down and look at them. I'm tellin ya, those are your rims". I'm thinking he's washed that car enough so maybe he's right. When I got to the car he points to a small scratch on one of the painted surfaces of the rally rim and say's, "there, see that and come over here" as he goes to another rim and points out another scratch on that one too. Sure enough, they were my rims alright.

I got to talking to a few guys about this at work and one of the young guys said he worked at a body shop for a summer or two as he was going though college and said, "that happens all the time, it's a real racket". And he goes on to say, if a junk yard doesn't have a part, particularly rims, they put word out on the street what they are looking for and magically, it shows up pretty quick. The thief either goes looking for it or they already have it and are just waiting for the word. In my case I think they already had them and were just waiting for someone to ask.

FWIW, the yard my rims came from was a very large and old outfit which had been around for years. A few months later I saw in the paper that this yard was caught selling stolen parts and was shut down. I just smiled and shook my head since I now knew how that worked. My Son's got a kick out of it too.

jmonroe

Why didn’t you go all Rambo on everyone involved and call the cops on them. It would seem to be a pretty easy investigation tracing things back to the receiver of stolen property.

Better yet, rig your car up like Mad Max and seek vengeance.

jmonroe

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

snakeweasel said:

cdnpinhead said:

Just keep in mind that the plethora of passwords, the keys on your ring and all the rest is a monument to the fact that people in general (not specifically) are scum. They want to steal from you and succeed more often than not.

I didn't used to think this way, but that was 50+ years ago.

Just remember that locks just keep honest people honest.

I'm honest...honest. Just because I have a tool that can pick locks, is no reason to watch me all the time.

jmonroe

My friend who is a very astute businessman told me, "Don't trust people who say honest, or honestly.....etc".
When you are honest, you just are, you don't have to tell anyone.

You can never be too careful.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

Automotive News is reporting that Edmunds is cutting 130 jobs mostly at their Santa Monica HQ. Hope the forums aren’t another casualty.

We should find a place to meet up again if anything happens. Any ideas? Oldfarmers farm in June?

Bring your tent I’ve got plenty of room.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

explorerx4 said:

@driver100,
Oldfarmer50's place?
Woodstock redeux?

Great idea. Oldfarmer can make have a concert in his field, car meet, and rent out rooms as a B&B.
If that doesn't work, it has been nice knowing you all.

You know, the hillside at the back of my property makes a natural amphitheater. Bring your guitar too.

abacomike

driver100 said:

Civilized people can trust. Most people by far are pretty trustworthy. If people weren't generally trustworthy, you wouldn't go out and walk around. Now, I did say civilized. Business is done mostly on a trust basis.....I order goods from a supplier, he trusts me to pay him in 60 days. Most people go to the grocery store, and they don't try to steal stuff.
Then there are the thiefs, scammers, con men, etc., they cause a lot of trouble, but they are a small percentage of the total. Have to protect ourselves against them.
But, hopefully your friends are honest decent people.......and most of us around here seem to be

There is a direct correlation between age and one's ability to trust others.

What I mean is that In our youth we tend to trust others more - but as we grow older and, through our experiences, get burned by tricksters and dishonest people, we trust others less.

I am very cautious in my interpersonal relationships at this point in my life. I have been burned often and have become pessimistic about trusting others. Unfortunately, I remember those times when I have been taken advantage of. I am sure I am not alone.

graphicguy

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

Automotive News is reporting that Edmunds is cutting 130 jobs mostly at their Santa Monica HQ. Hope the forums aren’t another casualty.

We should find a place to meet up again if anything happens. Any ideas? Oldfarmers farm in June?

I’m always up for a road trip to meet up. That said, I hope no more of the folks at Edmunds who I have interfaced with over the years (including the gals and guys who have posted in the Forums) are affected. They are all some great folks.

graphicguy

Someone asked why I didn’t wait for the new TLX-S since I’ve been waiting for its release for quite some time.

Living in OH, and being in the embedded tech industry, I know some of the people who design, price and manufacture both Honda and Acura vehicles. They all stay pretty close to the vest regarding future products, but stitching together the many conversations I’ve had with them, I can guess at what’s coming....some obvious, some speculation.

The 2021 base TLX will get the 2.0 4 cyl turbo that comes in the Civic R (slightly detuned) and the Accord Sport. The S-Type isn’t as clear. RLX electric/combustion drivetrain is expensive to make, and would put the S-Type price the same as the RLX (which barely sells). More likely, S-Type will get a turbo V6. Launch pricing will be 10% higher than the current A-Spec V6, which means around $50K.

Stinger had me smitten the first test drive over a year ago. Almost pulled the trigger then. At what I bought mine for ($thousands under $40K), totally loaded, and performance to be better or at least the same as the S-Type, I pulled the trigger. Wasn’t planning on it. Opportunity met desire.

driver100

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

Civilized people can trust. Most people by far are pretty trustworthy. If people weren't generally trustworthy, you wouldn't go out and walk around. Now, I did say civilized. Business is done mostly on a trust basis.....I order goods from a supplier, he trusts me to pay him in 60 days. Most people go to the grocery store, and they don't try to steal stuff.
Then there are the thiefs, scammers, con men, etc., they cause a lot of trouble, but they are a small percentage of the total. Have to protect ourselves against them.
But, hopefully your friends are honest decent people.......and most of us around here seem to be

There is a direct correlation between age and one's ability to trust others.

What I mean is that In our youth we tend to trust others more - but as we grow older and, through our experiences, get burned by tricksters and dishonest people, we trust others less.

I am very cautious in my interpersonal relationships at this point in my life. I have been burned often and have become pessimistic about trusting others. Unfortunately, I remember those times when I have been taken advantage of. I am sure I am not alone.

When you are older you are more prone to get conned, no doubt about it. But, don't become negative and bitter. Most people are trustworthy and decent. Just be careful and try to decipher, who is decent and who isn't. Watch for signs.....you have to make sure stories add up, how people interact with others, what their values are...etc. You really lose out if you don't find some friends you can trust. There are more good people than bad, we don't hear about them as much.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

explorerx4 said:

@driver100,
Oldfarmer50's place?
Woodstock redeux?

Great idea. Oldfarmer can make have a concert in his field, car meet, and rent out rooms as a B&B.
If that doesn't work, it has been nice knowing you all.

You know, the hillside at the back of my property makes a natural amphitheater. Bring your guitar too.

Someone can bring a guitar...not me. I love music......but, don't have a clue about music. In school we had the canaries, the robins and the bears...I was always in the bears.....and sometimes told not to sing.

venture

ab348 said:

Automotive News is reporting that Edmunds is cutting 130 jobs mostly at their Santa Monica HQ. Hope the forums aren’t another casualty.

These forums have to be making money or they wouldn't be here. If they stop making money they will be gone. You can count on it.

oldfarmer50

venture said:

ab348 said:

Automotive News is reporting that Edmunds is cutting 130 jobs mostly at their Santa Monica HQ. Hope the forums aren’t another casualty.

These forums have to be making money or they wouldn't be here. If they stop making money they will be gone. You can count on it.

I don’t know, today I don’t see any ads put on the side border or at the top of the page like they used too.

graphicguy

oldfarmer50 said:

venture said:

ab348 said:

Automotive News is reporting that Edmunds is cutting 130 jobs mostly at their Santa Monica HQ. Hope the forums aren’t another casualty.

These forums have to be making money or they wouldn't be here. If they stop making money they will be gone. You can count on it.

I don’t know, today I don’t see any ads put on the side border or at the top of the page like they used too.

Hard to get eyeballs if you make it so hard to find these forums. They were an easy click at the top of the Edmunds page. Over the years, they’ve decided to burry them. Whomever is the service they use to write their WEB code needed to be fired years ago. I subscribe to many forums that interest me. By far, Edmunds Forums is the most glitchy, as most of us can attest.

If they do away with the forums, there’s a business model that someone could run with if Edmunds allowed it. Probably a business model even if they didn’t allow it, if someone could get the word out.

pensfan83

graphicguy said:

Someone asked why I didn’t wait for the new TLX-S since I’ve been waiting for its release for quite some time.

Living in OH, and being in the embedded tech industry, I know some of the people who design, price and manufacture both Honda and Acura vehicles. They all stay pretty close to the vest regarding future products, but stitching together the many conversations I’ve had with them, I can guess at what’s coming....some obvious, some speculation.

The 2021 base TLX will get the 2.0 4 cyl turbo that comes in the Civic R (slightly detuned) and the Accord Sport. The S-Type isn’t as clear. RLX electric/combustion drivetrain is expensive to make, and would put the S-Type price the same as the RLX (which barely sells). More likely, S-Type will get a turbo V6. Launch pricing will be 10% higher than the current A-Spec V6, which means around $50K.

Stinger had me smitten the first test drive over a year ago. Almost pulled the trigger then. At what I bought mine for ($thousands under $40K), totally loaded, and performance to be better or at least the same as the S-Type, I pulled the trigger. Wasn’t planning on it. Opportunity met desire.

Someone on AcuraZine traded out his A-Spec lease about 5 months early. Specifics weren't shared but it sounded like the deal was attractive enough to bail a little early. He swapped into a Accord 2.0T 6 speed citing the uncertain debut of the 2G TLX and more specifically the TLX Type-S.

I still have 8 months and if anyone asks what will replacement my response is "Beats me" because I really have no clue. There's probably 5-6 on the list including 2 EVs.

graphicguy

pensfan83 said:

graphicguy said:

Someone asked why I didn’t wait for the new TLX-S since I’ve been waiting for its release for quite some time.

Living in OH, and being in the embedded tech industry, I know some of the people who design, price and manufacture both Honda and Acura vehicles. They all stay pretty close to the vest regarding future products, but stitching together the many conversations I’ve had with them, I can guess at what’s coming....some obvious, some speculation.

The 2021 base TLX will get the 2.0 4 cyl turbo that comes in the Civic R (slightly detuned) and the Accord Sport. The S-Type isn’t as clear. RLX electric/combustion drivetrain is expensive to make, and would put the S-Type price the same as the RLX (which barely sells). More likely, S-Type will get a turbo V6. Launch pricing will be 10% higher than the current A-Spec V6, which means around $50K.

Stinger had me smitten the first test drive over a year ago. Almost pulled the trigger then. At what I bought mine for ($thousands under $40K), totally loaded, and performance to be better or at least the same as the S-Type, I pulled the trigger. Wasn’t planning on it. Opportunity met desire.

Someone on AcuraZine traded out his A-Spec lease about 5 months early. Specifics weren't shared but it sounded like the deal was attractive enough to bail a little early. He swapped into a Accord 2.0T 6 speed citing the uncertain debut of the 2G TLX and more specifically the TLX Type-S.

I still have 8 months and if anyone asks what will replacement my response is "Beats me" because I really have no clue. There's probably 5-6 on the list including 2 EVs.

We have the same taste. I toyed with EVs, too.

I set a limit on what I’ll spend. I’ve exceeded that limit a couple of times and came to the conclusion that past about $45K, the diminishing returns set in. That’s must me, though.

Don’t know why someone would bail on a lease. That seems to be the most financially destructive thing you could do in autodom. But, to each their own.

I test drove the Accord 2.0T. Very nice car. The 4 banger turbo is the real deal. That’s one thing Honda/Acura does as well as anyone in the market....make the smoothest 4 cyl and 6 cyl motors. Plus, the 10-speed in the new Accords is worlds better than the 9-speed in the V6.

Around here, there’s usually quite a few sightings of camo’d Acuras right before release. Same with Hondas (which I saw quite a few of before their most recent release). TLXs? Not a peep.

I think if you’ve seen the new ILX, you’ve seen the upcoming TLX, just in a bigger package.

But, as is Acura’s way, they don’t make anyone want to wait and see what they may be bringing out. My hypothesis above is just that. Not sure how that serves them, as a good portion of people (me included), will just move to a different brand or vehicle.

Heck, Acura may just dump sedans all together and must make SUVs and NSXs. Still like Acura. But recently, they’ve been playing the “we’ll fall behind the competition and race to catch up somewhere down the road” type of business model. They used to be the leaders in the lux/sport arena. Now? Not much!

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

Automotive News is reporting that Edmunds is cutting 130 jobs mostly at their Santa Monica HQ. Hope the forums aren’t another casualty.

We should find a place to meet up again if anything happens. Any ideas? Oldfarmers farm in June?

Well if the forums go to the great server in the sky there are multiple places we could restart this forum. Delphi Forums comes to mind.

snakeweasel

jmonroe said:

snakeweasel said:

cdnpinhead said:

Just keep in mind that the plethora of passwords, the keys on your ring and all the rest is a monument to the fact that people in general (not specifically) are scum. They want to steal from you and succeed more often than not.

I didn't used to think this way, but that was 50+ years ago.

Just remember that locks just keep honest people honest.

I'm honest...honest. Just because I have a tool that can pick locks, is no reason to watch me all the time.

jmonroe

I have a lock pick kit too, it was my fathers issued to him by the Army in WWII. You can fill in the blanks.