Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

qbrozen

snakeweasel said:

omarman said:

"The fifth and final level of the home is this basement, perfect for storage or studio space."

Wait is the basement at the top? the house is upside down?

It's Canada. I think they count backwards.

qbrozen

driver100 said:

Why Florida's car insurance rates are so high....3rd highest in the country;
The average annual car insurance bill in Florida is $2,219, third highest in the country behind Michigan and Louisiana, according to Insure.com. At the other end of the range, Maine and Wisconsin averaged less than $1,000. The national average was $1,457

* more than a quarter of Florida’s drivers don’t carry insurance, the most of any state.
* bogus broken windshield cases doesn’t help, nor do spikes in auto theft in some cities
* a lot of claims in Florida involve lawyers
* the state has a high percentage of college-aged drivers and those over 75-years old, both of whom can pay more for insurance.
* Florida also requires drivers to pay for $10,000 worth of personal injury protection,(raises rates 20%)
* a speeding ticket received three months earlier can increase rates by 21 percent. Reckless driving, 23 percent. A DUI, 27 percent. An accident without injuries in the past year can boost rates by 43 percent.

hmmmm... "annual car insurance bill..." Couldn't that mean a larger percentage of the population in FL have multiple cars on their policy? And/or more expensive cars? I'm not saying this is the case, but merely pointing out the flaw in such a comparison. I have 6 cars on mine at the moment, so my bill is like $3750, but my per car averages just $625.

snakeweasel

qbrozen said:

snakeweasel said:

omarman said:

"The fifth and final level of the home is this basement, perfect for storage or studio space."

Wait is the basement at the top? the house is upside down?

It's Canada. I think they count backwards.

OK, that explains this,

omarman

sda said:

How do you delete a post created in error?

Once posted I think only a mod can delete it. But if it's been posted less than 4 hours ago it can be edited.

I just edited this one to make sure about the time allowed to edit.
So I'll just add a message to please drive safely.

And watch out for falling lamp posts.

jmonroe

snakeweasel said:

omarman said:

"The fifth and final level of the home is this basement, perfect for storage or studio space."

Wait is the basement at the top? the house is upside down?

Upon further review, I don't think that basement is on the top floor. I see a poured concrete floor (with drain) and poured concrete walls. That's a lot of weight to be at the top of a single family house. Also, there are drain lines with traps (large black ABS pipe) at the ceiling of that space. That tells me that there is living space above that area. Just doesn't add up to me.

jmonroe

jmonroe

omarman said:

sda said:

How do you delete a post created in error?

Once posted I think only a mod can delete it. But if it's been posted less than 4 hours ago it can be edited.

I just edited this one to make sure about the time allowed to edit.
So I'll just add a message to please drive safely.

And watch out for falling lamp posts.

That post had to have eyes to nail that guy like that.Talk about bad luck.

jmonroe

omarman

I hesitated before using that one because it reminded me of the Wide World of Sports guy. I forget the name of the skier but his agony of defeat played out for years over and over on color tv. At least the rider in the gif appears to be wearing a helmet.

I was trying to connect the dots to "delete post" and "edit post" with "watch out for falling lamp posts."

omarman

I agree that there's a lot of clues which mark that pic as ground level basement. The unusual layout of that property seems to have upset the usual cookie cutter templates realtors use to describe typical listings.

It looks like the office space, front entrance and garage are all combined together on the main floor along with that basement area.

Then the kitchen, dining area and living room occupy the 2nd level. The guest bedroom level is 3rd and the master bedroom level is 4th.

Each of those 3 levels above the main floor have a walk out terrace on the same side of the building as the open air atrium with stairs.

That leaves the rooftop level to be the presumed 5th story which has a small enclosed sitting area with wet bar and it opens to the larger roof deck.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

driver100 said:

Why Florida's car insurance rates are so high....3rd highest in the country;
The average annual car insurance bill in Florida is $2,219, third highest in the country behind Michigan and Louisiana, according to Insure.com. At the other end of the range, Maine and Wisconsin averaged less than $1,000. The national average was $1,457

* more than a quarter of Florida’s drivers don’t carry insurance, the most of any state.
* bogus broken windshield cases doesn’t help, nor do spikes in auto theft in some cities
* a lot of claims in Florida involve lawyers
* the state has a high percentage of college-aged drivers and those over 75-years old, both of whom can pay more for insurance.
* Florida also requires drivers to pay for $10,000 worth of personal injury protection,(raises rates 20%)
* a speeding ticket received three months earlier can increase rates by 21 percent. Reckless driving, 23 percent. A DUI, 27 percent. An accident without injuries in the past year can boost rates by 43 percent.

hmmmm... "annual car insurance bill..." Couldn't that mean a larger percentage of the population in FL have multiple cars on their policy? And/or more expensive cars? I'm not saying this is the case, but merely pointing out the flaw in such a comparison. I have 6 cars on mine at the moment, so my bill is like $3750, but my per car averages just $625.

That is an excellent point. Although posters like Abacomike do seem to pay a lot more due to their location.

oldfarmer50

Just heard that J.D. Powers declared Genesis to have the best long term reliability of any car. Not bad for a wannabe. Of course they call 3 years long term. I’d like to see how cars hold up at 10+ years when the design defects like bad trannys, head gaskets, oil burning etc. start to show up.

Genesis was followed by Lexus and Buick.

The worst three were Jaguar, Chrysler and Land Rover. No surprise there.

graphicguy

So, looks like the meetings in Chicago are cancelled. Found out yesterday afternoon when my marketing guy texted me, as he was already there, and I had the luggage and briefcase in the car ready to go.

Free time on my hands, I had one of those Ford “$50 for a test” coupons from the recent Auto Show.

Took it in to the closest Ford store, told them I just needed their “Dealer Sales Code” to verify it. Sales guy takes it to his manager. Manager comes out and says...”there’s nothing we have that you’d like to test drive?”. I told him I didn’t want to bother them with a non-customer. He said they were slow (they were....you could have dropped a pin in the showroom and hear it on the other side). “You’re here...we’re here...maybe you’ll remember us the next time you’re in the market.” Fair enough. Pleasant response.

Sales manager asked “you in a hurry?” Nope. He told the sales guy to let me test drive whatever I wanted. Kind of nice test driving without any expectation to buy something.

First up...an Explorer ST...the one with the V6TT. These are nice pieces and really good performers for such a large vehicle. Nice looking in and out. Quick. Handled well for a big, heavy SUV. Good brakes for a heavy vehicle. Lots of tech. Would be a very nice “do everything...go everywhere vehicle for a family while providing some entertaining driving dynamics. It had a BanG and Olufsen sound system for Pete’s sake. $60K MSRP. Disappointingly, the build quality showed some less than ideal assembly. Some of the dash trim and components didn’t line up. There were some uneven gaps in the rear inside area. Seriously? In this day and age where the simple stuff like aligning panels is the least you can do to impress prospective buyers?

Walking into the Ford store from the test drive, we passed a blue Mustang GT on the lot. “Can I drive this, too?” Sales guy said the Manager said I could drive anything. Into the store the sales guy goes to get the keys. He comes out and jumps into the driver’s side, and sits there, staring straight ahead doing nothing for about 10 seconds. I thought maybe he was sick or going to faint as he barely moved. I asked if he was OK.

He said he was find, but was embarrassed to ask me a favor. “Can you pull the car out of the parking space? I’m embarrassed because can’t drive a stick.” I chuckled and said sure...”it’s our secret”.

Blue Mustang GT 6-speed with the Performance Package. This is the way a Mustang should be. Perf Pack, manual trans, ripping up and down 4 lane roads. I really couldn’t open it up as there just wasn’t enough room to do so. Traffic was light, but you just can’t explore what a Mustang can do in the city.

Pretty well loaded up with leather, Nav, Ford’s infotainment (which wasn’t bad, at all). $47K MSRP, which I thought wasn’t all that bad, figuring you might be able to knock off $4K-$5K. But again, there were squeaks and rattles in the one I drove. Not confidence inspiring. Hell, my old Cobra was a ‘vert and didn’t have the rattles this new one did.

Got the form filled out. Thanked the sales guy for his time and took his card for when I might be in the market.

All-in-all, an unexpectedly fun evening. I took myself out for dinner at a really good Mexican place afterwards.

tjc78

Test drives and basically a free dinner. Certainly can't complain about that night!

ab348

Perhaps Ford still hasn't solved all of the assembly problems with the Explorer and the Chicago assembly plant. Unfortunate.

I am surprised you could hear rattles in the Mustang over the sound of that exhaust note. I suspect most people wouldn't care.

graphicguy

ab348 said:

Perhaps Ford still hasn't solved all of the assembly problems with the Explorer and the Chicago assembly plant. Unfortunate.

I am surprised you could hear rattles in the Mustang over the sound of that exhaust note. I suspect most people wouldn't care.

You’re right, but once I got it in 6th on the interstate, it quiets down. Might have just been this one example as it was a perf pack and quite stiff. But, there was something in the C pillar causing noise and something in the dash rattling behind the infotainment screen....broken wire tie? Maybe a broken clasp? Who knows?

Not much in the refinement department, but that’s a lot of performance for that kind of money, though.

The Explorer’s fit and finish gaffs were more prominent. Wish I had taken pictures. But, there’s some faux carbon fiber that meets up with some soft touch plastic on the front of the dash near the passenger side. The gap was significant where they joined. Same with the console door between the front seats. The person who assembled that part must have been cross eyed. Plus, that’s what I noticed in the dark, on a 15 minute test drive. Makes me wonder what else I would have noticed during the day, on a longer test drive?

Perhaps they were some of the first off the assembly line. But, whoever is at the other end doing QA inspections, must have been asleep to let it go by with their seal of approval.

On the way home, I was thinking to myself, this is the golden age for SUVs. None of them are bad, per se. You got the Explorer, which is the king in that space, the upstarts like Palisades and Telluride. You got the Tahoe (although there is NO WAY I’d ever pay close to $75K for one like those I saw at the car show)....all the rest of them.

They’re blurring the lines between the Lux cruisers from Lexus, Lincoln, BMW, Audi, Mercedes, etc. I just don’t know how to justify the price of those other, higher end SUVs, when the Ford, Hyundai, Kia, etc are so nice, with as much equipment as you can put on a vehicle.

These are very nice SUVs.

ab348

It's far too big for me, but I do like the Telluride.

imidazol97

Is the basement the part above ground level?

carnaught

@graphicguy, an entertaining read - thanks!

oldfarmer50

“But again, there were squeaks and rattles in the one I drove. Not confidence inspiring. Hell, my old Cobra was a ‘vert and didn’t have the rattles this new one did.”

I’m surprised to hear that. Mine doesn’t rattle at all. The OEM tires started whining after 10k miles but I hear a lot of performance rubber does that.

Funny the salesman couldn’t drive a stick. Guess it’s true what they say about it being a Millennial theft prevention device.

ronsteve

tjc78 said:

In reality how often do most people parallel park?

I think I do it twice a year at most.

Probably weekly, on average, for me. Not that I have to get into tight or unforgiving spaces every time. The V70 was actually pretty easy, even without a camera, but I sure wouldn't try a lot of the same spaces in the RDX without the camera.

ronsteve

explorerx4 said:

We had family that lived in Warren right off 8 Mile, pretty close to the Chrysler(RAM) truck plant.
We didn't cross over to the Detroit side.

My wife grew up near 9 Mile and Gratiot. From what I'm told the main reason to go to the Detroit side was to go downtown.

ronsteve

houdini1 said:

snakeweasel said:

fintail said:

In some US citiesn it is decent anyway, and "decent" might be relative to places with names like Spittoon Junction and Tabacky Corner.

Also less of an "I got mine, you can go to hell" mentality in some other cultures, too.

snakeweasel said:

In major US cities there is decent mass transit. One thing to remember is that Europe is much more densely populated than the US. (190 per square mile vs 87, 41 states have lower population densities than Europe) and their metropolitan areas tend to be more condensed than here. Plus they have more cities with populations over one million.

For decent public transportation an area has to have a critical mass in both number of people and population density. Otherwise it wouldn't be fiscally feasible to run a mass transit system. Thinly populated rural areas dont have the population to financially support such a system that a large city does.

Kansas City has a rather large metropolitan area. On the Kansas side, specifically Johnson County, we have had buss service for some time. Not unusual to see a million dollar bus with 2 or 3 people on it. They finally have come to their senses and started using "mini busses", (vans).

Kansas City Metro is expansive, not very densely populated, and therefore very car-dependent. Johnson County is home mainly to the rich people, many of whom wouldn't be caught dead on a bus. I remember hearing somewhere that they have more lane-miles of Interstate per capita than any other metro in the nation. Not sure if that's still the case.

graphicguy

oldfarmer50 said:

“But again, there were squeaks and rattles in the one I drove. Not confidence inspiring. Hell, my old Cobra was a ‘vert and didn’t have the rattles this new one did.”

I’m surprised to hear that. Mine doesn’t rattle at all. The OEM tires started whining after 10k miles but I hear a lot of performance rubber does that.

Funny the salesman couldn’t drive a stick. Guess it’s true what they say about it being a Millennial theft prevention device.

OF...I was surprised, too. But, sales guy said they were brand new off the truck. Mustang still had plastic on the seats. The Explorer he said came off the same truck. Perhaps after the PDI it's a non-issue.

If I were to jump into the Muscle Car market again, the Mustang would be my target. It's that good of a performance car. This GT would have crushed my old Cobra, and not even broke a sweat. I'd have to get another convertible, though.

laurasdada

oldfarmer50 said:

The worst three were Jaguar, Chrysler and Land Rover. No surprise there.

Why is everybody always pickin' on me?

oldfarmer50

laurasdada said:

oldfarmer50 said:

The worst three were Jaguar, Chrysler and Land Rover. No surprise there.

Why is everybody always pickin' on me?

Not everyone, just J.D. Powers.

explorerx4

@omarman,
I never would have connected all those dots(posts).

qbrozen

oldfarmer50 said:

qbrozen said:

driver100 said:

Why Florida's car insurance rates are so high....3rd highest in the country;
The average annual car insurance bill in Florida is $2,219, third highest in the country behind Michigan and Louisiana, according to Insure.com. At the other end of the range, Maine and Wisconsin averaged less than $1,000. The national average was $1,457

* more than a quarter of Florida’s drivers don’t carry insurance, the most of any state.
* bogus broken windshield cases doesn’t help, nor do spikes in auto theft in some cities
* a lot of claims in Florida involve lawyers
* the state has a high percentage of college-aged drivers and those over 75-years old, both of whom can pay more for insurance.
* Florida also requires drivers to pay for $10,000 worth of personal injury protection,(raises rates 20%)
* a speeding ticket received three months earlier can increase rates by 21 percent. Reckless driving, 23 percent. A DUI, 27 percent. An accident without injuries in the past year can boost rates by 43 percent.

hmmmm... "annual car insurance bill..." Couldn't that mean a larger percentage of the population in FL have multiple cars on their policy? And/or more expensive cars? I'm not saying this is the case, but merely pointing out the flaw in such a comparison. I have 6 cars on mine at the moment, so my bill is like $3750, but my per car averages just $625.

That is an excellent point. Although posters like Abacomike do seem to pay a lot more due to their location.

Or is it due to driving a leased S class?

laurasdada

oldfarmer50 said:

laurasdada said:

oldfarmer50 said:

The worst three were Jaguar, Chrysler and Land Rover. No surprise there.

Why is everybody always pickin' on me?

Not everyone, just J.D. Powers.

Having now owned Jags for over 8.5 years, I will continue to defend their honor. And I have no problem in recommending the marque* to anyone who asks!**

*SUV's excepted, I've no experience with these unfortunate sign o' the times beasts
**Please don't quote me on that; I won't put it in writing. No warranty is offered, expressed or implied

nyccarguy

laurasdada said:

oldfarmer50 said:

The worst three were Jaguar, Chrysler and Land Rover. No surprise there.

Why is everybody always pickin' on me?

“He’s a clown. That Charlie Brown.”

driver100

tjc78 said:

Test drives and basically a free dinner. Certainly can't complain about that night!

I have dreams about being able to do that.
Nice reviews, a lot of useful information in a short review.
btw, I don't hear any rattles in a 7 year old C250, and all the panels line up perfectly.

driver100

ab348 said:

Perhaps Ford still hasn't solved all of the assembly problems with the Explorer and the Chicago assembly plant. Unfortunate.

I am surprised you could hear rattles in the Mustang over the sound of that exhaust note. I suspect most people wouldn't care.

One cure is to turn the Bang and Olufsen up louder.

qbrozen

Anybody else have the mobile version of the forums go MIA? I’m viewing desktop on my phone for 2 days now.

driver100

qbrozen said:

driver100 said:

Why Florida's car insurance rates are so high....3rd highest in the country;
The average annual car insurance bill in Florida is $2,219, third highest in the country behind Michigan and Louisiana, according to Insure.com. At the other end of the range, Maine and Wisconsin averaged less than $1,000. The national average was $1,457

* more than a quarter of Florida’s drivers don’t carry insurance, the most of any state.
* bogus broken windshield cases doesn’t help, nor do spikes in auto theft in some cities
* a lot of claims in Florida involve lawyers
* the state has a high percentage of college-aged drivers and those over 75-years old, both of whom can pay more for insurance.
* Florida also requires drivers to pay for $10,000 worth of personal injury protection,(raises rates 20%)
* a speeding ticket received three months earlier can increase rates by 21 percent. Reckless driving, 23 percent. A DUI, 27 percent. An accident without injuries in the past year can boost rates by 43 percent.

hmmmm... "annual car insurance bill..." Couldn't that mean a larger percentage of the population in FL have multiple cars on their policy? And/or more expensive cars? I'm not saying this is the case, but merely pointing out the flaw in such a comparison. I have 6 cars on mine at the moment, so my bill is like $3750, but my per car averages just $625.

I think they were talking about the cost per car....not the total bill. The areas where Mike lives pay much higher than average, Tampa area is fairly average;
Least expensive
1. Gainesville
2. Panama City
3. Fort Myers
4. Ocala
5. Sarasota
Most expensive
1. Hialeah
2. Lake Worth
3. Boynton Beach
4. Homestead
5. Fort Lauderdale
6. Sarasota is the home of a lot of expensive cars. Lots of variables, young drivers can pay 3X as much, so if an area doesn't have young drivers rates are lower. We pay exactly the average amount, for one car.

tjc78

qbrozen said:

Anybody else have the mobile version of the forums go MIA? I’m viewing desktop on my phone for 2 days now.

Yes. Iphone 7+ running the latest IOS

snakeweasel

qbrozen said:

Anybody else have the mobile version of the forums go MIA? I’m viewing desktop on my phone for 2 days now.

Have been having that issue too on my Galaxy phone. My tablet has always been the desktop version.

explorerx4

It would be interesting to know what that Explorer build date was.
Supposedly, he interior quality went up quite a bit in the October time frame.
I've always been wary inside and out regarding build quality with CAP built vehicles.

explorerx4

Watched a couple of this guy's video's. He makes fun of lots of stuff.
This one is car related.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLxPAwIeL0w

pensfan83

qbrozen said:

Anybody else have the mobile version of the forums go MIA? I’m viewing desktop on my phone for 2 days now.

Thought it was me and I changed some setting in Chrome

driver100

I think I know what this is...can someone confirm?

explorerx4

@driver100,
Yes, it's a Camaro.

stickguy

it is the slot where the tongue of a bumper jack goes. On a 1975ish Camaro.

jmonroe

stickguy said:

it is the slot where the tongue of a bumper jack goes. On a 1975ish Camaro.

I had those slots on my '66 Bonneville.

FWIW, the very first time I used the bumper jack, in the slot on the rear drivers side, the jack let go. Fortunately I had just changed the flat and had the lug nut's on snug and was going to lower the car to fully tighten them when it let go. I never liked the looks of those things and had a tripod jack in the trunk but when I opened the trunk it was gone. Next morning I found out my brother used it to put snow tires on his car and forgot to put it back in my trunk. :@ :@ :@

jmonroe

roadburner

graphicguy said:

So, looks like the meetings in Chicago are cancelled. Found out yesterday afternoon when my marketing guy texted me, as he was already there, and I had the luggage and briefcase in the car ready to go.

Free time on my hands, I had one of those Ford “$50 for a test” coupons from the recent Auto Show.

Took it in to the closest Ford store, told them I just needed their “Dealer Sales Code” to verify it. Sales guy takes it to his manager. Manager comes out and says...”there’s nothing we have that you’d like to test drive?”. I told him I didn’t want to bother them with a non-customer. He said they were slow (they were....you could have dropped a pin in the showroom and hear it on the other side). “You’re here...we’re here...maybe you’ll remember us the next time you’re in the market.” Fair enough. Pleasant response.

Sales manager asked “you in a hurry?” Nope. He told the sales guy to let me test drive whatever I wanted. Kind of nice test driving without any expectation to buy something.

First up...an Explorer ST...the one with the V6TT. These are nice pieces and really good performers for such a large vehicle. Nice looking in and out. Quick. Handled well for a big, heavy SUV. Good brakes for a heavy vehicle. Lots of tech. Would be a very nice “do everything...go everywhere vehicle for a family while providing some entertaining driving dynamics. It had a BanG and Olufsen sound system for Pete’s sake. $60K MSRP. Disappointingly, the build quality showed some less than ideal assembly. Some of the dash trim and components didn’t line up. There were some uneven gaps in the rear inside area. Seriously? In this day and age where the simple stuff like aligning panels is the least you can do to impress prospective buyers?

Walking into the Ford store from the test drive, we passed a blue Mustang GT on the lot. “Can I drive this, too?” Sales guy said the Manager said I could drive anything. Into the store the sales guy goes to get the keys. He comes out and jumps into the driver’s side, and sits there, staring straight ahead doing nothing for about 10 seconds. I thought maybe he was sick or going to faint as he barely moved. I asked if he was OK.

He said he was find, but was embarrassed to ask me a favor. “Can you pull the car out of the parking space? I’m embarrassed because can’t drive a stick.” I chuckled and said sure...”it’s our secret”.

Blue Mustang GT 6-speed with the Performance Package. This is the way a Mustang should be. Perf Pack, manual trans, ripping up and down 4 lane roads. I really couldn’t open it up as there just wasn’t enough room to do so. Traffic was light, but you just can’t explore what a Mustang can do in the city.

Pretty well loaded up with leather, Nav, Ford’s infotainment (which wasn’t bad, at all). $47K MSRP, which I thought wasn’t all that bad, figuring you might be able to knock off $4K-$5K. But again, there were squeaks and rattles in the one I drove. Not confidence inspiring. Hell, my old Cobra was a ‘vert and didn’t have the rattles this new one did.

Got the form filled out. Thanked the sales guy for his time and took his card for when I might be in the market.

All-in-all, an unexpectedly fun evening. I took myself out for dinner at a really good Mexican place afterwards.

I really liked the Mustang I almost bought, but in retrospect I think the 2 Series was a far better fit for me. I still want to try a Stinger GTS; if the Nicholasville dealer is willing to part with their GTS for $37k AND I like how it drives I'd be sorely tempted.

28firefighter

qbrozen said:

Anybody else have the mobile version of the forums go MIA? I’m viewing desktop on my phone for 2 days now.

Me.

driver100

stickguy
it is the slot where the tongue of a bumper jack goes. On a 1975ish Camaro

That is what I thought, but it has been a long time since I changed a tire....... AAA has done that for awhile now, though I changed many tires a long time ago.

Good try Explorer....you flunked.

How many know what this is:

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

stickguy
it is the slot where the tongue of a bumper jack goes. On a 1975ish Camaro

That is what I thought, but it has been a long time since I changed a tire....... AAA has done that for awhile now, though I changed many tires a long time ago.

Good try Explorer....you flunked.

How many know what this is:

High beam switch. Am I really that old?

stickguy

Yes. Sadly I recall that too. I assume I even owned a car with one, but the memories are fuzzy. My 67 Camaro must have had that. Maybe my gremlin or hornet?

snakeweasel

Getting tired of this state.

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/house-bill-would-ban-illinois-drivers-from-pumping-their-own-gas/

stickguy

Every so often some pol in NJ proposes doing away with the no self serve rule, and lots of people go nuts. I think it is great. I don’t want to have to get out and pump, especially when it’s cold out. So what if occasionally I have to wait an extra minute for the attendant?

I also won’t use a regular credit card at the pump. I pay cash unless it’s at a bespoke station for one of my cards (Exxon Mobil Sunoco or shell, most of which sadly no longer exist around me).

stickguy

I did see that they Slashed the trade in credit down last year. Among many other gouges. From a link in that article.

imidazol97

It's either a headlight dimmer switch on driver's floor OR a starter switch.