Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

snakeweasel

graphicguy said:

Just because I’m a sucker for a pretty woman who YouTubes about cars.......

https://youtu.be/ljpE0JeqN4k

Well to answer the question on the thumbnail, Nope, almost but nope.

ab348

Sarah is always fun to watch although her ratings seem a little tightwad-ish. She'll rave about a cars performance during the review and then give it 1 bean or whatever at the end.

explorerx4

I wonder if the mortgage industry is intentionally slowing things down due to the low rates?

kyfdx

explorerx4 said:

I wonder if the mortgage industry is intentionally slowing things down due to the low rates?

Local mortgage broker says that purchase market is so busy, they don't have time for refinances.

graphicguy

driver100 said:

graphicguy said:

Just because I’m a sucker for a pretty woman who YouTubes about cars.......

https://youtu.be/ljpE0JeqN4k

Well, your eyesight doesn't seem to be too bad!

My one good eye got excited!!!!!!!!

Would you rather see more “Scotty” videos?

graphicguy

bwia said:

Our 60" Seiki 1080p LED HDTV died last night (no picture but has sound with no distortion.) We bought it at Sears in 2014 for a little less than $1,000 after discounts, if I remember correctly. I don't know if this manufacturer is still around but the picture quality in 1080p was incredible.

So, I'm in the market for a 65-inch 4k OLED replacement. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Go to Costco. Pick out the biggest LG OLED TV your budget will allow. Take it home. You’ll be happy for a long, long time!

Seiki TV? As in Mircro Seiki? They used to make some nice turntables, but didn’t know they were in the TV business. Assuming it was a rebranded LED of some sort. Doubt it is worth saving, but from Shiggles and Gits, might want to call around your area to see if there’s someone who will work on it. It’s rare that the LED panels themselves go bad. Maybe a tuner PCB that fizzled?

andres3

I think I remember when I sold my condo the buyer had some potential mis-direction on their application, so my sale closing got delayed for months I think. We got the buyer to commit by moving in and paying rent, albeit my agent talked me into reducing the rent "below market" by way too much if you ask me, because I was thinking a month, not multiple months.

Still, if you've moved recently, you know moving is a huge disincentive to back out of a deal if you've already moved-in! That was smart. Screw the banks though.

Also, watch out for language that says you need home insurance as soon as your loan is funded. There was a delay between my loan being funded on my home, and the seller closing the sale to us. I told the insurance company and bank to pound sand as to their "start" date for the bills getting paid and charged, because I wasn't paying for home insurance on a home I didn't own (no close, no ownership). Makes sense right? They told me to pound sand right back, as their "contract fine print" says they need insurance secured starting on the date the loan is funded. I lost that battle and didn't fight beyond the first round; let it go. Can't fight them all.

Of course, the purchasing contract allows me to back out of the deal if upon final move-in inspection I don't like what I see if something "new" was discovered that wasn't previously communicated. For instance, let's say half the home burned down prior to my "final" inspection. I could back out of the deal, as it hasn't closed yet, it's not my problem, nor my claim, I don't own it, nor would I want to own it at that point. I'd back out. So there would be no home for collateral on the bank's loan. I suppose I'd be responsible for the interest, but could I take the nearly $400K and disappear in Mexico? Seems like a HUGE risk as a buyer that shouldn't be on the buyer, or maybe my agent just sucked, which is probably true; won't be using that guy again; look at how long it took him to close on the sale of my condo too!

dino001

Debt free! Paid off my house in July and the car loan last month. My reward - credit score dropped by about 20 points, main "reason" ("negative information") - I don't have any active installment loan. Credit score people are idiots. Let me get it straight - I just increased my credit capacity (ability to acquire new debt) and with 20+ years of perfect payment history, that's a negative? Good thing, the drop is from around 850 to around 830, so in practical terms it really is inconsequential (if I wanted another loan I would still get best terms), but how stupid is a system that regards a recent debt payoff as negative factor. Ridiculous.

andres3

dino001 said:

Debt free! Paid off my house in July and the car loan last month. My reward - credit score dropped by about 20 points, main "reason" ("negative information") - I don't have any active installment loan. Credit score people are idiots. Let me get it straight - I just increased my credit capacity (ability to acquire new debt) and that's a negative? Good thing, the drop is from around 850 to around 830, so in practical terms it really is inconsequential (if I wanted another loan I would still get best terms), but how stupid is a system that regards a recent debt payoff as negative factor. Ridiculous.

I agree that the credit score system is a joke, and not representative of someone's true credit worthiness. It's a big sham, and shams usually have big lobbyist groups and corrupt politician's backing them. What was AIG's credit rating before they needed BILLIONS in bailout funds again?

dino001

andres3 said:

dino001 said:

Debt free! Paid off my house in July and the car loan last month. My reward - credit score dropped by about 20 points, main "reason" ("negative information") - I don't have any active installment loan. Credit score people are idiots. Let me get it straight - I just increased my credit capacity (ability to acquire new debt) and that's a negative? Good thing, the drop is from around 850 to around 830, so in practical terms it really is inconsequential (if I wanted another loan I would still get best terms), but how stupid is a system that regards a recent debt payoff as negative factor. Ridiculous.

I agree that the credit score system is a joke, and not representative of someone's true credit worthiness. It's a big sham, and shams usually have big lobbyist groups and corrupt politician's backing them. What was AIG's credit rating before they needed BILLIONS in bailout funds again?

You conflated totally different systems (corporate vs. consumer credit rating), but oh well, both are flawed, even if for completely different reasons and with different consequences. My credit score dropping by 20 points doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things, as it's like going from 99th percentile to 98th percentile. To me it's more a curious stupidity of computer algorithms taken to some extreme (like credit payoff). Corporate credit rating system is definitely messed up, as in the end it's the client who is rated that pays for the rating.

But for God's sake, would you let your bailout obsession go already, it's getting really boring. Anything anybody says ends up in you railing against bailouts. It goes like this: somebody - I have a headache. Andre - bailouts give me headache...

andres3

dino001 said:

andres3 said:

dino001 said:

Debt free! Paid off my house in July and the car loan last month. My reward - credit score dropped by about 20 points, main "reason" ("negative information") - I don't have any active installment loan. Credit score people are idiots. Let me get it straight - I just increased my credit capacity (ability to acquire new debt) and that's a negative? Good thing, the drop is from around 850 to around 830, so in practical terms it really is inconsequential (if I wanted another loan I would still get best terms), but how stupid is a system that regards a recent debt payoff as negative factor. Ridiculous.

I agree that the credit score system is a joke, and not representative of someone's true credit worthiness. It's a big sham, and shams usually have big lobbyist groups and corrupt politician's backing them. What was AIG's credit rating before they needed BILLIONS in bailout funds again?

You conflated totally different systems (corporate vs. consumer credit rating), but oh well, both are flawed, even if for completely different reasons and with different consequences. My credit score dropping by 20 points doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things, as it's like going from 99th percentile to 98th percentile. To me it's more a curious stupidity of computer algorithms taken to some extreme (like credit payoff). Corporate credit rating system is definitely messed up, as in the end it's the client who is rated that pays for the rating.

But for God's sake, would you let your bailout obsession go already, it's getting really boring. Anything anybody says ends up in you railing against bailouts. It goes like this: somebody - I have a headache. Andre - bailouts give me headache...

You seem to have a particular sensitivity when remembrances of the biggest looting in US history is brought up.

My rant this time is actually more focused on my credit rating going from just over 800 to about 650 just because of a missing key FOB between Kia and Kia Finance. Somehow I don't think $350 should really effect my credit score more than 2 or 20 points, but it did.

omarman

20 point drop after paying off a car loan and your mortgage? Don't worry. Wait until your positive credit history ages off completely and tell me what it looks like then.

Got this email from Experian 2 years ago:

We wanted to let you know that we couldn’t automatically update your FICO® Score from Experian this month based on the data we pulled on XX/XX/2018. If you’re planning on applying for credit soon, we have seen members in similar situations generate a FICO® Score by ruling out the below items. Do any of them apply to you?

1. You have new accounts or not enough of them.

2. You have no recent account activity.

3. You have been mistakenly reported as deceased.

My friend looked at it and got pretty upset. She wanted me to reply immediately to clear things up. So I typed out a simple 3 answer reply:

1. NOPE
2. YEP
3. PENDING!

She wouldn't let me send it. Women.

dino001

Well, your Kia fob issue has nothing to do with AIG bailout, or at least I don't see the connection. 150 points is quite a severe dropoff, unjust for sure. I guess it's a steep price of "standing on the principal", refusing to pay and letting things go into collection. When law and corporate power ruled against you, insisting on that stance is becomes really costly. Yeah, it sucks, but you let that happen by letting your emotions and sense of justice run the decisions. Sometimes it's just better to pay and make it go away. Businesses settle nuisance lawsuits all the time, even when they really didn't do anything wrong. Seems like you didn't do your math right on costs and benefits. Perhaps it may be better to just pay it, let it go and lick you wounds. Just a thought... (not siding with them, just thinking in practical terms).

andres3

dino001 said:

Well, your Kia fob issue has nothing to do with AIG bailout, or at least I don't see the connection. 150 points is quite a severe dropoff, unjust for sure. I guess it's a steep price of "standing on the principal", refusing to pay and letting things go into collection. When law and corporate power ruled against you, insisting on that stance is becomes really costly. Yeah, it sucks, but you let that happen by letting your emotions and sense of justice run the decisions. Sometimes it's just better to pay and make it go away. Businesses settle nuisance lawsuits all the time, even when they really didn't do anything wrong. Seems like you didn't do your math right on costs and benefits. Perhaps it may be better to just pay it, let it go and lick you wounds. Just a thought... (not siding with them, just thinking in practical terms).

It's too late now. I wouldn't trust them if they told me a payoff now would "erase" the record. Let's say I pay and remnants of the damage remain? Then I'm out $350 and still in the same boat. Easier to not pay at this point.

I like to take into account the long-term benefits of decisions. Sometimes it's not as easy as looking at the short term pros and cons, but to look at the larger scale benefits to the future of humanity.

That's why I fight traffic tickets even if the math doesn't make sense, and why I didn't pay Kia Finance. I don't want to encourage, but discourage the current practice. Playing ball encourages the status quo.

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

Thanks everyone. Fingers crossed this is the last hurdle!

@imidazol97
The Buick lease ends on 12/7, so have some time. I actually submitted a few online quotes for some SUV's I was interested in, but I let it take a back seat for now.

Wife really want's an XC90. If that is the case I may just turn in the Enclave and wait until the new year. I really like the Caddy XT6, so if we are going that route it will have to be done sooner since if I'm leasing another GM I can avoid the dispo fee.

If you can’t get everything settled by the time the lease is up consider getting a Craigslist hooptie for a few grand to hold you over until your finances are sound.

Just look for the heading “oldfarmer50 approved” in the ad.😃

bwia

graphicguy said:

bwia said:

Our 60" Seiki 1080p LED HDTV died last night (no picture but has sound with no distortion.) We bought it at Sears in 2014 for a little less than $1,000 after discounts, if I remember correctly. I don't know if this manufacturer is still around but the picture quality in 1080p was incredible.

So, I'm in the market for a 65-inch 4k OLED replacement. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Go to Costco. Pick out the biggest LG OLED TV your budget will allow. Take it home. You’ll be happy for a long, long time!

Seiki TV? As in Mircro Seiki? They used to make some nice turntables, but didn’t know they were in the TV business. Assuming it was a rebranded LED of some sort. Doubt it is worth saving, but from Shiggles and Gits, might want to call around your area to see if there’s someone who will work on it. It’s rare that the LED panels themselves go bad. Maybe a tuner PCB that fizzled?

Thanks @graphicguy, @kdfx and @roadburner. My research suggests that only LG and (?) can't remember the other, make OLED TVs. I also learned that OLEDs don't work as well in a brightly lit room and it is best to wait for Black Friday before splurging on a high end TV.

GG, I will look into Costco. My membership card has expired since I was away from the country for a long while and did not return until a few weeks ago. With that said, I hope Costco will give me a Covid discounted price on membership renewal. I can dream, can't I?

kyfdx

bwia said:

graphicguy said:

bwia said:

Our 60" Seiki 1080p LED HDTV died last night (no picture but has sound with no distortion.) We bought it at Sears in 2014 for a little less than $1,000 after discounts, if I remember correctly. I don't know if this manufacturer is still around but the picture quality in 1080p was incredible.

So, I'm in the market for a 65-inch 4k OLED replacement. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Go to Costco. Pick out the biggest LG OLED TV your budget will allow. Take it home. You’ll be happy for a long, long time!

Seiki TV? As in Mircro Seiki? They used to make some nice turntables, but didn’t know they were in the TV business. Assuming it was a rebranded LED of some sort. Doubt it is worth saving, but from Shiggles and Gits, might want to call around your area to see if there’s someone who will work on it. It’s rare that the LED panels themselves go bad. Maybe a tuner PCB that fizzled?

Thanks @graphicguy, @kdfx and @roadburner. My research suggests that only LG and (?) can't remember the other, make OLED TVs. I also learned that OLEDs don't work as well in a brightly lit room and it is best to wait for Black Friday before splurging on a high end TV.

GG, I will look into Costco. My membership card has expired since I was away from the country for a long while and did not return until a few weeks ago. With that said, I hope Costco will give me a Covid discounted price on membership renewal. I can dream, can't I?

I don't think the LG OLED price is going to drop... At Costco in the Spring the 55" version was $1500, and when I was in there to get tires a couple weeks ago, it had gone up to $1550.

Anything is possible, I guess.

tjc78

oldfarmer50 said:

tjc78 said:

Thanks everyone. Fingers crossed this is the last hurdle!

@imidazol97
The Buick lease ends on 12/7, so have some time. I actually submitted a few online quotes for some SUV's I was interested in, but I let it take a back seat for now.

Wife really want's an XC90. If that is the case I may just turn in the Enclave and wait until the new year. I really like the Caddy XT6, so if we are going that route it will have to be done sooner since if I'm leasing another GM I can avoid the dispo fee.

If you can’t get everything settled by the time the lease is up consider getting a Craigslist hooptie for a few grand to hold you over until your finances are sound.

Just look for the heading “oldfarmer50 approved” in the ad.😃

We can make it with one car for a little while if needed, especially in the winter. It's not so much the finances as the time to make the deal.

dino001

andres3 said:

dino001 said:

Well, your Kia fob issue has nothing to do with AIG bailout, or at least I don't see the connection. 150 points is quite a severe dropoff, unjust for sure. I guess it's a steep price of "standing on the principal", refusing to pay and letting things go into collection. When law and corporate power ruled against you, insisting on that stance is becomes really costly. Yeah, it sucks, but you let that happen by letting your emotions and sense of justice run the decisions. Sometimes it's just better to pay and make it go away. Businesses settle nuisance lawsuits all the time, even when they really didn't do anything wrong. Seems like you didn't do your math right on costs and benefits. Perhaps it may be better to just pay it, let it go and lick you wounds. Just a thought... (not siding with them, just thinking in practical terms).

It's too late now. I wouldn't trust them if they told me a payoff now would "erase" the record. Let's say I pay and remnants of the damage remain? Then I'm out $350 and still in the same boat. Easier to not pay at this point.

I like to take into account the long-term benefits of decisions. Sometimes it's not as easy as looking at the short term pros and cons, but to look at the larger scale benefits to the future of humanity.

That's why I fight traffic tickets even if the math doesn't make sense, and why I didn't pay Kia Finance. I don't want to encourage, but discourage the current practice. Playing ball encourages the status quo.

We sometimes pay ransom and that's the way it is, unfortunately. If you want to die to change the world, big thanks to you.

As a practical matter, as long as you not paying doe not update itself on the record on a regular basis (extend this collection status into perpetuity), you're right, there is no benefit of paying it now. The problem is, as long as it is in an active collection stage, your score will never recover, if anything it will keep dropping.

oldfarmer50

andres3 said:

dino001 said:

Debt free! Paid off my house in July and the car loan last month. My reward - credit score dropped by about 20 points, main "reason" ("negative information") - I don't have any active installment loan. Credit score people are idiots. Let me get it straight - I just increased my credit capacity (ability to acquire new debt) and that's a negative? Good thing, the drop is from around 850 to around 830, so in practical terms it really is inconsequential (if I wanted another loan I would still get best terms), but how stupid is a system that regards a recent debt payoff as negative factor. Ridiculous.

I agree that the credit score system is a joke, and not representative of someone's true credit worthiness. It's a big sham, and shams usually have big lobbyist groups and corrupt politician's backing them. What was AIG's credit rating before they needed BILLIONS in bailout funds again?

That’s what happens when you try to quantify moral character. Before FICO you had to rely on a man’s handshake or what Aunt Maude heard about the applicant at the general store.

oldfarmer50

omarman said:

20 point drop after paying off a car loan and your mortgage? Don't worry. Wait until your positive credit history ages off completely and tell me what it looks like then.

Got this email from Experian 2 years ago:

We wanted to let you know that we couldn’t automatically update your FICO® Score from Experian this month based on the data we pulled on XX/XX/2018. If you’re planning on applying for credit soon, we have seen members in similar situations generate a FICO® Score by ruling out the below items. Do any of them apply to you?

1. You have new accounts or not enough of them.

2. You have no recent account activity.

3. You have been mistakenly reported as deceased.

My friend looked at it and got pretty upset. She wanted me to reply immediately to clear things up. So I typed out a simple 3 answer reply:

1. NOPE
2. YEP
3. PENDING!

She wouldn't let me send it. Women.

If you were dead why would they send you anything?

roadburner

tjc78 said:

I can only laugh (or maybe cry) at this point. Latest update with the house saga is a good one.

We get a call Monday night that we can't settle on our existing property on Thursday as planned due the buyer's underwriter seeing a flag on their previous mortgage. They did a Covid forbearance for one month and it just now hit their credit report.

So they promised us a Friday morning close and we would move the new home's closing to the afternoon. Well all day yesterday we kept getting updates that the buyer can't get the old and new mortgage companies on a call to settle it all out. Naturally it didn't get resolved and now best case scenario is to close on Monday.

Well... this puts us in a bad spot. We didn't do a contingency (due to the crazy market) and are short the cash to close on the new home. As you may remember due to appraisal issues this is significantly more than I was going to put down. Thank goodness that with the IRA I have I can take a distro and if I re-invest in 60 days the same amount there is no penalty. We always knew that was a hail Mary, but didn't want to do it. So I filed for a distro yesterday and they are supposed to wire the money today.

I have to say this process has absolutely excruciating. When I bought this house in 2005 it was painless. I can't wait for it all to be over. Thanks for letting me rant, it just feels good to type it out.

All this house BS has me off my game of car shopping to replace the Enclave!

I sympathize; I always hated it when a closing went off the rails- 99% of the time the lender had dropped the ball.

roadburner

dino001 said:

Debt free! Paid off my house in July and the car loan last month. My reward - credit score dropped by about 20 points, main "reason" ("negative information") - I don't have any active installment loan. Credit score people are idiots. Let me get it straight - I just increased my credit capacity (ability to acquire new debt) and with 20+ years of perfect payment history, that's a negative? Good thing, the drop is from around 850 to around 830, so in practical terms it really is inconsequential (if I wanted another loan I would still get best terms), but how stupid is a system that regards a recent debt payoff as negative factor. Ridiculous.

My score was 835 when I paid off the X1(6 months early); it has since dropped to as low as 783 and is now hovering around 790. It’s moronic.

tjc78

Mine is usually right around 785-795. Our lender said it”s a super easy loan with those numbers (wife’s is slightly lower). Do you really need much higher? Probably not.

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

omarman said:

20 point drop after paying off a car loan and your mortgage? Don't worry. Wait until your positive credit history ages off completely and tell me what it looks like then.

Got this email from Experian 2 years ago:

We wanted to let you know that we couldn’t automatically update your FICO® Score from Experian this month based on the data we pulled on XX/XX/2018. If you’re planning on applying for credit soon, we have seen members in similar situations generate a FICO® Score by ruling out the below items. Do any of them apply to you?

1. You have new accounts or not enough of them.

2. You have no recent account activity.

3. You have been mistakenly reported as deceased.

My friend looked at it and got pretty upset. She wanted me to reply immediately to clear things up. So I typed out a simple 3 answer reply:

1. NOPE
2. YEP
3. PENDING!

She wouldn't let me send it. Women.

If you were dead why would they send you anything?

A short time after my grandfather died he received a letter from the Social Security Administration stating that they were notified that he had died and wanted to confirm if he had indeed died.

qbrozen

Ugh. Typical car company marketing BS.
I received a survey request from Hyundai. I can't make this stuff up.




My responses thus far include:

Ute (El Camino and Ranchero)
Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter (Subaru's BRAT)
Multiple-Choice Vehicle (Subaru's Baja)
VehiCross pick-em-up

dino001

tjc78 said:

Mine is usually right around 785-795. Our lender said it”s a super easy loan with those numbers (wife’s is slightly lower). Do you really need much higher? Probably not.

I think 780 is where the cutoff is, for some loans it may be 750 or even 720 (that's in 850 scale). Anything above is just bragging right. Nevertheless, it's still stupid that just because you're have not serviced an installment loan in just a month or two, it makes you automatically slightly higher risk than another guy who otherwise has the same history

qbrozen

Added:
NNOT (nothing new on tap)
and, finally, wrote: Seriously, people, this is NOT a new category!!

omarman

"Thousands of people are mistakenly declared dead by the Social Security Administration every year, according to government estimates...Many more get falsely reported as deceased by their bank, credit card issuer or by one of the big three credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax or TransUnion."
My wife and I had joint accounts when she passed away. For a while back then it felt pretty good to be above ground and under the radar at the same time. I think it lasted about a month or so.

ab348

omarman said:

20 point drop after paying off a car loan and your mortgage? Don't worry. Wait until your positive credit history ages off completely and tell me what it looks like then.

Got this email from Experian 2 years ago:

We wanted to let you know that we couldn’t automatically update your FICO® Score from Experian this month based on the data we pulled on XX/XX/2018.

The first two letters of FICO stand for Fair-Issac, the name of the company that developed the system, and the names of the two founders. They began selling their tech in the late 1950s and went public in 1986. I used to be online friends with the sons of one of the founders, who still worked there when I first knew him. Apparently the management in the late '90s/early '00s was pretty bad and were chasing the bottom line more than being concerned with the accuracy of what their systems were telling clients. He got forced out for his objections. My sense was that he was pretty comfortable financially so it wasn't a huge loss for him in that respect, but the loss of the family connection to the business hurt for him.

andres3

Pretty clever cop here, anyone see this story:

If you ever have to testify in court, you might wish you could be as sharp as this policeman.

He was being cross-examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer, of course, was trying to undermine the police officer's credibility ...

Q: 'Officer --- did you see my client fleeing the scene?'
A: 'No sir. But I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender, running several blocks away.'

Q: 'Officer, who provided this description?'
A: 'The officer who responded to the scene.'

Q: 'A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers?'
A: 'Yes, sir. With my life.'

Q: 'With your life? Let me ask you this then officer. Do you have a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?'
A: 'Yes sir, we do!'

Q: 'And do you have a locker in the room?'
A: 'Yes, sir, I do.'

Q: 'And do you have a lock on your locker?'
A: 'Yes, sir.'

Q: 'Now, why is it, officer, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with these same officers?'
A: 'You see, sir, we share the building with the court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room.’

driver100

qbrozen said:

Ugh. Typical car company marketing BS.
I received a survey request from Hyundai. I can't make this stuff up.
My responses thus far include:
Ute (El Camino and Ranchero)
Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter (Subaru's BRAT)
Multiple-Choice Vehicle (Subaru's Baja)
VehiCross pick-em-up

Category....a SCUT, Sports Car Utility Truck

driver100

kyfdx said:

bwia said:

graphicguy said:

bwia said:

Our 60" Seiki 1080p LED HDTV died last night (no picture but has sound with no distortion.) We bought it at Sears in 2014 for a little less than $1,000 after discounts, if I remember correctly. I don't know if this manufacturer is still around but the picture quality in 1080p was incredible.

So, I'm in the market for a 65-inch 4k OLED replacement. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Go to Costco. Pick out the biggest LG OLED TV your budget will allow. Take it home. You’ll be happy for a long, long time!

Seiki TV? As in Mircro Seiki? They used to make some nice turntables, but didn’t know they were in the TV business. Assuming it was a rebranded LED of some sort. Doubt it is worth saving, but from Shiggles and Gits, might want to call around your area to see if there’s someone who will work on it. It’s rare that the LED panels themselves go bad. Maybe a tuner PCB that fizzled?

Thanks @graphicguy, @kdfx and @roadburner. My research suggests that only LG and (?) can't remember the other, make OLED TVs. I also learned that OLEDs don't work as well in a brightly lit room and it is best to wait for Black Friday before splurging on a high end TV.

GG, I will look into Costco. My membership card has expired since I was away from the country for a long while and did not return until a few weeks ago. With that said, I hope Costco will give me a Covid discounted price on membership renewal. I can dream, can't I?

I don't think the LG OLED price is going to drop... At Costco in the Spring the 55" version was $1500, and when I was in there to get tires a couple weeks ago, it had gone up to $1550.

Anything is possible, I guess.

We bought a computer on Amazon before their big yearly sale this month, I think it is called Amazon Days. We bought it early because we needed it. I am glad we did because as soon as the sale started, the one we bought was sold out, most of the computers that were available had no price meaning they were supposedly out of stock but I think they were removed, and there was very little to choose from.

I have a suspicion the same will happen on Black Friday. Pay the extra amount and get exactly what you want when you want it.

fintail

Would a ~$300 collection account really cost 150 points? Gotta love those algorithms.

Regarding TVs, I recently moved into a larger place, and bought a new (larger) TV for the new living room. As 95% of what I watch is Youtube or similar streaming content, I didn't need anything fancy. I chose the cheapest 65" Samsung at Costco - $529. So far, it is fantastic for the money - not a high spec model, but I don't have high demands. The last TV I bought was in 2010, a then-new LED, also a Samsung, 40", I think it was $1200.

mjfloyd1

omarman said:

"Thousands of people are mistakenly declared dead by the Social Security Administration every year, according to government estimates...Many more get falsely reported as deceased by their bank, credit card issuer or by one of the big three credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax or TransUnion."
My wife and I had joint accounts when she passed away. For a while back then it felt pretty good to be above ground and under the radar at the same time. I think it lasted about a month or so.

Sorry for your loss

mjfloyd1

dino001 said:

andres3 said:

dino001 said:

Well, your Kia fob issue has nothing to do with AIG bailout, or at least I don't see the connection. 150 points is quite a severe dropoff, unjust for sure. I guess it's a steep price of "standing on the principal", refusing to pay and letting things go into collection. When law and corporate power ruled against you, insisting on that stance is becomes really costly. Yeah, it sucks, but you let that happen by letting your emotions and sense of justice run the decisions. Sometimes it's just better to pay and make it go away. Businesses settle nuisance lawsuits all the time, even when they really didn't do anything wrong. Seems like you didn't do your math right on costs and benefits. Perhaps it may be better to just pay it, let it go and lick you wounds. Just a thought... (not siding with them, just thinking in practical terms).

It's too late now. I wouldn't trust them if they told me a payoff now would "erase" the record. Let's say I pay and remnants of the damage remain? Then I'm out $350 and still in the same boat. Easier to not pay at this point.

I like to take into account the long-term benefits of decisions. Sometimes it's not as easy as looking at the short term pros and cons, but to look at the larger scale benefits to the future of humanity.

That's why I fight traffic tickets even if the math doesn't make sense, and why I didn't pay Kia Finance. I don't want to encourage, but discourage the current practice. Playing ball encourages the status quo.

We sometimes pay ransom and that's the way it is, unfortunately. If you want to die to change the world, big thanks to you.

As a practical matter, as long as you not paying doe not update itself on the record on a regular basis (extend this collection status into perpetuity), you're right, there is no benefit of paying it now. The problem is, as long as it is in an active collection stage, your score will never recover, if anything it will keep dropping.

You have to:

1) Pick your battles

2) Cut your losses

qbrozen

driver100 said:

qbrozen said:

Ugh. Typical car company marketing BS.
I received a survey request from Hyundai. I can't make this stuff up.
My responses thus far include:
Ute (El Camino and Ranchero)
Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter (Subaru's BRAT)
Multiple-Choice Vehicle (Subaru's Baja)
VehiCross pick-em-up

Category....a SCUT, Sports Car Utility Truck

hey, hey, they said don't use the word Truck. You failed. lol.

qbrozen

Honestly didn't think much of her before, but found this one and like her WAAY better in this one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTTvp2HaNvM

driver100

qbrozen said:

driver100 said:

qbrozen said:

Ugh. Typical car company marketing BS.
I received a survey request from Hyundai. I can't make this stuff up.
My responses thus far include:
Ute (El Camino and Ranchero)
Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter (Subaru's BRAT)
Multiple-Choice Vehicle (Subaru's Baja)
VehiCross pick-em-up

Category....a SCUT, Sports Car Utility Truck

hey, hey, they said don't use the word Truck. You failed. lol.

I thought calling it a SCUT avoided that...I want a recount!

stickguy

SCUV?

mjfloyd1

I forgot what else you must do:

3). Do not be so self absorbed that you think that any corporate entity thinks about or cares about your position of moral superiority ; especially if you are ignoring points 1) and 2).

4) please do not claim moral superiority while trying to weasel out of a speeding ticket where you were actually speeding and hoping that the police officer will not show up in the court room. This negates all claims of moral superiority. 😂

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

dino001 said:

Debt free! Paid off my house in July and the car loan last month. My reward - credit score dropped by about 20 points, main "reason" ("negative information") - I don't have any active installment loan. Credit score people are idiots. Let me get it straight - I just increased my credit capacity (ability to acquire new debt) and with 20+ years of perfect payment history, that's a negative? Good thing, the drop is from around 850 to around 830, so in practical terms it really is inconsequential (if I wanted another loan I would still get best terms), but how stupid is a system that regards a recent debt payoff as negative factor. Ridiculous.

My score was 835 when I paid off the X1(6 months early); it has since dropped to as low as 783 and is now hovering around 790. It’s moronic.

Mine was over 800 but I paid off my only auto loan early about a year ago so I’m probably considered a deadbeat by the lenders.

You have to wonder how they figure scores. My wife’s Discover card givers her a credit score with her statement and despite not being employed since 1981, having never had a car loan, not having any household bills in her name and not having any of our cars in her name she still has a higher credit score than me.

imidazol97

tjc78 said:

Thanks everyone. Fingers crossed this is the last hurdle!

@imidazol97
The Buick lease ends on 12/7, so have some time. I actually submitted a few online quotes for some SUV's I was interested in, but I let it take a back seat for now.

Wife really want's an XC90. If that is the case I may just turn in the Enclave and wait until the new year. I really like the Caddy XT6, so if we are going that route it will have to be done sooner since if I'm leasing another GM I can avoid the dispo fee.

I've never leased. Now that I'm reminded you're on a lease, I understand why you have that due date in the back of your mind and are weighing your options.

snakeweasel

mjfloyd1 said:

dino001 said:

andres3 said:

dino001 said:

Well, your Kia fob issue has nothing to do with AIG bailout, or at least I don't see the connection. 150 points is quite a severe dropoff, unjust for sure. I guess it's a steep price of "standing on the principal", refusing to pay and letting things go into collection. When law and corporate power ruled against you, insisting on that stance is becomes really costly. Yeah, it sucks, but you let that happen by letting your emotions and sense of justice run the decisions. Sometimes it's just better to pay and make it go away. Businesses settle nuisance lawsuits all the time, even when they really didn't do anything wrong. Seems like you didn't do your math right on costs and benefits. Perhaps it may be better to just pay it, let it go and lick you wounds. Just a thought... (not siding with them, just thinking in practical terms).

It's too late now. I wouldn't trust them if they told me a payoff now would "erase" the record. Let's say I pay and remnants of the damage remain? Then I'm out $350 and still in the same boat. Easier to not pay at this point.

I like to take into account the long-term benefits of decisions. Sometimes it's not as easy as looking at the short term pros and cons, but to look at the larger scale benefits to the future of humanity.

That's why I fight traffic tickets even if the math doesn't make sense, and why I didn't pay Kia Finance. I don't want to encourage, but discourage the current practice. Playing ball encourages the status quo.

We sometimes pay ransom and that's the way it is, unfortunately. If you want to die to change the world, big thanks to you.

As a practical matter, as long as you not paying doe not update itself on the record on a regular basis (extend this collection status into perpetuity), you're right, there is no benefit of paying it now. The problem is, as long as it is in an active collection stage, your score will never recover, if anything it will keep dropping.

You have to:

1) Pick your battles

2) Cut your losses

Sometimes you can pick your battles, sometimes the battle picks you.

omarman

ab348 said:

omarman said:

20 point drop after paying off a car loan and your mortgage? Don't worry. Wait until your positive credit history ages off completely and tell me what it looks like then.

Got this email from Experian 2 years ago:

We wanted to let you know that we couldn’t automatically update your FICO® Score from Experian this month based on the data we pulled on XX/XX/2018.

The first two letters of FICO stand for Fair-Issac, the name of the company that developed the system, and the names of the two founders. They began selling their tech in the late 1950s and went public in 1986. I used to be online friends with the sons of one of the founders, who still worked there when I first knew him. Apparently the management in the late '90s/early '00s was pretty bad and were chasing the bottom line more than being concerned with the accuracy of what their systems were telling clients. He got forced out for his objections. My sense was that he was pretty comfortable financially so it wasn't a huge loss for him in that respect, but the loss of the family connection to the business hurt for him.

Interesting story. After reading that post I looked at the FICO acquisitions listed on wiki in the time frame you mentioned. Wow. Had no idea.

This from a 2005 article detailing only a couple of those acqusitions:
"Fair Isaac Corp., probably best known for its FICO credit rating scoring system, lately has been targeting the collections industry. Now, the company says, the pieces are in place to provide an array of analytics, software and services to companies that handle credit accounts from inception through collections.
'We own soup to nuts now,' says Dale Williams, a Fair Isaac vice president who is in charge of the company's collections and recovery unit."

Williams is listed now as CEO of Telrock debt management and collections software.

omarman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4YkCWsFKuQ
I still like watching the car wizard's channel better. What you see is what you get.

mjfloyd1

snakeweasel said:

mjfloyd1 said:

dino001 said:

andres3 said:

dino001 said:

Well, your Kia fob issue has nothing to do with AIG bailout, or at least I don't see the connection. 150 points is quite a severe dropoff, unjust for sure. I guess it's a steep price of "standing on the principal", refusing to pay and letting things go into collection. When law and corporate power ruled against you, insisting on that stance is becomes really costly. Yeah, it sucks, but you let that happen by letting your emotions and sense of justice run the decisions. Sometimes it's just better to pay and make it go away. Businesses settle nuisance lawsuits all the time, even when they really didn't do anything wrong. Seems like you didn't do your math right on costs and benefits. Perhaps it may be better to just pay it, let it go and lick you wounds. Just a thought... (not siding with them, just thinking in practical terms).

It's too late now. I wouldn't trust them if they told me a payoff now would "erase" the record. Let's say I pay and remnants of the damage remain? Then I'm out $350 and still in the same boat. Easier to not pay at this point.

I like to take into account the long-term benefits of decisions. Sometimes it's not as easy as looking at the short term pros and cons, but to look at the larger scale benefits to the future of humanity.

That's why I fight traffic tickets even if the math doesn't make sense, and why I didn't pay Kia Finance. I don't want to encourage, but discourage the current practice. Playing ball encourages the status quo.

We sometimes pay ransom and that's the way it is, unfortunately. If you want to die to change the world, big thanks to you.

As a practical matter, as long as you not paying doe not update itself on the record on a regular basis (extend this collection status into perpetuity), you're right, there is no benefit of paying it now. The problem is, as long as it is in an active collection stage, your score will never recover, if anything it will keep dropping.

You have to:

1) Pick your battles

2) Cut your losses

Sometimes you can pick your battles, sometimes the battle picks you.

Ah, yes. This raises point 5.

5). If the battle picks you then throughly evaluate your position. If you have no real verifiable evidence to support your claim then refer to points 2,3 and 4 and choose to not engage. Cut your losses and move on and do not repetitively complain about the above situation.that you are in because of your lack of evidence.

driver100

It's hard to win an argument with a smart person, but it'd damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person.

Bill Murray

mjfloyd1

Never wrestle with a pig. After a few minutes you will realize that the pig likes it and you only end up muddy

driver100

An Indie Gas Station in town had their tanks loaded the wrong way, people who filled up with Diesel got PUG and those filling up with PUG got diesel. The oil company supplying the fuel made the mistake....it will be very costly to repair the cars....they estimate around 50 cars will be affected.
https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/ontario-gas-station-mixes-up-diesel-and-premium-ruining-some-drivers-cars

Both fuels must be ignited to perform, but diesel uses air compression and gasoline requires a spark plug. If you put diesel in your gas engine, it will chug along until any gas is burned and then stop: your car won’t fire the diesel.

The gas-in-diesel is more deadly to your engine. While various scenarios dictate the extent of damage (Did you start your car? How much [correct] fuel was already in the tank? How far did you drive and infiltrate your engine with the wrong fuel?) when a consumer has unwittingly been provided the wrong fuel, it makes for a worst case.

Can you imagine what you would have to go through if you were caught in this mess? Repairs, rental car, dealing with the oil company....not knowing if your car will ever be right. Makes you wonder too, is it worth it buying gas at an indie to save a few cents per gallon, and what happens to these cars when they get traded in - who is the next owner?