Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

carnaught said:

I guess we should enjoy the low gas prices while they last.

We have low gas prices....but, nowhere to go!

You could drive to Vancouver and then turn around when the locals start chasing your “foreign” car down the street.😢

I don't want to go anywhere these days. I'd love to be in Florida....once the hurricane goes by. But so many things are closed or limited and doing too much and interacting with too many increases your chances of getting the dreaded covid. I can play tennis and pickleball but it is done with certain rules....we will go to restaurants with outdoor patios - there are some that have heaters or a tent type of affect with air flow. But do I want to spend a lot to go on a holiday and have to be aware of what I am doing all day long? Not really, we are getting used to being around home a lot.

driver100

graphicguy said:

I think over the course of the few months I was doing transports, there were some cars that I liked, and others that I wouldn’t waste money on. I drove the ILX, RDX, TLX (both old version and new version), MDX, Corolla, Camry, Avalon, Civic, CRV, Accord, Altima, Maxima, Impala, Malibu, Traverse, Cruze, Bolt, Silverado, F150, Explorer..

My faves? The ones I’d consider spending my own money on?

-Avalon....like the Camry, just a little more of everything. Can’t understand why someone would pay more for a Lexus over the Avalon
Everything else? Wouldn’t waste my time, nor my money.

Enjoyed reading your mini impressions on the cars you have driven. I would like to know why you didn't like the ones you didn't comment on...if you get the chance and can remember.
I can answer the Lexus vs Avalon question though.....a lot of people want the one with a prestigious name, not the old man's car.

jmonroe1

abacomike said:

imidazol97 said:

abacomike said:

. Refineries are now producing winter blended gasoline which reduces the cost of production.

Winter gas? In Florida?

Gasoline is shipped in to Ft. Lauderdale on tankers from the Gulf of Mexico refineries. Yes, we get the same “winter” gasoline as the rest of the country.😜🤓

Yeah but the snow flakes in your gas has melted by the time you get it whereas we have to live with the little known phenomena of ice cube clogging.☹️

jmonroe

driver100

Good article about the Mercedes CLA AMG which this reviewer really liked. Best feature 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, probably the worst feature $60k Cdn, but can go up quickly and probably close to $50K U.S.
https://www.wheels.ca/car-reviews/review-2020-mercedes-amg-cla45/

stickguy

Looks like finally got the bank and title people straightened out (wires apparently crossed, and both waiting on the other for something already done). Talked to broker lady who was all apologetic, and said she would have them schedule closing ASAP.

I was curious where we would do the closing. Turns out, they will come to the house, and sign everything out on the driveway. Seems odd, but these are strange times.

explorerx4

'Closing' in stickguy's driveway.

jmonroe1

stickguy said:

Looks like finally got the bank and title people straightened out (wires apparently crossed, and both waiting on the other for something already done). Talked to broker lady who was all apologetic, and said she would have them schedule closing ASAP.

I was curious where we would do the closing. Turns out, they will come to the house, and sign everything out on the driveway. Seems odd, but these are strange times.

Congratulation it’s about time. There always seems to be an excuse no matter what times we’re in.

Just curious, did your refinance outfit want to loan you more than your loan amount? The reason I ask is because when we refinanced in 2003, the first question every outfit asked me, a couple even before they got my name, was, “how much money do you want to walk away from the table with”. A couple seemed to lose interest when I only wanted to finance the remaining balance.

jmonroe

stickguy

It was a question at the beginning, but I am doing it no fee. There was some issue because I estimated our current balance and it was slightly higher, and IIRC anything above $3,000 back was a problem. Not sure why.

Short answer, I’m trying to pay it off quicker, and not taking any equity back out.

ab348

driver100 said:

Good article about the Mercedes CLA AMG which this reviewer really liked. Best feature 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, probably the worst feature $60k Cdn, but can go up quickly and probably close to $50K U.S.
https://www.wheels.ca/car-reviews/review-2020-mercedes-amg-cla45/

The worst feature has to be that dash design.

stickguy

Looks like they hired the guts that styled the recent Nissan Anime version cars to do that dash.

fintail

60K loonies is already around 45K greenbacks just with the raw exchange rate. MB Canada seems to have prices slightly lower than MBUSA, so I'd expect upper 50s for a nicely equipped one.

Local dealer has a GLA AMG on the showroom floor, 57K IIRC.

driver100 said:

Good article about the Mercedes CLA AMG which this reviewer really liked. Best feature 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, probably the worst feature $60k Cdn, but can go up quickly and probably close to $50K U.S.

fintail

I like the dash in my wagon, the screens are fantastic, and the design is nice - integrated, no sticking up tablets (pic is my actual car):

carnaught

I like the digital dash and circular a/c vents as in the two cars shown.

stickguy

I still don’t like that odd tablet flat panel dash, but I love the colors!

fintail

The circular vents are not my first design choice, but it could be called a heritage thing going back to the W123, and even Pontons from the 50s have little round vents, I think.

The screens still seem very "modern" - it's a new car, still feels current even though the design goes back to MY 2017.

I had the car in early today to switch over to winter tires - a couple people in the service department commented on it, being such an unusual spec.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

abacomike said:

imidazol97 said:

abacomike said:

. Refineries are now producing winter blended gasoline which reduces the cost of production.

Winter gas? In Florida?

Gasoline is shipped in to Ft. Lauderdale on tankers from the Gulf of Mexico refineries. Yes, we get the same “winter” gasoline as the rest of the country.😜🤓

Yeah but the snow flakes in your gas has melted by the time you get it whereas we have to live with the little known phenomena of ice cube clogging.☹️

jmonroe

Reminds me of the old days when your car would vapor lock in the summer and your gas line would freeze in the winter.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

Looks like finally got the bank and title people straightened out (wires apparently crossed, and both waiting on the other for something already done). Talked to broker lady who was all apologetic, and said she would have them schedule closing ASAP.

I was curious where we would do the closing. Turns out, they will come to the house, and sign everything out on the driveway. Seems odd, but these are strange times.

That will be fun if it rains.

Couldn’t they at least come into the garage?

imidazol97

I saved a life today.

I didn't move as fast off the ramp at the stoplight in my left turn as usual. I glanced at the cars sitting to my left at the stoplight that had just changed and noticed a motorcycle coming at full speed (45 mph limit) in their 3rd, left lane. I slowed and stopped. Normally I turn fairly quickly to get to the next light at the end of the overpass bridge and hope to make it before it changes.

Otherwise he would have hit me. I saw A look of panic on his face and his mouth was moving. Then His rear wheel was locked up and smoking... He let up on skid just in time to go around the front of my car and then to swerve back to miss the car turning in the 2nd of 2 turn lanes and not hit the SUV or the one behind it.

I hope he had spare underwear with him... He was wearing a helmet though. I had pictured him hitting my fender and flying over my hood to the pavement as he skidded toward me.

I was watching him as he realized he was moving toward 3 cars turning off the interstate onto his road and the cars in two lanes next to him had stopped for the light.

Maybe instead of putting little yellow signs on their cars and their yards that tell drivers to watch out for motorcycles, the cyclists should put up signs to watch for red lights and to ride carefully.

oldfarmer50

😀

omarman

Sometimes it is hard to see motorcycles coming through an intersection.

jmonroe1

imidazol97 said:

I saved a life today.

I didn't move as fast off the ramp at the stoplight in my left turn as usual. I glanced at the cars sitting to my left at the stoplight that had just changed and noticed a motorcycle coming at full speed (45 mph limit) in their 3rd, left lane. I slowed and stopped. Normally I turn fairly quickly to get to the next light at the end of the overpass bridge and hope to make it before it changes.

Otherwise he would have hit me. I saw A look of panic on his face and his mouth was moving. Then His rear wheel was locked up and smoking... He let up on skid just in time to go around the front of my car and then to swerve back to miss the car turning in the 2nd of 2 turn lanes and not hit the SUV or the one behind it.

I hope he had spare underwear with him... He was wearing a helmet though. I had pictured him hitting my fender and flying over my hood to the pavement as he skidded toward me.

I was watching him as he realized he was moving toward 3 cars turning off the interstate onto his road and the cars in two lanes next to him had stopped for the light.

Maybe instead of putting little yellow signs on their cars and their yards that tell drivers to watch out for motorcycles, the cyclists should put up signs to watch for red lights and to ride carefully.

Yep, they have the most to lose yet they drive (ride) like they’re invincible. When Mrs. j see’s someone doing something stupid she says, “you better watch that guy”. She gets upset when I say, “yesterday was my day to watch out for stupid drivers. Today they have to watch out for me”.

jmonroe

tjc78

House update ... my old home is sold! Money was just wired into our account. What a wild ride!

isellhondas

venture said:

isellhondas said:

fintail said:

I bought 6 cars from dealers when I lived in Bellevue. I didn't need to do any performance stuff either. I had my own test drive route - I wanted to cruise on 405 at ~65 for a few miles, and drive on one of a few rough roads in Kirkland and Bellevue. That all I needed to know. I didn't like the pre-planned routes, but the salesmen I was driving with got over it.

I bought my W126 from a dealer, when I lived in Bellingham (the car was barely over 10 years old then, hard to imagine). I remember the salesman complimented me on being a "mellow" driver, which amused me, as I am often like Darren McGavin cursing out his furnace in 'A Christmas Story'. But that sweet old beast was the kind of car to encourage calm driving.

I recall a horror story from someone in my old office. She was a "new driver", no car, no insurance, test drove some generic CUV I think at a Kirkland GMC dealer, and smacked it into a tree. I remember there was some legal drama over that one, and apparently they didn't even check to see if she had a license.

isellhondas said:

I probably would not have enjoyed a test drive with you and you probably wouldnt have liked me telling you to slow down. If I got a kid that I knew was apt to pull something I would tell him I had two rules. 1. Don't break the speed limit or any laws and 2. Don't scare me. I never used to scare easily at all but my 13 years in the car business has made me a nervous rider. I had people do some of the dumbest things. Some would twitch the steering wheel back and forth. Some wouls take their hands off the steering wheel and after a half block the car might drift slightly to the right on a banked road. IT PULLS TO THE RIGHT! I put up with almost anything but if they did something REALLY stupid or life threatening I wouldn't put up with it. I once spotted a group of guys that I knew would be a whole lot of no fun to deal with. I went the other way and a rookie sales guy got stuck with them. They took a new Civic down the freeway 90 MPH and started jerking the steering wheel! It went off the road and flipped on it's side. Nobody badly hurt. A new car went to the junkyard.

The same people who own the Honda store where I worked used to own the Acura Store in Southcenter. One night a young kid managed to do something stupid at high speed and kill himself in a new Integra. The salesguy survived but was badly injured. During me tenure at Honda I can remember three or four wrecks. A couple prettty bad. I kept a pretty tight leash depending on who it was.

I think I remember you mentioning that once. That's horrible.

Any time I wanted to do something out of the ordinary on a test drive I always ask the salesperson first; if one was with me. Usually they agreed since it wasn't anything dangerous...maybe sudden acceleration or quicker than normal through a curve (depending on the car).

I would appreciate it when a test driver would ask and I never had to say no.

Michaell

tjc78 said:

House update ... my old home is sold! Money was just wired into our account. What a wild ride!

Congrats!

Now you can focus on the new house - unpacking, new furniture, window coverings, custom closets, storage solutions, landscaping.

Oh, wait. That's my house.

We ordered a new couch back in September. Normal lead time is 12-14 weeks, but because the material we ordered wasn't in stock, the clock is supposed to start ticking in mid-November, for an expected February delivery.

isellhondas

fintail said:

Here in WA booze and beer has been available at the supermarket for several years now (it used to be a state-controlled liquor system, but I think it was inefficient). The world hasn't ended, although it produce a big price break. We've also voted by mail for eons, and everything has worked fine.

Well, a lot of the people who woted to eliminate the State Liquor Stores thought we would be seeing hard booze being sold for California prices. I knew better and I told them so at the time. Prices DID go down a little bit but not that much. This state isnt about to give up a tax dollar. Beer and wine were always sold everywhere. Also, we haven't voted be mail for "eons". I want to guess it's been maybe ten years. " everything has worked fine" Well....maybe!

driver100

tjc78 said:

House update ... my old home is sold! Money was just wired into our account. What a wild ride!

Congratulations tjc...a lot to get through but you did it and it will pay off in the end. Now you will appreciate the new house even more.

driver100

Our son lives in a remote area on the West coast on Vancouver Island. To get to their house we have to fly to the Island, drive for 2 hours on the highway, drive for 2 hours on a private logging road with huge trucks coming toward us...we have to pull over and let them by and wait until the dust settles before we can continue. In some places the drop of the side of the pot hole filled gravel road can be about 300 feet down - with no barriers.
When you get into town population 300, we park on one side of the river, phone them, and they take us across the river in a small outboard motor boat.
He bought a 2021 Tundra truck....this is it new when he picked it up;

This is the new truck when he got it home;

stickguy

tjc78 said:

House update ... my old home is sold! Money was just wired into our account. What a wild ride!

congrats. must be quite the relief. Now go have a TGIF happy hour refreshment!

explorerx4

@driver100,
If you have take a boat across a river to see your son, where does he keep the truck?
Seems like he sent you the long way around so you wouldn't visit too often.

driver100

Ha ha....the truck stays on the land side of the river. No vehicles allowed on his side of the river...except for work type vehicles they take across on a barge.
Actually, the last time we went the car rental guy said we weren't covered in case of an accident, and AAA wouldn't help us since it is a private road....so we meet them, son, his wife, 4 grandkids in town. It is civilized for me, and it is a nice break for them.

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

Ha ha....the truck stays on the land side of the river. No vehicles allowed on his side of the river...except for work type vehicles they take across on a barge.
Actually, the last time we went the car rental guy said we weren't covered in case of an accident, and AAA wouldn't help us since it is a private road....so we meet them, son, his wife, 4 grandkids in town. It is civilized for me, and it is a nice break for them.

The land side of the river? What's on the other side of the river? The abyss? Every river I have seen has land on both sides.

jmonroe1

omarman said:

Sometimes it is hard to see motorcycles coming through an intersection.

That’s gotta hurt. Almost as much as being hit by a CUV.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Ha ha....the truck stays on the land side of the river. No vehicles allowed on his side of the river...except for work type vehicles they take across on a barge.
Actually, the last time we went the car rental guy said we weren't covered in case of an accident, and AAA wouldn't help us since it is a private road....so we meet them, son, his wife, 4 grandkids in town. It is civilized for me, and it is a nice break for them.

The land side of the river? What's on the other side of the river? The abyss? Every river I have seen has land on both sides.

Haven’t you heard, they build rivers differently in Canada.😉

jmonroe

laurasdada

Filled up at Costco today, south of Boston: $1.78 RUG; $2.20 PUG (my poison). Just over half a tank, not driving so much.

tjc78

stickguy said:

tjc78 said:

House update ... my old home is sold! Money was just wired into our account. What a wild ride!

congrats. must be quite the relief. Now go have a TGIF happy hour refreshment!

Thanks Everyone!

Yes a few drinks tonight for sure!

stickguy

we hit Pour House for the first time since March. Darn, I missed that place. it was wonderful A couple nice local NJ crafts too.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

we hit Pour House for the first time since March. Darn, I missed that place. it was wonderful A couple nice local NJ crafts too.

Yesterday we ate at the Brownstone restaurant on Union St. in Middletown PA. It looks to be surrounded by boutique breweries. Wish I hadn’t been driving, it might have been fun to do a pub crawl.

driver100

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Ha ha....the truck stays on the land side of the river. No vehicles allowed on his side of the river...except for work type vehicles they take across on a barge.
Actually, the last time we went the car rental guy said we weren't covered in case of an accident, and AAA wouldn't help us since it is a private road....so we meet them, son, his wife, 4 grandkids in town. It is civilized for me, and it is a nice break for them.

The land side of the river? What's on the other side of the river? The abyss? Every river I have seen has land on both sides.

lol. I'll try to explain. You drive to Bamfield on the logging road....but once you get to the river, you can't drive any further. They live on the other side of the river, so the road is on the land side of the river. To get to their place you have to cross on a boat....so they are on a peninsula I guess, it might as well be an Island. You can't drive anywhere from their side of the river.
The roads and parking are on the right side.....the left is like an island really. They didn't tell me about the bears, snakes, mountain lions etc until about the 4th year we went there. Not the life for me, no stores, no urban streets, no pizza, no fast food. I saw about 10 skids of supplies that were shipped in for the convenience store...3 skids of food and supplies, 7 skids of beer.

stickguy

definitely not the place I want to live.

cdnpinhead

oldfarmer50 said:

Reminds me of the old days when your car would vapor lock in the summer and your gas line would freeze in the winter.

Damn, you really are as old as me. I wonder how many of the others on here have a clue what vapor lock is, or a mechanical fuel pump, for that matter.

cdnpinhead

imidazol97 said:

I saved a life today. Maybe instead of putting little yellow signs on their cars and their yards that tell drivers to watch out for motorcycles, the cyclists should put up signs to watch for red lights and to ride carefully.

It's called natural selection. I didn't own a car until I was 21. Prior to that I rode motorcycles for five years, first in the mountains of AZ, then in Tempe. I learned quickly that if I wasn't paying attention for sure no one else was.

Either way, thanks for saving him. . .for now. His time will come.

omarman

cdnpinhead said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Reminds me of the old days when your car would vapor lock in the summer and your gas line would freeze in the winter.

Damn, you really are as old as me. I wonder how many of the others on here have a clue what vapor lock is, or a mechanical fuel pump, for that matter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdunD-LOFTw
Still remember the Sohio weather report sound used in commercials promoting Boron with ice guard to prevent fuel line freeze up. "You go or Sohio pays the tow!"

stickguy

vapor lock, freezing in the winter, dealing with a choke. That goes way back. But I honestly can't recall ever having to deal with a fuel pump. My oldest car was a 1967 (6 cylinder Camaro) that was replace by a 74/75 Duster. So I never really dealt with the truly old stuff.

oldfarmer50

“ 3 skids of food and supplies, 7 skids of beer.”

Sounds about right.😍

jmonroe1

stickguy said:

vapor lock, freezing in the winter, dealing with a choke. That goes way back. But I honestly can't recall ever having to deal with a fuel pump. My oldest car was a 1967 (6 cylinder Camaro) that was replace by a 74/75 Duster. So I never really dealt with the truly old stuff.

Those cars you mentioned had mechanical fuel pumps. They were pretty reliable given the mechanical beasts that they were. I think I only had to change 3 of them with all the cars I had. I’m pretty sure my ‘95 Bonneville was the first car I owned that had an electrical fuel pump that was in the gas tank.

jmonroe

venture

tjc78 said:

stickguy said:

tjc78 said:

House update ... my old home is sold! Money was just wired into our account. What a wild ride!

congrats. must be quite the relief. Now go have a TGIF happy hour refreshment!

Thanks Everyone!

Yes a few drinks tonight for sure!

Isn't that how you got into all this to begin with?

venture

cdnpinhead said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Reminds me of the old days when your car would vapor lock in the summer and your gas line would freeze in the winter.

Damn, you really are as old as me. I wonder how many of the others on here have a clue what vapor lock is, or a mechanical fuel pump, for that matter.

I had a Fiat that would occasionally vapor lock. Of course it did almost anything bad that a car can do at least once.

venture

We went to meet my son and his wife at the kids' pre-school yesterday. The 3 year-old is staying over night. Anywho...when venture jr. turned off his Land Rover to get out, the whole car lowered itself about 2 inches.

Sort of weird, but useful - I guess.

mjfloyd1

jmonroe1 said:

stickguy said:

vapor lock, freezing in the winter, dealing with a choke. That goes way back. But I honestly can't recall ever having to deal with a fuel pump. My oldest car was a 1967 (6 cylinder Camaro) that was replace by a 74/75 Duster. So I never really dealt with the truly old stuff.

Those cars you mentioned had mechanical fuel pumps. They were pretty reliable given the mechanical beasts that they were. I think I only had to change 3 of them with all the cars I had. I’m pretty sure my ‘95 Bonneville was the first car I owned that had an electrical fuel pump that was in the gas tank.

jmonroe

I changed the mechanical fuel pump on my 63 corvette a couple of summers ago. What an interesting job. I clamped the fuel line with two clamps - not very well. I had gas running down my arm and into my armpit then down my side and into my underwear. Awkward.

Such a pain trying to get the actuator rod to stay in while you attach the fuel pump itself.
At least it is working...

driver100

jmonroe1 said:

stickguy said:

vapor lock, freezing in the winter, dealing with a choke. That goes way back. But I honestly can't recall ever having to deal with a fuel pump. My oldest car was a 1967 (6 cylinder Camaro) that was replace by a 74/75 Duster. So I never really dealt with the truly old stuff.

Those cars you mentioned had mechanical fuel pumps. They were pretty reliable given the mechanical beasts that they were. I think I only had to change 3 of them with all the cars I had. I’m pretty sure my ‘95 Bonneville was the first car I owned that had an electrical fuel pump that was in the gas tank.

jmonroe

You haven't lived until you have started a car in cold weather and had to step on the gas pedal once and then skillfully use the choke or the car would install, and the most exciting part was when you flooded the engine. Then had to keep your foot on the gas pedal to clear it and try starting it again. Those were the good old days when cars were cars.