Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

driver100

snakeweasel said:

@driver100 said:

One reason I never shop at Aldis

Can't afford a quarter?

I don't carry them around....haven't had need for one in over a year. But I do carry a baggy of change including quarters in the console....just in case

henryn

I used to keep a bag of quarters in the door pocket, primarily for use at the coin operated car wash. But there aren't any more coin operated car washes, or at least none that actually work, so I have stopped doing that. They have been replaced by the $5 or $6 car washes, where they try to upsell you to a $20 wash, and whatever you buy it seems to strip the wax. So I just do it myself, or pay one of the neighborhood kids.

abacomike

A quarter has become so insignificant in today’s economy that when I occasionally shop at Aldi’s, I leave the shopping cart in the parking lot because it just isn’t worth the effort to return the cart to the front of the store to claim the quarter in the slot!😜🤪🤓

jmonroe1

@abacomike said:
A quarter has become so insignificant in today’s economy that when I occasionally shop at Aldi’s, I leave the shopping cart in the parking lot because it just isn’t worth the effort to return the cart to the front of the store to claim the quarter in the slot!😜🤪🤓

So you’re the guy that’s doing that. Pretty soon the cart will cost 4 quarters if people like you continue to leave door whackers rolling around in the Aldi lots. Thanks for nothing. 😫😫

jmonroe

fintail

The "touchless" ones are especially bad at stripping wax, and leaving marks on black rubber trim, harsh chemicals.

The key is to find a maintained self-serve wash. There's one in my area where I can do the car for $2/2 tokens if I plan it out, or $3/3 tokens if I take my time. Also, if you buy 20 tokens at once ($1/apiece), you get a 7 token bonus.

henryn said:

I used to keep a bag of quarters in the door pocket, primarily for use at the coin operated car wash. But there aren't any more coin operated car washes, or at least none that actually work, so I have stopped doing that. They have been replaced by the $5 or $6 car washes, where they try to upsell you to a $20 wash, and whatever you buy it seems to strip the wax. So I just do it myself, or pay one of the neighborhood kids.

fintail

I've never made a comparison, but I suspect the loonie tracks oil prices to some degree.

I recall when it was above par I think in the late 00s, and down around 60 US cents in the late 90s.

driver100 said:

fintail said:

I think the loonie has gained about 15% over the USD in the past year or so - all might not be lost!

ab348 said:

stickguy said:

can't shop at Aldis if you don't have your cart quarter!

Up here there is a chain called No Frills like that except they require a Loonie to free up a cart, which is one worthless Canadian dollar, so only a little bit more than a US quarter.

USD was worth $1.45 CDN in May 2020.........this year $1.20! I think Because Canada is strong for resources...which are in demand right now.

henryn

fintail said:

The "touchless" ones are especially bad at stripping wax, and leaving marks on black rubber trim, harsh chemicals.

The key is to find a maintained self-serve wash. There's one in my area where I can do the car for $2/2 tokens if I plan it out, or $3/3 tokens if I take my time. Also, if you buy 20 tokens at once ($1/apiece), you get a 7 token bonus.

henryn said:

I used to keep a bag of quarters in the door pocket, primarily for use at the coin operated car wash. But there aren't any more coin operated car washes, or at least none that actually work, so I have stopped doing that. They have been replaced by the $5 or $6 car washes, where they try to upsell you to a $20 wash, and whatever you buy it seems to strip the wax. So I just do it myself, or pay one of the neighborhood kids.

When I first moved here, 10 years ago, there was a good self-serve car wash about 4 blocks from my house. I keep a good coat of wax on my cars, and all I needed was the high pressure rinse and then dry with my towels and I was good to go. But that is gone, replaced by a strip mall (like this town needs another strip mall).

One thing of note -- you never wanted to go down to that car wash after dark. It turned into the biggest open air drug market in Houston, especially on Friday and Saturday night. The Houston Chronicle reported more drug busts there than anywhere else in Houston, and more shootings at the Turning Point Club (2 blocks down). Yeah, this used to be a rough neighborhood. But if you knew the bad spots, and avoided them, it was pretty peaceful.

explorerx4

I go to the touchless car wash because you can get the underneath spray to clean things off.

abacomike

@explorerx4 said:
I go to the touchless car wash because you can get the underneath spray to clean things off.

So I assume you are one of those macho guys who doesn't believe in using toilet paper? 😜🤪🤓

abacomike

@jmonroe1 said:

@abacomike said:
A quarter has become so insignificant in today’s economy that when I occasionally shop at Aldi’s, I leave the shopping cart in the parking lot because it just isn’t worth the effort to return the cart to the front of the store to claim the quarter in the slot!😜🤪🤓

So you’re the guy that’s doing that. Pretty soon the cart will cost 4 quarters if people like you continue to leave door whackers rolling around in the Aldi lots. Thanks for nothing. 😫😫

jmonroe

For 4-quarters, I would return the shopping cart to retrieve my deposit! 🤪😜🤓

ab348

fintail said:

I think the loonie has gained about 15% over the USD in the past year or so - all might not be lost!

ab348 said:

stickguy said:

can't shop at Aldis if you don't have your cart quarter!

Up here there is a chain called No Frills like that except they require a Loonie to free up a cart, which is one worthless Canadian dollar, so only a little bit more than a US quarter.

Doesn't matter. I like to use the phrase "worthless Canadian dollars" and mentally imagine it being said in a dismissive Eastern European accent like Natasha the spy in Rocky and Bullwinkle.

roadburner

My wife wanted to look at the Australian Capri when it was introduced; we were both unimpressed. I also remembered how L-M left Merkur owners in the lurch after countless assurances that Merkur would remain in the US for the long haul.

sda

I remember reading that the Australian Capri was Mazda based, not very inspired and the structure lacked any semblance of rigidity.

jmonroe1

@abacomike said:

@jmonroe1 said:

@abacomike said:
A quarter has become so insignificant in today’s economy that when I occasionally shop at Aldi’s, I leave the shopping cart in the parking lot because it just isn’t worth the effort to return the cart to the front of the store to claim the quarter in the slot!😜🤪🤓

So you’re the guy that’s doing that. Pretty soon the cart will cost 4 quarters if people like you continue to leave door whackers rolling around in the Aldi lots. Thanks for nothing. 😫😫

jmonroe

For 4-quarters, I would return the shopping cart to retrieve my deposit! 🤪😜🤓

If you drive the price up to 4 quarters I could be arrested trying to put a cart in my trunk so I don’t have to chase after them again.

jmonroe

cdnpinhead

oldfarmer50 said:

Worse yet are lottery ticket buyers of any age.

This is most certainly true.

graphicguy

qbrozen said:

graphicguy said:

Have been trying all week to pull a @qbrozen and flip an EV. I focused on the big rebates on the Chevy Bolt. No dice. Chevy resale values, on anything but a Camaro or a ‘Vette are just pitiful. Closest I could get to a flip on a leftover 2020 Bolt would have had me $3K+ out of pocket on the flip.

Fun exercise, though.

how did you go about it?
2021 is going to cost the same but have better resale. Do you have costco? What about loyalty? Those add up to $4500 on the Bolt, so only with those will it work.

Agree on the 2021 being the way to go.....pretty much the same as a 2020. Using Costco rebate helps, but I have no GM loyalty.

Looked at Carvana. Unfortunately, without a VIN# I can't get a number from CARMAX.

Saw your JEEP deal. Looking at that right now.

Thx!

graphicguy

abacomike said:

A quarter has become so insignificant in today’s economy that when I occasionally shop at Aldi’s, I leave the shopping cart in the parking lot because it just isn’t worth the effort to return the cart to the front of the store to claim the quarter in the slot!😜🤪🤓

At Aldis, I actually take 2-3 carts back that are left in the parking lot whenever I go. I've probably got $10 in quarters rattling around in my car as a result.

henryn

graphicguy said:

abacomike said:

A quarter has become so insignificant in today’s economy that when I occasionally shop at Aldi’s, I leave the shopping cart in the parking lot because it just isn’t worth the effort to return the cart to the front of the store to claim the quarter in the slot!😜🤪🤓

At Aldis, I actually take 2-3 carts back that are left in the parking lot whenever I go. I've probably got $10 in quarters rattling around in my car as a result.

I most often give my cart to someone just arriving. Just a small friendly gesture, of which there aren't many in this world anymore.

bwia

It's 90 degrees in the shade and my AC is running full blast. Good for Eversource, bad for my wallet which might take a hit with a Freeon SEER 22 replacement AC unit.

abacomike

bwia said:

It's 90 degrees in the shade and my AC is running full blast. Good for Eversource, bad for my wallet which might take a hit with a Freeon SEER 22 replacement AC unit.

My AC is always turned on - even in the winter months down here. We only get about 20-30 comfortable or cool days a year where I can move the temperature setting to 78 degrees which automatically shuts the system down. During the day, I set my thermostat to 77 degrees and at night before I go to bed, I set it to 76 degrees. It's not the temperature that is uncomfortable - it's the humidity. We are now entering our rainy season with temperatures in the 90's. My Condo is well insulated because I have units to my left and right as well as above and below (I live on the 2nd floor) thus providing that insulation.

My average electric bill in the November-June months is about $42.00 and all the other months, it jumps to $55.00-$58.00 a month. Since I live alone, I don't use much hot water and I don't use the stove or oven very much - just the microwave. We don't have natural gas in our community. Those communities that have gas access are usually provided by propane.

abacomike

Just turned 1200 miles on the G90 - which is now 10 weeks since I bought it. Still learning all the nuances and capabilities of the infotainment systems and the safety systems. I must admit, it is a bit more complicated than my Mercedes vehicles were, but more encompassing than Mercedes - meaning more active abilities. For instance, when I put on my directional signal, an image appears in the center of the driver's instrument panel (between the tachometer and the speedometer) showing the left or right side of the vehicle in real time - projected from a camera in the right and left sideview mirrors.

The audio system continues to amaze me - 17 speakers with sub-woofers throughout the car - provide crisp surround sound music at HD levels from both satellite and HD FM stations as well as Bluetooth reproduction of music from my iPhone. The cooled driver's and passenger's seats are a relief in these hot summer months.

As for memory seating for the front seats to specific settings, there is an alternative system that has stored in its memory your height and weight (once you input the data into the infotainment system) and then adjusts your lumbar, side bolsters, head rest and seat based upon the input data. I tried it once, but prefer setting it myself because the length of your torso and legs plays an important part of your comfort setting which the automatic system does not take into account.

So, as you can tell from my comments, I am truly enjoying this car.

snakeweasel

abacomike said:

bwia said:

It's 90 degrees in the shade and my AC is running full blast. Good for Eversource, bad for my wallet which might take a hit with a Freeon SEER 22 replacement AC unit.

My AC is always turned on - even in the winter months down here. We only get about 20-30 comfortable or cool days a year where I can move the temperature setting to 78 degrees which automatically shuts the system down. During the day, I set my thermostat to 77 degrees and at night before I go to bed, I set it to 76 degrees. It's not the temperature that is uncomfortable - it's the humidity. We are now entering our rainy season with temperatures in the 90's. My Condo is well insulated because I have units to my left and right as well as above and below (I live on the 2nd floor) thus providing that insulation.

My average electric bill in the November-June months is about $42.00 and all the other months, it jumps to $55.00-$58.00 a month. Since I live alone, I don't use much hot water and I don't use the stove or oven very much - just the microwave. We don't have natural gas in our community. Those communities that have gas access are usually provided by propane.

We do the same thing, keep the A/C at around 78 to keep the home a little cooler than outside but more importantly to rid the house of the humidity. I find that more comfortable than houses that are set below 70.

And now for our Canadian friends:
We do the same thing, keep the A/C at around 26 to keep the home a little cooler than outside but more importantly to rid the house of the humidity. I find that more comfortable than houses that are set below 21.

bwia

abacomike said:

Just turned 1200 miles on the G90 - which is now 10 weeks since I bought it. Still learning all the nuances and capabilities of the infotainment systems and the safety systems. I must admit, it is a bit more complicated than my Mercedes vehicles were, but more encompassing than Mercedes - meaning more active abilities. For instance, when I put on my directional signal, an image appears in the center of the driver's instrument panel (between the tachometer and the speedometer) showing the left or right side of the vehicle in real time - projected from a camera in the right and left sideview mirrors.

The audio system continues to amaze me - 17 speakers with sub-woofers throughout the car - provide crisp surround sound music at HD levels from both satellite and HD FM stations as well as Bluetooth reproduction of music from my iPhone. The cooled driver's and passenger's seats are a relief in these hot summer months.

As for memory seating for the front seats to specific settings, there is an alternative system that has stored in its memory your height and weight (once you input the data into the infotainment system) and then adjusts your lumbar, side bolsters, head rest and seat based upon the input data. I tried it once, but prefer setting it myself because the length of your torso and legs plays an important part of your comfort setting which the automatic system does not take into account.

So, as you can tell from my comments, I am truly enjoying this car.

Sounds very inviting for a lo..oong drive all the way up to Tallahassee or down to Havana Cuba. Enjoy the ride.

carnaught

Sorry @abacomike, but an Accord Hybrid I had showed a camera picture when the turn signal was
used 👀.

fintail

Even here, the otherwise nice car wash becomes sketchy after dark - maybe not a drug center, but I would refrain. The key to self-service types is maintenance. There's one in the small town where my mom lives that seems to have issues - the locals are rough on it, I think, and the owner maybe can't keep up. I also keep my car waxed, and mostly just pressure wash the dirty away, maybe using the brush on the wheels and lowest parts of the body, after a dirty drive. I also pressure wash the brush before using it.

henryn said:

fintail said:

The "touchless" ones are especially bad at stripping wax, and leaving marks on black rubber trim, harsh chemicals.

The key is to find a maintained self-serve wash. There's one in my area where I can do the car for $2/2 tokens if I plan it out, or $3/3 tokens if I take my time. Also, if you buy 20 tokens at once ($1/apiece), you get a 7 token bonus.

henryn said:

I used to keep a bag of quarters in the door pocket, primarily for use at the coin operated car wash. But there aren't any more coin operated car washes, or at least none that actually work, so I have stopped doing that. They have been replaced by the $5 or $6 car washes, where they try to upsell you to a $20 wash, and whatever you buy it seems to strip the wax. So I just do it myself, or pay one of the neighborhood kids.

When I first moved here, 10 years ago, there was a good self-serve car wash about 4 blocks from my house. I keep a good coat of wax on my cars, and all I needed was the high pressure rinse and then dry with my towels and I was good to go. But that is gone, replaced by a strip mall (like this town needs another strip mall).

One thing of note -- you never wanted to go down to that car wash after dark. It turned into the biggest open air drug market in Houston, especially on Friday and Saturday night. The Houston Chronicle reported more drug busts there than anywhere else in Houston, and more shootings at the Turning Point Club (2 blocks down). Yeah, this used to be a rough neighborhood. But if you knew the bad spots, and avoided them, it was pretty peaceful.

sda

I generally wash our cars by hand using two lambs wool mitts, one for the upper body, one for the lower body. There are two automatic car washes within 5 minutes that use cloth brushes. Sometimes I will run the car thru the car wash then drive home and give the car a quick spritz and wipe it (dry) down. I like to clean inside the door jambs, trunk, hood, wheels, nooks and crannies.

stickguy

bwia said:

It's 90 degrees in the shade and my AC is running full blast. Good for Eversource, bad for my wallet which might take a hit with a Freeon SEER 22 replacement AC unit.

Just ran out to HD to buy pressure washer. Only 90 so just had windows down in the car. Was nice and comfy with the warmth. Though I did mow the lawn before lunch, that worked up a good sweat. AC on in the house or the wife would complain too much. Only place I really want it is the bedroom. Hard to sleep when sweating, and that room gets hot. Really just need a little room unit for up there. Rest of the house is fine!

stickguy

Surprised anyone here (other than apartment dwellers without hose access) uses a car wash instead of DIY. I won’t drive through one, but will use the spray yourself bays in the winter to hose off salt, especially underneath.

driver100

sda said:

I remember reading that the Australian Capri was Mazda based, not very inspired and the structure lacked any semblance of rigidity.

But they are cute!

driver100

snakeweasel said:

abacomike said:

bwia said:

It's 90 degrees in the shade and my AC is running full blast. Good for Eversource, bad for my wallet which might take a hit with a Freeon SEER 22 replacement AC unit.

My AC is always turned on - even in the winter months down here. We only get about 20-30 comfortable or cool days a year where I can move the temperature setting to 78 degrees which automatically shuts the system down. During the day, I set my thermostat to 77 degrees and at night before I go to bed, I set it to 76 degrees. It's not the temperature that is uncomfortable - it's the humidity. We are now entering our rainy season with temperatures in the 90's. My Condo is well insulated because I have units to my left and right as well as above and below (I live on the 2nd floor) thus providing that insulation.

My average electric bill in the November-June months is about $42.00 and all the other months, it jumps to $55.00-$58.00 a month. Since I live alone, I don't use much hot water and I don't use the stove or oven very much - just the microwave. We don't have natural gas in our community. Those communities that have gas access are usually provided by propane.

And now for our Canadian friends:
We do the same thing, keep the A/C at around 26 to keep the home a little cooler than outside but more importantly to rid the house of the humidity. I find that more comfortable than houses that are set below 21.

Thanks snake though I am from the generation that still thinks in Fahrenheit. Today the roofers came at 7 a.m. and they finished at 9 a.m., they said it was too hot for them to work. It was 91F and 100F with the humidex....and probably a lot hotter on a roof!

driver100

abacomike said:

For instance, when I put on my directional signal, an image appears in the center of the driver's instrument panel (between the tachometer and the speedometer) showing the left or right side of the vehicle in real time - projected from a camera in the right and left sideview mirrors.
So, as you can tell from my comments, I am truly enjoying this car.

Glad you are enjoying the G!
I saw that lane change camera in the GV70 video.....I like the way it shows what is in the lane you want to go into.

carnaught

Generally, after a good vacuuming, I use a “gentle” brushless car wash, drive the car home (couple of miles) to remove much of the water and drips, then detail it with a dusting of sprayed distilled water, completing the drying with Griot’s Spray-On Wax or Eagle One - Wax As You Dry. Between washes I use Griot’s Spray-On Car Wash. Griot’s products are pricey but I swear by most of them (bought through Amazon or their site). This is a busy but lazy guy’s way of doing it.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

Surprised anyone here (other than apartment dwellers without hose access) uses a car wash instead of DIY. I won’t drive through one, but will use the spray yourself bays in the winter to hose off salt, especially underneath.

We have a really good automatic wash about 10 miles away. We've been using them for 20 years, or more. They hand dry, and do the windows inside

explorerx4

"Only place I really want it is the bedroom. Hard to sleep when sweating, and that room gets hot."
TMI dude.

stickguy

I get hives just thinking about those brushes or straps slapping on my car. Place around the corner does have an automatic touchless but the couple of times I used it, didn't really do a great job. But better than nothing if the weather isn't conducive to hand washing in the driveway.

cdnpinhead

abacomike said:

We only get about 20-30 comfortable or cool days a year where I can move the temperature setting to 78 degrees which automatically shuts the system down.

And this, my friends, is why I wouldn't be caught dead (near-dead perhaps) in FL. While much of AZ is a hellhole for at least half of the year, the other half isn't so bad. Where I live (up high) these days, there are 2-3 days a year when the temperature is above 90.

To each their own.

jmonroe1

@driver100 said:
Thanks snake though I am from the generation that still thinks in Fahrenheit. Today the roofers came at 7 a.m. and they finished at 9 a.m., they said it was too hot for them to work. It was 91F and 100F with the humidex....and probably a lot hotter on a roof!

Didn’t your roofer tell you before he started that hand nailers are also fair weather roofers. I wonder why?

jmonroe

jmonroe1

@carnaught said:
Generally, after a good vacuuming, I use a “gentle” brushless car wash, drive the car home (couple of miles) to remove much of the water and drips, then detail it with a dusting of sprayed distilled water, completing the drying with Griot’s Spray-On Wax or Eagle One - Wax As You Dry. Between washes I use Griot’s Spray-On Car Wash. Griot’s products are pricey but I swear by most of them (bought through Amazon or their site). This is a busy but lazy guy’s way of doing it.

We’d have believed you more if you left out the “busy” part.

jmonroe

abacomike

@bwia said:
Sounds very inviting for a lo..oong drive all the way up to Tallahassee or down to Havana Cuba. Enjoy the ride.

The Havana trip would require pontoons or some sort of ferry - don’t ya think, bwia? 🤪😜🤓

abacomike

Meeting my best friend and his wife for dinner at NYY STEAKHOUSE at 7:00 PM this evening for dinner. I so seldom eat 🥩 red meat but my doctor told me I need the iron and protein in my diet occasionally. I am a 🐓chicken fan here at home.

Their pricing has risen dramatically with the increasing cost of beef. Their prices are about the same as Morton’s and Ruth Chris’s. There are only 2 NYY STEAKHOUSES, one at Yankee Stadium and the one at the Casino here in town. There used to be one in midtown Manhattan, but they closed that one in August, 2018.

Excellent food and a great selection of wines from California and worldwide vineyards.

explorerx4

@abaomike,
The way the Yankees are playing NYY Steakhouse should be serving turkey or crow. :@

explorerx4

@tjc78,
This guy is working on tuning his 06 Town Car. First video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfkNfz_t5iQ

henryn

cdnpinhead said:

abacomike said:

We only get about 20-30 comfortable or cool days a year where I can move the temperature setting to 78 degrees which automatically shuts the system down.

And this, my friends, is why I wouldn't be caught dead (near-dead perhaps) in FL. While much of AZ is a hellhole for at least half of the year, the other half isn't so bad. Where I live (up high) these days, there are 2-3 days a year when the temperature is above 90.

To each their own.

What's your elevation there in Forest Lakes? Annual snowfall, if any?

stickguy

my research paid off. The Ryobi PW I bought uses the same connectors as the car wash cannon. So can just screw that handle right onto the hose from the machine. Nice when things work the way they are supposed to! Didn't even cost more than the rando Chinese brands on Amazon, none of which had the right connectors (or anything passing for customer support).

Tomorrow I will try it out (once the solution I ordered arrives.) And will order some quick disconnects so I can swap out the cannon and PW attachments easier.

tjc78

@explorerx4 said:
@tjc78,
This guy is working on tuning his 06 Town Car. First video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfkNfz_t5iQ

Thanks for sharing. Those guys can really squeeze out some extra power from that 4.6. Sounded good too.

tjc78

@stickguy said:
Just ran out to HD to buy pressure washer. Only 90 so just had windows down in the car. Was nice and comfy with the warmth. Though I did mow the lawn before lunch, that worked up a good sweat. AC on in the house or the wife would complain too much. Only place I really want it is the bedroom. Hard to sleep when sweating, and that room gets hot. Really just need a little room unit for up there. Rest of the house is fine!

Only 90… lol. In my house I’m thinking 73 isn’t quite cool enough right now!

stickguy

our AC is set to 74 (usually runs a few degrees higher upstairs). I find it pretty cold, especially walking in from outside and getting hit by the blast of chill. If it was set to something like 68 I would be wearing sweat pants and a fleece.

Michaell

stickguy said:

our AC is set to 74 (usually runs a few degrees higher upstairs). I find it pretty cold, especially walking in from outside and getting hit by the blast of chill. If it was set to something like 68 I would be wearing sweat pants and a fleece.

Ours is set to 74 as well, but it cools off in the evening and we can reopen windows.

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

When I was in business I only took cash or paper checks and I paid all my taxes. I got some funny expressions from young people who I guess didn’t know what cash was.

My wife knew a lady whose husband's family owned a very successful restaurant in the Loop. They were getting a divorce and he was being hard line on everything and fighting over everything. I told her that she should threaten to go to the IRS. When she did she got everything she wanted.

My wife knows that there wouldn’t be much to go after which is why I could never afford to pay the transaction fees associated with credit cards.

28firefighter

So yinz must think I’m crazy for keeping the house at 69 year round…