Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

Sandman6472

Were those CD's at a local bank here in North Broward County? Might want to find some of those and park some cash in there for 2023 property taxes. Used to do that with my gratuities from the post office. In January, I'd take out a 10 month CD for a certain amount redeemable in November so I could pay the whole bill in one payment the middle of the month. Was a great way to put that money away and use it when needed most the following year.

laurasdada

fille

abacomike said:

I finally located CD interest rates for 12 month CD's at 1.9% last week and 2.5% today. I opened one last week at 1.9% and one today at 2.5%. I expect in a few weeks that rates will be over 3% for 12 months certificates of deposit which will finally provide me with some help with all this inflation - not much help, but at least something which is better than .022% which I was getting earlier.

Mike, online savings accounts are paying 1+%... nothing to crow about, but better than .022! I've got a Discover Bank online now paying 1.30%.

dino001

My American Express Savings is paying 1.15% for savings account (lowest ever was 0.5% during the zero rates), I expect it to go to somewhere around 1.5-1.75 percent not long after today's Fed rate increase. Their CDs are currently at 2% for 12 months and 2.4% for 24 months. Expecting these also go up, too.

explorerx4

I have accounts at online banks Ally and Synchrony.
They pay higher than the local banks.
The rates are probably going to go up again next Tuesday.
Fed raised the rate up 75 basis points today.

andres3

qbrozen said:

I'm blown away you haven't given up on Audi yet.

Other then that one incident, the S4 has been exactly as it should, very Honda-like. Just push the button and it starts every morning. No lights, no errors. No issues.

My experience with lemons has taught me that they break every 3 to 4 months with nagging issues over and over.

My Audi's haven't been that, and the TTS is nearing 56K with the S4 nearing 50K miles. Both worth about $30K trade-in; VROOM offered on the TTS is actual. S4 value assumed; might be worth a bit less as the market's cooled and Vroom's selling one with lower miles for $30K.

abacomike

@Sandman6472 said:
Were those CD's at a local bank here in North Broward County? Might want to find some of those and park some cash in there for 2023 property taxes. Used to do that with my gratuities from the post office. In January, I'd take out a 10 month CD for a certain amount redeemable in November so I could pay the whole bill in one payment the middle of the month. Was a great way to put that money away and use it when needed most the following year.

BankUnitedDirect.com is the site. You can’t get those rates at the bank branch, only online. And yes, it’s a local bank.

bwia

The Chinese designed and produced XPeng P7 claims a range of up to 329 miles on the RWD Long Range, and a 0-60 mph acceleration time of less than 6.9 seconds.

Claimed range for the 4WD High Performance is up to 292 miles, with a claimed 0-60 mph acceleration time of less than 4.5 seconds.
The prices for Xpeng P7 start at $39,730 for the single motor model with 60.2 kWh battery and go all the way up to RMB $67,550 for the 4WD Performance version
https://youtu.be/wvAmvP7VSRM

ab348

abacomike said:

When the superintendent of our school district hired a new deputy superintendent to manage instruction, curriculum and school principals, he put us through some rigorous training seminars and class instruction on developing project management plans for curriculum implementation, specific goals and objectives that were mutually approved by the principals and the deputy superintendent, as well as local school projects for instructional improvement. Each objective required that each principal submit project management plans and flow charts (which included milestones and evaluative measurements for inputting data in order to determine milestone achievements) which were reviewed at project management periodic meetings with the curriculum director, the assistant superintendent for instruction and the deputy superintendent.

No disrespect intended Mike, but that sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare that would take forever to churn through and which would result in a lot of required boxes getting checked without anything particularly productive being accomplished. I went through it many times in my career, and the results were usually eyes glazing over and lots of extra time and expense to little actual effect.

qbrozen

andres3 said:

Other then that one incident, the S4 has been exactly as it should, very Honda-like. Just push the button and it starts every morning. No lights, no errors. No issues.

ah, so other than a new engine, its been perfect. So all those Chrysler minivans of the '90s were like Hondas aside from the transmission. Those previous owners will be pleased. ;b

abacomike

@ab348 said:
No disrespect intended Mike, but that sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare that would take forever to churn through and which would result in a lot of required boxes getting checked without anything particularly productive being accomplished. I went through it many times in my career, and the results were usually eyes glazing over and lots of extra time and expense to little actual effect.

No disrespect assumed, ab348! It used to take me hours and hours to write up a project management flow chart and I found it mind boggling at times. But it did put me into a frame of mind that caused me to concentrate on processes that I used to achieve specific goals and objectives.

But running a school on a day to day basis with 850 kids, 38 teachers and 12 teacher aides coupled with parents and building maintenance and safety took up 95% of my 10 hour days. Student discipline cases and interactions with teachers and parents concerning the discipline was overwhelming at times.

oldfarmer50

andres3 said:

So.... would you trade in a fun car with 55,600 miles for one that has 3,500 miles, +100 HP, awesome red color paint, 2 years newer model, but costs twice as much as your trade in value? Maybe 120% more.

Thinking $31K trade (tops), vs. $60K purchase (which is $66K with taxes and fees). Of course my assumed out the door price is the current asking price....

You can’t put a price on enjoyment so all you have to ask is “can I afford i?” And “do I really, really want it?”.

oldfarmer50

abacomike said:

I finally located CD interest rates for 12 month CD's at 1.9% last week and 2.5% today. I opened one last week at 1.9% and one today at 2.5%. I expect in a few weeks that rates will be over 3% for 12 months certificates of deposit which will finally provide me with some help with all this inflation - not much help, but at least something which is better than .022% which I was getting earlier.

Have you considered government back ibonds which index to inflation? Currently they’re paying 9.62%. Very similar to a five year CD except if inflation changes so does the interest rates.

EDIT: I see dino001 beat me to it.

oldfarmer50

dino001 said:

My American Express Savings is paying 1.15% for savings account (lowest ever was 0.5% during the zero rates), I expect it to go to somewhere around 1.5-1.75 percent not long after today's Fed rate increase. Their CDs are currently at 2% for 12 months and 2.4% for 24 months. Expecting these also go up, too.

I have a hi-yield bond mutual that currently pays 6.3% which is still a losing proposition in this inflationary environment.

kyfdx

oldfarmer50 said:

dino001 said:

My American Express Savings is paying 1.15% for savings account (lowest ever was 0.5% during the zero rates), I expect it to go to somewhere around 1.5-1.75 percent not long after today's Fed rate increase. Their CDs are currently at 2% for 12 months and 2.4% for 24 months. Expecting these also go up, too.

I have a hi-yield bond mutual that currently pays 6.3% which is still a losing proposition in this inflationary environment.

Only if you assume that current inflation rate never changes...

mjfloyd1

@andres3 said:
Other then that one incident, the S4 has been exactly as it should, very Honda-like. Just push the button and it starts every morning. No lights, no errors. No issues.

My experience with lemons has taught me that they break every 3 to 4 months with nagging issues over and over.

My Audi's haven't been that, and the TTS is nearing 56K with the S4 nearing 50K miles. Both worth about $30K trade-in; VROOM offered on the TTS is actual. S4 value assumed; might be worth a bit less as the market's cooled and Vroom's selling one with lower miles for $30K.

Is there much difference? I know that you have an APR tune so will it be worth it? 5 cylinder vs 4 cylinder. Otherwise is there much difference?

Ahh. I see 394 hp in ttrs which should be quite a bit more than APR tts

dino001

oldfarmer50 said:

dino001 said:

My American Express Savings is paying 1.15% for savings account (lowest ever was 0.5% during the zero rates), I expect it to go to somewhere around 1.5-1.75 percent not long after today's Fed rate increase. Their CDs are currently at 2% for 12 months and 2.4% for 24 months. Expecting these also go up, too.

I have a hi-yield bond mutual that currently pays 6.3% which is still a losing proposition in this inflationary environment.

Bond mutual funds are good in falling or stable interest environment (1990-2020), but will do very poorly in raising rates, as whatever they pay in form of a dividend will likely be offset (and some) by drop in net asset value (they are valued every day based on value of the bonds). Hi-yield funds are even more dangerous with raising rates, as the credit rating of the bonds inside of that fund will likely fall, impacting NAV even more than just rate changes. I don't think there were any "investment grade" bonds paying 6.3% prior January 2021. There may be some soon, as raising rates will force even good companies to pay higher yield on new debt, but until six months ago this kind of interest could only come from high risk "junk bonds" and those take real bath during rerating periods.

That's one of issues with bond mutual funds - their risks are not well understood by many investors and I bet there will be a lot of "education" happening in next few months.

houdini1

Here is a little tid bit to brighten your day. I was talking to a friend of mine and telling him about our up coming 55th wedding anniversary. He said that all marriages eventually come to a bad end. 40% end in divorce, and 60% end in death....YIKES.

jipster

To whoever posted that their garage door was getting stuck hallway up, what was your outcome? It just happened to my dad's garage door...except getting stuck 1/4th the way up. I cleaned out the old dirty grease, sprayed track and hardware with silicone lubricant, ran the loose door up and down manually a few time....and now it works.

Also had some repair work done to my dad's brick steps last week. Many had broken loose over time. The guy removed, cleaned and replaced the first 2 rows of bricks on 2 steps, and did some touch up work on some other areas. He and his wife(?) worked on steps for about 3 1/2 hours. This guy was a "freemason", so wasn't expecting a bill. The ole Jipster was quite shocked and saddened when handed a bill for $450.

henryn

jipster said:

To whoever posted that their garage door was getting stuck hallway up, what was your outcome? It just happened to my dad's garage door...except getting stuck 1/4th the way up. I cleaned out the old dirty grease, sprayed track and hardware with silicone lubricant, ran the loose door up and down manually a few time....and now it works.

Also had some repair work done to my dad's brick steps last week. Many had broken loose over time. The guy removed, cleaned and replaced the first 2 rows of bricks on 2 steps, and did some touch up work on some other areas. He and his wife(?) worked on steps for about 3 1/2 hours. This guy was a "freemason", so wasn't expecting a bill. The ole Jipster was quite shocked and saddened when handed a bill for $450.

Two people, 3.5 hours, 7 hours work for $450, that's about $64 an hour. Cheap compared to an auto mechanic, or similar. On the other hand, watch a couple of videos on youtube, and I'll bet most people could do the job themselves.

explorerx4

Hard lesson learned by me today too,
Needed to find a new home for some bookcases and a desk.
Contacted College Hunks to take them away as a donation.
Cost me over $400, but if we are able to itemize, not likely, it will be deductible.

jmonroe1

houdini1 said:

Here is a little tid bit to brighten your day. I was talking to a friend of mine and telling him about our up coming 55th wedding anniversary. He said that all marriages eventually come to a bad end. 40% end in divorce, and 60% end in death....YIKES.

————————————————
Congrats on you up coming 55th wedding anniversary. We did that a couple weeks ago. Kinda getting used to them by now but what will take me awhile to get used to is that I had one of those major landmark birthdays a few days ago. Like I’ve said before, if I knew I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.

About those conditions you mentioned. They’re nothing compared to tripping when doing laps around the dining room table.

Congrats again.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

explorerx4 said:

Hard lesson learned by me today too,
Needed to find a new home for some bookcases and a desk.
Contacted College Hunks to take them away as a donation.
Cost me over $400, but if we are able to itemize, not likely, it will be deductible.

————————————————
When tax time rolls around let me know. There are ways.

jmonroe

henryn

explorerx4 said:

Hard lesson learned by me today too,
Needed to find a new home for some bookcases and a desk.
Contacted College Hunks to take them away as a donation.
Cost me over $400, but if we are able to itemize, not likely, it will be deductible.

Did you try Goodwill? Here in Houston, they have a free pickup service, but you have to be very close to one of their donation sites.

qbrozen

houdini1 said:

Here is a little tid bit to brighten your day. I was talking to a friend of mine and telling him about our up coming 55th wedding anniversary. He said that all marriages eventually come to a bad end. 40% end in divorce, and 60% end in death....YIKES.

And 100% of our lives end in death. SHOCKER!

jipster

@henryn said:
Two people, 3.5 hours, 7 hours work for $450, that's about $64 an hour. Cheap compared to an auto mechanic, or similar. On the other hand, watch a couple of videos on youtube, and I'll bet most people could do the job themselves.

True. But it's been awfully hot here lately.

I had repaired, mortared, 4 or 5 loose bricks a couple years ago. Looked pretty good for awhile.

explorerx4

@henryn,
I did look at Goodwill but they don't accept most of the items I was trying to remove.
My wife has been making trips to Goodwill on almost a daily basis to drop things off.

jmonroe1

jipster said:

@henryn said:

Two people, 3.5 hours, 7 hours work for $450, that's about $64 an hour. Cheap compared to an auto mechanic, or similar. On the other hand, watch a couple of videos on youtube, and I'll bet most people could do the job themselves.

True. But it's been awfully hot here lately.

I had repaired, mortared, 4 or 5 loose bricks a couple years ago. Looked pretty good for awhile.

———————————————
So what you’re saying is, you don’t like sweating especially when you’re not all that good at that work.

jmonroe

jipster

@jmonroe1 said:
———————————————
So what you’re saying is, you don’t like sweating especially when you’re not all that good at that work.

jmonroe

Uhhh, not really. Thought it be best to leave that kind of job up to a professional, and yeah, basically I didn't want to deal with it. Had to call an ambulance when my dad had complications from covid (recovering now), and wheeling him down on a gurney did a number on those last 2 steps.

Sandman6472

When the power goes off, our Genie garage door opener quits working. I have to climb up the ladder and take the plug out and re-install it. Then, it works fine again. Totally annoying and have no clue as to why it does this. Any suggestions??

jmonroe1

Sandman6472 said:

When the power goes off, our Genie garage door opener quits working. I have to climb up the ladder and take the plug out and re-install it. Then, it works fine again. Totally annoying and have no clue as to why it does this. Any suggestions??

————————————————
That’s a quirk of some solid state controlled devices. They need reset when the power goes off and the best way to do this is remove the power from it. Just turning the device off may not work.

If you don’t like climbing a ladder find the circuit breaker that controls the garage door opener and trip that off for a few seconds, then turn it back on. The down side to this is anything else on that circuit goes off too but with your medical situation that’s the safest way for you.

FWIW my Craftsman garage door opener is not affected by power outages other than it won’t work when the power goes off.

jmonroe

driver100

jmonroe1 said:

jipster said:

@henryn said:

Two people, 3.5 hours, 7 hours work for $450, that's about $64 an hour. Cheap compared to an auto mechanic, or similar. On the other hand, watch a couple of videos on youtube, and I'll bet most people could do the job themselves.

True. But it's been awfully hot here lately.

I had repaired, mortared, 4 or 5 loose bricks a couple years ago. Looked pretty good for awhile.

———————————————

I had repaired, mortared, 4 or 5 loose bricks a couple years ago. Looked pretty good for awhile.

So what you’re saying is, you don’t like sweating especially when you’re not all that good at that work.

jmonroe
I think what he is saying is that some people are a few bricks short of a load

Sandman6472

Makes sense about tripping the circuit so no ladder and spotter would be needed. Just need to find which one it is. Had thought about doing that as another solution though. Luckily, the a/c has been working fine so think we're good there. Our FPL bill came today and went up about $30 since last month but not surprised as it's been very hot here and we usually just leave it at 79, sometimes 78 but I like using the fans as it does move the air around.
With August 1st coming next Monday, summer is moving right along at a nice clip. School resumes here the middle of August, the 16th as I recall, and praying Mother Nature is quiet this hurricane season. Just want 2022 to go out with as little drama as possible!

explorerx4

Always been a Yankee fan but I feel the signing unvaccinated Andrew Benintendi is an insult to the people of NY who suffered horribly from Covid.
Other areas of the county were not hit as hard as the Northeast.
I have the Red Sox on the TV instead which hurts.

ab348

explorerx4 said:

Always been a Yankee fan but I feel the signing unvaccinated Andrew Benintendi is an insult to the people of NY who suffered horribly from Covid.
Other areas of the county were not hit as hard as the Northeast.
I have the Red Sox on the TV instead which hurts.

He says he has reconsidered and will get the shot.

explorerx4

@ab348,
I hope he does get vaccinated, but his message was kind of vague.

kyfdx

explorerx4 said:

@ab348,
I hope he does get vaccinated, but his message was kind of vague.

I'm surprised that any AL team that might have to face Toronto in the playoffs (plus three games in Canada for the Yankees) would trade for a player that is unvaccinated.

abacomike

My grandson has started pitching again after his Tommy John surgery 18 months ago. He’s up to 85 mph fast balls with no pain or reinjury. Baseball coaches expect him to be up in the low to mid 90’s by the time the season starts.

He’s had every opportunity a 21 year old young man can have to realize his dream. Now it’s up to him and God. He starts his senior year next month with the coaches expecting him to be their star pitcher.

At least he has a plan B set up with a major in Kinesiology. I pray for him every day that he can realize his dream.

oldfarmer50

dino001 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

dino001 said:

My American Express Savings is paying 1.15% for savings account (lowest ever was 0.5% during the zero rates), I expect it to go to somewhere around 1.5-1.75 percent not long after today's Fed rate increase. Their CDs are currently at 2% for 12 months and 2.4% for 24 months. Expecting these also go up, too.

I have a hi-yield bond mutual that currently pays 6.3% which is still a losing proposition in this inflationary environment.

Bond mutual funds are good in falling or stable interest environment (1990-2020), but will do very poorly in raising rates, as whatever they pay in form of a dividend will likely be offset (and some) by drop in net asset value (they are valued every day based on value of the bonds). Hi-yield funds are even more dangerous with raising rates, as the credit rating of the bonds inside of that fund will likely fall, impacting NAV even more than just rate changes. I don't think there were any "investment grade" bonds paying 6.3% prior January 2021. There may be some soon, as raising rates will force even good companies to pay higher yield on new debt, but until six months ago this kind of interest could only come from high risk "junk bonds" and those take real bath during rerating periods.

That's one of issues with bond mutual funds - their risks are not well understood by many investors and I bet there will be a lot of "education" happening in next few months.

Yeah, I realize that but I’ve decided to ride out the current conditions and reinvest the dividends in a dollar cost averaging investment strategy. That particular bond fund is down a few percentage points YTD which is much less than some of my stock mutual funds which are down as much as 25% YTD.

If I live long enough I should come out the other end in pretty good shape having bought more shares at lower cost.

jmonroe1

abacomike said:

My grandson has started pitching again after his Tommy John surgery 18 months ago. He’s up to 85 mph fast balls with no pain or reinjury. Baseball coaches expect him to be up in the low to mid 90’s by the time the season starts.

He’s had every opportunity a 21 year old young man can have to realize his dream. Now it’s up to him and God. He starts his senior year next month with the coaches expecting him to be their star pitcher.

At least he has a plan B set up with a major in Kinesiology. I pray for him every day that he can realize his dream.

———————————————-
I wish him all the best. From everything I’ve heard, recovering from Tommy John surgery takes a good while, more than a year most of the time like your grandson is experiencing.

I also hope he has the chance to realize his dream. If he does I’ll be the first to say I know that kids grandfather.

Give him my best.

jmonroe

andres3

qbrozen said:

andres3 said:

Other then that one incident, the S4 has been exactly as it should, very Honda-like. Just push the button and it starts every morning. No lights, no errors. No issues.

ah, so other than a new engine, its been perfect. So all those Chrysler minivans of the '90s were like Hondas aside from the transmission. Those previous owners will be pleased. ;b

I've known Honda, and I've know Chrysler.

Chrysler is no Honda, transmission aside.

Chrysler's problems extend to poor fit and finish, poor build quality, bad head gaskets, bad A/C's/Compressors, poor product quality/durability, rattles galore, power/battery system problems, including alternator/starter cables, O-ring issues, 02 sensor issues, fuel pump issues (though a tow truck from not starting is preferable to blowing the engine), oozing adhesives on window trim, wind noise intrusion due to bad seals/trim, rubber belts that snap prematurely, and I'm sure I've forgotten a lot.

IMHO they are not even playing the same sport or in the same ballpark.

oldfarmer50

andres3 said:

qbrozen said:

andres3 said:

Other then that one incident, the S4 has been exactly as it should, very Honda-like. Just push the button and it starts every morning. No lights, no errors. No issues.

ah, so other than a new engine, its been perfect. So all those Chrysler minivans of the '90s were like Hondas aside from the transmission. Those previous owners will be pleased. ;b

I've known Honda, and I've know Chrysler.

Chrysler is no Honda, transmission aside.

Chrysler's problems extend to poor fit and finish, poor build quality, bad head gaskets, bad A/C's/Compressors, poor product quality/durability, rattles galore, power/battery system problems, including alternator/starter cables, O-ring issues, 02 sensor issues, fuel pump issues (though a tow truck from not starting is preferable to blowing the engine), oozing adhesives on window trim, wind noise intrusion due to bad seals/trim, rubber belts that snap prematurely, and I'm sure I've forgotten a lot.

IMHO they are not even playing the same sport or in the same ballpark.

The old saying is that a Chrysler will run bad longer than a fancy foreign car will run at all.

dino001

oldfarmer50 said:

The old saying is that a Chrysler will run bad longer than a fancy foreign car will run at all.

Sound like something made up by the Chrysler execs to make themselves feel better.

andres3

mjfloyd1 said:

@andres3 said:

Other then that one incident, the S4 has been exactly as it should, very Honda-like. Just push the button and it starts every morning. No lights, no errors. No issues.

My experience with lemons has taught me that they break every 3 to 4 months with nagging issues over and over.

My Audi's haven't been that, and the TTS is nearing 56K with the S4 nearing 50K miles. Both worth about $30K trade-in; VROOM offered on the TTS is actual. S4 value assumed; might be worth a bit less as the market's cooled and Vroom's selling one with lower miles for $30K.

Is there much difference? I know that you have an APR tune so will it be worth it? 5 cylinder vs 4 cylinder. Otherwise is there much difference?

Ahh. I see 394 hp in ttrs which should be quite a bit more than APR tts

400 HP in the '18's and older before CARB cracked down further. So yes, about a 45-50 HP bump compared to Stage 1 TTS, but that's in a light car, so makes a difference. Also, comparing stage 1 to stage 1 (fair is fair right?) it's closer to 150 HP I believe. And the 5 cylinder soundtrack is superior. The transmission is superior with 7 dual clutched gears to my 6 (something recent model TTS' corrected).

Compared to stock RS has much better brakes than S. Tighter suspension settings typically, bigger rear wing (and we all know a bigger wing is worth +25 HP LOL), higher top speed. RS's tend to hold value better. All good things.

dino001

oldfarmer50 said:

Yeah, I realize that but I’ve decided to ride out the current conditions and reinvest the dividends in a dollar cost averaging investment strategy. That particular bond fund is down a few percentage points YTD which is much less than some of my stock mutual funds which are down as much as 25% YTD.

If I live long enough I should come out the other end in pretty good shape having bought more shares at lower cost.

It's not exactly fair to compare principal risk between stock and bond funds, as the former represent securities risky by nature and the latter is supposed to represent securities, where return is "guaranteed" (by faith in credit of the issuer). There is a certain disconnect between actual bonds and bond funds. Bonds may lose value, but it only matters, if you actually trade them, so as long as you're collecting the coupon and the company is fine, you're not affected. Interest rate changes would only affect you through "loss of opportunity" (i.e. being locked into a smaller coupon rather than that offered today). Bond fund on the other hand has NAV fluctuating, just like bonds, which itself is not a problem as long as you collect the dividends, BUT bond fund manager constantly sell and buy bonds, which basically in fact "locks in" whatever gain/loss may have happened. When they trade old lower interest bond into new higher interest bond, NAV will adjust due to old bond's price being well under par, i.e. the manager can buy fewer higher yielding bonds. This turns into higher yield but only as function of lower NAV and no real improvement in the yield based on original purchased value of the fund's shares. Value becomes lost due to all transaction and management costs. The reverse happens when rates start going down, bond funds will start gaining value and original principal may start swelling up.

My point is that unlike stock fund behavior, bond fund dynamic is more removed from the bonds they hold, i.e. you actually may gain or lose substantial amount of principal even if there are no defaults, just because the fund manager traded in and out of particular bonds. I hope it makes sense what I'm saying. That's why I didn't own any bond funds in last 20 years. I think they are much riskier than public is let to believe and we're on the verge of finding that out.

sda

oldfarmer50 said:

andres3 said:

qbrozen said:

andres3 said:

Other then that one incident, the S4 has been exactly as it should, very Honda-like. Just push the button and it starts every morning. No lights, no errors. No issues.

ah, so other than a new engine, its been perfect. So all those Chrysler minivans of the '90s were like Hondas aside from the transmission. Those previous owners will be pleased. ;b

I've known Honda, and I've know Chrysler.

Chrysler is no Honda, transmission aside.

Chrysler's problems extend to poor fit and finish, poor build quality, bad head gaskets, bad A/C's/Compressors, poor product quality/durability, rattles galore, power/battery system problems, including alternator/starter cables, O-ring issues, 02 sensor issues, fuel pump issues (though a tow truck from not starting is preferable to blowing the engine), oozing adhesives on window trim, wind noise intrusion due to bad seals/trim, rubber belts that snap prematurely, and I'm sure I've forgotten a lot.

IMHO they are not even playing the same sport or in the same ballpark.

The old saying is that a Chrysler will run bad longer than a fancy foreign car will run at all.

I heard something very similar: GM cars will run bad longer than other cars will run.

oldfarmer50

dino001 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

The old saying is that a Chrysler will run bad longer than a fancy foreign car will run at all.

Sound like something made up by the Chrysler execs to make themselves feel better.

I have some experience running high mile Chrysler products and many of them ran bad and fell apart but kept running. Some of the horror stories I’ve heard about catastrophic failures on high price foreign models seems to confirm the saying.

andres3

sda said:

oldfarmer50 said:

andres3 said:

qbrozen said:

andres3 said:

Other then that one incident, the S4 has been exactly as it should, very Honda-like. Just push the button and it starts every morning. No lights, no errors. No issues.

ah, so other than a new engine, its been perfect. So all those Chrysler minivans of the '90s were like Hondas aside from the transmission. Those previous owners will be pleased. ;b

I've known Honda, and I've know Chrysler.

Chrysler is no Honda, transmission aside.

Chrysler's problems extend to poor fit and finish, poor build quality, bad head gaskets, bad A/C's/Compressors, poor product quality/durability, rattles galore, power/battery system problems, including alternator/starter cables, O-ring issues, 02 sensor issues, fuel pump issues (though a tow truck from not starting is preferable to blowing the engine), oozing adhesives on window trim, wind noise intrusion due to bad seals/trim, rubber belts that snap prematurely, and I'm sure I've forgotten a lot.

IMHO they are not even playing the same sport or in the same ballpark.

The old saying is that a Chrysler will run bad longer than a fancy foreign car will run at all.

I heard something very similar: GM cars will run bad longer than other cars will run.

I need people to chime in on what "running bad" means.

1. Poor fuel economy?
   
2. Odd noises?
   
3. Hard to start on one attempt?
   
4. Finicky and delicate?
   

I've had cars that either run right or run wrong. I suppose if you run with bad spark plugs and ignition coils you could "run bad" for a long time; just don't ever go past 1/3 throttle.

oldfarmer50

dino001 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Yeah, I realize that but I’ve decided to ride out the current conditions and reinvest the dividends in a dollar cost averaging investment strategy. That particular bond fund is down a few percentage points YTD which is much less than some of my stock mutual funds which are down as much as 25% YTD.

If I live long enough I should come out the other end in pretty good shape having bought more shares at lower cost.

It's not exactly fair to compare principal risk between stock and bond funds, as the former represent securities risky by nature and the latter is supposed to represent securities, where return is "guaranteed" (by faith in credit of the issuer). There is a certain disconnect between actual bonds and bond funds. Bonds may lose value, but it only matters, if you actually trade them, so as long as you're collecting the coupon and the company is fine, you're not affected. Interest rate changes would only affect you through "loss of opportunity" (i.e. being locked into a smaller coupon rather than that offered today). Bond fund on the other hand has NAV fluctuating, just like bonds, which itself is not a problem as long as you collect the dividends, BUT bond fund manager constantly sell and buy bonds, which basically in fact "locks in" whatever gain/loss may have happened. When they trade old lower interest bond into new higher interest bond, NAV will adjust due to old bond's price being well under par, i.e. the manager can buy fewer higher yielding bonds. This turns into higher yield but only as function of lower NAV and no real improvement in the yield based on original purchased value of the fund's shares. Value becomes lost due to all transaction and management costs. The reverse happens when rates start going down, bond funds will start gaining value and original principal may start swelling up.

My point is that unlike stock fund behavior, bond fund dynamic is more removed from the bonds they hold, i.e. you actually may gain or lose substantial amount of principal even if there are no defaults, just because the fund manager traded in and out of particular bonds. I hope it makes sense what I'm saying. That's why I didn't own any bond funds in last 20 years. I think they are much riskier than public is let to believe and we're on the verging of finding that out.

I understand what you’re saying which is why I’m primarily invested in stock mutual funds. I never understood the old rule of owning your age in bonds as a percentage of investments.

What’s your opinion of ibonds?

jmonroe1

dino001 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

The old saying is that a Chrysler will run bad longer than a fancy foreign car will run at all.

Sound like something made up by the Chrysler execs to make themselves feel better.

————————————————
Well, I’ve heard that old story said about GM cars too but in the case of Chrysler, I gotta believe you.

jmonroe

kyfdx

iBonds are great.. but, it's a very limited amount of money that you can put into them.

I agree with @dino001 about bond funds. I would avoid them, as you have no control on when the manager sells/buys, etc..

If you truly want to invest in bonds (and you have $100K or more), then it's best to set up your own "bond ladder" with 20% of the bonds maturing, each year. Then, you'll never sell your bond at a loss, and you keep current with the best rates.