Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

abacomike

@driver100 said:
Thanks. I like the simplicity of the C250, it is actually refreshing for a change from the E. And I was in a guys SUV, a new GLE I guess, and it has all of these controls that would take months to learn how to use. Mercedes, turn on passenger massage, Mercedes, open the sun roof, er...I mean shade, Mercedes, please heat the driver seat...........who needs all that crap?
It looks just like this;

My twin brother has a 2022 Mercedes GLE450. He loves the SUV. MSRP was $82,450. I believe he has it in silver with beige leather.

andres3

ab348 said:

I’m so old that I remember back in the ‘70s when some U.S. automakers made a big deal about designing their cars to have “serviceability” features to make it easy for owners to fix minor issues themselves. I guess not many care to do that now.

If performance is hampered, I choose performance over serviceability. People just need to learn how to drop engines and suck it up.

andres3

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

Well one good thing about not having a backup camera....I have a nice unobstructed view out the front windshield, without a silly monitor standing up cutting off my view

It’s all good until you have to back up.

I'm a glass is half full kind of guy. Try to find the positive!

Looks comfy.

henryn

andres3 said:

ab348 said:

I’m so old that I remember back in the ‘70s when some U.S. automakers made a big deal about designing their cars to have “serviceability” features to make it easy for owners to fix minor issues themselves. I guess not many care to do that now.

If performance is hampered, I choose performance over serviceability. People just need to learn how to drop engines and suck it up.

"drop engines"? The only car I'm familiar with where you actually dropped the engine was an old school FWD Sedan DeVille. And even then, you didn't actually "drop" the engine. You unbolted everything, and lifted the body off of the front chassis.

I have "pulled" a lot of engines when I was younger, and dropped a few transmissions, but I have never dropped an engine.

driver100

abacomike said:

@driver100 said:

Thanks. I like the simplicity of the C250, it is actually refreshing for a change from the E. And I was in a guys SUV, a new GLE I guess, and it has all of these controls that would take months to learn how to use. Mercedes, turn on passenger massage, Mercedes, open the sun roof, er...I mean shade, Mercedes, please heat the driver seat...........who needs all that crap?

It looks just like this;

My twin brother has a 2022 Mercedes GLE450. He loves the SUV. MSRP was $82,450. I believe he has it in silver with beige leather.

Oh, this guy loves his GLE 63 I think it is. I'd probably like it to as my primary car. But I find the C250 is like a breath of fresh air, get in, press the start button, no adjustments to make, no extra screens to look at, no nice lady to try and think how to word instructions, music starts automatically - no choices to make......it's simple and logical.

Interesting, my friend bought a GLS the largest MB SUV and didn't like it, thought it felt like a yacht - not fun to drive. He kept it only for a few months and then traded it for the 63.

driver100

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

@driver100 said:

Well one good thing about not having a backup camera....I have a nice unobstructed view out the front windshield, without a silly monitor standing up cutting off my view

————————————————

For a guy that likes a lot of glass, you got cheated with that windshield.

jmonroe

Well, yours isn't that big Mr Wannabe!

————————————————
That doesn’t look like mine. Poor try at photoshopping.

jmonroe

That was supposed to be a 2015 Genesis, I guess yours is a knock-off of the knock-off

jmonroe1

henryn said:

andres3 said:

ab348 said:

I’m so old that I remember back in the ‘70s when some U.S. automakers made a big deal about designing their cars to have “serviceability” features to make it easy for owners to fix minor issues themselves. I guess not many care to do that now.

If performance is hampered, I choose performance over serviceability. People just need to learn how to drop engines and suck it up.

"drop engines"? The only car I'm familiar with where you actually dropped the engine was an old school FWD Sedan DeVille. And even then, you didn't actually "drop" the engine. You unbolted everything, and lifted the body off of the front chassis.

I have "pulled" a lot of engines when I was younger, and dropped a few transmissions, but I have never dropped an engine.

————————————————
PICKY, PICKY, picky.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe1 said:

@driver100 said:

Well one good thing about not having a backup camera....I have a nice unobstructed view out the front windshield, without a silly monitor standing up cutting off my view

————————————————

For a guy that likes a lot of glass, you got cheated with that windshield.

jmonroe

Well, yours isn't that big Mr Wannabe!

————————————————
That doesn’t look like mine. Poor try at photoshopping.

jmonroe

That was supposed to be a 2015 Genesis, I guess yours is a knock-off of the knock-off
————————————————
My Genny is a 2015 but I opted for the full windshield model.

jmonroe

Michaell

Not a bad reimagining…

driver100

Michaell said:

Not a bad reimagining…

Mmmmmm, I like the 2nd one, the first one - not so much!
Though they ripped off this one.

ab348

I would remind you that the original Aztec concept looked pretty good too.

driver100

ab348 said:

I would remind you that the original Aztec concept looked pretty good too.

Nah, none of them ever looked good;

roadburner

After 5 weeks I'm still loving the C43. the only minor gripes I have are that you can't permanently disable stop/start and the fact that the seats have no backrest width adjustment; I wish the car had the AMG Sport seats:


A few random observations:
I definitely prefer the COMAND 5.5 interface over BMW's iDrive 7.0; the Nick O'Leary YT channel has also helped quite a bit to get up to speed.
The touch pads on the left and right steering wheel spokes are really convenient and allow you to make a lot of adjustments without taking your hands off the wheel.
Un-buffered engine oil and ATF temperature readings- why can't Munich offer that?
I can't understand why any AMG has a 133 mph speed limiter; 155 mph should be the minimum top speed. If my car hadn't been delimited to 155 mph I would have passed on it. The M340i and M440i run to 155 mph without having to pay extra for the higher top speed.
Why isn't the AMG Performance exhaust standard? It is just too much fun. The pops and burbles actually turn heads when I fire the car up. It sure beats the fake motor sound BMW pumps through the audio system.
The car is averaging maybe 1-2 mpg less than the M235i; who cares?
The LED Intelligent Light System is phenomenal. I'm checking into re-coding it to European standards.
My son and I will be taking the car to the local 1/8 mile drag strip this spring; that should be fun.
I'm glad I bought a W205 and got the Biturbo V6 instead of the four cylinder, but that's just me...

oldfarmer50

I like that the seats are grey rather than black.

qbrozen

I like that the steering wheel is on the wrong side. ;b

roadburner

For comparison, these are the sport seats installed in my car- in the correct color and with the wheel on the proper side:

driver100

qbrozen said:

I like that the steering wheel is on the wrong side. ;b

It great though if you are delivering mail.

driver100

@roadburner The problem with seats like the AMG kind for some people is that they are hard to slide in and out. You have to swing way over and drop into the seat, and then lift yourself up and out. MrsD100 complained about that when we were looking at 2013 Audi A4s, and I am glad she noticed that....that could get tiring after a while.
I was wondering when we'd get a review of the C43

roadburner

I’d be happy if the side bolsters were adjustable like the BMW sport seats. The seats just don’t hold me in place as much as I want.
One other nit to pick; if you turn off the navigation voice guidance it turns back on the next time you start the car. On my 2 Series it stayed off.

tjc78

Those sport seats would certainly not be a good fit for me!

stickguy

roadburner said:

I’d be happy if the side bolsters were adjustable like the BMW sport seats. The seats just don’t hold me in place as much as I want.

One other nit to pick; if you turn off the navigation voice guidance it turns back on the next time you start the car. On my 2 Series it stayed off.

a couple of options for the seats. Could always find a set like you want and swap them out (put that in the "it's only $ category). Or just put on 30 pounds and get wedged in like a sardine! My wife does not like confining seats so would hate those huggy one. And I am skinny, and there were a few cars I sat in that I found to be squeezing too tight. I couldn't imagine someone 220#s wedging in there.

Stuff like the auto stop/start, nice if you could disable permanetly. Neither of my cars has that option, and at this point it is muscle memory to push that button when I turn it on (pushing the start button and E Brake release button already, so don't even notice one more! If I do forget I realize at the first stop light when it goes off, then I disable it. I really hate that feature.

driver100

Sports seats sound good in theory, but for everyday driving they are more trouble than they are worth.
There is no ON/OFF ignition in the C250, and that is one of the simple things that is refreshing about it
In the E and the GLK there is a button that turns it off....I start the car, put it in gear, and automatically disable ON/OFF.
I think it was only invented to get an extra few yards per gallon in order to meet the CAFE requirements.

venture

The stop/start on my BMW is barely noticeable. On the Legacy it shook when start was reactivated, noticeably.

imidazol97

roadburner said:

Why isn't the AMG Performance exhaust standard? It is just too much fun. The pops and burbles actually turn heads when I fire the car up. It sure beats the fake motor sound BMW pumps through the audio system.
The car is averaging maybe 1-2 mpg less than the M235i; who cares?

You are reminding me of a Cadillac commercial from the 200x's? for the STS or CTS Caddy.
They show a young woman getting in and starting it up, and enjoying the sound of the
power awaiting for a spirited (UnCadillac-like) ride for the time.

I believe the audio says something about when you turn your car on does it turn YOU on!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlIu1a1Vieg&t=31s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQebrDNmJoU

explorerx4

That commercial probably helped them sell a few of those cars.

imidazol97

For the stop/start system on my Malibu, there are some chip replacement systems to "tune" the engine that can disable it along with some other techniques. One IIRC indicates the hood is up which turns off the s/s.

Mine cannot be turned off even for each drive. I'd die for a system I could just hit a button once each drive and it quit working. I've learned to feather the brake at the end of a stop to keep the % pedal from being at the number that allows the s/s to activate. But aggravating.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

That commercial probably helped them sell a few of those cars.

Almost made me buy one....but somehow I think they were scamming me.

driver100

Progressive and State Farm said it has temporarily stopped providing new auto insurance policies for some model years and trim levels of Hyundai and Kia vehicles in some states because of an increase in thefts for those cars. (I wonder if it includes 2015 Gennies?)

State Farm didn't specify which types of Hyundai and Kia vehicles are affected, nor in which states it has suspended new insurance policies for the cars. But the decision comes after the Highway Loss Data Institute found that theft claims for 2015-2019 Hyundai and Kia vehicles were almost twice as high as compared with all other automakers.

The reason for the higher theft claims is a lack of electronic immobilizers in some Hyundai and Kia vehicles that would otherwise prevent thieves from breaking in and bypassing the ignition, the Highway Loss Data Institute said. Electronic immobilizers are standard on almost all vehicles from those years made by other automakers, it added.

venture

imidazol97 said:

For the stop/start system on my Malibu, there are some chip replacement systems to "tune" the engine that can disable it along with some other techniques. One IIRC indicates the hood is up which turns off the s/s.

Mine cannot be turned off even for each drive. I'd die for a system I could just hit a button once each drive and it quit working. I've learned to feather the brake at the end of a stop to keep the % pedal from being at the number that allows the s/s to activate. But aggravating.

My BMW has a button right above the engine Start/Stop button. In my Legacy you had to go through a few menu steps until, during a software update, they added a button on the center stack.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

Progressive and State Farm said it has temporarily stopped providing new auto insurance policies for some model years and trim levels of Hyundai and Kia vehicles in some states because of an increase in thefts for those cars. (I wonder if it includes 2015 Gennies?)

State Farm didn't specify which types of Hyundai and Kia vehicles are affected, nor in which states it has suspended new insurance policies for the cars. But the decision comes after the Highway Loss Data Institute found that theft claims for 2015-2019 Hyundai and Kia vehicles were almost twice as high as compared with all other automakers.

The reason for the higher theft claims is a lack of electronic immobilizers in some Hyundai and Kia vehicles that would otherwise prevent thieves from breaking in and bypassing the ignition, the Highway Loss Data Institute said. Electronic immobilizers are standard on almost all vehicles from those years made by other automakers, it added.

I hope the insurance on my Kia doesn’t go up.

imidazol97

@driver100
"Hyundai and Kia wouldn’t provide the model years that don’t have the immobilizers but Forbes reports models affected include 2016-2021 Hyundai Accent, Elantra, Elantra GT, Sonata, Veloster, Venue, Kona, Tucson, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Sport, Santa Fe XL and Palisade as well as 2011-2021 Kias that use a key to start the engine."

Article makes an interesting read.
Kia/Hyundai will sell a glass break kit for a couple hundred $$$ to help with your problematic Hyunkia.

https://www.repairerdrivennews.com/2022/10/20/hyundai-kia-offering-anti-theft-kits-for-older-model-vehicles-facing-dozens-of-lawsuits-over-absence-of-immobilizers/#:~:text=Hyundai and Kia wouldn't,a key to start the

imidazol97

Even my 1993/1998 leSabres had an effective antitheft system. I know, I had to eventually bypass the one on my 1998 after 150K or so miles because the fine wires in the steering column broke fibres and changed resistance causing the system to have trouble reading the key chip's resistance. I had to solder together some radio shack (miss that store a lot) resistors and bypass the chip in the key.

tjc78

My 98 Olds 88 had a key like this with the little chip you could see. I assume the LeSabre was the same.

stickguy

the Subaru auto start set-up was a deal breaker for the wife when we were shopping (before getting the 2nd RDX). it had a very rough on/off, and when the salesman showed what you had to go through to disable it (every time you started) it was like, nope, not happening!

probably was not convincing her to get a "station wagon" anyway but that sealed the deal.

andres3

Any user settings should be remembered upon startup. It's absurd in 2023 that a car can't remember your preferences. There are 8-bit Nintendo games from the 80's that had battery back up memory.

Sandman6472

I like my iPhone because I can sync it with my new iPad and m MacBook Air. What's in one device is now in all. Don't make that many calls anymore, text most of the time. Not very tech savvy and usually just hand my device to one of the kids and a few minutes later, all is well. At work, they like us to all have a smart phone with GPS so as not to get lost.
Glad I finally dropped my android phone & came on over to all Apple products. Just makes my life easier going forward.
Went to BJ's with one of the kids last night and was a very easy experience. Did the self check out and even with a few coupons, only took us a few minutes to be on our way. We don't buy that much on each visit so takes us less time. Found it the cheapest place to get petrol also. Found the sweet spot at night is around 8:00 pm or at 6:16 am in the morning when the pumps just open. Only a few of us are there that early and luckily, it's right near my office. Just stop by McDonald's afterwards for an bacon, egg & cheese biscuit and read my magazine or play on the phone. Usually catch up on my emails or read the latest news. Usually use their wifi since we went back to our old phone plan due to being mislead about certain things.

tjc78

Usually use their wifi

I’m paranoid and will not use public WiFi. I agree you with on Apple devices. It is nice how they all sync up.

mjfloyd1

@roadburner said:
After 5 weeks I'm still loving the C43. the only minor gripes I have are that you can't permanently disable stop/start and the fact that the seats have no backrest width adjustment; I wish the car had the AMG Sport seats:

A few random observations:
I definitely prefer the COMAND 5.5 interface over BMW's iDrive 7.0; the Nick O'Leary YT channel has also helped quite a bit to get up to speed.
The touch pads on the left and right steering wheel spokes are really convenient and allow you to make a lot of adjustments without taking your hands off the wheel.
Un-buffered engine oil and ATF temperature readings- why can't Munich offer that?
I can't understand why any AMG has a 133 mph speed limiter; 155 mph should be the minimum top speed. If my car hadn't been delimited to 155 mph I would have passed on it. The M340i and M440i run to 155 mph without having to pay extra for the higher top speed.
Why isn't the AMG Performance exhaust standard? It is just too much fun. The pops and burbles actually turn heads when I fire the car up. It sure beats the fake motor sound BMW pumps through the audio system.
The car is averaging maybe 1-2 mpg less than the M235i; who cares?
The LED Intelligent Light System is phenomenal. I'm checking into re-coding it to European standards.
My son and I will be taking the car to the local 1/8 mile drag strip this spring; that should be fun.
I'm glad I bought a W205 and got the Biturbo V6 instead of the four cylinder, but that's just me...

Those AMG sport seats look a lot like Ricardos 😎

Michaell

mjfloyd1 said:

@roadburner said:

After 5 weeks I'm still loving the C43. the only minor gripes I have are that you can't permanently disable stop/start and the fact that the seats have no backrest width adjustment; I wish the car had the AMG Sport seats:

A few random observations:

I definitely prefer the COMAND 5.5 interface over BMW's iDrive 7.0; the Nick O'Leary YT channel has also helped quite a bit to get up to speed.

The touch pads on the left and right steering wheel spokes are really convenient and allow you to make a lot of adjustments without taking your hands off the wheel.

Un-buffered engine oil and ATF temperature readings- why can't Munich offer that?

I can't understand why any AMG has a 133 mph speed limiter; 155 mph should be the minimum top speed. If my car hadn't been delimited to 155 mph I would have passed on it. The M340i and M440i run to 155 mph without having to pay extra for the higher top speed.

Why isn't the AMG Performance exhaust standard? It is just too much fun. The pops and burbles actually turn heads when I fire the car up. It sure beats the fake motor sound BMW pumps through the audio system.

The car is averaging maybe 1-2 mpg less than the M235i; who cares?

The LED Intelligent Light System is phenomenal. I'm checking into re-coding it to European standards.

My son and I will be taking the car to the local 1/8 mile drag strip this spring; that should be fun.

I'm glad I bought a W205 and got the Biturbo V6 instead of the four cylinder, but that's just me...

Those AMG sport seats look a lot like Ricardos 😎

"Lucy, you've got some 'splainin' to do!"

driver100

I didn't know he designed car seats;

Sandman6472

I have almost 900 songs in my iTunes account but having trouble moving them now with the current generation iTunes and all. Have most on a little flash drive & also in my iPhone. With the smartphone, some audio systems will only pull from the songs I bought in iTunes the last few years while other vehicles let me have access to the whole library file. Just not sure how to get around all this or even how to buy a few more tunes I've wanted to get. Think they've made it too complicated for a tech newbie like myself...just don't have the knowledge to get past a certain point. Help!!!

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

I like that the seats are grey rather than black.

That's a sad comment on the state of the car industry.

ab348

iTunes is considered by many to be a disaster now, especially since they made it more complicated and less intuitive (not that it ever really was) with the advent of Apple Music and them wanting you to subscribe to that instead, meaning more $ for Apple.

tjc78

@ab348 said:
iTunes is considered by many to be a disaster now, especially since they made it more complicated and less intuitive (not that it ever really was) with the advent of Apple Music and them wanting you to subscribe to that instead, meaning more $ for Apple.

I have thousands of MP3s, hundreds of CDs, Tapes and Vinyl.

I have bowed down to the convenience of paying the $13 a month for Apple Music. I can load just about any album or song on demand in lossless quality. Wife has Pandora Premium and can do much of the same. We can save a few bucks if we each use the same service.

The way I see it, it is cheaper per month than buying one digital album or CD.

ab348

That might make sense if one bought new releases. That is not something I do.

Michaell

I saw a post in my FB feed the other day of Danny Elfman at an LA area record store, shopping and buying 25 albums. There was a separate post, from him, talking about his music history - he moved everything to digital when CD's were the rage, and realized recently that he didn't even have a working turntable in his house. Also commented that he could as easily bought 200 albums that day at the store, instead of the 25 he picked up.

There. Now you know.

jmonroe1

@imidazol97 said:
For the stop/start system on my Malibu, there are some chip replacement systems to "tune" the engine that can disable it along with some other techniques. One IIRC indicates the hood is up which turns off the s/s.

Mine cannot be turned off even for each drive. I'd die for a system I could just hit a button once each drive and it quit working. I've learned to feather the brake at the end of a stop to keep the % pedal from being at the number that allows the s/s to activate. But aggravating.

————————————————
If all it takes is for the hood to be unlatched to defeat the start/stop feature then unlatch the hood until it grabs the hood unlatch safely stop. If the start/stop feature is now defeated, make a permanent fix by breaking the ground for the latch sensor with a $3.00 toggle switch and you’re done. If that turns on a dash light, a penny’s worth of electrical tape fixes that.

Your fix is easy peasy compared to @driver100 ’s search for a totally wireless back up camera.

jmonroe

henryn

Michaell said:

I saw a post in my FB feed the other day of Danny Elfman at an LA area record store, shopping and buying 25 albums. There was a separate post, from him, talking about his music history - he moved everything to digital when CD's were the rage, and realized recently that he didn't even have a working turntable in his house. Also commented that he could as easily bought 200 albums that day at the store, instead of the 25 he picked up.

There. Now you know.

I don't understand the point here. He bought 25 albums, and he doesn't even have a working turntable? ????

Michaell

henryn said:

Michaell said:

I saw a post in my FB feed the other day of Danny Elfman at an LA area record store, shopping and buying 25 albums. There was a separate post, from him, talking about his music history - he moved everything to digital when CD's were the rage, and realized recently that he didn't even have a working turntable in his house. Also commented that he could as easily bought 200 albums that day at the store, instead of the 25 he picked up.

There. Now you know.

I don't understand the point here. He bought 25 albums, and he doesn't even have a working turntable? ????

I think the point was that someone who is into music as Danny Elfman has reverted back to vinyl, and will likely either repair a turntable he owns, or buy a new one.

henryn

Sandman6472 said:

I have almost 900 songs in my iTunes account but having trouble moving them now with the current generation iTunes and all. Have most on a little flash drive & also in my iPhone. With the smartphone, some audio systems will only pull from the songs I bought in iTunes the last few years while other vehicles let me have access to the whole library file. Just not sure how to get around all this or even how to buy a few more tunes I've wanted to get. Think they've made it too complicated for a tech newbie like myself...just don't have the knowledge to get past a certain point. Help!!!

As someone else here noted, iTunes has become a bit of a disaster in recent years. Apple obviously wants you to subscribe to their service rather than buy and own individual pieces of music. For someone who isn't technically knowledgeable, and doesn't want to become technically knowledgeable, there is no instant fix, "just push this button and all of your problems are fixed".

I don't work on Apple products, on Windows I could retrieve all of your music into standard mp3 files in fairly quick order. (900 files, around 10 minutes or less). But it would take me a lot longer to explain the process than to just do it. You have said before that you go to one of your daughters for technical help of this type, I advise you to do so again.