Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

[Deleted User]

snakeweasel said:

tyguy said:

Perhaps there should be a "penalty" for VW for the number of vehicles that are not updated within a certain time frame, something along the lines of carbon offset. VW could contribute to a superfund cleanup or install solar/wind generation, and the amount invested dependent on how many cars that they "fix". If they could offset a coal fired power plant with renewable and clean energy production, the benefit to U.S. air would offset the excess pollution from the vehicles.

I would think that it would be unfair to penalize VW based on the number of vehicles not updated by a certain date, especially if they have a fix up well before that date. Why punish VW if the owners refuse to get the fix done.

The fix is likely to degrade the ownership experience, and since the EPA will not require all owners to comply, then VW knowingly and deceptively polluted our shared air. Offsetting that pollution would at least nullify the impact for the other 99% of people who chose not to buy a VW diesel.

carnaught

GG, time to put a picture of a large lemon prominently in your car window?

graphicguy

ab348 said:

None of this makes any sense.

FWIW, my 2014 ATS, CUE, and my iPhone5 all get along just fine, always have.

ab,,,,I know. Makes zero sense. I told the lead tech writer at the last dealership visit that Cadillac and the dealership service dept should be ashamed. Either the service dept is inept (but, the other dealership I took it to was just as bad, if not worse), or Cadillac is inept. Probably both. I don't think I'd be willing to work for a company who was so poor at that they do, and are willing to make excuse, after excuse, after excuse regarding why they're so bad at what they do. There has to be other car companies these folks can work for that has better products, as well as a better reputation.

carnaught....the "lemon sign idea" is one I've been pondering.

driver100

graphicguy said:

ab348 said:

None of this makes any sense.

FWIW, my 2014 ATS, CUE, and my iPhone5 all get along just fine, always have.

ab,,,,I know. Makes zero sense. I told the lead tech writer at the last dealership visit that Cadillac and the dealership service dept should be ashamed. Either the service dept is inept (but, the other dealership I took it to was just as bad, if not worse), or Cadillac is inept. Probably both. I don't think I'd be willing to work for a company who was so poor at that they do, and are willing to make excuse, after excuse, after excuse regarding why they're so bad at what they do. There has to be other car companies these folks can work for that has better products, as well as a better reputation.

carnaught....the "lemon sign idea" is one I've been pondering.

GG, I like the lemon sign idea, and you should drive it to your dealer's with the sign in the window.

I don't understand why you haven't heard from the Lemon Law people. It shouldn't take this long to hear both sides of the story.

I still say BBB is a waste of time. Insurance bureau or Automotive Safety people who looked into other issues.....ignition switch, Lexus brakes etc would like to hear about safety issues, and GM is supposed to be watched carefully.

driver100

abacomike said:

I think I am done watching football until the Super Bowl unless I can find a Canadian League team to root for the next two months.

The Bufallo Bills didn't beat Miami tonight - Miami once again beat themselves.  Last week Miami did the same thing - beat themselves.  The penalties are just pathetic.  If I was Joe Philbin, I'd take a cruise around the world this week.

Nah, Canadian football isn't that great. Most of our players couldn't make it in the US.

abacomike

@driver100:

Most of the Dolphins couldn't make it in the Canadian League!!!!

imidazol97

There's a plethora of stories about VW's having been warned 3 years ago and earlier about deception in their testing software.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/09/27/reports-volkswagen-emmissions/72923064/

stickguy

Andre, a real world test makes no sense. Because everyone's real world is different, and you can't repeat conditions for consistency. So, something like the EPA tests have to be designed and run in a lab, and extrapolated into something passing for real world expectations (the way they apply a fudge factor to the MPG ratings).

that has always been a problem with the mileage ratings. People don't understand what they mean, and get upset when they don't get the same # that is on the sticker.

emissions tests though, people never see that real world (knowing what their car is emitting) unlike if you aren't coming close the the MPG estimate!

Sandman6472

Finally got my 10 year old Vista laptop up and running with Chrome and no issues since yesterday. The Office Depot guy over by the JM Lexus dealer in Coconut Creek told me that Windows 10 won't work on Vista computers without a certain Service Pack, escapes me now which one he said, so no Windows 10 for me. Using Firefox or I E, this desktop is unusable but Chrome seems to have calmed things down. Was going to get an all-in-one desktop, as I like having both, but not sure if I should do nothing & stay the course, buy a Windows 10 small all-in-one P C or get an Apple desktop and spend a lot. Just wish I had written down the number of the service pack the guy mentioned so I could try that first.

The Sandman

P. S. Solved the issue of no usb port in my VW Golf by getting a connector that goes into the old style Apple 30 pin plug connector which came with the vehicle that has a mini usb port on the other end which connects right into my cell phone for a nominal price. The car chargers I have have blown the fuse already so refuse to charge that way anymore.

robr2

Dumb volunteer of the year award goes to ME!! The high school marching band (which my daughter is a member of) had a car wash yesterday. I volunteered to wash all the towels they used. Right now I am on the 9th load (10 towels each) and still have about 6 more to go.

suydam

sandman_6472 said:

Was going to get an all-in-one desktop, as I like having both, but not sure if I should do nothing & stay the course, buy a Windows 10 small all-in-one P C or get an Apple desktop and spend a lot. Just wish I had written down the number of the service pack the guy mentioned so I could try that first.
.

People still buy desktop computers?

imidazol97

sandman_6472 said:

Finally got my 10 year old Vista laptop up and running with Chrome and no issues since yesterday. The Office Depot guy over by the JM Lexus dealer in Coconut Creek told me that Windows 10 won't work on Vista computers without a certain Service Pack, escapes me now which one he said, so no Windows 10 for me.

My HP laptop is about 10 years old. On the net there's a page with a program from MS that can be run to check the PC for readiness to be upgraded to Win 10 (there also are programs to check for Win 7 and Win 8 readiness).

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/what-is-the-system-update-readiness-tool

It listed the things that my laptop didn't have in the way of CPU's abilities and some motherboard aspects. So I know I'll just replace this puppy when I give up on XP. I'd suggest that your laptop is probably in the same boat as my old laptop.

Unless you have a copy of Win7 lying around to use on your Vista laptop first, it can't be upgraded to Win 10 without paying the $110 or so for a license for Win 10. I'd spend the $110 toward a new laptop with touch screen instead.

[Deleted User]

robr2 said:

Dumb volunteer of the year award goes to ME!! The high school marching band (which my daughter is a member of) had a car wash yesterday. I volunteered to wash all the towels they used. Right now I am on the 9th load (10 towels each) and still have about 6 more to go.

Wow! Amazing they had that many towels available. Good on you for helping them out, but that is a lot of work (and water/electricity). Sounds like the car wash was successful.

oldfarmer50

Back in fantasy land.

As you know, I'm hooked on older cars with low milage. Yesterday I see a 2001 Buick Century for $2950 with 28,500 miles. Well, the sugar plums started dancing in my head at the prospect of a car at the end of it's depreciation curve with near new milage. Wife told me to knock off the car buying nonsense but I figured I could use the excuse of buying it for my kids, good winter car...etc. etc.

Anyway, since it was only 3 miles away I figured I'd just cruise by and if it spoke to me I might throw an offer at it.

As I went by the house the first thing I noticed was the rusty rockers. A common Century rust spot but at 28k miles it would have had to have been driven in a salt mine. It was probably from sitting in grandma's back yard for 10 years which meant the brake and fuel systems were probably corroded as well.

Sadly, no sale this time.

suydam

I think that's pretty typical when you get a low mileage car of that age. It was parked for YEARS.

robr2

tyguy said:

robr2 said:

Dumb volunteer of the year award goes to ME!! The high school marching band (which my daughter is a member of) had a car wash yesterday. I volunteered to wash all the towels they used. Right now I am on the 9th load (10 towels each) and still have about 6 more to go.

Wow! Amazing they had that many towels available. Good on you for helping them out, but that is a lot of work (and water/electricity). Sounds like the car wash was successful.

They had about 100 kids over the 8 hours of the car wash. They all brought old towels, rags, et al to use. I am washing all of them but I don't know if many of them were expected to go back home. The band raised quite a bit of money for their trip to Disney in April.

Luckily I have a gas dryer so it the electricity won't be so bad.

imidazol97

robr2 said:

They had about 100 kids over the 8 hours of the car wash. They all brought old towels, rags, et al to use. I am washing all of them but I don't know if many of them were expected to go back home. The band raised quite a bit of money for their trip to Disney in April.

Luckily I have a gas dryer so it the electricity won't be so bad.

Did they have their names on each towel? My son was in band and we were the only ones who put
his last name on the edge of the towel in Sharpie when they had a car wash.

isellhondas

suydam said:

sandman_6472 said:

Was going to get an all-in-one desktop, as I like having both, but not sure if I should do nothing & stay the course, buy a Windows 10 small all-in-one P C or get an Apple desktop and spend a lot. Just wish I had written down the number of the service pack the guy mentioned so I could try that first.
.

People still buy desktop computers?

I always buy computers with a tower. I have no need to carry a laptop anymore and I use my iPad when I'm downstairs. Trying to convert from Windows 7 to 10 was a disaster for me and I am SO thankful that I was able to restore my Windows 7. Not just me. Other people I know ran into the same thing yet I know at least one person that went from 7 to 10 without a hitch. Go figure!

isellhondas

oldfarmer50 said:

Back in fantasy land.

As you know, I'm hooked on older cars with low milage. Yesterday I see a 2001 Buick Century for $2950 with 28,500 miles. Well, the sugar plums started dancing in my head at the prospect of a car at the end of it's depreciation curve with near new milage. Wife told me to knock off the car buying nonsense but I figured I could use the excuse of buying it for my kids, good winter car...etc. etc.

Anyway, since it was only 3 miles away I figured I'd just cruise by and if it spoke to me I might throw an offer at it.

As I went by the house the first thing I noticed was the rusty rockers. A common Century rust spot but at 28k miles it would have had to have been driven in a salt mine. It was probably from sitting in grandma's back yard for 10 years which meant the brake and fuel systems were probably corroded as well.

Sadly, no sale this time.

Rust? What's that?

stickguy

Rob, I was smart. I always drove the equipment truck (26' box freight liner from Ryder). Beats doing laundry.

robr2

imidazol97 said:

robr2 said:

They had about 100 kids over the 8 hours of the car wash. They all brought old towels, rags, et al to use. I am washing all of them but I don't know if many of them were expected to go back home. The band raised quite a bit of money for their trip to Disney in April.

Luckily I have a gas dryer so it the electricity won't be so bad.

Did they have their names on each towel? My son was in band and we were the only ones who put
his last name on the edge of the towel in Sharpie when they had a car wash.

Only 1 towel has a name written on it. Other than that, I have 1 purple one that has "Karen" embroided on it and 1 white one with a "Dow Chemical" logo. I am taking all of them back to school tomorrow and letting the band director take it from there. We sent my daughter with two old towels torn in half with the expectation of their not coming back.

stickguy

Donate them all to the animal shelter. Do the band director a favor!

robr2

stickguy said:

Rob, I was smart. I always drove the equipment truck (26' box freight liner from Ryder). Beats doing laundry.

Right now they have 4 buses for the kids and two trailers pulled by pickup trucks. A dad pays his crews to clear out two of his irrigation company trailers on Friday afternoons to haul the stuff on Friday night. Our high school marching band is the only one in our league to travel to away games. In two weeks they compete at an invitational. The host school has it's own tractor trailer to haul it's stuff as they travel nationally.

stickguy

Big band. Ours was smaller in those years, but did the competition circuit. Along with home and away games. But the tourneys were the main focus.

abacomike

isellhondas said:

Was going to get an all-in-one desktop, as I like having both, but not sure if I should do nothing & stay the course, buy a Windows 10 small all-in-one P C or get an Apple desktop and spend a lot. Just wish I had written down the number of the service pack the guy mentioned so I could try that first. .

People still buy desktop computers?

I always buy computers with a tower. I have no need to carry a laptop anymore and I use my iPad when I'm downstairs. Trying to convert from Windows 7 to 10 was a disaster for me and I am SO thankful that I was able to restore my Windows 7. Not just me. Other people I know ran into the same thing yet I know at least one person that went from 7 to 10 without a hitch. Go figure!

You know at least 2 people who went from Windows 7 to Windows 10 without a hitch - ME  

thebean

stickguy said:

Big band. Ours was smaller in those years, but did the competition circuit. Along with home and away games. But the tourneys were the main focus.

You wanna talk about big HS band?  The band in our town (Allen, TX) has over 800 members.  When they do a halftime show, they completely cover the field.  No one gets cut from the band.  It's quite a sight.  I think they need 10 buses or more to go to out of town games.  

robr2

stickguy said:

Big band. Ours was smaller in those years, but did the competition circuit. Along with home and away games. But the tourneys were the main focus.

133 members this year when you count musician, color guard, and dance team. The band always grows during a Disney year. 3 years ago it jumped from 70 to 80 and this year 115 to 133.

js06gv

thebean said:

stickguy said:

Big band. Ours was smaller in those years, but did the competition circuit. Along with home and away games. But the tourneys were the main focus.

You wanna talk about big HS band?  The band in our town (Allen, TX) has over 800 members.  When they do a halftime show, they completely cover the field.  No one gets cut from the band.  It's quite a sight.  I think they need 10 buses or more to go to out of town games.  

Didn't realize you were in Allen. My daughter was in that band for her first three years of high school. She quit this year to focus on the journalism program, where she is editor in chief of the school publication her senior year.

You are right. The band is massive and touted as the largest of any high school in the United States.

oldfarmer50

isellhondas said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Back in fantasy land.

As you know, I'm hooked on older cars with low milage. Yesterday I see a 2001 Buick Century for $2950 with 28,500 miles. Well, the sugar plums started dancing in my head at the prospect of a car at the end of it's depreciation curve with near new milage. Wife told me to knock off the car buying nonsense but I figured I could use the excuse of buying it for my kids, good winter car...etc. etc.

Anyway, since it was only 3 miles away I figured I'd just cruise by and if it spoke to me I might throw an offer at it.

As I went by the house the first thing I noticed was the rusty rockers. A common Century rust spot but at 28k miles it would have had to have been driven in a salt mine. It was probably from sitting in grandma's back yard for 10 years which meant the brake and fuel systems were probably corroded as well.

Sadly, no sale this time.

Rust? What's that?

Did I mention that I hate snow with the passion of a thousand suns? :@

abacomike

js06gv said:

stickguy said:

Big band. Ours was smaller in those years, but did the competition circuit. Along with home and away games. But the tourneys were the main focus.

You wanna talk about big HS band?  The band in our town (Allen, TX) has over 800 members.  When they do a halftime show, they completely cover the field.  No one gets cut from the band.  It's quite a sight.  I think they need 10 buses or more to go to out of town games.  

Didn't realize you were in Allen. My daughter was in that band for her first three years of high school. She quit this year to focus on the journalism program, where she is editor in chief of the school publication her senior year. You are right. The band is massive and touted as the largest of any high school in the United States.

I guess we found out who has the biggest!  

abacomike

oldfarmer50 said:

Back in fantasy land. As you know, I'm hooked on older cars with low milage. Yesterday I see a 2001 Buick Century for $2950 with 28,500 miles. Well, the sugar plums started dancing in my head at the prospect of a car at the end of it's depreciation curve with near new milage. Wife told me to knock off the car buying nonsense but I figured I could use the excuse of buying it for my kids, good winter car...etc. etc. Anyway, since it was only 3 miles away I figured I'd just cruise by and if it spoke to me I might throw an offer at it. As I went by the house the first thing I noticed was the rusty rockers. A common Century rust spot but at 28k miles it would have had to have been driven in a salt mine. It was probably from sitting in grandma's back yard for 10 years which meant the brake and fuel systems were probably corroded as well. Sadly, no sale this time.

Rust? What's that?

Did I mention that I hate snow with the passion of a thousand suns? :@

What's snow?  

suydam

Now you're just being cruel!

thebean

js06gv said:

Didn't realize you were in Allen. My daughter was in that band for her first three years of high school. She quit this year to focus on the journalism program, where she is editor in chief of the school publication her senior year. You are right. The band is massive and touted as the largest of any high school in the United States.

Good for her.  That's impressive being editor in chief.  I wish her well in her studies.

oldfarmer50

suydam said:

Now you're just being cruel!

He doesn't know that I plan to camp out on his couch while I buy those wonderful rust free Florida cars.

abacomike

oldfarmer50 said:

Now you're just being cruel!

He doesn't know that I plan to camp out on his couch while I buy those wonderful rust free Florida cars.

There's always a bed (not a couch) for my friends.  The couch is for moochers!

ab348

abacomike said:

You know at least 2 people who went from Windows 7 to Windows 10 without a hitch - ME  

I did one of my two Win 7 laptops a few weeks ago. Upgrade process went fine and it is working. I don't like Windows 10 as much as 7 though. I hate the idea of logging into a Microsoft account every time I need to use it and the differences in looks are not huge but all are a step backward IMO. I don't see the reason for it.

imidazol97

robr2 said:

The host school has it's own tractor trailer to haul it's stuff as they travel nationally.

Bands of America competitions for the national stuff? Indianapolis for Grand Nationals in November?

imidazol97

ab348 said:

abacomike said:

You know at least 2 people who went from Windows 7 to Windows 10 without a hitch - ME  

I did one of my two Win 7 laptops a few weeks ago. Upgrade process went fine and it is working. I don't like Windows 10 as much as 7 though. I hate the idea of logging into a Microsoft account every time I need to use it and the differences in looks are not huge but all are a step backward IMO. I don't see the reason for it.

My first upgrade went perfectly. On a similar HP laptop with smaller screen as only different that my wife has, it wouldn't operate correctly. I had diagnosed it down to I need to delete the folder where Windows Upgrade stores the files it downloads for doing the upgrades. An automatic download for Win 10 got pooched somehow and has blocked further auto upgrades because of remnants left in the down load file. I can still download an ISO from MS and run it do the upgrade. I've decided since I have almost a year to do it, I'll wait a while.

robr2

imidazol97 said:

robr2 said:

The host school has it's own tractor trailer to haul it's stuff as they travel nationally.

Bands of America competitions for the national stuff? Indianapolis for Grand Nationals in November?

Don't know.

explorerx4

Here is my Saturday band picture

fezo

Just back from running a few errands. Ended up behind a Jetta TDI at a red light. I'll go for my pulmonary function test.

stickguy

I'm on the Email list for local VW dealer. Just got an Email, basically throwing VW germany under the bus, and saying to come to them with any questions, and that they will be your advocate, etc. Pretty much begging you to give them another chance!

Oh, and made sure to point out it was Diesel only.

dino001

There will be great deals on VWs and Audis this Christmas, when inventories pile up. Not quite yet.

However, things may get much worse, actual MSRP price cuts may have to follow in years to come. I heard multiple people saying VW may lose premium pricing (over domestic/Japanese popular brands) power altogether.

stever

ab348 said:

I hate the idea of logging into a Microsoft account every time I need to use it.

You can turn that off or use a "local" password if you like. (Settings > Your Account > Sign in with a local account)

The local VW dealer had a screamer ad in the paper Sunday, with a TDI advertised near the bottom. The ad probably was prepped a couple of weeks ago.

nyccarguy

jpp5862 said:

nyccarguy said:

The Mailbu is a really nice car for the mid-sized segment. I think I saw an ad for an ultr-low mileage lease of a 1LT with $0 down, due at signing, 1st month, bank fee for $177 per month. We talk about this on the mid sized 2.0 board all the time. It is so hard to get the accord buyers away from the Honda showrooms & the Camry buyers away from the Toyota showrooms. The segment is super competitive with so many choices for so many buyers. Each plays to their own strength. The 2.0 Turbo sounds kinda sexy (says the guy with the NA 2.5L H4 rated at 175 hp)

Honda and Toyota haven't given their buyers a long-term reason to leave their showrooms. The Malibu is competitive for sure but nothing to draw attention anyway from any competitor (Toyota, Honda, Ford, Hyundai).

And don't forget, "the guy with NA 2.5L H4 rated at 175 hp" has the best AWD sedan and will be on one car payment soon. (Says the guy who says "I don't mind the payment").

The "Lease Questions" boards are not a healthy place for me to be looking. Even with money factors that equate to over 3% & 4% interest rates, the WRX's high residual make it a very attractive vehicle to lease. Plus it looks like Subaru doesn't charge too much for excess miles up front.

henryn

ab348 said:

abacomike said:

You know at least 2 people who went from Windows 7 to Windows 10 without a hitch - ME  

I did one of my two Win 7 laptops a few weeks ago. Upgrade process went fine and it is working. I don't like Windows 10 as much as 7 though. I hate the idea of logging into a Microsoft account every time I need to use it and the differences in looks are not huge but all are a step backward IMO. I don't see the reason for it.

"the difference in looks are not huge but all are a step backward IMO." -- do a quick google search for ClassicShell, download, install, hello Windows 7 interface!

"logging into a Microsoft account every time I need to use it" -- go here and read:

http://addictivetips.com/windows-tips/disable-login-screen-in-windows-10/

If you aren’t too bothered about securing your computer with a password, and are just plain annoyed with having to login in repeatedly, there is a simple way to disable it so that you can just dive right in and start using your PC. Here’s how.

venture

The Subaru dealer finally saw it my way. My daughter has her Crosstrek.

oldfarmer50

venture said:

The Subaru dealer finally saw it my way. My daughter has her Crosstrek.

Did you use your most powerful negotiating tool...the door?

verdugo

abacomike said:

I was just listening to Bloomberg (online panel discussion) and along with a 1/3 drop in its common stock in the past few days, VW's reputation throughout its lines of automobiles (VW, Audi, Porsche, etc.) will be negatively affected in the short run.  It's going to take a major strategic set of actions on VW's part in order to regain its standing and trust.

As I see it, GM has succeeded in putting a lot of the negativism it experienced in the past several years behind them.  Toyota has succeeded as well.  I see no reason, assuming implementation of a great public relations strategy, that VW cannot repeat GM's and Toyota's successes.

My brother lives in Norway. In January he got a new Skoda Oktavia Supreme Diesel wagon (basically a Passat wagon.) They just announced today that his engine is also affected. I'll let you guys know what ends up happening.

ab348

henryn said:

"logging into a Microsoft account every time I need to use it" -- go here and read:

http://addictivetips.com/windows-tips/disable-login-screen-in-windows-10/

The comments at the bottom of that page show a plethora of problems with that. No thanks.