adding in the circus that a supreme court appointment is going to be in the current environment to the noise of an election year, and this is probably a good year to all move up to Driver's place in Canada. He isn't using it. heck, in the summer, we can all go hang out in his neighbor's pool!
I don't know if it would be any better....our new Prime Minister's only real jobs were as a skateboard teacher and a part-time drama teacher for 2 years. He is trying to be everybody's friend so he is promising everyone more money, and the debt keeps rising. Our dollar has sunk to about 70 cents US and there isn't much of a market for our expensive oil.
Yes, I suspect we are in for a very rough 4 years. Our PM has a majority government so he can do whatever he wants, and so far it seems all he wants to do is run up the deficit to an unprecedented degree and give away handouts to various special groups. He promised to legalize weed so maybe the strategy is to get the whole country so stoned nobody cares what he does. Meanwhile my investment portfolio is down over 10% and as you say, our currency is worthless. I can only imagine what things will be like when all the bills he is running up come due. Moving to Costa Rica sounds better every day.
Imid....what went on in your head when you saw that LOW price?
At that time I was slowly driving through the lines of used cars at different stores looking at various cars vs prices that I might consider buying for my son's car. A new low-priced small car was on the roster as well. The signs were designed to be seen by the drive-by's--like me. When I'd see an attractive price, but then look more closely to realize the real price with no trade was substantially more, I turned negative on that store. In fact, I found the slightly used Cobalts at the adjacent Chevy store and picked one of them.
I felt the signs were playing to 1) the drive-bys 2) the payment buyers who, I feel, aren't careful about how much they pay but rather look at the monthly payment. If anything the design of the signs made the list price - the supposed store discount not obvious. So I ended up seeing the full, list price rather than seeing the price - immediate discount. That store is a high pressure store where the sales folk would walk along the car as I drove through rows of new cars when I would drive through to check the wares on the shelves of the Fusion and Focus lines.
I was listening to a radio show Saturday that's supposed to be a call in show for problems with maintenance or shopping for a car--sponsored by a Honda store owned by a company owning lots of stores. Usually the one "expert" is telling how awful GM cars are when someone calls in with a problem or shopping question. He then laughs about how he upsets people who write to him about his bias. He gives long excuses for Hondas with problems. Oh, he also dislikes Mopar products.
But on to the point, they had a call from someone who bought a slightly used Mustang a couple years back from a Ford store in the city. Carfax, Car and Driver guarantee (I think that's the right mag). Had a wreck and the body shop and insurance company says the car is totaled. He expected it to be fixable. BUT there was previous bad body damage to the rails and (other things I missed) AND the car had been totaled BEFORE. But it was resold by the Ford store. He had paid on it for 2 years almost. I think he really wants to be repaid for his payments on a car he believes now was not as represented.
The car expert did go to bat to help the guy. He told him how to ask questions without giving information about what had happened. He told him a name at the anonymous store who sold the car for contact. He also had the caller stay online after the call for the expert's cell phone number to call the expert for further help through this mess. He also mentioned that attorneys without enough work were salivating at the thought of this guy calling them for help.
Oh, first on list was to get 2 other reputable body shops to inspect the wreck and verify the previous damage and severity along with current damage. That would be the first legal fact to have the ducks in the row set up.
PS. For anyone ready to jump on me that I'm criticizing the bias unfairly, the same day the expert made blanket criticism of GMs he excused a later call from a Honda owner saying his Honda and that of 2 other friends all have their check engine lights coming on and staying on after some service. The expert gave a long-winded excuse blaming the EPA. For GM, his favorite comment is "they all do that." LOL
The expert used to have general criticism of Fords, but the corporation sponsoring the program bought a Ford store, so now he kinder toward Fords.
My wife really liked the Buick Encore. I still have a sour taste about the dealer and their "automatic" mop and glow package they add to every car. Even if they delete the cost (and they would), do they have a bum off the street swirling the pain on every car in inventory?
Then again, it's easy for me to find an excuse not to let go of a buck.
The Mop and Glo was a surprise at the dealer where I bought the Cruze a few weeks back because it was MISSING. They didn't do any of that other than the "up to" $250 document fee allowed by the State of Ohio. They presented it was required. I mentioned that the law had changed in the ORC since I had last researched it, but it was not required but permitted and it no longer was to allow for paperwork costs for obtaining a "time payment" arrangement as it was in the earlier ORC (Ohio Revised Code). He looked at me like I had two heads, but kept his composure, LOL. Someone who actually had read the relevant sections of the ORC!
The dealer from whom I bought had a separate building for prepping vehicles for the Chevy store. They also have a separate used car sales lot adjacent for what I suspect is buy here pay here buyers. They have Honda, Hyundai, BMW, Cadillac, Scion, and Toyota stores in the immediate area. A Land Rover store and a distant Honda store also come up when I looked up their dealer group. Quite an operation. But no Mop and Glo. No wheel insurance. No extended warranty push in closing office--just mentioned it was available for purchase up to 3/36.
Actually it was worth the lack of push to buy there. I did not like the store where my son and I had looked on the day before, because it was a Chevy store open on Sunday, who had Mop and Glo stickers on the windows of some of the slightly used Cruzes. That store a few year back had a feature face in ads who was let go and after a couple years started his own used car stores.
Seems like I've always lived in places that are about ten years behind the times. Las Cruces fits into that pattern as well. There is one no-haggle dealer here with multiple brands (Mazda, Honda, Hyundai) that seems to have it figured out, but the Buick and Kia dealers are old school. The Toyota dealer is kind of indifferent and the VW staff was overworked before Dieselgate hit. One of the Dodge dealers seemed pretty with it, but I was there for service to get a recall done. We don't have the luxo brands and I haven't hit the Ford dealer.
Some of the best dealers, at least for shopping, were in the middle of Michigan (Toyota and Kia - guess they had to be better to get beyond the Big 3 domination there). Wisconsin had some good ones too.
adding in the circus that a supreme court appointment is going to be in the current environment to the noise of an election year, and this is probably a good year to all move up to Driver's place in Canada. He isn't using it. heck, in the summer, we can all go hang out in his neighbor's pool!
I don't know if it would be any better....our new Prime Minister's only real jobs were as a skateboard teacher and a part-time drama teacher for 2 years. He is trying to be everybody's friend so he is promising everyone more money, and the debt keeps rising. Our dollar has sunk to about 70 cents US and there isn't much of a market for our expensive oil.
Yes, I suspect we are in for a very rough 4 years. Our PM has a majority government so he can do whatever he wants, and so far it seems all he wants to do is run up the deficit to an unprecedented degree and give away handouts to various special groups. He promised to legalize weed so maybe the strategy is to get the whole country so stoned nobody cares what he does. Meanwhile my investment portfolio is down over 10% and as you say, our currency is worthless. I can only imagine what things will be like when all the bills he is running up come due. Moving to Costa Rica sounds better every day.
I agree 100% ab. Costa Rica is sounding better to me every day. Like IU told the grandchildren who think Wonder Boy is so wonderful...I might as well party on for 4 years...they will have to clean up the mess for years.
Our local GM dealer is great. None of that scummy stuff. But they have a reputation to uphold. If they don't provide good service customers can make the trek to the city to buy.
That story sounds like what happened to GG's Caddy. I always thought his car must have had some in-transit accident to have steering problems like that.
My wife's PT Cruiser had a series of front brake rotors warp (the first time at only about 15,000 miles). By 30k we were looking at the third set. Finally my mechanic took an extra close look and found the supporting structure was bent (I think he said wheel spindle but can't remember exactly). What I do remember is that he said it might have come from the dealer that way. I can just imagine some kid bouncing the car over a railroad track as it was unloaded from the train.
But selling a car that had been totaled is deliberate fraud.
On the mop&aglow thing I have never been approached for that on the last three new cars I've purchased. I'd like to think that they read me as a person they didn't want to mess with but who knows. BIL got it on his new Altima but I don't know if it was listed as mandatory or was sold to him in the F&I office by one of those cute young women they hire to confuse us old guys.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
I can't recall ever having M&G on the car (at least the way I think of it) on any car I bought. The one Honda dealer though likes to put a protection/decor package on all their cars at a wildly marked up price. Pinstripe, wheel locks, trunk tray I think, listed on addendum for $595? I just ignored that and worked off the regular sticker. They seem to be ready to throw it in to make a deal, since it is maybe $100 cost to them.
We've got several Ford dealers that actually still add "market adjustment" to most of their vehicle price stickers. Unbelievable. I wouldn't even step in their showroom.
We've got several Ford dealers that actually still add "market adjustment" to most of their vehicle price stickers. Unbelievable. I wouldn't even step in their showroom.
I wouldn't even drive down their street. :@
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Funny to see that the Canadian Premier honeymoon is as short as the election was. Wish we could enjoy the same. But we really frown on political talk in here. /hint
And Costa Rica is nice and all, but I'd suggest a long visit first.
I've also seen those ads, and to me they are insulting. I just shake my head, but with 300 million + people in the U.S., I guess some people fall for such drivel. The old bell curve.
The gov't commercial (OK, probably more a law enforcement commercial) shows some people partying and walking to their car. Commercial shows cops who are blending into the background, or loitering in an alley with the tag line "we'll see you before you see us".
I understand that no one should operate any vehicle while impaired on anything. But, every time I see the commercial I think of the [non-permissible content removed], or some other nefarious gov't agencies.
Speaking of lack of security, I received 3 emails on Friday from H&R Block. I have used them in the past, but it was over a decade ago.
They said....
"Congratulations Gordon (I'm not Gordon),
Your Federal Tax return for 2015 has been accepted. Expect your refund of $x,xxx to be deposited within 21 days."
This was repeated with the same name for his return for MD and VA. Apparently, he lived in both places.
Point being, how did H&R Block pull up an email for me that I haven't communicated with for over a decade. And, how did they associate it with an entirely different person....unless of course, it's a phishing scam.
Either way, I informed them of the faux pas. They told me that they'd investigate and get back to me in 2-3 weeks. I'm sure GORDON appreciates his information being disseminated to someone he doesn't even know (even if he knows his information came to me). Moreover, I'm sure GORDON appreciates H&R Block's sense of urgency protecting his privacy.
We've got several Ford dealers that actually still add "market adjustment" to most of their vehicle price stickers. Unbelievable. I wouldn't even step in their showroom.
I wouldn't even drive down their street. :@
If I had to drive by that dealer, I'd have someone "blindfold" me!!!
We've got several Ford dealers that actually still add "market adjustment" to most of their vehicle price stickers. Unbelievable. I wouldn't even step in their showroom.
"Market Adjustment"?????? Who comes up with these names just to confuse the easily confusable?
Here's an idea for a dealer to be different. New XYZ, just $20,000, but with your upside down payments on your current car just add $4000 = $24000 and you can be driving a new XYZ.
Funny to see that the Canadian Premier honeymoon is as short as the election was. Wish we could enjoy the same. But we really frown on political talk in here. /hint
Oh. I thought it was just US political talk that was frowned upon. It has been my experience that most residents of the US are oblivious to anything to do with Canadian politics or news.
And Costa Rica is nice and all, but I'd suggest a long visit first.
Funny to see that the Canadian Premier honeymoon is as short as the election was. Wish we could enjoy the same. But we really frown on political talk in here. /hint
And Costa Rica is nice and all, but I'd suggest a long visit first.
Yep. I hear Pago Pago is nice too.
I would only want to live in a place that has good roads and highways. I can't imagine living well, without access to a car and being able to drive around. That ain't living to me.
Oh. I thought it was just US political talk that was frowned upon. It has been my experience that most residents of the US are oblivious to anything to do with Canadian politics or news.
I remember the first Trudeau (who doesn't?) but I also remember Mulroney and Jean Chrétien. And of course Harper. (I also know who Joey Smallwood was, although he wasn't known to me back in the day). The rest didn't make much of an impression on me. And there are a lot of parallels with Harper and the kid Trudeau with our politics down here, and that's what got my antennae up.
Oh. I thought it was just US political talk that was frowned upon. It has been my experience that most residents of the US are oblivious to anything to do with Canadian politics or news.
I remember the first Trudeau (who doesn't?) but I also remember Mulroney and Jean Chrétien. And of course Harper. (I also know who Joey Smallwood was, although he wasn't known to me back in the day). The rest didn't make much of an impression on me. And there are a lot of parallels with Harper and the kid Trudeau with our politics down here, and that's what got my antennae up.
Understandable! You scored pretty highly in knowing some prominent Canadians.........I am impressed.
Well, it's an impressive country and I love visiting up there. We've even been to Flin Flon.
You are shocking me...I have never been North of Winnipeg in Manitoba and few Canadians have been there. What were you doing - hunting and fishing?
One thing I do think is rare, and is wonderful, two great countries with the longest undefended border in the world, friendly, and who both benefit from this friendship.
Houdini...I haven't been to the interior of British Columbia and I know it is beautiful. Fairly mild, and with mountains for skiing not too far away. We do go to Vancouver and Vancouver Island to see children and grandchildren, most years......and that is very nice.
Kamloops and Flin Flon are strange names. There is a place near London England we used to go to to see a supplier. I also liked going there so I could tell everyone I had been to "Leighton Buzzard". Doesn't sound great, but it was a cute little town.
So some people in Flin Flon live in one province, and others live in another province? That's pretty cool.
Like College Corner Indiana/Ohio where the state line runs through the joint school building? (Near Oxford Ohio, Miami University) and part of College Corner, Ohio, is in Butler County and Part is in Preble County!
Like Union City Indiana/Ohio where the state line runs through the middle of town.
Well, it's an impressive country and I love visiting up there. We've even been to Flin Flon.
You are shocking me...I have never been North of Winnipeg in Manitoba and few Canadians have been there. What were you doing - hunting and fishing?
One thing I do think is rare, and is wonderful, two great countries with the longest undefended border in the world, friendly, and who both benefit from this friendship.
Houdini...I haven't been to the interior of British Columbia and I know it is beautiful. Fairly mild, and with mountains for skiing not too far away. We do go to Vancouver and Vancouver Island to see children and grandchildren, most years......and that is very nice.
Kamloops and Flin Flon are strange names. There is a place near London England we used to go to to see a supplier. I also liked going there so I could tell everyone I had been to "Leighton Buzzard". Doesn't sound great, but it was a cute little town.
We were on the train trip from Vancouver to Bannf, and overnighted in Kamloops. Had a great time,1995 a good year.
The town's name is taken from the lead character in a paperback novel, The Sunless City by J. E. Preston Muddock. Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin piloted a submarine through a bottomless lake where he passed into a strange underground world through a hole lined with gold. A copy of the book was allegedly found and read by prospector Tom Creighton.
When Tom Creighton discovered a high-grade exposure of copper, he thought of the book and called it Flin Flon's mine, and the town that developed around the mine adopted the name. Flin Flon shares with Tarzana, California, the distinction of being named after a character in a science fiction novel.
The town is named after the fictional character Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin
Houdini...that train ride is supposed to be magnificent. I have been to Banff, Jasper and the ice fields....beautiful.
You are shocking me...I have never been North of Winnipeg in Manitoba and few Canadians have been there. What were you doing - hunting and fishing?
Just road tripping. Been to all the provinces and all the territories except Nunavut. There's no road there (yet) unless you count ice roads. Kind of need to go back to Inuvit since they are building 80 miles of road to Tuk so the touroids like me can dip our toes in the Arctic. Hit Yellowknife, Wood Buffalo, Happy Valley/Goose Bay. Honeymooned in the Yukon. Great destinations, great people.
We've got several Ford dealers that actually still add "market adjustment" to most of their vehicle price stickers. Unbelievable. I wouldn't even step in their showroom.
"Market Adjustment"?????? Who comes up with these names just to confuse the easily confusable?
Here's an idea for a dealer to be different. New XYZ, just $20,000, but with your upside down payments on your current car just add $4000 = $24000 and you can be driving a new XYZ.
I think I mentioned once before that when the Saturn Sky first came out I saw one in a mall that had holdback listed as an additional charge over and above MSRP. I couldn't decided if the dealer had that much gall or if they just assumed that the average customer was that stupid.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
We've got several Ford dealers that actually still add "market adjustment" to most of their vehicle price stickers. Unbelievable. I wouldn't even step in their showroom.
"Market Adjustment"?????? Who comes up with these names just to confuse the easily confusable?
Here's an idea for a dealer to be different. New XYZ, just $20,000, but with your upside down payments on your current car just add $4000 = $24000 and you can be driving a new XYZ.
I think I mentioned once before that when the Saturn Sky first came out I saw one in a mall that had holdback listed as an additional charge over and above MSRP. I couldn't decided if the dealer had that much gall or if they just assumed that the average customer was that stupid.
We've got several Ford dealers that actually still add "market adjustment" to most of their vehicle price stickers. Unbelievable. I wouldn't even step in their showroom.
"Market Adjustment"?????? Who comes up with these names just to confuse the easily confusable?
Here's an idea for a dealer to be different. New XYZ, just $20,000, but with your upside down payments on your current car just add $4000 = $24000 and you can be driving a new XYZ.
I think I mentioned once before that when the Saturn Sky first came out I saw one in a mall that had holdback listed as an additional charge over and above MSRP. I couldn't decided if the dealer had that much gall or if they just assumed that the average customer was that stupid.
I wonder what the guy who bought a Saturn Sky and paid MSRP + additional charge (market adjustment) is thinking today?
Stever lived in the Upper Peninsula. I don't think many people up there feel like Michiganders. Their loyalties seem divided toward either Wisconsin or Canada
Flicking through channels and came upon a 1959 movie called Giget with Sandra Dee. I paused to look at the vintage cars and was impressed with the quaint morality as well. I actually laughed that the guy seducing Giget had to use a can opener to ply her with beer.
I can remember as a youth guys who carried can openers on their key rings. Now the heaviest thing is the key fob.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
Must be smaller than Egypt MS (or Hot Coffee). Can't find it. Sure you don't mean AL, home of the brazen armadillos? And likely church keys to open the beer.
@berry, plenty of Yoopers would have preferred to be in WI but Ohio wanted Toledo, and so it goes. UP loyalitie were pretty evenly split between the Packer and the Lions. Cars too - Henry Ford had a sawmill/village that they gave to Michigan Tech but lots of folks only drove GM. Dodge seemed to run third.
I can remember as a youth guys who carried can openers on their key rings.
Yeah, church keys -- good times.
You can add Chicken, AK, and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, to the list. The story is that Chicken got its name because no one at the time could pronounce Ptarmigan (arctic birds plentiful in the area), so they went with Chicken.,
Extra credit to our Las Cruces buddy if he knows what T or C was called before.
The way I heard it was that they couldn't spell Ptarmigan. And the original name for Nome was "Name?" - that was a placeholder on the map apparently and the transcriber took it to be Nome.
T&C was Hot Springs NM, iirc. It reminds me a little of Hot Springs Arkansas back in the 70s before it was fixed up. T&C has a few bathhouses, but the town is a bit run down and "past its prime" looking. Good café there.
You guys have me jonsing for a road trip, been two months since we've gone anywhere.
Holy hard paint, Batman! In preparation for working the Audi paint, I read some anecdotal commentary that Audi Brilliant Black is particularly hard paint, but, WOW! I spent the whole weekend compounding with my dual action polisher, and wound up breaking down 6 of my foam pads with 3 to 4 passes on each body panel using three different compound products and three different foam pad hardnesses. The result is gorgeous, but wow, what a lot of work. I'm off to Chicago now, so I have to pause progress until I return home. Next step is one last compound pass on the rear bumper, and then I start the polish, which will cause the paint to glow by removing any microabrasion from the compound.
Just wanted to add to Mike's comment on Justice Scalia. He was indeed an intellectual giant on the Supreme Court but I believe his faith moved his legal positions too far to the right. Too bad he was not always successful in convincing his colleagues on some major cases of the day. May his departed soul rest in eternal peace. .
Funny to see that the Canadian Premier honeymoon is as short as the election was. Wish we could enjoy the same. But we really frown on political talk in here. /hint
And Costa Rica is nice and all, but I'd suggest a long visit first.
Yep. I hear Pago Pago is nice too.
I would only want to live in a place that has good roads and highways. I can't imagine living well, without access to a car and being able to drive around. That ain't living to me.
An interesting point, which got me started thinking. I worked my way through college mainly by doing construction work in the summers. Which meant, quite often, playing in the mud, with 4 wheel drive work trucks and heavy construction equipment. I'm not the type who would go out and do it just for fun, but if it were necessary to get around, I wouldn't mind.
I can remember as a youth guys who carried can openers on their key rings.
Yeah, church keys -- good times.
You can add Chicken, AK, and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, to the list. The story is that Chicken got its name because no one at the time could pronounce Ptarmigan (arctic birds plentiful in the area), so they went with Chicken.,
Extra credit to our Las Cruces buddy if he knows what T or C was called before.
I've been to Poland, Denmark and Russia....all little hamlets in centeral NY.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
I've been to Poland, Denmark and Russia....all little hamlets in centeral NY.
Did you miss Amsterdam (NY)? And then there's Paradise (PA).
In the rural Indiana area where I grew up, there was a cluster of homes called Shakerag and another called Lickskillet. Of course, they both had general stores originally, but those had died off as shopping centralized to larger grocery stores in other towns by the time I was old enough to remember. Then they were just clusters of houses that my dad would use as reference points when we were going somewhere off the highway. He had done custom thrashing work throughout the area in his younger days, long before I came along, so he knew all the roads and villages.
Stever lived in the Upper Peninsula. I don't think many people up there feel like Michiganders. Their loyalties seem divided toward either Wisconsin or Canada
Comments
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I felt the signs were playing to 1) the drive-bys 2) the payment buyers who, I feel, aren't careful about how much they pay but rather look at the monthly payment. If anything the design of the signs made the list price - the supposed store discount not obvious. So I ended up seeing the full, list price rather than seeing the price - immediate discount. That store is a high pressure store where the sales folk would walk along the car as I drove through rows of new cars when I would drive through to check the wares on the shelves of the Fusion and Focus lines.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I was listening to a radio show Saturday that's supposed to be a call in show for problems with maintenance or shopping for a car--sponsored by a Honda store owned by a company owning lots of stores. Usually the one "expert" is telling how awful GM cars are when someone calls in with a problem or shopping question. He then laughs about how he upsets people who write to him about his bias. He gives long excuses for Hondas with problems. Oh, he also dislikes Mopar products.
But on to the point, they had a call from someone who bought a slightly used Mustang a couple years back from a Ford store in the city. Carfax, Car and Driver guarantee (I think that's the right mag). Had a wreck and the body shop and insurance company says the car is totaled. He expected it to be fixable. BUT there was previous bad body damage to the rails and (other things I missed) AND the car had been totaled BEFORE. But it was resold by the Ford store. He had paid on it for 2 years almost. I think he really wants to be repaid for his payments on a car he believes now was not as represented.
The car expert did go to bat to help the guy. He told him how to ask questions without giving information about what had happened. He told him a name at the anonymous store who sold the car for contact. He also had the caller stay online after the call for the expert's cell phone number to call the expert for further help through this mess. He also mentioned that attorneys without enough work were salivating at the thought of this guy calling them for help.
Oh, first on list was to get 2 other reputable body shops to inspect the wreck and verify the previous damage and severity along with current damage. That would be the first legal fact to have the ducks in the row set up.
PS. For anyone ready to jump on me that I'm criticizing the bias unfairly, the same day the expert made blanket criticism of GMs he excused a later call from a Honda owner saying his Honda and that of 2 other friends all have their check engine lights coming on and staying on after some service. The expert gave a long-winded excuse blaming the EPA. For GM, his favorite comment is "they all do that." LOL
The expert used to have general criticism of Fords, but the corporation sponsoring the program bought a Ford store, so now he kinder toward Fords.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Then again, it's easy for me to find an excuse not to let go of a buck.
The dealer from whom I bought had a separate building for prepping vehicles for the Chevy store. They also have a separate used car sales lot adjacent for what I suspect is buy here pay here buyers. They have Honda, Hyundai, BMW, Cadillac, Scion, and Toyota stores in the immediate area. A Land Rover store and a distant Honda store also come up when I looked up their dealer group. Quite an operation. But no Mop and Glo. No wheel insurance. No extended warranty push in closing office--just mentioned it was available for purchase up to 3/36.
Actually it was worth the lack of push to buy there. I did not like the store where my son and I had looked on the day before, because it was a Chevy store open on Sunday, who had Mop and Glo stickers on the windows of some of the slightly used Cruzes. That store a few year back had a feature face in ads who was let go and after a couple years started his own used car stores.
Click for obnoxious advertisement
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Some of the best dealers, at least for shopping, were in the middle of Michigan (Toyota and Kia - guess they had to be better to get beyond the Big 3 domination there). Wisconsin had some good ones too.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
'24 Chevy Blazer EV 2LT
That story sounds like what happened to GG's Caddy. I always thought his car must have had some in-transit accident to have steering problems like that.
My wife's PT Cruiser had a series of front brake rotors warp (the first time at only about 15,000 miles). By 30k we were looking at the third set. Finally my mechanic took an extra close look and found the supporting structure was bent (I think he said wheel spindle but can't remember exactly). What I do remember is that he said it might have come from the dealer that way. I can just imagine some kid bouncing the car over a railroad track as it was unloaded from the train.
But selling a car that had been totaled is deliberate fraud.
On the mop&aglow thing I have never been approached for that on the last three new cars I've purchased. I'd like to think that they read me as a person they didn't want to mess with but who knows. BIL got it on his new Altima but I don't know if it was listed as mandatory or was sold to him in the F&I office by one of those cute young women they hire to confuse us old guys.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
And Costa Rica is nice and all, but I'd suggest a long visit first.
I understand that no one should operate any vehicle while impaired on anything. But, every time I see the commercial I think of the [non-permissible content removed], or some other nefarious gov't agencies.
Speaking of lack of security, I received 3 emails on Friday from H&R Block. I have used them in the past, but it was over a decade ago.
They said....
"Congratulations Gordon (I'm not Gordon),
Your Federal Tax return for 2015 has been accepted. Expect your refund of $x,xxx to be deposited within 21 days."
This was repeated with the same name for his return for MD and VA. Apparently, he lived in both places.
Point being, how did H&R Block pull up an email for me that I haven't communicated with for over a decade. And, how did they associate it with an entirely different person....unless of course, it's a phishing scam.
Either way, I informed them of the faux pas. They told me that they'd investigate and get back to me in 2-3 weeks. I'm sure GORDON appreciates his information being disseminated to someone he doesn't even know (even if he knows his information came to me). Moreover, I'm sure GORDON appreciates H&R Block's sense of urgency protecting his privacy.
'24 Chevy Blazer EV 2LT
2024 Genesis G90 Super-Charger
Here's an idea for a dealer to be different. New XYZ, just $20,000, but with your upside down payments on your current car just add $4000 = $24000 and you can be driving a new XYZ.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I would only want to live in a place that has good roads and highways. I can't imagine living well, without access to a car and being able to drive around. That ain't living to me.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
One thing I do think is rare, and is wonderful, two great countries with the longest undefended border in the world, friendly, and who both benefit from this friendship.
Houdini...I haven't been to the interior of British Columbia and I know it is beautiful. Fairly mild, and with mountains for skiing not too far away. We do go to Vancouver and Vancouver Island to see children and grandchildren, most years......and that is very nice.
Kamloops and Flin Flon are strange names. There is a place near London England we used to go to to see a supplier. I also liked going there so I could tell everyone I had been to "Leighton Buzzard". Doesn't sound great, but it was a cute little town.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
So some people in Flin Flon live in one province, and others live in another province? That's pretty cool.
Like Union City Indiana/Ohio where the state line runs through the middle of town.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
When Tom Creighton discovered a high-grade exposure of copper, he thought of the book and called it Flin Flon's mine, and the town that developed around the mine adopted the name. Flin Flon shares with Tarzana, California, the distinction of being named after a character in a science fiction novel.
The town is named after the fictional character Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin
Houdini...that train ride is supposed to be magnificent. I have been to Banff, Jasper and the ice fields....beautiful.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
I've also driven through Hot Coffee Mississippi.
I think I mentioned once before that when the Saturn Sky first came out I saw one in a mall that had holdback listed as an additional charge over and above MSRP. I couldn't decided if the dealer had that much gall or if they just assumed that the average customer was that stupid.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
I can remember as a youth guys who carried can openers on their key rings. Now the heaviest thing is the key fob.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
@berry, plenty of Yoopers would have preferred to be in WI but Ohio wanted Toledo, and so it goes. UP loyalitie were pretty evenly split between the Packer and the Lions. Cars too - Henry Ford had a sawmill/village that they gave to Michigan Tech but lots of folks only drove GM. Dodge seemed to run third.
You can add Chicken, AK, and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, to the list. The story is that Chicken got its name because no one at the time could pronounce Ptarmigan (arctic birds plentiful in the area), so they went with Chicken.,
Extra credit to our Las Cruces buddy if he knows what T or C was called before.
T&C was Hot Springs NM, iirc. It reminds me a little of Hot Springs Arkansas back in the 70s before it was fixed up. T&C has a few bathhouses, but the town is a bit run down and "past its prime" looking. Good café there.
You guys have me jonsing for a road trip, been two months since we've gone anywhere.
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An interesting point, which got me started thinking. I worked my way through college mainly by doing construction work in the summers. Which meant, quite often, playing in the mud, with 4 wheel drive work trucks and heavy construction equipment. I'm not the type who would go out and do it just for fun, but if it were necessary to get around, I wouldn't mind.
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
And then there's Paradise (PA).
In the rural Indiana area where I grew up, there was a cluster of homes called Shakerag and another called Lickskillet. Of course, they both had general stores originally, but those had died off as shopping centralized to larger grocery stores in other towns by the time I was old enough to remember. Then they were just clusters of houses that my dad would use as reference points when we were going somewhere off the highway. He had done custom thrashing work throughout the area in his younger days, long before I came along, so he knew all the roads and villages.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Not as nice as the one in holland though!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.