Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

stever

@jmonroe, the IE quote bug is being worked on.

And if you'd gone out to put your deposit down on a Tesla 3 (III ?), you wouldn't be back yet.

snakeweasel

graphicguy said:

He said he is held responsible for all vehicles paying tolls as there was a counter on the gate, telling his boss exactly how many cars went through the toll gate. Didn't realize that, but makes sense. What's to keep a toll taker from putting the cash in their pockets, with no one being the wiser?

The toll collector still has to categorize the vehicle and assess the correct toll. Two axles could be two different rates (4 wheels on the back axle adds to the toll on many tollways). In short the collector has to enter in the system what type of vehicle went through and that total is reconciled with the counter. Plus there should be an "emergency vehicle" classification that lets ambulances and fire trucks through without assessing the toll.

What's to keep a toll collector from pocketing the cash? They watch those booths like a hawk, can you say video surveillance?

snakeweasel

stickguy said:

Some toll booths have envelopes for that situation. Still the honor system, but you are supposed to mail it back in.

Nope not the honor system, they record every plate that goes through and can determine who has paid and who has not. Don't send in that payment they mail you a violation and that includes penalties.

Here in IL we have two toll booths that are not manned overnight (at the end of the tollway where there is little activity overnight) and if you don't have a transponder you pull up to the toll booth get pick up an envelope and mail in the toll, or you can go online to pay.

isellhondas

I remember a few years ago someone discovered that Mexican Pesos worked just great in those tool booths and quickly spread the word!

snakeweasel

isellhondas said:

I remember a few years ago someone discovered that Mexican Pesos worked just great in those tool booths and quickly spread the word!

Necco wafers worked too.

isellhondas

Now, THAT is funny!

abacomike

85% of Florida Turnpike tolls are collected by SunPass transponders or License Plate charge backs to the registered owner of the vehicle.  Most entrances to the Turnpike System have no means for paying a toll except by plate or transponder.  If the toll is paid by transponder, the toll is 25 cents less than if paid by license plate.

Only major junctions have toll booths where cash is accepted.

When my balance drops below $25, my AMEX is charged $50.  I can also add funds by using my iPhone App.

In the Miami-Dade area, there are four Turnpike extensions.  In Broward County, there are three.  In the Orlando area there are 2.  The original Turnpike runs from Florida City (just north of Key Largo) to I-4 near Orlando.  But there are 8 turnpike extensions that have been added since its inception.

suydam

As a Californian I loathe them all.

driver100

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

I'd pay $35 not to see this guy pull down his pants.

Age and Mother Nature are not kind to most older bodies--no matter how much they try to stay in shape. The genetics just aren't kind past a certain age.

Good thing I met my wife when I was younger!

Thanks for the I-75 info. We always see a few of those flipped cars on our journey. I think the roads will be packed.....we'll just do what we can do and muddle through.

driver100

abacomike said:

>But then he changed his story - he said he cannot tell a lie - he lost his pants at a poker game with a bunch of carnies (carnival employees).  I immediately drove to the hospital and now I am posting from my "padded cell" and am on a suicide watch!  They even took away my shoelaces and my belt! 

You should be writing a novel Mike. Between your real life experiences and your embellishments I think it would be a Best Seller

abacomike

driver100 said:

I'd pay $35 not to see this guy pull down his pants.

Age and Mother Nature are not kind to most older bodies--no matter how much they try to stay in shape. The genetics just aren't kind past a certain age.

Good thing I met my wife when I was younger! Thanks for the I-75 info. We always see a few of those flipped cars on our journey. I think the roads will be packed.....we'll just do what we can do and muddle through.

Have a safe trip home, driver.  Keep us posted on your progress! 

driver100

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

I'd pay $35 not to see this guy pull down his pants.

Age and Mother Nature are not kind to most older bodies--no matter how much they try to stay in shape. The genetics just aren't kind past a certain age.

Good thing I met my wife when I was younger!

Thanks for the I-75 info. We always see a few of those flipped cars on our journey. I think the roads will be packed.....we'll just do what we can do and muddle through.

Have a safe trip home, driver.  Keep us posted on your progress! 

Thanks Mike, I say we head out at 6 or 7 a.m. tomorrow, my wife says we head out at 8 a.m., I guess we head out at 8. I'm not going to win that one.

Not looking forward to all the traffic especially RVs, trailers, motor homes all heading North. First destination is Marietta GA......probably 8 to 10 hours if lucky.

ttyl
(my IT guy says that means talk to you later)

tjc78

RE: Necco wafers at toll booths.... that's about the only thing they would be good for. Those things are nasty.

At work the buyer responsible for candy gets crazy amounts of samples and spreads them throughout the office. Necco wafters are always the last to go!

iluvmysephia1

stever - man, I thought we could delete our own duplicate posts. All right, I just thought of who I can blame for my 4 posts: Windows 10

Group hug, everyone.

ab348

My buddy with the 7 vehicles among a family of 3 just picked up his latest addition today, a new 2016 GMC Canyon SLT double cab 4x4 pickup to replace the Ford Ranger that he had a lot of trouble with. I think he is spending his inheritance. This is the same guy that just spent close to $100K on a total resto of a '71 Olds 4-4-2. Whatever, that's none of my business I guess.

Really nice vehicle. Tan leather inside, lots of soft surfaces, trucks sure have come a long way. Drives really well with the 3.6 engine, quiet, good ride. I had the thought riding in it that if Buick made a truck it would be like this. $43K Cdn.

berri

I like the lime, lemon and chocolate Necco's

Michaell

driver100 said:

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

I'd pay $35 not to see this guy pull down his pants.

Age and Mother Nature are not kind to most older bodies--no matter how much they try to stay in shape. The genetics just aren't kind past a certain age.

Good thing I met my wife when I was younger!

Thanks for the I-75 info. We always see a few of those flipped cars on our journey. I think the roads will be packed.....we'll just do what we can do and muddle through.

Have a safe trip home, driver.  Keep us posted on your progress! 

Thanks Mike, I say we head out at 6 or 7 a.m. tomorrow, my wife says we head out at 8 a.m., I guess we head out at 8. I'm not going to win that one.

Not looking forward to all the traffic especially RVs, trailers, motor homes all heading North. First destination is Marietta GA......probably 8 to 10 hours if lucky.

ttyl
(my IT guy says that means talk to you later)

@driver100 enjoy the trip north, and drive safe. My boss will be heading north to Ottawa in a couple of weeks. He and his family have spent the winter on the west coast of Florida as well.

driver100

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

I'd pay $35 not to see this guy pull down his pants.

Age and Mother Nature are not kind to most older bodies--no matter how much they try to stay in shape. The genetics just aren't kind past a certain age.

Good thing I met my wife when I was younger!

Thanks for the I-75 info. We always see a few of those flipped cars on our journey. I think the roads will be packed.....we'll just do what we can do and muddle through.

Have a safe trip home, driver.  Keep us posted on your progress! 

Thanks Mike, I say we head out at 6 or 7 a.m. tomorrow, my wife says we head out at 8 a.m., I guess we head out at 8. I'm not going to win that one.

Not looking forward to all the traffic especially RVs, trailers, motor homes all heading North. First destination is Marietta GA......probably 8 to 10 hours if lucky.

ttyl
(my IT guy says that means talk to you later)

Michaell

enjoy the trip north, and drive safe. My boss will be heading north to Ottawa in a couple of weeks. He and his family have spent the winter on the west coast of Florida as well

.

This drive is like preparing for a marathon. I thought we wouldn't have that much to take back and forth after 5 years but the E400 is pretty loaded....every square inch of the trunk and half the back seat and all the floor space in the rear are full. Gigi gets a seat belt and she sleeps most of the time.

Ottawa can still be a lot colder than the Toronto area, and often there is snow on the ground this time of year. Because of the mild winter your boss probably won't see any snow. Temp in Toronto was 60F today, but will be 30F when we return on Sunday, then slowly rise a bit.

Thanks for the good wishes, over and out for awhile. If you see a white E400 with a major problem on CNN or FOX News you will know we had a problem.

stever

@iluvmysephia1, once you post something you can't delete it. But you can edit your post for four hours. So you could edit and put "delete" in the post and housekeeping (that's us) will take care of it on our rounds.

jmonroe

stever said:

the IE quote bug is being worked on.

And if you'd gone out to put your deposit down on a Tesla 3 (III ?), you wouldn't be back yet.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Tell your IE to work faster. It's not working for me yet.

I heard on the news that Tesla's CEO delayed the start of internet purchases until 7:30 PM Pacific to avoid a log jam on their site. Now that has to be wishful thinking.

jmonroe

stever

It is taking a while for Vanilla to fix it.

Did you see the lines of potential buyers giving Tesla interest free $1,000 loans for the chance to buy a Model 3 in ~two years?

jmonroe

snake said:

Plus there should be an "emergency vehicle" classification that lets ambulances and fire trucks through without assessing the toll.
_____________________________________________________________________________

I'm sure if you ask GG he would say he was in an "emergency vehicle" because he had no money on him. Most places would honor a plea like he had. If not, you live in a heartless community.

jmonroe

jmonroe

stever said:

It is taking a while for Vanilla to fix it.

Did you see the lines of potential buyers giving Tesla interest free $1,000 loans for the chance to buy a Model 3 in ~two years?
_______________________________________________________________________________

Well that's the problem...have them put Chocolate on this case.

Huh? That'll be the day I give a car company seed money. Oh yeah Tesla...the checks in the mail.

jmonroe

Mr_Shiftright

stever said:

It is taking a while for Vanilla to fix it.

Did you see the lines of potential buyers giving Tesla interest free $1,000 loans for the chance to buy a Model 3 in ~two years?

Why not? They already give Tesla $230 a share for a company that has yet to show a profit.

jmonroe

I got Mrs. j's 2012 Legacy back from the dealer body shop today. It should have been yesterday but they had to order another part. The right rocker panel. They said it had damage due to the fender being pushed into the mud guard which in turn pushed against the rocker panel and split it in the hidden area covered by the mud guard. I also got a new mud guard. This added expense to the insurance company was over $500 more than the $1100 estimated for the original work.

When I said if the crack was small enough to be hidden by the mud guard it couldn't have been too bad. The response to this was, "the crack COULD have continued to travel so we wanted to do it right. Don't worry your insurance company approved it before we replaced it. So, you don't have to pay more than your $500 deductable which is what you had to pay to begin with".

In my opinion this was an overkill. The rocker panel could have been strengthened by some fiberglass tape and body putty on the rear of the rocker panel to keep the crack from traveling.

This has to be why our insurance rates are as high as they are.

jmonroe

iluvmysephia1

@iluvmysephia1, once you post something you can't delete it. But you can edit your post for four hours. So you could edit and put "delete" in the post and housekeeping (that's us) will take care of it on our rounds.

OK, next time I get Edmunds "ad-freeze-up" and post multiple posts I'll head in to edit the duplicates and type DELETE in all caps. That oughta get your attention.

Just kidding. Right.

imidazol97

snakeweasel said:

Necco wafers worked too.

Haven't seen or thought of those for decades. Used to be one of my favorites when I was a kid.

abacomike

I just recently saw a rerun of "Two And A Half Men" when Jake and his friend Eldridge thought up an idea of videotaping "dumb stunts" to post on U-Tube.

One of the dumb--ss stunts was the human volcano.  Jake ate a couple of Mentos (similar to Necco Wafers) and then drank a can of cola.  He then laid down on the floor in the kitchen and a few seconds later - eruption!  Alan, Jake's father, was leaning over Jake at the same time to ask why he was on the floor - he found out quickly.

I haven't laughed like I did in months.

PF_Flyer

That would do it

isellhondas

tjc78 said:

RE: Necco wafers at toll booths.... that's about the only thing they would be good for. Those things are nasty.

At work the buyer responsible for candy gets crazy amounts of samples and spreads them throughout the office. Necco wafters are always the last to go!

I didn't know they still made Necco wafers! Yes, they were nasty!

imidazol97

isellhondas said:

Yes, they were nasty!

Am I the only one who liked them? LOL

abacomike

imidazol97 said:

Yes, they were nasty!

Am I the only one who liked them? LOL

99.9% sugar!  If I'm going to bring my blood sugar up over 400 (coma levels) I'd rather have milk chocolate with almonds or peanuts.  

Then I can die with a smile on my face!

suydam

imidazol97 said:

isellhondas said:

Yes, they were nasty!

Am I the only one who liked them? LOL

As a kid I loved them. Now, I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was the pure sugar element.

snakeweasel

Well after work today I made a quick stop at a Motorcycle dealership to check out what they had. This place mostly sells Vespas but does carry Guzzi but must not want to sell many of them. If their aim was to make me feel invisible then they were successful. Two guys on the floor sitting at their desks doing nothing and neither acknowledged me when I walked in. Mulled around the bikes and even sat on one without so much as either person on the floor looking at me.

All I can say is that I am glad that their sales are so brisk that they can ignore potential buyers.

abacomike

snakeweasel said:

Well after work today I made a quick stop at a Motorcycle dealership to check out what they had. This place mostly sells Vespas but does carry Guzzi but must not want to sell many of them. If their aim was to make me feel invisible then they were successful. Two guys on the floor sitting at their desks doing nothing and neither acknowledged me when I walked in. Mulled around the bikes and even sat on one without so much as either person on the floor looking at me. All I can say is that I am glad that their sales are so brisk that they can ignore potential buyers.

You need to wear a motorcycle jacket when you walk into places like that.  The jacket says to the salesmen - I'll buy anything with two wheels! 

snakeweasel

abacomike said:

snakeweasel said:

Well after work today I made a quick stop at a Motorcycle dealership to check out what they had. This place mostly sells Vespas but does carry Guzzi but must not want to sell many of them. If their aim was to make me feel invisible then they were successful. Two guys on the floor sitting at their desks doing nothing and neither acknowledged me when I walked in. Mulled around the bikes and even sat on one without so much as either person on the floor looking at me.

All I can say is that I am glad that their sales are so brisk that they can ignore potential buyers.

You need to wear a motorcycle jacket when you walk into places like that.  The jacket says to the salesmen - I'll buy anything with two wheels! 

I was wearing a leather motorcycle jacket.

driver100

imidazol97 said:

snakeweasel said:

Necco wafers worked too.

Haven't seen or thought of those for decades. Used to be one of my favorites when I was a kid.

Are those things still around? They taste like colored chalk!

abacomike

driver100 said:

Necco wafers worked too.

Haven't seen or thought of those for decades. Used to be one of my favorites when I was a kid.

Are those things still around? They taste like colored chalk!

How do you know what chalk tastes like, driver?  May be you were one of those "Teacher's pets" and you were the blackboard monitor - is that how you got hooked on chalk? 

driver100

Speaking about not getting anyone's attention. I was speaking to a couple who bought a Toyota, and they went back to the dealer to buy another one. The greeter said all the salespeople were in a meeting.

So, they walked over to the Suburu dealer for something to do, and liked the Suburu.....and have bought 5 of them since. Just shows, how easy it is to lose not only one sale but 5 sales!

driver100

Started out at 7:a.m. and GPS said we would reach Marietta GA at 3 p.m. With 2 stops figured add an hour so should be here by 4. Really heavy traffic from Tampa to almost to Dade City, then extremely heavy rain for about an hour and a half around Macon. Then slow moving traffic from about 50 miles outside Atlanta. Ever try to get from the HOV lane to the right lane which is 6 lanes over in bumper to bumper traffic? Blind spot warning sure came in handy.
Reached Marietta just North of Atlanta at 6 p.m.

Next stop Findley OH.

Michaell

driver100 said:

Started out at 7:a.m. and GPS said we would reach Marietta GA at 3 p.m. With 2 stops figured add an hour so should be here by 4. Really heavy traffic from Tampa to almost to Dade City, then extremely heavy rain for about an hour and a half around Macon. Then slow moving traffic from about 50 miles outside Atlanta. Ever try to get from the HOV lane to the right lane which is 6 lanes over in bumper to bumper traffic? Blind spot warning sure came in handy. Reached Marietta just North of Atlanta at 6 p.m. Next stop Findley OH.

Thanks for checking in and giving us an update on your road trip. Not fun to get caught in both weather and traffic on the same day, I'm sure.

abacomike

@driver100:

Glad you arrived safely.  I've been in Atlanta during rush hours (4:00-7:00 PM) and have been caught on I-75 and connecting interstates going north from Hartsfield Airport.  Worst traffic I've ever been in.  I was there once for a job interview back in 2001.  Bad time to arrive in Atlanta.

I have a cousin who lives in Marietta.

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

Well after work today I made a quick stop at a Motorcycle dealership to check out what they had. This place mostly sells Vespas but does carry Guzzi but must not want to sell many of them. If their aim was to make me feel invisible then they were successful. Two guys on the floor sitting at their desks doing nothing and neither acknowledged me when I walked in. Mulled around the bikes and even sat on one without so much as either person on the floor looking at me.

All I can say is that I am glad that their sales are so brisk that they can ignore potential buyers.

Nah, they just recognized a stroke when they saw one.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

Speaking about not getting anyone's attention. I was speaking to a couple who bought a Toyota, and they went back to the dealer to buy another one. The greeter said all the salespeople were in a meeting.

So, they walked over to the Suburu dealer for something to do, and liked the Suburu.....and have bought 5 of them since. Just shows, how easy it is to lose not only one sale but 5 sales!

In't there some old adage that says a customer isn't an interruption of your business they ARE your business?

abacomike

oldfarmer50 said:

Speaking about not getting anyone's attention. I was speaking to a couple who bought a Toyota, and they went back to the dealer to buy another one. The greeter said all the salespeople were in a meeting. So, they walked over to the Suburu dealer for something to do, and liked the Suburu.....and have bought 5 of them since. Just shows, how easy it is to lose not only one sale but 5 sales!

In't there some old adage that says a customer is an interruption of your business they ARE your business?

Never heard it quite that way, oldfarmer.  I think it goes "...a customer is not an interruption of your business, they are your business!"   

stickguy

Mike, glad you made it. They featured the bad weather around Atlanta on the national news. heavy traffic on lousy highways in the rain is the worst (well, that in the rain is the worst!)

abacomike

stickguy said:

Mike, glad you made it. They featured the bad weather around Atlanta on the national news. heavy traffic on lousy highways in the rain is the worst (well, that in the rain is the worst!)

Driver made it - I'm watching TV in South Florida! 

stickguy

Oops. got my old guys from Florida mixed up!

abacomike

stickguy said:

Oops. got my old guys from Florida mixed up!

If I was going to Atlanta, I'd fly there - why drive that distance?

explorerx4

@snakeweasel,
Maybe you shouldn't have pedaled up to the front door of the motorcycle dealership on your bicycle.