Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

berri said:

Cannon wasn't bad, but I'm still a Highway Patrol Broderick Crawford as Dan Mathews fan. "32-15 over"

When I see those police cars in old black and white shows I wonder what paint color scheme they used. In the early 60's NYC police cars were Black, white and green, in the show "Car 54 where are you they painted the green part of the cars red so they wouldn't be confused with real police cars. Yet you couldn't notice in black and white.

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

Mikes kidneys checked out OK.....should be scheduled for surgery in a few weeks.

Great, keep us posted and give him our best.

cdnpinhead

ab348 said:

That sounds like a story from The Onion.

That's exactly what I thought when I first read it. Turned out the ammonium nitrate is a component of the airbag inflation system, which isn't the picture that initially formed in my mind.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

I was in charge of tennis this morning.....12 people depend on me arriving on time with 3 cans of balls, for 3 courts.

After about 4 miles the Fusion Rental Car with about 10000 miles on it stalls going uphill on a 2 lane road. Cars are speeding around me and can't see cars coming the other way, from over the hill. That doesn't stop them from speeding by me.

The engine is sputtering, and there is no power. I put the car in neutral and glide backwards as far to the right as possible, with 4 way flashers going.

There is a wrench symbol showing. My cell phone doesn't work either, though fully charged. I am wondering how I can ditch the car and get to the tennis game.

I turn the car off....when in doubt try rebooting and it did get a bit better when I restarted. Tried it again and this time it was running better. Now the light with an engine and a fan was showing. Got to tennis. After tennis a friend followed me to Discount. They tried the car and said no warning lights were on now. They said this has happened before with Fusions and I heard them call the Ford dealer to take the car in. They gave me a Chevy Cruise

Probably someone filled it up with old lawn mower gas that they wanted to get rid of. When it's not your car people will do all sorts of bad stuff.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

Mikes kidneys checked out OK.....should be scheduled for surgery in a few weeks.

Good news, Go Mike!

oldfarmer50

cdnpinhead said:

ab348 said:

That sounds like a story from The Onion.

That's exactly what I thought when I first read it. Turned out the ammonium nitrate is a component of the airbag inflation system, which isn't the picture that initially formed in my mind.

Ammonium nitrate is a good corn fertilizer....makes a good dynamite substitute when mixed with diesel fuel. In the old days farmers would look for excuses to "blow out some tree stumps".

Recently they took some of the punch out of the fertilizer grade AN.

imidazol97

stever said:

Is that tire shop speak for a gasket, o-ring, never leak magic goo or what?

Supposedly there's a "gasket" used with a TPMS and they doubled up on it. But the kits don't show anything that you'd want to double up on. Maybe @capriracer will stumble on this post and let us know if that's a crock. Whatever they did is okay so far - perhaps a thick layer of Chapstick? Give it a week.

.I had some seeps after putting new tires on my leSabre with the alloy rims with chrome over them. The manager said the tire changer didn't clean the hole where the valve goes. I assume that corrodes with water and salts from the winter road treatments in Ohio. Also had some bead seeps that they repaired with black goo as well as smoothing the corrosion.

stever said:

And yeah, there's always rims on craigslist here. I could probably hang out and find a single match, but all four look like typical Michigan rims. So I'm sort of shopping for a set.

There are rims on rockauto.com that are refurbished by Keystone. I put one on my leSabre and put one on my Cobalt. Price was competitive. I also bought a replacement rim on Ebay from Florida for leSabre.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

Mikes kidneys checked out OK.....should be scheduled for surgery in a few weeks.

That's good to hear. But it will be a difficult recovery from what I can determine.

berri

Personally, I think Ford is going backwards under Mark Fields after Mulally retired. Why? Lets see, quality turning down, so incentives up, product is getting stale while investment is focused on stuff like driverless cars. Reminds me a bit of the Jacques Nasser years. Sometimes I have to wonder if Bill Ford has a hard time making leadership changes.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

Cruze is kind of weird, not much room, the console storage is way back between and behind the seats...break my arm trying to open it. Not nearly as well laid out as the Fusion, but, feels better put together.

The Cruze is a smaller class than the Fusion. The front seat has lots of room, perhaps smaller than premium car, but the rear seat is tight as expected in a compact car.

The armrest? I can't figure out why it's so far back. Ours has leather and power seats, but I'd expect the elbow rest to be a little more forward.

bwia

driver100 said:

Mikes kidneys checked out OK.....should be scheduled for surgery in a few weeks.

Glad to hear such encouraging news. 

driver100

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

Cruze is kind of weird, not much room, the console storage is way back between and behind the seats...break my arm trying to open it. Not nearly as well laid out as the Fusion, but, feels better put together.

The Cruze is a smaller class than the Fusion. The front seat has lots of room, perhaps smaller than premium car, but the rear seat is tight as expected in a compact car.

The armrest? I can't figure out why it's so far back. Ours has leather and power seats, but I'd expect the elbow rest to be a little more forward.

I drove about 15 miles in it tonight, and I found quite a few good things to report....the console is actually so far back, it is behind the front seat back.
The road handling is superb. Nice suspension, actually absorbs the bumps, and the steering is pretty firm, tracks really well. Really easy to maneuver in traffic. Steering wheel is nicely leather wrapped, and inside though minimal is fairly tasteful. I like the vision out....can see in all directions nicely....and it has big windows. Feels really solid. Engine is pretty good considering, especially at cruising speed. Pick up is a bit weak, especially when it changes gears, I wonder if it will stall out.

The Fusion was more comfortable with more content. But, not as solid. Suspension not as smooth, steering and everything is just a bit flimsy. For a car in this class, it has quite a bit compared to similar class of cars from the past. I like the extra room inside, and it feels like there is more to it, but the Cruze seems built and engineered better.

driver100

berri said:

Personally, I think Ford is going backwards under Mark Fields after Mulally retired. Why? Lets see, quality turning down, so incentives up, product is getting stale while investment is focused on stuff like driverless cars. Reminds me a bit of the Jacques Nasser years. Sometimes I have to wonder if Bill Ford has a hard time making leadership changes.

Good observation.....it sounds very possible!

stickguy

I assume that Cruze is one of the old style ones? Wonder how the new design compares.

iluvmysephia1

Personally, I think Ford is going backwards under Mark Fields after Mulally retired.

Huh - I missed the whole Mulally retirement thing. Wow - from what I can see, Ford is rolling along reasonably well. No unintended accelerator problems going on like Toyota had to deal with - what is going wrong with them? Is quality going sour? Or is Toyota taking too many Ford sales away? UAW strike looming? I mean, what's their main problem?

They miss A. Mulally? Who can sum up the State of the Ford Union right now with utter and complete honesty in 15 words or less? The Best Ford Summation Award will then win an all-expenses paid trip to Las Cruces to stay at stever's house for a few days and enjoy driving his 1999 Nissan Quest. Come on, guys, get ta work on it!

stever

lol, the Quest got sold Iluv. The ride is now an '09 Grand Caravan with new shoes. Ford stock eased off its $15 recovery high but is doing okay around $12. Dunno, they sell a lot of F-150s and SUVs and plenty of sedans too, and from what I see, the prices are up there.

Mulally was a good hire for sure.

driver100

stickguy said:

I assume that Cruze is one of the old style ones? Wonder how the new design compares.

Assume correctly. It has 12k miles on it, and it is solid as a rock. Nice thump over the bumps. If they can make improvements it would be a pretty good little car.

bwia

houdini1 said:

bwia said:

48 volt battery standard is coming?

Increased pressure from all sides are converging toward a move to the 48 volt battery. In an attempt to make cars lighter manufacturers are using more electric motors. Smart move except it puts demands on the 12 volt battery which is reaching capacity.

Modern gadgets, such as stop-start, hybrids, and telematics all stretch the 12 volt battery to capacity. Thus the need to upgrade to the 48 volt battery. Auto makers are under extreme pressure to meet CAFE standards but even with turbo charging and CVT transmissions, the internal combustion engine seems to be at a point of diminishing returns.

Ergo, the 48 volt lithium ion battery, which is the same size as a conventional 12 volt acid battery but with the capacity to add 25+ miles of pure electric power. How will that play in Detroit? A car so equipped might cost $800 more. But compared to the alternative, smaller and lighter cars, I think the 48 volt battery is the way forward.

Very interesting concept. If the 48 volt battery system (mild hybrid) only cost $1,000 extra and can save $4,000 in gasoline costs, then I would be interested....assuming it wouldn't burn up or blow up.

I actually did a little research on this about a month ago. It looks and sounds so good that I bought some Delphi stock, in my continuing quest to unseat Warren Buffet.

@houdini1, Good for you adding Delphi to your stock portfolio. I thought I was the only one with an interest in the 48 volt battery but according to a panel discussion on Automotive.tv, with representatives from Johnson Controls, Delphi and others, the 48 volt battery is going to be part of the near term solution to meeting fleet CAFE standards that include an increasing number of SUVs and trucks in the mix. By the way, Hitachi is another important player in this market but neither company are pure plays.

jmonroe

stever said:

lol, the Quest got sold Iluv. The ride is now an '09 Grand Caravan with new shoes. Ford stock eased off its $15 recovery high but is doing okay around $12. Dunno, they sell a lot of F-150s and SUVs and plenty of sedans too, and from what I see, the prices are up there.

Mulally was a good hire for sure.

I knew you'd try to win this event just to keep the others in here from winning and having to figure out a way to politely refuse a ride in the Caravan.

jmonroe

stever

I'll do even better - first prize is a "free week" loaner of the van.

Second prize is two weeks.... Enough time to drive to Philly and back.

houdini1

snakeweasel said:

andres3 said:

imidazol97 said:

ab348 said:

This boggles my mind. Between things like this and the disasterous Focus transmissions how does Ford avoid a public black eye? Teflon?

Seems like toyota's runaway acceleration and Honda's trannies and others. If this were GM car...

I read somewhere what it is that's going wrong in the Fusion but can't recall right now. Friends bought a Fusion a few months ago, but I'm reluctant to tell them that this stalling is likely to happen to them.

I think Toyota got bruised by the falsified runaway acceleration fictional stories. I've yet to see of one proven case where it wasn't driver error. Honda apparently has suffered from the V6 transmission debacle, as apparently, you, I, and others haven't forgot about it when considering new vehicles. At least that one is legit. I just think for every burned Honda transmission owner there are probably 100 Chrysler transmissions in the scrap heap.

IIRC Toyota did admit that there was an issue and even found that the gas pedal had a tendency to stick in a depressed position and hid that from the public and regulators. Didn't they pay a billion dollar plus fine over that?

Due to floor mats getting tangled with accelerator?

stever

Wikipedia has a good summary of the Toyota SUA mess, the $1.2 billion payment in lieu of prosecution, and talks about the mats, the pedal height, and those infamous tin whiskers. The $1.2 billion fine was different from the $1.2 billion class action settlement.

jmonroe

stever said:

I'll do even better - first prize is a "free week" loaner of the van.

Second prize is two weeks.... Enough time to drive to Philly and back.

With those odds I'll do my best to come in first and I'm sure everyone else in here is going to give me the fight of my life for this prize.

BTW in live in the Pittsburgh area, so why would I want to go to Philly? Their taxes are worser than around here.

jmonroe

stever

Living there, you must really be tired of that two week in Philly joke. It's been around at least since the 50s.

henryn

The first time I heard it, the city was Dallas. And that was in a book by Robert B. Parker, back in the '70s if I recall correctly.

jmonroe

stever said:

Living there, you must really be tired of that two week in Philly joke. It's been around at least since the 50s.

Yeah, you're right I have heard that before a few times but I wanted to be sure I didn't have to take the additional penalty just in case I came in second.

jmonroe

stickguy

I think that joke goes all the way back to WC fields.

oldfarmer50

Got to drive the school fleet "limo" today. A 2016 Chevy Suburban.

Not a bad ride. Very good visability and a smooth ride for basically a truck. Not very fast for a 5.3L with 355hp. Then again it does weigh 5600 pounds.

It has leather seats but not power, all manual adjustments. Strange. Back up camera and satellite radio. A very sweet ride and is highly coveted by the drivers.

It's all mine for my mid-day run.



That picture isn't my bus and the fat guy getting in it isn't me either. I'm guessing that bus is from central NYS.

js06gv

oldfarmer50 said:

Got to drive the school fleet "limo" today. A 2016 Chevy Suburban.

Not a bad ride. Very good visability and a smooth ride for basicly a truck. Not very fast for a 5.3L with 355hp. Then again it does weigh 5600 pounds.

It has leather seats but not power, all manual adjustments. Strange. Back up camera and satellite radio. A very sweet ride and is highly coveted by the drivers.

It's all mine for my mid-day run.



That picture isn't my bus and the fat guy getting in it isn't me either. I'm guessing that bus is from central NYS.

Looks like a "work truck" trim. My money is on vinyl for the seats, especially if they aren't power.

stever

murphydog said:

Still no luck with the Ghia - a few random "send more pictures" from the Samba, but that is it.

Can't believe just crickets from the Craigs List ad.

Anybody have any luck using Ebay?

Nice thing about eBay is that you widen your scope a whole lot. And you should avoid some of the craigslist flakes, although it sounds like you haven't even caught their interest.

Mr_Shiftright

stever said:

murphydog said:

Still no luck with the Ghia - a few random "send more pictures" from the Samba, but that is it.

Can't believe just crickets from the Craigs List ad.

Anybody have any luck using Ebay?

Nice thing about eBay is that you widen your scope a whole lot. And you should avoid some of the craigslist flakes, although it sounds like you haven't even caught their interest.

An auction is a pretty good way to get an idea of real value, especially if it is exposed to lots of bidders. If the world tells you the car is worth X, then it's probably worth X.

You might try Bring a Trailer (www.bringatrailer.com). They charge a flat fee of $250 and no commissions. One nice thing they do is allow a dialogue between you and bidders as the auction is progressing. Another is that if you set a reserve and the bidding comes close to it, BAT will throw in the difference to get the car sold.

I'm not so keen on eBay because their policy is that no bid on a car is binding. So anyone can back out on you.

If you've had no luck with ads so far, then your price is probably too high.

If you sent me some photos and all the details I'd give you my two cents as to current market value.

Shifty

stever

Here's the Ghia ad @Mr_Shiftright, with lots of pics and info.

stickguy

I wonder if all the customization, such as air ride, is scaring away customers? I love the looks, but that would probably take it off my list.

jmonroe

murphydog said:

Still no luck with the Ghia - a few random "send more pictures" from the Samba, but that is it.

Can't believe just crickets from the Craigs List ad.

Anybody have any luck using Ebay?

When @stever posted the pics along with the description, I took another look at the write up. It says in part "looks nice from 10 feet, but obvious imperfections up close".

It might be worth looking into what it will take to get rid of some of those imperfections. Even though everything else looks good especially the new rims, buyers always want it to look like new. Reasonable buyers know this isn't possible but if it will only take a good buffing from a reliable detail shop it could well be worth a couple hundred bucks.

Take it from Dino Monroe, looks will never hurt you.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

stever said:

murphydog said:

Still no luck with the Ghia - a few random "send more pictures" from the Samba, but that is it.

Can't believe just crickets from the Craigs List ad.

Anybody have any luck using Ebay?

Nice thing about eBay is that you widen your scope a whole lot. And you should avoid some of the craigslist flakes, although it sounds like you haven't even caught their interest.

I think CL buyers might not have the cash for such a nice car. When I put my Eclipse on there for $10,900 all I got was crickets. My son's beater Caddy for $500 drew more interest. Flakes? Yeah you get them. One insisted on a test drive even though the car had no plates or insurance. He seems upset that I wouldn't violate the law and risk financial ruin for him.

Having said that I still see a ton of $15k+ classics and muscle cars listed. Don't know if anyone is buying them.

ab348

Mr_Shiftright said:

You might try Bring a Trailer (www.bringatrailer.com). They charge a flat fee of $250 and no commissions. One nice thing they do is allow a dialogue between you and bidders as the auction is progressing. Another is that if you set a reserve and the bidding comes close to it, BAT will throw in the difference to get the car sold.

I just subscribed to BaT last week after following various cars listed there for years. It is an interesting place, with apparently lots of people who view and enough serious buyers that prices are pretty good in a lot of cases. A really eclectic mix of stuff there.

stever

jmonroe said:

It says in part "looks nice from 10 feet, but obvious imperfections up close".

It might be worth looking into what it will take to get rid of some of those imperfections. jmonroe

I take that language to be "collector's code" - ten footers are in great shape yet you still don't mind driving them, unlike something you're going to take to shows in a box trailer.

May be best to omit that for the craigslist crowd though.

driver100

stever said:

jmonroe said:

It says in part "looks nice from 10 feet, but obvious imperfections up close".

It might be worth looking into what it will take to get rid of some of those imperfections. jmonroe

I take that language to be "collector's code" - ten footers are in great shape yet you still don't mind driving them, unlike something you're going to take to shows in a box trailer.

May be best to omit that for the craigslist crowd though.

Good point. Unless it is show jargon I suggest leaving it out all the time. It is nice to be honest, but avoid anything that sounds negative.

In fact, try turning it into a positive....just has a few beauty marks....................no, just joking about that!

driver100

I got the police report from the insurance company and the moron cop did a number on me. Other driver was at fault, but, I stopped too suddenly for an amber light.

Like I said, it was a completely normal stop. The cop never asked anything about how or why I stopped, but, he took the truck drivers word that he thought I would go through the light and he was going to do the same. Isn't that assuming...make an [non-permissible content removed] of u and me?

This is what the retired insurance broker wrote to me:

The police reports used to show estimates of damage. I don’t see any here but the officer, it appears, didn’t like you or your ride or both.
There is nothing to be gained & only frustration in attempting to have the officer alter his report.
With the amount of damage done to your vehicle the other driver should have been charged.
You were rear ended when you stopped for the changing light & owe no explanation to anyone for your actions.
You are not at fault.

I feel like telling the police department they have a moron officer who should learn the law and study the drivers handbook. I'd like to see him called up on the carpet....but, the insurance man says just get on with life!

jmonroe

driver100 said:

I got the police report from the insurance company and the moron cop did a number on me. Other driver was at fault, but, I stopped too suddenly for an amber light.

Like I said, it was a completely normal stop. The cop never asked anything about how or why I stopped, but, he took the truck drivers word that he thought I would go through the light and he was going to do the same. Isn't that assuming...make an [non-permissible content removed] of u and me?

This is what the retired insurance broker wrote to me:

The police reports used to show estimates of damage. I don’t see any here but the officer, it appears, didn’t like you or your ride or both.
There is nothing to be gained & only frustration in attempting to have the officer alter his report.
With the amount of damage done to your vehicle the other driver should have been charged.
You were rear ended when you stopped for the changing light & owe no explanation to anyone for your actions.
You are not at fault.

I feel like telling the police department they have a moron officer who should learn the law and study the drivers handbook. I'd like to see him called up on the carpet....but, the insurance man says just get on with life!

When this is all said and done with, I would seriously think about going to the station that this "moron cop" works out of and ask for a written statement of something to the effect of, "should this driver (not @driver100 as in your handle here but "driver" in general) go through a yellow light, regardless of how long it is yellow, he is not to be given a ticket because he is just trying to avoid being rear-ended as he was on xx-xx-2016 as recorded in accident report No: xxxxxxxxxxx.

I think we all know that you will not get this authorization but if it were me I'd like to see the look on the desk sergeants face when I asked for it.

Something tells me this will rule out your consideration of a contribution to this stations policeman's ball this Christmas.

jmonroe

murphydog

thanks for the feedback all - There are 2 more shows I am going to visit, Sunday the 11th is a show in Edmunds, they claim that 10,000 people attend. Also the last Sunday of September is a VW show at XXX Rootbeer in Issaquah. Triple X has shows every weekend for all kinds of cars.

If I get no interest at either of those, I will look at Bring a trailer.

ab348

driver100 said:

I got the police report from the insurance company and the moron cop did a number on me. Other driver was at fault, but, I stopped too suddenly for an amber light.

I would be very upset with this. What if your insurer says that you contributed to the crash based on that?

I had a situation where I was a witness to a accident between a coworkers car and and an oncoming truck. She was first in line at an advanced flashing green light that is for left turns, and I was right behind her. The was a car stopped at the opposing left lane but the right lane was clear. I saw a large box truck coming toward us in the right lane and it was obvious he was not slowing down for the red light facing him. She began her left turn and suddenly I had that sinking feeling he wasn't going to stop. She did, partway through her turn, he swerved to the right and took out her front bumper along with other damage to the front end of her car. Fortunately nobody was hurt.

When the accident report was written the cops took the truck drivers word that the light he saw was green, which was impossible. I had contacted the cops to give a statement but they never called me. I had to actively track the cop down and make him take my statement which exonerated her. Otherwise she would have been deemed to be at fault. I don't think they care very much about the facts in these sorts of situations.

fintail

You could make it a media storm, go on social media and contact some local papers and TV and see if they will make it a third section special interest story. Some outlets love to expose incompetent police work, and there's sadly often no shortage of stories.

It definitely sounds like the one with the badge was put off by you.

driver100 said:

I got the police report from the insurance company and the moron

I feel like telling the police department they have a moron officer who should learn the law and study the drivers handbook. I'd like to see him called up on the carpet....but, the insurance man says just get on with life!

driver100

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

I got the police report from the insurance company and the moron cop did a number on me. Other driver was at fault, but, I stopped too suddenly for an amber light.

Like I said, it was a completely normal stop. The cop never asked anything about how or why I stopped, but, he took the truck drivers word that he thought I would go through the light and he was going to do the same. Isn't that assuming...make an [non-permissible content removed] of u and me?

This is what the retired insurance broker wrote to me:

The police reports used to show estimates of damage. I don’t see any here but the officer, it appears, didn’t like you or your ride or both.
There is nothing to be gained & only frustration in attempting to have the officer alter his report.
With the amount of damage done to your vehicle the other driver should have been charged.
You were rear ended when you stopped for the changing light & owe no explanation to anyone for your actions.
You are not at fault.

I feel like telling the police department they have a moron officer who should learn the law and study the drivers handbook. I'd like to see him called up on the carpet....but, the insurance man says just get on with life!

When this is all said and done with, I would seriously think about going to the station that this "moron cop" works out of and ask for a written statement of something to the effect of, "should this driver (not @driver100 as in your handle here but "driver" in general) go through a yellow light, regardless of how long it is yellow, he is not to be given a ticket because he is just trying to avoid being rear-ended as he was on xx-xx-2016 as recorded in accident report No: xxxxxxxxxxx.

I think we all know that you will not get this authorization but if it were me I'd like to see the look on the desk sergeants face when I asked for it.

Something tells me this will rule out your consideration of a contribution to this stations policeman's ball this Christmas.

jmonroe

I love that idea! When the moron cop told me I was allowed to go through a yellow light if I did it carefully I was tempted to ask him if he was joking.....then I thought....this idiot could write anything he wants on that report....then I could have a real problem.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

I got the police report from the insurance company and the moron cop did a number on me. Other driver was at fault, but, I stopped too suddenly for an amber light.

Like I said, it was a completely normal stop. The cop never asked anything about how or why I stopped, but, he took the truck drivers word that he thought I would go through the light and he was going to do the same. Isn't that assuming...make an [non-permissible content removed] of u and me?

This is what the retired insurance broker wrote to me:

The police reports used to show estimates of damage. I don’t see any here but the officer, it appears, didn’t like you or your ride or both.
There is nothing to be gained & only frustration in attempting to have the officer alter his report.
With the amount of damage done to your vehicle the other driver should have been charged.
You were rear ended when you stopped for the changing light & owe no explanation to anyone for your actions.
You are not at fault.

I feel like telling the police department they have a moron officer who should learn the law and study the drivers handbook. I'd like to see him called up on the carpet....but, the insurance man says just get on with life!

driver100 said:

I got the police report from the insurance company and the moron cop did a number on me. Other driver was at fault, but, I stopped too suddenly for an amber light.

Like I said, it was a completely normal stop. The cop never asked anything about how or why I stopped, but, he took the truck drivers word that he thought I would go through the light and he was going to do the same. Isn't that assuming...make an [non-permissible content removed] of u and me?

This is what the retired insurance broker wrote to me:

The police reports used to show estimates of damage. I don’t see any here but the officer, it appears, didn’t like you or your ride or both.
There is nothing to be gained & only frustration in attempting to have the officer alter his report.
With the amount of damage done to your vehicle the other driver should have been charged.
You were rear ended when you stopped for the changing light & owe no explanation to anyone for your actions.
You are not at fault.

I feel like telling the police department they have a moron officer who should learn the law and study the drivers handbook. I'd like to see him called up on the carpet....but, the insurance man says just get on with life!

Unless the traffic laws are different in Canada there is no way you can be held responsible in any shape or form. If you rear end another vehicle you are 100% responsible. It doesn't matter what you "thought" the other driver was doing you are responsible for your vehicle. The person you hit is not. A commercial driver is held to a higher standard than a regular motorist. The trucker should not have been so close.

I don't get the cop's attitude. Even if you were jumping around like Donald Duck throwing a fit the law is the law.

Maybe the truck driver was a relative. If you could prove that relationship he would be in trouble with his department.

driver100

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

I got the police report from the insurance company and the moron cop did a number on me. Other driver was at fault, but, I stopped too suddenly for an amber light.

I would be very upset with this. What if your insurer says that you contributed to the crash based on that?

I had a situation where I was a witness to a accident between a coworkers car and and an oncoming truck.

That is one fortunate thing......since he is at fault I should not be penalized in any way. Not charging him just makes it a lot less serious for him.

But I am pretty upset, one reason is there is no way I would have gone through that light....even if it happened again tomorrow....I don't ever want to hit a pedestrian if that can be avoided......but also, there is a principle at stake and there is also a cop with a problem - and he should be trained properly.

I am tempted to write to his boss or the collision report people and tell them in a nice way they have an incompetent cop working the traffic beat. If I was a visible minority this could be a major problem for them. Maybe driving a Mercedes qualifies me!

driver100

fintail said:

You could make it a media storm, go on social media and contact some local papers and TV and see if they will make it a third section special interest story. Some outlets love to expose incompetent police work, and there's sadly often no shortage of stories.

It definitely sounds like the one with the badge was put off by you.

driver100 said:

I got the police report from the insurance company and the moron

I feel like telling the police department they have a moron officer who should learn the law and study the drivers handbook. I'd like to see him called up on the carpet....but, the insurance man says just get on with life!

I agree 100% - I have thought about that. I think it would be an interesting story for the newspaper. I have concerns though, going away for 2 weeks next Tuesday, my wife will never agree to me doing it, it could result in some kind of lawsuit against me, every cop around will be watching for me....and lots more!

It would be like if someone slams you in the head, and the cop says it wouldn't have happened if you got your head out of the way.

stickguy

Driver, odds are it will do nothing, other then get you flagged to be watched for.

as long as you aren't ticketed and insurance covers it all, are you really out anything? I suppose if the insurance tries to up your rates for at fault, then you could protest, sue the cops, or something.

driver100

murphydog said:

Also the last Sunday of September is a VW show at XXX Rootbeer in Issaquah. Triple X has shows every weekend for all kinds of cars.

If I get no interest at either of those, I will look at Bring a trailer.

VW show sounds promising, you would be showing to the people who are fans. It is very frustrating, it is a great car for the right person - it is how do you get matched up?

jmonroe

driver100 said:

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

I got the police report from the insurance company and the moron cop did a number on me. Other driver was at fault, but, I stopped too suddenly for an amber light.

I would be very upset with this. What if your insurer says that you contributed to the crash based on that?

I had a situation where I was a witness to a accident between a coworkers car and and an oncoming truck.

That is one fortunate thing......since he is at fault I should not be penalized in any way. Not charging him just makes it a lot less serious for him.

But I am pretty upset, one reason is there is no way I would have gone through that light....even if it happened again tomorrow....I don't ever want to hit a pedestrian if that can be avoided......but also, there is a principle at stake and there is also a cop with a problem - and he should be trained properly.

I am tempted to write to his boss or the collision report people and tell them in a nice way they have an incompetent cop working the traffic beat. If I was a visible minority this could be a major problem for them. Maybe driving a Mercedes qualifies me!

Like I said in my previous post, sit tight until this is all settled. Why give them a chance to fudge something just because you upset them. Although filing an amended report that contradicts the original would raise a lot of questions in a court room why take the chance since you seem to have the upper hand now.

As for the cop not liking you because he is biased against MB owners, I don't buy that. I think he is trying not to put all the blame on the truck driver because he knows that could affect his job and since he knows the drivers insurance will cover the damages he figures no one will care.

I could be wrong about ALL of this but I don't think I am.

jmonroe