Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

driver100

andres3 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

berri said:

New car looks nice Driver

Thanks berri. It isn't nice having to wait 4 months for my new car to come in.......the anticipation is a little hard to take.....2 months down, 2 to go. I think I will really appreciate it once it gets here.

I'm sure you will.

Keep this one safe, don't stop at anymore yellow lights!

jmonroe

I am not sure uyou were here when I heard from the "Supervisor of Accident Reconstruction". I may be repeating myself for some but he said:
*I did the right thing by stopping for the yellow light
*You can't argue with physics and science, the truck was not a safe distance behind or he would have stopped.
*The cop has to rewrite the accident report for their records, which is a real slap in the face for him
*The cop will be monitored to see how his accident reports are written up
*They will retrain this cop to look at the scene of the accident and use that when recording, not go by the driver at faults version of events
*They will review training for future cops.

He made it sound like it would be a long slow process to charge the truck driver at this point. I am OK with what was done, though I think there is still a very dangerous truck driver on the roads.

That truck driver just needs to pay attention while driving and that'll make him safe. The only reason you rear-end someone is because you are not paying attention or leaving enough following distance. I think it is the former as you said you didn't brake hard. 100%.

I'm sure there are a couple government agencies that are insurance-friendly that'll attribute these accidents to being speed-related! Got to pad those numbers people like @snakeweasel like to cite!

Isn't driving too close related to speed. In my accident, I believe driving too close was the end result, but I think the truck drivers aggressive driving, mainly speed, was a factor. I understand he has a route, and the faster he picks up his dumpsters, the more money he makes. It is like all those trucks making "just in time" deliveries, or pizza drivers having to deliver within 20 minutes......excess speed is the problem, driving too close is a result.

Michaell

driver100 said:

andres3 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

berri said:

New car looks nice Driver

Thanks berri. It isn't nice having to wait 4 months for my new car to come in.......the anticipation is a little hard to take.....2 months down, 2 to go. I think I will really appreciate it once it gets here.

I'm sure you will.

Keep this one safe, don't stop at anymore yellow lights!

jmonroe

I am not sure uyou were here when I heard from the "Supervisor of Accident Reconstruction". I may be repeating myself for some but he said:
*I did the right thing by stopping for the yellow light
*You can't argue with physics and science, the truck was not a safe distance behind or he would have stopped.
*The cop has to rewrite the accident report for their records, which is a real slap in the face for him
*The cop will be monitored to see how his accident reports are written up
*They will retrain this cop to look at the scene of the accident and use that when recording, not go by the driver at faults version of events
*They will review training for future cops.

He made it sound like it would be a long slow process to charge the truck driver at this point. I am OK with what was done, though I think there is still a very dangerous truck driver on the roads.

That truck driver just needs to pay attention while driving and that'll make him safe. The only reason you rear-end someone is because you are not paying attention or leaving enough following distance. I think it is the former as you said you didn't brake hard. 100%.

I'm sure there are a couple government agencies that are insurance-friendly that'll attribute these accidents to being speed-related! Got to pad those numbers people like @snakeweasel like to cite!

Isn't driving too close related to speed. In my accident, I believe driving too close was the end result, but I think the truck drivers aggressive driving, mainly speed, was a factor. I understand he has a route, and the faster he picks up his dumpsters, the more money he makes. It is like all those trucks making "just in time" deliveries, or pizza drivers having to deliver within 20 minutes......excess speed is the problem, driving too close is a result.

No national pizza company has a delivery time limit mandated on their drivers. It went away about 30 years ago after a number of accidents - and lawsuits.

Do they want the food delivered as quickly as possible? Yes.

However, the chain I worked for constantly reminded their drivers to go 3 MPH under the posted limit.

And, I can follow the car in front of me too closely, even if that car is going 10 under the limit.

driver100

stever said:

Go south and buy a Toyota from Earl Steward. He "exposes" what's behind dealer fees.

Short answer = extra profit.

Good article. I liked this part;

The dealers get around advertisements very easily by including a “number” in the fine print. This number is their stock number that designates one specific car. When you respond to the ad, this car is no longer available (sales people are usually not paid a commission for selling the “ad car). The advertisement might say “many more identical cars are available.” It’s true that identical cars are available for sale, but they are not available for sale at the sale price because they are not the advertised stock number car. If you buy one of those “exact same cars” you will pay from $700 to $2,000 more.

That advertised car has a low price because that one car is sold without a doc fee.

driver100

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

andres3 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

berri said:

New car looks nice Driver

Thanks berri. It isn't nice having to wait 4 months for my new car to come in.......the anticipation is a little hard to take.....2 months down, 2 to go. I think I will really appreciate it once it gets here.

I'm sure you will.

Keep this one safe, don't stop at anymore yellow lights!

jmonroe

I am not sure uyou were here when I heard from the "Supervisor of Accident Reconstruction". I may be repeating myself for some but he said:
*I did the right thing by stopping for the yellow light
*You can't argue with physics and science, the truck was not a safe distance behind or he would have stopped.
*The cop has to rewrite the accident report for their records, which is a real slap in the face for him
*The cop will be monitored to see how his accident reports are written up
*They will retrain this cop to look at the scene of the accident and use that when recording, not go by the driver at faults version of events
*They will review training for future cops.

He made it sound like it would be a long slow process to charge the truck driver at this point. I am OK with what was done, though I think there is still a very dangerous truck driver on the roads.

That truck driver just needs to pay attention while driving and that'll make him safe. The only reason you rear-end someone is because you are not paying attention or leaving enough following distance. I think it is the former as you said you didn't brake hard. 100%.

I'm sure there are a couple government agencies that are insurance-friendly that'll attribute these accidents to being speed-related! Got to pad those numbers people like @snakeweasel like to cite!

Isn't driving too close related to speed. In my accident, I believe driving too close was the end result, but I think the truck drivers aggressive driving, mainly speed, was a factor. I understand he has a route, and the faster he picks up his dumpsters, the more money he makes. It is like all those trucks making "just in time" deliveries, or pizza drivers having to deliver within 20 minutes......excess speed is the problem, driving too close is a result.

No national pizza company has a delivery time limit mandated on their drivers. It went away about 30 years ago after a number of accidents - and lawsuits.

Do they want the food delivered as quickly as possible? Yes.

However, the chain I worked for constantly reminded their drivers to go 3 MPH under the posted limit.

And, I can follow the car in front of me too closely, even if that car is going 10 under the limit.

OK, point made regarding pizza deliveries.

Many more businesses depend on speedy deliveries, even taxi drivers can make more the sooner they deliver their clients. I think there are lots of examples, where speed is still the factor in an accident. But, the largest factor these days is distraction....mainly cell phones or texting.

Michaell

driver100 said:

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

andres3 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

berri said:

New car looks nice Driver

Thanks berri. It isn't nice having to wait 4 months for my new car to come in.......the anticipation is a little hard to take.....2 months down, 2 to go. I think I will really appreciate it once it gets here.

I'm sure you will.

Keep this one safe, don't stop at anymore yellow lights!

jmonroe

I am not sure uyou were here when I heard from the "Supervisor of Accident Reconstruction". I may be repeating myself for some but he said:
*I did the right thing by stopping for the yellow light
*You can't argue with physics and science, the truck was not a safe distance behind or he would have stopped.
*The cop has to rewrite the accident report for their records, which is a real slap in the face for him
*The cop will be monitored to see how his accident reports are written up
*They will retrain this cop to look at the scene of the accident and use that when recording, not go by the driver at faults version of events
*They will review training for future cops.

He made it sound like it would be a long slow process to charge the truck driver at this point. I am OK with what was done, though I think there is still a very dangerous truck driver on the roads.

That truck driver just needs to pay attention while driving and that'll make him safe. The only reason you rear-end someone is because you are not paying attention or leaving enough following distance. I think it is the former as you said you didn't brake hard. 100%.

I'm sure there are a couple government agencies that are insurance-friendly that'll attribute these accidents to being speed-related! Got to pad those numbers people like @snakeweasel like to cite!

Isn't driving too close related to speed. In my accident, I believe driving too close was the end result, but I think the truck drivers aggressive driving, mainly speed, was a factor. I understand he has a route, and the faster he picks up his dumpsters, the more money he makes. It is like all those trucks making "just in time" deliveries, or pizza drivers having to deliver within 20 minutes......excess speed is the problem, driving too close is a result.

No national pizza company has a delivery time limit mandated on their drivers. It went away about 30 years ago after a number of accidents - and lawsuits.

Do they want the food delivered as quickly as possible? Yes.

However, the chain I worked for constantly reminded their drivers to go 3 MPH under the posted limit.

And, I can follow the car in front of me too closely, even if that car is going 10 under the limit.

OK, point made regarding pizza deliveries.

Many more businesses depend on speedy deliveries, even taxi drivers can make more the sooner they deliver their clients. I think there are lots of examples, where speed is still the factor in an accident. But, the largest factor these days is distraction....mainly cell phones or texting.

That I will agree with. And, the state laws regarding mobile devices varies greatly.

oldfarmer50

graphicguy said:

I know some of you are "anti-cruise". But, I have to be in Orlando to do some work Friday. Just because, I looked at cruises going out of FL just to see how Matthew may have affected them. The sales of cabins must have taken a huge dip.

Long and short of it, I found a last minute 7-day cruise out of Miami that's leaving this Saturday. Cheap, cheap, cheap. So, looks like I'm taking a vacation. It's a "non-assigned" cabin, so I might be in the engine room shoveling coal, but I'm taking time off, either way.

Good for you. Who cares what others think. If you enjoy cruises that's all that matters.

snakeweasel

imidazol97 said:

snakeweasel said:

If you simply converted your MP3's to a CD format (WAV) then the files would degrade some in the process which could be the reason for poorer sound quality from the CD.

You could get a data CD and just copy the music as MP3's and see if that works.

The mp3's are what I'm playing. They were converted from the wav files on CD's by Windows Media Player at 320.
So I thought the sound would be the same.

The sound from either USB or CD mp3 is better than XM by a long shot playing the same Broadway music.

Well with a CD the music is encoded with small bumps and pits on the surface of the CD which is read by a laser. If there are scratches on the CD and/or if there is dirt in there that interferes with the CD being read it could result in poorer sound quality. Try another CD and see what happens.

andres3

driver100 said:

andres3 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

berri said:

New car looks nice Driver

Thanks berri. It isn't nice having to wait 4 months for my new car to come in.......the anticipation is a little hard to take.....2 months down, 2 to go. I think I will really appreciate it once it gets here.

I'm sure you will.

Keep this one safe, don't stop at anymore yellow lights!

jmonroe

I am not sure uyou were here when I heard from the "Supervisor of Accident Reconstruction". I may be repeating myself for some but he said:
*I did the right thing by stopping for the yellow light
*You can't argue with physics and science, the truck was not a safe distance behind or he would have stopped.
*The cop has to rewrite the accident report for their records, which is a real slap in the face for him
*The cop will be monitored to see how his accident reports are written up
*They will retrain this cop to look at the scene of the accident and use that when recording, not go by the driver at faults version of events
*They will review training for future cops.

He made it sound like it would be a long slow process to charge the truck driver at this point. I am OK with what was done, though I think there is still a very dangerous truck driver on the roads.

That truck driver just needs to pay attention while driving and that'll make him safe. The only reason you rear-end someone is because you are not paying attention or leaving enough following distance. I think it is the former as you said you didn't brake hard. 100%.

I'm sure there are a couple government agencies that are insurance-friendly that'll attribute these accidents to being speed-related! Got to pad those numbers people like @snakeweasel like to cite!

Isn't driving too close related to speed. In my accident, I believe driving too close was the end result, but I think the truck drivers aggressive driving, mainly speed, was a factor. I understand he has a route, and the faster he picks up his dumpsters, the more money he makes. It is like all those trucks making "just in time" deliveries, or pizza drivers having to deliver within 20 minutes......excess speed is the problem, driving too close is a result.

As others pointed out, you can follow too closely at any speed, even far below the arbitrarily posted speed limit. Therefore, I have to conclude they are entirely unrelated.

My conclusion would be speed is irrelevant, following too closely is the problem. Many accidents are the result of following too closely. The faster you go, the more braking distance you may need; I think everyone understands that. Failure to follow that simple principle makes it a "following too closely" error. Another example, I may be able to follow cars more closely safely with sport brake pads and summer tires, whereas if I'm driving a BIG old heavy SUV with low rolling resistance tires, the results might be different. The driver should adjust to the abilities and conditions of their vehicle; just the same as with weather and visibility conditions.

Given that he hit you at a fairly high rate of speed, it doesn't seem to me that speed was a factor. My argument would be that in order for the accident to be honestly marked speed related, you'd have to show me the time and distance that the vehicle was braking prior to the collision. You'd then have to show me that had the vehicle been going the speed limit or lower, they'd of been able to avoid the collision given that known time and distance of braking that occurred. When little to no braking occurs, it tells me that speed was irrelevant, and that simple distraction was the cause. You can crash going 1 MPH even if you cruise at 1 MPH if you never hit the brakes!

snakeweasel

graphicguy said:

I know some of you are "anti-cruise". But, I have to be in Orlando to do some work Friday. Just because, I looked at cruises going out of FL just to see how Matthew may have affected them. The sales of cabins must have taken a huge dip.

Long and short of it, I found a last minute 7-day cruise out of Miami that's leaving this Saturday. Cheap, cheap, cheap. So, looks like I'm taking a vacation. It's a "non-assigned" cabin, so I might be in the engine room shoveling coal, but I'm taking time off, either way.

Cruise lines, hotels, airlines and such work on pretty much the same way when it comes to pricing. They vary the pricing based on how well the tickets are selling. Selling better than expected the presumption is the price is to low and they raise prices and of course the opposite is true. Sometimes they price to low all along and cabins sell out well before the cruise, sometimes they price to high and they don't sell out all the cabins. If they don't sell out then the week or so before the cruise they start to go at deep discounts.

Since most people book cruises well in advance and most cruise tickets are non refundable I seriously doubt it was Matthew. It likely was that they priced some cabins a little higher than they should have and ended up with a few unsold ones. Better to get your few hundred then nothing.

snakeweasel

Mr_Shiftright said:

snakeweasel said:

Well the Cubs made a great come from behind victory in the 9th last night in San Francisco to advance to the National league championship series. With Toronto and Cleveland fighting it out for the American League championship that makes 3 of the 4 remaining teams Great Lakes teams. 

Still awaiting word on time and place of Crawford's public execution.

Don't forget the method.

snakeweasel

ab348 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

snakeweasel said:

Well the Cubs made a great come from behind victory in the 9th last night in San Francisco to advance to the National league championship series. With Toronto and Cleveland fighting it out for the American League championship that makes 3 of the 4 remaining teams Great Lakes teams. 

Still awaiting word on time and place of Crawford's public execution.

They really should just line up the entire Giants bullpen in front of a wall and... well, you can guess.

Well they did (do?) have the worst bullpen in possibly forever. Since they started recording saves as a stat in 1969 the 2016 Giants blew more saves than any other team. This is likely the reason they went 30 - 42 after the All Star break. But to be fair the Giants defense flubbed a few plays out there, especially blowing a double play which would have left the bases empty with two outs and the score tied but ended up with only one out and a man in scoring position. That man scored the winning run.

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

snakeweasel said:

Well the Cubs made a great come from behind victory in the 9th last night in San Francisco to advance to the National league championship series. With Toronto and Cleveland fighting it out for the American League championship that makes 3 of the 4 remaining teams Great Lakes teams. 

Still awaiting word on time and place of Crawford's public execution.

Talk about politically correct, the Jays announcer will not use the word "Indians" when naming the team.

I'll join the bandwagon of getting certain teams like the Indians and the Redskins to change their name when those who want those name changes demand that the Yankees also change their name.

snakeweasel

andres3 said:

snakeweasel said:

andres3 said:

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

I have reached the limit of the insurance company paying for my rental car. The limit was $1800. I called Discount to see what it would cost to keep the BMW X1 for 3 weeks. They said $99 a day! I asked how much for a full size like a Fusion, they said $50 a day.

My dealer will get me a full size car from Enterprise for $226 a week. Enterprise website says I can get a full size car for $250 a week. The BMW would have been about $2000 for 3 weeks, a full size car about $1200.

Sure can make a big difference....you really have to do your homework.

I just got an email from the insurance company looking into the $2600 I would like for the Tech Package. All it said was, "We are looking into it".

Meaning, they are in the process of chewing your broker out and implicitly threatening him. Telling him to stick to selling and leave the claims handling to the claims dept. Hopefully, he will stick to his guns. Be careful though, claims people are vindictive and they will try to make it up somewhere else if they have to cave on this issue. I'm sure you know the drill !

There is a good question for you. Actually, I really think the broker has some clout with the insurance company. We are in a pretty big group, and |I am sure the broker's opinion has to be considered.

The last I heard, my broker has reapplied for the Tech Package ($2600) option, and the adjuster from the insurance company wrote that she is now reviewing it...before it was just a flat NO.

But, the question is, isn't better to deal with a broker rather than just buy directly from say a State Farm or Allstate? I hadn't thought about it before, but who do you have fighting for you if you are with one of those direct companies.

Speaking of insurance, I am glad we are on the West side of Florida this time.

Yes, much better. If he is an independent broker, he works for you, not the insurance company, and they do have some clout.

The problem with broker agents is they are often about as useless as "insert favorite cliche here." The term worthless comes to mind, unless you can find one of the rare "good ones" that doesn't quit every year (turnover is high). All you can mostly do is represent yourself, threaten to sue, and threaten to take your business elsewhere. One of the keys is you can't be bluffing with your threats; you must follow through or you make it harder for the rest of us to get a fair claims settlement.

an independent agent has more clout simply because he can direct traffic to different insurers. If an independent agent sees that a particular insurer plays around when there is a claim they will give that information to their clients when they shop for insurance.

As for suing, that's mostly an empty threat as most policies (maybe all) have a mediation clause in it. You would be able to sue the other driver and/or their insurer but not yours.

That assumes their only motivation isn't whoever pays the highest commission for sending clients there way. Claims are rare and may take years, but sales commissions are immediate. It's the same with real estate agents that won't show their buyers any house listed for less than 6% total commission; a total disservice to their client, but in their financial best interest.

The independent brokers I know will take a smaller commission if it means putting a customer into a company that they will stay with than take a larger commission with the strong possibility that the customer will jump ship in a year or two.

As for real estate agents the agent that lists the house with a smaller commission eats the reduced amount of the commission.

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

andres3 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

berri said:

New car looks nice Driver

Thanks berri. It isn't nice having to wait 4 months for my new car to come in.......the anticipation is a little hard to take.....2 months down, 2 to go. I think I will really appreciate it once it gets here.

I'm sure you will.

Keep this one safe, don't stop at anymore yellow lights!

jmonroe

I am not sure uyou were here when I heard from the "Supervisor of Accident Reconstruction". I may be repeating myself for some but he said:
*I did the right thing by stopping for the yellow light
*You can't argue with physics and science, the truck was not a safe distance behind or he would have stopped.
*The cop has to rewrite the accident report for their records, which is a real slap in the face for him
*The cop will be monitored to see how his accident reports are written up
*They will retrain this cop to look at the scene of the accident and use that when recording, not go by the driver at faults version of events
*They will review training for future cops.

He made it sound like it would be a long slow process to charge the truck driver at this point. I am OK with what was done, though I think there is still a very dangerous truck driver on the roads.

That truck driver just needs to pay attention while driving and that'll make him safe. The only reason you rear-end someone is because you are not paying attention or leaving enough following distance. I think it is the former as you said you didn't brake hard. 100%.

I'm sure there are a couple government agencies that are insurance-friendly that'll attribute these accidents to being speed-related! Got to pad those numbers people like @snakeweasel like to cite!

Isn't driving too close related to speed. In my accident, I believe driving too close was the end result, but I think the truck drivers aggressive driving, mainly speed, was a factor. I understand he has a route, and the faster he picks up his dumpsters, the more money he makes. It is like all those trucks making "just in time" deliveries, or pizza drivers having to deliver within 20 minutes......excess speed is the problem, driving too close is a result.

you're right and when you're right you are right.

snakeweasel

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

andres3 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

berri said:

New car looks nice Driver

Thanks berri. It isn't nice having to wait 4 months for my new car to come in.......the anticipation is a little hard to take.....2 months down, 2 to go. I think I will really appreciate it once it gets here.

I'm sure you will.

Keep this one safe, don't stop at anymore yellow lights!

jmonroe

I am not sure uyou were here when I heard from the "Supervisor of Accident Reconstruction". I may be repeating myself for some but he said:
*I did the right thing by stopping for the yellow light
*You can't argue with physics and science, the truck was not a safe distance behind or he would have stopped.
*The cop has to rewrite the accident report for their records, which is a real slap in the face for him
*The cop will be monitored to see how his accident reports are written up
*They will retrain this cop to look at the scene of the accident and use that when recording, not go by the driver at faults version of events
*They will review training for future cops.

He made it sound like it would be a long slow process to charge the truck driver at this point. I am OK with what was done, though I think there is still a very dangerous truck driver on the roads.

That truck driver just needs to pay attention while driving and that'll make him safe. The only reason you rear-end someone is because you are not paying attention or leaving enough following distance. I think it is the former as you said you didn't brake hard. 100%.

I'm sure there are a couple government agencies that are insurance-friendly that'll attribute these accidents to being speed-related! Got to pad those numbers people like @snakeweasel like to cite!

Isn't driving too close related to speed. In my accident, I believe driving too close was the end result, but I think the truck drivers aggressive driving, mainly speed, was a factor. I understand he has a route, and the faster he picks up his dumpsters, the more money he makes. It is like all those trucks making "just in time" deliveries, or pizza drivers having to deliver within 20 minutes......excess speed is the problem, driving too close is a result.

No national pizza company has a delivery time limit mandated on their drivers. It went away about 30 years ago after a number of accidents - and lawsuits.

Do they want the food delivered as quickly as possible? Yes.

However, the chain I worked for constantly reminded their drivers to go 3 MPH under the posted limit.

And, I can follow the car in front of me too closely, even if that car is going 10 under the limit.

Yet some of the fastest drivers I see on the road tend to have some fast food delivery sign on them. The fact is the more deliveries thay make the more money they can make hence a lot of them push themselves on the road.

driver100

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

snakeweasel said:

Well the Cubs made a great come from behind victory in the 9th last night in San Francisco to advance to the National league championship series. With Toronto and Cleveland fighting it out for the American League championship that makes 3 of the 4 remaining teams Great Lakes teams. 

Still awaiting word on time and place of Crawford's public execution.

Talk about politically correct, the Jays announcer will not use the word "Indians" when naming the team.

I'll join the bandwagon of getting certain teams like the Indians and the Redskins to change their name when those who want those name changes demand that the Yankees also change their name.

Pontiac Sky Chief anyone?

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

stever said:

Go south and buy a Toyota from Earl Steward. He "exposes" what's behind dealer fees.

Short answer = extra profit.

Good article. I liked this part;

The dealers get around advertisements very easily by including a “number” in the fine print. This number is their stock number that designates one specific car. When you respond to the ad, this car is no longer available (sales people are usually not paid a commission for selling the “ad car). The advertisement might say “many more identical cars are available.” It’s true that identical cars are available for sale, but they are not available for sale at the sale price because they are not the advertised stock number car. If you buy one of those “exact same cars” you will pay from $700 to $2,000 more.

That advertised car has a low price because that one car is sold without a doc fee.

I believe that I told this story here a long time ago. I had a friend who went to a Ford dealer looking for a Ford Focus or a Fusion or some type of sedan, I forget which one. He wanted a bare bones one, a stripper with a manual transmission. Well he gets to a Ford dealership midweek and it just so happens that when he is there they are taking delivery of just the car he wants. It's the car that would be featured on their weekend screamer ad at a low, low price. He bought the car right there and then.

The car wasn't on the dealers lot for more than 10 minutes before he test drove it and bought it. So their really inexpensive car in their ad was sold two days before the ad went out.

berri

My feeling is that if a dealer pulls off crap in their ads or showroom, they will repeat it in their service department too. If you have a decent dealer it generally pays to stick with them as long as their prices are in the ballpark.

jmonroe

andres3 said:

driver100 said:

andres3 said:

driver100 said:

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

berri said:

New car looks nice Driver

Thanks berri. It isn't nice having to wait 4 months for my new car to come in.......the anticipation is a little hard to take.....2 months down, 2 to go. I think I will really appreciate it once it gets here.

I'm sure you will.

Keep this one safe, don't stop at anymore yellow lights!

jmonroe

I am not sure uyou were here when I heard from the "Supervisor of Accident Reconstruction". I may be repeating myself for some but he said:
*I did the right thing by stopping for the yellow light
*You can't argue with physics and science, the truck was not a safe distance behind or he would have stopped.
*The cop has to rewrite the accident report for their records, which is a real slap in the face for him
*The cop will be monitored to see how his accident reports are written up
*They will retrain this cop to look at the scene of the accident and use that when recording, not go by the driver at faults version of events
*They will review training for future cops.

He made it sound like it would be a long slow process to charge the truck driver at this point. I am OK with what was done, though I think there is still a very dangerous truck driver on the roads.

That truck driver just needs to pay attention while driving and that'll make him safe. The only reason you rear-end someone is because you are not paying attention or leaving enough following distance. I think it is the former as you said you didn't brake hard. 100%.

I'm sure there are a couple government agencies that are insurance-friendly that'll attribute these accidents to being speed-related! Got to pad those numbers people like @snakeweasel like to cite!

Isn't driving too close related to speed. In my accident, I believe driving too close was the end result, but I think the truck drivers aggressive driving, mainly speed, was a factor. I understand he has a route, and the faster he picks up his dumpsters, the more money he makes. It is like all those trucks making "just in time" deliveries, or pizza drivers having to deliver within 20 minutes......excess speed is the problem, driving too close is a result.

As others pointed out, you can follow too closely at any speed, even far below the arbitrarily posted speed limit. Therefore, I have to conclude they are entirely unrelated.

My conclusion would be speed is irrelevant, following too closely is the problem. Many accidents are the result of following too closely. The faster you go, the more braking distance you may need; I think everyone understands that. Failure to follow that simple principle makes it a "following too closely" error. Another example, I may be able to follow cars more closely safely with sport brake pads and summer tires, whereas if I'm driving a BIG old heavy SUV with low rolling resistance tires, the results might be different. The driver should adjust to the abilities and conditions of their vehicle; just the same as with weather and visibility conditions.

Given that he hit you at a fairly high rate of speed, it doesn't seem to me that speed was a factor. My argument would be that in order for the accident to be honestly marked speed related, you'd have to show me the time and distance that the vehicle was braking prior to the collision. You'd then have to show me that had the vehicle been going the speed limit or lower, they'd of been able to avoid the collision given that known time and distance of braking that occurred. When little to no braking occurs, it tells me that speed was irrelevant, and that simple distraction was the cause. You can crash going 1 MPH even if you cruise at 1 MPH if you never hit the brakes!

You can spin it any way you want, but following too closely is speeding. It is simply going to fast for that particular condition. You can be walking and if you bump into the person in front of you you are walking too fast.

Spin away but you won't convince me no matter how long or how hard you try to spin it.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

'

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

snakeweasel said:

Well the Cubs made a great come from behind victory in the 9th last night in San Francisco to advance to the National league championship series. With Toronto and Cleveland fighting it out for the American League championship that makes 3 of the 4 remaining teams Great Lakes teams. 

Still awaiting word on time and place of Crawford's public execution.

Talk about politically correct, the Jays announcer will not use the word "Indians" when naming the team.

I'll join the bandwagon of getting certain teams like the Indians and the Redskins to change their name when those who want those name changes demand that the Yankees also change their name.

I'm planning a lawsuit against Notre Dame for their insulting portrayal of my Irish heritage.

Although my wife claims that little guy mascot is an accurate representation of my attitude.

In other news, my low mile car addiction is getting out of hand as I am considering this little fixer upper:




http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5826025161.html

I think I need help!

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

'

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

snakeweasel said:

Well the Cubs made a great come from behind victory in the 9th last night in San Francisco to advance to the National league championship series. With Toronto and Cleveland fighting it out for the American League championship that makes 3 of the 4 remaining teams Great Lakes teams. 

Still awaiting word on time and place of Crawford's public execution.

Talk about politically correct, the Jays announcer will not use the word "Indians" when naming the team.

I'll join the bandwagon of getting certain teams like the Indians and the Redskins to change their name when those who want those name changes demand that the Yankees also change their name.

I'm planning a lawsuit against Notre Dame for their insulting portrayal of my Irish heritage.

Although my wife claims that little guy mascot is an accurate representation of my attitude.

In other news, my low mile car addiction is getting out of hand as I am considering this little fixer upper:




http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5826025161.html

I think I need help!

I am not good at this, but, I would check it out carefully. In the fourth picture from the left the door looks like a very different blue than the rest of the car. Also, the odometer shows 55522 but the 22 is at a different level, aren't the numbers supposed to be level if odometer isn't tampered with? Wheel discs look a bit off IMHO.

It looks like it has been through more than 55k............but, I am playing devils advocate.

jpp75

berri said:

My feeling is that if a dealer pulls off crap in their ads or showroom, they will repeat it in their service department too. If you have a decent dealer it generally pays to stick with them as long as their prices are in the ballpark.

That's why I wouldn't buy a Honda/Acura/Mazda/Kia from our local dealer group. All of their cars come with a $1,495 "Dealer Marketing Fee" in addition to MSRP.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

'

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

snakeweasel said:

Well the Cubs made a great come from behind victory in the 9th last night in San Francisco to advance to the National league championship series. With Toronto and Cleveland fighting it out for the American League championship that makes 3 of the 4 remaining teams Great Lakes teams. 

Still awaiting word on time and place of Crawford's public execution.

Talk about politically correct, the Jays announcer will not use the word "Indians" when naming the team.

I'll join the bandwagon of getting certain teams like the Indians and the Redskins to change their name when those who want those name changes demand that the Yankees also change their name.

I'm planning a lawsuit against Notre Dame for their insulting portrayal of my Irish heritage.

Although my wife claims that little guy mascot is an accurate representation of my attitude.

In other news, my low mile car addiction is getting out of hand as I am considering this little fixer upper:




http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5826025161.html

I think I need help!

I am not good at this, but, I would check it out carefully. In the fourth picture from the left the door looks like a very different blue than the rest of the car. Also, the odometer shows 55522 but the 22 is at a different level, aren't the numbers supposed to be level if odometer isn't tampered with? Wheel discs look a bit off IMHO.

It looks like it has been through more than 55k............but, I am playing devils advocate.

You're better than Narcan for waking me up from my addiction. I should bring you with me when I look at cars.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

I am not good at this, but, I would check it out carefully. In the fourth picture from the left the door looks like a very different blue than the rest of the car. Also, the odometer shows 55522 but the 22 is at a different level, aren't the numbers supposed to be level if odometer isn't tampered with? Wheel discs look a bit off IMHO.

It looks like the "555" is higher than the "0" and the "22."

In the 8th picture, the corner of the sunroof is cracked? What's it supposed to look like there?

oldfarmer50

jpp5862 said:

berri said:

My feeling is that if a dealer pulls off crap in their ads or showroom, they will repeat it in their service department too. If you have a decent dealer it generally pays to stick with them as long as their prices are in the ballpark.

That's why I wouldn't buy a Honda/Acura/Mazda/Kia from our local dealer group. All of their cars come with a $1,495 "Dealer Marketing Fee" in addition to MSRP.

Is that some kind of joke? What other business would say "here's our price but we're going to charge you extra just to be greedy". What is their justification?

qbrozen

oldfarmer50 said:

'

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

snakeweasel said:

Well the Cubs made a great come from behind victory in the 9th last night in San Francisco to advance to the National league championship series. With Toronto and Cleveland fighting it out for the American League championship that makes 3 of the 4 remaining teams Great Lakes teams. 

Still awaiting word on time and place of Crawford's public execution.

Talk about politically correct, the Jays announcer will not use the word "Indians" when naming the team.

I'll join the bandwagon of getting certain teams like the Indians and the Redskins to change their name when those who want those name changes demand that the Yankees also change their name.

I'm planning a lawsuit against Notre Dame for their insulting portrayal of my Irish heritage.

Although my wife claims that little guy mascot is an accurate representation of my attitude.

In other news, my low mile car addiction is getting out of hand as I am considering this little fixer upper:




http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/5826025161.html

I think I need help!

Would love to know why he thinks it has 350hp.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

jpp5862 said:

berri said:

My feeling is that if a dealer pulls off crap in their ads or showroom, they will repeat it in their service department too. If you have a decent dealer it generally pays to stick with them as long as their prices are in the ballpark.

That's why I wouldn't buy a Honda/Acura/Mazda/Kia from our local dealer group. All of their cars come with a $1,495 "Dealer Marketing Fee" in addition to MSRP.

Is that some kind of joke? What other business would say "here's our price but we're going to charge you extra just to be greedy". What is their justification?

Actually, what other business would say, you have to pay for our advertising fees? If all the dealers are doing this, you have no choice, but, if this one is doing it I would run not walk away.

jpp75

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jpp5862 said:

berri said:

My feeling is that if a dealer pulls off crap in their ads or showroom, they will repeat it in their service department too. If you have a decent dealer it generally pays to stick with them as long as their prices are in the ballpark.

That's why I wouldn't buy a Honda/Acura/Mazda/Kia from our local dealer group. All of their cars come with a $1,495 "Dealer Marketing Fee" in addition to MSRP.

Is that some kind of joke? What other business would say "here's our price but we're going to charge you extra just to be greedy". What is their justification?

Actually, what other business would say, you have to pay for our advertising fees? If all the dealers are doing this, you have no choice, but, if this one is doing it I would run not walk away.

They don't have a good justification because there isn't one. I wrote a review on them and they kindly replied saying "all their prices are negotiable, blah blah blah"

But if I was in the market for any model sold by this group I'd gladly travel a couple of hours to a different city.

stickguy

350CI, 350HP. Same difference.

That car with a slush box does nothing for me

Mr_Shiftright

stickguy said:

350CI, 350HP. Same difference.

That car with a slush box does nothing for me

I thought it said "manual transmission" Which in this case isn't necessarily a good thing, if it's the Doug Nash "4+3" transmission--a real dog and prone to failure. Also the early C4s are difficult to modify, engine-wise, and parts are pricey.

HP is actually 230.

You'd really want at least a 1989 model with the ZF 6-speed, or 1990 with the new and better dashboard, and ideally, a 1992 on up C4 with the LT1 and even better LT4 engine.

There's a lot not to like about an '85, but you know, for the money you can always bail on it and recover...presuming the AC isn't totally screwed up and that the car passes a PPI.

Be prepared for a brutal ride however.

graphicguy

stickguy said:

350CI, 350HP. Same difference.

That car with a slush box does nothing for me

In the description he says it has a manual trans. It's clearly an automatic. That roof is going to run $1000-$1,500. Who knows what the A/C will cost. Plus, I agree with everyone else....it looks like it's been in a significant accident, forgetting for a minute that the odo could be a rollback.

While, I like 'vettes, this one has way too many question marks, even at the asking price.

stickguy

I would rather have a C3 anyway. To me, that is a real corvette.

A mid 70s plastic bumper with select upgrades to brakes and suspension, new seats, but mostly a nice modern crate 350 and 5 speed stick. Nothing radical, just a nice, reliable cruiser that can still move and handle.

qbrozen

stickguy said:

350CI, 350HP. Same difference.

LOL

driver100

Looks like there is a big sell off on cruises. I got this from Travelzoo this week:

Weeklong Royal Caribbean cruises are at some of their lowest prices of the year in a sale that runs for the next five days. These deals include up to $175 in onboard credit (per cabin, depending on the itinerary) and a complimentary bottle of wine.

We've sifted through the sale on Cruise.com, and here are some of the best 2016 Caribbean sailings we're finding from Florida:

$309 ... Roundtrip from Miami including Jamaica and Grand Cayman
Depart Nov. 21 aboard Empress of the Seas

$416 ... Roundtrip from Tampa including Belize and Cozumel
Depart Dec. 10 aboard Rhapsody of the Seas

$524 ... Roundtrip from Port Canaveral including Nassau and St. Thomas
Depart Nov. 27 aboard Oasis of the Seas

oldfarmer50

Mr_Shiftright said:

stickguy said:

350CI, 350HP. Same difference.

That car with a slush box does nothing for me

I thought it said "manual transmission" Which in this case isn't necessarily a good thing, if it's the Doug Nash "4+3" transmission--a real dog and prone to failure. Also the early C4s are difficult to modify, engine-wise, and parts are pricey.

HP is actually 230.

You'd really want at least a 1989 model with the ZF 6-speed, or 1990 with the new and better dashboard, and ideally, a 1992 on up C4 with the LT1 and even better LT4 engine.

There's a lot not to like about an '85, but you know, for the money you can always bail on it and recover...presuming the AC isn't totally screwed up and that the car passes a PPI.

Be prepared for a brutal ride however.

220hp is still 25 more than my 84 had. At least it doesn't have the crossfire fuel injection. Brutal doesn't come close to describing the ride.

I wouldn't mind a newer model but the price would be at least double (or more)on the models you list.

You have to wonder how long the seller has owned it if he has no clue on the hp. Wonder if he dropped the glass roof taking it off.

henryn

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

stever said:

Go south and buy a Toyota from Earl Steward. He "exposes" what's behind dealer fees.

Short answer = extra profit.

Good article. I liked this part;

The dealers get around advertisements very easily by including a “number” in the fine print. This number is their stock number that designates one specific car. When you respond to the ad, this car is no longer available (sales people are usually not paid a commission for selling the “ad car). The advertisement might say “many more identical cars are available.” It’s true that identical cars are available for sale, but they are not available for sale at the sale price because they are not the advertised stock number car. If you buy one of those “exact same cars” you will pay from $700 to $2,000 more.

That advertised car has a low price because that one car is sold without a doc fee.

I believe that I told this story here a long time ago. I had a friend who went to a Ford dealer looking for a Ford Focus or a Fusion or some type of sedan, I forget which one. He wanted a bare bones one, a stripper with a manual transmission. Well he gets to a Ford dealership midweek and it just so happens that when he is there they are taking delivery of just the car he wants. It's the car that would be featured on their weekend screamer ad at a low, low price. He bought the car right there and then.

The car wasn't on the dealers lot for more than 10 minutes before he test drove it and bought it. So their really inexpensive car in their ad was sold two days before the ad went out.

Which is okay, but if a complaint is made to the state attorney general's office, they have to be able to produce paperwork showing that they had the car (exact stock number quoted in the ad), and that they sold it for the advertised price after the ad ran. Which makes me wonder if the ad had already ran when your friend purchased the car?

jmonroe

OK, here is the follow up on Son #2's 2014 Fusion purchase about 2 weeks ago.

As I said before my Son went out of state to the Akron Ohio area to get his new (used car).

It is a 2014 CPO Fusion Titanium with 6200 miles on it, when he picked it up, and it was EXACTLY what he was looking for right down to the H-Spoke 19 inch rims that he wanted. The exterior is burgundy and the interior is light grey. He's pretty sure the car has all the options that Ford offered on that car in 2014, although all of the options were not what he had to have. He was insistent about the exterior color though. He said no one in the Pittsburgh area had that car so off to Ohio he went.

He has a 2004 Sentra with about 150K miles on it which he bought as his commute car in 2012 with about 100K miles on it that he wanted to get rid of before it started to have too many problems. He just went through having a catalytic converter put on it which wasn't cheap. That is another story altogether.

He had been looking for the Fusion he wanted for about a month and couldn't find what he wanted so he kept looking on and off. Just as his Sentra was acting up because of the catalytic converter problem he got a lot more serious. When he went on line this time the first car shown was a new listing at a dealer in the Akron area. He was shocked that it only had 6200 miles on it but the Carfax showed it was a clean no wrecked car. He called the dealer and spoke to a very nice laid back salesman.

Here are the details on the 2014 and they are pretty accurate because I took my usual notes:

Son #2: I see the listing for the burgundy CPO 2014 Fusion. I'd like some more info. I'm calling from the Pittsburgh area so I can't just stop by.

Salesman: We still have it and it is a very clean car. I'm not trying to be pushy here, but to be honest, I don't think we will have it very long.

Son #2: Just curios but how does it only have 6200 miles on it?

Salesman: That's a fair question and if I were buying I'd ask the same thing. Here's the story; a women in her mid 50's with a medical condition leased it from us in 2014 and she liked it so she came in to buy out her lease. I showed her that for just a few more dollars a month she could lease a new 2017 Fusion Titanium optioned out the same as the 2014 and she would have the full three year warranty on it. She agreed so that is how we got it.

Son #2: So it is a CPO and because of that you have the additional warranty as you show in the add.

Salesman: Correct, all of our CPO's have that.

Son #2: I like everything so far but the price.

Salesman: You don't think $22,000 for that car is fair? The MSRP, and I have the original window sticker, is a little over $38,000. Don't you think you are being a little unfair about this?

Son #2: I didn't give you a price yet so how do you know I am being unfair?

Salesman: Well, anything less than $22K is unfair but go ahead and tell me what you want to pay for it.

Son #2: $21,400

Salesman: That's what I said, unfair ! If you are going to hold to that number I can tell you right now that we can't do business.

Son #2: Now you can tell me what your price is.

Salesman: OK, I'll talk to my SM but I'll tell you right now he will NOT accept $21,400.

Son #2: OK, talk to him and get back to me.

My Son knew they had a fair price but since this is the car biz he decided to negotiate just like he has always done. He figured he'd have to pay the full $22K but felt it was worth a shot. The salesman called him back about a half hour later.

Salesman: Well as I said your $21,400 is out. But here is what we can do. If you give us a deposit and agree to take it off our lot by Thursday (9-29-16) we will sell it at $21,650, end of discussion !

Son #2: OK, as long as I like it after I test drive it. Put all of this in an email and I'll see you on Thursday.

Salesman: Of course, no problem. Give me some info so I can start to get you approved for financing so you won't have wait for that when you get here.

Son #2: Don't worry about that. I have been pre-approved through my credit union.

Salesman: I'm pretty sure that if you have good credit, and from talking with you it sounds like you have, I can get you Fords special CPO financing at 1.9% but that offer won't last too long. Let me get this started for you now so I can get that rate locked in for you.

Son #2: Great, that beats my credit union rate of 3.2%. How are you able to do this?

Salesman: Every so often Ford does this, and believe it or not, the CPO rate is actually better than the new car loan rate of 2.9%. You won't get a better deal than this anywhere.

So there is the story, he got it for $21,650 and at the 1.9% rate which he was not expecting.

I rode in it yesterday but only on the local roads, not more than 45 MPH, but it rides very nice. It even has a slight new car smell too. He assured me the ecoboost engine is not a slouch and I can find that out for myself when he has more time to show it off.

jmonroe

jmonroe

driver100 said:

Looks like there is a big sell off on cruises. I got this from Travelzoo this week:

Weeklong Royal Caribbean cruises are at some of their lowest prices of the year in a sale that runs for the next five days. These deals include up to $175 in onboard credit (per cabin, depending on the itinerary) and a complimentary bottle of wine.

We've sifted through the sale on Cruise.com, and here are some of the best 2016 Caribbean sailings we're finding from Florida:

$309 ... Roundtrip from Miami including Jamaica and Grand Cayman
Depart Nov. 21 aboard Empress of the Seas

$416 ... Roundtrip from Tampa including Belize and Cozumel
Depart Dec. 10 aboard Rhapsody of the Seas

$524 ... Roundtrip from Port Canaveral including Nassau and St. Thomas
Depart Nov. 27 aboard Oasis of the Seas

If you can get that $416 deal, Mrs. j and I will join you and we'll go halfzsees with you. Just make sure our bed is at least a queen.

jmonroe

graphicguy

driver100 said:

Looks like there is a big sell off on cruises. I got this from Travelzoo this week:

Weeklong Royal Caribbean cruises are at some of their lowest prices of the year in a sale that runs for the next five days. These deals include up to $175 in onboard credit (per cabin, depending on the itinerary) and a complimentary bottle of wine.

We've sifted through the sale on Cruise.com, and here are some of the best 2016 Caribbean sailings we're finding from Florida:

$309 ... Roundtrip from Miami including Jamaica and Grand Cayman
Depart Nov. 21 aboard Empress of the Seas

$416 ... Roundtrip from Tampa including Belize and Cozumel
Depart Dec. 10 aboard Rhapsody of the Seas

$524 ... Roundtrip from Port Canaveral including Nassau and St. Thomas
Depart Nov. 27 aboard Oasis of the Seas

Yeah...that's what I found, only they had open cabins if I could travel at a moment's notice (which luckily, I could). Just got my etickets. Cabin is not assigned, but according to the cruise planner, I might be pleasantly surprised where they end up putting me. She won't tell me what that meant because she said until I actually get a cabin assigned, it would be fluid.

imidazol97

jmonroe said:

OK, here is the follow up on Son #2's 2014 Fusion purchase about 2 weeks ago. ..
jmonroe

..

Love your storytelling skills! Great narrative. Felt like I was there. Two thumbs up.

jmonroe

imidazol97 said:

jmonroe said:

OK, here is the follow up on Son #2's 2014 Fusion purchase about 2 weeks ago. ..
jmonroe

..

Love your storytelling skills! Great narrative. Felt like I was there. Two thumbs up.

Thanks, but like I said I cheated I took notes when my Son told me the story.

jmonroe

stickguy

so, is that Fusion the 2.0T engine?

jmonroe

stickguy said:

so, is that Fusion the 2.0T engine?

It has the 4 cyl. EcoBoost engine which I thought was Fords name for a Turbo.

As for size, I'm not sure but that sounds right. I'm thinking that the EcoBoost engine only comes in the 2.0 for a Fusion but I'm not a Ford expert.

jmonroe

js06gv

stickguy said:

so, is that Fusion the 2.0T engine?

I shopped the Fusion in 2014 and I'm almost positive that the 2.0 Ecoboost came with the Titanium, while in the SE you had a choice of base 4 cyl, 1.5 Eco or 2.0 Eco. The 1.5 may have been a 1.6 back then though. That changed somewhere along the line but I don't remember exactly when.

ab348

Which Ford Turbo engine was the one that liked to catch on fire, the 1.6?

I wasn't aware that the Fusion had a gray interior offering for 2014. Almost all here are black inside, rarely you see a tan one.

jmonroe

ab348 said:

Which Ford Turbo engine was the one that liked to catch on fire, the 1.6?

I wasn't aware that the Fusion had a gray interior offering for 2014. Almost all here are black inside, rarely you see a tan one.

I can't answer the question about the fire prone engine problem but another thing he liked about the Fusion he got is that it had the grey interior. He said, like you stated, black was the predominant interior color so when he saw that it had the grey interior he got even more interested in it. That is another reason that if the dealer held to their $22K price my Son would have caved.

It is a nice interior and his kids know that they can't eat anything in the car. He will only allow them to have water and he told them that the first one to spill it will have their water drinking privileges taken away from them.

jmonroe

stickguy

I think the 1.6l was the engine with some issues. Not sure about the 1.5 that replaced it.

driver100

JMonroe, Great story and well told....even if you did cheat with notes

You taught your son well, you should be proud. He negotiated very nicely, and everyone treated each other with respect and courtesy. It sounds like a terrific deal, but does a Fusion get up to $38000?

I am glad he took it at $21,650, it would be a shame to lose it for $350, less than $100 a year probably.

driver100

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

Looks like there is a big sell off on cruises. I got this from Travelzoo this week:

Weeklong Royal Caribbean cruises are at some of their lowest prices of the year in a sale that runs for the next five days. These deals include up to $175 in onboard credit (per cabin, depending on the itinerary) and a complimentary bottle of wine.

We've sifted through the sale on Cruise.com, and here are some of the best 2016 Caribbean sailings we're finding from Florida:

$309 ... Roundtrip from Miami including Jamaica and Grand Cayman
Depart Nov. 21 aboard Empress of the Seas

$416 ... Roundtrip from Tampa including Belize and Cozumel
Depart Dec. 10 aboard Rhapsody of the Seas

$524 ... Roundtrip from Port Canaveral including Nassau and St. Thomas
Depart Nov. 27 aboard Oasis of the Seas

If you can get that $416 deal, Mrs. j and I will join you and we'll go halfzsees with you. Just make sure our bed is at least a queen.

jmonroe

Do you mean you will share a room with us....a queen size bed for 4?

There are very few cruises we would consider.....too many at sea days and too much time on a ship. For GG it is different, he needs a break from his usual routine, and just wants some R&R....besides single ladies seem to really enjoy cruises.

I liked the cruises we were on, The Baltic cruise allowed us to see St Petersburg Russia which is almost the only way to see it unless you go thru the trouble of getting a VISA. Egyptian cruise was a good way to see the pyramids without staying in downtown Cairo. Rome cruise was a good way to see Venice and Pompeii. So, our criteria is, you see a few places that would be hard to get to if you did them on separate trips, and, you have to learn from the trip. The food, the drinks, the casino, the paintings, the photos they sell you, the at sea days, the dozens of extras they try to sell you (like bottled water) I just don't want to be bothered with.

We are considering...about the only cruise I think we would take - a Panama Cruise.

jmonroe

driver100 said:

JMonroe, Great story and well told....even if you did cheat with notes

You taught your son well, you should be proud. He negotiated very nicely, and everyone treated each other with respect and courtesy. It sounds like a terrific deal, but does a Fusion get up to $38000?

I am glad he took it at $21,650, it would be a shame to lose it for $350, less than $100 a year probably.

When my Son told me that the window sticker for his 2014 was over $38K I was surprised too. He said it cost that much because it was a Titanium with all the bells and whistles (not that he necessarily had to have all of that). If you think that is bad, my Son told me that the 2017 Fusion Titanium all tricked out will go for a little over $40K. It ain't your grandfathers Ford anymore.

As I said before, if push came to shove, he would have paid the dealer asking price of $22,000 because he felt that was reasonable and it was EXACTLY what he wanted...colors, wheels, sunroof, everything. Having only 6200 miles on it was like getting 2 cherries on a sundae.

jmonroe