Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

driver100

Mr_Shiftright said:

I wonder sometimes if this intense level of road rage is a typical American thing. Having driven recently in some intensely traffic-packed cities, like Naples and Palermo, I didn't notice one instance of this aside from a little short horn-honking.

Well...perhaps some untranslatable mutterings in Italian.....

I didn't see any road rage incidents during our Switzerland, Austria, Germany trip. The drivers there were very good. We had only one real problem, we were on the bus going about 60 mph on a 4 lane highway, and a car entered the highway at a very slow rate of speed, so we had to suddenly slow down and then the bus driver went to the left and passed. It was shocking because generally drivers seem very good, but, even then, our driver just took it in stride....no cursing or finger that I could detect. I can't imagine drivers on I-75 just letting something like that go unnoticed.

driver100

roadburner said:

The agony and the ecstacy- two lease turn-ins:

1. 2013 3 Series 3yr/30k mile lease; mileage at turn-in? 57,500! Plus, the car had new tires but NOT run-flats- which means the lessee got dinged an additional $1200. She "offered" to buy/lease another BMW if the mileage overage and tire costs were waived. Yeah, right...
2. 2013 3 Series 3yr/30k mile lease: mileage at turn-in? 4,700. That's right- less than 5,000 miles. He probably would have saved money by just renting a BMW when he wanted to drive one...

1. They should have given her a lease or buy on a new BMW and factor in the $1200s. I bet she would have been happy she got her $1200 back.

2. See, people do turn in cars with under 5000 miles! One way this happens, owner of car buys or leases car, dies, and partner takes a few years to actually give the car up. Or a long illness...could be lots of reasons....

fintail

You should watch Youtube videos from Russia, Limeyland, and South America - definitely not only a Murkan thing.

However, left lane camping, as described in the tragic story above, definitely seems to be more of a USA! USA! thing than elsewhere.

Mr_Shiftright said:

I wonder sometimes if this intense level of road rage is a typical American thing. Having driven recently in some intensely traffic-packed cities, like Naples and Palermo, I didn't notice one instance of this aside from a little short horn-honking.

Well...perhaps some untranslatable mutterings in Italian.....

Sandman6472

Changed meds last week and had some issues which made me pretty out of it. Luckily my pharmacist daughter, she just graduated, look into things and told me what to do. Doc's recommendation was the same as hers and...it's working. Was a major switch after being on the old meds over 3 years and since I don't do well on some pain meds, we have to tread carefully. Luckily, am almost back to me after a few very strange days.
Anyone in the South Florida or Orlando area check out Offleaseonly.com and be amazed. Great prices on low mileage vehicles and they must be doing something right as I see their cars all over the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/Palm Beach area. From the above list, certain used vehicles can be had a great prices and as someone who's luck with used hasn't been stellar, I'd have no problem shopping there if in the market.

The Sandman

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

oldfarmer50 said:

One more thought on that list.

It says that both the Chrysler 300 and the Caddy ATS depriciate 34% but that represents $13,000 with the 300 and only $6,000 on the ATS. Is the Chrysler really twice as expensive?

Also, where would you find a one year old version of any car on the list? Demo? Repo?

Silly amount of 1-yr-old cars out there. Happens for any number of reasons, including just getting bored with it or having your car needs change.

Taking a 34% hit just because you're bored? Wow, it must be nice to have that kind of money. Mike was the only guy I ever knew who changed cars that often.

I'd be more worried that it was traded because it was a lemon.

stickguy

some of them were never retail owned though. I know with Audi, and BMW, they have a lot of low mile current year units that were service loaners (Volvo is big on this too). Keeps a steady supply of almost new but cheaper (not always much) options on the lot for them.

there are also model year issues, with say a 2014 coming out in January 2013, on a 2 year lease, on the lot in January 2015.

plus of course, people that buy something and need to get out early for whatever reason.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

some of them were never retail owned though. I know with Audi, and BMW, they have a lot of low mile current year units that were service loaners (Volvo is big on this too). Keeps a steady supply of almost new but cheaper (not always much) options on the lot for them.

there are also model year issues, with say a 2014 coming out in January 2013, on a 2 year lease, on the lot in January 2015.

plus of course, people that buy something and need to get out early for whatever reason.

Now that you mention it the Ford dealer near me has a bunch of "demo" 2015s and 2016s. They aren't discounting them 34%. Maybe 15% which is ridiculous.

snakeweasel

stickguy said:

that is all off of MSRP.

If it's not based on actual price paid then it's not realistic. If a 1 year old car is now selling for $10K under it's MSRP but originally sold for $5K under MSRP then it only lost $5K in value. So pretty much the list is meaningless.

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

One more thought on that list.

It says that both the Chrysler 300 and the Caddy ATS depriciate 34% but that represents $13,000 with the 300 and only $6,000 on the ATS. Is the Chrysler really twice as expensive?

Also, where would you find a one year old version of any car on the list? Demo? Repo?

There are people that replace their car every year. My mother dated a guy that got himself a brand new Chrysler every spring.

stickguy

yes, any list of depreciation amounts is skewed because it can't factor in real world pricing. Which was often a determining factor with the Accord vs. other car (ie Hyundai) crowd. Yeah, after X years the Honda was worth more, but you paid a lot less for the other car, and total cost may not favor the Honda or Toyota.

driver100

We drove about 20 miles out of town to see the movie The Accountant...I think it is Snakes biography. The movie isn't for everyone, but we liked it....very clever.....but would never happen in real life.

On the way I was just going slow in the right lane, just because I am extra careful now, the accident was a real wake up call, I am ultra defensive.

One guy comes on to the highway from the entrance ramp and just narrowly slides in front of me before he has to get on the highway. Then he wedges his way across 3 more lanes of traffic to be in the HOV lanes. And the moron had what looked like a baby on board sign.

Another guy is in the lane to the left of me, comes right up to the back of a big truck at a fast clip, then zigs to the next lane over to the left, just wedging himself in between two cars.

I want nothing to do with these idiots, I just try to stay in the best lane for me and try to keep a cushion around me.

driver100

Does anyone have experience with heat treatments from a chiropractor? I still have a bit of a stiff neck since the accident, getting better but slowly.

Some of the guys at tennis say this chiropractor is a miracle worker. He has eliminated or really nullified their aches and pains. My wife and I are fans of doctors and modern day medicine, we are skeptical of chiropractors, especially because some do some dubious things....like get rid of toxins by putting your feet in a tub of chemicals, and other hokey pockey stuff I really find it hard to get the nerve to go....I don't know if they could make me worse off. Any real success stories or really bad experiences?

I made the appointment for Tuesday, but, I am probably going to cancel it.

fezo

Look for someone who does straight chiropractic. The other stuff is just games. If they are selling special vitamins and such run!

qbrozen

oldfarmer50 said:

some of them were never retail owned though. I know with Audi, and BMW, they have a lot of low mile current year units that were service loaners (Volvo is big on this too). Keeps a steady supply of almost new but cheaper (not always much) options on the lot for them. there are also model year issues, with say a 2014 coming out in January 2013, on a 2 year lease, on the lot in January 2015. plus of course, people that buy something and need to get out early for whatever reason.

Now that you mention it the Ford dealer near me has a bunch of "demo" 2015s and 2016s. They aren't discounting them 34%. Maybe 15% which is ridiculous.

you'll also see a number of 1-yr-old ex-rentals. 

driver100

fezo said:

Look for someone who does straight chiropractic. The other stuff is just games. If they are selling special vitamins and such run!

Glad you confirmed what I was thinking.

Heard of one guy who had the mother hold his hand, then she held her kids hand, and the chiropractor????? could tell what the kid was allergic to. His diagnosis, milk. Now the kid gets no dairy products from this flimsy test.

bwia

driver100 said:

Does anyone have experience with heat treatments from a chiropractor? I still have a bit of a stiff neck since the accident, getting better but slowly. Some of the guys at tennis say this chiropractor is a miracle worker. He has eliminated or really nullified their aches and pains. My wife and I are fans of doctors and modern day medicine, we are skeptical of chiropractors, especially because some do some dubious things....like get rid of toxins by putting your feet in a tub of chemicals, and other hokey pockey stuff I really find it hard to get the nerve to go....I don't know if they could make me worse off. Any real success stories or really bad experiences? I made the appointment for Tuesday, but, I am probably going to cancel it.

If you haven't yet, now is the time to get a "My Pillow." It should help ease your neck pain and improve your sleep. That is one of the best things that's been happening in my bedroom lately. 

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

some of them were never retail owned though. I know with Audi, and BMW, they have a lot of low mile current year units that were service loaners (Volvo is big on this too). Keeps a steady supply of almost new but cheaper (not always much) options on the lot for them.

there are also model year issues, with say a 2014 coming out in January 2013, on a 2 year lease, on the lot in January 2015.

plus of course, people that buy something and need to get out early for whatever reason.

Now that you mention it the Ford dealer near me has a bunch of "demo" 2015s and 2016s. They aren't discounting them 34%. Maybe 15% which is ridiculous.

you'll also see a number of 1-yr-old ex-rentals. 

Now that is where I'd expect to see a deeper discount. Could the article be talking ex rentals?

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

True story....a lady at pickleball told us about this accident, just to show how easy it can happen;

An elderly couple were driving (unfortunately) in the left land, on I-75 in Florida,
A young guy got road rage and drove on their back bumper.
The elderly driver realized he was in the left lane so moved over into the right lane.
The young guy sped passed the elderly couple, then swerved quickly in front of them and suddenly braked.
The elderly people stopped quickly, but a big truck behind them couldn't stop.
The truck plowed into the car, killing the elderly man, left the woman injured.

Two innocent people, lives are shattered in minutes.

That is a shame, stuff like that is making me start to use a dash cam.

iluvmysephia1

If you haven't yet, now is the time to get a "My Pillow." It should help ease your neck pain and improve your sleep. That is one of the best things that's been happening in my bedroom lately.

bwia - is that the one made by the guy from Minnesota that advertises them on TV? I asked a patient at the Lab one night who uses one of those and she said she loves her 'My Pillow.' Same one?

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I wonder sometimes if this intense level of road rage is a typical American thing. Having driven recently in some intensely traffic-packed cities, like Naples and Palermo, I didn't notice one instance of this aside from a little short horn-honking.

Well...perhaps some untranslatable mutterings in Italian.....

I didn't see any road rage incidents during our Switzerland, Austria, Germany trip. The drivers there were very good. We had only one real problem, we were on the bus going about 60 mph on a 4 lane highway, and a car entered the highway at a very slow rate of speed, so we had to suddenly slow down and then the bus driver went to the left and passed. It was shocking because generally drivers seem very good, but, even then, our driver just took it in stride....no cursing or finger that I could detect. I can't imagine drivers on I-75 just letting something like that go unnoticed.

To be fair road rage tends to be somewhat rare. You can drive practically forever and never see an instant of it. You have to seriously be in the wrong place at the wrong time to see it. I can easily say that all the times I have been in florida I haven't seen an instant of road rage but it has to exist.

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

qbrozen said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

some of them were never retail owned though. I know with Audi, and BMW, they have a lot of low mile current year units that were service loaners (Volvo is big on this too). Keeps a steady supply of almost new but cheaper (not always much) options on the lot for them.

there are also model year issues, with say a 2014 coming out in January 2013, on a 2 year lease, on the lot in January 2015.

plus of course, people that buy something and need to get out early for whatever reason.

Now that you mention it the Ford dealer near me has a bunch of "demo" 2015s and 2016s. They aren't discounting them 34%. Maybe 15% which is ridiculous.

you'll also see a number of 1-yr-old ex-rentals. 

Now that is where I'd expect to see a deeper discount. Could the article be talking ex rentals?


My current ride was a 1 year old ex-rental and it was sold at a pretty good discount. FWIW I have had it 7.5 years and about 95K miles and it's been holding up real good.

snakeweasel

Not sure how I am going to survive this October if all the games are like tonight's.

Anyway I am off starting my vacation tomorrow, visiting such exotic locals such as Geneva, London, Norway and Holland. I will check it when I can.

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

qbrozen said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

some of them were never retail owned though. I know with Audi, and BMW, they have a lot of low mile current year units that were service loaners (Volvo is big on this too). Keeps a steady supply of almost new but cheaper (not always much) options on the lot for them.

there are also model year issues, with say a 2014 coming out in January 2013, on a 2 year lease, on the lot in January 2015.

plus of course, people that buy something and need to get out early for whatever reason.

Now that you mention it the Ford dealer near me has a bunch of "demo" 2015s and 2016s. They aren't discounting them 34%. Maybe 15% which is ridiculous.

you'll also see a number of 1-yr-old ex-rentals. 

Now that is where I'd expect to see a deeper discount. Could the article be talking ex rentals?

My current ride was a 1 year old ex-rental and it was sold at a pretty good discount. FWIW I have had it 7.5 years and about 95K miles and it's been holding up real good.

Is that the Sebring or the Sonata? What motivated you to go that route?

Just reading some of the reports on rentals from this group would give me pause.

A guy at work took a part time job as a transporter at Hertz. Mainly juggling cars around the airport. Says some of those guys, including a fellow in his 80s like to really get on those cars as they move them around.

driver100

bwia said:

driver100 said:

Does anyone have experience with heat treatments from a chiropractor? I still have a bit of a stiff neck since the accident, getting better but slowly.

Some of the guys at tennis say this chiropractor is a miracle worker. He has eliminated or really nullified their aches and pains. My wife and I are fans of doctors and modern day medicine, we are skeptical of chiropractors, especially because some do some dubious things....like get rid of toxins by putting your feet in a tub of chemicals, and other hokey pockey stuff I really find it hard to get the nerve to go....I don't know if they could make me worse off. Any real success stories or really bad experiences?

I made the appointment for Tuesday, but, I am probably going to cancel it.

If you haven't yet, now is the time to get a "My Pillow." It should help ease your neck pain and improve your sleep. That is one of the best things that's been happening in my bedroom lately. 

I have seen the ads and it sounds pretty good. I am willing to give it a try. One thing that helped was one of these heat pads you put in the microwave for a minute, then wrap it or hold it on your neck.....I actually think that did help.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

qbrozen said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

some of them were never retail owned though. I know with Audi, and BMW, they have a lot of low mile current year units that were service loaners (Volvo is big on this too). Keeps a steady supply of almost new but cheaper (not always much) options on the lot for them.

there are also model year issues, with say a 2014 coming out in January 2013, on a 2 year lease, on the lot in January 2015.

plus of course, people that buy something and need to get out early for whatever reason.

Now that you mention it the Ford dealer near me has a bunch of "demo" 2015s and 2016s. They aren't discounting them 34%. Maybe 15% which is ridiculous.

you'll also see a number of 1-yr-old ex-rentals. 

Now that is where I'd expect to see a deeper discount. Could the article be talking ex rentals?


I think the 34% depreciation happens in what the owner of the car is paid, not the selling price. So a $30000 car is worth $20000 after one year for the owner, then it gets put on the lot for $35 or $34k. You would have to buy privately to get the full depreciated value.

driver100

We went for a nice ride to the show and home in the 2016 Escape, and this is what we thought after about a 40 mile round trip.

The car is pretty well equipped and I think it would be worth about $32 to $34k tops. Not the $38 or north of $40k that some say these cars should be worth. The thin steering wheel takes a few points off. Larger leather wrapped steering wheels are definitely worth whatever the cost is to make them.

The car is good basic transportation, fairly comfortable, seems pretty solid, has adequate power, handles reasonably well. We feel fairly safe in it as it has a fair amount of metal and you are reasonably high.

My wife notices from the passenger side it just doesn't steer and handle like the E400 or GLK. The MBs have much better steering and handling, they really almost drive themselves, the driver just guides them. A lot of people don't care about that difference, but it makes you more confident about your driving and what you can do....for example merging onto a highway is easier when the car has extra power and steering control. On a long trip, the MBs will be way more comfortable as the seats are built for maximum comfort, and the controls will be tastefully done and will be in the right position. The Escape has a well designed instrument panel for ease of use reaching for the controls, but, it is a bit over done with all the swoopy lines and various sliders, buttons, and switches.

A big thing I notice is the balance just isn't there in the Escape. It is better than some cars, but the driver is far back, the windshield slopes far forward (really hard to clean on the inside by the way) and the hood is short, I feel like I am driving a bus......takes away some of the fun of driving.

If anyone is thinking of buying a car, just try a European car, just for your own knowledge and experience.......see if you notice a difference.

driver100

snakeweasel said:

Not sure how I am going to survive this October if all the games are like tonight's.

Anyway I am off starting my vacation tomorrow, visiting such exotic locals such as Geneva, London, Norway and Holland. I will check it when I can.

Snake, have a good trip....those are great places to see

bwia

iluvmysephia1 said:

If you haven't yet, now is the time to get a "My Pillow." It should help ease your neck pain and improve your sleep. That is one of the best things that's been happening in my bedroom lately.

bwia - is that the one made by the guy from Minnesota that advertises them on TV? I asked a patient at the Lab one night who uses one of those and she said she loves her 'My Pillow.' Same one?

Yes--that's the one and it is available at Walmart as well.

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

snakeweasel said:

My current ride was a 1 year old ex-rental and it was sold at a pretty good discount. FWIW I have had it 7.5 years and about 95K miles and it's been holding up real good.

Is that the Sebring or the Sonata? What motivated you to go that route?

Just reading some of the reports on rentals from this group would give me pause.

A guy at work took a part time job as a transporter at Hertz. Mainly juggling cars around the airport. Says some of those guys, including a fellow in his 80s like to really get on those cars as they move them around.

It would be the Sebring. What motivated me was that my wife kept saying that we should get a convertible, well one day going by a dealership near where I worked I saw the Sebring sitting there. Since my Hyundai was getting long in the tooth (over 185K miles) I decided to take a look. It was sitting there with an $18K sticker price (was one year old with under 19K miles) but online they had it at $15K. Right there and then we knew that if we didn't find anything wrong with it and they honored the $15K price we would get the car.

Now at just over 112K miles it does show it's age but nothing serious.

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

Not sure how I am going to survive this October if all the games are like tonight's.

Anyway I am off starting my vacation tomorrow, visiting such exotic locals such as Geneva, London, Norway and Holland. I will check it when I can.

Snake, have a good trip....those are great places to see

They might be but it's less impressive when you realize that I will just be passing through Geneva, London and Norway and will only spend time in Holland.

It's even less impressive when you realize that Geneva is a suburb of Chicago, Norway is barley a town in Northern Illinois, London is a town in Southern Wisconsin that makes Norway look big and Holland is a town in Michigan.

But it sounds better than saying I am heading to the Dells for a few days then hang around home for a day before heading to Michigan.

Plus it tells a lot about my driving style which is "Friends don't let friends drive the Interstate."

driver100

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

Not sure how I am going to survive this October if all the games are like tonight's.

Anyway I am off starting my vacation tomorrow, visiting such exotic locals such as Geneva, London, Norway and Holland. I will check it when I can.

Snake, have a good trip....those are great places to see

They might be but it's less impressive when you realize that I will just be passing through Geneva, London and Norway and will only spend time in Holland.

It's even less impressive when you realize that Geneva is a suburb of Chicago, Norway is barley a town in Northern Illinois, London is a town in Southern Wisconsin that makes Norway look big and Holland is a town in Michigan.

But it sounds better than saying I am heading to the Dells for a few days then hang around home for a day before heading to Michigan.

Plus it tells a lot about my driving style which is "Friends don't let friends drive the Interstate."

You got me

Mr_Shiftright

"Highway 71 --Doorway to Norway" (they should pay me for that idea).

driver100

I found these statistics regarding self-driving cars to be of interest;

(Traffic Injury Research Foundation survey)

*Number of people who would want a fully autonomous car...just 14%
*The largest group who would want to have SD cars are young males, the author thinks it could be so they can drink and drive. He has reason to think that, 9% of young males would drive while impaired, 10% would nap at the wheel, 17% would drive while distracted (texting etc.), and 24% would drive a SD car while drowsy.
*Surprisingly, 13% of drivers surveyed said they would turn off the SD feature if they were in a hurry and wanted to run red lights!
*2/3rds of Canadians who took the test said they want to prioritize their own life would be saved before others, in SD cars.

* A big problem is how do you program the car to prioritize what happens in some cases. Let's say you are driving along and there is a choice, does the car decide to hit 4 people walking on the road or does it send the car over the side of a cliff and possibly kill the driver.

Do Canadians Really Want Self-Driving Cars

ab348

Of course if our wet-behind-the-ears PM gets his way everyone up here would be stoned to the beejeezus belt, to quote Carl Spackler of Caddyshack, so self-driving cars may become a necessity here.

driver100

ab348 said:

Of course if our wet-behind-the-ears PM gets his way everyone up here would be stoned to the beejeezus belt, to quote Carl Spackler of Caddyshack, so self-driving cars may become a necessity here.

Seems accident rates for marijuana users doubled in Washington....after legalization.

Authorities in Washington recorded 436 fatal crashes in 2013, and determined that drivers involved in 40 crashes tested positive for THC, the active chemical in marijuana, according to the study. In 2014 they found that of 462 fatal crashes, 85 drivers tested positive for THC.

ab348

Last week my garage door opener crapped out on me. Actually surprised it lasted this long - it was an '80s-vintage Sears model, all of 1/3HP, and was as noisy as could be, though it always worked. Until last week at least, when it would just whirr and make odd noises. Nothing was obvious which made it an internal problem, so I decided it might be time to buy a replacement rather than attempt to fix this one.

Not having any experience with these I did some online research and learned the Sears models were made by Chamberlain/LiftMaster, with the other main competitor apparently being Genie, though I did see a few other brands. I decided to get a Chamberlain just on the chance that I might be able to re-use some components that were already there. I found a 1/2hp chain drive model on sale locally and bought it. When I watched some videos on how to install these I thought maybe it would make sense to hire an expert to install it. Problem I found was that none of the places I called wanted to install something they didn't sell. I could have returned my $169 Cdn one but these places all wanted over $600 to supply and install something. How hard could it be, I figured, and decided I would install it this weekend.

Yesterday was supposed to be the day but when I went out there I discovered that I had left the parking lights on in the Cutlass since I had changed a light bulb on Tuesday and the battery was stone dead. I tried a quick charge but it was really gone, so I hooked up the charger, let it run overnight and hoped I didn't have to buy a new battery. Fortunately this AM it was all charged and I was able to start the car and roll it out of the garage to get started.

The old one came down easily enough but I rapidly saw there was nothing I wanted to reuse. The rail on the existing was heavy T-channel steel and very different from the new one I bought. The emergency release didn't work right and everything was very tired-looking. I followed the instructions as best I could - they needed some larger/better illustrations - and took my time, and by about 6:30PM it was up and looking good. It still doesn't work because I need to connect the electric-eye sensors before it will function - electronic nannies my old one did not have. I just was too tired and hungry to do that part today so it will wait for tomorrow.

I think once you do one of these they become actually pretty simple to install so I am glad to have saved about $400. You are up and down a ladder all the time working on one but in truth it wasn't that bad. I only made one minor mistake that I will rectify tomorrow and hopefully everything will work correctly. This one is Homelink compatible and can even have an Internet interface, though I am not doing that.

Sandman6472

Had our new Genie belt drive 3/4hp installed about 12 days ago and it's wonderful! Almost silent when working and that garage door issue has disappeared! We have a metal double door garage door which is much lighter than the wooden one we had when we bought the place. Took one guy about 2.5 hours to install it though he left off the smart phone integration stuff as he had no knowledge how to do it. Ours is also Homelink compatable but none of our vehicles have that feature. Super quiet and know that this will be the last unit I buy while living here!!
Got ours on sale at Lowe's and also saved an additional 10% by signing up for their credit card. Very clean installation also. We are very very pleased!!

The Sandman

oldfarmer50

A friend who knows I like low milage cars emailed me this:

http://www.listingallcars.com/details/2002-Maserati-Coupe-Used/-6427258360055057180

Like I didn't have enough trouble with car repairs.

I have three going in thus week. Thank goodness it's just inspections send minor stuff...this time.

qbrozen

 You are kiilin me, OF. I have looked at these for a long damned time, and here you throw a manual trans, great color combo, low mileage example my way just when I am on the verge of a car purchase. Ugh. I am supposed to get an SUV, dammit!

qbrozen

Bah!! Foiled! I finally got all the pics to load and of course discover it is NOT a manual trans. Its the lousy F1 auto thing that needs to be taken apart and have a new clutch or clutches installed every 40k or so. No thank you!

iluvmysephia1

snake-since the wife's Mom and her second hubby plus her two brothers live in Chicago, we visited Geneva, IL, and we both found the small town to be "nice." And "comfortable." I have thought of getting a job in a Geneva hospital so we'd be so close to family in Chicago.

bwia - Mrs. iluv may buy a 'My Pillow.' If she likes hers I may follow suit. They sound therapeutic.

Mr_Shiftright

qbrozen said:

Bah!! Foiled! I finally got all the pics to load and of course discover it is NOT a manual trans. Its the lousy F1 auto thing that needs to be taken apart and have a new clutch or clutches installed every 40k or so. No thank you!

oh no, no, no....you don't want the F1 transmission. Maserati ditched that thing in, I think, 2004, for a 6-speed ZF unit.

stickguy

when I bought my first house, many years ago, it was a new build. so, many things needed to be done at moving in. Blinds, and garage door openers among them (2 single door bays, so needed 2 openers). I figured, can't be that hard. Got some tools out, followed the instructions, and managed to get them up without any particular problem. At least that I can remember after all these years!

no real desire to do it again though. Last time one of mine died (the crappy plastic main gear self destructed I think), I just paid the $179 or whatever it cost to have the door company replace it.

driver100

Since my broker doesn't seem to have too much clout with the insurance company I had a wild hunch:

I looked up the insurance company to see if they owned in full or in part any insurance broker companies. I find their website and it seems they own 4 brokerage companies, including the one I have.

If I don't hear something by Tuesday I am going to see if there is a mediation company or some board I can go to.

A broker and insurance company all under one owner....should be illegal, what chance do I have, kind of defeats the purpose of having a broker. I imagine mine isn't the only one!

driver100

qbrozen said:

Bah!! Foiled! I finally got all the pics to load and of course discover it is NOT a manual trans. Its the lousy F1 auto thing that needs to be taken apart and have a new clutch or clutches installed every 40k or so. No thank you!

Good investigative work....you probably saved OF $22450!

qbrozen

Mr_Shiftright said:

Bah!! Foiled! I finally got all the pics to load and of course discover it is NOT a manual trans. Its the lousy F1 auto thing that needs to be taken apart and have a new clutch or clutches installed every 40k or so. No thank you!

oh no, no, no....you don't want the F1 transmission. Maserati ditched that thing in, I think, 2004, for a 6-speed ZF unit.

Not till 2007, believe it or not. And mid 2007, at that, so you have to always check the pics to determine which one (the F1 is a little silver T shifter while the ZF has a standard larger wood knob).

fintail

Of course, comparing one year is a tough stat. No doubt there has been some increase, although whether it caused the crashes (the law and order set would love to point at pot while the same driver had a 0.25% BAC - don't upset your lobbyists too much) is still up for research. The war on drugs has been a very questionable of resources IMO, especially as so many areas (lots of rural places, strangely enough) are now being hit hard by meth and heroin, and not much seems to be fighting it.

Funny note about Canada's youthful PM, it could be worse, like the one who came before

driver100 said:

Seems accident rates for marijuana users doubled in Washington....after legalization.

Authorities in Washington recorded 436 fatal crashes in 2013, and determined that drivers involved in 40 crashes tested positive for THC, the active chemical in marijuana, according to the study. In 2014 they found that of 462 fatal crashes, 85 drivers tested positive for THC.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

qbrozen said:

Bah!! Foiled! I finally got all the pics to load and of course discover it is NOT a manual trans. Its the lousy F1 auto thing that needs to be taken apart and have a new clutch or clutches installed every 40k or so. No thank you!

Good investigative work....you probably saved OF $22450!

Not me but my friend who was daydreaming what it would be like to drive that into work.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

qbrozen said:

Bah!! Foiled! I finally got all the pics to load and of course discover it is NOT a manual trans. Its the lousy F1 auto thing that needs to be taken apart and have a new clutch or clutches installed every 40k or so. No thank you!

Good investigative work....you probably saved OF $22450!

Not me but my friend who was daydreaming what it would be like to drive that into work.

Let us know what your friend says when he hears the bad news. Maybe for $22000 it would be worth it to buy it and leave it at the end of the driveway and just sit in it and wave to the neighbors when they walk by.

houdini1

Finally heard from our friend Richard, this morning. They are OK, but the entire area is out of water, and water has to be trucked in. Drinking water that is. Plenty of flood water around. Minimal damage to their home, but much of Lumberton is still under water with severe damage in most areas. They just got back home after staying with Richards sister for a few days.

Typical of Richard, he and his wife brought back water and other supplies and have been making the rounds to help out their neighbors, etc. who have been stranded. He also says that there has been plenty of outside help coming in, which he is very grateful for, and he will keep us posted.