Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

stickguy

I don't buy this huge change coming to self driving, especially big trucks. I just drove I84 to 287 to 95 (jersey turnpike) last weekend. It was, stressful, to say the least. Many trucks. And I can not imagine all those trucks (heck, the cars) being driverless.

Plus, if you think about it, there will need to be some sort of attendant on board a commercial truck. Maybe to load/unload, deal with authorities, control the load. Deal with the terminals and ports and loading docks.

now, maybe you can add some assistance tools, like you get in cars now (lane keeping, auto braking) to help out. That is fine if done right.

But the day the trucks running up and down the Turnpike are running on cameras and computers, is the day I am off that road for good!

thebean

berri said:

Say Bean, from a few of your posts it sounds like you are into old rock music. If you haven't read it, there is a good book called "The Wrecking Crew" that details the Hollywood music studios of that era and some of the players. It is very interesting and more than a few recording artists got their start as a Wrecking crew member.

@berri - Sounds great!  Thanks for the recommendation.  I do love me some rock from the days of my youth.

stickguy

oh, the shift? Yeah, that has been happening for generations now. pretty much since the dawn of the industrial age. Heck, I have years of work to go (too many, sadly, for my taste!) and even positions common when I started are not there any more. but, people adapt. Some, harder than others. And usually, new jobs appear to replace the old ones. Of course some people "fall through the cracks", and it is hard. But, it is the way of the world, and you just have to adapt as best you can.

same thing IMO for towns/regions. Jobs/industries get hit, and certain areas take the brunt of it. So, populations need to shift. If you live in say Flint Michigan, and jobs leave to go south, well, pack up the van and move. Might sound harsh, but that is the way things go. Heck, California was settled for that reason. Just because you grew up in an area, doesn't mean you have to stay there.

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

snakeweasel said:

graphicguy said:

Separate subject, and a question for snakeweasle. I won some money in the casino on my last cruise a month ago. Are my tax liabilities the same, even though I was in international waters when I won the money?

Yes your tax liabilities are the same. As a U.S. Citizen you pay taxes on everything regardless of where you earned (or won) it.

Now did you get a W2-G or give them any tax information about yourself?

Speaking of money and regulations:

Woman at work had her brother die. He was basically indigent except for about $1000 in a debit a account. She had paid for his funeral and was wondering since she had his PIN number if she could take the money without getting in trouble. He had no will and no assets to probate.

I told her to just take it.

She should fill out a small estate affidavit just to cover herself. That would allow her to get any assets without going through probate.

fintail

Autonomous trucks will need someone to mind the controls as a fail safe, and help with the administrative stuff, no doubt. I think the largest stumbling block to autonomous vehicles will be that they are set to follow the rules - no tickets. Many locales rely on traffic tickets as a significant revenue stream, and we'll all either get a nice tax increase to compensate (as that sector would never be asked to adapt), or it just won't happen, at least as a mandate for either trucking or passenger vehicles.

Regarding the shift, we'll probably come to a point of a guaranteed minimum income. It's already hit the ballot in Switzerland, although it didn't pass the first time, it received many votes. The way I see it, the issue isn't shifts, it is job creation keeping up with population growth. If automation and AI ever take off like some predict, there will need to be a compensating move, as population continues to grow, and (living wage) jobs likely will not.

fintail

I always use a card when ordering out, I get 3% back for restaurants on the Costco card. I use the same card for groceries and gas (when not using the big cash discount at my local Chevron). I average about $150-200/year in cash back, which more than offsets the Costco membership. I have another card I use for utilities and some other expenses, air miles for that.

Michaell said:

I've seen folks buy pizza with an American Express card - I guess that's slightly better as the entire balance is due each month.

28firefighter

I use my credit card for everything possible. I have a Starwood Preferred Guest Amex for my personal charges and an Amex Platinum for business expenses. 

Everything is paid off, in full, every month or ahead of the statement cutting. I do it for the points, not because I can't pay cash. 

jmonroe

cdnpinhead said:

Did anyone besides me keep a Bic ballpoint pen in the car for the sole purpose of rewinding and/or untangling cassette reels? It fit perfectly. It didn't take long to determine when you'd rewound far enough to get past the "bad" spot that caused problems -- the resistance got much lower.

Good times. . .

I used a No. 2 hexagon wooden pencil. Worked fine for me.

jmonroe

stickguy

I was a tough guy. I used my pinkie.

graphicguy

snakeweasel said:

graphicguy said:

Separate subject, and a question for snakeweasle. I won some money in the casino on my last cruise a month ago. Are my tax liabilities the same, even though I was in international waters when I won the money?

Yes your tax liabilities are the same. As a U.S. Citizen you pay taxes on everything regardless of where you earned (or won) it.

Now did you get a W2-G or give them any tax information about yourself?

Thanks, Snake. They have my social (as part of my registration for the cruise). From that perspective, the on board casino has my personal info based on the fact they require to see my cabin ID (which links to my name, social, address, etc) before sitting down to play at a table.

They didn't give me any sort of form to fill out. That said, not sure how they track it playing over the course of time (probably two hours) at a 3 card poker table. Won some, lost some. But, in the end, came away a winner in the mid 4 figure range. Not sure that's enough for them to issue a tax form?

Plus, the cruise ship isn't one of the major ones that sail out of the U.S. or Puerto Rico. It's MSC, based out of Italy, and they only have one ship that cruises out of the U.S.

Not sure if/how they track it.

graphicguy

28firefighter said:

I use my credit card for everything possible. I have a Starwood Preferred Guest Amex for my personal charges and an Amex Platinum for business expenses. 

Everything is paid off, in full, every month or ahead of the statement cutting. I do it for the points, not because I can't pay cash. 

Same way on my AMEX.

We get a corporate AMEX we can use for business. But, on my personal AMEX I get points (which I usually turn into Gift Cards for Christmas presents). So, I don't even use the corporate AMEX (which doesn't pay me points). Plus, it allows my entre to airport luxury lounges and no charge upgrades at hotels. It also allowed paid for the Global Access fee for the TSA.

Not cheap as the annual fee is several hundred $$$. But, it pays for itself and then some for me.

andres3

driver100 said:

sda said:

ab348 said:

Speaking of Buicks, for years the feeling was that if you were being held up on a 2-lane by someone driving 10 or 20 under the speed limit, the culprit would be driving a Buick. But I think we can retire that now, because I am certain that the Buick has been replaced by a Toyota, generally a Corolla. I was out for a drive today and saw at least 3 instances of Corollas, both current-gen and previous-gen, dawdling along and holding up traffic. Not the first time recently either. They seem to be the "last car" of choice for many octogenarians. It is uncanny.

At every turn it seemed we would get behind a slow poke, and what we they driving?? A Buick, and in all but one case, a LeSabre. It got to the point where we would both laugh and say "it's a Buick"! I think Toyota does indeed wear that honor now.

I play a game, sometimes with my wife, as I come up to pass a Buick I say I bet the driver of this next car is over 70, and 80% of the time I am right. 10% of the time I am sure its some 70 year old's child (late in life child) or grandchild. Older people who switch from Buicks to Asian makes almost always go to Toyotas....Camry, Corolla or Avalon.

Oh for sure Hyundai should be on the list, they steal a few of those old folks sales from Toyota for sure.

I remember one old guy that claimed a big reason for the switch out of Buick is that they kept using the same lousy 200 HP motor from when they were a young man - LOL. OK, I exaggerate, but they did use the same motors for longer than they should have.

andres3

ab348 said:

Speaking of Buicks, for years the feeling was that if you were being held up on a 2-lane by someone driving 10 or 20 under the speed limit, the culprit would be driving a Buick. But I think we can retire that now, because I am certain that the Buick has been replaced by a Toyota, generally a Corolla. I was out for a drive today and saw at least 3 instances of Corollas, both current-gen and previous-gen, dawdling along and holding up traffic. Not the first time recently either. They seem to be the "last car" of choice for many octogenarians. It is uncanny.

Camry's and Prius also tend to block traffic at slow rates of pace. Add work trucks (which have no business being in the left lane) too.

Everyone should honk at people impeding the left lane.

oldfarmer50

Boy I hate to be such a dinosaur.

Son's CD player in his Sable does't work so I went to an audio shop to inquire about a replacement. The kid behind the counter acted like i was some senile nut job looking for the buggy whip factory. "They don't make stuff like that no more, it's obsolete"

Fortunately my son already figured a way to hook an MP3 player up to the cassette.

Think I'll just dig a hole and crawl in.

berri

Every decade or two the music and electronics industry changes how you play music. Lately I think it is more about making consumers buy new stuff than huge technological leaps. I'm thinking that the next change, whatever it is down the road, will probably reflect auto companies trying to reclaim their dashboards from the electronics industry.

andres3

oldfarmer50 said:

Boy I hate to be such a dinosaur.

Son's CD player in his Sable does't work so I went to an audio shop to inquire about a replacement. The kid behind the counter acted like i was some senile nut job looking for the buggy whip factory. "They don't make stuff like that no more, it's obsolete"

Fortunately my son already figured a way to hook an MP3 player up to the cassette.

Think I'll just dig a hole and crawl in.

I bet you can still buy a CD receiver car stereo/radio. Easily.

sda

I still have records, cassettes, and cds. I prefer the audio fidelity from the records and cds, can't remember when I last played a cassette. XM in both cars, so that is what we listen to most but I wish XM sounded better with more depth/punch like you get from playing a cd. FM radio audio is fair at best.

suydam

It's about convenience. It's nice to take music with you everywhere, and syncs across all devices.
Andres3, you are behind the times on Buicks. The new models are very nice vehicles and aren't all driven by 80 year olds.

jmonroe

andres3 said:

ab348 said:

Speaking of Buicks, for years the feeling was that if you were being held up on a 2-lane by someone driving 10 or 20 under the speed limit, the culprit would be driving a Buick. But I think we can retire that now, because I am certain that the Buick has been replaced by a Toyota, generally a Corolla. I was out for a drive today and saw at least 3 instances of Corollas, both current-gen and previous-gen, dawdling along and holding up traffic. Not the first time recently either. They seem to be the "last car" of choice for many octogenarians. It is uncanny.

Camry's and Prius also tend to block traffic at slow rates of pace. Add work trucks (which have no business being in the left lane) too.

Everyone should honk at people impeding the left lane.

Mystery solved.

Now I know where all the noise is coming from. For the longest time I thought it was the cheap erratic horns that Hyundai was using on my cars.

jmonroe

suydam

"Everyone should honk at people impeding the left lane."
Midwesterners are way too polite to honk.

iluvmysephia1

Midwesterners are way too polite to honk.

Well, then, the KC-er's who honked at me were probably newcomers to Kansas City, too.

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

Boy I hate to be such a dinosaur.

Son's CD player in his Sable does't work so I went to an audio shop to inquire about a replacement. The kid behind the counter acted like i was some senile nut job looking for the buggy whip factory. "They don't make stuff like that no more, it's obsolete"

Fortunately my son already figured a way to hook an MP3 player up to the cassette.

Think I'll just dig a hole and crawl in.

That sounds like the kind of thing a good wrecking yard might have for short money. Or ebay.

imidazol97

andres3 said:

I remember one old guy that claimed a big reason for the switch out of Buick is that they kept using the same lousy 200 HP motor from when they were a young man - LOL. OK, I exaggerate, but they did use the same motors for longer than they should have.

However, you should look up the history of the 3.8 L engine. It had several improvements as it became the 3800, Series I, and Series II. It's a very strong engine with its torque and lasts toward 300,000 miles easily with proper treatment.

imidazol97

Does this mean Musk & Tesla might not be around after subsidies are cut off?

http://dailysignal.com/2016/11/13/its-time-to-stop-spending-taxpayer-dollars-on-elon-musk-and-cronyism/

Already grossly subsidized, Musk’s SolarCity has become an albatross of waste, fraud, and abuse of tax payer dollars. As legitimate earnings and cash become even scarcer for SolarCity, its entanglement in the Tesla empire suggests that a drastic reckoning not only is imminent, but in fact emboldening Musk to become more outlandish and reckless.

Notably, SolarCity is run by Musk’s cousins, Lyndon and Peter Rive. During his chairmanship at SolarCity, Musk’s family enterprise has taken in billions of taxpayer dollars in subsidies from both the federal and local governments. But the subsidies and sweetheart deals were not enough, as losses and missed projections continued to mount.

fintail

Tesla/Musk aren't going anywhere. Too many affluent people like the product (he who has the gold makes the rules), and he has a Lyle Lanley (Simpsons, Monorail) -like ability to sell things to people. When speculation comes from a credible media source, maybe more to believe in. The swamp isn't going to be drained, and a lot of people have been sold a bill of goods.

fintail

Priucamrollas are worse than what Buicks used to be, I think. In 2016, I think much of the old mocked Buick demographic has moved on to the great parking lot in the sky, and the cars are driven by normal people. The mantle has been taken by Toyolex drivers. It's either those Toyota models, or a RX/ES. Also the ones who merge onto a 60 mph highway at 38 mph.

Funny, I've been in GA/SC/FL for the past week, and I think lane discipline here is better than on the west coast. In the city, however, I think drivers are just as bad - very distracted.

andres3 said:

Camry's and Prius also tend to block traffic at slow rates of pace. Add work trucks (which have no business being in the left lane) too.

Everyone should honk at people impeding the left lane.

qbrozen

imidazol97 said:

Does this mean Musk & Tesla might not be around after subsidies are cut off?

And would that mean I don't have to pay back my solar loan? ;b

driver100

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Boy I hate to be such a dinosaur.

Son's CD player in his Sable does't work so I went to an audio shop to inquire about a replacement. The kid behind the counter acted like i was some senile nut job looking for the buggy whip factory. "They don't make stuff like that no more, it's obsolete"

Fortunately my son already figured a way to hook an MP3 player up to the cassette.

Think I'll just dig a hole and crawl in.

That sounds like the kind of thing a good wrecking yard might have for short money. Or ebay.

Or a flee market or garage sale! Check CL.

driver100

fintail said:

Funny, I've been in GA/SC/FL for the past week, and I think lane discipline here is better than on the west coast. In the city, however, I think drivers are just as bad - very distracted.

andres3 said:

Camry's and Prius also tend to block traffic at slow rates of pace. Add work trucks (which have no business being in the left lane) too.

Everyone should honk at people impeding the left lane.

The Tampa newspaper says 25% of all accidents in the state are caused by distracted drivers, texting or talking on cell phones. That is the largest segment of accidents....45000 accidents.

Driving while texting is only a secondary offence, meaning you have to be stopped for another reason before you are fined for doing it.

And, one in seven drivers admitted to Virginia tech researchers to texting while driving. 46 percent of the 16 and 17-year old’s say they text behind the wheel. Nearly half, 48 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds admit to violating anti-texting laws

imidazol97

oldfarmer50 said:

Son's CD player in his Sable does't work so I went to an audio shop to inquire about a replacement.

Try ebay for an original with the CD that someone pulled from their Sable to replace the one you have.

driver100

The plan was to fly from Tampa to Toronto Dec 14th, pick up the new car, then drive back down to Tampa on December 20th.
My sales rep...sorry, consultant says the new cars won't pass federal regulations until late in January.
Now, we have changed the plan, fly to Toronto on Dec 14, FLY back Dec 23rd, and ONCE we know the new car is in late in January, we will fly home, nd then drive down.
Why is life so complicated ?

roadburner

28firefighter said:

I use my credit card for everything possible. I have a Starwood Preferred Guest Amex for my personal charges and an Amex Platinum for business expenses. 

Everything is paid off, in full, every month or ahead of the statement cutting. I do it for the points, not because I can't pay cash. 

Same here- only with a VISA Rewards card.

ab348

I used to pay for most things with a debit card but the last couple of years have cycled through a few different rewards cards instead that always get paid off every month. I had been using an Air Miles card but have pretty much abandoned that after their program became less attractive. Now I use 2 cards pretty much exclusively: a Scotiabank Visa GM card that pays 5% on the first $5000 in annual charges and 2% thereafter; and a Tangerine Bank Mastercard that pays 2% cash back on groceries and pre-authorized payments.

oldfarmer50

andres3 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Boy I hate to be such a dinosaur.

Son's CD player in his Sable does't work so I went to an audio shop to inquire about a replacement. The kid behind the counter acted like i was some senile nut job looking for the buggy whip factory. "They don't make stuff like that no more, it's obsolete"

Fortunately my son already figured a way to hook an MP3 player up to the cassette.

Think I'll just dig a hole and crawl in.

I bet you can still buy a CD receiver car stereo/radio. Easily.

Yeah, he mentioned he could tear out the dash system and slap a CD in there but that seemed extreme since his CD player is mounted in the center arm rest.

stickguy

pass regulations? so they can't sell any cars until late January? That sounds quite odd that they are producing units without knowing they are going to be legal.

and why come up for a week in December anyway? Thought that was only to PU the new wheels.

ab348

stickguy said:

and why come up for a week in December anyway? Thought that was only to PU the new wheels.

They need to feed the dog.

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

andres3 said:

I remember one old guy that claimed a big reason for the switch out of Buick is that they kept using the same lousy 200 HP motor from when they were a young man - LOL. OK, I exaggerate, but they did use the same motors for longer than they should have.

However, you should look up the history of the 3.8 L engine. It had several improvements as it became the 3800, Series I, and Series II. It's a very strong engine with its torque and lasts toward 300,000 miles easily with proper treatment.

I think the series II had problems with the intake gaskets that cost $600-800 to fix. I had a 1991 Olds with a series I that went 127k miles with no problem but son's 1998 Lesabre need them fixed at about 75k miles. I guess the series III starting late 2004 was ok too. Yeah, they were bullet-proof otherwise. Good power, smooth running engines but eventually overshadowed by 6 cyl. Engines that could put out 300+ hp. Certainly better than the Ford 3.8 head gasket blower.

I'd still take the Mitsu 3.8 over any of them.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

The plan was to fly from Tampa to Toronto Dec 14th, pick up the new car, then drive back down to Tampa on December 20th.
My sales rep...sorry, consultant says the new cars won't pass federal regulations until late in January.
Now, we have changed the plan, fly to Toronto on Dec 14, FLY back Dec 23rd, and ONCE we know the new car is in late in January, we will fly home, nd then drive down.
Why is life so complicated ?

Since I found out I was senile it takes me a little time to catch on. Why wouldn't your new car pass federal regulations until January? Do they have to stew for awhile?

And whose federal regulations yours or ours?

fintail

Toothless laws and even worse enforcement do a lot. Of course, I am now in a state where wearing a motorcycle helmet is seen as some kind of anti-freedom statement, so I guess it makes sense.

I laid on my horn today at a woman dinking around with her phone at a green light. Should be a steep fine.

driver100 said:

And, one in seven drivers admitted to Virginia tech researchers to texting while driving. 46 percent of the 16 and 17-year old’s say they text behind the wheel. Nearly half, 48 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds admit to violating anti-texting laws

jmonroe

oldfarmer50 said:

imidazol97 said:

andres3 said:

I remember one old guy that claimed a big reason for the switch out of Buick is that they kept using the same lousy 200 HP motor from when they were a young man - LOL. OK, I exaggerate, but they did use the same motors for longer than they should have.

However, you should look up the history of the 3.8 L engine. It had several improvements as it became the 3800, Series I, and Series II. It's a very strong engine with its torque and lasts toward 300,000 miles easily with proper treatment.

I think the series II had problems with the intake gaskets that cost $600-800 to fix. I had a 1991 Olds with a series I that went 127k miles with no problem but son's 1998 Lesabre need them fixed at about 75k miles. I guess the series III starting late 2004 was ok too. Yeah, they were bullet-proof otherwise. Good power, smooth running engines but eventually overshadowed by 6 cyl. Engines that could put out 300+ hp. Certainly better than the Ford 3.8 head gasket blower.

I'd still take the Mitsu 3.8 over any of them.

I had a '95 Bonneville that had the 3800 engine and it had to have the intake manifold gasket replaced in 2003 with about 80K miles on it. Had it done at an indy shop for about $300 IIRC. That was a good engine until that happened but I will admit that was my only problem with the engine. However, this was the beast that could not hold paint because of the paint/primer incompatibility problem that GM was famous for back in those days.

jmonroe

houdini1

28firefighter said:

I use my credit card for everything possible. I have a Starwood Preferred Guest Amex for my personal charges and an Amex Platinum for business expenses. 

Everything is paid off, in full, every month or ahead of the statement cutting. I do it for the points, not because I can't pay cash. 

The last few cars I bought, I paid cash, but I put as much as I could on a credit card or cards, and paid the cards off at the end of the month. Good for the old cash back deal.

jipster

You guys seem to know a little bit about everything. So any advice or suggestions on getting a new heating and air conditioning system?

I currently have a 15 year Goodman that was installed when the house was built. In July repairman put in a new capacitor. Said should probably start thinking about a new system. A/C stopped running about about 2 months after that. Checked the circuit box, and a circuit breaker had tripped. Then cool weather rolled in, so not sure what was going on.

A Carrier rep is suppose to come out Friday and leave some info and an estimate. I'm not looking to pull the switch on this Goodman until she flatlines. Just wanting to be proactive and have the information,not wait till mid July and have the thing croak on me and not be prepared. So,any tips ,suggestions, buying strategy, which brands are most reliable,warranties,any weird buying experiences?

stickguy

don't wait until a record cold snap in January for it to crap out, and have to get one on an emergency basis before you freeze to death.

no need to ask me how I know.

oldfarmer50

Cars I have seen driving...

Saw a BMW M4 today. Beautiful car even with black wheels and a puke colored paint job.
Looked something like this with more green




Also saw a 2017 Malibu still with the window sticker. Boy they got big. I thought it was an Impala.

stickguy

I had the same problem with the Chevy. Had to look at the trunks at the auto show to see which model it was.

jmonroe

jipster said:

You guys seem to know a little bit about everything. So any advice or suggestions on getting a new heating and air conditioning system?

I currently have a 15 year Goodman that was installed when the house was built. In July repairman put in a new capacitor. Said should probably start thinking about a new system. A/C stopped running about about 2 months after that. Checked the circuit box, and a circuit breaker had tripped. Then cool weather rolled in, so not sure what was going on.

A Carrier rep is suppose to come out Friday and leave some info and an estimate. I'm not looking to pull the switch on this Goodman until she flatlines. Just wanting to be proactive and have the information,not wait till mid July and have the thing croak on me and not be prepared. So,any tips ,suggestions, buying strategy, which brands are most reliable,warranties,any weird buying experiences?

In August of 2008 we installed a Lenox, both A/C and furnace. It was the next to the top of the line for both. Even the salesman/owner didn't think anything more was worth the additional bucks. So, since he agreed with my thoughts and didn't try to up-sale me I went with what I just mentioned. So far, no problems but it isn't that old either.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the name brands but the funny thing is that one outfit gave me a quote for a Goodman and his price was more than the Lenox and a Carrier quote that I got.

Like @stickguy said, if you are having problems, now is the time to get it or get more blankets. I have a good friend who had an old furnace quit on him on one of the coldest days we had in the Burgh a few years ago. He was going to replace the A/C and furnace in the Spring just because the system was getting old not because he was having problems. I think he said it was about 25 years old but since he never had a problem he figured he could wait. I would have done the same thing. So, I guess that tells you how bright we are.

jmonroe

driver100

stickguy said:

pass regulations? so they can't sell any cars until late January? That sounds quite odd that they are producing units without knowing they are going to be legal.

and why come up for a week in December anyway? Thought that was only to PU the new wheels.

I think new or changed engines do have to meet certain requirements. MB probably knows the car will pass, but, the government has to actually test it as well. Maybe they got VW to fix the engines up so they would pass.

I would love to cancel the December trip but now I have commitments I have made for December, while I would be up North. You do have a good point though....if I can cancel the trip North I will do it, but, I don't think my wife will be too pleased....she definitely wants to go back in December. That would be good if I can get out of it....I will have to work on that one - but, I don't think I can get out of it now :

driver100

ab348 said:

stickguy said:

and why come up for a week in December anyway? Thought that was only to PU the new wheels.

They need to feed the dog.

lol.....stick had a good point, I could stay in Florida with the dog. Wish I had thought of that. Now my wife likes the idea of me going back too.The dog will go with......wish she got air miles too.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

The plan was to fly from Tampa to Toronto Dec 14th, pick up the new car, then drive back down to Tampa on December 20th.
My sales rep...sorry, consultant says the new cars won't pass federal regulations until late in January.
Now, we have changed the plan, fly to Toronto on Dec 14, FLY back Dec 23rd, and ONCE we know the new car is in late in January, we will fly home, nd then drive down.
Why is life so complicated ?

Since I found out I was senile it takes me a little time to catch on. Why wouldn't your new car pass federal regulations until January? Do they have to stew for awhile?

And whose federal regulations yours or ours?

Cars are shipped from Germany and end up in Halifax. There certain equipment is put on to make them acceptable to use in Canada,,,,things like running lights. Certain engine specifications...pollution controls. Our rules are similar to US, but could vary, as they do from state to state. Doesn't California have different emission control regulations?

Engines have to be tested, like the ones VW was able to fudge.

driver100

fintail said:

Toothless laws and even worse enforcement do a lot. Of course, I am now in a state where wearing a motorcycle helmet is seen as some kind of anti-freedom statement, so I guess it makes sense.

I laid on my horn today at a woman dinking around with her phone at a green light. Should be a steep fine.

driver100 said:

And, one in seven drivers admitted to Virginia tech researchers to texting while driving. 46 percent of the 16 and 17-year old’s say they text behind the wheel. Nearly half, 48 percent of 18 to 24-year-olds admit to violating anti-texting laws

I see guys riding motorcycles in Florida without a helmet. I see it....and I just don't get it..